Sega's Vintage Classics are coming to the Xbox and PS3 ... again!

by: Cyril - posted: 5/12/2009 9:15:00 PM

Sega is confused.  Thanks to the invent of the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network, Sega doesn't know whether it should release their classic console and arcade games as standalone discs or quick downloads.  Apparently they plan on doing both.  Today Sega announced something that most of us already knew about, another batch of 16-bit classics headed to the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN.  Never mind that most of these games appeared in the recently released Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, Sega has decided that it is a good idea to make them available for download under the name Sega Vintage Collection 2.

The games in question are Gunstar Heroes, Altered Beast, Shinobi (the arcade version), Comix Zone, Phantasy Star 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and (later in the year) Sonic & Knuckles.  Of these games, all but one of them is currently available on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, which means that no matter what price is given (likely $5 - $10), it's still going to be more than what you would pay for each game if you bought the compilation.  With 49 games and a $29.99 asking price, the games in Sega's recent compilation are a mere 61 cents, talk about a bargin.  The good news is that for the premium cost you do get one new feature, online multiplayer.  Is that worth the price?  I guess that depends on how much you like the game.

The other interesting news in this announcement is that not all of these games are available for the PlayStation 3.  In fact, by my count only ONE of the games will be available for the PlayStation 3.  That game is Gunstar Heroes, the only game in the set not appearing on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.  As a huge Treasure fan, I would say that Gunstar is worth picking up no matter the cost.  However, it's a shame that PlayStation 3 owners don't have anything else to look forward to.  Either way, both Microsoft and Sony fans should seek out the Sega compilation and ignore what appears to be a bunch of redundant releases.  If Sega really wanted to impress us they would re-release classic Saturn and Dreamcast games.  You know, the type of games that haven't been milked to death by dozens of classic game compilations.  Make it so, Sega.