Please allow me to begin this little review with a brief rant, but before I do I will clarify the game listing-- Sonic CD, Sonic R, and Sonic the Fighters (the three main attractions) alongside of VectorMan and VectorMan 2 from the Sega Genesis are the true gems in this anthology. However, there are (get this) SIX Game Gear games! Sega doesn't get it, do they? The Game Gear failed for a reason: it was huge, it was uncomfortable to hold, it had sub-par graphics at best, it sucked batteries like crazy and the game collection was rather small as far as the ones really worth having went. And it was thoroughly trounced by the far more entertaining and more economic Nintendo GameBoy. Get it right, guys, no one really bought this for the GameGear games-- just like Sonic Adventure: Director's Cut. Sorry, but it's true.

Now, onto the good stuff!

Overall game layout- The interface in "Gems" is a standard menu layout with everything being simple and self-explanitory. There's a games menu, a menu that has the instruction manuals for each game (including its various incarnates with other versions and systems) a museum to unlock pictures, music and videos from varying Sonic-related mediums that you can unlock by playing a game or meeting certain other conditions and a small sub-section for the game credits and varying hints and tips about each game respectively. Now, on to those games!

Sonic R- the first game where our super-fast hero and his friends (and even his enemies) actually use their speed in a race! A good idea that shaped into an even better game.

Graphics- This game first premiered on the Saturn, so the graphics are smooth, but still obviously polygons, not that that means they're bad, they're not, they're just a bit blocky. Every detail is smooth, clear and slick across the five main race tracks, including times of day (early morning, midday, late afternoon, night) and different weather conditions (clear, rainy and snowing-- which also adds to gameplay with a slicker track while raining or snowing but during the occasional flurry the water in the levels freezes over!) and the characters blend right in with their general surroundings.

Sound- I love the audio tracks in this game! Musical majesty just oozes out of this game --err-- not literally. The music is just plain beautiful, not to mention it actually has words! (If you really don't like the words, you have the option of turning them off, too!) The sounds are smooth, beautiful and crisp as well as suiting their characters respectively. Nice job here!

Gameplay- This is where I get a couple complaints. As having played not only the Saturn Version but also the PC version at different times, I took to it like a fish to water, but newbies will have a tough time, because the character movement is sensitive and there is no 'back-up' movement, unfortunately. However, once you get the grip of each character's strengths and weaknesses it'll be a breeze to win! That's another downside- that the AI is somewhat poor at racing when you adapt to the tracks. "A" jumps but "A" also doubles for a character's special move (for like 3 characters, 2 of which are utterly useless), "B", "X" or the control stick dictates excelleration, "L" and "R" act as resptive 'double-breaks' (feet?) for the characters and can stop you short if you slam down both, or help you pull off a tighter turn when used together with the control stick.

Replay- 7 chaos emeralds to collect, 5 hidden characters to unlock and a secret track and a whole slew of multi-player madness as well as time trials, Sonic R offers quite a bit, unfortunately there are only 5 tracks, but they're all worth it. Trust me.

Sonic CD- The only 'real' reason to get the Sega CD sub-system comes to Gems in its full glory! An addictive Sonic game that, for some sick and twisted reason, promotes exploration to get the full feel of a level but at the same time slaps a 10 minute maximum time limit on you. How sick is that?! Unfortunately, in the original Sega CD manual, which the game has, it refers to Amy Rose the pink Hedgehog as... ugh... "Princess Sally"... *shudder*.

Graphics- These sprites were designed shortly after Sonic 3, but with a slightly grittier presentation, which blends amazingly well to the slightly toned-down world that proved less bright and more tropic than Sonic 2 or 3. The levels are highly detailed in every section and the special stages are a feast for the eyes, without a doubt. They speak for themselves brilliantly!

Sound- With a well-defined and unique jump sound as well as a slightly lower spin-dash effect, the sound in Sonic CD is unique to the Sonic world, but that's a good thing. The music is beautiful, up-beat and mixes perfectly with each and every locale. Unfortunately, even this edition neglects the opening and closing songs from the Japanese version "You Can Do Anything" and "Believe In Yourself" which were both great songs.

Gameplay- If you played Sonic 2, you already have a basic idea of how this'll handle. An excellently-crafted 2D feast for hardcore and casual gamers alike, Sonic CD blends challenge and fun in a buffet of excitement and and thrills. "A" jumps, the control stick moves and holding up on the control stick and holding "A" makes Sonic do his figure-8 dash (which, for whatever reason, has never returned to a Sonic game since) and holding down on the control stick and holding "A" then releasing will have Sonic do his patented super-spindash attack. The game also opens up new possibilities by allowing Sonic to transcend time itself to move to a distant future and distant past of each level and with that gives Sonic the oppertunity to go to the past and destroy a robot control unit that'll free that area from being controlled by Eggman's evil robots-- and thus you'll get the "Sonic Made A Good Future In...(insert Zone/Act here)". And if you collect 50 or more rings and clear the level by hopping into the giant gold ring at the end of the stage, Sonic will be challenged by a depth-perception-challenged special stage where you're obligated to shatter the UFO's to unlock the seven 'Time Stones' which Eggman had used to move through time in order to place those robot generators (thus, if you get all seven you'll always get the "Good Future" message). However, it's not that easy, as I said before, the depth-perception of these special zones is flat out terrible so you'll have to 'guess' where the UFO's really are, because if you aren't at the very top of your jump when you reach the UFO, you'll miss, however you can be a good screenwidth off to the side and still get them... somehow. Also, stepping in the water (which is ALL OVER the special stages) your timer falls faster than my caffiene blood level whilst in school. However, if you're willing to grin and bear it, the reward is a special 'good' ending at the end!

Replay- Alongside of a surprisingly short standard game mode, there is a time trial mode through which unlockables can be attained by lowering your overall time to a certain level, which is fun. Sadly, this great game doesn't have a great deal of replay value aside from that.

Sonic the Fighters/Sonic Championship- A Sonic arcade game! Bet you didn't know there was one, huh? Well it never made a huge splash, but it never really got the chance, either, but I assure you this game is definite fun! Strangely enough, this is the only Sonic game to claim there are eight chaos emeralds (?!) but that's because there are 8 playable characters, each holding one of the precious jewels.

Graphics- 3D, but a bit blocky, and not as smooth as Sonic R, either. Then again, it only adds to the bright and happy air of this cartoony fighting game, not the least of which includes being hit and having a character's head flatten from the shock! (Which is quite hilarious in my opinion.) Each character's animations are smooth and funny and the facial expression, whilst simple, get the job done excellently.

Sounds- The music is a bit hum-drum but it does suit the levels nicely. The sounds, however, are bit a more lively, including baps, pops, zocks, zows and whatever noises were used in the old "BatMan" shows. The characters never speak, but they really don't need to, either. The sounds are simple and about what you'd expect, but they do the job.

Gameplay- This is the part I don't like admitting- but it's just a button masher. There are so few 'real' combos that this game really revolves around hitting your opponent before they hit you. "A" is a quick punch, "B" is your block (Barrier), "X" is your weak kick, and "Y" is your strong kick (which has many very entertaining uses- not the least of which include flattening your opponents' faces against a nearby wall). "R", for some, does nothing and for others does a special move and "L" usually does a throw move and "Z" is used as a side-step dodge move, which can also surprise and confuse enemies. The game, even on easy, has a ridiculously mismatched power level in later levels and can easilly KO your chosen character in but a few hits or throws-- so be ready for some frustration as no number of combo's will save you, so just hit something and hope it works.

Replay- Granted smooth gameplay, ear-pleasing audios and nice graphics, the ridiculous CPU power makes this game all the less inticing, but the actually fairly-monitored 2-player mode is addictive as it is fun, and that's where this game shines. I'd call the replay-value about 60%.

And in the game list, this is actually where the GameGear games go, but since I've made my stance on those quite clear, I won't dignify them with individual mention, but I will list the playable games for those who are curious: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Spinball, Sonic Triple Trouble, Tails' Adventure, and Tails' Sky Patrol.

VectorMan and VectorMan 2 are unlockable in this game by either playing the Gems collection games for a collective number of time (or you can get the first one automatically by having save data from Sonic Heroes on your Slot A memory card) but this review has gone on for quite long enough. For 30 bucks, this game is more than worth it! Check it out!

Recommended: Yes