It’s nice to have access to old games on current platforms, but the new content that Sonic Origins Plus brings is just a reminder of how low-quality SEGA’s handheld library was compared to its console counterparts. . The original Sonic the Hedgehog game is great, and Sonic Origins is worth buying for that alone. Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3 & Knuckles are all classics worth experiencing in this collection. They play great in widescreen, just as they did back then. The only downside is that the soundtrack was changed in Sonic 3 due to legal issues surrounding the music.
The Plus expansion made Amy officially playable in the original game for the first time. This is great. She feels like she’s always belonged here and she’s so much fun to play. That said, the other content added in the Plus version includes a collection of games you don’t want to see too often.
The main selling point of Sonic Origins Plus is the addition of 12 Game Gear titles. If you grew up playing these games, you can understand why you’d want to go back and relive these adventures. However, newcomers quickly get frustrated by the junk.
Many of the games added in Sonic Origins Plus are Game Gear ports of Master System titles. Even the game that shares the first introduction and name of Sonic and Tails has a completely different level than you know. It also has various functions. For example, the first zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a train section. So it’s exciting to experience these levels for the first time, even if they don’t feel as good as the original console games.
My first experience when booting up most of these games is eardrum-blowing with the distorting and crackling SEGA intros. Since these are the Game Gear versions of the Master System games, screen tearing is the biggest issue. Frame rate drops are also all too common, especially in games like: sonic chaos and triple trouble. After performance and screen improvements in the base Origins bundle, it’s very disappointing to see SEGA omit improvements for those games that need them even more. It’s embarrassing to see Game Gear titles struggling on PS5.
Sonic Origins Plus’ Game Gear games don’t look, sound, or play well, but the problem comes down to these games not being that good to begin with. It’s not that transplants are bad. Buy Sonic Origins Plus to play Genesis games and play as Amy, but don’t expect Game Gear games to get away with it.
