Review: Sega PC 'Smash Pack'

Ahh, the discount bin. Sometimes treasure lurks in its depths, though more often than not rifling through the bowels of the bin reveals more crap than gold. Case in point: Expert Software's release of "Sega PC Collection: Sega Smash Pack", a compilation of eight of Sega's more successful games emulated for your PC.

I must admit that I was wary to buy the $9.99 CD-ROM, which promised "For the first time ever -- 8 must-own classics in one collection". Most of the games on the disc (which includes Super Shinobi, the seminal classic Altered Beast, Columns, Phantasy Star 2, Sonic Spinball, arcade hit Golden Axe, one of the last Genesis games to be made, Vectorman, and Outrun) I had played before, either in the arcade, on my old Genesis, or on an emulator on my computer, but my sickness where I simply must buy anything which says "Outrun" took over (I collect Outrun memorabilia -- posters, stickers, original arcade flyers, etc.) and I walked out of the store with the cd in hand, somehow knowing it was a mistake.

The problem, as I soon found out, was that the games on this disc were not direct conversions of the arcade versions of the games, but instead were the Genesis versions, translated for the PC. Nowhere on the packaging does it state this fact. Presumably I should be been able to figure it out myself, since "Vectorman" was never released in arcades, but the lack of proper labeling on the package is inexcusable.

In any event, the emulation (the process where the Genesis game is converted for use on the PC), is nevertheless very good and pretty fast for most of the games (I noticed that Vectorman slowed down a bit in some places). I specifically liked the sound emulation, which is stereo and very crisp and clean.

The games selected in the package are ok, I suppose -- specifically Outrun (of course), Golden Axe, and Altered Beast, which play almost exactly like on the Genesis. However, I really would have liked the arcade versions of these games instead (which featured better graphics and sound due to the dedicated hardware of the arcade systems), as well as an option to run the games in a window instead of full-screen. Other more classic Sega Games, like Sonic 3 or Galaxy Force (one of my favorites) are likewise not included, in favor of games like 'Sonic Spinball', which is a mediocre title at best, and 'Phantasy Star 2', a less-than-stellar RPG.

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