Sega Classics Arcade Collection

From Sega Retro

Sega Classics Arcade Collection

Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega System(s): Sega Mega CD Game Total: 5 Original System(s): Sega Mega Drive Released in US: 1992 Released in EU: 1992 Genre: Compilation VRC

Sega Classics Arcade Collection is a compilation of five Sega Mega Drive games (Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Columns, Super Monaco GP and The Revenge of Shinobi) for the Sega Mega CD. It was not released in stores, but was bundled with European Mega CD units and later North American Sega CD units. In Japan and America there was also an earlier variation that lacked Super Monaco GP.

Each game is mostly identical to their Mega Drive counterparts, though have minor changes thanks to the Mega CD's enhancements. All digitised speech samples have been replaced with higher quality audio, the first level in Golden Axe uses different instruments and Super Monaco GP has extra drums. The Revenge of Shinobi is based on a later version than its cartridge counterparts, altering some of the bosses which infringe copyrights. For unknown reasons, Golden Axe is only a one-player game in this compilation.

Despite being the Mega CD's selling point, none of the games have an updated CD audio soundtrack (bar Columns, which now has a title screen theme). It means only a small fraction of the disc is used.