Customer Reviews

Sega Smash Pack (Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Sonic Spinball)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just seeing these three previously exclusive Sega licenses on a Nintendo system can be a testament to either two things: how far the video game industry has come, or how far Sega fell. Either way though, this portable version of the Smash Pack is a great way to pass the time. We get the exact conversions of the Genesis classics. Golden Axe still plays as great as it always has and the control has never been tighter, Ecco the Dolphin still gives the psuedo 3-D awe inspiring graphics (well, they were when the game was first released) and challenging puzzles and intricate gameplay we've come to expect from the series, and Sonic Spinball is still the ultra fast paced pinball game featuring everyone's favorite blue hedgehog. All three games play great, look as good as they always did, and sound pretty decent (although the sound is choppy at times), the only complaint here is that more games weren't included. Hopefully Sega will put out more Smash Pack volumes in the future, I for one would like to play Streets of Rage, Eternal Champions, Shining Force, Virtua Cop 2 (it was included in the Dreamcast Smash Pack along with Sega Swirl), and maybe even the Sega Saturn classic NiGHTS (that would be so great). All in all, younger gamers might not dig these 16-bit classics, but older gamers missing the days of the Genesis will have a blast playing the Smash Pack on the go.

These games look great on the new Game Boy with frontlighting! The old-fashioned gameplay gives you hours of fun, especially on a long flight. Just smash and score!

I am a big SEGA fan, and when I heard this 3-in-one was coming out, I couldn't wait. So I grabbed it on the 26th (the day it came out), but when I actually played it, it was a little disappointed. I figured they would at least enhance the games a little bit, given that the Game Boy Advance is more powerful than the Genesis console. The music seems to be a little worse than the original games, and the title song is VERY annoying.
I am giving it 3 stars because it is still fun to play. These are timeless games, and they will entertain you for hours. With the sound off, of course.

First Thing I'd Like to say is someone should seriously beat the person below me its spelled SEGA not SAGA any REAL gamer would know that. Any way on to the games, I'll Start with ecco the dolphin. Ecco is the story of a dolphin trying to defend the sea. It has very good graphics and will keep you playing for a long time. Golden Axe is about three characters trying to save the world from the evil Death Adder. You can play as any of three characters which are a dworf a big tough looking guy and a sorceress looking lady. the graphics are good considering the era they were started in the sound I think is pretty terrible but it grows on you, it doesn't have very many levels but it is pretty challenging to beat them all. Sonic spinball is pretty much just pinball with really good graphics and addicting gameplay. All in all a great package is here. and I'd like to know how they fit it all on tiny little cartridge.

"Sega smash pack" for Game Boy Advance is a great game. it feature 3 Sega Genesis Classic : 1. Ecco the Dolphin 2. Sonic Spinball 3. Golden Axe. And unlike the Super Mario advance games, these are not modified. These have no updated graphics or sounds. they appear exactly the same way they did on the Sega Genesis system in the 90's. The only thing that is different is the Controls. To put a Sega Genesis classic like Sonic Spinball on to game boy advance was a BRILLIANT idea. If someone asked me 10 years ago if I'd ever see Sega Games on A Ninentdo System, I'd think they were crazy. But It's different now since Sega Stopped making systems. For Sonic Spinball, there is an improvement. There is a bar at the top of the screen that shows your score and lives. on GBA, you can hide that bar by pressing the select button. The bar wasn't removable on the Sega Genesis system. That makes it a lot easier to see what is above you. Nintendo has released several game boy advance games known as "Classic NES Series" where they put Classic NES games onto GBA unmodified. Since Sega stopped making systems and are now releasing games on multiple systems, There should be a "Classic Sega Genesis" Series. Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, 3, and Sonic & Knuckles for Sega Genesis would be perfect for the GBA System. I'd buy them. GET a Classic Sega genesis Series on GBA

If you're like me and were around in the good old days of sega genesis, this is a game you'll be interested in. Sonic Spinball and Ecco are both classics and worth the buy. I'm not familiar with Golden Axe, however, so I can't tell you about it. Sonic Spinball is fun and like all the other Sonic games, worth it. Ecco is a bit challenging, so experienced gamers might prefer it. Overall, this will be worth your while.

The game is quite action packed, but the Sonic Pinball game is a perfectly great handheld game! Golden Ax and Ecco are GREAT! Enough to entertain you...

I am looking forward to sega smash pack. I don't see why John Bell got 2/3 people to say that his review was helpful. All he did was copy and paste the Manufacturer's Description in his review. oh well:
Golden Axe is the greatest game ever. It is a sidescroller and you can choose from 3 characters. It is very difficult and the gameplay has a lot of variety. Ecco the dolphin is also a side scroller in which you control a dolphin a manuver through the watery levels. Sonic Spinball is very fun too, and has very good graphics. I can't wait to buy this game, and I'm going to get it the day it comes out.

Overall, this is a nice collection of games, all of which i grew up with having owned a Sega Genesis. Graphically, each game resembles the originals but with less polish on the GBA. Golden Ax is a clean brawler in the likeness of TMNT with medieval-style characters and repetitive hack-n-slash gameplay, that for some reason never gets old. Sonic Spinball is the biggest disappointment in that all levels, boss included, have the same tune from the first stage. What's up with that!

If you are looking for classics with enjoyable gameplay and have a GBA, I would recommend this. Otherwise, if you have a Genesis get the original games.

Unfortunately, this version of the Smash Pack inherited the same flaws the Windows and Dreamcast versions suffered from. The emulation (or in this case, reprogramming) just isn't that good. Most notably the sound is pretty awful. Granted, these games didn't sound the best to begin with, but the audio is even more tinny and "metallicy" sounding than the originals. In the case of Ecco, it's just one horrid 30 second sound clip looping indefinitely. The visuals are also missing some animation and details over the original versions (and even if they were perfectly reproduced, they'd still be below average visuals for a Gameboy Advance game).

Beyond that, none of these three games were terribly good choices for the collection. Golden Axe was great for it's time, but a bad port of a bad port just doesn't cut it now. Pick up Final Fight One (also for the Gameboy Advance) for a much better port of a similar style game. If you must have Sonic Spinball, the version in Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube is flawlessly emulated (along with the rest of that collection). And Ecco...well, the best version by far was on the Sega CD.

I love ports, updates, and collections of older games-when they're done right, as in Sonic Mega Collection. But there are much better Gameboy Advance games to spend your money on than this lousy collection.