Switch

Published on July 14th, 2023 | by Chris O'Connor

Sonic Origins Plus Switch Review

I remember back in the day that you were either a Mario fan or a Sonic fan… one or the other, that was it. It’s kind of funny now that not only do characters cross platforms but games that were once brand exclusive are now available on formerly opposing platforms (I mean sure… SEGA aren’t really a force in the console space these days… but still… it’s kind of funny). But with that in mind… if you’d previously avoided the Blue speed lover due to brand loyalty or whatever other reason… now’s you chance to get up to speed in one handy collection.

There’s no question that retro gaming is having something of a hey-day and why not… some classic games are just as fun to play now as they were back then. Sonic Origins Plus takes a number of Sonic’s games and puts them together in one collection, making it easy to get your hedgehog fix all in the one place, 16 games to be more precise. The main difference here from the original Sonic Origins (that was release roughly a year ago) is the inclusion of a bunch of Sega Game Gear Sonic games (I was an Atari Lynx owner so I never played them back then). Amy has also been added as a playable character in a few of the games, not really changing game play… but a different face can be a nice change.

There are some extra missions available in the collection that weren’t in the originally released games and the Museum is another nice walk down retro lane. My son was particularly thrilled to find the manuals you can open up and look through in entirety (some of us are old enough to remember when we used to get full manuals with games). It must be a bit of a tricky task putting together a compilation like this. You are never likely to please all the fans (unless you released all the games ever made in the series… but lets be honest… there would still be people complaining). In this situation one of the main complaints seems to be that the release is very similar to last years release with the DLC. For people who bought the previous collection… they might want to look carefully at what is in this collection compared to what they already have and decide if it’s worth the price… for those who don’t have last years release… they might want to see what isn’t included here and decided if they can wait a full year in case another edition is released that includes even more titles.

If you are new to Sonic though or simply haven’t played any Sonic games in a while… this is a great collection and is a good mix of styles (ie not all side scrolling). Visually (for those of us old enough to remember)… it’s very familiar in it’s pixelated glory. The small changes here and there shouldn’t be too jarring for die hard fans and the option to either play in classic mode (as it played in the day) or anniversary (which mercifully provides infinite lives) is a nice touch.

Final Thoughts?

Is it worth the purchase? Well if you don’t have any Sonic games and either want to see what it’s all about, or relive past glories… then certainly grab a copy. If you bought last years Sonic Origins then just have a look at what the differences are and determine if Plus really adds enough for you to fork out for it. But it’s nice to be able to share some of my childhood with my children in a pretty decent modern remastered collection such as this.

About the Author

Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.

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