There is no denying that Sonic's golden age was his first three games. When he exploded on the scene in June of 1991, he came on strong. However, this was nothing compared to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which took the world by storm. This was followed up by a true successor in Sonic and Knuckles 3. Back in the day, you use to need an extra cartridge to get the Knuckles content for 2 and 3 while having some limited content on the first Sonic game. Now, we have Sonic Jam, which has all of the above.
The Sega Saturn is proud to be home to this marvel of a collection. While there have been some amazing collections like it since on multiple consoles, Sonic Jam still remains quite iconic among the bunch. Along with the Gamecube's two collections, Sonic has had some amazing representation of gaming history being preserved. The blue blur will not be forgotten anytime soon and it's these ports that we have to thank for it.
The anime style introduction is some of the most beautiful artwork and animation! Its soundtrack is awesome and it's a refreshing look to see such smooth video on the Sega Saturn's engine. You could watch it over and over again!
Sonic Jam, however, has some outstanding features that sets it apart from the others. For one thing, there is an easier, kid friendlier difficulty on this version of the game. This makes it to where the younger generation can still play it as one of their earlier games. Conquering this is one step closer to beating the same level on normal mode. Before long, they'll be conquering the whole game!
As said before, you can play the knuckles version of all the games. It is clear that this whole thing is a port, as its controls are smooth and perfectly executed as opposed to an emulation. All of the versions are bonafide and capture the original games to a T. As if that weren't enough of a reason to play it, there is also a 3D mode that acts as something of a hub world. It's called Sonic World and it's beautiful. Not only does it show off some awesome Saturn graphics while giving us a peek at the 3D 32-bit game we never got, it also predicted the Sonic Movie in a theater!
This collection has a barrage of amazing features that you need to see for yourself. It is worth finding for a decent price, but make sure not to give into scalpers of this game. It is definitely worth showing to your kids as some of their best means of practice. Sonic Jam is one of the best ports of these masterpieces and I can sing its praise to the high mountain tops for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 alone. You can Knuckle it up on any version and have yourself a ball. Pick this up and be way past cool!
That's right, I ended this on a Jaleel White quote! What about it?!
