Sonic Gems Collection was released for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 on August 11 2005 in Japan, August 16 2005 in North America, and September 30 2005 in Europe. Sonic Gems is a compilation of some lesser known Sonic titles which includes Sonic The Fighters, Sonic R, Sonic CD, and six Game Gear titles: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Spinball, Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, Tails Sky Patrol, Tails Adventure, and Sonic Drift 2. The US and UK versions also have Vectorman 1 & 2 as unlockable titles, where as the Japanese version exclusively has Bonanza Bros, and Bare Knuckle 1,2, &, 3 as unlockable games.

There are also unlockable demos of the Sonic Mega Collection games here as well. Short trial versions that take place on specific levels within each game. And just like Mega Collection, there is a museum here which consists of artwork, screen shots, videos, and other media. Content in the museum will continually grow and be unlocked by completing various in game objectives. What made this Sonic game a "Gem" at the time was the inclusion of Sonic CD because around 2005 there were no ports of CD. There is a plethora of ways to play it now, but back during this games release you could only play Sonic CD on the Sega CD itself.

I never had access to the Game Gear, Sega CD, Saturn, or the Dreamcast growing up so I was experiencing all of these titles for the very first time on this collection. Although CD was the main attraction in this compilation, it was Sonic R that had me captivated. Sonic R wasn't a financial success when it first released like SEGA clearly had hoped it would be. But after stubbornly getting used to the games slippery controls and sometimes confusing level design, I quickly fell in love with this unique racing experience.

What I remember having me so glued to this game was the fact that you could unlock and play as Metal Sonic, Cyber Knuckles, Tales Doll, and even the Egg Robo. Making this the only game where these characters would be playable. Atleast back then. From what I remember all of the games in Sonic Gems performed nearly perfectly, outside of the frame rate issues in the Game Gear games. Sonic The Fighters is just an arcade brawler, as the title suggests. Boasting a familiar roster(Sonic, Tales, Knuckles, Amy) alongside the additions of Bean, Fang, and Bark the Polar Bear.

Compilations are nothing new when it comes to SEGA, with the fairly recent release of Sonic Origins Plus. But when Sonic Gems hit store shelves there weren't that many ways to play the games packed into this title, making it something special at the time, and a game that holds a special place in my heart. If you were to try and get a copy today it can set you back anywhere from $40 US to upwards of $169 US for a sealed copy. But if you own a GameCube or PS2 I would highly recommend picking it up if you ever see it out in the wild. There is no doubt that a complete copy of this is only going to go up in value. And as more and more successful Sonic games and media release, these retro games are going to be more sought after as well.

So to wrap things up here I just want to say, wether you like to play the newest Sonic games that release, or like to sit back and reminisce with Sonic's more classic outings, I can surely say that I cannot wait to see where this little blue Hedgehog will turn up next.