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Sega Smash Pack
Sega Smash Pack
Developer(s)	Sega; CodeFire (GBA)
Publisher(s)	Sega NA: THQ (GBA);
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance
Release	Microsoft Windows; February 18, 1999 (Pack 1); May 1, 1999 (Pack 2); November 14, 2000 (Pack 3); Dreamcast NA: January 30, 2001; Game Boy Advance NA: September 23, 2002; EU: August 1, 2003;
Genre(s)	Various
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Sega Smash Pack (Sega Archives from USA in Japan) is a series of game compilations featuring mostly Sega Genesis games.

Pack 1 (Windows)

The first pack titled Sega Smash Pack (Sega Archives from USA Vol. 1 in Japan) featured eight games.

Altered Beast (1988)
Columns (1990)
Golden Axe (1989)
Out Run (1986)
Phantasy Star II (1989)
Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (1993)
The Revenge of Shinobi (1989)
Vectorman (1995)

Pack 2 (Windows)

The second pack titled Sega Puzzle Pack (Sega Archives from USA Vol. 2 in Japan) featured three games.

Columns III: Revenge of Columns (1993)
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993)
Lose Your Marbles (1997)

Pack 3 (Windows)

The third pack titled Sega Smash Pack 2 (Sega Archives from USA Vol. 3 in Japan) featured eight games.

Comix Zone (1995)
Flicky (1991)
Kid Chameleon (1992)
Sega Swirl (as a separate executable program) [1999]
Shining Force (1992)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
Super Hang-On (1989)
Vectorman 2 (1996)

Console (Dreamcast)

The console version of Sega Smash Pack was released for Dreamcast titled Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 and featured the following twelve games:

Altered Beast (1988)
Columns (1990)
Golden Axe (1989)
Phantasy Star II (1989)
The Revenge of Shinobi (1989)
Sega Swirl (1999)
Shining Force (1992)
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Streets of Rage 2 (1992)
Vectorman (1995)
Virtua Cop 2 (1995)
Wrestle War (1991)

Jeff Gerstmann from GameSpot gave the console version a 4.5/10. He criticised the console version for its patchy performance and poorly emulated music.^[2]

The Genesis emulator built inside the compilation gained popularity with homebrew groups, as Echelon released a kit that allowed users to add and load their own Genesis ROMs. Gary Lake, the programmer, had himself deliberately left a documentation of the built-in emulator, with the documentation seemingly intended at them due to the filename (ECHELON.TXT).^[3] Additionally, Sega Swirl and Virtua Cop 2 were the only non-Genesis games in the compilation.

Handheld (Game Boy Advance)

The handheld version of Sega Smash Pack was released for Game Boy Advance simply titled Sega Smash Pack and featured three games, two of which had been included in the first Smash Pack. While Ecco the Dolphin and Sonic Spinball were developed using the original source code, Golden Axe had to be recreated from scratch.^[4]

Craig Harris from IGN gave the handheld version a 6/10. He criticised the handheld version for several technical issues and lack of cooperative multiplayer in Golden Axe.^[5] It was nominated for GameSpot's annual "Most Disappointing Game on Game Boy Advance" award, which went to The Revenge of Shinobi.^[6]

References

^ "SEGA DEBUTS THREE PUZZLE CLASSICS ON ONE CD-ROM". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
^ Gerstmann, Jeff (April 6, 2001). "Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
^ Smith, Ernie (22 June 2016). "The Online Community That's Turning Old Video Games Into an Archaeological Dig". Vice. Retrieved 21 November 2022. [Gary] Lake's message, left inside a file called ECHELON.txt, basically described how to use the game, which featured a number of classic Sega titles, as an emulator. (The file was named after a prominent Dreamcast hacking group at the time.)
^ Andersen, John (27 January 2011). "Where Games Go To Sleep: The Game Preservation Crisis, Part 1". Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
^ Harris, Craig (October 11, 2002). "Sega Smash Pack". IGN. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
^ GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.