American Sonic CD soundtracks, but storage and licensing problems resulted in Japan only receiving its respective soundtrack and all other regions using the North American version. Sonic Gems Collection was announced in May 2005, and was playable at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). It was released on August 11, 2005 in Japan, August 16, 2005 in North America, and September 30, 2005 in Europe. The PlayStation 2 version was not released in North America. Those who ordered the game through Sega's online store Sega Direct received an exclusive Sonic-themed yo-yo. Reception According to Metacritic, a video game review aggregator, Sonic Gems Collection received "mixed or average" reviews. By November 22, 2005, the compilation sold 200,000 copies outside Japan. In 2006, the GameCube version was branded a Player's Choice game, indicating it sold a million units. Reviewers considered Sonic CD the compilation's strongest feature, so much that Nintendo Powers Steve T. and Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) said it was worth buying for Sonic CD alone. Juan Castro (IGN) found that Sonic CD "still holds its own against modern platformers", praising its unique, time-travel oriented gameplay, level design, visuals, and sound. Castro called it one of the best games in the Sonic series and was no less fun than its original release. Ryan Davis (GameSpot) found Sonic CD superior to the other games in the compilation, and Tom Bramwell (Eurogamer) declared "rejoice for Sonic CD... Just don't rejoice for anything else, because it's mostly rubbish". Many reviewers were also pleased by the inclusion of the Vectorman games. Castro called it "the pinnacle of 16-bit gaming", praising its melding of boss fights, action, and platforming and saying it aged well. Bramwell and Phil Theobald (GameSpy) agreed. Critics generally felt Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters were mediocre. Castro, Theobald, and Davis compared Sonic the Fighters unfavorably to the Virtua Fighter games, with Davis calling it dated and simplistic. Jeuxvideo.coms Superpanda, in a negative review of the compilation, argued that Sonic the Fighters was too short and had control issues, but that Sonic R was on par with Sonic CD in terms of quality, praising the game's graphics and claiming that it was the compilation's most beautiful game. Castro was less positive: he found its ideas clever and considered it an interesting departure from normal racing games, but thought the ideas were poorly implemented and the controls were awkward. However, he still thought the