Over a decade ago, Read-Only Memory published Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, a book which gave a surprisingly in-depth look at Sega's most popular home console. Packed with artwork, interviews and concept drawings, it quickly became an essential purchase for fans—so much so that the company was convinced it was worth giving it another go more recently.
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Ultimate Works adds 48 pages of "newly-discovered visual material", which covers the likes of Alien Soldier, Kid Chameleon, The Super Shinobi II, Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium, as well as new design documentation for Bare Knuckle II/Streets of Rage 2 and Dynamite Headdy. Another bonus is the fact that the 80-page developer interview directory at the back of the book—which was printed in monochrome in the 2014 version—now features full-colour illustrations. The pixel art gallery has also been expanded.
On the downside, visual content related to Ecco The Dolphin and Wonder Boy has been removed due to the respective IP changing hands, which is a shame as it prevents this from being a complete upgrade on the original pressing, but it's hardly a deal breaker.
The version we were kindly sent by Read-Only Memory is the deluxe edition, which formed part of the book's crowdfunding campaign (Thames & Hudson will be publishing a retail edition this September). This comes in a fancy screen-printed acrylic slipcase and includes a Phantasy Star IV art print by Hitoshi Yoneda. It's more than double the cost of the standard version at £125, which makes it a luxury item, for sure. If you're less bothered about it looking good on the shelf, then the still-quite-pricy £60 edition should more than suffice.
Is this worth seeking out if you already own the original version, though? That's very much up to you; the 48 additional pages are very welcome indeed and certainly add to the book's appeal massively, but I'm not sure it's worth shelling out that extra cash purely to own them.
However, I suspect this updated edition is more about satisfying those who weren't able to grab the original back in 2014 (copies have been changing hands for many times over the original RRP, too). In that regard, it's great to see this excellent tome get a second chance at finding an audience; it's certainly an essential purchase if you're a fan of Sega and its best-selling 16-bit system, as there arguably hasn't been another book published which gives the console this much love and affection.