According to the director, Yojiro Ogawa, the purpose of the compilation was to introduce younger players to the original games in the Sonic series.

Outside of the games, the compilation includes Sonic-themed videos and illustrations, as well as high-resolution scans of the instruction manuals and Sonic the Hedgehog comic covers.

Sonic Mega Collection received positive critical reception, being recommended for its large library of titles, high quality emulation, and its cheap market price.

[4] Sonic Team had trouble gathering materials for the compilation because it had been a decade since they made the games and "Sega's not that good about keeping history.

"[5] For instance, Naka wanted to include the original prototype of the first game but Sonic Team could not find its ROM image.

[6] Sega announced Mega Collection as a GameCube exclusive in early July 2002,[7] and revealed which games would be included later that month.

[11][12] When Sega began to expand support for the PlayStation 2, it commissioned a version of Mega Collection for that console and the Xbox.

"[22] However, Johnny Liu of Game Revolution advised "just blow the dust off the old Genesis, because there isn't enough good extra stuff here.

Chris Baker of GameSpy decided that "despite its exclusions, though, Collection's large selection of titles for $19.99 is a tough thing not to recommend to anyone who calls himself a gamer.

"[24] Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com assured readers that "even with its shortcomings, it's still one of the most value-packed classic compilations available for any system -- as long as you like Sonic.