Sonic CD is one of my favourite Sonic games. I'd even say it's the best one. I remember playing the game for the first time back in '93 on my Uncle's Mega CD and being completely enchanted by the colour, the speed, the time travelling, the sickening over use of parallax scrolling and the soundtrack that is so good that I believe it has the ability to cure Cancer. 2 years later my father would buy me a multi mega. And 3 months after that I would acquire a copy of Sonic CD, finding it on my local market stall after weeks and weeks of searching and scouring every Woolworths store in London. But my time with the game would be short lived. Sony would release the PlayStation which had me question why Sega's CD games looked so poo when Sony's looked so good and could do "3D and dat innit". And seeing Street Fighter Alpha 2 for sale on the shelf of my local Blockbuster would have me terminate all allegiance to the Multi mega and Sonic CD and flog it at some ridiculously low price to a good friend. A price which would only buy me Street Fighter Alpha 2, with not even enough change to nab me a Cadbury's creme egg.
I've always regretted that day. The day I let what even back then was a rare game go and it's taken the best part of 18 years for the game to release in a form that I was satisfied with buying.
Sega often make out like Sonic CD is some off-shot game. Not aligned with 1 to 3. Overly complicating the game for what it is. Shockingly leaving it omitted from the Sonic mega collection and then making the controversial decision to release the game as part of the follow up compilation Sonic gems collection with the much disliked North American soundtrack in place of the Japanese one - which many cited as a defining factor of the game, UK gamers were strongly accustomed to and some reviewers even infamously lowered their score of the game for not having it. So for the game to finally release in its original form with some additional perks along the way (smoother graphics, no slow down and selectable soundtracks. Yay!) is a joyous occasion for those who have been waiting for a version of the game as close to the one they'd played on the Mega CD all those years ago. It's finally here. It took almost 2 decades and a dedicated fan, but it's here.
Sonic CD plays as a Sonic game should. Fast, fun, unfair as fuck in later stages, with slick graphics and a soundtrack that sounds like it should be the backing track to a top 10 chart contending hoes' next single.
Make no mistake. Sonic CD is a difficult game. One of the most difficult games in the series if not the most difficult. The game wants you to complete it, but not without dying half a dozen times along the way. Springs will send you flying into spikes. Iffy collision detection will get you crushed. A lack of bubbles underwater will leave you to drown. Enemies will camouflage with the backdrop and have you run straight into them, thereby losing all 52 of those rings you had scraped together in the hopes of making it to the bonus stage. And if this isn't enough, the game wants to make your life hell to complete it properly and acquire the good / bonus ending. Getting those time stones on the horrendously designed bonus stage is one thing. Holding onto enough rings to access it at the end of each stage is another thing entirely. Travelling back into the past to make a good future is all well and good, if you can find a section of a zone free of pitfalls, obstacles and enemies to keep your speed up to enable teh time travel to taketh place. The game is a bitch. But it's a well dressed bitch you refuse to leave alone, because you become so hooked to the gameplay that you find yourself justifying every moment that the game somehow skanks you out of winning.
Sonic CD is one of the few Sonic games where just zipping from point A to B is not enough. You will traverse around a whole entire stage on the hunt for rings, Time travelling sign posts, robot making machines, holograms of Mecha-Sonic and scouting area's where you feel you'll be able to time travel. You need to consider more in this game than your average Sonic the hedgehog game, which is what makes Sonic CD so frustrating to play, but also fresh and addictive. A level of thinking goes into playing this game that you'd never associate with a Sonic game. But the fundamentals which made Sonic games so fun in the 16-bit golden era are all still well and intact.
This game is a nice reminder that Sega once upon a time were very sure of what they wanted a Sonic the hedgehog game to be and didn't take countless sequels to get it right. They nailed it every time. Sonic CD is not without fault, but it does more right than what it does wrong. And every element of the gameplay still holds up today and shames the absolutely shit out of Sonic the hedgehog 4. If you have some Microsoft points or some quid to spare and you're in the mood for downloading a Sonic arcade game, fuck 4. Go for CD.
Pro's
+ Solid game play
+ A nice time travel mechanic
+ Brilliant soundtrack
Con's
- The difficulty spikes very early on
- The final zone will make you want to kill yourself
I've always regretted that day. The day I let what even back then was a rare game go and it's taken the best part of 18 years for the game to release in a form that I was satisfied with buying.
Sega often make out like Sonic CD is some off-shot game. Not aligned with 1 to 3. Overly complicating the game for what it is. Shockingly leaving it omitted from the Sonic mega collection and then making the controversial decision to release the game as part of the follow up compilation Sonic gems collection with the much disliked North American soundtrack in place of the Japanese one - which many cited as a defining factor of the game, UK gamers were strongly accustomed to and some reviewers even infamously lowered their score of the game for not having it. So for the game to finally release in its original form with some additional perks along the way (smoother graphics, no slow down and selectable soundtracks. Yay!) is a joyous occasion for those who have been waiting for a version of the game as close to the one they'd played on the Mega CD all those years ago. It's finally here. It took almost 2 decades and a dedicated fan, but it's here.
Sonic CD plays as a Sonic game should. Fast, fun, unfair as fuck in later stages, with slick graphics and a soundtrack that sounds like it should be the backing track to a top 10 chart contending hoes' next single.
Make no mistake. Sonic CD is a difficult game. One of the most difficult games in the series if not the most difficult. The game wants you to complete it, but not without dying half a dozen times along the way. Springs will send you flying into spikes. Iffy collision detection will get you crushed. A lack of bubbles underwater will leave you to drown. Enemies will camouflage with the backdrop and have you run straight into them, thereby losing all 52 of those rings you had scraped together in the hopes of making it to the bonus stage. And if this isn't enough, the game wants to make your life hell to complete it properly and acquire the good / bonus ending. Getting those time stones on the horrendously designed bonus stage is one thing. Holding onto enough rings to access it at the end of each stage is another thing entirely. Travelling back into the past to make a good future is all well and good, if you can find a section of a zone free of pitfalls, obstacles and enemies to keep your speed up to enable teh time travel to taketh place. The game is a bitch. But it's a well dressed bitch you refuse to leave alone, because you become so hooked to the gameplay that you find yourself justifying every moment that the game somehow skanks you out of winning.
Sonic CD is one of the few Sonic games where just zipping from point A to B is not enough. You will traverse around a whole entire stage on the hunt for rings, Time travelling sign posts, robot making machines, holograms of Mecha-Sonic and scouting area's where you feel you'll be able to time travel. You need to consider more in this game than your average Sonic the hedgehog game, which is what makes Sonic CD so frustrating to play, but also fresh and addictive. A level of thinking goes into playing this game that you'd never associate with a Sonic game. But the fundamentals which made Sonic games so fun in the 16-bit golden era are all still well and intact.
This game is a nice reminder that Sega once upon a time were very sure of what they wanted a Sonic the hedgehog game to be and didn't take countless sequels to get it right. They nailed it every time. Sonic CD is not without fault, but it does more right than what it does wrong. And every element of the gameplay still holds up today and shames the absolutely shit out of Sonic the hedgehog 4. If you have some Microsoft points or some quid to spare and you're in the mood for downloading a Sonic arcade game, fuck 4. Go for CD.
Pro's
+ Solid game play
+ A nice time travel mechanic
+ Brilliant soundtrack
Con's
- The difficulty spikes very early on
- The final zone will make you want to kill yourself