Quick Look: Sonic CD

@Hockeymask27: It's there. By selecting his existing save, he skipped it. I have it on iOS and XBLA, and it's in both. Japanese or English soundtracks to it also.

So when Jeff was chasing down those UFOs... was anyone else thinking Jazz Jack Rabbit?

You can tell you've made something special when the reaction to it is so polarized. Sonic CD fucking rocks.

Why is the death star on the title screen?

I had a Sega CD once. My family couldn't figure out how to hook it up--or it was defective--so we got rid of it after about a week. As a result, I never had a chance to play Sonic CD. Honestly, it looks okay, but not nearly as great as most people think it is. The level design seems kind of confusing and ugly compared to Sonic 2 or 3.

I never had the opportunity to play Sonic CD when I was young. I'm definitely going to purchase this and dig into this classic.

@Taku128: Yeah. I beat the iOS version a few days ago, good ending / all good futures with the Japanese sountrack for the very first time, and the original Japanese music in the present / bad future / good futures fits so much better with the past tunes that were unchanged in the US version. Each zone has a theme (with both audio and visuals) and each era in each zone is a variation on those, it's really quite awesome. The US version is incredibly random with the music by comparison. Plus having listened to every track in every level with both soundtracks now, even I have to admit the Japanese music is just better all around. I liked the US version when I played it way back when (and over the years), I really did, but most of the tracks I liked back then were in the past variations of the stages anyway and this was when I had no idea that there was even an alternate soundtrack.

I'm so glad they finally included both gave us the option to use either, will definitely buy the game again when it comes to Steam to show my support. $2 was a steal. The game looks fantastic too in widescreen, the guy did a bang-up job on the engine. No crappy stretching, nice clean pixels, and no more slowdowns. Sega should hire him for all their 2D updates.

God I hate Sonic.

What is the point of Sonic? Get the rings, go fast, I get that; but if you really wanted to get into it, what are the subtle nuances that you need to know? A big reason why I never liked the Sonic games is because I couldn't wrap my head around the actual goal of the game. Can someone enlighten me please?

@Tsuchikage said:

I had a Sega CD once. My family couldn't figure out how to hook it up--or it was defective--so we got rid of it after about a week. As a result, I never had a chance to play Sonic CD. Honestly, it looks okay, but not nearly as great as most people think it is. The level design seems kind of confusing and ugly compared to Sonic 2 or 3.

The level design is the best part, you have to explore to destroy the machines of the past and sometimes backtrack for a past or future signpost and a good spot to keep up your speed and time travel rather than blow straight through a level as fast as you can, which you can still do but doesn't pay off in terms of creating a good future and good ending. Doing Time Attack mode after completing the game is great if you want to do that since you can't time travel in Time Attack (Time Attack is also how you unlock all the extras like the sound test). Because the different eras for each level have slightly different layouts and enemies along with drastically different visuals and music, you would be missing a lot of the content rushing through it that way, too.

It's the only 2D Sonic where the 10 minute time limit will actually be a factor on almost every level when you start traveling to the past and possibly back to the futures to get enough rings for the special stages or an extra life (or just to see the differences and hear the alternate musics). There is a lot going in the game that the quick look didn't show, but Jeff did a good job explaining it. The "How to Play" section in the options explains all the possible goals clearly, you'll want to check that out if you pick the game up.

He showed off one of the most gimmicky zones (Wacky Workbench) at the start which is very different from any Sonic game, Stardust Speedway after that is a later level too so it is a bit more complex than the earlier ones, but it's really fun to find your way through. All about speed and loops and such. All in all even though we saw three different zones which is normally a good chunk of a regular Sonic game, it was only fraction of this game.

If you liked any of the Genesis Sonics you really need to give this one a shot.

I really liked that JPN music from the first level. I haven't actually played Sonic CD so I can't speak for anything other then what I heard in this quicklook but the US soundtrack didn't seem all that appealing.

Holy spindash it's the first time I really want to play a sonic videogame in years. I never got to play that, and it looks awesome. At last a Sonic game without a thousand furries talking all the time.

God, I feel like I'm 8 all over again.

@shinluis: Because he's a well informed professional. That's why I like GiantBomb. :D

I think that for most people, the first soundtrack you heard with the game is probably going to be your favorite. I had the US version, and so I associate the US music with the game. I actually kind of hated going to the past back then because the music sounded so different from the rest of the game; later I'd learn that was actually the original Japanese music track.

Nowadays I'm cool with it. I intend to play through it with the Japanese soundtrack sometime down the road.

Sonic CD is great! I remember playing it on the PC back when it came out. One of my favorite 2D platformers ever. I probably have the CD sitting around somewhere... Hmm...

CD is horribly overrated. Its a fine game but the level design is complete fucking garbage. Its still up there, but behind S3&K and Sonic 2.

@KingCrimson4life: Completely fucking agree. I really wish the real best Sonic games (S2 and S3&K) got this amount of attention in their XBLA ports instead of those hackjobs by Backbone.

I do agree with Jeff that this is the one great Sonic game. Sonic 1, 2, and Adventure are alright, but Sonic CD is the one installment where the level design and mechanics are as well-done as a Mario platformer.

For anyone who enjoys platformers but can't understand why people ever cared about Sonic, Sonic CD is the game to play. "Sonic Boom" will be in your head for weeks!

@Jeff: It is not "mode 7ish things", it is BLAST PROCESSING!!!! :D

OK, after hearing the Japan soundtrack, I can see why people are so crazy for it. But I'm still a Sonic Boom guy.

Awesome! they finally released this again. I had the pc version ages ago but its not compatible with my current computer with out resorting to dos box or something. sold! click!

Your too slow!

@GalacticPunt said:

I do agree with Jeff that this is the one great Sonic game. Sonic 1, 2, and Adventure are alright, but Sonic CD is the one installment where the level design and mechanics are as well-done as a Mario platformer.

Err no. The level design in Sonic CD is just messy all around. It's a way worse game than Sonic 2,3 and Knuckles.

I never realised how polarising this game was! I suppose I now know why I loved Sonic CD but disliked every other Sonic game (with the exception of the bizarre Sonic Adventure). The level design encourages exploration, which might have appealed to me as I was coming from Mario platformers at the time. Unfortunately for some, this level design doesn't create the fluid, fast, unrestrained level designs of the post-Sonic 2 games. At the time, the soundtrack probably lifted a "good" game to a "very good" game as well.

Wow. People are dicks when other people like the Sonic game they don't like.

Sonic nerds are the worst.

@PrivateIronTFU said:

Wow. People are dicks when other people like the Sonic game they don't like.

I'm not quite sure if that's exclusive to Sonic. : )

I had this game on PC! Wish it would still install.

I like sonic 2 more, but this one looks fun.

@KingCrimson4life said:

Sonic CD is one of the most overrated games ever made. Its awful and convoluted level design makes it a chore to play. Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 and Knuckles are designed to flow well from beginning to end with constant speed. Sonic CD is just a mess and I don't have fun playing it.

Exhibit A

And here is a level designed by people who knew what they were doing. I present to you Chemical Plant

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who found this overrated. I LOVED those Genesis Sonic games as a kid but never had a chance to play Sonic CD. Finally got a chance last week and just did not "get it". I could never get the time traveling to work other than by dumb luck, the levels sapped your speed but weren't fun to explore, and the bosses were bad.

I suppose I'm glad I played it just for historical purposes. Maybe I should go back and play my beloved Sonic 3 & Knuckles again? Does it still hold up or is it simply nostalgia at this point?

"Listen to that guitar ripping."

"Listen to THAT GUITAR RIPPING!"

Laughed so hard.

Very disappointed they didn't play the opening intro movie. Sonic boom 4 lyfe.

I've been really looking forward to this game.

@CptBedlam: Just your opinion, bro.

Also, all of the haters in the comments here amuse me greatly. Keep it up.

Sonic 3, and putting Sonic 3 into Sonic & Knuckles, were my favorite (and last) experiences with Sonic the Hedgehog. Never did play Sonic CD, because who the hell bought a Sega CD, right?

Now I don't care enough to try it.

@ll_Exile_ll said:

@adny2 said:

dont know if anyone already mentioned this, but there was no spin dash in the original Sonic CD.

There was, the animation was just dumb as hell.

Actually no. There was the one with the figure 8 running legs, yeah. but the 'spin dash' where he turns into a ball and shoots out was not in the Sega CD version that I own.

@AMonkey: really? i mean they didnt even time travel, essentially the gimmick of this game. I felt like Jeff didnt really put too much effort into the game, most likely because he couldnt concentrate while trying to hold a conversation. i feel like this quicklook just shows a very generic sonic game, and that is not in the spirit of what those are supposed to do.

Sonic CD is monstrously overrated, in any form, with any soundtrack, on any platform. The game is trash, but somehow unjustly beloved.

A couple BitMob articles on the topic:

http://bitmob.com/articles/sonic-cd-why-so-beloved

http://bitmob.com/articles/levels-of-shame-sonic-cd

Well, I dunno about Naka's opinion, but it's not like the game wasn't put anywhere else. There was a PC release (Win95, was it?), and the game was included in Sonic Gems Collection. It was coincidentally the only good game on Sonic Gems Collection. In addition, Japanese adverts for the game were among the bonus stuff you could find in Sonic Jam.

As for emulation, it actually has been pretty trivial even at the beginning of the decade. Kega lets you just boot up an ISO/MP3 dump as long as you have the Sega CD bios.

Oh, and US soundtrack > JP/EU soundtrack.

@Axelhander: Haha, did you write those pieces too or is it just a coincidence that the name is Alexander? I don't get why you pass them off as generic bitmob articles rather than your own.

Anyway, you seem to be really passionate about these games but you also seem to have a massive chip on your shoulder since this one doesn't fit the mold of your typical Sonic game, but you (along with a few others around here) fail to see that's what makes it unique and fun and why it stuck with some people more than the other Sonic games.

Those games really don't require much attention from the player aside from holding to the right and occasionally pressing the jump button. That formula gets incredibly boring after a while, and trying to play some of those levels all these years later is like drinking a bottle of NyQuil, while Sonic CD still offers some challenge and thus has potential to hold your attention and get you a bit more involved. It doesn't matter there's no narrative payoff for going into the past and creating good futures, the Sonic games aren't known for their stories. The fact is the act of doing it is rewarding and enjoyable and that's all most people really need when they sit down and play a game like this.

There are some ridiculous levels but there are some really good ones too, as in any Sonic game. They aren't all perfect so stop pretending they are. Sonic CD's levels demand exploration from the player and challenge them in a way none of the other ones do, and that's why people dig it.

Woah!

Even if I already got the original game, this looks pretty nice.

@CptBedlam said:

@GalacticPunt said:

I do agree with Jeff that this is the one great Sonic game. Sonic 1, 2, and Adventure are alright, but Sonic CD is the one installment where the level design and mechanics are as well-done as a Mario platformer.

Err no. The level design in Sonic CD is just messy all around. It's a way worse game than Sonic 2,3 and Knuckles.

I actually agree with you.

Never quite understood the internet love for this installment.. 'guess it's mostly people that never own a copy of the game or just tried it on emulation for 5 minutes... Never liked CD much, I even prefer the much more underrated Chaotix on the 32x to this Sega Cd episode...

Jeff says the exact same thing about the US soundtrack I feel about the Japanese soundtrack. Maybe we are two parts of the same coin.

Although I don't think the levels in this game were really well done. The time travel aspects were a cool idea, and the use of mode 7 I suspect at the time of release were "mind blowing", but the level designs just made the game really not fun.

Those strobing textures are killing my eyes..

not another sonic game they always more hard challenges on a sonic game

Lol, Jeff kicked ass during the special stage. Despite not getting the emerald, he pulled off some bad ass maneuvers. That's maneuvering that you just don't see nowadays.

Glad you can have the US soundtrack. "Sonic Boom 4 Life" indeed.

Between that and the surprisingly low price, I'll get this next time I pick up some points.

@pyide: Never said they weren't mine, nor did I try to pass them off as generic. Here's something else I didn't say: that Sonic CD is bad because it doesn't fit the Sonic mold. I said it was bad for very real, very valid reasons, including sloppy level design. Nice straw man though. On the topic of poor arguments, Superman 64 demands the same sort of attention you're waxing poetic about re: Sonic CD. The same argument can justify any game, anywhere.

I had no idea people held this in high regard until people started talking about htis port. Sonic 2 always seamed like the one people loved the most and to some extent Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

I never had any of Sonic games back in the day. I wanted a Mega Drive, but got a Master System instead. Then I went directly from the Mega Drive to the Playstation so I skipped the 16-bit era, but I of course played SNES and Mega Drive at friend's places. Don't think anyone ever had a Mega-CD though, or a 32X for that matter. So never played any of those games.

Brad said chibi.

US soundtrack of Sonic CD all day long.

Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles for life!