I used to think a lot of my love for Sonic CD is just for the visual and soundtrack,so it is surprising that i did actually have fun with Sonic CD once i decided to completed it again with the 2011 remaster now.

Despite what everyone here says about the level designs being awful or frustrating i actually have a lot of fun with it,the gameplay more or less stays the same with classic Sonic but it does feels a bit awkward sometimes and it is more of an exploration based zones unlike other 2D Sonic games which I don't mind with,because these zones are not just beautiful to look at but also they are fun as well with my favorite being Stardust Speedway and Wacky Workbench yes you read that right Wacky Workbench is FUN and so are other zones except metallic madness act 2 & 3 they're just frustrating tbh,but even so the worst zones from Sonic CD still has some of the catchiest soundtrack in all of sonic games they really goes through the roof with this soundtrack it's too good.

I may have fun exploring these zones in Sonic CD but goddamn are the bosses some of the lamest bosses i've ever played in platforming games, besides like Metal Sonic race which was cool a bit stressful due to his AI but it's still cool boss nonetheless which i can't say the same to other bosses,it says a lot when the final boss itself is just gimmicky no actual substance at all and the first one is made for babies.

I think this has becomes my 2nd favorite 2D Sonic games as of now it still has plenty of issues major and minor that hella bothers me but i still have a lot of fun with it and couldn't really go wrong with peak classic sonic visual and soundtrack.

I played the Steam version of this.

I love the animations and the music. This game has my favorite music in the classic games that I've played so far. This game is also the easiest to pick up and play casually. You can speed through levels pretty quickly and easily even on a first playthrough. Although there was one level that was the exception to that. I think the Steam version adds Tails as a playable character and he's way better than he was in Sonic 2. He actually gets to fly, so he isn't just a worse version of Sonic. It's a shame that they didn't include multiplayer though. Another neat feature is the time travel mechanic. There are basically 3 different levels of each act that adds replay value for those that like to see everything a game has to offer.

Now for the things I didn't like. The art is pretty bland. It makes a strong first impression with the vibrant colors in the first level, but as you progress through the game, the colors become a lot more muted and dull. I also don't think the theme of each zone was very diverse. In Sonic 2, each zone was distinct in aesthetics and mechanics. Sonic CD falls flat in that area. Another thing I did not enjoy was the special stages. In classic Sonic tradition, they're hard. Sonic 2's and Sonic CD's special stages in particular felt more like they were made to be technically impressive rather than being fun to play. Another thing I didn't like was that it feels like this game really encourages playing through each act in each time period to really get the full experience. With the labyrinthian level design, this feels pretty tedious. Again, I like linear levels more than open-ended ones. My last complain is a spoiler. Amy Rose and Metal Sonic appear so infrequently in this game. I think they appear twice total. Maybe I did something wrong and there are more opportunities to engage with both of them, but I was expecting the debut of two classic characters to have more of an impact.

Overall, I think Sonic CD is the easiest classic game to just jump in and play. Not sure how much of that has to do with the version of the game I played though. Next up is Sonic 3 (no Knuckles).