This game definitely has flaws, but the stuff it does well makes it greater than the sum of its parts.
this game is as good as if sonic was real and my friend honestly
Get good at the game, dumbass.
Other than one of the zones, I think this game perfects the Sonic formula that was presented in Sonic 1 and 2. Really vertical levels that the game forces you to learn the layout of so that you can get the good future for each and every zone as fast as possible. This game has some really memorable music and level design, although WW can be a less than stellar level because of its main gimmick.
Sonic is one of the most classic franchises in gaming history; although he has stumbled a lot throughout his history he still has plenty of great games. This was the flagship title for the Sega CD and the game takes advantage of the boost in hardware. This is an insane Sonic game with great graphics, awesome music, and a unique time travel mechanic. This isn't a perfect game and I don't think all the Sega CD's bells and whistles make enough improvements over Sonic 2 but it's still worth playing if you're a fan of classic Sonic.
Played: 2011 Christian Whitehead rerelease. I'll review the port itself later. This is just for the game itself. I technically did play it on this platform though
I like this game. I like this game? I think so. Maybe. But before I get to that, first, the stage ratings.
Palmtree Panic: Inoffensive, good GH-like stage. 4/5.
Collision Chaos Zone: This stage normally is fine to play but the Past version of it is absolutely GORGEOUS. This is the stage I couldn't beat as a kid, I got to the boss fight but I was a dumb kid 3.5/5.
Tidal Tempest Zone: Out of this game, Sonic 1, and Sonic 2, this is the best water level. Ain't perfect, but I enjoy it a fair amount. 3/5.
Quartz Quadrant Zone: It's alright. On the replay, I died 4 times on the boss for some reason. 2.5/5
Wacky Workbench Zone: You could find some of it in the last zone, but this is truly where the Sonic 1 bullshit starts to kick in, except this time, it's also very confusing. WHERE AM I GOING 1.5/5
Stardust Speedway Zone: Same as last zone, where am I going? Music's good, and the boss fight is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, it's still a 2/5.
Metallic Madness Zone: My thoughts.. 0.5/5.
Well, it's not looking too good for Sonic CD right now. That's about a 2.5/5, rounded up. But I'm not done. Sonic CD is much bigger than just the stages. For example, the intro cutscene. Whoa, there's an intro cutscene? I wonder what it's li-HOOOOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT
The intro cutscene is SO GOOD. I don't know what song it uses in the Japanese version, but I don't care. Because Sonic Boom (the SONG) is PEAAAAK. Intro cutscene is peak. End of discussion. Speaking of the music, the whole OST is peak. Both the JP and US soundtracks. I definitely prefer the JP soundtrack, but from what I've heard of it, the US one is pretty good. The JP soundtrack just sounds more Sonic to me. I think I might honestly like it more than Sonic 2's soundtrack, but that'll probably switch on the daily. As AAAAAAASSSSSS as the stage is, Metallic Madness (Present) from the JP OST is probably the best song, in my opinion, at least.
Now, to the stinky part. First, and definitely most, the level design. This is probably the thing that most people rag on the game about. And I...yeah, I agree completely. The level designs start inoffensive until about the halfway point, until they start decreasing and decreasing from then until it reaches Metallic Madness. Talk about a headache. I genuinely had to look up a map of the zone just to get through. IN A PLATFORMER. PLATFORMERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EASIEST GENRE TO GET INTO AND UNDERSTAND!! This problem also affects probably the most interesting new gimmick, that being the time travel. Yeah, weren't expecting time travel from a game called...Sonic CD, were ya? By passing a sign in placed in the levels, if you go fast for a while, you then travel either to the Past or the Future. If you destroy a robot-making machine or whatever in the Past, you will get the Good Future of that zone. If you get the Good Future for every stage in every zone of the game.....you get a DIFFERENT CUTSCENE FOR THE ENDING. WAHOO. Plus, it's difficult to time travel because of the level design. You would think it would be super easy to go fast for a long time in a game with huge stages. But no, the stages are packed and sometimes mazelike. It's very difficult, and when you're not trying to specifically time travel, sometimes you can accidentally do so by just randomly going fast. And even when you're trying, sometimes you can accidentally go past the opposite sign, so you can't go to the time period you want to. It's just plain TEDIOUS.
So, yeah, that's it, that's the end of my rant.
This game is not an underrated gem.
I like this game. I like this game? I think so. Maybe. But before I get to that, first, the stage ratings.
Palmtree Panic: Inoffensive, good GH-like stage. 4/5.
Collision Chaos Zone: This stage normally is fine to play but the Past version of it is absolutely GORGEOUS. This is the stage I couldn't beat as a kid, I got to the boss fight but I was a dumb kid 3.5/5.
Tidal Tempest Zone: Out of this game, Sonic 1, and Sonic 2, this is the best water level. Ain't perfect, but I enjoy it a fair amount. 3/5.
Quartz Quadrant Zone: It's alright. On the replay, I died 4 times on the boss for some reason. 2.5/5
Wacky Workbench Zone: You could find some of it in the last zone, but this is truly where the Sonic 1 bullshit starts to kick in, except this time, it's also very confusing. WHERE AM I GOING 1.5/5
Stardust Speedway Zone: Same as last zone, where am I going? Music's good, and the boss fight is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, it's still a 2/5.
Metallic Madness Zone: My thoughts.. 0.5/5.
Well, it's not looking too good for Sonic CD right now. That's about a 2.5/5, rounded up. But I'm not done. Sonic CD is much bigger than just the stages. For example, the intro cutscene. Whoa, there's an intro cutscene? I wonder what it's li-HOOOOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT
The intro cutscene is SO GOOD. I don't know what song it uses in the Japanese version, but I don't care. Because Sonic Boom (the SONG) is PEAAAAK. Intro cutscene is peak. End of discussion. Speaking of the music, the whole OST is peak. Both the JP and US soundtracks. I definitely prefer the JP soundtrack, but from what I've heard of it, the US one is pretty good. The JP soundtrack just sounds more Sonic to me. I think I might honestly like it more than Sonic 2's soundtrack, but that'll probably switch on the daily. As AAAAAAASSSSSS as the stage is, Metallic Madness (Present) from the JP OST is probably the best song, in my opinion, at least.
Now, to the stinky part. First, and definitely most, the level design. This is probably the thing that most people rag on the game about. And I...yeah, I agree completely. The level designs start inoffensive until about the halfway point, until they start decreasing and decreasing from then until it reaches Metallic Madness. Talk about a headache. I genuinely had to look up a map of the zone just to get through. IN A PLATFORMER. PLATFORMERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EASIEST GENRE TO GET INTO AND UNDERSTAND!! This problem also affects probably the most interesting new gimmick, that being the time travel. Yeah, weren't expecting time travel from a game called...Sonic CD, were ya? By passing a sign in placed in the levels, if you go fast for a while, you then travel either to the Past or the Future. If you destroy a robot-making machine or whatever in the Past, you will get the Good Future of that zone. If you get the Good Future for every stage in every zone of the game.....you get a DIFFERENT CUTSCENE FOR THE ENDING. WAHOO. Plus, it's difficult to time travel because of the level design. You would think it would be super easy to go fast for a long time in a game with huge stages. But no, the stages are packed and sometimes mazelike. It's very difficult, and when you're not trying to specifically time travel, sometimes you can accidentally do so by just randomly going fast. And even when you're trying, sometimes you can accidentally go past the opposite sign, so you can't go to the time period you want to. It's just plain TEDIOUS.
So, yeah, that's it, that's the end of my rant.
This game is not an underrated gem.
Controversially, I like the level design quite a bit. It took me a while to really appreciate this game for what it is. I used to see it as Sonic 1 but the level design is sometimes better. It wasn't until I decided to go for a generator only run (where you destroy all of the generators in the past) where I really started to appreciate this game. Is it perfect? God no. Sometimes traveling to the past can be quite cumbersome, some of the generators can be ass to find, and sometimes the levels themselves are just ass (Wacky Workbench).
First time going through the generator run? It's pretty good. But once I went back and did it again and again, then I really started to love this game. It's taking one of the original philosophies of Sonic where you're meant to go back and use your skills to get better & faster at the game.
Overall, this feels like THE sonic game for me. It's not my favorite, it's also not the fan favorite, but whenever I think of old school sonic, this is what I think of. The aesthetics and soundtrack of this game are top notch, only being rivaled by Chaotix & the saturn sonic games (and sonic adventure 1). The cutscenes in this game is what made me LOVE sonic. This game oozes so much soul that not many other sonic games do.
If you're gonna play this game, do yourself a favor and play the 2011 decompilation. It's not as accessible as Sonic Origins, but holy shit is it way better.
First time going through the generator run? It's pretty good. But once I went back and did it again and again, then I really started to love this game. It's taking one of the original philosophies of Sonic where you're meant to go back and use your skills to get better & faster at the game.
Overall, this feels like THE sonic game for me. It's not my favorite, it's also not the fan favorite, but whenever I think of old school sonic, this is what I think of. The aesthetics and soundtrack of this game are top notch, only being rivaled by Chaotix & the saturn sonic games (and sonic adventure 1). The cutscenes in this game is what made me LOVE sonic. This game oozes so much soul that not many other sonic games do.
If you're gonna play this game, do yourself a favor and play the 2011 decompilation. It's not as accessible as Sonic Origins, but holy shit is it way better.
an incredibly mixed game that does lots right and lots wrong. try it and see for yourself! jp/eu's version of palmtree panic present is my favorite sonic track.
Better than Sonic 1 and 2.
Sonic CD is an alright game overall. There are so many things I love about the game, the past and future mechanic is so fun, all the music in the game is funky and great, and much like the other classic genesis games it just feels so great to play. A problem I and a lot of other people have with the game is the hunting for the robot transporters. 2D Sonic levels do not exactly lend well to finding an object amongst a large level, and if you do go to break all the transporters, I highly recommend you use a guide. Thankfully however, there is another way to get the true ending, which renders destroying the transporters as obsolete; getting all of the time stones will ensure you the good ending without having to destroy the robot transporters. This creates even more problems however. Traveling to the past and future is practically useless if you are just going for the time stones, meaning the time travel mechanic doesn't really have much purpose at all, which is such a shame as it had so much potential. The special stages in Sonic CD aren't anything special, some of them made me want to rip my hair out, and others were very easy. In my opinion, Sonic CD is a fun but heavily flawed game.