Sonic already had a great running start when it came to the success of his original game, which brought him into the spotlight as Sega’s newest heavy hitter and potential mascot, but then when Sonic 2 was released, it solidified that role for him. Not only was Sonic 2 better than the original game in almost every single way, but it introduced many mainstays of the franchise, such as with Tails and Super Sonic, making it not just one of the best Sonic games out there, but also one of the best titles to have on the Sega Genesis. So, of course, like with Alex Kidd, Sega was going to make sure to keep Sonic games coming, with the next of these titles initially starting out as a port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Sega CD. However, this then quickly changed into a completely different game, which would be developed alongside Sonic 2, and would take place in between that game and the original. Eventually, the game would be released alongside two other brand new Sonic games (which we will get to at a later date), and it would simply be known as Sonic the Hedgehog CD, or just Sonic CD for short.
Whenever it comes to what many consider to be the best Sega CD game, people will often point to this title, while also calling it one of the best Sonic games ever made, and while I personally wouldn’t completely agree with that sentiment, I will say it is still a really great entry in the series. Like with the previous mainline Sonic game, it manages to take what was established in the previous games and add onto it, introducing completely new mechanics and gimmicks that would rarely get used ever again, making this one of the more unique and entertaining titles in the series. Of course, it does have its share of problems, as any Sonic game does (as any fan should be used to by now), but for what we got here, it still holds up pretty well to this day, and a must-play for anyone who owns a Sega CD.
The story is similar to the other Sonic games, except this time you are now saving a damsel in distress, and stopping Robotnik from taking over the extraterrestrial body known as Little Planet, and most of this is even shown to us through these very well animated cutscenes made by Toei Animation………… which look absolutely crusty on the original hardware, but hey, they are some of the better cutscenes seen on the system, the graphics are of a similar quality to the previous Genesis Sonic titles, but they still look great here, not only being just as colorful and detailed as before, but also having plenty of different new animations for characters for that extra level of detail, the music is…. complicated, with there being two different soundtracks that were made, one for the US and one for everywhere else, and while there are definitely plenty of great tracks to be heard in the US soundtrack, the Japanese soundtrack knocks it out of the park in every single way, it is so damn good, the control is typical of what you would expect from a Sonic game, so not much to talk about there, and the gameplay is familiar with those who have played the previous Sonic titles, but introduces plenty of new mechanics to keep things interesting.
The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Sonic once again, go through a set of seven zones, each with three acts a piece, run through them at the speed of sound while defeating many different badniks in your path to free all of the little animals trapped within them, gather plenty of rings, shields, and invincibility boxes along the way to give you an edge over the many robotic enemies you will face, and take on the evil Robotnik’s many different contraptions, ranging from the creative and challenging, to the completely pathetic and pointless. It has all the markings of your typical 2D Sonic title, but to its credit, it still manages to be pretty fun, and the level of speed is properly maintained throughout this title for the most part, making it still pretty fun to play.
In terms of new additions, like with Sonic 2, there are quite a few. For starters, Sonic still retains his Spin Dash from the previous game, but now, he also has a brand new move called the Super Peel Out, where he can rev up his feet into a figure-8 pattern and take off towards whatever lies ahead of him. When you think about it, it is essentially just a fancier version of the Spin Dash, but honestly, I love using this move, and the speed and distance you get with it is really satisfying. It’s a shame that it is barely ever brought back after this, aside from one or two exceptions here or there. Alongside this, we also have two brand new characters who, like Tails, would go onto being mainstays of the entire Sonic franchise. The first of these new characters would be Amy Rose, Sonic’s on-again-off-again love interest, who for this game is just relegated to the damsel in distress role, because I guess Sega really was trying really hard to push Sonic as their own personal Mario. While I myself don’t personally like her as much as other characters seen throughout the franchise, I would still say that Amy is a pretty great character, one that is usually fun to see whenever she shows up in future games (especially ones where she talks), and whenever you get the chance to play as her in certain installments, she is also usually fun to play as. Not to mention, her classic design is fucking adorable, and you cannot convince me otherwise.
The second character that was introduced, on the other hand, was not only another great inclusion for this series, but has been my favorite character in the entire franchise ever since I first saw him: Metal Sonic. He may not be that creative of a character, with him just being an evil, robotic version of Sonic, but he makes up for it not only with his cool as FUCK design, but also with his many different appearances across the franchise. Usually, he is one of the highlights of anything he appears in, and most of his boss fights are some of the best in the entire series. In terms of what he does in this game though, not only does he show up to actually kidnap Amy right in front of you, but you also race against him to avoid Robotnik’s rainbow laser of death, and while it can be a bit annoying if you don’t time your jumps right, it is one of the best boss fights in the game in my opinion.
Moving on from characters though, the third biggest inclusion of this game, as well as the main gimmick of the whole thing, is with time travel. Throughout most of the levels, you will see plenty of signs that say Past or Future, and when you pass by them and then get enough speed, you will then be sent back or forward in time, to where the levels now look and sound different and have a different amount of enemies depending on the time period you’re in. While it doesn’t really change the gameplay that much, it can be pretty neat to swap between these time periods, as well as seeing all the differences between them for each of the levels, if you are that curious. But, if you do want to go for the best ending in the game, the time travel mechanic does become pretty important, as for every single Past version of a level, there will be a hidden transporter that will be producing enemies that you can destroy. When you destroy all of those, you then immediately create a good future for the zone, and unlock the best ending. Honestly though…. I’m not really too big of a fan of this method of completing the game. There is nothing necessarily wrong with it, but I just don’t like searching the levels to find these specific spots where these transporters are, as it completely breaks the pacing that Sonic levels typically have, and that is something I value heavily in these games.
Thankfully though, there is a more traditional alternative for people like me. Like in Sonic 1, if you collect 50 rings, a giant ring will appear at the end of the main stages, and when you jump in said ring, you will be transported to a Special Stage where you will get the chance to get a Time Stone………… yes, a Time Stone, not a Chaos Emerald. Usually, when it comes to special stages in Sonic games, I typically kinda dread getting to them, as they can either be really fun or annoying as hell, with no inbetween a lot of the time. With this game, though, we get to go through the really fun batch of Special Stages, where you are running in a 3D environment trying to destroy these UFOs, and when you destroy them all, you get the Time Stone. Sure, these stages can get kinda annoying at times, given how fast both you and the UFOs can get at times, but honestly, I greatly prefer this over plenty of other special stages in Sonic games, as I feel like I have a lot more control over what I do, and when I fuck up, I do feel like it is my fault rather then the game fucking me over.
So yeah, it may seem like I absolutely adore this game, but trust me, I do have my fair share of complaints about this title. For starters, the Spin Dash, at least in the original version of the game, FUCKING SUCKS. Not only does it look off from what it usually is, but it works differently to where you have to wait for it to charge up before you release the wind up button, making it pretty unreliable when compared to the Super Peel Out. Thankfully, this was fixed in the modern ports of the game made by Christian Whitehead, but if you are playing the original version of the game, or the port on the Sega Gems Collection, that Spin Dash is pretty much completely useless.
And secondly, while I wouldn’t say this applies to every level in the game, I will say that for a majority of the stages in this game, the level design is pretty horrible. Not to say that it doesn’t work well enough, but it feels like in this game specifically that a lot of the time, you can’t properly maneuver around a lot of parts without some jank getting in the way, such as with certain pathways and enemy placements. Not to mention, there are also plenty of moments where you can get stuck in the levels, needing to fight against the gimmicks to hope to make some progress, and there are plenty of examples you can find where you will see rings just clipped through the walls, unable to get. I don’t know how the hell they let that slide, but I guess Sonic Team was always known for half-assing their games at points, even from the beginning.
Overall, despite some shitty level design in places and a completely useless Spin Dash, I would consider Sonic CD to be one of the best 2D Sonic games out there, and it is without a doubt the best game on the Sega CD that I have ever played. I would definitely recommend it to those who are big fans of Sonic games, as well as those love 2D platformers in general, because this title will give you plenty to blaze through and enjoy, every step of the way. Although, if you are gonna play this, here is a quick word of advice: be ready for what you may see in the Sound Test. Some of it is pretty funny, and it can be cute as well, but then some of it is just… shudder....
Game #420
Whenever it comes to what many consider to be the best Sega CD game, people will often point to this title, while also calling it one of the best Sonic games ever made, and while I personally wouldn’t completely agree with that sentiment, I will say it is still a really great entry in the series. Like with the previous mainline Sonic game, it manages to take what was established in the previous games and add onto it, introducing completely new mechanics and gimmicks that would rarely get used ever again, making this one of the more unique and entertaining titles in the series. Of course, it does have its share of problems, as any Sonic game does (as any fan should be used to by now), but for what we got here, it still holds up pretty well to this day, and a must-play for anyone who owns a Sega CD.
The story is similar to the other Sonic games, except this time you are now saving a damsel in distress, and stopping Robotnik from taking over the extraterrestrial body known as Little Planet, and most of this is even shown to us through these very well animated cutscenes made by Toei Animation………… which look absolutely crusty on the original hardware, but hey, they are some of the better cutscenes seen on the system, the graphics are of a similar quality to the previous Genesis Sonic titles, but they still look great here, not only being just as colorful and detailed as before, but also having plenty of different new animations for characters for that extra level of detail, the music is…. complicated, with there being two different soundtracks that were made, one for the US and one for everywhere else, and while there are definitely plenty of great tracks to be heard in the US soundtrack, the Japanese soundtrack knocks it out of the park in every single way, it is so damn good, the control is typical of what you would expect from a Sonic game, so not much to talk about there, and the gameplay is familiar with those who have played the previous Sonic titles, but introduces plenty of new mechanics to keep things interesting.
The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Sonic once again, go through a set of seven zones, each with three acts a piece, run through them at the speed of sound while defeating many different badniks in your path to free all of the little animals trapped within them, gather plenty of rings, shields, and invincibility boxes along the way to give you an edge over the many robotic enemies you will face, and take on the evil Robotnik’s many different contraptions, ranging from the creative and challenging, to the completely pathetic and pointless. It has all the markings of your typical 2D Sonic title, but to its credit, it still manages to be pretty fun, and the level of speed is properly maintained throughout this title for the most part, making it still pretty fun to play.
In terms of new additions, like with Sonic 2, there are quite a few. For starters, Sonic still retains his Spin Dash from the previous game, but now, he also has a brand new move called the Super Peel Out, where he can rev up his feet into a figure-8 pattern and take off towards whatever lies ahead of him. When you think about it, it is essentially just a fancier version of the Spin Dash, but honestly, I love using this move, and the speed and distance you get with it is really satisfying. It’s a shame that it is barely ever brought back after this, aside from one or two exceptions here or there. Alongside this, we also have two brand new characters who, like Tails, would go onto being mainstays of the entire Sonic franchise. The first of these new characters would be Amy Rose, Sonic’s on-again-off-again love interest, who for this game is just relegated to the damsel in distress role, because I guess Sega really was trying really hard to push Sonic as their own personal Mario. While I myself don’t personally like her as much as other characters seen throughout the franchise, I would still say that Amy is a pretty great character, one that is usually fun to see whenever she shows up in future games (especially ones where she talks), and whenever you get the chance to play as her in certain installments, she is also usually fun to play as. Not to mention, her classic design is fucking adorable, and you cannot convince me otherwise.
The second character that was introduced, on the other hand, was not only another great inclusion for this series, but has been my favorite character in the entire franchise ever since I first saw him: Metal Sonic. He may not be that creative of a character, with him just being an evil, robotic version of Sonic, but he makes up for it not only with his cool as FUCK design, but also with his many different appearances across the franchise. Usually, he is one of the highlights of anything he appears in, and most of his boss fights are some of the best in the entire series. In terms of what he does in this game though, not only does he show up to actually kidnap Amy right in front of you, but you also race against him to avoid Robotnik’s rainbow laser of death, and while it can be a bit annoying if you don’t time your jumps right, it is one of the best boss fights in the game in my opinion.
Moving on from characters though, the third biggest inclusion of this game, as well as the main gimmick of the whole thing, is with time travel. Throughout most of the levels, you will see plenty of signs that say Past or Future, and when you pass by them and then get enough speed, you will then be sent back or forward in time, to where the levels now look and sound different and have a different amount of enemies depending on the time period you’re in. While it doesn’t really change the gameplay that much, it can be pretty neat to swap between these time periods, as well as seeing all the differences between them for each of the levels, if you are that curious. But, if you do want to go for the best ending in the game, the time travel mechanic does become pretty important, as for every single Past version of a level, there will be a hidden transporter that will be producing enemies that you can destroy. When you destroy all of those, you then immediately create a good future for the zone, and unlock the best ending. Honestly though…. I’m not really too big of a fan of this method of completing the game. There is nothing necessarily wrong with it, but I just don’t like searching the levels to find these specific spots where these transporters are, as it completely breaks the pacing that Sonic levels typically have, and that is something I value heavily in these games.
Thankfully though, there is a more traditional alternative for people like me. Like in Sonic 1, if you collect 50 rings, a giant ring will appear at the end of the main stages, and when you jump in said ring, you will be transported to a Special Stage where you will get the chance to get a Time Stone………… yes, a Time Stone, not a Chaos Emerald. Usually, when it comes to special stages in Sonic games, I typically kinda dread getting to them, as they can either be really fun or annoying as hell, with no inbetween a lot of the time. With this game, though, we get to go through the really fun batch of Special Stages, where you are running in a 3D environment trying to destroy these UFOs, and when you destroy them all, you get the Time Stone. Sure, these stages can get kinda annoying at times, given how fast both you and the UFOs can get at times, but honestly, I greatly prefer this over plenty of other special stages in Sonic games, as I feel like I have a lot more control over what I do, and when I fuck up, I do feel like it is my fault rather then the game fucking me over.
So yeah, it may seem like I absolutely adore this game, but trust me, I do have my fair share of complaints about this title. For starters, the Spin Dash, at least in the original version of the game, FUCKING SUCKS. Not only does it look off from what it usually is, but it works differently to where you have to wait for it to charge up before you release the wind up button, making it pretty unreliable when compared to the Super Peel Out. Thankfully, this was fixed in the modern ports of the game made by Christian Whitehead, but if you are playing the original version of the game, or the port on the Sega Gems Collection, that Spin Dash is pretty much completely useless.
And secondly, while I wouldn’t say this applies to every level in the game, I will say that for a majority of the stages in this game, the level design is pretty horrible. Not to say that it doesn’t work well enough, but it feels like in this game specifically that a lot of the time, you can’t properly maneuver around a lot of parts without some jank getting in the way, such as with certain pathways and enemy placements. Not to mention, there are also plenty of moments where you can get stuck in the levels, needing to fight against the gimmicks to hope to make some progress, and there are plenty of examples you can find where you will see rings just clipped through the walls, unable to get. I don’t know how the hell they let that slide, but I guess Sonic Team was always known for half-assing their games at points, even from the beginning.
Overall, despite some shitty level design in places and a completely useless Spin Dash, I would consider Sonic CD to be one of the best 2D Sonic games out there, and it is without a doubt the best game on the Sega CD that I have ever played. I would definitely recommend it to those who are big fans of Sonic games, as well as those love 2D platformers in general, because this title will give you plenty to blaze through and enjoy, every step of the way. Although, if you are gonna play this, here is a quick word of advice: be ready for what you may see in the Sound Test. Some of it is pretty funny, and it can be cute as well, but then some of it is just… shudder....
Game #420