Quick Prelude before i begin this review, this long gap of reviews shouldn’t have taken this long, the reason why i had a big gap of reviews is due to me wanting to do Sonic Generations as my 50th review, My Generations review was shaping up to be one of my longer review but i decided to shelf my Generations review until i cover the boost games in the near distant future, apologies for not putting out content enough, Anyway onto the review.
Sonic CD is a game alright, i sorta have a bit of a soft spot for this game, i played it in my IPad back in 2012 which i still have now and installed but don’t used it because it’s an Ipad from 2010, what was the “secret classic sonic game” is now sorta a divisive game in the Sonic series, some like it, some hate it and i just think it’s okay, Sonic games have a habit of being really great, decent, okay/mediocre to one of the worst things i have ever played and all of the above and this one of the sonic games! Before this playthrough i initially thought Sonic CD was around the same rating i gave Sonic 1 but, nope it’s just okay, this won’t really be a positive review so if you want a reviews that would break down what makes Sonic CD tick for them then i can’t recommend enough Luke’s Video on the game and one of my personal friends/mutuals (ShinGenX) review on Sonic CD. But anyway, with that i’m just gonna get straight into it.
Sonic CD is confused
Everything about this game screams confusion, again this is a game i barely like and i sorta understand it’s appeal but good lord, sometimes whenever it’s just as good as the previous Sonic games i then run into it’s baffling design choices that absolutely ruin its flow and fun factor, it’s like if the crisp company wanted to adhered to it’s previous crisps but also want to do something new, It’s weird that the Japan Team who made this game once considered it to be a sequel to Sonic 2 after they binned the CD Version of Sonic 2 idea but it more so feels like an Expansion of Sonic 1 with the same levels themes and similar design choices with a few of Sonic 2s cut concepts such as Time Travel being present.
Before i begin i should say, if you are curious enough to play this game, it’s safe to say that the Remaster released on mobile/Origins (and maybe if you’re likely enough to scrooge up the original PC Version so you can mod it) is the way to go, the original CD has a gimped Spin-Dash to make the Super Peel-Out look better, Worse looking FMVs and long loading times, The Remeaster gives playable Tails (& Knuckles if you have the mods), 16:9, Ability to swap the osts, a more accurate (and therefore) better Spin-Dash and other Quality of Life Additions/changes. If you want to play CD (Which is highly recommended since you should form your own opinion instead of parroting others) then Play the remaster, with that being said let’s dive into the weird and wonderful world of Sonic CD.
Sonic CD takes place after Sonic 1, Sonic dashes to Never Lake to visit Little Planet, a Planet that comes to Earth every year on the last month on the last day. As Sonic runs through the forest and to the lake, he sees the planet chained to the lake and a mountain in Robotnik likeness, Sonic runs into action as he is forced in another battle of Nature vs Industrialization, not before a spunky pink hedgehog called Princess Sally (who proclaims to be his girlfriend). As he ventures through Little Planet, he faces a Metal copy of himself aptly named Metal Sonic who captures Sally. Sonic is thrust into a new Adventure as he travels through time to collect the Time Stones, Destroy the Robot Generators and save Sally. Sonic CD is a pretty standard Sonic Story for the time but one important thing that sets this game apart from the other games is it shows the perfect utopia Sonic should be fighting for, a Balance. A Balance between Nature and Indrutslisarion in a Good Future. A Future that Sonic & his friends should all be fighting for, that benefits nature and doesn’t destroy it, I sorta headcanon that because this game is before Sonic 2, Sonic made the Tornado in response to seeing the Good Future, inspired after seeing how a balance can benefit a good future. With the gorgeous/timeless 2D Animated cutscenes, it feels like this is the game where they nailed Sonic’s Attitude and world, his design while unchanged in moment to moment gameplay has been refined to have a bit of an edge to it while being cute at the same time, Metal Sonic in the brief appearances in these cutscenes looks threatening as all hell and the environments are full of life.
And on that note, Sonic CD is full of life, everything in this game is blooming with soul, colour, vibrance, life and pigmentation. Sonic CD is a beauty to look at, I know some people are gonna say that it looks too colourful and that’s always a weird complaint i’ve heard, Little Planet is another planet, it’s supposed to be different than South & Westside Island, the out of the box aesthetics makes Sonic CD into the game it is. The Time Travel gimmick (which i have my issues with) really shows how full of life these areas are in the Past and Good Future, And How Robotnik royally fucked it up in the Bad Future, it really shows how Robotnik isn’t a man to messed with despite his goofy nature, feeling like the first game that shows us how Personal the struggle is between them. The Sprite art however, i feel quite mixed about, i don’t like Robotnik’s Hunchback design and Sally just looks off in my opinion, It’s also jarring playing this after Sonic 2 where they changed Sonic’s design there and now it’s back to the Sonic 1 design, i also don’t think the Badnik designs aren’t as memorable as the other games though are fine i guess, it mostly shines in its Backgrounds and Aesthetics and not really the Sprite Art.
When it comes to the music, Sonic CD’s Confusion begins to reap its ugly head in, You see they had a perfectly fine Japanese Soundtrack that amplifies the previous osts, using the Compacted Disc technology that was capable with the new Console, The Japanese/European Ost is fantastic, it’s varied, funky, energetic and feels like a natural evolution of the tracks from the previous games, not to mention since there’s 3 other variants, the ost is a lot blogger and more ambitious than the other soundtracks in the series so far, it can convey a wider way of emotions, happy and fun filled with Palm Tree Panic, slightly foreboding with Tidal Tempest and the Boss theme, full of wonder making you really want to explore the stage with Collision Chaos & Quartz Quadrant and so much more, the short vocal themes of “You can do anything” and Cosmic Eternity shows Sonic’s personality and how people feel about him, how he inspires positivity in other people’s lives, I could go on and on about Sonic CD’s Japanese soundtrack but i think you get the point.
Then Amercians said fuck that and decdied to make their own soundtrack because why not?
Seriously though, there's no real reason why they decided to make their own soundtrack and inadvertently delayed the game to do this, but it’s way way worse! It’s not bad per say and there’s some tracks i like such as Collision Chaos and of course, Sonic Boom is a great and iconic track but on the whole it feels a lot weaker, It’s mainly that the soundtrack all invoke the same feeling of funky 90’s music, with the exception of the Boss/Game Over themes which are threatening pieces of music but i don’t know, i’m struggling to remember one other track apart from Collision Chaos.. Except the Past music which is the same from the European soundtrack, why? Did they not have enough time to compose those other themes or pure laziness? I feel the Soundtrack, while at the very least, fine to listen to doesn’t fit the game overall and feels tacked on, sorta like Sonic R’s Vocal Themes, good but don’t fit the game.
That being said, the game itself is fine? It’s weird to put how i feel about this game since at its core, it seems to be a fine enough “expansion” of Sonic 1, Sonic controls around the same, Rings serve the same health purpose with a risk reward system, there’s Shield, Speed Sneaker and Invincibility Power Ups, it’s standard stuff, those there’s one thing that set’s Sonic CD apart, You see, Each Classic Sonic game emphasis 3 of the tropes amd until Sonic 3 achieved a perfect balance, Sonic 1 focused on Platforming, Sonic 2 focused on Speed filled reaction time and Obstacle Courses and this game, focuses on exploration, of course all 3 elements pop up in each game before but those are the main elements of each game, I wouldn't mind if it was based on exploration
You see, Sonic CD has a few new gimmicks, each Act has a Robot Generator in the past, you go back in time to the past and find Robot Generator, then travel to the future to see the good future you have made, this sounds cool and all but in execution it's not very good. The Time Travel gimmick is so tedious in my opinion, i get it's to emphasise Sonic's speed elements but given other issues with the game i'll mention soon it just doesn't work well, if this was Sonic 1 or 2 then i wouldn't mind this but given how CD wants to use it's level, it feels so unorthodox, I think it would have benefited from having an alternative way to time travel, maybe there’s a time travel method that can get to a time period easily but it’s one that’s always set, then if you find the post and gain enough speed, then you can choose your own Time Period. Finding the Robot Generator is a bit of a pain too, there's no map or indicator anywhere in the game and it just feels so aimless looking for it, it's odd to me that CD prides itself on being a game based on exploration but wants to also be a linear experience like previous games.
It's so odd to me, it's like they had all these levels that were clearly meant to be explored but at the last minute, copped out and had a goal post just for fans who didn't want to explore the zones, it's commendable i guess for having such a versatile way to play but it feels half baked when playing it in both ways.
Trying to play Sonic CD like Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 doesn't hold a candle to the experience you’d have with the previous games, But it’s fun I guess. But you i feel like the game is probably best played when possible searching for the Robot Generators, I’d say the levels are more suited for exploration but again, it’s not nearly as fun as it should be, sometimes Robot Generators are hidden in the most obtuse places, not to mention that the already pre existing issues in terms of time travelling, i feel it’s not as fun as it should be, because of this confusion, Sonic CD never really hits it’s true potential, a thing that will be common for this series.
That isn’t to say Sonic CD is a bad game per say, far from it! I really dig some the levels here, Palmtree Panic is a great bright, vibrant first stage that gives Green Hill a run for its money in terms of gameplay and environments, Collision Chaos has an neat little stage with a good theme of being a Chaotic Casino and Forest, Tidal Tempest feels like the only stage that benefits from this weird hybrid of level design philosophy’s, Quartz Quadrant is busy but in a good way, it feels so full of ideas and Stardust Speedway is iconic and easily one of the best stages in not just this game, but Sonic in general. And with the Time Travel gimmick we get some really unique takes on the same stage, it may be more prehistoric or untouched in the Past or a mechanical cynical hellscape in the future (so Twitter) in the Bad Future and a perfect utopia like balance between both ideas in the Good Future
You’ll notice that some stages i’ve emitted, and that’s because they are the bane of my existence, Wacky Workbench is just annoying, in all incarnations of the stages, The Gimmicks in Sonic CD are mostly hit and miss, but the whole bouncy floor gimmick because it doesn’t suit the stage at all, Metallic Madness is just Scrap Brain but even more annoying, the badniks as just as bad as Act 3 Metropolis Zone too, it’s also just confusing to navigate through, even more than the other stages. It also has Chibi Sonic, An incredibly underdeveloped gimmick but, like honestly, do you really care because it’s Chibi Sonic, but unfortunately, Chibi Sonic aside, it’s such a shame Sonic CD ends on a whimper instead of a bang.
This is partly due to the Bosses, Sonic CD’s Bosses are weird. Instead of being a battle of attrition, a lot of Sonic CD’s Bosses are puzzles or short form challenges. On one hand, these lead to some of the best encounters in the game and even the series this far, Egg Tilter, Egg Conveyor, Egg Razer and of course, Metal Sonic are great and experimental bosses. On the other hand they are laughably easy when they do go for the old boss format, it’s laughably easy, this unfortunately includes the final boss, which were a highlight of previous games but here it’s so forgettable.
There’s also Special Stages and look, I can appreciate their ambition of being semi 3D and explorable. Essentially it follows Sonic trying to destroy a certain amount of UFOs on a time limit, and if you go on the water, your time runs out. These Special stages are the best ones i played so far and they still suck, the obvious answer which Sonic Mania even does is that the Ring count should have been the time limit, otherwise the Ring count is useless, there’s no Badniks and the things that do deplete Ring counts are easily avoidable. But the main issue is that Sonic controls so weirdly in the stages, he feels too stiff to turn and oddly enough, speed feels inconsistent,, there’s also a lot of depth perspective issues when trying to destroy the UFOs or get on another piece of ground. That being said, if you don’t want to go for the Robot Generators and still want to get the good ending, then I wouldn't say it’s a bad choice.
Looking back at this review, i feel the elements of a great game are right there and sometimes i can see that vision sometimes in it’s presentation and even the level design, but like, nah man i can’t completely vibe with this game, it’s not bad, far from it and i recommend a play with the Japanese ost on the remaster but on the whole, Sonic Compacted Disc is confused
Sonic CD is a game alright, i sorta have a bit of a soft spot for this game, i played it in my IPad back in 2012 which i still have now and installed but don’t used it because it’s an Ipad from 2010, what was the “secret classic sonic game” is now sorta a divisive game in the Sonic series, some like it, some hate it and i just think it’s okay, Sonic games have a habit of being really great, decent, okay/mediocre to one of the worst things i have ever played and all of the above and this one of the sonic games! Before this playthrough i initially thought Sonic CD was around the same rating i gave Sonic 1 but, nope it’s just okay, this won’t really be a positive review so if you want a reviews that would break down what makes Sonic CD tick for them then i can’t recommend enough Luke’s Video on the game and one of my personal friends/mutuals (ShinGenX) review on Sonic CD. But anyway, with that i’m just gonna get straight into it.
Sonic CD is confused
Everything about this game screams confusion, again this is a game i barely like and i sorta understand it’s appeal but good lord, sometimes whenever it’s just as good as the previous Sonic games i then run into it’s baffling design choices that absolutely ruin its flow and fun factor, it’s like if the crisp company wanted to adhered to it’s previous crisps but also want to do something new, It’s weird that the Japan Team who made this game once considered it to be a sequel to Sonic 2 after they binned the CD Version of Sonic 2 idea but it more so feels like an Expansion of Sonic 1 with the same levels themes and similar design choices with a few of Sonic 2s cut concepts such as Time Travel being present.
Before i begin i should say, if you are curious enough to play this game, it’s safe to say that the Remaster released on mobile/Origins (and maybe if you’re likely enough to scrooge up the original PC Version so you can mod it) is the way to go, the original CD has a gimped Spin-Dash to make the Super Peel-Out look better, Worse looking FMVs and long loading times, The Remeaster gives playable Tails (& Knuckles if you have the mods), 16:9, Ability to swap the osts, a more accurate (and therefore) better Spin-Dash and other Quality of Life Additions/changes. If you want to play CD (Which is highly recommended since you should form your own opinion instead of parroting others) then Play the remaster, with that being said let’s dive into the weird and wonderful world of Sonic CD.
Sonic CD takes place after Sonic 1, Sonic dashes to Never Lake to visit Little Planet, a Planet that comes to Earth every year on the last month on the last day. As Sonic runs through the forest and to the lake, he sees the planet chained to the lake and a mountain in Robotnik likeness, Sonic runs into action as he is forced in another battle of Nature vs Industrialization, not before a spunky pink hedgehog called Princess Sally (who proclaims to be his girlfriend). As he ventures through Little Planet, he faces a Metal copy of himself aptly named Metal Sonic who captures Sally. Sonic is thrust into a new Adventure as he travels through time to collect the Time Stones, Destroy the Robot Generators and save Sally. Sonic CD is a pretty standard Sonic Story for the time but one important thing that sets this game apart from the other games is it shows the perfect utopia Sonic should be fighting for, a Balance. A Balance between Nature and Indrutslisarion in a Good Future. A Future that Sonic & his friends should all be fighting for, that benefits nature and doesn’t destroy it, I sorta headcanon that because this game is before Sonic 2, Sonic made the Tornado in response to seeing the Good Future, inspired after seeing how a balance can benefit a good future. With the gorgeous/timeless 2D Animated cutscenes, it feels like this is the game where they nailed Sonic’s Attitude and world, his design while unchanged in moment to moment gameplay has been refined to have a bit of an edge to it while being cute at the same time, Metal Sonic in the brief appearances in these cutscenes looks threatening as all hell and the environments are full of life.
And on that note, Sonic CD is full of life, everything in this game is blooming with soul, colour, vibrance, life and pigmentation. Sonic CD is a beauty to look at, I know some people are gonna say that it looks too colourful and that’s always a weird complaint i’ve heard, Little Planet is another planet, it’s supposed to be different than South & Westside Island, the out of the box aesthetics makes Sonic CD into the game it is. The Time Travel gimmick (which i have my issues with) really shows how full of life these areas are in the Past and Good Future, And How Robotnik royally fucked it up in the Bad Future, it really shows how Robotnik isn’t a man to messed with despite his goofy nature, feeling like the first game that shows us how Personal the struggle is between them. The Sprite art however, i feel quite mixed about, i don’t like Robotnik’s Hunchback design and Sally just looks off in my opinion, It’s also jarring playing this after Sonic 2 where they changed Sonic’s design there and now it’s back to the Sonic 1 design, i also don’t think the Badnik designs aren’t as memorable as the other games though are fine i guess, it mostly shines in its Backgrounds and Aesthetics and not really the Sprite Art.
When it comes to the music, Sonic CD’s Confusion begins to reap its ugly head in, You see they had a perfectly fine Japanese Soundtrack that amplifies the previous osts, using the Compacted Disc technology that was capable with the new Console, The Japanese/European Ost is fantastic, it’s varied, funky, energetic and feels like a natural evolution of the tracks from the previous games, not to mention since there’s 3 other variants, the ost is a lot blogger and more ambitious than the other soundtracks in the series so far, it can convey a wider way of emotions, happy and fun filled with Palm Tree Panic, slightly foreboding with Tidal Tempest and the Boss theme, full of wonder making you really want to explore the stage with Collision Chaos & Quartz Quadrant and so much more, the short vocal themes of “You can do anything” and Cosmic Eternity shows Sonic’s personality and how people feel about him, how he inspires positivity in other people’s lives, I could go on and on about Sonic CD’s Japanese soundtrack but i think you get the point.
Then Amercians said fuck that and decdied to make their own soundtrack because why not?
Seriously though, there's no real reason why they decided to make their own soundtrack and inadvertently delayed the game to do this, but it’s way way worse! It’s not bad per say and there’s some tracks i like such as Collision Chaos and of course, Sonic Boom is a great and iconic track but on the whole it feels a lot weaker, It’s mainly that the soundtrack all invoke the same feeling of funky 90’s music, with the exception of the Boss/Game Over themes which are threatening pieces of music but i don’t know, i’m struggling to remember one other track apart from Collision Chaos.. Except the Past music which is the same from the European soundtrack, why? Did they not have enough time to compose those other themes or pure laziness? I feel the Soundtrack, while at the very least, fine to listen to doesn’t fit the game overall and feels tacked on, sorta like Sonic R’s Vocal Themes, good but don’t fit the game.
That being said, the game itself is fine? It’s weird to put how i feel about this game since at its core, it seems to be a fine enough “expansion” of Sonic 1, Sonic controls around the same, Rings serve the same health purpose with a risk reward system, there’s Shield, Speed Sneaker and Invincibility Power Ups, it’s standard stuff, those there’s one thing that set’s Sonic CD apart, You see, Each Classic Sonic game emphasis 3 of the tropes amd until Sonic 3 achieved a perfect balance, Sonic 1 focused on Platforming, Sonic 2 focused on Speed filled reaction time and Obstacle Courses and this game, focuses on exploration, of course all 3 elements pop up in each game before but those are the main elements of each game, I wouldn't mind if it was based on exploration
You see, Sonic CD has a few new gimmicks, each Act has a Robot Generator in the past, you go back in time to the past and find Robot Generator, then travel to the future to see the good future you have made, this sounds cool and all but in execution it's not very good. The Time Travel gimmick is so tedious in my opinion, i get it's to emphasise Sonic's speed elements but given other issues with the game i'll mention soon it just doesn't work well, if this was Sonic 1 or 2 then i wouldn't mind this but given how CD wants to use it's level, it feels so unorthodox, I think it would have benefited from having an alternative way to time travel, maybe there’s a time travel method that can get to a time period easily but it’s one that’s always set, then if you find the post and gain enough speed, then you can choose your own Time Period. Finding the Robot Generator is a bit of a pain too, there's no map or indicator anywhere in the game and it just feels so aimless looking for it, it's odd to me that CD prides itself on being a game based on exploration but wants to also be a linear experience like previous games.
It's so odd to me, it's like they had all these levels that were clearly meant to be explored but at the last minute, copped out and had a goal post just for fans who didn't want to explore the zones, it's commendable i guess for having such a versatile way to play but it feels half baked when playing it in both ways.
Trying to play Sonic CD like Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 doesn't hold a candle to the experience you’d have with the previous games, But it’s fun I guess. But you i feel like the game is probably best played when possible searching for the Robot Generators, I’d say the levels are more suited for exploration but again, it’s not nearly as fun as it should be, sometimes Robot Generators are hidden in the most obtuse places, not to mention that the already pre existing issues in terms of time travelling, i feel it’s not as fun as it should be, because of this confusion, Sonic CD never really hits it’s true potential, a thing that will be common for this series.
That isn’t to say Sonic CD is a bad game per say, far from it! I really dig some the levels here, Palmtree Panic is a great bright, vibrant first stage that gives Green Hill a run for its money in terms of gameplay and environments, Collision Chaos has an neat little stage with a good theme of being a Chaotic Casino and Forest, Tidal Tempest feels like the only stage that benefits from this weird hybrid of level design philosophy’s, Quartz Quadrant is busy but in a good way, it feels so full of ideas and Stardust Speedway is iconic and easily one of the best stages in not just this game, but Sonic in general. And with the Time Travel gimmick we get some really unique takes on the same stage, it may be more prehistoric or untouched in the Past or a mechanical cynical hellscape in the future (so Twitter) in the Bad Future and a perfect utopia like balance between both ideas in the Good Future
You’ll notice that some stages i’ve emitted, and that’s because they are the bane of my existence, Wacky Workbench is just annoying, in all incarnations of the stages, The Gimmicks in Sonic CD are mostly hit and miss, but the whole bouncy floor gimmick because it doesn’t suit the stage at all, Metallic Madness is just Scrap Brain but even more annoying, the badniks as just as bad as Act 3 Metropolis Zone too, it’s also just confusing to navigate through, even more than the other stages. It also has Chibi Sonic, An incredibly underdeveloped gimmick but, like honestly, do you really care because it’s Chibi Sonic, but unfortunately, Chibi Sonic aside, it’s such a shame Sonic CD ends on a whimper instead of a bang.
This is partly due to the Bosses, Sonic CD’s Bosses are weird. Instead of being a battle of attrition, a lot of Sonic CD’s Bosses are puzzles or short form challenges. On one hand, these lead to some of the best encounters in the game and even the series this far, Egg Tilter, Egg Conveyor, Egg Razer and of course, Metal Sonic are great and experimental bosses. On the other hand they are laughably easy when they do go for the old boss format, it’s laughably easy, this unfortunately includes the final boss, which were a highlight of previous games but here it’s so forgettable.
There’s also Special Stages and look, I can appreciate their ambition of being semi 3D and explorable. Essentially it follows Sonic trying to destroy a certain amount of UFOs on a time limit, and if you go on the water, your time runs out. These Special stages are the best ones i played so far and they still suck, the obvious answer which Sonic Mania even does is that the Ring count should have been the time limit, otherwise the Ring count is useless, there’s no Badniks and the things that do deplete Ring counts are easily avoidable. But the main issue is that Sonic controls so weirdly in the stages, he feels too stiff to turn and oddly enough, speed feels inconsistent,, there’s also a lot of depth perspective issues when trying to destroy the UFOs or get on another piece of ground. That being said, if you don’t want to go for the Robot Generators and still want to get the good ending, then I wouldn't say it’s a bad choice.
Looking back at this review, i feel the elements of a great game are right there and sometimes i can see that vision sometimes in it’s presentation and even the level design, but like, nah man i can’t completely vibe with this game, it’s not bad, far from it and i recommend a play with the Japanese ost on the remaster but on the whole, Sonic Compacted Disc is confused