Played on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.

Thank goodness for save states, this game is hard. There were some sections that harkened back to Sonic 2 with unreactable hazards. It was weird having a battery save in Sonic 3, just for Sonic and Knuckles to decide that they didn't want to have that anymore.

With Sonic and Knuckles completed, I'm done with my foray into 2D Sonic. It has reaffirmed what I always knew in my heart: I do not like 2D Sonic. It had neat ideas, but I just prefer more linear levels that are easier to digest.

Played on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on PS3.

I played the vanilla version of the game. I went from the easiest classic Sonic game to the hardest. I love there's actually a save system unlock the other Genesis games, but that's offset by how brutal the levels are. There are a few mechanics like the cylinders in the 4th zone and the tops in the 3rd zone that do not effectively teach the player how to use them. The level and boss design really exacerbates the issues I had with the entire classic series thusfar. There are 3 buttons on the standard Genesis controller, why is only one used? Why can't one of them be for the spindash? Zone 2 act 2 really made me angry when I was trying to spindash, but couldn't because I wasn't at a complete stop and I end up jumping instead. The hit and hurt boxes on everything in this game isn't really intuitive, I just kind of have to guess.

The thing that made me the most upset were the glitches. All of the games I played had glitches, but I got to the point where I felt like I was almost softlocked in Sonic 3. These 2 glitches only occurred during my Tails playthrough and I'm not sure if this is something that happens on original hardware, if it's the version I'm playing, or even if it's something wrong with my disc. First up, when I was doing my 4th special stage, the game started playing like a slide show. It was pause and start randomly, and the special stage became basically unplayable. The second glitch I encountered happened in the same act as the first. In zone 5 act 1, I got to a point where I had to collapse an ice bridge and descend, but when I did that, the screen scrolled all the way to the end of the level and took out Tails. I eventually found a workaround, but I legit thought it was impossible for me to beat the game when I got to that point. I had to hit a checkpoint, let the game take out Tails, then I would be fine to progress on my next attempt. Super frustrating.

Now on to things I liked. I liked the screen transitions between acts and zones, it makes the world and levels seem more interconnected. I liked the 3 new shields that have their own defensive properties and abilities. I really wish the abilities (double jump, forward jump, and bounce) were standard movement options for the entire game instead of being locked to the shields. Knuckles makes a strong impression in his debut. The very first thing he does is knock Sonic out of Super form at base and that's rad.

Next up is Sonic & Knuckles (base only). After that, I think that will wrap up my playthrough of the 2D Sonic games for now.

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).