This is, by far and away, one of the strangest Sonic games out there. It's certainly the strangest Classic Sonic game, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The levels are sprawling and labyrinthine but also surprisingly easy to blaze through if you don't bother with exploring. Sonic CD has two different OSTs depending on what region you played the game in, but both OSTs slap so fucking hard that it just makes the game's overall soundtrack quality that much stronger. The Special Stages are actually really cool and provide a unique challenge this time around, but the process of collecting the Chaos Emeralds is a confusing and often mind-numbing experience that's just begging the use of a guide to figure things out. And while the game's style and presentation value is out of this world (the anime OP still holds up to this day, as do the saturated, poppy, neon-drenched colors and wacky architecture), the levels are also fucking cluttered with random shit that serves no purpose other than to just... exist. The boss battles are also pretty bad, but it's also got the best Classic Sonic boss battle ever in the form of a race between you and Metal Sonic.

Preposterously ambitious for a game that was going to be the flagship title for what was, essentially, an obscure peripheral for the SEGA Genesis. Sonic CD is full of highs and lows, from the level design (fun to glide through but meaningless to explore through) to the presentation (crazy-good colors and appealing backgrounds rendered meaningless by cluttered, noisy level design) to even things as specific as the brand-new power (the Super Peel-Out is cool-looking but ultimately not that useful) to the time gimmick (they made Past and Future versions for EVERY stage, but there's practically fuck-all to do in these versions of the levels).

Sonic CD is fucking crazy. I love it. But objectively, it's a 3/5 - good more often than not, but weighed down by too much random bullshit.

Reviewed on May 21, 2022


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