Sonic The Hedgehog CD

[Solkia]

I think the game is awful. Remake fixed a lot of the problems, but you can't really fix the main problems I have with this game.

I hate the fucking special stages, so I never bother with them.

I hate getting to the past to destroy the generators, so I don't bother with them either.

Metal Sonic race is terribly designed, though I don't know if it's improved in the remake since I didn't bother getting it.

Fuck Wacky Workbench.

and most of all

the thing I absolutely DESPISE this game for.

Introducing that stupid stalking bitch Amy to the series.

However, for all the stupid shit this game puts you through, I will say that back in the 90's, it's soundtrack blew my balls off, and still holds up pretty well to this day.

EDIT: asdf DAMN YOU TORNADO

Edited July 13, 2012 by Solkia-kun

[Tornado]

you can't really fix the main problems I have with this game.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Gilda

[Eternal EX]

This is one of my least favorite sonic games of all time. Minus a few certain tracks, nothing about this game appealed to me.

[Plasmette]

6 words.

Best Sonic Game ever...

...MY ASS.

I seriously have no idea my people consider this the best Sonic game ever. I seriously don't.

The level design is piss.

The special stages are just as bad as Sonic 2 and Sonic 4 Episode 1.

And to me, level design is almost everything. The controls and physics were great, and this game was built from the ground up. Sonic 4 needs to take a note...

Anyway, the level design is still horrible. After Palmtree Panic, all the levels consist of you bouncing to no end. The platforming is frustrating and makes me want to throw my controller at the screen. Aaaand thats about sh it.

Still, the soundtrack is one of my favourite Sonic soundtracks. The Japanese one at least. The Japanese one is upbeat and fun, and the US soundtrack isn't too bad either. I like how you can unlock Tails, but after playing through the horribly designed levels once, I don't think you'll ever want to again.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles will always be my best Sonic game.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Plasmette

[Coral]

6 words.

Best Sonic Game ever...

...MY ASS.

I seriously have no idea my people consider this the best Sonic game ever. I seriously don't.

The level design is piss.

The special stages are just as bad as Sonic 2 and Sonic 4 Episode 1.

And to me, level design is almost everything. The controls and physics were great, and this game was built from the ground up. Sonic 4 needs to take a note...

Anyway, the level design is still horrible. After Palmtree Panic, all the levels consist of you bouncing to no end. The platforming is frustrating and makes me want to throw my controller at the screen. Aaaand thats about sh it.

Still, the soundtrack is one of my favourite Sonic soundtracks. The Japanese one at least. The Japanese one is upbeat and fun, and the US soundtrack isn't too bad either. I like how you can unlock Tails, but after playing through the horribly designed levels once, I don't think you'll ever want to again.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles will always be my best Sonic game.

This the reason why this game is called the black sheep of the Sonic series. You could argue that it may be horrible SONIC game, since it's focused more on exploration and gimmicks rather than speed, but if it didn't have Sonic tacked on it may be an alright stand alone title in its own right.

The whole bouncing around the levels shenanigans is the game serving its purpose to stop you from getting enough speed for so long to travel through time, one of the primary reasons to be playing. If anything, this is a game where you fight the stages moreso than the bosses (that final boss is so much lol) to get that well earned good ending. It's also trying to stop you from keeping 50 rings through to the end. It's a niche kind of Sonic game to be sure.

I never really understood the hate for the special stages, but that may just be me. They are some of my favorites. The ufos can be kind of annoying at times, but they go around the same circular patterns so it's not like they're unpredictable. Maybe I have a nostalgic bias for this hehe.

I also had a better written response than this one buuut my internets are horrible and they should be ashamed of themselves. *shrug*

[Plasmette]

I've never heard anybody call it "The Blacksheep" of Sonic. If any game is the blacksheep, its either Sonic Genesis, Sonic 06, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic R, Sonic Chaos, Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic Blast, Sonic 4 Episode 1, Sonic 4 episode 2, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, Sonic Free Riders, Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic Spinball, Tails Sky Patrol, Tails Sky Patrol 2, Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood or Sonic Shuffle.

errrrrrr....

Edited July 15, 2012 by Plasmette

[Tornado]

With the exception of Chaotix and maybe ShtH, none of those really qualify as black sheep; since being bad or a spinoff isn't really what the term means.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Gilda

[Remy]

I've never heard anybody call it "The Blacksheep" of Sonic. If any game is the blacksheep, its either Sonic Genesis, Sonic 06, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic R, Sonic Chaos, Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic Blast, Sonic 4 Episode 1, Sonic 4 episode 2, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, Sonic Free Riders, Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic Spinball, Tails Sky Patrol, Tails Sky Patrol 2, Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood or Sonic Shuffle.

errrrrrr....

Well those games kind of fit in amongst themselves, If you compare Sonic CD to the games that come after (2, 3&K specifically) CD's design goes in very different directions from what later became the norm.

Like both CD and 2 started from the Sonic 1 base as sequels, but CD became the black sheep because it's ideas were ejected in favour of the rest.

[UltDevilDoom]

Sonic CD is a classic in its own right, but sometimes I think it's overrated.

[Sami]

I've always loved it. The music, level design, atmosphere, and animated cutscenes won me over easily. Any qualms I had with it were fixed in the port, too, so I love it to death~

[Rusty Spy]

Like Plasmette, I seriously can not comprehend why this is everyone's favorite Sonic game of all time.

This game throws away practically EVERYTHING that made the classic Sonic games so popular, and the new direction it takes is NOT an improvement.

For one, it isn't fast. I know Sonic's not all about speed, but I consider this game the antithesis of Unleashed in terms of core design.

The levels are incredibly blocky, confusing, and a total clusterfuck, coupled on top of it's general maze-like structure, making progression a complete pain.

The objectives are way too difficult and tedious, and generally not worth it whatsoever. So the main objective is the get a Good Future in every level, right? Well lets look at the two ways of achieving this.

Destroying the Generators in the past of each level: This is probably the worst of the two. Getting to the past is hard enough without the levels actively TRYING to stop you at every turn. I know that it's supposed to be a "challenge", but I call bull. Because of the way the level's laid out, the usual method of destroying a generator is the find a Past sign, then backtrack all the way back to a specific point in the level that's specifically design to get you up to speed (which is WAY harder than it should be). THEN once you get to the past you have to spend another 5 minutes searching for the generator. And once you FINALLY destroy the generator you can go to the Good Future of the act, then 5 seconds later your at the end of the act. This is NOT fun. This is work. Work is not fun.

Collecting the Time Stones: This method is worse than trigger happy mine turtles because a] the special stages in this game are ridiculously hard, and b] assuming you have absolute mastery of the special stages or are using save states, the earliest you can get every Time Stone is Act 2 of Quartz Quadrant, nearly HALF WAY THROUGH THE GAME.

And what's your reward for all this? Getting to access the Good Futures of the acts? If you go with one method you've already spent at least 10 minutes in the act and are most likely right near the end by the time you get to the future, and going with the other method, you can only access the Good Future's for the second half of the game, AT BEST.

And what else do you get for getting all the Good Futures? A Good Ending? Oh great, I'm sure some people would say that being able to sleep at night knowing you help save all the wittle aminals from the evil bad man is enough, but for me, that shit won't fly.

And there's also the third option of saying screw it all and just going through the game, completely ignoring the Time Stones or Generators. Well in that case, if I wanted to play a good traditional Sonic game, I'd go play S3&K, an infinitely better Sonic game.

So the way I see it, playing the game for the Generators sucks, playing the game for the Time Stones sucks, and playing the game ignoring both sucks. So I honestly, HONESTLY wonder what about this game IS worth playing?

[Faseeh]

You know what. This is my least favourite console canon game in the classic era. I find the level design wonky. I find the pinball mechanics awful. Though the only reason I like Sonic 1 more than CD is because of Green Hill. The only parts of CD I like is the animated scenes, music. I find this a chore to play.

[neezTHEhuman]

What can I say. I love this game more than most things in life and it is as precious to me as the air I breathe. It is the greatest game in the series and will never be surpassed or even matched. The level design is so creative and perfectly suited for the best gimmick in the entire series, time travel and are an absolute joy to explore.

[TheOcelot]

What I think of the levels in Sonic CD::

Collision Chaos: Crazier than Casino Night. Love being thrown all over the place. Prettier as well. Love the Pink colour.

Tidal Tempest: Labyrinth Zone on crack.

Wacky Workbench: The floor propelling Sonic upwards is one of the most imaginative original concepts of a 2d Sonic level ever conceived.

Stardust Speedway: fast fast fast, looses rings, fast, fast, looses rings, fast, fast looses ring. Fucking awesome music and the legendary race with Metal Sonic.

Metallic Madness: As tough as Scrap Brain but ten times more fun.

Palmtreee Panic: Tones of routes. Can explore it to deaf (826 rings in Zone 1 as Tails is my best attempt). Green Hill's bigger and better brother.

Quartz Quadrant: Love the Boss for this zone.

[Coral]

Well since this is the general Sonic CD topic, I guess I can put this here. Recently went through my old Windows 95 game and found some interesting pictures. Not all of them loaded since I guess it installed wrong (no surprise there) and I'm sure numerous people have seen these but eh.

What I find interesting is that Amy's files are called "Emy[insert number here]." Does anyone know what those tiny Sonic icons at the left are for?

Edited July 17, 2012 by Coral

[FleeingToMexico]

Well since this is the general Sonic CD topic, I guess I can put this here. Recently went through my old Windows 95 game and found some interesting pictures. Not all of them loaded since I guess it installed wrong (no surprise there) and I'm sure numerous people have seen these but eh.

What I find interesting is that Amy's files are called "Emy[insert number here]." Does anyone know what those tiny Sonic icons at the left are for?

I've never seen those icons before besides the top one when I had the demo installed back in the day. They look like alternate launcher icons. If this is new then nice find

[Coral]

I've never seen those icons before besides the top one when I had the demo installed back in the day. They look like alternate launcher icons. If this is new then nice find

Thanks! :}

Yeah, that makes sense. The top one with chibi Sonic sitting in a green background is the default icon when I run the game. I was really hoping on finding some of the secret images (esp. that creepy Sonicman one!) but a lot of them are completely black. Guess I could mess around with it some more. I'm not exactly great with technology so it'll be a learning process. xp

[TheOcelot]

I've never seen those icons before besides the top one when I had the demo installed back in the day. They look like alternate launcher icons. If this is new then nice find

I haven't seen those Amy pictures before.

[Badnik Zero]

I can pick up this game and play it like a song I love for five minutes. Since I got the PSN version I do this on a regular basis, I absolutely love this game. Thing about this game I understand the complaining about is the lack of speed. Well no, it really is a fast game, but it has less "thrill" moments than the later games. This game likes to fuck with you because your top speed is a game mechanic with the time travel. Stardust Speedway actually does have some crazy ass spring-to-booster-to-ceiling gimmicks that send you all over the place. What's great is that they took the time to map that shit out, your aimless bouncing often follows a path. Try Collision Chaos. I like to think this game takes Sonic as a pinball first over Sonic's speed, opposed to the others that take his speed first, pinball second. It's a bit of a love note to that spinball shit classic fans are always going on about. I'm one of those classic fans, and this game is fucking awesome. And a bit of something about the special stages, they're difficult only because pinning the UFOs is tricky to learn but figure out where their depth-less hit box (lol) is and you will have a lot of fun.

Edited July 18, 2012 by American Ristar

[Old dead account]

The special stages are annoying, but at least I can finish them all (by QQ1 sometimes) unlike Sonic 2's shitty slip n slide halfpipe stages.

[McGroose]

There's a TL;DR version at the bottom.

This is my favorite Sonic game, 2D or otherwise.

I do have a bit of history/past with this game. Originally I had nothing but the PC port of the game. That was the 2nd Sonic game I owned(Well, my sister owned anyway) next to the Sonic and Knuckles Collection. Now the Sonic and Knuckles Collection worked fine on my PC, and that game was my childhood, but I could always see that disc in the corner of the room on a desk...It had it's eyes locked on me, and I figured why the hell not, I'll try to install it.

I can't tell what I did wrong, It said I installed the game right, I could see the icon for the game on my desktop, but I couldn't get the game to work. It would always crash.

This little bastard always sat there...mocking me.

That Icon of chibi Sonic starring at me would always get me wondering what kind of game this actually was. Well, I asked my sister, the one who bought the game, what the game was like. She said it took place in Egypt where you were fighting zombie's with guns. And there was also quicksand somewhere in it. Now we all know that's 101% total bullshit, but it got me excited. It made me want to properly install the game and play it. I never had. Not on my old computer, or any other old computer. I eventually gave up trying to install it, and that bastard CD won. I just put it in the closet and wondered what the game really did play like.

Sometime later, when I discovered the wonder known as the internetz, I looked up some information on Sonic CD. To my dissapointment, there were no Zombie's, it didn't take place in eygpt, and there were no guns. Of course there are many games like that now though, but my inner 7 year old was slightly dissapointed. What I saw actually looked kind of wierd. Growing up with Sonic 3 and Knuckles, I could easily see that the game played very similarly, but some aspects were completely different. I decided not to bother with the game.

A year or two later though, I decided to try the game. I got a Sega CD emulator and downloaded a Sonic CD rom with the Japanese soundtrack. I hadn't played the game before I downloaded that rom, but I had heard some of the music for the game, and I thought it sounded great. the music I heard was from the Japanese/European version of the game, so I decided to try to find a rom with the J/E soundtrack. and I did find one.

It took me some time to get used to the game at first. I already had played Sonic 1 and 2 on an emulator before, and I grew up with Sonic 3 and Knuckles, but Sonic CD's level designs and to some extent controls took me some time to get used to.

You all know how the time travel works in this game. You start in the present, and you can find a past or future sign. Carry enough speed without interruption, and you will travel into the past or future after having touched one of these signs. If you travel into the past and destroy a badnik producing generator in act's 1 and 2 in every zone, you get a good future for that zone in act 3, keep this up for every act/zone and you get the good ending. Miss a single robot generator, you won't get that zone's good future, and you won't get the good ending.

Fuck that. Just get all the time stones as early as possible by doing the Sonic 1 method of collection 50 rings and jump into a giant ring at the end of an act and ignore the Robot Generators and you'll get the good ending and all good futures the second you get the 7nth time stone. Unless you really want to see the good futures for Palmtree Panic, Collision chaos, and Tidal Tempest for yourselves that badly. I can understand smashing the robot Generators in Collision Chaos though. It's worth it just to hear the beautiful good future music in act 3.

Time stones...I expected them to be the equivalent to Chaos Emeralds in this game. Technically speaking they are, but your reward for getting all of them isn't Super Sonic. It's just a good ending. As Samuel L. Jackson would say, "MOTHAFUCKIN BULLSHIT IS WUT DIS IS!". Oh well.

The Special stages in this game can range from easy to a pain in the ass. The gist of it is that you run around in a 3D plains that's similar to the 3D plains in Super Mario Kart SNES jumping into UFO's. Jump in all of them, you win the level and get one out of seven Time Stones. Your on a time limit, and going into the water, or god know's what in some of the later levels, and you lose time at a rapid speed. Get your timer at 0 and it's game over. If you get to 20 seconds though, a Blue UFO will appear in the middle of the stage that, if you jump into it accurately, can give you an extra 30 seconds. So it's possible to get from 20 to 50 or 49 in a gist, which is nice.

Like I said, these special stages can range from easy to being a pain in the ass. The first few Special stages can be pretty easy, but I swear to god that there a few CERTAIN UFO's in some stages that are damn near impossible to jump into accurately!

Aside from those 2 or 3 bullshit UFO's in some Special Stages, these are my favorite Special stages ever. Sonic 1's were alright, but could be a pain in the ass to navigate in sometimes. I never even gotten all of the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 2, and Blue Sphere is just boring. The Special Stages in Sonic CD are my favorite because there the most active ones IMO. You could actually control yourself fully in a 3D plane while avoiding obstacles and Jumping at the right time. Make's me wonder when I was younger why Sega didn't just take the engine used for the Special stages and make a Sonic 3D blast with that.

Over time, The level design and gimmicks have grown on me. I still don't using the past/future signs method of getting the good ending though, but I'm not complaining since I can just keep 50 rings and get to the end, like in Sonic 1.

The Super Peel-out really needs to come back. I like it more then the Spindash, boost, and all the other moves Sonic has. It's just so satisfying to get a sudden burst of speed in that cool looking Figure 8 form.

The J/E soundtrack is amazing, and I love listening to it.

The only thing I can say I don't like about this game is stardust speedway act 2. Sonic CD's level design has many alternate paths, and that's why I like it as much as I do, but the level design in SS act 2 is just plain shit. I ALWAYS get lost there.

And now, a TL;DR version.

Game looked cool as a kid, wouldn't work. Heard there were zombies in it. Emulated the game with the Japanese soundtrack, slowly fall in love with the game and it's Japanese soundtrack. Bitch at Stardust Speedway act 2.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Mephiles550

[TheOcelot]

The special stages are annoying, but at least I can finish them all (by QQ1 sometimes) unlike Sonic 2's shitty slip n slide halfpipe stages.

- I can finish the Sonic 2 half pipe special stages (i.e. achieve all seven emeralds) before the end of Emerald Hill Act 2. There are three special stages (start posts) in Act 1 and five in Act 2.

I like the ufo special stages. They reward those who improvise. The last few stage are tricky, but just keeping picking up the blue ufo in the centre of the special stage (which appears when you have less than 20 seconds left) and in theory you can keep going forever. I once picked up 10 of those ufo's in the centre when the timer got low when I was trying to get the fifth time stone. Some how I just kept going and got the time stone. I was pleased with myself for just sticking at it and not giving up. Also, you have 14 attempts to get seven time stones which is more than fair.

Hell, if you don't like the special stages then just destroy the robot generators in each zone. It's arguably more fun securing the good ending of the game via that method.

Edited July 26, 2012 by MilesKnightwing

[-Big The Cat-]

Sonic CD is a great game.

But it's level design in general, has a poor order and organization.

There is a pattern, especially in the object placement. The spikes, the badniks, everything is placed in a certain pattern, in a cheap way, but still.

In the end, it's level design is the least directed out of the classic games.

Palm Tree Panic, Quartz Quadrant and some of Metallic Madness had somewhat of a neat organization and were brilliant levels imo.

Because of it's overall messy design I find S3&K's design a lot more appealing.

The time travel gimmick is awesome though. Just imagine S3&K style level design with CD's time travel gimmick.

The amount of possibilities would be endless.

Oh, and I can't stand the jump sound effect.

It sucks.

[Semi-colon e]

I like the enemy designs in this game as well, some are just weird but others are very cool. They seem to share similar dark eyes as well, which makes them seem more menacing than they actually are.

This guy looks awesome, scorpion which shoots out of it's tail and is really blue, looks amazing.

And this guy as well, again it's blue but it carries around a big fatass saw blade.

This one is like the Slicer's cuter and much less dickish brother.

Actually there a lot of blue badniks in this game with dark black eyes.

[TheOcelot]

To add to the previous post regarding the enemies, I love how the time zone effects how dnagerous the enemy is. For example in the present version of Tidal Tempest there is that enemy called 'Taga-Taga (see below) that charges at you and shoots out tiny balls in all directions which can catch you off guard and damage you:

However in the bad future this enemy can longer charge at Sonic or even shoot our the deadly balls. This is because the enemy is now old, decayed and knackered due to the bad future. So the enemy is techniquely less dangerous and weaker in the bad future. The same effect happens with other enemies in Sonic CD.

So some enemies become weaker in the bad future due to time and the decay. That is fucking awesome!!!

I have attached a link to some screenshots that I took of the Taga-Taga badnik in Tidal Tempest Zone.

http://steamcommunit...43/screenshots/

In the present TT screenshot, if you look closely you can see that the Taga-Taga badnik is already attacking me from a distance (has fired those deadly balls). However, in the bad future screenshot I am right up close to the Taga-Taga enemy and it doesn't attack me at all.

Edited July 29, 2012 by MilesKnightwing