So... Sonic CD

[Phosphor Glow]

For years and years, I've heard this game get nothing but insane praise, and that it's one of the best platformers of all time.

So I'm finally playing it, and like... Can someone explain to me why that's the case? Is there something I'm just not getting?

The level design is bizarre, short, and unintuitive, the time travel mechanic seems...meaningless, and it's hard to pull off. The boss battles are as underwhelming as it gets. Soundtrack is kinda neat though.

Seriously though, what am I not getting about this game?

[DragonMasterP]

.....Damnit, I really want to respond to this, but I can't find the right way to put it without droning on or sounding condensing.

I do agree it's somewhat overrated, but it's still fun.

[Ultimo Gallos]

I always found it to be a subpar Sonic game. And still don't understand why it gets so much praise.

[GreyScaleLJH]

Played it a few times and thought it was just ok. It isn't remotely as good as any of the Genesis games. Guessing that is just praised a lot because the bar of the Sega CD is set so low.

[g1megatronfan]

I had it for Sega CD back in the 90's then again on the Gems collection for GC and again through download on PS3. It's an okay game but not my favorite old school Sonic game. As for the insane praise it gets...I don't know either. I think Sonic 3 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles is a far better title. CD has one of the most annoying levels in the entire series (Wacky Workbench) I couldn't stand that level...lol. It does have far better sounding music than the regular Genesis games but that's to be expected.

Other than the music...it's not really much better than the other titles. Again...my opinion only but I'd rather play Sonic 3 + Knuckles than this one. Personally, I had more fun with Chaotix than Sonic CD. I would go back and replay that much more than I did CD.

[camsamurai06]

I remember being so blissfully ignorant of the game at one point that I thought the animation from the intro and ending was from a Sonic cartoon series I had never seen before.

[Deleted]

Got it on the 360, and never bothered to finish it. Just found it dull

[BorneAgain]

Two things are in play here; one the fact that it was very hard to get access to for a long time (you had to have a Sega CD, dubious PC port or Sonic Gems Collection) no doubt made it more alluring to potential fans. Secondly, the fact that it was so different from many of the other 2D Sonic titles and is clearly a platformer that wasn't simply a retread of the first or second games made it stand out. Those two facts probably did hide some of its flaws. Having finally gotten the chance to really explore it via the 2011 release, yeah there are definitely issues with it, level design included.

But it has enough interesting quirks to make it relatively worthwhile. I suppose it benefits from being part of the Sonic franchise, which given its 2000s run, is essentially graded on a curve.

[Rumble McSkirmish]

I think fans tend to like this game because it has the least annoying version of Amy Rose in the history of the franchise.

[Mike Strike]

The time travel is very underbaked. There's no reason whatsoever to go back to the present or at all to either future.

I do like the bosses however, which were more creatively puzzle based than the bosses of the genesis trilogy.

[Deleted]

I always figured Sonic CD was good within the context of the times.
I'm pretty sure when Sonic CD hit, Sonic 3 wasn't out. The Sega CD was still relatively new.

I mean, I get the OP too. I never got a chance to play Sonic CD when it came out.
The soonest I got to play it was after Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles had been out for years, so all it felt to me was a stilted Sonic game with a good soundtrack.

[Jiren]

I think it's a product of its time.

I find it good but not as good as 2/3/& Knuckles

[Deleted]

I thought it was good, but for me Sonic 2 (16-Bit) is the pinnacle of the series.

[Gerard Gerard]

Well, for a long time it was used as justification for a CDX/Sega-CD purchase, given its exclusivity, so its pearls tended to be exaggerated; that as well as its place as the last '16-bit' Sonic, considering where the franchise went thereafter. In truth, it plays more like a fan-hack that adds beeps-'n-clicks for the sake of being different, and the actual design of a lot of stages fall into the 'cool idea underdeveloped' territory.
'Wacky Workbench' being an infuriating example, that edges to close to unplayable instead of difficult.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Sonic CD is still my favorite Sonic game. The music, animation during cut scenes, and the introduction of Robotnik's greatest creation, Metal Sonic....make this game fun as hell.

[Sigma: Current SRW Champ!]

I find the game itself to be merely mediocre. The Game is fine, but pales in comparison to Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles. To be blunt, the whole Sega CD add-on was a disaster and should have waited at least another 2 years and released it as a brand new console at $300 to compete with the incoming Sony Playstation and be considered Innovative & Budget friendly in wake of the 3DO, which was $700 at that time and the Philips CD-i at around $500. Sega in the mid 90s was in such disarray that while the games were good, the console decisions were terrible.

[CMWaters]

Mar 22, 2014 11:16:42 GMT -5 Mike Strike said:

The time travel is very underbaked. There's no reason whatsoever to go back to the present or at all to either future.

Actually, there is.

When you destroy certain things in the past, then go to the future, in the "Good Future", there are no enemies to deal with.

Alternatively, after you get all the Time Stones, you're defaulted Good Futures, so really staying in the present is never needed, and going to the past is only needed to destroy those objects.

[Deleted]

Mar 22, 2014 11:30:43 GMT -5 @nothankyou said:

I thought it was good, but for me Sonic 2 (16-Bit) is the pinnacle of the series.

Echo these thoughts. Sonic 2 was just the first Sonic but more colorful, faster (introducing the Dash is key here), and just all-around more fun. 3/Knuckles is GREAT, but 2 is my personal favorite.

[Elite™]

Sonic CD was weird to me, and I wasn't really a fan of the stage designs. The original Sonic games on the Genesis are much better to me. I also think the Advance series and the Sonic 4 games for the PSN are more enjoyable.

[Phosphor Glow]

Mar 22, 2014 12:47:38 GMT -5 CMWaters said:

Mar 22, 2014 11:16:42 GMT -5 Mike Strike said:

The time travel is very underbaked. There's no reason whatsoever to go back to the present or at all to either future.

Actually, there is.

When you destroy certain things in the past, then go to the future, in the "Good Future", there are no enemies to deal with.

Alternatively, after you get all the Time Stones, you're defaulted Good Futures, so really staying in the present is never needed, and going to the past is only needed to destroy those objects.

So you can just take what little challenge there already was out of a level? Man, that's...weird. The time travel mechanic is also annoying to me because it seems like every time I try to pull it off, I can't, but every time I actively don't want to pull it off, there I go. Usually after accidentally running into a sign that I couldn't see from offscreen.