Sonic CD: The Other Sonic 2

When we're talking about the 16-bit Sega Genesis era of Sonic the Hedgehog, what comes to your mind? For some people, it's things like the Saturday morning cartoon or the Archie comics run. For others, it's specific games from the Genesis, usually Sonic 2 or 3 & Knuckles. This has started to change a little over the last few years, as an often-overlooked entry in the Classic Sonic era has received more and more recognition.

Sonic CD (sometimes referenced as "Sonic the Hedgehog CD") was a Sonic title for the Sega CD add-on that released in 1993. It was developed by a team at Sega of Japan lead by Naoto Ohshima, the original designer of Sonic. Yuji Naka, the lead programmer for Sonic at the time, was dissatisfied with the way that Sega of Japan handled things, and left with his team to join Sega of America and create Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which released a year prior to CD in 1992. Because of this, Ohshima was tasked with making a Sonic game that utilized the new hardware of the Sega CD, originally making an enhanced port of Sonic 1, but as the development process progressed, opting to make it an original game and going from there.

This split creates a few interesting dichotomy between Sonic 2 and Sonic CD. They both bring new ideas to the franchise in different ways, and they're both more of the same from 1 in different ways. Both games utilized the new Spin Dash technique, but with different controls. Both games introduced new characters, but 2 introduced a new partner while CD introduced supporting and antagonistic roles. Both introduced new collectables, but different sets of gemstones (and only Sonic 2 introduced Super Sonic).

In a lot of ways, it's fair to say that Sonic 2 had more lasting impact on the franchise, with Tails becoming a main character for all subsequent Genesis games and beyond, the 7 Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic becoming staples, and 2's controls for the Spin Dash becoming standard. However, Sonic CD introduced Amy Rose and Metal Sonic, two beloved characters in the series. When talking about 90s Sonic soundtracks, the Japanese soundtrack to Sonic CD gets brought far more often than the international soundtrack to Sonic 2. Given all of this, why was Sonic CD so sidelined? Why was it not given the spotlight it deserves?

An easy answer is that while it was different and the same from 1 in certain ways from Sonic 2, it did so in ways that were less popular. While 2 focused on doing 1 again but with better level design, new techniques, new movement, etc. Sonic CD decided to play with the idea of how to use Sonic's speed for more than just reaching the end, incorporating aspects of open-ended level exploration, creative movement tech, and letting the player experiment with speed and physics. This led to levels that had very different design philosophy, not only compared to 2, but also when compared to 1. The goal of Sonic CD was to push the bounds of Sonic, to see what he as a character could be and the games could be as a medium. This lead to a somewhat polarizing Sonic game, back then and now.

Sonic CD was released in 1993, with some poor PC ports following 1995 and 1996. It was notably left out of 1997's Sonic Jam compilation for the Sega Saturn, and 2002's Sonic Mega Collection for GameCube, PS2, and Xbox. Finally, in 2005, with the release of Sonic Gems Collection for GameCube and PS2, we finally got a true port of the original Sonic CD. It was the headliner of the collection alongside Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters. This was a strange more that only further served to separate CD from the other Genesis titles, and categorize it with the other spin-off games.

In 2011, Christian Whitehead worked with Sega to release a remastered port of CD using the Retro Engine for download on mobile, PS3, and Xbox 360, with a PC version coming later. This port added settings to switch between the original Japanese soundtrack and the North American soundtrack, switch the behavior of the Spin Dash from CD to 2, Tails as an unlockable character, and added achievements. Additional this port fixed some visual glitches and framerate issues from the original. This port helped popularize CD as a game in general, and the wide platform availability and status as a downloadable game brought it to more audiences than ever before. In 2022, CD was finally included alongside 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles in Sonic Origins, also adding more playable characters in the form of Knuckles and Amy, but unfortunately removes the rare voice lines used for Sonic and Amy.

But enough buildup! This is supposed to be a review, right? So what are the pros and cons?

Well for starters, I think Sonic CD has the best soundtrack of any of the Genesis games. The Japanese soundtrack, that is; the North American soundtrack is okay, but to that extent probably the weakest of the Genesis game soundtracks. You get a little bit of both with this game. I highly recommend checking out the full Japanese OST, it really is the peak of what Classic Sonic era music was, and shows how the series evolved moving forward.

Something CD shares with Sonic 2 is its art direction. Sonic himself, as well as other characters and enemies, I think peaked with 2 and CD, before dropping off hard in 3 & Knuckles (why does he look like that???). One criticism that I've heard, that I don't fully disagree with, is the opinion that the levels can be too busy, and doesn't fully portray what is foreground/background, and what is harmful. There are a few stages and areas that are definitely victim to this, making them difficult to navigate and to avoid taking damage. However, with some time and practice, you start to get used to the flow and design of CD, which doesn't fully negate these instances, but makes them less common and less of a deal when it happens.

On level design, CD has a lot of interesting and fun ideas. Please note, these are not always the same thing. There are a lot of things CD does that are interesting, but not really fun to play in practice, but the positive flipside is it also features a lot of things that aren't particularly fresh, but are fun all the same. While not quite the neck-breaking speed found in Sonic 2, CD does have levels that compliment Sonic's speed-based platforming, giving you lots of areas to let loose and rip through. At the same time, it does retain some of the ideas from Sonic 1, giving the player slower, more precise platforming challenges, before rewarding you with a long stretch of speed. Usually cushioned in the transition between these sections are where you'll find entrances to hidden areas, secret power-ups, and more.

But before we get too much deeper into the level design, I should explain CD's main gimmick: time. The idea here is that by passing a sign post labeled either PAST or FUTURE and then getting to top speed for long enough, Sonic can run back or forward in time, and view the level in the distant past, or a war-ravaged future that has been destroyed by Eggman. In the past, the levels lack a lot of modern structures or fixtures, and in the future there are usually more enemies and obstacles. By venturing into the past, you can discover two unique objects: the Robot Transporter, and the Metal Sonic hologram. By finding and destroying both in an act, you can create the "good future" for that act. Doing this in both acts of a zone allows the boss zone to also take place in a "good future", leading to the Good Ending when you obtain the good future in every zone. Alternatively you can collect all 7 Time Stones from the Special Stages, and they do this for you automatically.

Circling back, this means that there are four slightly different designs for every act: the past, the present, the bad future, and the good future. Each time period has its own music, color palette, enemy and obstacle placement, etc. This lends to the exploration element of the game, as using the time travel signs to visit the level in all eras encourages you to find spots to get up to speed, look for what's new, and act accordingly. In some of the busier designs, like Wacky Workbench, this can get somewhat disorienting and frustrating, but overall it's a fun mechanic that works well and is interesting to use.

On the note of levels, this game is the origin of Stardust Speedway, which reappeared in Sonic Mania! In that game, Act 1 resembles the past version from CD, Act 2 resembles the present, and Encore Mode from the Plus DLC resembles the bad future.

The boss fights in Sonic CD are also some of the most original fights the series had at the time, and still stands out now. There's a few that function like bosses in 1 and 2, but a lot of them use game mechanics to present original solutions to boss designs, like running through a giant pinball machine to hit Eggman, or Stardust Speedway's race against Metal Sonic. It allows each zone to culminate in a more interesting and fun engagement with Eggman.

Special Stages are also super interesting! If you've played Mania, you may be familiar with the setup, but when you collect 50 rings and enter the big ring at the end of the stage (akin to Sonic 1), you're dropped into a pseudo-3D arena with UFOs floating around. Some give you extra time, some give rings or speed-ups, and once you hit all of them, Sonic is awarded a Time Stone. You can do this at the end of any Act 1 or 2 (as Act 3 is just the boss fight and doesn't end with a traditional signpost to zip past), so there's plenty of opportunities to try!

Overall, it plays like you'd expect a 16-bit Sonic game to play. Excellent physics and speed, a variant of the Spin Dash, and the exclusive Super Peel-Out that allows Sonic to hit an extra stage of speed, but without the safety of the Spin Dash's attack. They eventually brought this technique back for Mania, Origins (as a hidden feature exclusive to Sonic in 3 & Knuckles), and Superstars.

It's really a shame that this game was overshadowed for so long. It's just as quality as the other 16-bit games, and I think easily competes with 2 for the title of Best Genesis Game. It has a unique take on the 2D Sonic formula that has never been attempted since, and gives CD a personality of its own that should be valued today. It's also more accessible than ever before, so hopefully more people get to play it and love it alongside the Genesis games it deserved to be with from the very beginning.

~ Alex Amelia Pine

This post is a part of the series Game Reviews