Sonic Retrospective Part V - Sonic CD

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SEGA was working on the Mega CD in Japan and wanted a Sonic game to help sell it. At the time, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was only just beginning development. Original plans were to simply port the first game or the second when it came out, but it was decided that a new game would be made and they put Naoto Ohshima, character designer of Sonic, in charge of the project. Ohshima compared plans with the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 team to be sure they both made distinct games, and decided to use the time travel mechanic they discussed when it was cut from Sonic 2.

There are three time periods Sonic can travel to in Sonic CD: the past, the present, and the future. Every zone begins in the present, but by touching signposts labeled with the other time periods and then gaining enough speed, Sonic can travel through time. Originally, Ohshima wanted the game to change around Sonic as he gathered enough speed to time travel, but his programmers said it would not be possible without a small loading screen. 

In the different times, the basic layout of the level is mostly the same, but a few different paths are open and the level of mechanization of the zone increased with the time. Going to the future has few benefits in the game, but by going into the past, Sonic can destroy robot creating machines and holograms of Metal Sonic opressing animals to create a better present and future.

The time travel is a fun mechanic and the additional destruction of the past objects adds an interesting alternate way to get the good ending. Collecting the time stones, which are this game's version of chaos emeralds, in the bonus stages is the other way to obtain the good ending. The bonus stage in Sonic CD is very different from that of the other Sonic games, featuring a pseudo-3D environment in which to destroy UFOs.

The level design in Sonic CD uses a lot of fun gimmicks in the various zones. Wacky Workbench Zone has electrified floors that, when activated, launch Sonic high into the air, forcing more careful timing. Metallic Madness has sections where Sonic is shrunk in size to navigate narrow pathways and Quartz Quadrant has conveyer belts that can be adjusted to move in different directions. All of the zones are fun to play and while the game is not as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog 2, it moves at a steady pace most of the time. 

Most interestingly, the bosses are all very different, instead of being Robotnik in a machine that has to be hit 8 times, each one requires a different amount of hits and are vastly different. Tidal Tempest, for instance, begins with a chase through an obstacle course with Robotnik before he moves to a different area and attacks you with a bubble shield. The Metallic Madness boss is essentially a pinball machine with the goal to reach the very top. The most interesting (and hardest) boss fight is the one against Metal Sonic where you have an actual race against him with the loser getting destroyed by Robotnik's lasers. 

Sonic CD is the second game to use the spin dash attack, but it can only be "charged" once and it cannot go as fast as it can in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. To compensate, the game also adds the super peel-out, which can go faster, but allows Sonic to be hurt by enemies while moving. The move was only ever used in a few game gear games after Sonic CD, most likely due to its similarity to the more iconic spin dash attack.

One of the things Ohshima wanted in Sonic CD was new characters, so he added Amy Rose and Metal Sonic. Amy Rose is the adoring fan that Sonic could not care less about while Metal Sonic is the game's secondary villain. While other robot sonics would appear in both Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, Metal Sonic has appeared in far more games after the Genesis games were released, while those two have not. CD also establishes Amy and Sonic's love-apathy relationship that has stayed with the series even through the games with fuller plots. 

In the US version's instruction manual, Amy was called Princess Sally to tie in with the upcoming TV show and the Archie comics. Even though Amy is a pink hedgehog and not a brownish-yellow squirrel. Another, more obvious, change in the American version is an almost completely redone soundtrack. In an interview with Sega-16 (website is now down), Spencer Nilson, creator of the American soundtrack, discussed what he thought were the reasons for the change.

 My impression was that the American marketers at Sega Of America wanted something a little more musically rich and complex, along with a theme song that they might get some mileage out of, while trying to promote the game.

Nilson also addressed the controversy around the change in music. Saying it was "blown out of proportion" and that there are fans of both soundtracks, meaning "everyone wins in the end."

I have not been talking about the soundtracks in this retrospective because I want to do a later post about the music by itself, but in this case it deserves mentioning. The two soundtracks are very different both from each other and other Sonic music.

US Palm Tree Panic Zone Present:
JP Palm Tree Panic Zone  Present:

I personally prefer the US soundtrack in most cases, but they are both good soundtracks and having more music isn't a bad thing. The US soundtrack I find a lot catchier and slightly closer to other Sonic music (only slightly).  The Past stage music remains the same in both soundtracks.

Both games also used a vocal song for their opening and ending, something that would later lead to such horrors as "Almost Dead." The US got "Sonic Boom" while Japan and Europe got "You Can Do Anything." Both songs are incredibly cheesy but catchy. 

Sonic CD is one of my favorite games in the series, the great environments and open level design along with the creative bosses make it great. It just had a lot more original ideas that really added to the experience. It's worth playing today and holds up very well. It appears in Sonic Gems Collection for the gamecube and an older PC port exists. 

Next Time: Sonic Chaos