Sonic CD
| Sonic the Hedgehog CD | |
|---|---|
| European cover of Sonic CD. | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Naoto Ohsima (director), Kazuyuki Hoshino, Takumi Miyake (Design), Matsuhide Mizoguchi (programming) |
| Platform(s) | Sega CD |
| Release | September 23, 1993 (Japan) October, 1993 (Europe) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Sonic the Hedgehog CD or Sonic CD (as it is known in Europe and North America) is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed and published by Sega. It was released for the Sega Mega-CD in Japan on September 23, 1993, in Europe in October 1993, and finally for the Sega CD in North America on November 19, 1993. The game was later ported to the PC.
Development
After the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, creator Yuji Naka had grown dissatisfied with the rigid corporate policies at Sega, so he moved to America to work with the Sega Technical Institute. Incidentally, a large number of the original design team of Sonic also left for America, to help instructing the American developers. With half of Sonic Team and two of its most important creators present, the Sega Technical Institute eventually got the job to develop Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Meanwhile in Japan, Sonic CD was handled by a separate development team, headed by Sonic creator Naoto Ohshima. As both Sonic CD and Sonic 2 were developed independently from each other, each game took a different direction from Sonic 1. Eventually the gameplay of Sonic 2 would be favoured for the future games but this explains why the theme and handling of Sonic CD are different, as well as the use of Sonic 1's sprites for Sonic. The time posts also had pseudo-3D sprites similar to the Knuckles' Chaotix title screen.
Sonic CD was released after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 but before Sonic the Hedgehog 3. However, since Sonic 3 takes place where Sonic 2 left off, some fans believe the story of Sonic CD either takes place before Sonic 2 or after Sonic and Knuckles.
Storyline
Sonic the Hedgehog is chasing Metal Sonic, who kidnapped a girl named Amy Rose. It turns out that Amy had used the tarot cards to find Sonic, but was kidnapped in front of his very eyes. Sonic has to get the Time Stones and to travel through time to foil Doctor Robotnik's latest plot. It is also speculated that Sonic CD might have been slated for release before Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Through some codes entered at the sound test screen, some puzzling pictures of Sonic in different forms (ie. a very Batman-esque Sonic) were revealed. One of these pictures is actually Tails, accompanied with the text "See You Next Game". Tails was Sonic's sidekick in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Gameplay
The game's key element is the manner in which the player can travel to 4 different versions of each level in 3 different time periods. This is accomplished by speed posts scattered around the level, bearing the labels "Past", and "Future". After running through one of these posts, the player has to run at top speed for a few seconds without stopping to travel into the respective time period. There are no "Past" signs in the Past and no "Future" signs in the Future. As in most Sonic games of this era, every stage has three "Acts", the third of which always takes place in the future. If Sonic destroys Dr. Eggman's machine in the past in the first two acts of a stage, he will then travel to the different "Good Future" with no enemies. By completing all the good futures or by collecting the 7 Time Stones in the Special Stages, Sonic will finish the game with the good ending.
The game itself has Sonic feeling generally more sluggish than normal. The spin dash he does is different to that of Sonic 2's; the position he takes in both games is different. A new move was added to complement the spin dash: the Super Peelout. The Super Peelout, performed in a manner much the reverse of the spin dash, by pressing up and any trigger button, causes Sonic to rev in position until you release the button, at which point he speeds off. The difference between the spindash and the Super Peelout is the spindash damages enemies who get in its way, due to Sonic's curled attacking pose; the Super Peelout, whilst quicker to charge up than the spindash, does no damage, instead leaving Sonic vulnerable to attack (however, this can be foiled by pressing down immediately after performing the super peelout, sending sonic into a roll that is just as fast as the super peelout as well as making him invulnerable to enemy attack).
Also, while leaving the game idle for more than a few seconds makes Sonic tap his foot impatiently (as per usual), leaving the game idle for 3 minutes causes Sonic (i.e. a digitized voice clip) to say "I'm outta here!", followed by Sonic jumping off the screen while giving the player a nasty look and the player receiving a Game Over.
Rounds
What would typically be called a "Zone" in other Sonic games is called a "Round" in Sonic CD. Likewise, an "Act" now becomes a "Zone". In total there are seven rounds to complete, each in three different time zones.
- Palmtree Panic
- Collision Chaos
- Tidal Tempest
- Quartz Quadrant
- Wacky Workbench
- Stardust Speedway
- Metallic Madness
Soundtrack controversy
The most controversial fact about this game is that the US and Japanese versions feature two different soundtracks. Europe uses the Japanese soundtrack. The Japanese soundtrack was composed by Naofumi Hataya, and featured songs by Keiko Utoku. The songs were entitled "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" (infamously nicknamed "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior" by Sonic fans) and "Cosmic Eternity".
The US version was delayed a few months to have a new soundtrack composed by Spencer Nilsen, who did other Sega CD soundtracks as well as some early Sega Saturn soundtracks. All the music (save for the Past tunes, which were in PCM audio rather than Red Book CD Audio) was replaced, and new themes were composed. The new theme was "Sonic Boom", performed by Pastiche. Both the opening and ending had similar lyrics but different instrumentation. Every re-release of the game in the US exclusively has this soundtrack, including both the PC version and the one in Sonic Gems Collection (the latter having the Japanese soundtrack in Japan); the Japanese soundtrack surfaced in Sonic Screensaver, but otherwise has never made it to the States.
This, rather infamously, caused one of the biggest JP/US version review clashes ever when Gamefan Magazine, who gave the Japanese version 100%, gave the game a less flatering score for the US version and it was made clear that the score had been based on the US version's soundtrack alone, rather than any changes in the gameplay (of which there were none).
Sonic fans are usually split between the music of each game. Some prefer Hataya's music, others prefer Nilsen's music, some like both equally. Although when the game's music is mentioned in a negative light it is more often than not Nilsen's version of the soundtrack that gets mentioned.
Ports
A version available for the personal computer was released in Japan on August 9, 1996, with a North American version in August 26, 1996, and a European version in October 3, 1996. Among the most noteworthy changes of this version was the fact that the entire FMV anime intro and ending sequence is available for this version. The Mega-CD version only had a truncated version of the intro and ending sequence. The Japanese version of the game had its manual translated from the US version, and all versions had the US soundtrack, with the "Past" tunes converted to normal CD tracks. Also on the disc is a short video clip of a pencil sketch of Sonic in action. Due to the design of Microsoft DirectX in Windows NT-based machines (namely, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP), the installation program for the game freezes when it says "Searching for DirectX". However, searching online for "Sonic CD Windows XP patch" will usually yield patches for the game. Sega has not made an offical remake that fixes the PC-version of the game, or made an modified installer that works with Windows NT-based systems. The game's installer still works on all the other editions of Windows, which are commonly referred as Windows 9x, but consist of Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME.
In addition to the PC port, Sonic CD is part of the Nintendo GameCube (and, in Japan and Europe, PlayStation 2) compilation Sonic Gems Collection. This version is, in turn, ported from the PC version. The soundtrack in this version depends on your region.
Trivia
- When accessing the debug mode of Sonic CD, a secret picture of Tails will appear in the game.
- In addition to the change of soundtrack the US version also replaced Amy Rose's name in the manual with that of Princess Sally to garner support for the television show, despite the fact that the Princess Sally character was already established.
- Sonic CD marked the first official appearance of both Metal Sonic and Amy Rose.
- It is often rumoured, although probably untrue, that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was to incorporate a time travel function similar to Sonic CD at one point or another. These rumoes likely stemmed from the fact that at one point in time, both Sonic 2 and Sonic CD were being simultaneously developed. The gaming press either got confused about which Sonic game was to feature time travel, or Sega was unspecific in revealing details about the two games.
- Sonic Mega Collection for the Nintendo Gamecube (and later for the X-Box and Playstation 2 as Sonic Mega Collection Plus) included, in the extra section, both the intro and good ending FMV sequences from Sonic CD.
External links
- Sonic CD at Green Hill Zone - contains info, screenshots and a basic walkthrough.