Sonic CD: why so beloved?

So apparently Sonic CD is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. This is a good thing; new generations of gamers who may have missed it the first time around can sit back, relax, and experience what is by far one of the worst, monstrously overrated 2D platformers ever made.

I've had the misfortune of playing through Sonic CD several times in my life, from its initial release on (a friend's) Sega CD to the version on the GameCube Sonic collection whose name escapes me (it's the same one with the Sonic arcade fighter). Every time, a question came to mind: "why is this game so beloved?"

Its level design is absolutely atrocious. Play any good Sonic game. They're rare, I know, but here's the definitive list: Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Advance 1 and 3 (not 2, good lord), and... that's it. Seriously, the rest (including every 3D title) are mediocre at best and prime examples of how NOT to make games at worst.

Anywho, play one of the good ones.

First thing you'll notice if you're not outright delusional: all are less about racing and more about solid platforming, the great secret of Classic Sonic that Sega -- and most of Sonic's fanbase -- completely forgot.

Second thing: in the aforementioned good Sonic games, the level design flows. You're first presented with levels that give you ample time and space to practice your characters' abilities (e.g., Emerald Hill, Route 99). You learn about the physics of Sonic; gravity and slopes have a huge impact on his movement (this is half the reason Sonic 4 is a mammoth disappointment), enemies get hurt when you're spinning, your jumping momentum is a big deal, all that jazz.

Here's where Sonic CD falls flat on its face: there's no flow. Every new zone is a mess of pure platforming nonsense, every level seemingly trying to trump the last's awful design. Palmtree Panic, the first zone, is a warning of what to expect; haphazardly scattered platforms that would make a bad Megaman Powered Up custom level designer shake his head. Wacky Workbench is the worst offender; the entire bottom of the level launches you up into a mess of precarious catwalks, and to make it to the end you have to generate horizontal movement in tight spaces to get under the various overhangs (it's even worse on screen then in text).

And god forbid you try to get the game's time rings (the Chaos Emerald equivalent); you're thrust into SNES-esque Mode 7 racetracks where Sonic kinda controls like Mario Kart if Mario Kart was programmed by the game developer analog of Uwe Boll. And god double-forbid if you try to "make a good future" in any level: tag a Past/Future signpost, build up speed in the horribly laid out levels (PROTIP: few are conducive to intuitive building up of speed), and pray to whatever deity you believe in something doesn't stop you at the last second, or TOO BAD YOU BETTER HOPE THERE'S ANOTHER SIGN IN THE LEVEL. RAAAAAAAAAGE.

Also, the Future signs are completely useless; you don't ever need to visit either the bad or good future, like, ever. Ever.

In short: the gameplay is severely lacking. That's not even getting into the drab visuals (the game has a less vibrant color palette than Sonic flippin' 1) and the boring tunes (and yes, I'm talking both the English and Japanese soundtracks).

Yet, go find any "top X Sonic games" list on the internet, anywhere. Sonic CD consistently not only places, but often outright tops these lists! What is that about?

"Well maybe you're wrong" you ask. See, I thought of that, and was blessed with the ability to actually think reasonable thoughts like "maybe I'm wrong." I've gone back, played Sonic CD several times with as open a mind as reasonably possible, and every time I run into every aforementioned problem and come out hating the game even more. And I haven't found or heard one reasonable argument in Sonic CD's favor: just assertions that it's apparently awesome (though it isn't) and I'm wrong (though why, exactly, seems to be a mystery).

I guess Sonic CD's popularity is just one of those huge mysteries of the universe. I guess it's not the first totally overrated game elevated to the echelons of greatness, and it sure as hell won't be the last. See also: the Street Fighter 3 series.

Tags: Sonic CD, sonic 2, Sonic 4, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Sonic Advance 1, Sonic Advance 3

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Chris Hoadley

August 24, 2011

I've never played Sonic CD before, though I am curious why it is so widely acclaimed. Then again, my favorite in the series is Sonic & Knuckles, and I think the first two rank above them in a lot of lists.

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Jonathan Oyama

August 29, 2011

It's much different than the other Sonic games. It was as if the creators experimented with adding in some Mario-style fetch quests. For instance, there is always a chaos machine that Sonic has to destroy in the past to change the future. Then Sonic gets some sort of bonus to change the ending from bad to good.

Unfortunately, this game mechanic turns aggravating quickly. In order to travel through time, Sonic has to run through a time travel sign and then he has to keep the momentum for a few seconds. However, if Sonic hits a different sign, he ends up traveling to a different time. As a result, players end up scavenging the level for unused time travel signs.

This is the probably the Sonic game that divided most of the fans over the future of the series. Eventually, the entire series plunged downhill when the fetch quests took over in the Sonic Adventure games. Honestly, Sonic 2 and 3 are my personal favorites because of the epic scale of the graphics, the speed and the dramatic presentation.

Keenan Myers

August 27, 2011

Sonic 3 & Knuckles to me was the absolute best of the series. Sonic CD's music was "okay" for me, I don't know why people think the Japanese version is so much better, to me, it's annoying. The only reason they bring it up, is because it's japanese, therefore it must be better. That doesn't work all the time guys, even though I tend to like Japanese box art in some games better than others.

Sonic 4 was a iPhone game ported to everything else. If you research it carefully, it makes sense. The Minecart level and some other level was lamblasted. Poof it was gone from the console editions. But lo and behold, it's in the iPhone edition as "exclusive levels". Sonic 4 was also a test to see if people wanted a 2D Sonic game, why else are we getting Sonic Generations?

Demian Omen Gerli

Sadly, I'd have to agree with you. I played Sonic CD a while ago, on a SCD emulator, on a whim from a friend who found it fantastic. Frankly I just found it quite confusing, with very poor level design and it didn't manage to hold my attention for more than five minutes. Which is basically the same thing I can say for most Sonic games of the past years, like Sonic Colours and such.

Sadly, I played the slow PC version of Sonic CD. I also bought the version on the Gamecube in the Sonic Gems Collection. It was still awful.

I can see how people thought that time travel was a cool game mechanic, but it got in the way of Sonic's speed. The music was refreshing, but it seemed like it was tacked onto the game. It didn't contrast well with old school platformer graphics. It was as if a Sonic game collided with some atrocious FMV styles.

It was an interesting transitional game, though. I still think it played out better than all the other 3D updates to Sonic. Some of the graphical twists with the ramp looked really cool as well. If the 3D games turned out like Sonic CD, I would have enjoyed the franchise a lot more than I do today.