7/6/2023 0 Comments Sonic cd soundtrack cdLike the original Sonic, each Zone has three Acts, though the final one is fairly short and primarily consists of the boss battle. Once you’ve busted it, if you jump forward in time, you’ll end up in the Good Future instead, which is free of decay and might brighter than its Bad counterpart. Even if you’re not in the Past time period, you can still find remnants of it in other time periods, so you know roughly where you look. In order to fix things for the future generation, you need to jump to the Past version, hunt down Robotnik’s enemy generation machine, and destroy it. You start a level in the Present, and by default, if you go to the Future, you’ll end up in the Bad Future, where the level is polluted and wrecked by Robotnik’s machinations. There are four variations of most levels: Past, Present, Bad Future, and Good Future. While the core level is basically the same in every era, it uses different tilesets and music, plus some parts of the layout are changed, though usually not drastically. If you can build up enough speed (a la the Delorean in Back to the Future) and keep it long enough, then you’ll jump to a different time period. Through each stage are posts that read “Past” and “Future”. The central conceit of Sonic CD, though, is time travel. Levels are no longer called “Acts” but now “Zones”, though all of the names are fun alliterations. When you destroy an enemy robot, it drops a seed that grows into a flower, rather than freeing an animal. Functionally, it’s not much different from the regular one – it’s a little faster, but since you don’t curl into a ball, you’re still vulnerable to getting hit by an enemy. There’s also an alternate charge move, activated by hitting up and jump, which causes Sonic to “peel out”, with his legs moving in a blur. There’s a spin dash, but it works differently than Sonic 2, in that you need to charge it for a second before you zoom off. Somethings about the game feel a little weird too – the jumping sound effect is obnoxiously loud, and rings are found buried in the scenery, where they’re impossible to grab. Since it was developed in parallel with Sonic 2 (though released almost a year afterward) it doesn’t take into account most of its additions – Sonic’s sprite looks just like he did in the first game, and Tails is nowhere to be seen. The most original levels are Quartz Quadrant, a crystalline mine, and Wacky Workbench, which is filled with electrical coils and a floor that sends you bouncing to the skies whenever it flashes. Collision Chaos is Spring Yard Zone with some pinball flippers and a different color palette, while Metallic Madness is a more colorful Scrap Brain, with a few fun areas where Sonic shrinks down to tiny size to squeeze into small passages. Palmtree Panic is basically Green Hill, Tidal Tempest is basically a less frustrating Labyrinth. Visually, at first glance, many of the zones don’t seem that much different from the ones in the original Sonic the Hedgehog, despite the fancier names. Changing the planet name isn’t a big deal, but Sally is a totally different character in the cartoon (and TV series) who never appeared in any of the Japanese video games, so it was a cause for confusion when the game was initially released. Little Planet has been renamed Mobius, while Amy is now referred to as Princess Sally, at least in the Sega CD manual. (The one in the other games is known as either Mecha Sonic or Silver Sonic.) Weirdly, the American version changes some of the names to make it fit with the ABC Saturday morning cartoon. It also featured Metal Sonic in a more prominent role – technically there’s a Sonic robot at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but this one is actually different. The game also features Amy “Rosy the Rascal” Rose as Sonic’s loyal admirer (previously found in some manga spinoffs), who doesn’t do much other than fawning over Sonic and getting kidnapped. The game takes place on a large floating orb called Little Planet, which Robotnik has chained to the earth in his attempt to assimilate it for himself. Despite not being a “mainline” game (inasmuch as it’s not numbered), it should definitely be considered alongside the classic 16-bit titles, as it looks and plays just like them…except a little bit weirder. While Sonic CD was originally conceptualized as a port of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, it was quickly revamped into its own original title. A good number of Sega CD games (at least the non-FMV ones) were simply ports of Genesis games with new music and maybe some extra content. It was directed by Naoto Ohshima, who was created with being the creator of the original Sonic the Hedgehog design. While Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was being developed in the United States, some of the original Japanese staff stayed back in Japan to work on Sonic CD, one of the headlines of the Sega CD lineup.
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