Brotha Kyo Retro-Spec: My favorite Sonic game of all time and why it's an unsung hero.
If you know me, then you know I'm quite the Sonic fan. A huge Sonic fan. Oh sure, these days, I spend more time knocking around on the guy, but to be fair, nothing from the blue guy lately has blown my mind to where I'm like 'SWEET CRACKERS! THIS JUST REDEFINED PLATFORMING GAMES FOREVER. I POOPED MY MYSELF A BIT.' No, no. Sorry, but I haven't done that for a Sonic game in... shucks, since I was 14? (For me, while it didn't re-define platforming, Sonic Adventure just fucking blew my mind. How DX got glitched, I'm not sure.)
But if you really, REALLY, REALLY know me, then surely you know my favorite Sonic game of all time. I'll let you guys guess before the main paragraph. Come on.
Hmmm... give you a hint. Still in the 16 bit era. Doo, doo, doo... still not sure? Dude, come on? Crazy psychedelic graphics, a HUGE adventure, a bitching soundtrack, and features that weren't really re-invented in the series later on (Game Gear excluded.). Hmm... if you've seen my video game collection, then you kind of know which game it is...
Ha... if you said Sonic and Knuckles, then you sir. You sir are pretty wrong.
WHAT? BUT EVERYONE LIKES SONIC AND KNUCKLES.
I do like it. But it's not my favorite Sonic game. No, you see, my favorite Sonic game included bright 90s-pop-art graphics, a detailed high quality soundtrack, huge inspired level designs, and two cult-classic characters - Metal Sonic and Amy Rose. Dude, yeah of course. I fucking love Sonic CD.
Sonic the Hedgehog CD, shortened down to just 'Sonic CD' is an action-adventure game that came out originally in 1993 (September for Japan, October for Europe, and America for November.) Later on in 1996, the game would hop to the PC and make its 'console comeback' via Sonic Gems Collection in 2005. (However, this was the PC port.)
The plot for the game begins with Sonic doing what he does best; zooming around the world searching for the most thrill-filled adventure any blue hedgehog can experience. He remembered that for one month out of every year, a mysterious small world known as 'Little Planet' appears above Never Lake. This planet holds seven gems known as the Time Stones that, when awakened, barren wastelands become lush and full with vegetation and polluted waters becomes clear and pure, showing off the mysterious power of the Stones... so of course leave it to Dr. Robotnik (Eggman, whatever you prefer.) to use that 300 + I.Q. of his to be all 'Well, I'm going to harness its power! durrhurrrr! And of course NO ONE IS GOING TO STOP ME.' You know, for a guy with a really high I.Q., you'd think he'd quit attempting at world domination if he gets destroyed the same way. Anyways, on topic? The Egg-shaped 'genius' chains down the The Little Planet to a mountain the moment it appears. Don't ask how, he just did.
Oh, by the by? Sonic has NO clue Robotnik was going after this planet's power. At least, not until he makes it to Never Lake, to see the planet chained down thinking 'How the hell did he chain THAT THING to the mountain?' Not one to question logic however, Sonic rushes to the top of the mountain, and ramps up onto the chain leading to the planet. Course, just in case Sonic were to show up, Robotnik set up his personal army to rid himself of that blue menace. But Sonic doesn't give a shit; he can send in ten, a hundred, hell, even a thousand robots! It wasn't going to stop him because he's motherfucking Sonic, the fastest thing alive and the most legendary hero of his world!
Oh, meanwhile, a young perky female hedgehog named Amy Rose would come to the Little Planet because of a tarot card reading telling her about her destined encounter with her hero, Sonic. This both works out for Amy and also backfires; She eventually gets to run into Sonic, but the second she does, Egg's newest and most powerful creation shows up and snatches her in front of Sonic; Metal Sonic, a robotic duplicate of our hero, who can even surpass the original's speed!
So now, Sonic has two things going on - to save the world once more, and to rescue Amy Rose! All this, being done with his 'determined never-say-never' look, and his trademark smirk. It's fucking go time, 1993 style.
Of course, you would NEVER know all this unless you read the instruction manual. Who says video games don't teach you to read?
What originally started as a game that would come out before Sonic 2 (From the look and graphics of the character sprites, to the infamous 'See You Next Game' Tails image.), became an awesome, personally best, entry of the Sonic legacy (And no lie, the main reason we bought a Sega CD.). It would play like Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), but they upped the system QUITE alot. These would include but aren't limited to -
Time Travel - the main focus of the game. Depending on what you did would affect the gameplay a bit drastically; How it would work is this - You'd hit a 'PAST' sign, and taking a cue from Back to the Future, you'd run at top speed (If you slow down or stop during the 'Past' status flashing, this would wear off and thus, you'd miss an opportunity to go back in time.). If you're still blazing, following by sparks, then you see Sonic disappear off, and spiral through a rift and into the Past! It's the same level only with different graphics, a new 'Past' remix of the current stage music (For the Jap/Euro version anyways, more on this 'Music War' later....), and certain areas are closed up/ opened up, pretty much giving you an entire new stage to go through. Now while in the past, you have to do something to guarantee a good future. If you want lesser robots to show up in the Present, you destroy the 'UFO Robot Maker'. This means less annoying enemies in the Present and the Future meant a GOOD Future (Also with its own remix and tile-set. Same for the Bad Future, only a more malcontent tile-set and yet another remix.). To get bonus points and have animal jumping around in the perfect utopia, you have to then return to the Present (Hit the Future post in the past, top the speed, and let the good times roll.) Back in the present, you'll encounter a 'Metal Sonic' holograph machine of him stepping on an animal (wtf.). Jump on it once to destroy it to get bonus points and have your buddies hopping happily in the perfect future. Every third Act (Or ZONE in this game, where as Zones are now 'Rounds') you get warped into the Future. If you cleaned up both 'Zones'' Pasts and destroyed the propaganda hologram machines, then you get warped to the good future. If you didn't do jack, then you get a post-apocalyptic future. However, there IS a way to get 'Auto-Good Future', and that would be -
'Mode-7' styled Special Stages - Sonic games are notorious for their 'one of a kind' special stages, and the ones in Sonic CD was aimed at the F-Zero fan who happened to like Sega. Sonic would blaze around a 3D area, having to destroy UFOs before time ran out to get the Time Stones. Running into the water (aka Sonic's bane, other than his new 'hipster Linkin Park loving fans'...OOH! CHEAP SHOT! <3) will deplete ten seconds off. There are speed pads, springs, bumpers, and power ups that come out of the UFOs you destroy. Plus, it just looked trippy.
'Spin dash and the Peel Out' - Did you know before Sonic 2, Sonic CD was going to originate the Spin Dash? Yeah, this game was being developed alongside with Sonic 2, hell was supposed to come out before it, but Sega decided that Sonic 2 would be more important than CD, so they delayed SCD until 1993. Anywho, Sonic CD had a primitive 'spin dash'; no fancy animation, but it is still done the same way. They also did one with him moving his feet so fast it would turn his feet into the 'infamous' figure-8 loop his feet do. It was another speed burst technique, only it's up and jump. There's a cool glitch however (I've managed to do it on the PC version and a few times on the Sega CD version.) that if you're Doing the Peel Out technique, and decide you want to spindash, as fast as you can, charge motion from up to down, still holding down the jump button. It's pretty neat.
Technically, over 50 fucking stages. - Yeah, yeah. there's like, 21 stages in total, but when time-jumping, the levels change up, making them pretty different. It was literally the biggest Sonic adventure out until Sonic 3 and Knuckles happened.
So yeah. Pretty much it's your standard '2D Sonic'; jumps, loops, springs, robots, rings, speed. What set it apart from Sonic 1 was the emphasis on it's 'twitch-platforming' where it wasn't just about speed, but also the obstacles and 'slip up and fall to your doom' mindset for some of the later stages, thus making through some stages a bit of a intricate puzzle. Ok, that last one was a bit of a stretch, but the whole 'hold down right and win' thing is also an exaggeration, people. There was alot to do, the levels were huge, the graphics were 'poppy', Sonic's personality was actually detailed in this game (not just in sprites but the FMV sequences...), and well... the soundtrack.
Oh yes, the controversial topic brought up when talking about Sonic CD; the music. The original tunes were composed by Naofumi Hataya & Masafumi Ogata, who would later compose for NiGHTS into Dreams (The style is pretty similar if you listen; right down to the jazz fusion of pop and synth trumpets.). Also the opening and ending songs were sang by Keiko Utoku, a rather famous J-pop artist. However, the game was delayed for USA, because to make use of Sega's new American Sound Studio, they hired Spencer Nielsen to recompose the entire soundtrack, except for the Past music, which was composed on the Genesis' PCM track. The new theme songs were two different versions of 'Sonic Boom', sang by Pastiche. Because of the huge difference in audio, Sega decided to dub this as the 'Special Edition for North America'. Hm.
Controversy, they name is 'fandom'. One of the many reasons why Sonic fans fight with each other these days is because of this. In fact... remember DieHard Gamefan Magazine? They had quite the review for Sonic CD(JP) and Sonic CD(US); they gave the JP version a perfect 100 while the US? 70, solely for the soundtrack. You'd think 'Hey, what the hell, that's a little unjust don't you think?' But from the reasoning behind it? Check this quote out -
"an atrocity which remains the biggest injustice in localization history: worse than taking the farting mama out of DJ Boy, or the fruity mid-boss out of Streets of Rage 3. The company line was that American consumers weren't ready for techno... Prodigy burst onto the rave scene in the early 1990s and achieved immense popularity worldwide, but the US needed elevator music for the first arranged Sonic."
Well, how about that. To which, Spencer later responded -
"They had all been playing the Japanese version for weeks or months before our version hit the streets, so it was like we replaced the music to Star Wars after the movie had been out for a while. From that perspective, I can't blame them."
There you go. The guy was just making a quick buck, so really, blame Sega of America for deciding to change up one of the strongest elements for a Sonic game.
Blah, it's really just a thing of taste... both soundtracks are on my iPod so I care not.
But MY personal take on it? I much prefer the Japanese/Europe soundtrack.
No, I'm not a 'HurDurr, Japanese Segasonic' snob (Although, lately, I really don't give two flips about the Archie Comics...), but I'm not going to lie; the original soundtrack actually FIT the 'Crazy out-there retro Europop' mood of the game, whereas the American soundtrack, while it sounded very cool and oozed in American 80s style, pumped me up more for riding an elevator than saving the world from a fat madman...
The music in the US soundtrack, specifically Stardust Speedway (personal favorite level), did fit some of the levels. Otherwise, I seriously don't care much for the American music. Too 'new-ageish.'
Here, let me demonstrate -
Kinda 'eerie', which fits what is happening (Amy getting napped by Metal Sonic... but that only happens for like, what, five seconds?), but for the rest of the stage... eh.
and the JP version -
Same stage, same thing happens. It fits the whole 'Sonic' thing.
And don't get me started on the opening and ending music; it's like bringing up politics. I'm just going to leave it at this; Sonic CD's music, US or JP, garnered alot of attention from neutral Sonic fans and is remembered for one thing or another.
One more cool thing about this game? THE FMV SEQUENCES. Animated by TOEI Animation (Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Fist of the Northstar, Digimon, One Piece, blah, blah, blah.), the art direction for Sonic is by far one of the best I've seen done on the character.
The intro and outro captured the true essence of Sonic's personality in my opinion. (Both will be in the JP soundtrack, due to taste reasons.)
Sonic - You Can Do Anything. Sonic blazing around, being unstoppable? Man, this is what sealed the deal for me being a huge Sonic fan. Also for those who remember 'Green Hill Zone' from Sonic 2 for the Game Gear, will recognize this tune.
and.
Cosmic Eternity - Believe in Yourself. Man, that is catchy. Oh, that 'part where Sonic almost got his jimmy bitten into'? Sequence of a stage that never made it into the game.
For Sonic hackers, this is the infamous 'R2' or Round 2 stage that got cut out. I'm assuming, based on how it was looking, it was the 'Marble Zone' of SCD. Bummer really. Looked pretty fun.
Also, this is one of the 'Yuji Naka-free' games; this was done by Sonic's original artist as Naka was overseas in America working on Sonic 2 and 3 at the time.
At one point, Sonic CD 2 was planned, but scrapped quickly.
In conclusion - I know Sonicteam will never go back and reference this game, like, ever. But this game was just 'a feel good game' and a cult classic of the series that many hardcore Sonic fans should bring up in discussion every now and again.
In fact, let's discuss.
Also, if you leave Sonic alone for three minutes, he'll get bored, tell you 'I'm outta here!' and leave the game. Coolest game over ever.
Also, here's two extra videos -
Something cool - The Japanese Sonic CD commercial -
and something goofy - the Fresh Prince of Tidal Tempest -
But if you really, REALLY, REALLY know me, then surely you know my favorite Sonic game of all time. I'll let you guys guess before the main paragraph. Come on.
Hmmm... give you a hint. Still in the 16 bit era. Doo, doo, doo... still not sure? Dude, come on? Crazy psychedelic graphics, a HUGE adventure, a bitching soundtrack, and features that weren't really re-invented in the series later on (Game Gear excluded.). Hmm... if you've seen my video game collection, then you kind of know which game it is...
Ha... if you said Sonic and Knuckles, then you sir. You sir are pretty wrong.
WHAT? BUT EVERYONE LIKES SONIC AND KNUCKLES.
I do like it. But it's not my favorite Sonic game. No, you see, my favorite Sonic game included bright 90s-pop-art graphics, a detailed high quality soundtrack, huge inspired level designs, and two cult-classic characters - Metal Sonic and Amy Rose. Dude, yeah of course. I fucking love Sonic CD.
Sonic the Hedgehog CD, shortened down to just 'Sonic CD' is an action-adventure game that came out originally in 1993 (September for Japan, October for Europe, and America for November.) Later on in 1996, the game would hop to the PC and make its 'console comeback' via Sonic Gems Collection in 2005. (However, this was the PC port.)
The plot for the game begins with Sonic doing what he does best; zooming around the world searching for the most thrill-filled adventure any blue hedgehog can experience. He remembered that for one month out of every year, a mysterious small world known as 'Little Planet' appears above Never Lake. This planet holds seven gems known as the Time Stones that, when awakened, barren wastelands become lush and full with vegetation and polluted waters becomes clear and pure, showing off the mysterious power of the Stones... so of course leave it to Dr. Robotnik (Eggman, whatever you prefer.) to use that 300 + I.Q. of his to be all 'Well, I'm going to harness its power! durrhurrrr! And of course NO ONE IS GOING TO STOP ME.' You know, for a guy with a really high I.Q., you'd think he'd quit attempting at world domination if he gets destroyed the same way. Anyways, on topic? The Egg-shaped 'genius' chains down the The Little Planet to a mountain the moment it appears. Don't ask how, he just did.
Oh, by the by? Sonic has NO clue Robotnik was going after this planet's power. At least, not until he makes it to Never Lake, to see the planet chained down thinking 'How the hell did he chain THAT THING to the mountain?' Not one to question logic however, Sonic rushes to the top of the mountain, and ramps up onto the chain leading to the planet. Course, just in case Sonic were to show up, Robotnik set up his personal army to rid himself of that blue menace. But Sonic doesn't give a shit; he can send in ten, a hundred, hell, even a thousand robots! It wasn't going to stop him because he's motherfucking Sonic, the fastest thing alive and the most legendary hero of his world!
Oh, meanwhile, a young perky female hedgehog named Amy Rose would come to the Little Planet because of a tarot card reading telling her about her destined encounter with her hero, Sonic. This both works out for Amy and also backfires; She eventually gets to run into Sonic, but the second she does, Egg's newest and most powerful creation shows up and snatches her in front of Sonic; Metal Sonic, a robotic duplicate of our hero, who can even surpass the original's speed!
So now, Sonic has two things going on - to save the world once more, and to rescue Amy Rose! All this, being done with his 'determined never-say-never' look, and his trademark smirk. It's fucking go time, 1993 style.
Of course, you would NEVER know all this unless you read the instruction manual. Who says video games don't teach you to read?
What originally started as a game that would come out before Sonic 2 (From the look and graphics of the character sprites, to the infamous 'See You Next Game' Tails image.), became an awesome, personally best, entry of the Sonic legacy (And no lie, the main reason we bought a Sega CD.). It would play like Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), but they upped the system QUITE alot. These would include but aren't limited to -
Time Travel - the main focus of the game. Depending on what you did would affect the gameplay a bit drastically; How it would work is this - You'd hit a 'PAST' sign, and taking a cue from Back to the Future, you'd run at top speed (If you slow down or stop during the 'Past' status flashing, this would wear off and thus, you'd miss an opportunity to go back in time.). If you're still blazing, following by sparks, then you see Sonic disappear off, and spiral through a rift and into the Past! It's the same level only with different graphics, a new 'Past' remix of the current stage music (For the Jap/Euro version anyways, more on this 'Music War' later....), and certain areas are closed up/ opened up, pretty much giving you an entire new stage to go through. Now while in the past, you have to do something to guarantee a good future. If you want lesser robots to show up in the Present, you destroy the 'UFO Robot Maker'. This means less annoying enemies in the Present and the Future meant a GOOD Future (Also with its own remix and tile-set. Same for the Bad Future, only a more malcontent tile-set and yet another remix.). To get bonus points and have animal jumping around in the perfect utopia, you have to then return to the Present (Hit the Future post in the past, top the speed, and let the good times roll.) Back in the present, you'll encounter a 'Metal Sonic' holograph machine of him stepping on an animal (wtf.). Jump on it once to destroy it to get bonus points and have your buddies hopping happily in the perfect future. Every third Act (Or ZONE in this game, where as Zones are now 'Rounds') you get warped into the Future. If you cleaned up both 'Zones'' Pasts and destroyed the propaganda hologram machines, then you get warped to the good future. If you didn't do jack, then you get a post-apocalyptic future. However, there IS a way to get 'Auto-Good Future', and that would be -
'Mode-7' styled Special Stages - Sonic games are notorious for their 'one of a kind' special stages, and the ones in Sonic CD was aimed at the F-Zero fan who happened to like Sega. Sonic would blaze around a 3D area, having to destroy UFOs before time ran out to get the Time Stones. Running into the water (aka Sonic's bane, other than his new 'hipster Linkin Park loving fans'...OOH! CHEAP SHOT! <3) will deplete ten seconds off. There are speed pads, springs, bumpers, and power ups that come out of the UFOs you destroy. Plus, it just looked trippy.
'Spin dash and the Peel Out' - Did you know before Sonic 2, Sonic CD was going to originate the Spin Dash? Yeah, this game was being developed alongside with Sonic 2, hell was supposed to come out before it, but Sega decided that Sonic 2 would be more important than CD, so they delayed SCD until 1993. Anywho, Sonic CD had a primitive 'spin dash'; no fancy animation, but it is still done the same way. They also did one with him moving his feet so fast it would turn his feet into the 'infamous' figure-8 loop his feet do. It was another speed burst technique, only it's up and jump. There's a cool glitch however (I've managed to do it on the PC version and a few times on the Sega CD version.) that if you're Doing the Peel Out technique, and decide you want to spindash, as fast as you can, charge motion from up to down, still holding down the jump button. It's pretty neat.
Technically, over 50 fucking stages. - Yeah, yeah. there's like, 21 stages in total, but when time-jumping, the levels change up, making them pretty different. It was literally the biggest Sonic adventure out until Sonic 3 and Knuckles happened.
So yeah. Pretty much it's your standard '2D Sonic'; jumps, loops, springs, robots, rings, speed. What set it apart from Sonic 1 was the emphasis on it's 'twitch-platforming' where it wasn't just about speed, but also the obstacles and 'slip up and fall to your doom' mindset for some of the later stages, thus making through some stages a bit of a intricate puzzle. Ok, that last one was a bit of a stretch, but the whole 'hold down right and win' thing is also an exaggeration, people. There was alot to do, the levels were huge, the graphics were 'poppy', Sonic's personality was actually detailed in this game (not just in sprites but the FMV sequences...), and well... the soundtrack.
Oh yes, the controversial topic brought up when talking about Sonic CD; the music. The original tunes were composed by Naofumi Hataya & Masafumi Ogata, who would later compose for NiGHTS into Dreams (The style is pretty similar if you listen; right down to the jazz fusion of pop and synth trumpets.). Also the opening and ending songs were sang by Keiko Utoku, a rather famous J-pop artist. However, the game was delayed for USA, because to make use of Sega's new American Sound Studio, they hired Spencer Nielsen to recompose the entire soundtrack, except for the Past music, which was composed on the Genesis' PCM track. The new theme songs were two different versions of 'Sonic Boom', sang by Pastiche. Because of the huge difference in audio, Sega decided to dub this as the 'Special Edition for North America'. Hm.
Controversy, they name is 'fandom'. One of the many reasons why Sonic fans fight with each other these days is because of this. In fact... remember DieHard Gamefan Magazine? They had quite the review for Sonic CD(JP) and Sonic CD(US); they gave the JP version a perfect 100 while the US? 70, solely for the soundtrack. You'd think 'Hey, what the hell, that's a little unjust don't you think?' But from the reasoning behind it? Check this quote out -
"an atrocity which remains the biggest injustice in localization history: worse than taking the farting mama out of DJ Boy, or the fruity mid-boss out of Streets of Rage 3. The company line was that American consumers weren't ready for techno... Prodigy burst onto the rave scene in the early 1990s and achieved immense popularity worldwide, but the US needed elevator music for the first arranged Sonic."
Well, how about that. To which, Spencer later responded -
"They had all been playing the Japanese version for weeks or months before our version hit the streets, so it was like we replaced the music to Star Wars after the movie had been out for a while. From that perspective, I can't blame them."
There you go. The guy was just making a quick buck, so really, blame Sega of America for deciding to change up one of the strongest elements for a Sonic game.
Blah, it's really just a thing of taste... both soundtracks are on my iPod so I care not.
But MY personal take on it? I much prefer the Japanese/Europe soundtrack.
No, I'm not a 'HurDurr, Japanese Segasonic' snob (Although, lately, I really don't give two flips about the Archie Comics...), but I'm not going to lie; the original soundtrack actually FIT the 'Crazy out-there retro Europop' mood of the game, whereas the American soundtrack, while it sounded very cool and oozed in American 80s style, pumped me up more for riding an elevator than saving the world from a fat madman...
The music in the US soundtrack, specifically Stardust Speedway (personal favorite level), did fit some of the levels. Otherwise, I seriously don't care much for the American music. Too 'new-ageish.'
Here, let me demonstrate -
Click to viewKinda 'eerie', which fits what is happening (Amy getting napped by Metal Sonic... but that only happens for like, what, five seconds?), but for the rest of the stage... eh.
and the JP version -
Same stage, same thing happens. It fits the whole 'Sonic' thing.
And don't get me started on the opening and ending music; it's like bringing up politics. I'm just going to leave it at this; Sonic CD's music, US or JP, garnered alot of attention from neutral Sonic fans and is remembered for one thing or another.
One more cool thing about this game? THE FMV SEQUENCES. Animated by TOEI Animation (Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Fist of the Northstar, Digimon, One Piece, blah, blah, blah.), the art direction for Sonic is by far one of the best I've seen done on the character.
The intro and outro captured the true essence of Sonic's personality in my opinion. (Both will be in the JP soundtrack, due to taste reasons.)
Sonic - You Can Do Anything. Sonic blazing around, being unstoppable? Man, this is what sealed the deal for me being a huge Sonic fan. Also for those who remember 'Green Hill Zone' from Sonic 2 for the Game Gear, will recognize this tune.
and.
Cosmic Eternity - Believe in Yourself. Man, that is catchy. Oh, that 'part where Sonic almost got his jimmy bitten into'? Sequence of a stage that never made it into the game.
For Sonic hackers, this is the infamous 'R2' or Round 2 stage that got cut out. I'm assuming, based on how it was looking, it was the 'Marble Zone' of SCD. Bummer really. Looked pretty fun.
Also, this is one of the 'Yuji Naka-free' games; this was done by Sonic's original artist as Naka was overseas in America working on Sonic 2 and 3 at the time.
At one point, Sonic CD 2 was planned, but scrapped quickly.
In conclusion - I know Sonicteam will never go back and reference this game, like, ever. But this game was just 'a feel good game' and a cult classic of the series that many hardcore Sonic fans should bring up in discussion every now and again.
In fact, let's discuss.
Also, if you leave Sonic alone for three minutes, he'll get bored, tell you 'I'm outta here!' and leave the game. Coolest game over ever.
Also, here's two extra videos -
Something cool - The Japanese Sonic CD commercial -
and something goofy - the Fresh Prince of Tidal Tempest -