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Description
(Credit to Naoto Oshima for the art!)

Why Sonic CD is NOT a bad game:

For some reason, a lot of hate seems to be growing on Sonic CD, despite it being highly praised initially by fans, critics, and a lot of people loved it. Magazines such as
Electronic Gaming Monthly's March 2001 issue stating it to be one of the best games in the franchise, as a lot of love was given to it by fans and even received a 100%
by some critics in the original version, which at the time was the HIGHEST rating for sonic games, even higher than the other ones. Honestly I'd say although this is not
the BEST SONIC GAME EVER as a lot of people used to say, and a big portion of the fanbase said it was..

It was still a REALLY GOOD game. (I honestly like Sonic 3 & Knuckles best)
It seems this is an ongoing trend in my opinion; hating on games that were well received by critics and fans alike. In the early 2010's the Adventure games were being crapped on
as well, and that was mainly due to youtubers opinions and people blindly following them and agreeing with some not playing the games in the first place, and turns these into a toxic
movement.

(NOTE: To those who actually don't like sonic adventure 1 or 2, or sonic CD or other games that seem to be highly praised that is good it's your opinion, i just don't really
agree when people don't try it out themselves or go into the game with someone elses opinion in mind and don't give the game a chance, keeping in mind what other people said and having
that set mindset or dont play it at all) And being overrated as I've seen people say with SA1 and SA2, colors, and even mania, and CD nowadays doesn't necessarily make a game bad

The soundtrack fits the levels perfectly, both the JP/EU and USA soundtracks have their own good tracks, a lot of them manage to fit the levels. Tidal Tempest, Palmtree panic,
Stardust Speedway all manage to sound amazing in both versions and fit the levels well. This game has some of the best quality when it comes to how the songs sound of the classic
series games, around on par i'd say with Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

The level design seems to suddenly of been being criticized starting with a couple youtubers saying they hated Sonic CD, with a section of the fanbase shifting their opinions
immediately after the videos were released, however the level designs are NOT bad at all.

I can name multiple levels that have a good design, palmtree panic has a bunch of
speed sections to where you can go fast (if you wanted to), tons to explore and honestly just because the game requires exploring to find past and future signs to time travel does
NOT make it a bad game by any means, in all honesty.

I literally do not see anyone complaining about backtracking and exploration required to find sign posts to get the chaos emeralds in Sonic 2,
yet people say this is a poor choice for the levels in sonic CD.

Stardust speedway is also a really good level design, obstacles here and there with robots and speed sections, to requiring the
player to not just simply hold right but to learn the layout and use cannons to get to certain parts to reach the end (like the mini maze in zone 2), Tidal tempest is also
surprisingly good when it comes to level design as well as obstacles that can kill you and pose a threat whether it be spikes, the dragon totem things that shoot blue fire that
pushes you down which in certain scenarios can lead to getting crushed if not timed right (like the sections with the boxes i mean) which leads to a challenge, levels are seemingly nowadays being
criticized as being "too easy, with no bottomless pits" just because a level doesnt have bottomless pits doesn't make it easy, there are crushers, spikes, spike pits, a decent
amount of enemies in each level.
And speedy areas, the goal posts at the end is basically telling the game "Im done with this stage", you have to time travel to create a good future
requiring the player to put effort into doing so, exploring for the robot generator, to enter these you have to maintain sonics speed after hitting a sign post, this multi step
process of travelling to the past, finding the robot generator, and exiting takes advantage of the games level design which forces the player to interact with elements.

The first step requires an understanding and skillful execution of the games mechanics.
Reaching the necessary speed is the hard part which poses a challenge, having
to scout out the level for areas that give well to fluid movement, some are easy like two springs facing each other, others requiring you to search and
do an obstacle course (disproving claims levels are too easy with no effort required to beat, unless you decide to skip everything and just stay in the present,
holding right and jumping a few times)
and avoiding obstacles like other sonic games.

The stages were designed cleverly to both have a little challenge if you're trying to play it like how one would play sonic 1, while having maximum use and effect with a little
challenge if you play it the way its meant to be played (time travelling) as you can see through how the stage loops together. tons of spring based platforming, loop-de-loop
upon loop-deloop, messing with conveyor belts, and levels that take a couple minutes to reach the goal if played by putting effort in, make you learn the intricacies of
the individual stage to the point you'll even learn the maps by the end of the game! if you play it just simply as you would the other classic games it isn't much a super
fun way to play, youre running past genius level concepts, loop-de-loops, obstacles, and never take the time to breathe in any of it.

Sure the game doesn't really tell you the best way to play it, but you can get hints by finding the past and future signposts or reading the manual. Though I will say
levels such as Collision Chaos, Wacky Workbench, and Metallic madness are horribly done. Metallic madness gets repetetive in each zone, and extends too long especially in
the second zone. The enemies are a bit of a joke, Wacky Workbench is a good concept but is executed poorly with the bounce mechanic being very annoying and over the top.
And Collision Chaos has a hard boss fight somewhat on your first few attempts, although not in the good way it's just annoying.

The variation in levels and zones are done VERY well. Unlike a truly bad game as say, Knuckles Chaotix, this game changes up the layouts of the map, object locations, platforming,
and badniks in each zone.

Some zones it can be easy to time travel, while others being hard to do so requiring the player to put effort into beating the game with the good ending, you are the one in charge
of the future of THE PLANET. Each zone has different variations in the Past, and Good Future, and Bad Future. How you play in the past affects the future either resulting in a toxic
environment, more obstacles sometimes than i nthe past or present when you get a bad future, and the Good Future having beautiful colors, and a lot of detail and care is
put into each zone. They are very fun to play in, with tons to interact with when you put in the effort to time travel.

Sonic CD's had a MASSIVE impact on the sonic franchise as a whole. Level designs like Stardust Speedway return to tons of games in the future, such as
Sonic Generations for example, and Sonic Mania. The music style which was heavily influenced by New Jack Swing genre (in the JP/EU ost anyway) lead
to some of the songs in Sonic 3 such as Hydrocity Zone and Marble Garden zone (These ones weren't done by Michael Jackson but the influence is kind of
obvious)

Not only that, but the opening and ending animations done by Toei Studios are really well done and influenced things in the Sonic series' cartoons and
games such as the Sonic OVA from 1999 which is heavily influenced by the style of Sonic CD's opening and endings, and Sonic Mania which was an amazing game
was heavily inspired by Sonic CD with stardust speedway even returning. The opening to it is done by Tyson hesse, who was inpired by Sonic CD's end credits
and opening sequence (the two styles look similar).

Without Sonic CD, we wouldn't even have Christian Whitehead's works such as the Sonic 2 and 1 remakes for IOS and android, or Sonic Mania! Christian Whitehead's
first project for Sega was actually the 2011 Sonic CD remake, which fixed a TON of c ollision issues, glitches and more. Sonic CD was the one game Sega felt needed
a remaster, before Christian Whitehead the game was almost entirely inaccessable, except through emulators for the most part or Sonic Gems Collection. Christian is the one
who brought the game to the forefront! Many people didn't get the chance to play until then, mainly due to the failure of the Sega CD.

The boss fights in Sonic CD in all honesty however are a huge issue. The first zones boss (Palmtree Panic) is so easy to the point it's a joke for the most part.
All you need to do is jump into Robotnik when he holds still after barely stepping towards you, and doing no attacks. Collision Chaos' provides a tiny bit of a challenge
but is very annoying and poorly executed. Wacky Workbenches and even the FINAL BOSS don't require much effort to beat either, with almost no danger. In fact, the danger in
the final boss mainly comes to Metallic Madness zone 3 having the only bottomless pit in the game.

The only truly challenging boss fight in my opinion is the Metal Sonic race in Stardust Speedway. Metal Sonic's moveset rivals sonics and he can blast into you, making you
fall behind and sometimes hit Robotnik's laser beam and having an instant death, he can electrocute you if you're behind him, and his speed can rival Sonic's easily.
This boss fight takes a few attempts usually, and the spikes can stop you dead in your tracks leaving you vulnerable.

Okay, I dare say Sonic CD's special stages are worse than Sonic 2's even. It takes forever to turn, and Sonic's controls being wonky and hard to understand.
The water takes away too much time from your timer, and the UFO's paths are too hard to predict most of the time leading to you screwing yourself over. The distracting
background doesn't help matters and the flashing colors can really distract you.

This game is very unforgiving when it comes to the special stages, when you lose enough time a UFO with extra time appears but even that one is hard to hit and feels like
a tease at times. They move slower but are easy to miss in certain special stage layouts like the 5th special stage, or the 7th.

The Future in Sonic CD when in the present feels pretty pointless to go to, you don't really interact with much in them and they dont provide you anything like the past and present do,
you can't even destroy a robot generator in the future, and the only "point" it has in zones 1 and 2 is to see what the good future and bad futures are like. The future is also the
default zone during the boss fights, so I guess that's one purpose..?

Overall, Sonic CD definitely isn't a bad game in all honesty, and although it isn't the best classic era game, I'd say it definitely deserves a place equal to Sonic 2, and a lot of
complaints such as the exploration focus and backtracking I don't see people
say anything about in Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles where you have to go back and search for giant rings, or Sonic The Hedgehog 2 where you have to
search for sign posts that can be hard to find.

Other points:
-Sonic CD introduced one of the best rivals to sonic who eventually had some of the best fights (though nowadays since generations it seems to be just a repeat of the sonic CD race
and he's kinda a joke in the newer games) Metal Sonic! Who became one of the most memorable Sonic characters with cool abilities, and a good story to him (especially in sonic heroes)
-Sonic CD also introduced Rosy The Rascal/Amy Rose, who also was one of the most memorable characters

If you read the entirety of this, I'd like to know how YOU feel about Sonic CD! ^-^ Did this review change your perspective on the game? Do you like this game still? Do you hate this
game still?

Description
(Credit to Naoto Oshima for the art!)

Why Sonic CD is NOT a bad game:

For some reason, a lot of hate seems to be growing on Sonic CD, despite it being highly praised initially by fans, critics, and a lot of people loved it. Magazines such as
Electronic Gaming Monthly's March 2001 issue stating it to be one of the best games in the franchise, as a lot of love was given to it by fans and even received a 100%
by some critics in the original version, which at the time was the HIGHEST rating for sonic games, even higher than the other ones. Honestly I'd say although this is not
the BEST SONIC GAME EVER as a lot of people used to say, and a big portion of the fanbase said it was..

It was still a REALLY GOOD game. (I honestly like Sonic 3 & Knuckles best)
It seems this is an ongoing trend in my opinion; hating on games that were well received by critics and fans alike. In the early 2010's the Adventure games were being crapped on
as well, and that was mainly due to youtubers opinions and people blindly following them and agreeing with some not playing the games in the first place, and turns these into a toxic
movement.

(NOTE: To those who actually don't like sonic adventure 1 or 2, or sonic CD or other games that seem to be highly praised that is good it's your opinion, i just don't really
agree when people don't try it out themselves or go into the game with someone elses opinion in mind and don't give the game a chance, keeping in mind what other people said and having
that set mindset or dont play it at all) And being overrated as I've seen people say with SA1 and SA2, colors, and even mania, and CD nowadays doesn't necessarily make a game bad

The soundtrack fits the levels perfectly, both the JP/EU and USA soundtracks have their own good tracks, a lot of them manage to fit the levels. Tidal Tempest, Palmtree panic,
Stardust Speedway all manage to sound amazing in both versions and fit the levels well. This game has some of the best quality when it comes to how the songs sound of the classic
series games, around on par i'd say with Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

The level design seems to suddenly of been being criticized starting with a couple youtubers saying they hated Sonic CD, with a section of the fanbase shifting their opinions
immediately after the videos were released, however the level designs are NOT bad at all.

I can name multiple levels that have a good design, palmtree panic has a bunch of
speed sections to where you can go fast (if you wanted to), tons to explore and honestly just because the game requires exploring to find past and future signs to time travel does
NOT make it a bad game by any means, in all honesty.

I literally do not see anyone complaining about backtracking and exploration required to find sign posts to get the chaos emeralds in Sonic 2,
yet people say this is a poor choice for the levels in sonic CD.

Stardust speedway is also a really good level design, obstacles here and there with robots and speed sections, to requiring the
player to not just simply hold right but to learn the layout and use cannons to get to certain parts to reach the end (like the mini maze in zone 2), Tidal tempest is also
surprisingly good when it comes to level design as well as obstacles that can kill you and pose a threat whether it be spikes, the dragon totem things that shoot blue fire that
pushes you down which in certain scenarios can lead to getting crushed if not timed right (like the sections with the boxes i mean) which leads to a challenge, levels are seemingly nowadays being
criticized as being "too easy, with no bottomless pits" just because a level doesnt have bottomless pits doesn't make it easy, there are crushers, spikes, spike pits, a decent
amount of enemies in each level.
And speedy areas, the goal posts at the end is basically telling the game "Im done with this stage", you have to time travel to create a good future
requiring the player to put effort into doing so, exploring for the robot generator, to enter these you have to maintain sonics speed after hitting a sign post, this multi step
process of travelling to the past, finding the robot generator, and exiting takes advantage of the games level design which forces the player to interact with elements.

The first step requires an understanding and skillful execution of the games mechanics.
Reaching the necessary speed is the hard part which poses a challenge, having
to scout out the level for areas that give well to fluid movement, some are easy like two springs facing each other, others requiring you to search and
do an obstacle course (disproving claims levels are too easy with no effort required to beat, unless you decide to skip everything and just stay in the present,
holding right and jumping a few times)
and avoiding obstacles like other sonic games.

The stages were designed cleverly to both have a little challenge if you're trying to play it like how one would play sonic 1, while having maximum use and effect with a little
challenge if you play it the way its meant to be played (time travelling) as you can see through how the stage loops together. tons of spring based platforming, loop-de-loop
upon loop-deloop, messing with conveyor belts, and levels that take a couple minutes to reach the goal if played by putting effort in, make you learn the intricacies of
the individual stage to the point you'll even learn the maps by the end of the game! if you play it just simply as you would the other classic games it isn't much a super
fun way to play, youre running past genius level concepts, loop-de-loops, obstacles, and never take the time to breathe in any of it.

Sure the game doesn't really tell you the best way to play it, but you can get hints by finding the past and future signposts or reading the manual. Though I will say
levels such as Collision Chaos, Wacky Workbench, and Metallic madness are horribly done. Metallic madness gets repetetive in each zone, and extends too long especially in
the second zone. The enemies are a bit of a joke, Wacky Workbench is a good concept but is executed poorly with the bounce mechanic being very annoying and over the top.
And Collision Chaos has a hard boss fight somewhat on your first few attempts, although not in the good way it's just annoying.

The variation in levels and zones are done VERY well. Unlike a truly bad game as say, Knuckles Chaotix, this game changes up the layouts of the map, object locations, platforming,
and badniks in each zone.

Some zones it can be easy to time travel, while others being hard to do so requiring the player to put effort into beating the game with the good ending, you are the one in charge
of the future of THE PLANET. Each zone has different variations in the Past, and Good Future, and Bad Future. How you play in the past affects the future either resulting in a toxic
environment, more obstacles sometimes than i nthe past or present when you get a bad future, and the Good Future having beautiful colors, and a lot of detail and care is
put into each zone. They are very fun to play in, with tons to interact with when you put in the effort to time travel.

Sonic CD's had a MASSIVE impact on the sonic franchise as a whole. Level designs like Stardust Speedway return to tons of games in the future, such as
Sonic Generations for example, and Sonic Mania. The music style which was heavily influenced by New Jack Swing genre (in the JP/EU ost anyway) lead
to some of the songs in Sonic 3 such as Hydrocity Zone and Marble Garden zone (These ones weren't done by Michael Jackson but the influence is kind of
obvious)

Not only that, but the opening and ending animations done by Toei Studios are really well done and influenced things in the Sonic series' cartoons and
games such as the Sonic OVA from 1999 which is heavily influenced by the style of Sonic CD's opening and endings, and Sonic Mania which was an amazing game
was heavily inspired by Sonic CD with stardust speedway even returning. The opening to it is done by Tyson hesse, who was inpired by Sonic CD's end credits
and opening sequence (the two styles look similar).

Without Sonic CD, we wouldn't even have Christian Whitehead's works such as the Sonic 2 and 1 remakes for IOS and android, or Sonic Mania! Christian Whitehead's
first project for Sega was actually the 2011 Sonic CD remake, which fixed a TON of c ollision issues, glitches and more. Sonic CD was the one game Sega felt needed
a remaster, before Christian Whitehead the game was almost entirely inaccessable, except through emulators for the most part or Sonic Gems Collection. Christian is the one
who brought the game to the forefront! Many people didn't get the chance to play until then, mainly due to the failure of the Sega CD.

The boss fights in Sonic CD in all honesty however are a huge issue. The first zones boss (Palmtree Panic) is so easy to the point it's a joke for the most part.
All you need to do is jump into Robotnik when he holds still after barely stepping towards you, and doing no attacks. Collision Chaos' provides a tiny bit of a challenge
but is very annoying and poorly executed. Wacky Workbenches and even the FINAL BOSS don't require much effort to beat either, with almost no danger. In fact, the danger in
the final boss mainly comes to Metallic Madness zone 3 having the only bottomless pit in the game.

The only truly challenging boss fight in my opinion is the Metal Sonic race in Stardust Speedway. Metal Sonic's moveset rivals sonics and he can blast into you, making you
fall behind and sometimes hit Robotnik's laser beam and having an instant death, he can electrocute you if you're behind him, and his speed can rival Sonic's easily.
This boss fight takes a few attempts usually, and the spikes can stop you dead in your tracks leaving you vulnerable.

Okay, I dare say Sonic CD's special stages are worse than Sonic 2's even. It takes forever to turn, and Sonic's controls being wonky and hard to understand.
The water takes away too much time from your timer, and the UFO's paths are too hard to predict most of the time leading to you screwing yourself over. The distracting
background doesn't help matters and the flashing colors can really distract you.

This game is very unforgiving when it comes to the special stages, when you lose enough time a UFO with extra time appears but even that one is hard to hit and feels like
a tease at times. They move slower but are easy to miss in certain special stage layouts like the 5th special stage, or the 7th.

The Future in Sonic CD when in the present feels pretty pointless to go to, you don't really interact with much in them and they dont provide you anything like the past and present do,
you can't even destroy a robot generator in the future, and the only "point" it has in zones 1 and 2 is to see what the good future and bad futures are like. The future is also the
default zone during the boss fights, so I guess that's one purpose..?

Overall, Sonic CD definitely isn't a bad game in all honesty, and although it isn't the best classic era game, I'd say it definitely deserves a place equal to Sonic 2, and a lot of
complaints such as the exploration focus and backtracking I don't see people
say anything about in Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles where you have to go back and search for giant rings, or Sonic The Hedgehog 2 where you have to
search for sign posts that can be hard to find.

Other points:
-Sonic CD introduced one of the best rivals to sonic who eventually had some of the best fights (though nowadays since generations it seems to be just a repeat of the sonic CD race
and he's kinda a joke in the newer games) Metal Sonic! Who became one of the most memorable Sonic characters with cool abilities, and a good story to him (especially in sonic heroes)
-Sonic CD also introduced Rosy The Rascal/Amy Rose, who also was one of the most memorable characters

If you read the entirety of this, I'd like to know how YOU feel about Sonic CD! ^-^ Did this review change your perspective on the game? Do you like this game still? Do you hate this
game still?