• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sonic CD (Retro Engine) |OT| Where We're Going, We Don't Need Backbone

Link1110

Member
I honestly have no problem buying this multiple times if it sends a message to Sega that they should give the older games this treatment as well. Double dipped on 360 and android, about to triple dip on iOS as well!

EDIT: also holy shit the exit to menu trick on special stages is so broken lol. Makes my life a lot easier, I'm fucking terrible at the later stages :(

Nice! Sonic Colors DS had a similar trick (can restart special stages,) and that made the last few so much less annoying.
 

clav

Member
Good news, it's working on my TouchPad! Though it's a little choppy, but I'm running a old CM beta on it.

k70sl.jpg

It's beautiful.
 

alf717

Member
I take it the game doesn't save the fact that you got a good future in one act when you resume a save. Started to play as Tails, finished the first level got a good future saved left, came back good future in act 2. Act 3 starts and it looks like crude.
 
Is there still a way to do probably the most obscure Sonic CD trick of all, messing with the title screen clouds? I don't remember what exactly the code was, but doing a search listed this:

Play With the Clouds
At the title screen, hold A and press UP, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, UP. You'll hear a chime. Then use controller 2 to manipulate the clouds. LEFT zooms out. RIGHT zooms in. UP and DOWN tilt the horizon. A and C rotates the clouds and B speeds them up.

I did a quick test of that on the 360 version and didn't hear a chime. Oh, woe is Taxman if he left out this insanely important detail!

Please no one actually take me seriously. You'd think it was obvious, but some people on GAF...
 

Suairyu

Banned
To answer your question, Sonic Jam (A game i actually own in my sonic collection :p) was built form the ground up specifically for the sega saturn. So there wa sno porting or emulation. Reason being for the re-building was not only for software reasons, but also for the unique different build found on the game e.g. easy and normal doffocilties for all 4 original sonic games . This means for eaxmple, the easy mode will only allow you to play the first act of certain stages wehre as hard mode enabled more bots to fight during the acts etc.
Holy damn that's the secret? Because they even did the Mega Drive sound-channel limitation, most notable to me during the end of Sky Sanctuary when the Death Egg is just in the background and Sonic is running up the spiral staircase - all the sound effects competing results in a choppy clusterfuck.

But yeah, Sonic Jam is the high watermark for compilations. Nothing has ever really beat it.

The defining moment for Sonic in my eyes.
I actually found that so disappointing. Like, I know I talk negative about CD all the time, but that's only because I think Mega Drive Sonic set such a high bar. I still think CD is a good game, despite its poor design.

But MAN. What a rip. You simply 'race' Metal Sonic, that's it? Sure, it was great fun, but no amazing boss fight after? Especially when the artwork promised this:
sonic_cd_box_jp.jpg


and the trailers promised this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9kaZZZaal8

Let down of the game.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Holy damn that's the secret? Because they even did the Mega Drive sound-channel limitation, most notable to me during the end of Sky Sanctuary when the Death Egg is just in the background and Sonic is running up the spiral staircase - all the sound effects competing results in a choppy clusterfuck.

But yeah, Sonic Jam is the high watermark for compilations. Nothing has ever really beat it.

All the music was recorded as PCM from the original FM so you wouldn't have conflicting channels. The downside is that since it's streaming you lose the transitions and things from the original game, like the speed shoes and the sonic 3 special stage themes wouldn't speed up at all like the original, and the stage track would restart abruptly when any powerup theme ended. It's also a tiny bit muffled - not quite as clear as raw FM. AFAIK the saturn had 8-channel FM capability, so I don't know why that wasn't used. Probably too much work.
 

Suairyu

Banned
All the music was recorded as PCM from the original FM so you wouldn't have conflicting channels. The downside is that since it's streaming you lose the transitions and things from the original game, like the speed shoes and the sonic 3 special stage themes wouldn't speed up at all like the original, and the stage track would restart abruptly when any powerup theme ended. It's also a tiny bit muffled - not quite as clear as raw FM. AFAIK the saturn had 8-channel FM capability, so I don't know why that wasn't used. Probably too much work.
Wait, so if there wasn't any need for conflicting channels, why on earth was the 'feature' present? Because coming from Sonic and Knuckles collection on the PC which had the sound effects in their full glory, uninhibited by Mega Drive technology, it pissed me off no end.
 
Probably won't buy (well, maybe the eventual Steam version), but I am so impressed with Sega for actually getting Taxman to work for them. Bravo, whoever made that decision.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Wait, so if there wasn't any need for conflicting channels, why on earth was the 'feature' present? Because coming from Sonic and Knuckles collection on the PC which had the sound effects in their full glory, uninhibited by Mega Drive technology, it pissed me off no end.

Well, I was talking mostly about the music. Like the high notes in Star Light and Sky Sanctuary being cancelled by ring chimes, etc. doesn't happen because the music is being streamed. Not sure about the way SFX are handled. It's weird, some of the effects sound better, or at least different, and others (like the spring pads) are noticeably muffled.

It's still a fantastic build and the rebalanced difficulty really helps smooth out the frustrating parts.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Sonic Jam is for me about the best compilation ever released, opposed to the games found on subsequent compilations and networks Sonic Jam actually felt better than the MD versions. The lock on was present in full glory, I believe even the Sonic 1 random special stages. There was a spin dash in Sonic 1 which I appreciated and wasn't there an option to disable the 16-bit slowdown? Plus, the Saturn controller was pretty much an MD 6 button controller so I felt not anything was lost.

Now that I've beaten Sonic CD about twice I still think its a classic. The levels look like clusterfucks at first but the point is actually that you have to work to get Sonic to maximum speed and thus warp to the past. Its much more genuine platform gameplay than hold right to win. The same goes for the rings, I feel like I have to work to sometimes even end up with just 50. And for the hidden generators that might require actual searching. These might all be unintentional flaws, but I feel they work out.

Thats not to say the 16-bit Sonics are worse, but I keep coming back to CD much more to actually memorize the level layout.
 
Yeah, Retro Engine is just a framework to make retro-style games in. Not specifically Sonic, not specifically anything.

Still not sure why Snatcher would need it - I played about an hour of it not too long ago and it seems like the kind of game that could've been done in Flash years ago, even before the notion of the "Flash Game" was popularized.

It's an adventure game where you occasionally tap on targets to shoot at them. Not exactly uber-reliant on tech to make work.

On the other hand, getting a 2D Sonic game to feel right is something Sega has struggled with for years, and it also probably helps that Christian Whitehead has a background in trying to make his own Sonic fangames a few years ago before parlaying that talent in to this Sonic CD port - he was probably better equipped to understand the old Sonic games more than some people at Sega these days, and he was in a better position to act upon it.

(Of course, the real truth in all of this is that the circumstances behind Sonic CD happening in this way was probably sheer luck, but here's hoping it's successful enough to seriously steer Sega in the right direction)
 
As a die-hard S3&K fan, I have to say that Sonic CD is in many ways an even better game. It's really different in a good way. The emphasis on exploration really does wonders for it, but my first playthrough consisted of just playing it like a regular Sonic game, just trying to push toward the end. I've now destroyed both generators and robot machines in Palmtree Panic, and witnessing
pink eggman
pretty much confirmed this as my favourite Sonic game.

The level design is fucking fantastic, even though it suffers from some visual jank/clutter. The fact that you can backtrack all the way through the levels gives this game a unique feel, and the fact that the movement physics are so spot-on make them a joy to explore, for me. Heck, I even made it through Wacky Workbench relatively unscathed.

Too bad the JP soundtrack isn't quite up to par with S2 and 3&K, though some tracks weren't far behind. Also,
tiny Sonic
is the cutest thing ever. I'm really glad they implemented it as a bonus for the last parts of the game rather than having it be an overused gimmick.

I suck at the special stages, however :(
 
Never played Sonic Cd till now but how can you tell what future or past you enter (Good future/Bad future)...all it says is just future or past.
 

Syringe

Member
So I got the data files thanks to a little help from someone :)

I'm playing it on my Samsung Galaxy Note, one word, STUNNING.

The Super AMOLED HD screen really makes the colors and graphics look really great!
Want to help a fellow out? It's hardly piracy when you still need to buy the game for the files to work. I've had the game for a full day and is stuck on 7% :(
 

Metal-Geo

Member
Never played Sonic Cd till now but how can you tell what future or past you enter (Good future/Bad future)...all it says is just future or past.
You enter the bad future by default. Unless you go into the past and destroy a machine. If you've done so, going into the future will get you the good future!
 
To answer your question, Sonic Jam (A game i actually own in my sonic collection :p) was built form the ground up specifically for the sega saturn. So there wa sno porting or emulation. Reason being for the re-building was not only for software reasons, but also for the unique different build found on the game e.g. easy and normal doffocilties for all 4 original sonic games . This means for eaxmple, the easy mode will only allow you to play the first act of certain stages wehre as hard mode enabled more bots to fight during the acts etc.
I don't think it was always Act 1. At least not from what I recall of the Let's play Sonic 1 easy mode. Maybe it was Spring Yard Act 2.

Never played Sonic Cd till now but how can you tell what future or past you enter (Good future/Bad future)...all it says is just future or past.
If you're in present you can go to future or past. In past go future only (which will be present as that is the future of the past). Future is bad future unless you have all 7 timestones (from the special stages) or destroyed the machine in the past for that stage in which case it'll be good future.

It'll make sense after a bit of playing. Though like TyrantGuardian said, your first playthrough will probably be seeing lots of bad futures.
 

Odrion

Banned
I want to see Patrick Klepek write some piece on this whole thing. A fan made retro engine? And then Sega working with it's author to create the GREATEST PORT IN THE UNIVERSE? Fascinating.
 
Thanks guys just getting my head around the premise of past present and future I must think 4th dimensionally or something :p Not seen any of these machines in the past yet...They must be well hidden in the stages
 

Link Man

Banned
Yeah, Retro Engine is just a framework to make retro-style games in. Not specifically Sonic, not specifically anything.

Still not sure why Snatcher would need it - I played about an hour of it not too long ago and it seems like the kind of game that could've been done in Flash years ago, even before the notion of the "Flash Game" was popularized.

It's an adventure game where you occasionally tap on targets to shoot at them. Not exactly uber-reliant on tech to make work.

On the other hand, getting a 2D Sonic game to feel right is something Sega has struggled with for years, and it also probably helps that Christian Whitehead has a background in trying to make his own Sonic fangames a few years ago before parlaying that talent in to this Sonic CD port - he was probably better equipped to understand the old Sonic games more than some people at Sega these days, and he was in a better position to act upon it.

(Of course, the real truth in all of this is that the circumstances behind Sonic CD happening in this way was probably sheer luck, but here's hoping it's successful enough to seriously steer Sega in the right direction)

Okay, Sega needs to get Taxman to make an original Sonic game.
 
I'm hoping we'll see more ports of this quality. I want a proper Streets of Rage 2 on my iPhone now!

A bunch of people built an entirely new SoR game from the ground up over 6 years. Sega had done nothing with the IP in all that time. Waited till they were finished then C&D'd them. I mean...for goodness sake I'dve contacted them with a year or 6 months to go and asked them if they wanted to actually 'sell' the thing. Seeing them working with Taxman just makes it all the more bitter for me. I love SoR.

Regardless it's good to see Sega taking steps like this to work with people who seem to care more about the quality of their products than they do. Sonic CD will the first thing I buy when I get back home to my PS3.
 
Regardless it's good to see Sega taking steps like this to work with people who seem to care more about the quality of their products than they do. Sonic CD will the first thing I buy when I get back home to my PS3.
I applaude how well Sonic CD worked out for everyone involved. Taxmans gamble of disclouse a technical demo seemed to pay off.

Plus it is better than the previous community outreach of SEGA Smash Pack days of "let's get the Kega guy to port his emulator to windowze" or the Sonic Classic Collection of "Jenesis DS seems neat, we should get the author to work on a Sonic compilation" (apparently, limitations on how the DS is meant to be used actually mean it performs worse).
 

Futureman

Member
Gonna purchase Sonic CD today.

I was looking into getting the other Sonic games on XBLA, but I see there's a 360 title "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection." $17 used, should I just go for that instead?
 
Okay, Sega needs to get Taxman to make an original Sonic game.

Apparently Taxman was working on a new level and a new boss specifically for this Sonic CD port based on concepts that didn't make it in to Sonic CD originally, but it was ultimately decided that this should stick as close to the original game as possible.

There's an image floating around for one of Taxman's levels, "Desert Dazzle". The image might be an unlockable in the game somehow, I dunno.
 

andymcc

Banned
Gonna purchase Sonic CD today.

I was looking into getting the other Sonic games on XBLA, but I see there's a 360 title "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection." $17 used, should I just go for that instead?

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection doesn't have Sonic 3 & Knuckles, unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, that comp. has some amazing games and it's def. worth the price, but it's just not that good of a Sonic compilation.
 
Gonna purchase Sonic CD today.

I was looking into getting the other Sonic games on XBLA, but I see there's a 360 title "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection." $17 used, should I just go for that instead?

Do you have a Wii? Via the Virtual Console is the best, most accurate place to play the classic Sonic titles on current generation hardware, IMHO
 

Odrion

Banned
WOW. This is such a weird Sonic game.

It controls so well, and I can't believe how good the sprites look on smooth. But man, what a weird Sonic game!

Trying to time travel is a pain in the ass.
 

ultron87

Member
I feel like every previous Sonic game has taught me to play this one entirely wrongly. Going to the past and then trying to explore the entire level feels so counter-intuitive to how one usually plays one of these games.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
WOW. This is such a weird Sonic game.

It controls so well, and I can't believe how good the sprites look on smooth. But man, what a weird Sonic game!

Trying to time travel is a pain in the ass.

It is if you just try to gain speed right there and then. You need to know where to gain speed, every level has such a section. At the Past sign of Tidal Tempest 1 for example, you can go back down into the water and right a bit to find 2 horizontal springs that keep push you around at max speed.
 
I feel like every previous Sonic game has taught me to play this one entirely wrongly. Going to the past and then trying to explore the entire level feels so counter-intuitive to how one usually plays one of these games.

Indeed.

What makes Sonic CD my favorite in the series is because it's more of a pure 'platformer' than any of the others. The way the stages are designed forces you to do a lot more jumping around from platform to platform and depend more on how well you can play with the game's physics. The later games really become more of a speed, speed, speed-fest, which isn't a bad thing, of course. But I do appreciate that Sonic CD is a different sort of game than the others in the series.
 

Lijik

Member
I think I prefer the US music for Wacky Workbench, this is really good!
I also dug bad future Quartz Quadrant and present Tidal Tempest

Im having a much easier time navigating Wacky Workbench these past two playthroughs, I think its because I'm so used to the stage now. Being able to use tail's flying to fix any botched jumps certainly helps!
 
I have been trying to download Sonic CD for Android for about a full day now...

Sega, what is the meaning of this???

( Finally one good android game, everyone trying to download it at once lmao)
 

iavi

Member
I have been trying to download Sonic CD for Android for about a full day now...

Sega, what is the meaning of this???

( Finally one good android game, everyone trying to download it at once lmao)

The servers are actually getting slammed hard, lol. Guess they didn't expect to move as many copies as they have been.

last update in regards to the issue, from Sega's twitter:

@Sega said:
Sorry you're having problems - We have increased server capacity 10 fold since people started having issues

That was in response to another tweeter.
 
Since in my latest file I goofed up on getting the second timestone I was sent straight on to the third one for the next bonus stage, am I able to still get the missed stone?
Also exploring collision chaos is cruel and unusual punishment, as suitable as the stage name is I can't help but feel springing shambles is a more appropriate name due to thrown together nature of the level design.
I think i'll be more understanding of the hate that wacky workbench gets when going for the generator.
 

rozay

Banned
Since in my latest file I goofed up on getting the second timestone I was sent straight on to the third one for the next bonus stage, am I able to still get the missed stone?
Also exploring collision chaos is cruel and unusual punishment, as suitable as the stage name is I can't help but feel springing shambles is a more appropriate name due to thrown together nature of the level design.
I think i'll be more understanding of the hate that wacky workbench gets when going for the generator.
Wacky Workbench is fun so long as you're not trying to find the projector/badnik machine in the past. Exploring the level is infuriating.

Also, after you play special stage #7 it'll loop back to the ones you didn't complete and continue to do so until you reach the final act or you get all the stones.
 
Wacky Workbench is fun so long as you're not trying to find the projector/badnik machine in the past. Exploring the level is infuriating.

Also, after you play special stage #7 it'll loop back to the ones you didn't complete and continue to do so until you reach the final act or you get all the stones.

Excellent as I just ballsed up the fourth bonus stage as well, it's like those UFO's know when they're about to get hit and they suddenly do a sharp and swift route change.
 

iavi

Member
I don't want to spoil there locations so I'm not looking at the map, but are there any generators that can be missed? For example, say I don't get to the past till a little while into the zone, are there any that'll be blocked off because of my advancement, and can't be reached at that point? Tidal tempest has so few spots that you can time warp because of all this water. I found the first zone's generator, but this second zone...
 

clav

Member
I don't want to spoil there locations so I'm not looking at the map, but are there any generators that can be missed? For example, say I don't get to the past till a little while into the zone, are there any that'll be blocked off because of my advancement, and can't be reached at that point? Tidal tempest has so few spots that you can time warp because of all this water. I found the first zone's generator, but this second zone...

Stay on dry land (upper part of the level) towards the end. Very obvious.

Wacky Workbench has these upward moving pillars at the top of the level that could crush Sonic, but they are actually transporters to secret rooms.

----------------

Found the Wacky Workbench statue yesterday. What a random place to put that.
 
Top Bottom