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Will Sonic CD forever be the "forgotten" Sonic game?

M

ManaByte

Banned
Sonic Jam - no Sonic CD
Sonic Mega Collection GCN - No Sonic CD
Sonic Mega Collection Plus Xbox & PS2 - No Sonic CD

Now, I can understand them not putting it on Sonic Jam as that was just on a regular CD as well, but Mega Collection 1 is hard to figure out as they had, what?, 1.8 gigs of space to put it on? And with the PS2 and Xbox versions they could've done them on DVD with Sonic CD.

Is Sega just trying to bury Sonic CD and forget it ever existed?
 
Ronin said:
What if I told you other than the music, Sonic CD isn't as great as people make it out to be?
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I'd agree 100%.

Sonic CD = Genesis game with redbook audio and FMV.
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Not true...

The data files for the game sit around 80mb or something (maybe a bit larger even). Each level has past, present, and future tile sets and those individual tile sets are more complex than anything in the Genesis Sonic games. Also, the game used suprisingly high quality synth music for the past stages which require even more emulation work. Perhaps the bonus stages would have been a challenge as well...
 
I think Sonic Arcade will be the forgotten Sonic game.

EGM flipped out over how great it was. Is there any way to play that via emulator?
 
soundwave05 said:
I think Sonic Arcade will be the forgotten Sonic game.

EGM flipped out over how great it was. Is there any way to play that via emulator?
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Do you mean the 3D Sonic fighting game Sonic the Fighters or SEGASonic Arcade?
 
The Sega CD was such a horrible purchase for me, back in the day. Sonic CD is/was the only game I picked up that somewhat helped me justify the ugly-ass addon. What a great, great game.
 
Sega gave Mega Collection credit as being a big seller, so if they keep making Mega Collections, we're hopefully going to see it.
 
soundwave05 said:
SEGA Sonic Arcade I believe.

It was a 3-player game that used a rollerball for control.
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And it was awesome... With the trackball.

If the game was released without a trackball, I'd be the last person to buy it. It'd suck the fun right out.
 
I never saw Sonic Arcade anywhere though.

And I mean that was like in '93/'94 when arcades were huge. You could see Virtua Racing or Daytona USA or a number of other Sega games, but I never saw Sonic Arcade anywhere.

I think very few people have ever played it.

I remember EGM's Ed Semerad saying Sega should've launched the Saturn with Sonic Arcade.
 
I played Sonic CD for the first time recently and I realized that I wasn't missing much. Honestly, I think I like Sonic 1, 2, 3, and S&K better. I didn't even think the music was all that good. It wasn't terribly memorable IMO. Definitely overrated.
 
Sega Sonic Arcade (released 1993 or 1994 IIRC)

screenshot15em.jpg


screenshot24lj.jpg


screenshot38oa.jpg


More pics/info here ....

http://www.sonichq.org/games/index/arcade/
 
please forgive my total ignorance on Sonic CD

is Sonic CD the game where everyone said the Japanese MegaCD version was better because it had such awesome music, that got taken out of the U.S. SegaCD version ?
 
xexex said:
please forgive my total ignorance on Sonic CD

is Sonic CD the game where everyone said the Japanese MegaCD version was better because it had such awesome music, that got taken out of the U.S. SegaCD version ?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
Damn I never knew that. So even the little bit of Sonic CD that I played was an inferior version!

Any reasoning why the soundtracks were switched?

OH, and just to add something to the people who have said this game isn't that great. I think this misconception comes largely from people who never played the game all the way through. I never purchased a Sega CD, and only got a chance to play about an hours worth of Sonic CD. THat hour was pretty cool, and I imagined the rest of the game would follow suit.

So what was so bad about it?
 
GDJustin said:
The Sega CD was such a horrible purchase for me, back in the day. Sonic CD is/was the only game I picked up that somewhat helped me justify the ugly-ass addon. What a great, great game.
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Lunar? Snatcher? Thunderhawk?
 
soundwave05 said:
Sega Sonic Arcade (released 1993 or 1994 IIRC)
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Holy shit I'm not crazy! (MAYBE I AM AHAHA)

Time to call up my friend and show him that I did infact play a Sonic game at the arcades. Soundwave05 you have come through for me yet again!

Oh and I love Sonic CD. The second they port it to a console I'm going to buy 50 copies just to let Yuji Naka know what direction he needs to go in.
 
xexex said:
please forgive my total ignorance on Sonic CD

is Sonic CD the game where everyone said the Japanese MegaCD version was better because it had such awesome music, that got taken out of the U.S. SegaCD version ?
Click to expand...


You know, I have mp3s of all the japanese version's music, and I would say its about an even split between the two soundtracks. There are definitely some tracks that smoke the Us version's, and at the same time there are ones in the US version that seem to fit the stage better.
 
Sonic CD will not be the forgotten game, as many people still know about it and talk about it.

SEGASonic arcade could almost be considered the most "forgotten" game of the series, but at least readers of Magazines knew about it at some point.

The most forgotten Sonic game is most definitely:

Tails Skypatrol

tails.gif


tails_02.gif


tails_01.gif


Almost everybody had not even heard of this game until Sonic Jam pointed it out in the game museum, and even then, Almost nobody had even played the game until the ROM was released a few years back.
 
Can y'all answer me this...back when Sonic 3 was about to be released, there was a pre-order bonus promotion with Toys'R'Us...if you preordered, you got the "Sonic Boom" CD. Is this CD a carbon copy of the tracks from the US version of Sonic CD(lyrics and all), or are the tracks "inspired" by Sonic CD?(Save for the last few that is, since those tracks came from Sonic Spinball). I definitely enjoy the CD for "zone out" music...it's just been hard for me to imagine the tracks while playing a sonic game.
 
Sega Sonic Arcade was at CES?

I remember tagging along with my dad to CES back in those days, did I play it there or did I play a Japanese release? I do remember a local arcade down here that had a MOUNTAIN of import titles, many of them were obscure too.

Mysteries!

According to the website provided it was never released in U.S. Arcades, strange it wasn't a bad game.
 
SEGA sonic and Sonic The Fighters would forever be rare gems,and thats since thier distribution was limited(minus Sega Sonic which was never made it NA). The only way you'll see Sega Sonic on NA shoreS,is if it was brought into the US illegally since SEGA had originally put a embargo on the game.
 
GhaleonEB said:
PC port, maybe. Music, pacing and level design, not to mention sheer size, length and scale, put this head and shoulders above all other Sonic games, before or after. IMHO
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It's shorter, smaller, and slower than any other Genesis Sonic game. The pacing sucks as a result of many VERY slow segments as well as very short levels. For a game with SIX zones, it sucks when 3 of them aren't even very good.

The game is still entertaining, but I still say it's way overrated.
 
Sonic Team should consider a Sonic Mega Collection 2... make it their MCD/Saturn games...

-Sonic CD
-Sonic R
-Sonic 3D Blast
-NiGHTS into Dreams
-Christmas NiGHTS
-Burning Rangers

...Sonic Team wanted to include Sonic CD in Mega Collection originally but couldn't get the sound emulation working in time for it's holiday release (preview builds had a slot for it in the menu even). No idea why they skipped out on the Plus releases though, they certainly had the time there.

Also, AM2 had actually announced a Saturn port of Sonic the Fighters/Championship in 1998 but it was killed when Sega forced the R&D shift to DC early on. Sega Sonic Arcade was rumored to get a 32X port early on (as were a lot of Sega's System 16/18/24/32 games) but that obviously never happened either.
 
Ehhh, Sonic CD is fun but I too prefer the Genesis ones. It's just such a shame that there hasn't been a rerelease of this game so I'd be overjoyed if they actually ported it.

Yes the 20 or so Game Gear games and random Genesis titles are nice but I really want a COMPLETE 32-bit Sonic collection or atleast a decent effort into doing that.

Thanks for the info jarrod!
 
dark10x said:
It's shorter, smaller, and slower than any other Genesis Sonic game. The pacing sucks as a result of many VERY slow segments as well as very short levels. For a game with SIX zones, it sucks when 3 of them aren't even very good.

The game is still entertaining, but I still say it's way overrated.
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Six zones, true. But dozens of individual levels. I've spent hours on one, going back to the past, present and then to the future to nail them. Sonic 2 can be beaten in less than a half-hour. Not so with this sucker.
 
As a long-time Sonic aficionado, I also think of all the 2D sonics, Sonic CD is my favorite one. They're all great games, but Sonic CD has a certain purity to it. It's almost like they took the first Sonic and added a bit extra oomph to it. One thing I really like about it is that it really emphasizes speed. They practically force you to move as fast as possible. In all the other Sonics you could move at a slower pace and it didn't really matter. However in Sonic CD, it is essential to build up momentum to time travel(that is if you want to see the true ending to the game).

Also, there's a lot more actual platforming in Sonic CD than the other Sonics. It's true, if you simply want to pass through the game, you can. However, there's so much more to it than that. It's also much more surreal than the other Sonics. The obstacles and backgrounds don't make much sense and could never happen in reality. I think it adds a nice touch to the game's atmosphere. I think one thing I've noticed about Sonic CD is that I never get bored while playing it. There's so much you have to do in the game(Collecting rings, finding the hidden capsule, locating the Past and Future posts), that I don't find myself dozing off. I know this happens to me from time to time while playing Sonic 2 or 3, mostly due to the fact that I've played through each one of them at least 50 or 60 times. However, with Sonic CD, I can play it over and over and discover something new each time. It simply never gets old.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Six zones, true. But dozens of individual levels. I've spent hours on one, going back to the past, present and then to the future to nail them. Sonic 2 can be beaten in less than a half-hour. Not so with this sucker.
Click to expand...

You're right. If you play the game right, there's exactly 50 levels of play in the game, more than any other Sonic game.
 
It seems that only real Sonic "diehards" (at least what's left of them) enjoyed Sonic CD.

The game was pure torture since it was the only thing as a kid that made me even consider getting a Sega CD. I'm glad I didn't buy it for just one game (that and Silpheed), but the game still holds up in my opinion.

And both the American and Japanese soundtracks. Both compliment in different manners, but each is damn good.

And I'm one of the lucky few to have played both Sonic games in the arcade. The original, which I too remember EGM going nuts for, was lots of fun, though my arms were killing me after five minutes if I recall correctly (the game user a trackball).

The fighting game from AM2 was also loads of fun. Bright, loud, and super simple to play. I wish the Saturn version wasn't killed.
 
segasonic said:
Okay, that must have been an America only thing then. In my PAL version it's all Red Book.
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Funny that, I've had the PAL ver for years and the past music has always been Mega CD soundchip generated. Do you have the PC version or something?
 
Sonic CD was pretty deep. First you had to find a Past sign post, hit it, then build up enough speed to activate it (kind of like the whole 88mph thing in Back to the Future) problem being is getting up the speed without being hit (you'd lose the ability to time travel) or accidentally hit a future sign post. There were only so many Past sign posts in an act so you couldn't screw up too many times.

Once in the past you'd have to find a projection of Metal Sonic and destroy it and a capsule and destroy that too. Finally you'd have to collect 50 rings keep them till the end of the level and jump through a giant ring to have a chance at getting a time stone in one of the 3d bonus stages.

The third act (Robotnik) was always held in the future, illustrating the difference you did or didn't make in previous acts. It's interesting that the ability to travel to the Future in the first two acts were included as you don't need to go there for any reason other than to see what a bad future will look like.

In terms of music both versions had their good points but the Japanese version of the music playing over the opening movie worked so much better because it matched the on screen action.

Also it was the game where Sonic first spoke -
"Yes!" when you gained a life and "I'm outta here" when you leave him standing still for 3 mins and he jumps off the screen in what ultimately amounts to an act of suicide.
 
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