A mod for Sonic CD
A decompilaton of Sonic CD (the 2011 remaster version, using the mobile version as a basis) for computers. This mod adds a built-in mod loader and technical improvements over the officially released version of the remaster for PC.
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4/5 - Very Good
This is a review of Sonic CD as a game, with the "Sonic CD & Knuckles" mod applied, but not of the remake as a mod on their own.
Sonic CD is a game I once disliked, but it took me a while to truly get. It takes the fundementals Sonic The Hedgehog set (despite releasing after Sonic 2, it was made around the same time and is mostly based off of Sonic 1) in a wild new direction. It still maintains the incredibly dynamic physics that made the series special, the open and split level design that made it so replayable, the beautiful graphics and the amazing music. But it's also very different.
The levels in this game are incredibly bizzare. The locations themselves went from hard places to more abstract concepts, often bringing downright psychedelic visuals. They're enhanced by the entrancing CD quality songs, full of far more depth than what standard cartridge based Genesis games could ever produce, and it's absolutely wonderful. But within those levels, you might find yourself confused. The layouts are often weird, nonsensical, and bizzare. They bounce you around, fling you across weird setpieces, don't quite flow. And then you end up beating them so fast that you can't not go "that's it?" So what makes this game so good?
What truly made me open my eyes was the game's true ending. It can be obtained in 2 ways - one way is the special stages, reached in the same frustrating way as the first game, and while the stages themselves more fun, this just makes playing the levels themseleves even worse to me. But the other way is the roboticizers - one to find in every stage, that can also only be broken in the past - which you must reach by time traveling. This means you must explore: find a past post, go fast by using the level design for enough to travel to the past, then look for a roboticizer, in every act.
I found that as soon as I tried this, the game started to make sense. This level design never quite flowed when going forward, but it's arrangement of hazards, gimmicks, enemies and geometry blend well when you're playing it a little more chill, exploring around, building complicated combo set ups to hit a time warp, and checking every nook and cranny for a roboticizer. It's a unique cycle that feels very good. Levels like Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos, Quartz Quadrant, Stardust Speedway, and more are full of fun contraptions to mess around with and places to freely explore. It's just really fun, it makes the design feel more functional and allows the game to truly soar.
It is important to mention that my experience doing this improved further by using the Sonic CD & Knuckles mod. This mod does much more than add Knuckles (a welcome addition on top of 2011's Tails to enhance replayability), as it also reprograms time travel to create a system that flows and works even better than before, making the whole experience very satisfying - and this is added to by the addition of the Drop Dash move, which adds to any Classic Sonic game, enhancing the speed and physics based platforming tenfold.
After all that, Sonic CD & Knuckles is a very good game, but it isn't great. It's biggest detractors are it's truly terrible bosses that are either a joke or just annoying and unfun, as well as some of its weaker zones. It's at it's worst during the annoying but tolerable Wacky Workbench but especially in the confusing, frustrating, terribly designed nightmare that is Metallic Madness. Every inch of this level is etched into my mind because of how much I keep seeing them as I get lost, die in unfair ways, and fail to have any fun in this slog of a level. Very poor way to end the game. But I still really like Sonic CD. It's weird, but in a good way.
This is a review of Sonic CD as a game, with the "Sonic CD & Knuckles" mod applied, but not of the remake as a mod on their own.
Sonic CD is a game I once disliked, but it took me a while to truly get. It takes the fundementals Sonic The Hedgehog set (despite releasing after Sonic 2, it was made around the same time and is mostly based off of Sonic 1) in a wild new direction. It still maintains the incredibly dynamic physics that made the series special, the open and split level design that made it so replayable, the beautiful graphics and the amazing music. But it's also very different.
The levels in this game are incredibly bizzare. The locations themselves went from hard places to more abstract concepts, often bringing downright psychedelic visuals. They're enhanced by the entrancing CD quality songs, full of far more depth than what standard cartridge based Genesis games could ever produce, and it's absolutely wonderful. But within those levels, you might find yourself confused. The layouts are often weird, nonsensical, and bizzare. They bounce you around, fling you across weird setpieces, don't quite flow. And then you end up beating them so fast that you can't not go "that's it?" So what makes this game so good?
What truly made me open my eyes was the game's true ending. It can be obtained in 2 ways - one way is the special stages, reached in the same frustrating way as the first game, and while the stages themselves more fun, this just makes playing the levels themseleves even worse to me. But the other way is the roboticizers - one to find in every stage, that can also only be broken in the past - which you must reach by time traveling. This means you must explore: find a past post, go fast by using the level design for enough to travel to the past, then look for a roboticizer, in every act.
I found that as soon as I tried this, the game started to make sense. This level design never quite flowed when going forward, but it's arrangement of hazards, gimmicks, enemies and geometry blend well when you're playing it a little more chill, exploring around, building complicated combo set ups to hit a time warp, and checking every nook and cranny for a roboticizer. It's a unique cycle that feels very good. Levels like Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos, Quartz Quadrant, Stardust Speedway, and more are full of fun contraptions to mess around with and places to freely explore. It's just really fun, it makes the design feel more functional and allows the game to truly soar.
It is important to mention that my experience doing this improved further by using the Sonic CD & Knuckles mod. This mod does much more than add Knuckles (a welcome addition on top of 2011's Tails to enhance replayability), as it also reprograms time travel to create a system that flows and works even better than before, making the whole experience very satisfying - and this is added to by the addition of the Drop Dash move, which adds to any Classic Sonic game, enhancing the speed and physics based platforming tenfold.
After all that, Sonic CD & Knuckles is a very good game, but it isn't great. It's biggest detractors are it's truly terrible bosses that are either a joke or just annoying and unfun, as well as some of its weaker zones. It's at it's worst during the annoying but tolerable Wacky Workbench but especially in the confusing, frustrating, terribly designed nightmare that is Metallic Madness. Every inch of this level is etched into my mind because of how much I keep seeing them as I get lost, die in unfair ways, and fail to have any fun in this slog of a level. Very poor way to end the game. But I still really like Sonic CD. It's weird, but in a good way.
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It's just the Sonic CD remaster but I can add mods. Nice.