This review contains spoilers
Playthrough was done using the Sonic CD Decompilation PC version of the game.
Sonic CD is... Rather awkward. Being released after Sonic 2 in 1992, the short game for the console add-on of the same name is really lacking in what made the second entry in the franchise so great, and it goes back into the design philosophy of the first game. What if we made The Fastest Thing Alive try to do intricate platforming?
So, that's how all CD stages roll, while they are pretty much all colorful eye candy, this doesn't save them from having very poor playability. Level design in this game is pretty bad with enemies, traps and obstacles all over the place in an arbitrary manner. And the stages have so many nooks and crannies that there's ways of even getting lost in some of them, definitely not what you need in your Sonic game.
Features a bunch of boring and not that well thought out boss "fights", I had an especially hard time getting through Stardust Speedway Act 3 in its Bad Future iteration because of its constant need of adding slopes and spikes everywhere to slow you down purposefully while a Eggman Death Beam™️ that can one hit you chases you faster and faster.
The shoe-horned in Time Travel game mechanic is presented in an all-time obtuse way, and it's just a lame excuse for having people play through this more than once trying to get all Good Future states for every Zone which is, again, a lame way of elongating your playtime. And fills in the player with the idea that they're in fact not seeing everything the game has to offer, because maybe you need to do some intricate running in a closed space to get there at all! Couldn't a context menu at least exist for this?
Some Zones are unremarkable as all hell, and with the poor level design choices they can be puzzling to no end, kind of like the first Sonic the Hedgehog game but somehow worse. And that's what I wanna get at; this game made me think the very first Sonic game wasn't all that bad, as I never thought they could do worse.
Now, for some good things: The game has two soundtracks (which I wish was more easily accessible in-game and in modern ports to actually listen to both in one playthrough) which set in a grimmer aesthetic for some of this games' darkest moments (such as any Bad Future route) and some more upbeat songs that even feature vocals, perfectly fitted for Present routes. The game also features some good graphic design choices in its presentation, interface and promotional art, but not so much in game.
Overall, the game made me appreciate the first Sonic the Hedgehog more. Not necessarily for the better, but I really can't understand how anyone can defend this game other than for the new characters introduced or the good soundtrack it has, it's a really not enjoyable experience for someone who is barely getting into the series at all, and much worse when put together with Sonic 2, as an example.
Sonic CD is... Rather awkward. Being released after Sonic 2 in 1992, the short game for the console add-on of the same name is really lacking in what made the second entry in the franchise so great, and it goes back into the design philosophy of the first game. What if we made The Fastest Thing Alive try to do intricate platforming?
So, that's how all CD stages roll, while they are pretty much all colorful eye candy, this doesn't save them from having very poor playability. Level design in this game is pretty bad with enemies, traps and obstacles all over the place in an arbitrary manner. And the stages have so many nooks and crannies that there's ways of even getting lost in some of them, definitely not what you need in your Sonic game.
Features a bunch of boring and not that well thought out boss "fights", I had an especially hard time getting through Stardust Speedway Act 3 in its Bad Future iteration because of its constant need of adding slopes and spikes everywhere to slow you down purposefully while a Eggman Death Beam™️ that can one hit you chases you faster and faster.
The shoe-horned in Time Travel game mechanic is presented in an all-time obtuse way, and it's just a lame excuse for having people play through this more than once trying to get all Good Future states for every Zone which is, again, a lame way of elongating your playtime. And fills in the player with the idea that they're in fact not seeing everything the game has to offer, because maybe you need to do some intricate running in a closed space to get there at all! Couldn't a context menu at least exist for this?
Some Zones are unremarkable as all hell, and with the poor level design choices they can be puzzling to no end, kind of like the first Sonic the Hedgehog game but somehow worse. And that's what I wanna get at; this game made me think the very first Sonic game wasn't all that bad, as I never thought they could do worse.
Now, for some good things: The game has two soundtracks (which I wish was more easily accessible in-game and in modern ports to actually listen to both in one playthrough) which set in a grimmer aesthetic for some of this games' darkest moments (such as any Bad Future route) and some more upbeat songs that even feature vocals, perfectly fitted for Present routes. The game also features some good graphic design choices in its presentation, interface and promotional art, but not so much in game.
Overall, the game made me appreciate the first Sonic the Hedgehog more. Not necessarily for the better, but I really can't understand how anyone can defend this game other than for the new characters introduced or the good soundtrack it has, it's a really not enjoyable experience for someone who is barely getting into the series at all, and much worse when put together with Sonic 2, as an example.