Thanks to Xyloverse for watching me stream this and play through this game twice in one sitting. I genuinely can't believe I've known a fair amount about this game for so long yet have just now gotten to playing through it for the first time.

Sonic CD is a strange game. Not really concerned with pushing the Sonic formula forward as it is bringing its own spin on things by sidestepping straight Innovation in exchange for having some of the most experimental design in the series. Levels are twisted playgrounds of all sorts of different ideas and mechanics and feels it yearns to be more deeply explored through all the past-present-future possibilities rather than strictly sped through, with continuous speed more or less rewarding you with the ability to travel to the different times. Even outside of things mechanically being different in the same stage for the different times, I found the drastic aesthetic changes more than incentive enough to at least attempt to see every possible version of each stage. Which I wasn't able to do in two playthroughs myself so I think it speaks for itself that this game has almost endless replayability with how differently you can approach levels.

It certainly isn't without its faults as not all levels are necessarily great and some mechanics aren't as fleshed out as much as they could have been, but Sonic CD comes together as such a unique experience that I think everyone interested in video games should at least play once to at least witness its beauty in action. That and play with Japanese audio if you can, the music is way better in that version and it even has an exclusive final boss theme that was completely scrapped from the American release and replaced by the normal boss theme.

I think the moment when I realize backloggd has fucking spread to my brain is when I play a game like Pac-Man World Rally and automatically label it as some 2000s core vibe aesthetic. There's such a bizarre energy here that eminates such an aggressive mid 2000s 6th console generation vibe that I've seen very few other games match. For all intents and purposes it really shouldn't work as it's practically a poor man's Mario Kart clone with basic item mechanics ripped from that series and with very little of the polish in driving control. Everything feels so frantically paced and has some level of control clunkiness you'd expect when playing some random arcade racing game. The tracks are sometimes absurd in their designs and hazard placements to where it can feel almost unavoidable to not come colliding with a wall or hazard at some point yet it almost feels like the tracks themselves are more inclined to lead to chaotic situations, especially compared to the more laid-back approach obstacles have in the Mario Kart series. It has almost every hallmark of a mediocre to weak game but somehow is carried by the charm of its quirks and is admittedly quite fun once you get used to it????? I mean, where else can you play as Pac-Man World 2's very own Spooky and use a fucking Galaga ship and ice dragon as you race around the world in Katamari Demacy? This shit is sort of insane actually.

Only reason I bought this was for streaming purposes. I still beat it quick enough to qualify for a refund tho so I'd say it's worth it. Normally I would feel bad about doing something like that even for a weaker game but the sheer greed behind this game's developers kind of make it hard to justify letting them have my money. They straight up target the lowest common denominator which are the kids that will spend their parents' money on games like this so they can make bank and put in as little effort as possible. The game itself is just as shitty as the first "game," though this should be more accurately called the first Garten if Ban Ban game whereas the first free game was just the demo. 2 is way longer but suffers the exact same issues on top of there being more padding. Did you need to even read this though? Everyone knows this game is dogshit and that this "horror for children" subgenre is nothing but a breeding ground for devs with ill intention. At least this shit is so bad it's hilarious.