Sonic CD

Sonic CD is a platform game developed and published by Sega for the Mega-CD, the add-on for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was first released in Japan in September 1993, followed by North American and European releases later that year. The game stars Sonic the Hedgehog and introduces two major characters to the series: Amy Rose, then called Amy, and Metal Sonic, Dr. Robotnik’s robotic rival built to match Sonic’s speed. The story takes place on Little Planet, a small world that appears above Never Lake for one month each year. Dr. Robotnik has chained Little Planet to a mountain and is using its Time Stones to control time. He has also transformed the planet into a base for creating robots. Sonic travels to Little Planet to stop Robotnik, rescue Amy after Metal Sonic abducts her, and free the planet before it disappears again. Its defining feature is time travel. In most stages, Sonic can travel between the Past, Present, and Future by passing signposts marked “Past” or “Future” and then maintaining speed after activating them. The Past contains Robotnik’s machinery before his control becomes complete, while the Future can appear either ruined or peaceful. Destroying a robot generator and a Metal Sonic projector in the Past creates a “Good Future” version of that zone. Players can also collect the seven Time Stones in special stages; obtaining all of them gives every zone a Good Future automatically. Sonic CD contains seven principal zones: Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos, Tidal Tempest, Quartz Quadrant, Wacky Workbench, Stardust Speedway, and Metallic Madness. Each has three acts, with Robotnik usually fought at the end of the third act. Stardust Speedway includes the celebrated race against Metal Sonic, while its final act features Sonic rescuing Amy from Robotnik’s capture device. The original Japanese and European version used music composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata. The North American release replaced much of the soundtrack with music by Spencer Nilsen and included the vocal theme “Sonic Boom,” performed by Pastiche. This difference made Sonic CD notable for having substantially different regional soundtracks. A remastered version was released digitally in 2011 for several platforms. Developed by Christian Whitehead’s team, it added widescreen presentation, smoother performance, optional Japanese or North American music, and the ability to play as Tails after completing the game. The remake also included the hidden character Metal Sonic as a time-attack opponent.