Someone tell me why Sonic CD is the best?

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:25 am

FIGHT!!!!!

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:18 am

bloodflowers wrote:
Skykid wrote:As for sprite puke well...the MCD colour palette is clearly even worse than the megadrive
This isn't even possible. The Mega-CD is just a storage add-on, the palette is the MD palette. The only differences are the colours they chose to use.

Okay let me re-phrase: The colours they chose to use are clearly worse than all the other Sonic games. God knows why.

D · Post by D » Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:17 am

Specifically, does the Japanese PS2 version of Sonic Gems support 480p.
Apparantly Sonic Mega Collection does, but what about this collection?
In a menu or just pressing Triangle + X.
I see just one on ebay for 37 euro

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:57 pm

Strider77 wrote:FIGHT!!!!!

It's on!

...no not really, I can't be bothered to care enough to argue with people who criticize a game based on their misunderstanding the concept.

There really isn't mush more to be said.

evil_ash_xero wrote:One of my bigger problems is the level design is quite poor. You can seriously just muck around for 10 minutes before you figure out some poorly designed stage's trick.
s/m

Koa Zo wrote: One common misconception that is often raised is the level design.
Yes they are large; and hard to navigate (at first), but that is the point.
(...)

Mortificator wrote:I(...) I guess it's more rewarding for the spelunker-minded folk.

Personally, Sonic CD is the only Sonic game (besides SonicR) I've played that offers some sort of challenge.

I'm Alec · Post by **I'm Alec** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:32 pm

not the best IMO, the first one is, but I love this game all the same. Easily better than any post 16bit Sonic offering. Well worth the 10-20 dollars that it commands in the market and a must for anyone with a CD add-on.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:41 pm

sonic CD was the first game to feature split seconds on the clock Which i recall being amazed by as me and my friend used to do speed trials and on the earlier levels we would be hitting the same times all the time.

Kollision · Post by **Kollision** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:11 am

I found Sonic CD to be disappointing as well.

My favorite is still Sonic 2, but I'm yet to play Sonic & Knuckles - which I got in an auction recently and is about to arrive. Never played it, I need to eliminate this gap at once.

nem · Post by **nem** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:41 am

Koa Zo wrote:SonicR [snip] offers some sort of challenge.

Am I reading that right?

When I bought it, I remember playing through with most of the characters in an afternoon.

Great game, but stupidly easy.

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:56 pm

nem wrote:
Koa Zo wrote:SonicR [snip] offers some sort of challenge.
Am I reading that right?

When I bought it, I remember playing through with most of the characters in an afternoon.

Great game, but stupidly easy.

Yeah, I really shouldn't have mentioned that

It wasn't hard to simply complete the races with all of the characters. But I did find a good bit of challenge navigating the fastest routes as well as unlocking all the Chaos Emeralds. iirc it wasn't exactly easy getting first places with Amy Rose. Maybe not so coincidently I thought Sonic R allowed a good bit of exploration, just like Sonic CD.

Just as with Sonic CD, it isn't difficult to complete the races and finish the game. But (in SonicCD) playing to eliminate all the "Pasts" of Holo-metal Sonic and the Pollution machine and finish the Zones with 50+ (I always shoot for 100+) rings, and get all the Time Stones is pretty challenging, imo. I particularly enjoy playing through the Good Future versions of a Zone, and inevitable it gets tricky finding and executing warps to the Good Future while maintaining a high ring count.

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:22 pm

One major point of note for the various versions available:
There is no "Pause-Suicide" ability on the PS2 Gems collection (nor on Gamecube?), this leaves the original SegaCD version as the only choice to play when seriously trying to fully complete the game with the best ending.

There will be instances where you find yourself at the goal without 50 rings, and unable to access the bonus stage, on SegaCD you simply pause and press A, B, or C button to kill Sonic and start the Zone over. I also do this sometimes if I'm about to accidentally warp to the Future when I really want to go to the Past.
On PS2; when not wanting to trigger the "Goal" you have to wait for the time to run out. Not cool!

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:25 pm

Was unable to discover a statue in Tidal Tempest Zones, but I also realized why I didn't recall clearly (besides have rarely played the game in 10 years).

In the Good Future Zone 2 of Tidal Tempest; probably just past mid-way through the level along the lower portion of the stage, there are a group of "steps" and each step has a switch on it (that are not present in the other time periods), the first time you step on a switch, they all disappear and large breathable air bubbles rise up from the switch positions.

Now, if you restart the stage and return to these switches Rings will shower the screen when a switch is stepped on, just like I recalled with the statue. If you return to the switches on consecutive tries only points will be awarded for the disappearing switches.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:57 pm

If you have a Sega CD you should also give this a try (as long as you have the model 2 or newer Sega CD, model 1 won't read your discs)

http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_1_Megamix

pretty awesome for a fangame. don't think Dreamcast even got anything this interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8GBgyWwdoo

recognize that tune?

that vid might be from an earlier beta... I don't remember the "RUN BITCH!" or the crazy spike trap. it does have some weird design choices and some hit detection goofs in some places. (the eggman boss "KO" sounds and the second boss fight are particularly odd)

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:48 pm

Koa Zo wrote:One major point of note for the various versions available:
There is no "Pause-Suicide" ability on the PS2 Gems collection (nor on Gamecube?), this leaves the original SegaCD version as the only choice to play when seriously trying to fully complete the game with the best ending.

There will be instances where you find yourself at the goal without 50 rings, and unable to access the bonus stage, on SegaCD you simply pause and press A, B, or C button to kill Sonic and start the Zone over. I also do this sometimes if I'm about to accidentally warp to the Future when I really want to go to the Past.
On PS2; when not wanting to trigger the "Goal" you have to wait for the time to run out. Not cool!

The control clouds trick was also removed from the PS2 rev (and I suspect the GC one).

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:19 pm

szycag wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8GBgyWwdoo

That's a pretty cool arrange of Just Good Friends (I guess it's from Moonwalker?). I've actually imagined several different Michael Jackson songs for different Sonic zones, they work really well with the mood and pace of the game somehow.

Pretty lame to use songs from other games though.

Gwen · Post by **Gwen** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:13 pm

chempop wrote:I heard that the japanese development team who created the original Sonic teamed up with some US Sega employees to make sonic 2, but the original team got fed up (with god only knows what) and left it to the americans to finish the game. Does this ring any bells with anyone here?

From http://www.theghz.com/ who are normally right with stuff like this:

"Despite the success of Sonic 1, not all were happy within the Sonic Team studio. Lead programmer Yuji Naka, frustrated over Sega's seniority-based salary policy, left the company. Mark Cerny, product manager at Sega of America and a personal friend of Naka's, convinced the apostate programmer to fly over to the states and join the newly established Sega Technical Institute. Cerny had founded STI as a sort of training ground where Sega's green American developers could learn tricks of the trade from the more experienced Japanese staff. The division was cofounded by Sonic 1 director Hirokazu Yasuhara who was already in place at the new studio. With two of the most influential Sonic 1 developers in his camp, Cerny proposed a Sonic sequel to the company executives. The initial response was a no, as Sega felt it was too early for a sequel to a game that was still pulling in big money at retail. However, just as Cerny and co had begun working on an unrelated project, Sega turned around and requested that the Sonic sequel be developed after all. STI thus began development of Sonic 2 two months behind schedule."

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:23 pm

I enjoy both soundtracks but most of the time i choose the US version just because it makes me laugh.

Sonic CD is a great game. Really i'd put it just a short notch above Sonic 2. I actually find it quite relaxing to play. Sometimes i connect my pc to my HDtv and just kick back with it. Feels good to play old games on new screens like that.

I do have to agree that the graphics are much gaudier than Sonic 1 or 2 in most places but that doesn't bother me, since i'm the only person in the world that likes Knuckles Chaotix

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:11 pm

circuitface wrote: I do have to agree that the graphics are much gaudier than Sonic 1 or 2 in most places but that doesn't bother me, since i'm the only person in the world that likes Knuckles Chaotix

Only person bar lordstar

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:32 pm

szycag wrote:Oh, the Japanese version is also the way to go because it includes Bare Knuckle 1-3. The US version (and EU?) includes Vectorman 1 and 2 so that the ESRB rating didn't go up.

I that a rip of Vectorman? I hope not... that game is an all-time classic.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:35 pm

That's a pretty cool arrange of Just Good Friends (I guess it's from Moonwalker?). I've actually imagined several different Michael Jackson songs for different Sonic zones, they work really well with the mood and pace of the game somehow.

That is Another Part of Me, Just Good Friends was the duet with Stevie Wonder.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:50 am

szycag wrote:Oh, the Japanese version is also the way to go because it includes Bare Knuckle 1-3. The US version (and EU?) includes Vectorman 1 and 2 so that the ESRB rating didn't go up.

The Japanese versions of Sonic Gems actually have both Vectorman and Bare Knuckle. What doesn't make sense is that they also include the SG Bonanza Bros which would have still kept the rating at E. So the US (and EU) are missing four games, while the JP version not only has those four games, but has the two Vectorman games the US (and EU?) version has too.

D · Post by D » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:50 am

Sonic HD demo released, works!
http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=12056

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:56 pm

Only problems in SGC are that the Tidal Tempest water is clear and the special stages are much faster than the original, making them far more difficult to complete (pretty frustrating at times really, blazing through zones over and over only to mistime a jump in the special stage and starting over).

I personally prefer Sonic 2 but there's really nothing to fault in Sonic CD. It has the most secrets of any Sonic game by far. Not everyone likes the huge acts but they're novel; the time attack goals are quite lenient, enough to reach the toughest goal in only a matter of tries. Honestly, if you just prefer style, I think Chaotix is the most stylish of the Sonic-esque games.

D · Post by D » Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:08 am

more Sonic news
http://www.siliconera.com/2008/09/22/se ... -xbox-360/

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:50 pm

Ganelon wrote:Only problems in SGC are that the Tidal Tempest water is clear and the special stages are much faster than the original,

And the afore mentioned lack of "Pause-Suicide".

(...) the time attack goals are quite lenient, enough to reach the toughest goal in only a matter of tries.

I call bullshit. The first baseline to reach of 37'27''57 to unlock DA Garden may be lenient, but to unlock the Visual Mode with total times of 25'46''12 surely isn't lenient.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 4:09 pm

Well, I just played the time trial zones in order, tried each no more than 5 times before feeling like I did a decent run and then proceeding to the next, and had no problems beating the lowest time. So yeah, if I didn't need to backtrack at all, I'd say the times are too lenient.

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:34 pm

Ganelon wrote:Well, I just played the time trial zones in order, tried each no more than 5 times before feeling like I did a decent run and then proceeding to the next, and had no problems beating the lowest time. So yeah, if I didn't need to backtrack at all, I'd say the times are too lenient.

pffft, the lowest default times for each level are set at 15 minutes.

Please, get back to me once you've unlocked everything.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:36 pm

Um, the lowest time is 25'46''12; I thought that was obvious. Honestly, if you're so doubtful, maybe you're just not that good at this game or something...

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:39 pm

Ganelon wrote:Um, the lowest time is 25'46''12; I thought that was obvious. Honestly, if you're so doubtful, maybe you're just not that good at this game or something...

could be, or you're just really good!

I'll stop talkin' shit for now and actually give the Time Attack a go some time soon.
I mean, heck, it's only been 15 years since I really played Time Attack.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:20 pm

Yeah, I'd be in the same boat (well, slightly later since I didn't have a Sega CD back when they were $200) but I just unlocked everything in Sonic CD again when SGC was released and Time Attack was just as straightforward as I remembered it to be.

The only challenge I've had in Sonic CD were the SGC-speed special stages; I'm pretty sure one of the later stages took me over a dozen tries, which was pretty shocking since I remembered them to be of average difficulty in the SCD version.

SockPuppetHyren · Post by **SockPuppetHyren** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:50 pm

Koa Zo wrote:Sonic CD is one of the most mis-understood games, it seems.

SNIP

The levels are not haphazard, people's playing skills and expectation were.

I actually have to thank you for this post. Before then, I didn't like Sonic CD because I couldn't understand the mechanics in the game, or what the time travel function was for. I just wrote it off as overrated and went on from there.

I picked it back up today, and did a lot more exploration, and I found myself enjoying the game a whole lot more.[/i]

shmups.system11.org

Someone tell me why Sonic CD is the best?

Re: my longest post ever!