Sega release trailer for.. Sonic CD? What?

[Radrappy]

certainly sounds like the definitive version to own.

[j-man]

So have you guys seen these?

Because fuuuuuuuuuuck me they're lovely.

[P.P.A.]

Hey, that's pretty cool. I might actually download it. (The PS3 theme, not the game, of course.)

[j-man]

Of course!

[Neo]

Thank god! You genuinely had me worried for a bit there, P.P.A!

[G.Silver]

Sega released a video of the art director for Sonic CD commenting on some of the original concept art for the game over on their blog. It seems like we hardly ever get to see any sort of design work for the Sonic games, so I almost wonder sometimes if it isn't all just really awful, or maybe they throw it all away, or something. I wish they'd just scan it all and put it someplace where we can look at it straight on instead of putting it on video!

[Gaz]

Xbox version is out at least now. I've just downloaded it and played through Palmtree Panic a few times. This is a damn good port. For such a cheap release it's nice to see something that's had a bit of effort put into it. It's nice to have the option for the Sonic 2 spindash although I didn't find it made too big a difference. Special Stages seem to have been changed slightly(UFOs containing speed boosts now are now coloured blue. I don't remember it being that way before). They're also slower than they were in Gems Collection. It's great to finally have a version of the game that let's you switch between the 2 soundtracks although you can only do it in the main menu. You can't switch them on the fly or mix the 2 versions. Only real disappointment so far is the lack of the vocal version of Sonic You Can Do Anything but I knew that was the case. Ultimately, as long as there aren't major game breaking bugs later in the game I think this is probably the definitive version of Sonic CD. Hardcore purist types will probably hate it(as already seen in this thread) and anyone who doesn't like Sonic CD still won't like this version but for everyone else this is worth checking out. It's certainly a lot better than the awful Gems Collection port.

[P.P.A.]

I heard some people complained that the smile of the Mona Lisa creeped them out, so the Louvre commissioned an artist to paint a copy of it, except in this new version she has a wide grin showing her teeth, and she also wears a pearl necklace. Of course, they didn't replace the original Mona Lisa, but now there's a button below it that guests can press, causing the section of the wall to flip around, exposing the edited version. But don't worry, it's all optional, and you can just press the button again if you prefer the original Mona Lisa!

That interview is quite interesting though; they should really just scan the entire sketchbook and upload it; that one design of Dr. Robotnik's machine looks gorgeous, and I've never seen the one with the drill before. Who knows, maybe there's even traces of Round 2 left in it!

[Rob-Bert]

You're still harping on about that?

[Popcorn]

Sonic CD ain't that good.

[Crisis]

Gaz's summary sounds fair. It's nice that SEGA isn't letting the title fade into obscurity and actually put some effort into porting it. A shame the effort was somewhat misdirected, but things like finally getting both soundtracks takes the edge off a little.

[Forza Johnman]

The only real things I noticed and irked me a bit were:

No Toot Toot or Cosmic Eternity lyrics (But I already knew that, I mimed the lyrics though)

The Final Boss doesn't seem to move like it did on Mega CD. Plus little Flying Battery pillars on the sides.

Not all of the music loops. The Present tracks have a little 2-3 part added before the loop, however the Past and BF (Haven't spent all that much time in GF) doesn't. Its not like there is a 2-3 second gap while the music loads, its still instantaneous.

Thats about it. Despite going though the game twice with the Sonic 2 Spin Dash, I really haven't noticed any real difference with the game. It still feels like Sonic CD.

I do love that that the menus look all 16-Bit. It just tickled me.

Quite amazed its got Christian Whitehead's name plastered all over it as well. I mean its the second logo you'll see. Bloody Good Job.

[Blount]

It's a lovely port, for sure. The only thing that bugs me is how getting all the ring UFOs in succession no longer nets you 300 rings. I'm sure that was the case in the PC demo, at least. I tried registering at that Sonic Retro forum to tell Christian that, but they have some kind of asinine approval method, and I can't be bothered with that.

Fucking UFOs, man. I swear I used to be better at this.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one having a bitch of a time with the UFOs in this game. I had to actually exploit the save feature just to get all 7 Time Stones.

A few other things I noticed:

* The 3 bleeps that play when Sonic is underwater before the countdown are now from Sonic Generations, replacing the original sound effect. In addition, the 5-second countdown doesn't start making sound effects until it gets to 3 now.
* If you get more than 9 lives, the counter actually displays them now (i.e. 12 lives), as opposed to just 9. In addition, the game automatically saves your lives and score now after every Zone/Special Stage.
* The water automatically drains in Tidal Tempest Zone 3 after you beat Eggman, even if you push to the left. I assume this is to prevent killing yourself after the boss fight.
* You can no longer enter your initials in Time Attack, which sucks.
* Speaking of which, in Time Attack in Stardust Speedway Zone 3, you no longer rescue Amy after your battle with Metal Sonic. You destroy a capsule like in the first 5 Rounds' third Zones.
* The sliders in Wacky Workbench now make a sound; the same sound used for a charged-up spring in Sonic 2's Casino Night Zone.
* The font for the endings after the credits is different now and much bigger. The "Presented by SEGA" message also no longer appears after you beat the game.
* The How To Play section actually has a somewhat accurate storyline from the Japanese manual. No pictures of the enemies though, or even their names. (They still use the original English names for items, like Shield and Super Ring.)
* You have to wait for the music to end after a Zone or Special Stage before the score is tallied up. Since the U.S.'s version of this music is longer, it makes it more annoying.
* No Debug Mode at all in the game (which isn't a surprise, considering it was removed from the other XBLA ports of Sonic games).
* Tails is playable, but you can't see the opening/ending animation with him, or even the original credit roll. He can fly and swim like in Sonic 3, and his sprite is a modified version of the one from Sonic 2. (His flying sound is the same as Sonic 3's.) He can still kill enemies with his tails, but he can't harm Eggman in the boss fights, nor can he destroy Eggman's machines in the past. Amy does not appear at all in Tails' game, though the past machines, Metal Sonic holograms, and Special Stages are all there for Tails to tinker with.

[Neo]

the 5-second countdown

It's actually 11 seconds. 5, pause, 4, pause, 3, pause, 2, pause, 1, pause, 0, drown. 5 seconds would be way too little. But I get what you mean.

[The Doc]

I'm The Doc and I approve this port.

[Radrappy]

Seconded.

This is a lovely effort. My only experience with CD was the PC release and even then I was too young to appreciate what seemed like an overly complex game. Now, not only do I get to experience the original soundtrack, but the game has been packaged with a number of neat extras and options. The wide screen presentation of the title is especially welcome. I can't think of another franchise that benefits so greatly from having a couple more inches of screen to better see upcoming obstacles. It's a complete game changer. I only played for an hour last night but I enjoyed it a lot. The sense of accomplishment in bounding about the good future I've earned is wonderful. The music is lush and feels like proto nights into dreams material, which is the highest of compliments. I stopped playing just as I entered Wacky Workbench, which people claim is a terrible level so we'll see if my enthusiasm endures tonight. All in all though, I can see where your affection for this title comes from, PPA.

[Farmer]

So I downloaded it on iOS.
And it's really.. really.. good. Suffice to say, with Sega's shoddily emulated ports of S1&2, I wasn't expecting this. It's polished to a mirror shine, and the Retro Engine is the absolute dog's bollocks. Even on my (rough as old guts) second-generation iPod touch, it ran smooth as smooth could be, and the graphical enhancements (example: smooth rotation on the final boss) are noticeable yet agreeable improvements. Consider that S1&2 are frameskip-a-go-go on the same device, so being able to run the game natively is where this new engine really shines. As a sidenote, the on-screen controls are decent and don't feel like you're fighting them for control.

The ability to switch soundtracks will please either side of that messy debate.

It's refreshing to see some actual honest-to-god effort in a Sonic port, which I imagine Sega would want to highlight considering that SCD has much less of an "I played this as a kid" factor to fall back on, sales-wise. Top-notch job.

I dearly hope S3&K gets the same treatment whenever that gets ported.

[Popcorn]

Sonic CD was my first Sonic game. Strange place to start. It's like most cult classics: obscure in purpose, full of cool, quirky shit, and totally mediocre. It has so many cool ideas in it it's easy to mistake it for a good game, but none of them mesh.

Metal Sonic, by far the best enemy the franchise ever had - I love his non-literal design, designed like a sleek Japanese consumer product rather than the more obvious robot hedgehogs of Sonic 2 and S3K - but he's squandered on a poorly-designed race level. Amy Rose adds even less. The shrink ray in the final level is a gimmick that isn't fun (and if you choose the wrong path you have to do it again!). Worst of all, the time travel, the central idea of the whole game, only makes the already confusing levels more confusing, and the future versions are completely redundant.

It's kind of sad, but the animated sequences are the only truly brilliant thing about Sonic CD. Still, it's easy to look at it with affection for all its style and novelty. And the port is obviously great.

[Crisis]

The iOS version is only £2, so I picked it up.

In terms of performance, it's fantastic. I pulled up Gens (the emulator) on my PC and ran Sonic CD, and this iPhone port completely blows it out of the water in terms of frames per second. It looks really good on the iPhone 4/S screen as well, the image is vibrant and you can see comfortably far ahead. This guy is clearly a very competent programmer.

The controls are a bit of a deal breaker, though. I'm told they're better than most attempts to imitate a keypad on a touch screen (this is the first game I've bought that's tried), but it still sucks. It's very easy to hit the wrong direction button due to the lack of feedback. In a momentum-based platformer, hitting the wrong direction at the wrong time makes a big difference.

Maybe that's just the tradoff. But for me, there's an acceptable compromise - like using a keyboard on a PC - and then there are unacceptable compromises, and this feels closer to the latter. I imagine the XBLA version is much better.

For what it's worth, I didn't notice any differences in the game engine from the original version. Then again, it would have been hard to tell since I was wrestling with the controls the whole time.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I tried the demo and was surprised that
(1) I had an urge to play Sonic CD again
(2) how different the opening FMV is without vocals.

[M.C.Dillinger]

It's bloody New Year's and the PC version still isn't out.

Sega are a bunch of liars!

[P.P.A.]

It's bloody New Year's and the PC version still isn't out.

Sega are a bunch of liars!

What are you saying, the PC version has been out for years!

[M.C.Dillinger]

The PC version of 1995 doesn't have any of the new stuff you moron.

[G.Silver]

I think that was a joke.