SONIC CD
SONIC ORIGINS AND SONIC MANIA WOULDN’T EXIST WITHOUT THIS MEGA-CD ODDITY, A FORMERLY HARD-TO-ACQUIRE GAME WHICH INSPIRED CHRISTIAN WHITEHEAD TO DEVELOP THE RETRO ENGINE
» [Xbox 360] Using Tails in the remaster often makes finding your targets a much easier task.
» [Xbox 360] The 16:9 display makes the race against Metal Sonic less of a memory test.
» [Mega-CD] Newcomers to Sonic CD are often bewildered by seeing rings embedded in walls.
Though it arrived ten months after the release of Sonic 2, Sonic’s only Mega-CD outing felt much more like a parallel evolution of the original game than it did a second sequel. Shared ideas such as pinball-themed stages and a robotic Sonic were explored in totally different ways, the Spin Dash worked differently, and Tails was nowhere to be found. But by far the biggest difference was in the structure of the game, as Sonic CD’s best ending requires players to find a way back to the past in each stage, in order to find and destroy Robotnik’s machinery to create a good future. Where Sonic 2’s stages often felt like obstacle courses that encouraged the player to get to the goal as quickly as possible, Sonic CD’s stages invited more exploration and backtracking. “I think the time-travel aspect of Sonic CD was a great way to introduce an element of exploration,” says Simon. “There might be a few who call it optional, but personally I won’t settle for less than the ‘perfect’ ending of collecting all the Time Stones and destroying every robot generator and Metal Sonic hologram. It certainly increases the difficulty, though! I’m not sure there are many other ways to make such a thing feel rewarding for Sonic but hunting down the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 1 and 2 for Game Gear/Master System was a nice compromise for lack of special stages. I’d say, though, that tracking down Star Posts and Special Rings in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles for Mega Drive, respectively, do lend to some light exploration. There’s even a ‘Perfect Bonus’ for collecting all rings within a level in Sonic 2, although it’s physically impossible on some. But, no, none of them are on the level of Sonic CD.”