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Sonic the Hedgehog CD or Sonic CD (as
it is known in
Europe and
North America) is a video game that is still well acclaimed by Sonic
fans. The game was never touched by
Yuji Naka himself, which explains why the theme of the game is
different.
The game was released for the
Sega Mega-CD in
Japan on
September 23,
1993. It was released in
Europe in
October
1993. The game was then released for the
Sega CD in
North America on
November 19,
1993.
Sonic the Hedgehog is chasing
Metal Sonic, who kidnapped a girl named
Amy Rose. It turns out that Amy had used the tarot cards to find
Sonic, but was kidnapped in front of his very eyes. Sonic has to get the
Time Stones and to travel through time to foil
Doctor Robotnik's (Doctor Eggman in the
Japanese version) latest plot.
The game's key element was the manner in which the player could travel
to 4 different versions of each level in 3 different time periods. This
was accomplished by speed posts scattered around the level, saying "Past",
and "Future". There were never "Past" signs in the Past and never "Future"
signs in the Future. If you defeated all the enemies in the past, then you
traveled to the future it would be the different "Good Future". You would
receive the good ending to the game by completing all the good futures or
by collecting the 7 Time Stones in the Special Stages.
The game itself has Sonic feeling heavier than normal. The spin dash he
does is weak, but he compensates with the Super Peelout. The Super
Peelout, performed in a manner much the reverse of the spin dash, by
pressing up and a button, causes Sonic to rev in position until you
release the button, at which point he speeds off.
Both the
Japanese and
American versions of Sonic CD had their own soundtrack. Different
people have different tastes about the music. The US version also replaced
Amy Rose's name in the manual with that of
Princess Sally to garner support for the television show, despite the
fact that the Princess Sally character was already established.
Here is a list of rounds:
- Palmtree Panic
- Collision Chaos
- Tidal Tempest
- Quartz Quadrant
- Wacky Workbench
- Stardust Speedway
- Metallic Madness
A version availible for the personal computer was released in
Japan on
August 9,
1996. The
North American version came on
August 26,
1996, and the
European version came on
October 3,
1996.
Among the most noteworthy changes of this version was the fact that the
entire FMV Anime intro and ending sequence is available for this version.
The Mega-CD version only had part of the intro and ending sequence. The
Japanese version of the game had its manual translated from the
US version.
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