Difference between revisions of "Sonic the Hedgehog CD"

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Sonic the Hedgehog CD

System(s): Sega Mega CD, Windows PC
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sonic Team
Genre: 2D Platform

Sonic the Hedgehog CD or Sonic CD (as it is known in Europe and North America) is a video game for the Sega Mega CD which is still well acclaimed by Sonic fans. It was the first and only Sonic game released for the Sega Mega CD. It is one of the few Sonic games of this era in which Yuji Naka played no major role in its development. Instead, it was handled by Sonic creator Naoto Ohshima.

Sonic CD was the first Sonic game to use a backup save, using the internal Sega CD memory or a backup RAM cartridge. The game saves after the end of each third zone and records the best times of the player in the time attack mode. This is also the first Sonic game to feature FMV. Extended versions of these FMVs were included in Sonic Jam and Sonic Mega Collection.

Early in the game's development, the gaming press and even Sega's former head of marketing Al Nilsen stated the game was going to be a port of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and often referred to it as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 CD[1].

Story

It turns out that Amy Rose, a female hedgehog, had used tarot cards to find Sonic, but was kidnapped in front of his very eyes. Sonic must find Metal Sonic, whom kidnapped her. Meanwhile, he must also collect the Time Stones and travel through time to foil Dr. Robotnik's latest plot. Sonic accomplishes his mission and Little Planet quickly vanishes when it is freed.

Gameplay

Sonic's Spin Dash in Sonic CD is different than that of Sonic 2's; the position he takes in both games is different. A new move was added to complement the Spin Dash: the Super Peel-Out. The Super Peel-Out can be performed by pressing and any trigger button. This causes Sonic to rev in position until is released, sending Sonic speeding off. The difference between Sonic's Spin Dash and his Super Peel-Out is the Spin Dash damages enemies who get in his way due to his curled attacking pose, while the Super Peel-Out leaves Sonic vulnerable to attack, but moving faster.

Time Travel

The game's key element is the concept of time travel. The player can travel to four different versions of each level in three different time periods: past, present, and two versions of the future. This is accomplished by passing "Past" or "Future" speed posts scattered around the level and then running at top speed until the time period changes. There are never any "Past" signs in the past and never any "Future" signs in the future. The future is always a Bad Future unless the special pod-looking robot generating machine is destroyed in the past, or if all the Time Stones have been collected. In either case, the future will be a Good Future where no enemies roam.

The different time periods have slightly different layouts and object placements, as well as significant changes in the level music, art and color palettes. In addition, the robots within a level fall into a state of disrepair as time passes; in the present, some machines have become worn down and in the future, all of them have. This affects the speed and attacking ability of the robots; some of them become completely ineffective, while others do not significantly change.

Also hidden within the past of each level is a hologram projector showing Metal Sonic squashing an animal with his foot. Destroying this will cause animals to appear in the past and present levels. However the animals are always present in the Good Future, regardless if the projector has been destroyed or not.

The third stage of each level always takes place in the future and is a short run up to the boss. The third stage only has a Good Future if the previous two stages also had Good Futures.

Bosses

Most boss battles are more elaborate than those in the other Sonic games, and typically require fewer hits than the usual six or eight. Sonic CD's boss battles, however, generally require more effort to actually hit Robotnik. One battle takes place on a makeshift pinball table and requires the player to use flippers to get up to Robotnik. Two battles do not involve hitting Robotnik to damage him; one takes place on a giant treadmill where the objective is to wear out Robotnik's machine by running on it, and the other is a race against Metal Sonic.

Versions

International

The soundtrack for international versions of Sonic CD (those published by Sega of Japan and Sega of Europe) was composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata, and featured songs by Keiko Utoku. The songs were entitled "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" (infamously nicknamed "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior" by Sonic fans) and "Cosmic Eternity".

The boss theme for the international soundtrack uses elements from Hall & Oates' "I Can't Go for That(No Can Do)" and "Work That Sucker To Death" by Xavier.

American

Sonic CD was delayed a few months for it's North American release to have a new soundtrack composed by Spencer Nilsen, who did other Sega CD soundtracks as well as some early Sega Saturn soundtracks. All the music (save for the Past tunes, which were in PCM audio rather than Red Book CD audio) was replaced, and new themes were composed, each with entirely different rhythms and beats not heard in the international release.

Replacing "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" is a song called "Sonic Boom", performed by Pastiche. Both the opening and ending had similar lyrics but different instrumentation.

Differences

Every re-release of the game in the US exclusively has the American soundtrack, including both the PC version and the one in Sonic Gems Collection (the latter having the American soundtrack even in Europe); the international soundtrack surfaced in Sonic Screensaver, but otherwise has never made it to the States.

The American release 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.

The race with Metal Sonic plays the default music based on the version of the future being played. The international version always plays the Bad Future theme. The "Little Planet" theme is played in the Time Attack screen in the American version instead of second Title screen track. The ability to re-start the level at the cost of a life was added to the American release and can be performed by pausing the game and pressing ++.

PC release (1996)

Sonic CD was ported to the IBM PC and released in Japan on August 9, 1996. Following the Japanese release was the North American and European releases, each hitting the market on August 26, 1996 and October 3, 1996 respectively. The PC version featured the entire FMV intro and ending sequences, spanning longer than those of the original Sega CD release. The Japanese version had its manual translated from the US version, and all versions had the US soundtrack, with the "Past" tunes converted to normal Red Book CD audio tracks. Unfortunately, the PC version is not compatible with Windows XP or Windows Vista without the use of a homebrewed patch created by Korama [2].

Sonic Gems (2005)

A modified version of the PC port was made available as part of the Nintendo GameCube (and, in Japan and Europe, PlayStation 2) compilation Sonic Gems Collection. The soundtrack in this version is unique to the console region like the Sega CD version of the game, but the European release was given the American soundtrack. One difference in this version is the water in Tidal Tempest, which is clear instead of green (as is in the Sega CD version.)

Manuals

Also Released On

Sonic & Garfield Pack for the PC (1999)
Sonic Action 4 Pack for PC (2001)
Twin Pack: Sonic CD and Sonic & Knuckles Collection (2002)
Sonic Gems Collection for the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2 (2005)

Voice actors

Role	Voice Actor
Sonic the Hedgehog	Uncredited
Amy Rose	Lynn Harris

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Hayao Nakayama
Producers: Minoru Kanari, Makoto Oshitani
Director: Naoto Oshima
Program Director: Keiichi Yamamoto
Art Director: Hiroyuki Kawaguchi
Sound Director: Yukifumi Makino
Game Designers: Hiroaki Chino, Kenichi Ono, Yuichiro Yokoyama, Takao Miyoshi, Akira Nishino
Character Designer: Kazuyuki Hoshino
Landscape Designers: Hiroyuki Kawaguchi, Takumi Miyake, Masahiro Sanpei, Masato Nishimura, Hideaki Kurata
Special Stage Designers: Kazuyuki Hoshino, Judy Totoya
Special Stage Progammer: Keiichi Yamamoto
Animation Programmers: Yuichiro Mine, Eiji Horita
Animation Visual Directors: Hiroyuki Kawaguchi, Masahiro Sanpei
Visual Design: Kazuyuki Hoshino, Takumi Miyake
Chief Programmer: Matsuhide Mizoguchi
Programmers: Yuichi Matsuoka, Hiroshi Takei, Tatsuya Satoh, Noritaka Yakita
Sound Effects: Yukifumi Makino
Sound Programmer: Yukifumi Makino
Development Support: Al Nilsen
Promoter: Hiroyuki Tanaka
Music (Original/JPN): Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata
Music (US): Spencer Nilsen, David Young

Animation Staff

Producers: Yasuo Yamaguchi, Mutsumi Kido
Director: Yukio Kaizawa, Ryo Watabe (Being Co. Ltd.)
Art Director: Shinzou Yuki
Chief Key Animator: Hisashi Eguchi (Studio Junio)
Key Animator: Tetsuya Kumagai, Toshiyuki Komaru, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Ichiro Furuichi, Kenji Kajiwara
Camera Director: Masaru Banzai
Production Manager: Kohji Sekiguchi
Assistant Production Manager: Kouichi Hirose
In Cooperation With: Studio Junio
Produced By: Toel Animation Co.Ltd
Recorded At: Birdman Mod Studio

Special Edition For North America

Music Composed And Produced By: Spencer Nilsen, David Young
Vocal By: Sanday Cressman, Jenny Meltzer, Becky West
Drums & Percussion By: Brad Kaiser
Guitars By: Erik Frykman
Recorded And Mixed By: Sega Multmedia Studio(Sega Of America), Intermix
Addtional Music Composed And Produced By: Sterling
Bass: Bobby Vega
Percusion: Armando Peraza
Engineer: Charles Albert
Assistant Engineers: Roosevelt Hoover, Maurice Jackson

Special Thanks: Naofumi Hataya, Masafumi Ogata, Daisuke Saito, Hiroshi Kubota, Reiko Kodama, Yoshiaki Kashima, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Masaru Setsumaru, Hifiri Aoki, Stene Ray Burton, James Michael Spahn, Kounosuke Yoshio, Tomoko Sasaki, Aki Kamta, Fujio Minegishi, Jina Ishiwatari, Katsufumi Yoshimori, Tetsuo Akagi, Kaeko Itoh, Hiromi Nakatani, Hiroshi Fukuda, Etsuko Yamada, Ryuichiro Kutsuzawa, Takashi Lwade, Michikazu Tamamura, Masumi Uchida, Tohru Watanuki, Makoto Suzuki, Audix, Digital Support Group, Fairlight E.S.P, Opcode, Otari, Zoom

Resources

Original Sound Version Recordings

For the Windows version see Sonic CD for Windows 95 OST for a download page. For the Japanese Sega CD version see Sonic CD (Japan & PAL Regions) OST.

Artwork

Scans

Sega CD

US cover
US disc
US 'Not For Resale' disc

EU front cover
EU back cover
EU disc

JP front cover
JP back cover
JP disc

PC

US front cover
US back cover
US PC disc
Budget US PC
OEM Dino US PC

Scd-pc-eu-cover.jpg

EU front cover
Scd-pc-eu-inside.jpg

EU inside cover
Scd-pc-eu-back.jpg

EU back cover
SCDPC-disc.jpg

UK PC disc
German PC cover

Template:SonicCDZones

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems

1991 Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Eraser 1992 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic Spinball 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic & Knuckles 1995 Chaotix | Sonic Classics 1996 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island

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-'''''Sonic the Hedgehog CD''''' or '''''Sonic CD''''' (as it is known in Europe and North America) is a video game for the [[Sega Mega CD]] which is still well acclaimed by Sonic fans. It was the first and only Sonic game released for the Sega Mega CD. It is one of the few Sonic games of this era in which [[Yuji Naka]] played no major role in its development, but instead it was handled by Sonic creator [[Naoto Ohshima]].
+'''''Sonic the Hedgehog CD''''' or '''''Sonic CD''''' (as it is known in Europe and North America) is a video game for the [[Sega Mega CD]] which is still well acclaimed by Sonic fans. It was the first and only Sonic game released for the Sega Mega CD. It is one of the few Sonic games of this era in which [[Yuji Naka]] played no major role in its development. Instead, it was handled by Sonic creator [[Naoto Ohshima]].
 ''Sonic CD'' was the first Sonic game to use a backup save, using the internal Sega CD memory or a backup RAM cartridge. The game saves after the end of each third zone and records the best times of the player in the time attack mode.  This is also the first Sonic game to feature FMV. Extended versions of these FMVs were included in ''[[Sonic Jam]]'' and ''[[Sonic Mega Collection]]''.