Sonic CD came out in 1993 for one of the failed Genesis add-ons, the Sega CD. It was re-released on the PC in 1996 as well. This game put a new twist on Sonic the Hedgehog by instead of getting Chaos Emeralds to get the good ending, you get Time stones and going back and forth through time trying to destroy the robotizers in the past to save the future. There are 3 endings to the game, but hey, I'm not going to ruin it for you! You find out yourself how you get each ending and how to get them.

Graphics

In 1993, these graphics are awesome. The FMV sequences in the beginning are a first for Sonic games and looks really good for its time. The in-game graphics in the game sport some really good background graphics, but most of the animations of the sprite are from Sonic 1 except for the animation for speeding up in place. But then again, the sonic 1 sprite works great, and this is so much better graphics then almost any Sonic game (or any game) at the time. Yeah, its pretty good.

9.5/10

Sound

The biggest high point in the game. Because of it being a CD, you got CD quality sound on EVERY sound and music in the game! And this is 1993 when it was made! It still sounds good today, with the music being better than some songs I've heard on modern games in quality and the song itself. Its awesome.

10/10

Gameplay

When you start playing it, you'll already notice there are some differences in this game from the others. Probably one of the first is the ability to speed up while just holding up then hold the jump button like the spin-dash. This was put in there to help you get through time easier. Ah yes, the time traveling thing. Thats another big thing, or the BIGGEST thing in the game. Time Travel is the purpose of the game, and hey, its easy to travel through it. All you do is pass by a sign that either says "past" or "future," then go as fast as you can, you'll start seeing stars behind you, and once you run long enough, you'll be going to the time it said on the sign you passed. If you don't want to go to the certain time, you wait a little while, and the stars won't appear there when you run, preventing the time travel. Its quite fun to do this knowing, you have to go to the past to destroy the robotizer in the level, and then there won't be any robots in the present or future. If you get the robotizers in both Act 1 and Act 2 of a level, when you go to Act 3, you'll battle Robotnik in the GOOD future instead of the BAD future. It'll make more sense when you play the game. The special stages consist of you running around on a place that looks like mode7 graphics destroying alien ships to get the precious stones. Its hard, but thats fun as well. And it still has the great Sonic The Hedgehog feel of blasting through levels at high speed. Its all good.

10/10

Replay Value

Time attack is an option in the PC version for sure, although I'm not sure about the Sega CD. And there's 3 different endings to the game and the levels are just outstanding, making you always wanting to come back for more.

10/10

Bottom Line

This is absolutely my favorite game of all time, and it shows why it is. If you're a Sonic fan, or a gamer of any type, you MUST get this game. Trust me on it.

10/10*