With so many 2D adventures under his notch, the blue hedgehog has much to reminisce on. His introduction into the 16-bit era changed the face of Sega and made the gaming giant the house that Sonic built. Sonic’s Golden Era was sealed with the release of his greatest adventure that no one played: Sega CD. With a mysterious planet hovering over Never Lake, Dr. Robotnik works on stealing the Time Stones present on this “Little Planet,” while kidnapping Sonic’s animal friends and female hedgehog Amy Rose, using them as bait to keep the speedster busy and off his coattails.
The most innovative of all Sonic games, players manage to travel across different time periods (Present, Past, Good Future and Bad Future) within the same zone; your speed determines which speed post you enter (Past or Future). Time is of the essence and each zone has a different presentation. For instance, machines in the past will look time worn and in the future all machines will be completely worn down. Sonic’s actions in the past determine the presentation of each level and zone in the future, which can cause anything from heavy pollution to rampant robots flooding each zone. Robotnik boss battles become extremely difficult and the addition of Metal Sonic keeps gamers on their toes and clutching their rings.
Sonic’s 3D transition tarnished the franchise’s reputation as an enjoyable and creative platformer, but Sonic CD proves the hedgehog’s 2D ingenuity is everlasting. The game pushed the Sega CD’s graphic boundaries and proved the system had the ability to overshadow the Genesis, it’s unfortunate Sega didn’t have the lineup to follow through on their “next-gen” console. Nevertheless, Sonic CD is greatest Sega CD game and is the definitive Sonic title.
