Sonic the Hedgehog CD
| Sonic the Hedgehog CD | |||
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| Logo of the game | |||
| Original title | ソ ニ ッ ク ・ ザ ・ ヘ ッ ジ ホ ッ グ | ||
| transcription | Sonikku za Hejjihoggu Shī Dī | ||
| Studio |
 Sonic team
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| Publisher |
Sega
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| Senior Developer |
Hayao Nakayama (Executive Producer) Minoru Kanari (Producer) Makoto Oshitani (Producer) Naoto Ōshima (Director) |
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| composer |
Yukifumi Makino |
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
Sega Mega-CD : September 23, 1993 October 8, 1993 November 19, 1993 Windows : August 9, 1996 September 26, 1996 October 3, 1996 Xbox Live Arcade : December 14, 2011 PlayStation Network : December 14, 2011 December 20, 2011 Android : December 14, 2011 iOS : December 15, 2011 Steam : January 19, 2012 Ouya : August 1, 2013 PlayStation Now : July 31, 2014  |
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| platform | Sega Mega-CD , PC , Nintendo GameCube , PlayStation 2 , Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , Android , iOS , Ouya | ||
| genre | Jump 'n' run | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Game controller | ||
| medium | CD | ||
| language | English | ||
| Age rating |
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Sonic the Hedgehog CD ( Japanese ソニック·ザ·ヘッジホッグ , Hepburn : Sonikku za Hejjihoggu Shī DI), only Sonic CD , is a 2D platformers Run - video game , that of Sonic Team developed in 1993 by Sega for the Sega Mega CD was released. It is the indirect sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).
The game has been praised for its innovative time travel feature that allows Sonic to explore levels on four different time levels. This large size, the high quality soundtrack and the animated cutscenes were possible on the Sega Mega-CD, in contrast to the Sega Mega Drive . In addition, Sonic the Hedgehog CD introduced the characters Amy Rose and Metal Sonic to the series.
action
Every last month of the year the mysterious Little Planet appears over Never Lake . Dr. Robotnik was able to chain the planet to a mountain with a huge chain and is building his new fortress there. He is looking for the seven magical Time Stones on this planet with which time travel should be possible and destroys the flowers and the vegetation on the Little Planet . When Sonic happens to pass Never Lake and discovers the chained planet, he runs over the chain to the planet to find Dr. Thwart Robotnik's plans.
Once there, Sonic also meets Amy Rose, who is in love with Sonic, has declared herself to be his girlfriend and must have followed him. She is led by Dr. Robotnik's newest creation Metal Sonic promptly kidnapped. While Sonic defeats the robots on Little Planet and thus restores the vegetation on the planet, he also collects the Time Stones , defeats Metal Sonic and frees Amy. After defeating Dr. Robotnik's chain is destroyed and Sonic narrowly escapes with Amy in her arms, whom he leaves at Never Lake and runs away. The Little Planet then disappears again.
Gameplay
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD , the player takes control of the blue hedgehog Sonic in a side-scrolling 2D platformer. The level design adapts to the dynamic, fast feel of the game with springs, loops and more. In addition to the control pad for movement, only one action button is required to jump. In jumping or rolling form, called Spin Attack , Sonic can defeat opponents or open item boxes in the form of monitors on whose screen the respective item is displayed. If you let Sonic duck down with the directional pad and then press and release the jump button, the character with the Spin Dash can quickly dash forward with the Spin Attack from a standing position . If you hold the control pad up and press the jump button while standing, Sonic performs the new Super Peel-Out technique . When touched, the golden rings can be collected; If Sonic takes damage, he loses the rings. If Sonic takes damage without owning rings or falls into a deadly abyss, he loses an extra life, of which you have three at the start of the game. If you collect 100 rings, you get another extra life. The monitors can also contain an extra life, ten rings, a protective shield, temporary increased speed or temporary invulnerability. Checkpoints in the form of lanterns mark the reset point in the event of a loss of life. Points are also collected in all actions, which in turn can give "continues" so that the game can continue despite the loss of all extra lives. Most opponents can be defeated with the Spin Attack, which scores points and frees trapped flowers.
The game consists of seven zones ( Palmtree Panic Zone , Collision Chaos Zone , Tidal Tempest Zone , Quartz Quadrant Zone , Wacky Workbench Zone , Stardust Speedway Zone and Metallic Madness Zone ) with three acts each, which can be defined as levels . Each zone has its own theme, appearance and variety of opponents. At the end of the third act there is also a fight against the adversary Dr. Robotnik and one of his deadly machines before the game ends with the credits. If Sonic reaches the end of a first or second act in a zone with at least 50 rings, he can get through a large ring into one of the seven special stages immediately after the finish , where one of the seven Time Stones in the game can be found. Finding All Time Stones is one of two ways to get that good ending.
In addition to this gameplay, which is almost identical to Sonic the Hedgehog , Sonic the Hedgehog CD is mainly praised for the innovative feature of time travel. In every first and second act there are several "Past" and "Future" signs. When Sonic passes one of these signs and constantly picks up speed without interruption, he travels what feels like centuries either into the "past" or "bad future" of the respective zone, depending on the sign he touched. This then has a new, either wilder, more untouched or machine, more industrial landscape and modified level design. There is also a fourth time level, when Sonic first travels into the past in a first or second act, where a certain machine from Dr. Robotnik destroys, then travels back to the present and finally uses a "Future" sign again, which leads him into the "good future", which has modern technology but does not contain any opponents and also exudes more friendliness than the "bad future" ". With a total of seven zones with three acts, the game consists of 21 acts with four timelines each, which means a total of 84 levels. If the "good future" was brought about in the first two acts, the boss fight of the third act also takes place in this one, otherwise always in the "bad future". The second way to achieve the good end, besides collecting all Time Stones, is to achieve the "good future" in all 14 possible acts.
development
After Sonic the Hedgehog , two different development teams within the Sonic Team began gathering ideas for a successor. While the team, of which the developers of the first part were largely involved, ultimately created Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with Tails , the second team had the ideas of the different zones through time travel, that Sonic should get a pink hedgehog as a friend, and that after saving the animals, saving the flowers and vegetation would now be on the agenda. Independently of each other, both teams came up with the idea of a robot counterpart of Sonic as an enemy ( Silver Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Metal Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog CD ).
After the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 , the development of this alternative version of the second part was pushed forward for a flagship game on the Sega Mega-CD, with Sonic the Hedgehog CD being almost completely unaffected by Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . Only the Spin Dash was added because of the second part, so the own ideas were retained and the absolutely identical item box monitors and the sprites from Sonic itself are still based on the first Sonic the Hedgehog .
The soundtrack of the American version is very different from the original soundtrack of the Japanese and European versions. The opening songs are entitled "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" or "Cosmic Eternity - Believe In Yourself", depending on the region. Sonic's voice, which is rarely heard during play, is also different.
Using certain combinations in the sound test menu, five hidden images can be displayed: Sonic with a "You are cool" lettering, as a Batman parody, as MC Sonic playing music with Dr. Robotnik and Metal Sonic, an "Infinite Fun" lettering with a creepy Majin Sonic and a picture of Tails with the Lotus Seven vehicle and the words "See you Next Game".
When the game was re-released for multiple systems in 2011 in widescreen format after Christian Whitehead's work, a few new options were added. For example, the soundtrack or the type of spin dash could be chosen.
New releases and successors
Sonic the Hedgehog CD was first released in 1993 for the Sega Mega-CD and was implemented for the PC in 1996 , after which it was included in the Sonic Gems Collection (2005 Nintendo GameCube , PlayStation 2 ). The remake, created by Christian Whitehead , was released in December 2011 for Xbox Live Arcade , PlayStation Network , iOS and Android, which was released in 2012 on Steam , 2013 for Ouya and 2014 in the US for PlayStation Now .
Sonic the Hedgehog CD does not have a direct successor . However, the year after the Sega Mega CD first release, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles appeared for the Sega Mega Drive .
reception
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Sonic the Hedgehog CD received mostly good to very good ratings. The increased playing time due to the large number of time levels and the increased audiovisual presentation due to the possibilities of the Sega Mega-CD was praised. GameFan magazine even gave the Japanese version the perfect rating of 100% in each category, but deducted points from the American version because of the soundtrack.
With 1.5 million units sold, it is the best-selling game for the Sega Mega-CD. In addition, only the sales figures for the Steam version (510,000) and the Android version (100,000) are known.
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Sonic CD on MobyGames
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Unknown Gamer: Sega CD ProReview: Sonic the Hedgehog CD . In: GamePro . January 1994, pp. 64-68.
- ↑ a b Gamefan . tape 1 , no. 12 , November 12, 1993, pp. 22 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive , Textarchiv - Internet Archive - Review on pp. 38–40).
- ↑ Chris, Mark: Sonic the Hedgehog CD . In: Sega Force Mega . 2, No. 7, January 1994, pp. 102-104.
- ↑ Sonic CD; Sonic chaos; Sonic spinball; Sonic 3. ew.com (English).
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide. 1994.