Not really because in Generations you go back and fight Metal Sonic in the exact same time as SCD so he still fails and gets ressurected in Sonic 4 anyway. also, am I the only one getting a feeling that that Ken interview was dragged on far longer than it should have been? One of the longest fan interviews I've ever seen.
I have been away for a few days so here's my reaction. YES! I wouldn't even try to guess the timeline of the later Sonic games.The earlier ones are way easy though. Example: I do know there is no way Sonic's story and Knuckles' story happened at the same time (Sandopolis Act 2). I believe everyone knows that though. The only time line as stated earlier is the year on the game. It's gotten so confusing to keep track of which game takes place when.
I would think Sonic 06 would have taught this community that trying to divine any sort of continuity from the Sonic series is a futile task, but alas. The fact of the matter is that Sonic 4: Episode 2 references the storyline of Sonic CD, which is a -good- thing: it's a game in the series that has often been ignored, so placing it back in the mainstream discussion of what Sonic is, therefore, also a -good- thing. That it happened before Sonic 4 is...basically where it's always been. Y'all can get so up in arms over things that are such non-issues sometimes. Given the US soundtrack, I'm almost certain it is, as other have mentioned, an issue of the way the contract was written in getting the music licensed for digital distribution. You can see another famous example of this with Ms. Pac-Man.
That's why I prefer the theory that Classic Sonic's world is from one dimension and Modern Sonic's world is from another dimension, sadly they prefer to say Classic Sonic is the young Modern Sonic, but how they will explain the eyes colors mutation on everyone by getting old? :v:
Sorry about that. I wanted to clear up everything, which I basically did. I should just not do fan interviews because I suck at them and make them too long.
I actually quite like the idea of marketing Sonic CD off the back of Sonic 4 Episode 1 and then marketing Sonic 4 Episode 2 off the back of Sonic CD. I mean Sonic CD is not a well known game. It is a very well respected and much loved game in the core Sonic community but the wider audience won't know about it. Using the million people that went online and downloaded Sonic 4 Episode 1 to market Sonic CD will bring a whole new generation of Sonic fans to the game, that can only be a good thing, surely? One of the best and oft forgotten Sonic games is having a fantastic and upgraded port and the only thing you would need to put up with is a few references to Sonic 4 in the marketing campaign. Even if you didn't like Sonic 4, it seems like a small price to pay.
It is a shame that Sonic CD isn't as known of a game than Sonic 2 and S3&K obviously part of it is due to the fact it wasn't released on the Genesis. The price of getting the Sega CD attachment was damn expensive and there were basically no good dames to play on it. Sonic CD was the best game for the Sega CD. How many people were going to pay $299.99 for an attachment and 1 game? I didn't get to play it until I got the PC port and it has been one of my favorite games ever since. This port is long overdue.
On one hand it's exciting for people who've never played Sonic CD, on the other they're going to be bitterly disappointed when they find that S4 E2 turns out to be absolutely nothing like Sonic CD. So yet again, this is a serious dick move for SEGA, once again using a great game to promote and hype up a shit one. *Raises hand* I got a Mega CD just for Sonic CD. I also had Lethal Enforcers with the lightgun, Ecco CD and Puggsy. But really, I just got it for the privilege of playing Sonic CD. Pound for pound, it's easily the most expensive game I've ever owned.
Mileage will vary as to the quality of Sonic CD. Don't be surprised when people load up Sonic CD having never played it before and immediately disliking the change in direction and gameplay compared to the Mega Drive games and/or Sonic 4.
What's not to love about CD? It's essentially Sonic 1 on crack, and arguably the best looking game by far. Not to mention no 2 classics were ever the same, there were big changes from one game to the next and nobody hated them. And if anyone dislikes CD because it's not like Sonic 4 (yeah, yeah, opinions and all that shite) then they should be shot.
The only real fault I found in Sonic CD was sometimes the levels were a bit empty, but this was only an issue in Tidal Tempest, Quartz Quadrant, and Metallic Madness. I assume some areas were empty because their differences in certain futures. I'd take Sonic CDs level design over Sonic 4s claustrophobic clutter though.
To hazard a guess - the level designs, the time-travel gimmick, the object-hunting, the bosses and the music. The Mega Drive series evolved from game to game, but I'd argue there was a philosophy to the level design that those games maintained and that Sonic CD... didn't dispense with entirely, but the zones felt like someone had just discovered the level tile editor and went nuts with it classic Sonic levels were just broken and scattered apart, sometimes all over the place. Sonic 4 was a bad example of a throwback release and while it's not a stellar example of Sonic level design it's a game people might feel more 'at home with'; Sonic CD was an experiment that even today people have mixed feelings about. For me the game's more fun to watch someone else play than to play myself, and I can greatly appreciate the game for its historical value (particular the designer of Sonic being in the director's chair and his ideas on what a Sonic game could look and 'be' like) - but otherwise I'm just bored to tears with it. EDIT: I think it's the exploration factor that has me at odds with this game the most. It's the same reason I hated the Knuckles/Rogue levels from the Sonic Adventure games. The fact that you're supposed to struggle around the map looking for something (rather than just blitz through it) doesn't make the map any more fun to struggle through. When I think of games where exploration is encouraged I almost invariably think of the Metroidvania titles, and even there the game-play isn't as frustrating to me as Sonic CD because (1) the sense of progress is rewarded with items that let you access more blocked-off paths (rather than temporary shields or robot generators - and at least Adventure 1 and 2 accommodated for this); (2) you accumulate more permanent power the further you progress so that later paths can be attempted at as low or as high a difficulty as you want; (3) the sub-levels and pathways still aren't that haphazard a hazard to navigate, even with power-ups that let you jump higher or even fly for periods of time; and (4) you always have some indication of where you've already been in the level and where you haven't explored yet, generally thanks to the map. In other words you're expected to look around (rather than giving you a short path to the end of the level) because that's the natural progression of the game; you're not left feeling frustrated by a dead-end just after going through a loop-de-loop or hitting a spring; you get a better sense of satisfaction and progress for your efforts (plus more paths to unlock in later and earlier levels); and you're not left feeling short-changed when you can stumble from an upper path to a lower path only to find the end-of-goal signpost and little way back because you mistimed a jump or didn't consult a map. In the earlier Sonic games it's generally the level that's your playground rather than the level continuously bumping or boosting you towards the goal - hazards are thrown your way to make the level more challenging, but the game never feels unreasonable because you've got a solid goal in mind, you're still allowed some leeway to make your way to that goal, and you're not tasked with stumbling around for trinkets. You may say it's unfair of me to compare this game to a whole different series since there are vast differences in theme and game-play, and I can understand that, but it also reinforces my point that the attempted non-linear progression just feels, not so much out of place but poorly implemented - when people praise Sonic CD for it's unusual progression system or the open-ended nature of its levels or the concept of the generators I always end up thinking "Well no, because here's a game series where that non-linear nature doesn't feel so bolted on to the detriment of the level design and the game rewards you for your efforts with more than just an alternate FMV". Although I will openly admit that the animation cutscenes for this game kick so much ass.
But you didn't have to Time Travel. You didn't have to destroy generators and that jazz. It was optional. The main Sonic gameplay is still intact in the game. What Oshima did was take the concept and add and build off of his concept and allow exploration for new unlockables and special items. You could still blast from Point A to point B, but you could also explore and take the option to go from period to period to check out the massive change in your environments. If anything, it's the most ingenious Sonic game ever made.
I still say the subject of the level designs is up to the opinion of the gamer, I myself loved the level designs. I don't know about you but playing through 4 different versions of the same stage promotes exploration and lasting appeal. No. Object hunting is not mandatory to get the Good Ending. If you don't want to go item hunting, gather all the time stones by traditionally playing the special stages. The hell was wrong with the bosses? (again I'm going to say opinion) Ha. Once again thats opinion buddy and there is "a lot" of people who will disagree with you. I know I do. EDIT: Not to mention around this time, this was the first Sonic game to contain CD quality music as opposed to 16-bit. Evolution from title to title would remain redundant as Sonic 2 and CD were developed around the same time. Sonic CD had more to offer then the original game and its final result is really a matter of opinion. EDIT 2: I love CD, its in fact my favorite of the franchise. To me CD easily holds up to the original game offering more content and to me a more enjoyable expirience with its higher quality music and lasting appeal.
You speak the truth! I tell you something Steven in Sonic 4 that ISN'T optional though, and that's the homing attack and speed boosters. No getting around them is there?
You didn't have to time travel? I guess not. What you did have to do was stop and wait for the time travel sparkles to go away if you accidentally hit a sign post while trying to blast through a level. That was horribly annoying. I mean seriously. Sonic CD may be your favorite game, but it's not infallible. Maybe my opinion of it was skewed when I first played it expecting the greatest Sonic game I'd ever played, judging from how much everyone around seemed to be jerking off to it. I shut it off after Collision Chaos. Then I loaded S3&K back up to get the bad taste out of my mouth. You either love it or you hate it.
