Playing Sonic CD Felt Spiteful

I've heard Sonic CD described a lot of ways over the years, a lot of people living the time travelling mechanics and a lot of people disliking them. On paper, I think they sound great. That's on paper though, because in practice they're not fun at all. With labrynthine levels that lack landmarks, no maps and several one ways routes that make back tracking more cumbersome than it should be, is exploration more difficult than intended. That's before you even factor in what a nuisance finding and activating the correct time travel sign post is without hitting a wall/obstacle and losing the ability or accidentally spinning another sign post.

But I've never thought to describe the game as "spiteful", and yet that just resonates with me. Playing the game and trying to engage with its unique design is a miserable experience as far as I'm concerned. Even as someone who greatly enjoys taking a slower pace in Sonic games and exploring around, CD feels like it's against me having fun. The levels are huge, and finding those Badnik teleporters is like searching for a needle in a haystack. There are so many dead ends. And before you even get to it, you first have to go to the past. Fuck you if you accidentally travel to the future at any point. The legend themselves are just so trap filled too. Nope, not a fan.

"Spiteful" is a very apt word. The game actively works against you all the damn time. Wacky Workbench has an absolutely hateful level gimmick that only serves to frustrate the player, constantly undoing all of their progress. Mania's Chemical Plant 2 took the concept of insanely bouncy floors smh made them a huge amount of fun. And then Superstars' Press Factory 1 did the bouncy floor on a timer thing much better by having the bounce be much weaker, better telegraphed and made the kebab wrap vertically. Both of these levels engaged the player and asked them to interact with a new gimmick that kept them on their toes. But CD's equivalent was just to punish them for playing normally, landing on the floor they normally couldn't see and often throwing them into electric cables or freezing jets without warning. Fuck that level so much.

If you try to play CD like a normal Sonic game, ignoring all the time travel stuff, it's alright. Weaker than all of it's contemporaries on a gameplay front because the level design simply ain't so hot as it expects exploration. But it goes from unbearable to perfectly fine.

 

Sonic CD is a very unique game even amongst Sonic games, but it's a bit wonky and aimless and a lot of the levels can be pretty frustrating to navigate. I think you have to keep in mind that a lot of fans of the game (like myself) just fundamentally had a different experience with the game than you did - you probably went in already knowing a bunch of trivia and secrets of the game, including what even a Good Future is and how to get it. Keep in mind that's not something that most people knew about. I just played it like a regular Sonic game, felt it was a bit easy and strange, didn't get the Good Ending, then played more of it, and as I played it more, every time I would learn something excitingly new I didn't know about. Good Futures, the roboticizer machines, where are they located, new shortcuts and ways to traverse the levels, faster and cleaner ways to time travel, etc. That feeling of discovery is I think the real strength of Sonic CD - being thrown into these surreal, colorful spaces that are a bit nonsensical and even, like you put it, hostile, and then making sense of it and figuring out ways to navigate it with a ton more ease thanks to many interesting secret shortcuts and fun ways that the different tiers of the levels interact with one another. It created a really intense sense of intimacy with the game because I figured everything about the game that I knew of by myself, stuff that I would never even imagine that was there if I didn't poke and prod curiously. I had also never seen a game that looked or sounded like it did, and that's a huge part of the appeal too - it just looks and sounds incredible and unique. Maybe it doesn't feel as unique now that so many Sonic fans take a lot of inspiration from it for their own games and fan-games. Still, if you hear or read a lot of people praise the game, get pumped to try it, then play it once expecting to experience all of what these people see in it, especially if you don't know of the game's drawbacks and astringent points, I think it's bound to be a disappointment.

 

I don't think it's spiteful. They really wanted people to see all the artwork and songs they created and not finish the game the game while getting the best possible ending in the first playthrough.

Do remember this was THE SYSTEM SELLER for the SEGA CD, they tried hard to make the game feel long and feature packed.

Also, remember the save system lets you finish the game and explore individual zones so you can see the easy spots to the past. There are many, with most featuring two springs facing eachother next to a signpost. I also think Sonic CD is the most laid back/casual game in the series since all bosses are easy, especially the final boss.

People would play games for months straight since they were comparatively much more expensive, so judging it with today's eyes isn't exactly fair.

 

It depends on what you expect. It's not like Sonic 2, 3&K or Mania, which are a lot more speed focused. CD is more like the slow levels of the first Sonic (Marble, Labyrinth, Scrap Brain). I personally enjoy those kind of levels more. They aren't very good the first playthroughs, but I enjoy them much more than the speed focused ones.

What makes CD levels great for me is:

• Unless you always play too samey, you usually end up on a different path. That's partially because on other Sonic games there are more clear paths and you usually can't change from one to another at too many points. CD is more open in that regard. Sometimes it isn't just a path, is just open space which you can navigate through different ways.
• That makes the levels highly replayable. After so many playthroughs, I may know all classic level designs from memory, but in CD there are always spots that still surprise me. Keep in mind I got plenty of time overs as a kid just messing around exploring.
• While I hate the time travel mechanics (as most of classic fans), that makes 3-4 level designs per act. I would personally enjoy more having the option to play the entire game in the past, in the present, in the bad future...
• It may seem slow or sluggish, but you can actually end all the acts in a really short time. The game is great for speedrunning (much more than other classic games). It's the only of the classics to feature an awesome Time attack and the only one to reward you for improving your times.
• So the game can be the slowest one or the fastest one. You can play secure or play wildly. But that's only after replaying it tons of times. If you just "complete it" it doesn't feel that good at all.

I see a lot of hate on Wacky Workbench. Personally is one of the best levels just because it's so different from all the other zones in classic games. You must change your mindset: If you play doing slow platforming, the level isn't hard at all. Once you know the level, you can just speed through each act aroud the minute easily. The problem is everybody expects to run at high speed. That just ends badly in WW. Also: I have always thought losing a life is much more punishment than backtracking. It may be tedious but it's better than other Sonic zones with bottomless pits.

I personally wish there were more classic games like this than like Sonic 2. IMO it's the game that has aged worse, I rarely replay it and most of my favorite zones are in other games. As time goes on, I keep liking more and more the first one and CD and less 2. 3&K is in the middle and I just haven't played Mania as many times as to compare.

 

I don't find anything "spiteful" about Sonic CD's design. It just took a very different path than 2, 3K and Mania did when it came to making a Sonic sequel.

If you try to just run straight to the end of every level, you're going to find the game isn't exactly handing it to you. Even if you reach the ends of stages quickly, you'll be flung every which way and wind up down dead-ends or face first into danger. But that's because the game wants you to explore the maps to get the Good Future. And in order for you to do that well, you'll need the willingness to explore and learn the lay of the land.

Sonic CD also requires the player to learn the physics and their quirks way more than the other classic games do. A big part of it is gaining the reflexes to dodge Future posts and hazards, but also the sharp slopes and steep drops of CD's layouts will need you to learn how to master the spin attack to climb up halfpipes/ramps to higher areas, and slope-jumping to make precise jumps and clear large gaps. It's much more intensive on learning Sonic's physics than the other three!

The game also encourages repeat playthroughs to get better. You'll be frequently replaying so you can find better places to time travel, learn the generator locations, and triangulate the quickest and cleanest route possible between both of those things and the goal. With enough practice you'll eventually get into a "flow" state that helps you navigate the maps at a fast and fluid pace, even when you're not rocketing at top speed. That same philosophy applies to Sonic 1, as Marble, Labyrinth or Scrap Brain may feel slow and plodding on first plays, but over time it can become really fun and satisfying to navigate them well. Even Wacky Workbench has a fast route that can give consistent results for speedrunning, you just have to find it, then master it!

Because of all these things, it's probably my favorite 2D Sonic game to replay. I just 100%ed it 3 times in a row last month, and just talking about it makes me want to go at it again. It's just so dense compared to the others, it feels almost puzzle-esque learning how to crack it, but arcadey in how pick-up-and-play it is. And if you screw up a perfect Good Future run, go for the Time Stones instead as your backup! IDK. It's a blast.

 

Our yearly Sonic CD thread came early

It's just different to what everyone is use if you played 2 and on. An interesting look at where the game would have leaned towards if the franchise didn't go all in on Sonic 2's speed and thrill designs.

 

It it helps, there's a really fun Twitter/Bluesky account that cropped in the past year that may give you an idea on the ways you can approach CD, particularly it's time travel system. There are consistent ways to time travel (there's one obvious area in each act) but their videos prove how freeform (and silly) it can get.

 

I don’t think the intention was to expect players to 100% the game the first time through. You either explore/deal with the time travel, or you follow the rings. I like that duality. You can always get the 50 rings and beat the special stages, and skip time travel altogether!

 

I'd like to add something, if you played it via Origins, that version is... to put it lightly, not great. As the Origins version of CD is based on the Blip PC port of Whitehead's mobile remake if I recall, which isn't great either because CW updated the mobile release to fix some issues with it that weren't ported over consoles and PC. The Cutting Room Floor has a whole article about all of the differences, but here are the most notable things:
1. Sonic isn't invincible when you activate the warp panel's trail of light.

Spoiler: (Spoilers for the game if you plan on doing a Robot Transporter run).

2. In Wacky Workbench Zone 1 Past, the piston that leads to the robot transporter doesn't suck you in upon contact unlike the original Sega CD version.

3. The timer when above 5'00"00 would roll back to 5'00"00 after pulling off a successful warp, which isn't present.
4. All of the stages had different lengths of time to pull off warps, this isn't present and it makes pulling off time warps much harder due to it having the same time criteria.
5. Crushers are OP in the Retro Engine. If you think you're not gonna get crushed, you will, especially in MM z3.
6. The UFOs had a way of indicating when it was time to strike them, when you got close to this threshold, the UFOs lights would turn on, in the Retro version they're always on which makes it a pain to hit them.
All of these differences make me hesitant to call Sonic CD 2011 the best way to play, it's the most convenient way to play yes, but not the best. Luckily there are mods for the decompilation that fix 4 out of the 6 main issues with SCD 2011 (An example being Classic CD Tweaks), the crusher thing is kind of unfixable with mods to my knowledge, it'd probably require a minor engine rewrite to fix it. All in all, I also agree with what Mastered Realm, KMetalmind, and Azookara have said. I applaud your willingness to play the game again to find out why people love it.

Yeah, I'll agree that WW is probably the worst round in the game, it flips the route dynamic too, you want to stay on the bottom instead of the top, as the top is the most dangerous path, but to time travel you need to go to the top to find the time panels. The bounce floor is annoying as hell, and it's a shame that developers scrapped a failsafe they made that would've made it tolerable. Though struggling through it my opinion is worth it when you see the good future, along with having zero badniks in it to hinder you, speaking of which I don't understand why people say both futures are "the same", they're not. The bad future has broken badniks that can hurt you, while the good future has none, making it a breeze to go through the level.

 

I hate to be the odd one, I really do, but I've never understood this sentiment. My whole life, even before I had access to the 2011 remake, I've played Sonic CD like any other classic game (point A to point B, get all time stones, unlock good ending) and I've never had a problem with it. I've even gotten through the entire game in under one hour with all stones with little to no frustrations, whilst waiting for a job interview.

In one instance I did try to go thru the unique route to the good ending (destroy all badnik generators) and I had a miserable time, however playing it ignoring the time zones feels like any other game

 

Origins has all the fixes CW made to the mobile ports and it's based on the SEGA Forever version, which is the latest version ever made before Origins. Here's the TCRF page detailing the differences between the Origins and the Mobile versions.

According to Devon the time was actually intended to be fixed. The inconsistent lengths we observe were caused by how laggy the game ran on SEGA CD.

The art was drawn at fixed pixel sizes. There literally wasn't enough resolution to draw the lights on the smaller versions. Also, the first size where the lights are indeed drawn is not reachable yet, so it is just a coincidence.


Origins also has higher quality SFX recorded from hardware and remasters of the JP soundtrack. While they dropped the low quality loops, it's an understandable decision to keep the quality consistent.

It also has new Knuckles paths added in some zones and Amy! It's arguably the best version of Sonic CD.

 

I've played CD the Time Stones way and the Generators way (and the Time Stones & Generators & Metal Projectors way), I cannot say it feels that much different from the other Classic games if you do just go for the Time Stones. It feels abit slower, I guess? But even then most of the stages are still less stop-and-go than stuff like Marble Zone from 1, even if they aren't as fast as 2 or 3&K.

I'd say the level design overall is abit weaker than average when you do the Time Stones route, but even then it's far from bad. I remember disliking Wacky Workbench and one of the Metallic Madness acts, and thinking Quartz Quadrant felt really short. Still ended up doing some time trials for fun. The Special Stages also don't feel too bad until near the end, but I hold that opinion for multiple games in the series, and I'd take them over the Halfpipe any day.

As for the Generators, I view them as harmless. Annoying when you don't know where they are but a neat little alternate path if you do. They seem more like something for people who want more out of the game to sink their teeth into, I can't fault that.

 

I understand some may feel like Sonic CD is "out to get you", and a game is supposed to be a harmonic process in which you learn controls and dynamics, use them in constrained and readable challenges and a game isn't supposed to betray you (absence of friction, maximum juice etc etc, I find it all to be bullshit but it's the meta opinion). I understand Sonic CD may not feel quite like that often times, especially when, for example, you don't want to time travel but suddenly the level that seemed clunky and wherein it was impossible to maintain speed suddenly makes it impossible to stop.

But I promise you, Sonic CD isn't out to get you. It's a game that asks for but facilitates skill expression, not just for the joy of it but to complete the game. You have to be very intentional about what you're doing: you're either a) looking for signposts, b) looking for an appropriate place to time travel, c) executing the plan to time travel, d) looking for the generator, e) looking for the Metal Sonic hologram, f) getting 50 rings or g) going to the end of the stage, not as quickly as possible but as swiftly as possible. And the difference is huge. Style is necessary by using the surrounding space to avoid danger or execute time travel, but you must first learn to read the surrounding space for that. Not following trails of rings but keeping in mind what you want to do despite any other clues the stage may give you.

Stage geometry isn't always cooperative, but mastering it feels so, so rewarding. It doesn't teach you stuff, but it invites you to dance at your own pace and leisure. It's beautiful, really.

EDIT: Also Wacky Workbench fucking rules

 

I do like Sonic CD but I feel like its fans sometimes obfuscate or deliberately play down its failings. It's true that the game often propels you into dead ends which serve no purpose but to waste your time. The perfect example is the beginning of one of the acts of Collision Chaos where there are three paths and two of them just knock you back. I understand that in different timelines they turn into paths but you aren't going to see that at the beginning of the level.

I also think you have to engage with the fundamental problems of the game's design too. The way to time travel is cumbersome and doesnt synergise well with the games design of springing you about sharply to a halt. I think it is telling that they put sure fire ways of time travel in the levels. The future also serves no practical purpose but as punishment since it doesn't serve a way to make a good future. You always have to go to the past. Well apart from exploration for explorations sake but I feel like you could say that about any part of any game. Similarly many of the paths in other timelines are also largely unnecessary. The good futures are technically pointless but I think they get more of a substantial pass because you do want to see the reward of you clearing the level correctly. You always see it before the boss battles anyway which is good design.

The game gets a lot right. It introduced Metal Sonic. The music is the best in the series. It also introduced Metal Sonic. Lol.

 

I don't see that as a "fundamental problem". Yes, time travel is cumbersome, but that's deliberate. You're meant to work a bit to timewarp, analyzing the level design and finding a good spot to maintain your speed long enough.

Yes, they put a few surefire spots, but to use them you have to find them. You also have to be careful not to lose your time travel ability when navigating the levels, what with all the sections that either require running or are designed to push you forward.

 

Yeah i think the biggest criticism is how pointless the future timelines are apart from exploration. If they had only done past and "bad present/good present" it would've been more solid. (Starting every zone is a wasteland, going to the past, fixing it and going to the present to find a techo-utopia)

 

Not only you have to find them, they're not always obvious. Sometimes you'll feel really clever for finding them (Quartz Quadrant... I think Act 2? Comes to mind).

I'll take it being cumbersome, but allowing me to find my own crazy ways to time travel, over it being streamlined but sterile any day of the week. Which is why again I think Wacky Workbench is a great level. Yes, it's the one that will stop you on your tracks most often, but it's also the one that allows the most satisfying five seconds of pulling off crazy stunts to keep momentum, like steering really wildly mid-air to bounce off a badnik really high again, or intentionally avoiding the platforms to use the floor to fly high again.