Sonic CD - shocked and disappointed.

Okay folks, I just got Sonic CD working on my PC (it sure took long enough) and as you all know, I love most things Sonic (with rare exceptions such as Spinball and Sonic Advance 2).

Well, I'm disappointed. Sonic CD is not at all like I imagined it to be. Sure, the sprites are brilliant (Sonic's figure-of-8 running animation is genius) and the effects are pretty good (for a 16-bit game) but the gameplay is far too fast. It's like Sonic Advance 2 - by the time you see an obstruction or enemy, you've already hit it!

It's so upsetting, because the slower paced games like Sonic 3, Sonic Advance 1 and Sonic and Knuckles are works of genius, embodying everything a good platformer should be.

I know some of you will disagree with me, but thats just my opinion, and I'm glad I didn't fork out

Thank god I'm not the only one who found SAdvance2 a tad bit too fast paced. Sonic is all about speed, but sometimes taking it too fast just ruins the game itself. Visually, Sonic CD is great, but as you said - just a little bit quicker than the classic, unbeaten Sonic 1 - 3 and knuckles.

When I played both Sonic Advance games, I was surprised, sure whilst sonic and others were playble, had new moves and the levels looking very different from the classics, it had something missing.

I'm not sure what it is, but in the original MD games, the managed to keep the flow of action, and still the hint of exploration. It's totally contrasted in the more modern games, which is pretty disappointing - in SA2 you literally run through the levels and you can't really slow down the rate, fewer enemies and obstructions, and not really a patch on the originals.

But I do want to get through Sonic CD - the last boss/level with Metal Sonic/Metallix to beat.

However, I hope the upcoming Sonic Hero game lives up to the classic Mega Drive series, which, in my opinion, never be beaten for it captures the action and exploration very well.

[ Edited by JB on 2003/6/29 8:44 ]

i find the faster paced games more fun as it takes more skill to complete them.
i have not played s advance 2 but sonic CD is one of my faves and the starting and ending video is great. also the time travel bits of the game are amazing with the new way sonic runs

well sonic is all about speed. The faster should it is the better it should be. That's where the skill and uniqueness comes from Sonic managing to handle that speed effectively.

I didn't think much of Sonic advance 2 for a different reason. those dumb SP rings. To get the emeralds you have to find 7 rings hidden in the stage and finish the level. die and you have to start all over again.

This may sound cool but to me this slows down the gameplay and turns it into a exploration game like mario. Sure avoiding the emerald the game is quite cool, but it's not over until you have the emeralds. ST bring back the giant rings, please!

oh and JB Metal Sonic ISN'T the last boss, there's another zone after him.

i like the way you get emeralds in sonic 1 (sonic mega collection, megadrive) at the end of the act once you pass the twirly thing there is a giant ring you have to jump as quickly and as high as you can so the faster you go the harder it is and you need very quick reactions i dont really like the others where you have to find the rings to play a ball collecting game.

I bought Sonic CD for the PC as well. I thought It would be much better. Sure, the graphics were cool, but the game didn't flow well at all. It was no where near as good as Sonic 2/3 and knuckles. I have all of the Genesis sonics, and love the all. I have both Sonic Advance games. I was really impressed with them actually. They were pretty and fun but in #2 they went a little overboard. The speed was crazy and the bosses were horrible.

Sonic 2 and 3 had the best Emerald stages of the lot... easy to find, and just the right difficulty.

I love Sonic 3's bonus stages. They were awesome. I hated Sonic advance's and Sonic Advance 2's wasn't that great either.

I love sonic games- they are my favourite games of the retro times.

I have the original on the master system and it is simply amazing. Sonic 3 on the genesis is the best though