If you've friends with any caliber of interest in classic gaming, then chances are you've heard the age-old debate of which Sonic game is better. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, in my experience, seems to be the winner in a majority of these debates. I chide in whenever I can, reminding everyone of the excellence that is Sonic CD, but I generally get the response of "oh, never played it." I can't blame them, as the Sega CD was not exactly a popular add-on. What I can do, though, is immediately give them the chance to give it a try. More often than not, they jump ship and agree that it is long and afar the best of the classic Sonic games.

Like most of you reading this article, I do my best to spread the word and advocate sorely underplayed games. I generally have to provide the means for people to play them (as in, loan them the system or invite them over to play mine), but it's a gesture that is often appreciated. It may be after the fact, but I still see it as part of our contracts as gamers to do. There is no game I've had to do this more with than Sonic CD, and to an extent it saddens me. I'm certainly not implying that it is, without a doubt, the best Sonic game there is, but I do see it as an important game to experience before you can make such an opinion yourself.  The amount of detail and work put into the game dominates the rest of the series, which is why I'm so stubborn about ensuring people get to try it.

Each level has different skins, such as present, past, good future, and bad future. If you destroy the machine creating all of the robots in the past, then you've created a "good future" for that specific area. Details like this may go unnoticed to those who prefer to just race through a Sonic game, but there's quite a bit of detail to be appreciated if you're willing to take the time and explore a bit. Many of the nuances of the other games carried over, such as each section consisting of two levels and then a boss battle.

Sonic CD was developed during the same time that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was. In fact, it came out before Sonic the Hedgehog 3 did. It wasn't met with too much success commercially, but it is a game that hardcore Sonic fans lovingly appreciate. I dont know that I would recommend tracking down a Sega CD attachment solely for playing it, but I would recommend finding out if a friend has it in storage, or if you've any means of playing it.  The game was also released for PC, but unfortunately I cannot account for the quality of it.

Links:

Gameplay  

Purchase