Roll Away...Fast!
A Review of Sonic CD
by Mark W. Frantz
For a while, the console ruled the gaming entertainment industry. For a while, everybody had a Nintendo, and Super Mario Bros. was the hottest thing out there. In competition with Nintendo came Sega, and with Sega came Sonic the Hedgehog. In its day, Sonic was another hit, although not achieveing Super Mario Bros. popularity. Soon thereafter, the computer gaming industry took over as the dominant gaming industry. And the console makers, trying to cash in on the new trend, began to port their console games to the PC. Thus, Sonic CD was born.
Unfortunately for you, me, and the hedgehog, most of these direct ports are horrendously bad. Consoles are dedicated gaming machines, and have certain features that computers do not. Ergo, the console games just haven't worked right on the computer. The exception generally occur when the developer takes some time to actually manipulaet and rewrite the code, bringing not necessarily the code but the concept to the PC. Virtua Fighter is a good example of this. Sonic CD is not.
First off, the graphics are not up to par with the console version of Sonic. Sonic on the Sega had a polished glitz to it, almost looked as good as dome of the SVGA stuff we see today. But the Sonic CD lacked this glitz, looked dated and blocky. The sound matched the console game, with some CD audio thrown in for good measure.
As far as gameplay, the game somewhat lives up to its original. Be prepared for the occasional slow down, but in general the game runs pretty fast. But its not the speed that's the problem. Its just that the game's levels are quite confusing. There are all kinds of ways to enter and exit a board, special places with hidden power ups, and more than several dead ends. When you play, you just get the feeling you have no goal, no idea where you're going. And besides being disorienting, it's downright frustrating.
So what you're going to find in this port of a somewhat classic is a somewhat classically bad port. If you're a die hard Sonic fan, you're probably used to the way these levels are setup up. If not, you may find yourself as I did, frustrated within the first twenty minutes of play.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
Sonic CD |
| Company: |
Sega Entertainment
|
| Cost: |
$29.99 |
System Requirements:
486DX/4 100Mhz or better, Windows 95,
8 Mb RAM, Double Speed CD-ROM drive,
SVGA, Mouse, Keyboard, Soundcard.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 2
Graphics 2
Sound 3
Interface 2
Replayability 2
Overall Score:
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