Poor old Sonic. Last year he was the hottest hedgehog in town. His platinum-selling Sonic II cartridge rocketed him to stardom and made both he and his co-star, Tails the Fox, household names. Popular idols for hordes of screaming animal fans. Yup, Sonic The Hedgehog was *big* news. Then came the mighty fall. After a massive row with Tails, his two-tailed buddy stormed out of their penthouse burrow claiming Sonic was an untalented spiky pig. With Sonic's career spiralling ever downward, he was only able to get odd-jobs as a selectable icon on various football and tennis games. It all seemed over for the Blue Wonder, until he met *her*! Across a crowded woodland bar he saw the most beautiful female hedgehog ever. Their eyes met and they fell in love. Rosy was her name and she was a natural pink. It was she that brought Sonic back from the brink and helped him relaunch his career with promises of a new game, Sonic CD, sparking Sonicmania once again. But life for our spiky blue pal has never been easy and misfortune struck. The evil Dr. Robotnik kidnapped Rosy and threatened to turn her into hedge-hamburgers. Now it's up to Sonic to save the day and rescue his love. He won't let her get away, like he did Tails. Go Sonic, Go!

Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's flagship character. His first two games are responsible for the sales of millions of Megadrives. This is his first appearance on the Mega-CD.

The aim of the game is simply to reach the end of each eight-way scrolling level. Collecting rings along the way increases points, lives and helps protect Sonic.

Sonic CD doesn't take place on Sonic's homeworld of Moebius. Nope, when Dr. Robotnik kidnapped Rosy he took her to a small orbiting moon called the Miracle Planet and that's where the game takes place. There are seven different zones for Sonic to battle through, such as the Palm tree Panic Zone, a kind of Green Hill Zone-a-like, Collision Chaos, the customary pinball-style level, Tidal Tempest, which is semi-submerged in water and the Wacky Workbench Zone, a manic machinery level vaguely similar to the original Scrap Brain Zone. There's even a zone called the Speedway Stardust which is made completely out of the parts of a trombone. At the end of this zone, Sonic has to race a robot version of himself through a hazardous race course with Dr. Robotnik in hot pursuit.

As with all the Sonic games, Sonic CD has a secret Special Zone. Accessing it is done in exactly the same way as in the original Sonic game. Our hedgehog hero must collect fifty rings and then jump through the giant ring at the end. Viewed from behind Sonic, you guide him around a racetrack bashing into UFOs. All of them must be hit before a timer runs out. To make things harder though, there are various obstacles like speed ramps, bumpers and moats which actually sap your precious time. The 3D effect is very reminiscent of Thunderhawk or the driving bits from Batman Returns CD and looks truly incredible.

In Sonic CD our spiky blue hero can actually travel through time. This is done by running by either a "Past" or "Future" sign and then picking up speed. If Sonic maintains a constantly high velocity he starts to spark before vanishing, only to reappear in a new time zone. For the most part, these new eras are identical to their present day counterparts, but in technologically different states. Strangely enough though, this novel time-travelling feature is completely unnecessary to completing the game.

Seeing as it's on the Mega-CD you'd expect this game to have some excellent sounds and indeed it does. Some of the best ever heard on the Mega-CD in fact. All the music has been composed and performed by a Japanese band called Miki and sounds like a bizarre combination of the chirpy Sonic-style tunes we know and love, together with the latest in dance and techno anthems. The result is very listenable indeed.

As with all Mega-CD games, Sonic CD features a rather smart cartoon intro. Reminiscent of the popular Japanese anime look, it tells the story of how Sonic found the Miracle World chained to his own planet, by a suspicious-looking Robotnik-shaped mountain. It doesn't take our hero long to work out who is behind this strange turn of events and he immediately sets off toward the Miracle Planet by running along the giant chain.

Sonic CD is just the first in a new wave of forthcoming Sonic releases. Also in this issue is Sonic Spinball, the pinball game based around the Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2. Then early next year comes Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, a columns-style puzzler converted from a Japanese game called Puyo Puyo. However, biggest and best of all is the Sonic arcade game. The game is controlled by trackballs, as Sonic is rolled around a hazardous landscape and is reminiscent of Atari's popular coin-op of yesteryear, Marble Madness.

However, the graphics are stunning and, best of all, it is a three-player game as Sonic is joined by pals, Ray the Squirrel and Mighty the Rabbit. Come back Tails, all is forgiven!

I was expecting great things from Sonic CD, but I can only express my complete disappointment at the end result.

Yes, the graphics are very flashy and it all plays at an incredible speed, but somehow it lacks the soul the other Sonic games possessed. There's nothing new in it. All the levels play almost identically.

It's just a case of rolling through twisty tunnels and loops or walking underwater searching for air-bubbles. There's nothing to match innovative little mechanisms that appeared in the first two games, like say, the giant but and bolt lift from Sonic II.

What's more, the saved position and infinite continue option means you can finish this already-too-easy game in one go.

What could have been a clever time-travel feature has been wasted and the Special Zone is boring and too slow and jerky to be of any fun. Only the cartoon intro and music shine through, but they aren't really an integral part of the game.

The previous Sonic games set new standards. Sonic CD fails to reach already average ones. Nope, Sonic CD fails to hit the mark.

I have a much higher opinion of Sonic CD than Tom, but I do see his point. There is nothing new in this game at all and there is a lack of innovation in it. Each new Sonic game has contributed new ideas to the genre, but with the exception of the Special Zone (which isn't that great), there isn't much here that's at all new.

That's not to say that Sonic CD is crap - far from it, it's excellent to play and the graphics are awesome. The sound effects and music are totally amazing. The techno rave music is utterly superb - especially when pumped through a decent hi-fi (and it's even better through my surround sound system).

What's more, it is too easy and the save game option reduces lastability further.

There is a lot to see in this game though, and the different time zones, although in no way essential to the game, do bring you back to the game.

Sonic CD is an excellent CD release - but how about some new, original ideas for Sonic III?

Presentation 92%
P. An excellent cartoon intro and plenty of neat options, including a Time Attack feature to test your best speeds on.
N. A few of the levels look and feel a little unfinished. A bit unpolished.

Graphics 90%
P. Excellent main sprite, superb badnik sprites. Most of the backdrops are great too.
N. Doesn't look any better than Sonic II with the exception of the Special Zone.

Sound 94%
P. Mind blowing rave and techno tunes accompany the action. Some neat sampled special-effects speech too.
N. The more routine Sonic spot effects are a bit ordinary. In fact, they sound identical to the cartridge sounds.

Playability 86%
P. As with all Sonic games, it is instantly playable with brightly responsive controls and that addictive hook.
N. If you've got the other Sonic games, you may be disappointed by the basic approach and lack of new features.

Lastability 71%
P. Tons of levels to explore. Searching through all the time zones will take ages and the Time Attack will bring you back you beat your times.
N. Way too easy, especially with its save position feature.

Overall 83%
A technically impressive platformer, but surprisingly uninventive. As Sonic games go, this is still rather fab, but doesn't really compare gameplay-wise with Sonic II.