Retro Contests, Site News

Sonic CD: The Gift That Keeps on Giving (Back to You, That Is)

Over the past few weeks or so, we here at Sonic Retro have been imploring our userbase to buy the new Sonic CD for Everything this holiday season–not so much because it’s a good game (and don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic!), but because we really want to support the concept behind the release. From having a port done with care to having one of our own doing the work to paying attention to lesser-known titles, Sonic CD, this release is kind of a big deal.

By financially supporting these sorts of releases, it sends a very clear message to Sega that we want to see more things done right and by awesome people. If the game sells a million copies, for instance, it shows that licensing the Retro Engine is more financially advantageous than just slapping a hq3x emulated version up for sale. It shows that people are willing to support adding features to a port to give it new life. It shows that we’re not all dicks who pirate everything and just have a bone to pick.

Beyond that, though, it lets people who may mock the Sonic series see that yes, there were legitimately good games that made us all fans. Odds are if you read a site as shall we say, dedicated, as Sonic Retro, you’re pretty read up on video games. Your real-world friends know you as that gamer gal or guy. So this season, we want you to share the love.

Give your family, friends, and loved ones who are into video games a copy of Sonic CD. Let your girlfriend see what the big deal about platformers is by getting a copy for her iPhone. Give your FPS-loving bros a copy over XBLA or PSN to show them that the franchise isn’t all Shadow the Hedgehog and the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog. Call up your childhood friends who you played Sonic 2 and S3K two-player mode with and let them relive the nostalgia with a Steam gift of Sonic CD.

“But Scarred Sun,” you say, “I need to buy Sonic CD, too!”

Well, duh, of course you do. But we’re willing to help you out there. Because it is always more fulfilling to give than to get, we want to give you copies of Sonic CD this holiday season–that’s why we’ve bought a dozen copies to give to our users. We want to hear your stories of giving Sonic CD to others; in return, we’ll pick the best entries and gift you a copy over Steam for your own account (sorry XBLA/PSN people–we haven’t found a way to just gift you the correct amount for the game or else we’d go that path as well.) Leave your story in the comments, and if we hear anything particular heart-touching/funny/nostalgia-y, we’ll hook you up so you can get a copy on Day One of the Steam release.

Besides, there’s nothing wrong with being evangelical about one of the best Sonic titles ever produced. Happy holidays!

 

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27 Comments

  • Reply

    Keep an eye on GameStop.com’s DLC section. Sonic CD should show up on there for XBL and PSN sooner or later.

    • Reply

      It’s not so much “lol it’ll never be available” inasmuch as we don’t really have a clean way to gift copies to our users–although we can get copies via promotional codes, those actually cost money to generate and are a bit of pain to obtain.

  • Reply

    I plan to gift my best friend Sonic CD over steam. He’s been my best friend for a long time, and we’ve always loved the Sonic series. We’ve had some good laughs over the years. I even remember meeting him over a game of Sonic 2. When I heard this game was getting re-released, I cheered with happiness.  My pal would probably love to get a copy to relive the good old days too. 

  • Reply

    Steam version? But it’s not out on steam yet is it?

  • Reply

    Hey well, all the talking about the sonic cd ‘steam gifts’, can anyone help me i was looking for the game all day and i couldn’t find it ;-;!

    • Reply

      The exact day it’s coming out on Steam is unknown, but it definitely is coming. One of the downfalls of downloadable games is that all the various services don’t like to cooperate at the same time. Hopefully it won’t be too long before you can play it on your PC. But you can definitely play it on the Xbox 360 right now.

  • Reply

    Great initiative! Though I don’t really know anyone who will be very happy with Sonic CD. My nephew couldn’t care less, my sister doesn’t have Steam, my friends really don’t care about Sonic.

    I remember being a little kid on a flea market thinking Sonic CD was for the pc, only to come home and only be able to listen to the music 🙂

  • Reply

    What about gifting the iOS version? :3c

    Not that I’d be needing it, I’ve got a crapload of gift card credit to use up. xD

    • Reply

      I wish I had a crapload of gift card credit to use up…

  • Reply

    The main thing here is we have a fantastic game by a fantastic price: FIVE BUCKS for an awesome classic is a REALLY BIG DEAL!!

  • Reply

    It is now 4pm on the East coast and Sonic CD is still not up on itunes, so ANY DAY NOW SEGA!!!!!

  • Reply

    When I was younger, me and my brother did not get along much. We would fight and such and my mom always would say we were killing her. One day, my mother picked up a genesis and a copy of Sonic 2. When we set it up, I was player one, and my brother was holding the player 2 controller. Sooner or later we found our first co-op game. We spent hours upon hours on it, and it was always the best. In the christmas of 1994 I believe, my mother got us a Sega CD and Sonic CD. It was one player, but somehow, me and my brother learned how to share. It was odd, we would naturally hand over the controller after a level or two. We enjoyed that as much as Sonic 2.
    Years have passed and we don’t see eachoter as much, however, since then, me and my brother on christmas at midnight, would set up our old Sega CD and play Sonic CD until we beat it. It was something we have always shared and that is one memory that i will never lose.

  • Reply

    I buy much copies for one reason.
    Sega open your eyes and continue with real classic sonic.
    Generations – The beggin
    Sonic CD – The correct.

  • Reply

    I am trial member “Trashed”, and my band Needlemouse made a cover of Sonic Boom for the Art Contest.  I thought you here at retro might enjoy it since Sonic CD dropped today.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8euT9rlar_0

  • Reply

    Right, but the point is, $5 on GameStop.com and you’ve got a code to give out. Whether you want to give those out or not is your choice.

  • Reply

    I love Sonic CD, i remember me watching gameplay of it a couple of years ago (haven’t played it by then) and i got super hyped, a friend of mine who is a Sonic fan was going to sleep at my place and he called me on his way over telling me he just bought Sonic Gems Collection for the Gamecube and he was bringing it over, we sat down with chips and soda the entire night, playing the game over and over again, (i think we beated it like 8 times or so) but later the disc broke. So we couldn’t play it again, but now both him and i know about this “re-release” and we would love to re-live that all-night Sonic CD gaming again.
    Thank you!

  • Reply

    Oh look, it’s you again.

  • Reply

    I remember when i was younger, it was boxing day as i walk by the orphanage, all these little kids just got thier first tv.. But no cable or shows at all, so the next day i reliezed it was a few years ago i despretly wanted a sega cd/genesis, so i donated one cdx(i had two) and sonic cd. They then were very happy, and moved

  • Reply

    LOVE OF GOD PEOPLE – RATE IT HIGHER IN THE XBOX MARKET PLACE

  • Reply

    If there’s one thing I’m doing, it’s getting a PSN voucher and giving it to a pair of Internet-less brothers I have as friends, they own a PS3 but without an Internet connetcion, they can’t exactly go online and grab a copy of the game, which sucks, so I’m planning on geting the voucher and redeeming it onto one of their accounts the next time they bring their PS3 up to my house to sync their trophies! (hopefully before Christmas).

    Being huge Sonic fans, they play their Saturn often and one of them actually leaves Sonic Jam on the menu just for the music, so I’m sure they’ll love it xP

  • Reply

    Purchased this yesterday! I will be gifting some MS points to a friend of mine, who has yet to play many of the Sonic series of games.

    Much respect to the Sonic CD crew @ Sonic Retro for all the dedication and hard work (ultimately making a dream come true!), and to Sega for being so humbling and pro-active in trusting fans with a major licensed title. Shows that they have a finger on the pulse of the community!

    This game will be another treasure to share with future generations – Thank You! 😀

    L

  • Reply

    Bought it on Android, now waiting for it to download. On Android Market, it costs $2. TWO BUCKS for Sonic CD, that’s a no-brainer!

    Gonna buy it on Steam when it’s out as well. The old PC version I have is fine, but when I install it on my PC, it installs DirectX 2 without asking, so… . Plus, now that I have a PC hooked up to my shiny new big TV, playing Sonic CD on THAT will be nothing but GLORIOUS!

    Thanks to everyone involved in making Sonic CD on Everything happen! It’s totally worth the money.

    • Reply

      The Android servers have been getting swamped today, so don’t be surprised if it stalls a lot. Game runs damn well depending on your phone.

  • Reply

    I’m aware of that 🙂 . According to the disclaimer on the Android Market page, Sega increased their server bandwidth tenfold, so I guess, if even that doesn’t help, that’s a good sign: the game is quite successful. Been waiting for two hours now 😛 .

    Quick question for those who have the Android version: is it possible to switch the controls to actual buttons if a phone has them? I’ve never been a fan of playing on a touch screen, and having recently bought an Xperia Pro Mini, with the keyboard and everything, it would be awesome to be able to play on that.

  • Reply

    How do you put your entries for the Steam copy contest down, in the comment board? If so, then I guess I’ll put mine down here. My store might not be as inspiring as many of the others here, as I see, but I was planning to buy this, but if I win this giveaway (doubt it, shouldn’t sell myself short, but it’s the truth I never seem to win stuff >_<) then that'll be good too. I never had a real chance to play this, all the Sonic I have for the Genesis are 1 and 2, and I'd love to have this Everything edition of Sonic CD, since I never had the chance to play it in the 90's, since I wasn't born until much later that decade, but I was still raised off of 16-bit wonders like Sonic, Mario, and Donkey Kong Country.

  • Reply

    I have some fond memories with Sonic CD. It was the first real Sonic game I ever played, right on my good ‘ol, Gateway Windows 98 computer. I still remember the disc the demo was on, a SEGA Entertainment compilation with demos of Garfield: Caught in The Act, Baku Baku, Bug, and the famed game itself.

    Of course, it would be a couple of years before I could get a full copy of the game, but I was too wrapped up in it to notice. The fact that I could do so many things I’ve never seen in a computer game before. Everything looked lush, and I wasn’t playing pinball or Minesweeper anymore. I was a cool hedgehog saving the world from a fat guy in a flying machine. 

    At least that’s how I described it when I was still at that age.

    I remember going into the past for the first time. After having witnessed Sonic twirling into what looked like a swirling rainbow to get there, I wondered, what could be here? I remember finding the projector that Metal Sonic was in, and that annoying blue beetle enemy. Back to back. I was scared of them, more or less. But luckily, I broke the projector, went back into the present with 50 rings, and saw the message “Sonic made a Good Future.”

    I felt like I was a hero. 

    I was eagerly awaiting what could possibly be next. And when I found it, I was astounded. My child mind saw a vast wonderland from a behind the back perspective, where I had to bounce on UFOs. I also learned water was a hazard, the hard way. I actually tried to avoid taking a bath for that week. 
    I put a lot of energy into completing that demo, and when I was finished with it, I still played it because it was just so fun. And I wasn’t ready to go back to MS Paint just yet. I knew what I wanted for my birthday or Christmas.

    My mom thought it was just a game, but I told her, in there I WAS somebody. I was the savior of the Little Planet. And no other child in my school could say that they saved the world from Dr. Robotnik.

  • Reply

    If this game ever comes out on steam, I will be gifting it to a few friends. I also just bought my girlfriend an iPhone, plan to buy Sonic CD for that as well, as soon as I can. 🙂

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