Sonic CD (Sega CD)

From The Cutting Room Floor

This page covers the 1993 Sega CD version of the game, not the 2011 multiplatform remake. You can find that version's page here.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Developer: Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Platform: Sega CD Released in JP: September 23, 1993 Released in US: November 19, 1993 Released in EU: October 1993 This game has unused areas. This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences. This game has a prototype article

Sonic CD is just your average Sonic the Hedgehog game on a CD... that's what you're told, anyway.

Sound Test and Debug Mode

At the title screen, pressing Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, A will take you to the sound test.

By entering the following codes, you can get the corresponding image, debug mode and/or extra after pressing Start.

Image	Code	Description
	FM NO.40 PCM NO.12 DA NO.11	An image of Tails next to a fourth-generation Lotus Seven, with the words "SEE YOU NEXT GAME" above it. This code also activates the debug mode. Like the previous Sonic games, you can press B to change from Sonic to an object, A to cycle through objects, and C to place an object on the screen. It's worth noting that Judy Totoya, creator of Tails and designer of this game's special stages, is mentioned here. Also the Tails unlock screen on the 2011 remake says "SEE YOU NEXT GAME", most likely an easter egg. The "Little Planet" theme plays here.
	FM NO.42 PCM NO.04 DA NO.21	An unusual Batman tribute. The boss music plays in the background.
	FM NO.42 PCM NO.03 DA NO.01	Sonic, Metal Sonic and Eggman gettin' funky. This "official" art plays the Metallic Madness Present music.
	FM NO.44 PCM NO.11 DA NO.09	An image of a cute Sonic with grey eyes. The Palmtree Panic Good Future music plays here. The message says "ゆーあーくーる" (You are cool).
	FM NO.46 PCM NO.12 DA NO.25	A rather creepy wallpaper collage featuring multiple Sonics with a freakish humanoid face. The boss music plays. The Japanese text roughly translates into "Fun is infinite with Sega Enterprises. - Majin". To do: Confirm that the game does a checksum.
	FM NO.07 PCM NO.07 DA NO.07	After the text in the image appears, a stage that was left out of the main game will be playable, and it features a giant Eggman head. (See below.)

Unused Sprites

Artwork	Name	Description
	Sonic with eyes closed	An unused sprite of Sonic with his eyes closed. Could have been used as part of an idling animation, akin to Sonic 2's two stages of waiting, and Sonic 3's unused animation of Sonic nodding off to sleep.
	Sonic being electrocuted	An unused animation of Sonic being shocked by electricity. It may have been used in Wacky Workbench, which contains various level elements with the potential to electrocute the player. It could also have been used in Collision Chaos as part of the Metal Sonic sequence.
	Sonic falling	An unused animation of Sonic falling into the distance. Purpose unknown. A similar animation is present in Sonic 1, also unused.
	Sonic waving his arms	An unused animation of Sonic waving his arms with his palms outstretched. This could have been used in Tidal Tempest when walking through the water, to simulate an attempt at moving more quickly.
	Sonic looking backwards	An unused sprite of Sonic looking over his shoulder. Purpose unknown.
	Sonic sneezing	An unused animation of Sonic sneezing. Purpose unknown.
	Sonic upside-down	An unused animation of Sonic upside-down with his eyes wide and his mouth open. This suggests that this animation could have either been used for an alternate death animation, or if Sonic was caught by an environmental hazard that dangles him in the air somehow.
	Sonic grabbing	An unused sprite of Sonic grabbing onto something and attempting to create traction. This implies that he may have been trying to stop something from pulling him into some sort of hazard. Part of a scrapped badnik, maybe? A modified version of this sprite appears in Sonic Crackers, as well.
	Sonic on horizontal pole	Similar to the other horizontal pole sprites from Wacky Workbench, this one has Sonic swinging his feet forward. Perhaps he originally had to pull away from electrical hazards positioned underneath.
	Sonic shrugging	An unused animation of Sonic shrugging his shoulders. Note that his spikes rise during each frame--some believe this implies a transformation into Super Sonic, though such a notion is purely speculation. These sprites are found in SPSS__.BIN, which contains Sonic's Special Stage-specific sprites. In the final frames of the animation, the very bottoms of his feet disappear, as though he is sinking into something. Perhaps an unused quicksand hazard, or even being pulled out of the Special Stage altogether, as a failure to obtain the Time Stone animation judging by his annoyed frown in the last few frames.
	Sonic hanging	An animation of Sonic being pulled up by...something. Purpose unknown. These sprites are also found in SPSS__.BIN. Early screenshots show hot-air balloons, not UFOs, in the Special Stages; perhaps they caught Sonic and floated him around?
	Sonic falling back	An animation of Sonic being knocked back. Purpose unknown. These sprites are also found in SPSS__.BIN.
	Sonic leaping	Purpose unknown. These sprites are also found in SPSS__.BIN.
	Sonic with chest forward	An unused animation of Sonic with his arms outstretched and his chest pushed out in front of him. While its purpose is unknown, some believe that this is somehow related to transforming into Super Sonic.
	Sonic skidding	An animation of Sonic skidding whilst looking the other way. It is unused in the main game, but does appear during the "You Are Greatest Player!" sequence seen once beating the Time Attack scores. It's fairly similar to the skidding animation in Sonic Crackers, and could have been used while skidding at higher speeds in contrast to the normal skidding animation, which was modified from Sonic 1.
	Unused Amy sprites	Unused sprites of Amy with hearts in her eyes. Not used at any point in-game, but they are used in the 2011 remake.

Unused Objects

Artwork	Name	Description
	Oil Slick	Oil slick used in Special Stages that cause you to slip. These can be found normally in some prototypes of Sonic CD, but are unused in the final.
	Broken Switch	An unused broken switch sprite. It has been speculated that they may have been used in the Bad Future of a Zone, to prevent access to certain routes. Other switch sprites for comparison.
	Platform	An unused platform which moves up and down while moving to the left. It comes in two variations; a pair and a group of four, all of which do the same thing (though in the latter, the top row are flipped vertically). The object belongs to the Present version of Quartz Quadrant Zone.
	Hand	Appears to be an unused Special Stage item. Purpose unknown, but may have stopped the timer.

Unused Special Stage

An extra Special Stage can be accessed from the Sound Test menu by setting all three selections to 07. The stage features the enlarged head of Eggman as its background and has a rather difficult layout. It's possible that an extra Time Stone was to be collected here at one point, though it's probably just a little bonus thrown in for curious players, much like the hidden pictures.

Regional Differences

Almost the entire soundtrack was re-done for the American version by Spencer Nilsen. This is because Sega of America thought the soundtrack present in the Japanese and European versions sounded too identical to the electronic dance soundtracks being produced at the time, so the American soundtrack has more of a rock feel. One example of this is the theme song: instead of "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior", the American version has "Sonic Boom". The only songs that weren't altered were the Past themes, since those were played through the PCM chip and not Redbook.

In addition, there are a few other differences in the American version compared to the original Japanese and European editions:

• Some of the music placement was switched around. For example, the "Little Planet" theme now plays on the Time Attack screen (rendering the title theme copy unused), and the music played during the Metal Sonic race is now the normal mix of Stardust Speedway's current Future and not always the "B" Mix.
• The player can restart the stage at any time by pressing a button while it is paused, eliminating some potential time warp issues. This is at the cost of one life.
• There are no longer sound effects at the beginning of the ending. Due to the extended "Special Edition for North America" credits, the ending theme plays over the entire video and mutes other audio (including the post-credits).
• The bad ending no longer concludes with a line of text that says "TRY AGAIN AND SAVE LITTLE PLANET FOREVER" - it has been shortened to "TRY AGAIN".
• The special "YOU ARE SUPER PLAYER" screen now includes "A" to remove Engrish.
• The copyright text at the title screen was altered slightly.

All of these changes are also in the PC version, though the 2011 re-release reverts the Metal Sonic racing theme so it always plays Stardust Speedway "B" Mix and mostly restores the original ending videos' exclusive audio when played with JPN soundtrack.