Sonic CD Version Comparison (Sonic Gems vs. Sega CD)

[@PresStar2Play]

It looks much less like you're underwater in the Sonic Gems Collection version.

[@xpdev0]

gems is the old pc version from 1996

[@theobserver4214]

Windows XP PC version still has green water though

[@sirrh9812]

Yeah it’s a port of the 1996 pc version, however, the water was fine in the original pc version. The water problem was an error when they ported it to the gems collection

[@theobserver4214]

SirRH lmao the Gems collection version of Sonic CD is trash. So many errors, why couldn't they just have emulated the SEGACD version and not the PC one

[@robertanderson9447]

Blank Blank Finally someone says it. I can't stand the Gems version.

[@pianoman021]

"Staff Credits sequence omitted" in Sonic Gems Collection. That seems fair...

[@Chillius]

WHO DEVELOP THIS GAEM?

[@KuroKomix]

The first version of the game I played was the PC port - which if I recall correctly is where the cutscenes used in all other versions of the games came from. Because of that, I never know how choppy the Sega CD Cutscenes looked. Tidal Tempest's water color was a new change for Gems Collection (still green in the PC version)

[@theobserver4214]

KuroKomix it was emulation bugs, don't know why they couldn't have just emulated the SEGACD version

[@FloppyDisk893]

It has faster loading times though!

[@theobserver4214]

KuroKomix The SEGAPC one was the SEGACD cutscenes but enhanced for 256 colors and a little less choppy. By Gems the Enhanced Sonic CD cutscenes were presented. They're still used for Steam's version

[@ralphjeremy6590]

@@theobserver4214 due to complications, they could'nt emulate the original SCD version.

[@EnergyBurst2]

Same, i still remember having that yellow cd sitting on the ledge in my family room as a kid, i could never get very far in the game so i remember it more for the cd then the actual game funny enough.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

The old staple of "get all the chaos emeralds" (or time stones, in Sonic CD's case) works, too. Getting all seven will automatically grant a Good Future in every level in the game, regardless of destroying robot generators in the past.

[@gameomer1855]

What was that intro song in this video

[@imperiomongacity4220]

Sonic boom

[@BlazeHedgehog]

No, this doesn't count the Steam version. I might update this video at some point in the future to include the Steam version now that I have it.

[@theobserver4214]

BlazeHedgehog where's that update mate

[@nyandwielijah]

Where is the update link it’s been 7 years

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@@nyandwielijah I said "might." I never said that I would. "Might" means I'm undecided, and I haven't come up with a good reason to make the video. But that's also not a no. It's a maybe.

[@nyandwielijah]

@@BlazeHedgehog oh ok

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@emcitement It's up to you to decide. Personally, I think the missing graphics effects, the worse sound quality, and the missing credits sequence makes the Gems version inferior.

[@LegionOfWorldWarriors]

Yep... Apparently Sonic fans rather play versions of games that look worst, have internet blocked out features and dark and depressing looking versions of SA1 and SA2 because Sonic fans love to complain about the smallest changes.

[@fszron]

Back when Sega released good stuff. Good times

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@SonicPAJ It's not harsh. Sonic CD on Gems Collection is literally the least faithful version of the game, for reasons I detail in this video.

[@TheKubaTV]

Title screen: In Sonic Gems, Sonic is a little wider. Intro: Extended scenes must be added, due to slow framerate in Sega CD. And the quality is better. Timer: When doing speedruns on Sega CD, time is "faster", so those records from Sega CD are almost unable to beat on Sonic Gems Collection. Underwater: Everything is more green than normally. Special Stage: Timer again and speed is slow on Sega CD.

[@RWL2012]

The green water effect is normal not the other way round

[@victordennis9913]

The one from the Gems Collection is just the Windows 95 version.

[@hexon8013]

What •_•

[@lucamihailmurafa]

@@hexon8013 Yup, he's not wrong. The Gems Collection version is based on the 1996 PC Port of Sonic CD, wich has a few minor graphical downgrades compared to the original, but the Gems Collection version even more so. The 1996 Windows 95 Port of this game is the same (or better) than The 2005 GameCube Port (on the Gems Collection). I know... mind blowing...

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@bobsauce100 S&K Collection has trouble running on newer PCs, and technically so does the old port of Sonic CD. There's a new version of Sonic CD that should be hitting an online PC marketplace called Steam within the next few months, and you can pick up all the Genesis Sonics there, too.

[@Yan93]

The Gems Collection version is the only version I ever played - I still have the GameCube disk!

[@material___]

Yan93 youre a very lucky person

[@lucamihailmurafa]

You can download the mobile port: for free! It's better in ANY SINGLE way. (though it is filled with ads, but you can disable them by paying the moneh)

[@kdreamland]

ugh. Good thing I imported the Japanese Sonic Gems Collection. I do love me some toot toot warrior...

[@DubiousDepthsRadio]

W

[@christianzoni1943]

cutscenes are better on the gems (obviously) but the overall color palette and the sounds are definitely better on the genesis CD

[@sweetpataterz8738]

Christian Zoni “Genesis CD”

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@F2L4Life Yeah I realized that later, after I had posted it and I actually hit KZbin's "cancel" button. The post disappeared on my screen and I figured it was deleted.

[@Robowil]

I got the 2011 PS3 release.

[@devantewarner9288]

Will M As for me on XBOX 360 so PS360 versions are better

[@OmegaChase1002]

Can you please make a comparison video where you compare the Gems Collection version to the Steam version?

[@adamtf4292]

Yea, I prefer the game on its original hardware. Fortunately I have the game and the Sega CD. And I love it to this day

[@beatmania3rdmix]

Gems Collection version is based off of and almost identical to the PC version not the Sega CD one. The PC version released in '96, and a home console like the Sega CD was a much more powerful system for gaming than the PC.

[@sirrh9812]

Sega CD more powerful than a 1996 PC? You are on drugs right?

[@logan68k3]

+RHCommandos I'm personally a fan of the SEGA CD, but the fact is undeniable. You can't even use the different architectures to make an argument. CPU speeds were doubling almost every year. Even the 486 could mop the floor with the SEGA CD, it's just too old. That's like saying the XBOX One could outperform a Titan X. The XBOX is great, but it just isn't possible.

[@sirrh9812]

Blast Processing That's my point, the OP thinks the sega cd was more powerful than PC's not me :D

[@beatmania3rdmix]

RHGames Okay. "More powerful" was a bad choice of words. I meant that PC ports of many console games at that time were scaled down due to funky things the console's hardware could do that would have been hard to replicate in software. Sonic CD would have been a challenging game to accurately port at the time. Not only does it use both the Sega CD's hardware (graphics, CPU and generated PCM sound), it uses the original Genesis' hardware (some graphics and some FM sound). The Sega CD could alternate between its own hardware and the Genesis hardware. For example, Sega CD could read CD audio off of the game disc for music, all the while still using its onboard PCM or the Genesis' FM sound to generate sound effects. Things like these posed issues for porting a game like this back then. The PC port of Sonic CD is noticeably lackluster and inaccurate. The water in Tidal Tempest is incorrect. Redbook audio has trouble looping. PCM like sound effects and past stage music play at a sample rate of 22.5 k (as they cannot be generated by a sound chip like they were on the Sega CD). I was trying to say that the PC port is weaker. GC uses the PC port rather than the SCD original with some textures cleaned up. But the wrong water is still there, and the bad quality audio is still there.

[@drifter402]

Is this PC port related to the steam version in any way?

[@BlazeHedgehog]

I can't give you the URL, but the name of the song is "Brand New World" from the Sonic Remix album.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@SonicPAJ That's because it was based off of the PC version. Obviously, though, the Gems version is even worse.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@PMDP S2806 Because it's a very old comment and KZbin completely redid the comment system like five or six years ago, so it broke very old comments like this.

[@retrosunshine2006]

I like the Sega CD version better because of the way the ending was made compared to the Sonic Gems Collection.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@Darkspines22 Because "Sonic Boom" (for the American version) is a longer song than "Cosmic Eternity" (for the Japanese version). Rather than fade the music out, they stretched the video out to last for the entire duration of the song.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@EkajTheSwordsman That's because the PC version is visually identical to the Sega CD version. The only things in the PC version that aren't identical to the Sega CD version is the sound effect quality and the FMV quality. It was more worth it to compare the gulf in quality between Gems and Sega CD for the most part, and that was the intent of this video. I would have completely ignored the PC version entirely but I discovered I did not have a "Clear Game" save for the Sega CD emulator.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@MapleAwesome12 They were in Sonic Jam because that's the first time those videos could be seen in full color at full framerate. Sonic CD was slated to be in Mega Collection (menu data for it has been discovered), but I guess they couldn't get it ready in time for release.

[@gumgum99]

I'm really glad they've done the real ending credits justice this time for the re-release on PSN last year. Good Show, Sega and Taxman. ^_^

[@F2L4Life]

@BlazeHedgehog No, the good ending does not have Robotnik in it because you collected all of the timestones. Also, Little Planet flashes an image of Sonic's head and EXPLODES, the debris lands on the ground and makes flowers appear.

[@Sly88Frye]

@BlazeHedgehog Yeah. Not only that, but also not needing to make the screen so much smaller like the Sega CD did.

[@bartsimpson83]

At least the Gems collection allowed people to actually play the game. Not everyone has a sega cd and the game may never show up on virtual console so we should be happy it's available at all despite any graphical differences. As long as the gameplay is the same, that's what's really important.

[@hrzgraph]

I remember having seen 10 seconds or so of this Japanese Intro. That definitely got me into game/manganime art.

[@0V3CHKiN]

I prefer the US version. The only song I like from the JPN soundtrack is Palmtree Panic when those kids cheer at the beginning of the song for no reason.

[@BoreBone]

YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH

[@Fanofpinksheep]

um what about the us game over

[@gamezvideos2]

0V3CHKiN I prefer the Japanese one, because it fits more in the environment.

[@d-o-n-u-t]

I prefer the JPN soundtrack because the U.S one is so freaking dark!

[@alanwayne7643]

I prefer that you keep this argument on the videos that are actually about music and not gameplay -_-*

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@CCrockyourass I labeled what parts were from the PC version and what parts were from the Sega CD version.

[@bucket9486]

3:36 "babedilala letdown!" A massage to Sonic Gems Collections lower Quality XD

[@dancasa8595]

Preferred the eu version soundtrack but now it's on Xbox 360 you can choose.

[@Qualske]

I love both I can't decide which is better

[@luginess0]

@@Qualske I love both too, but I prefer the JP/EU soundtrack.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@Beeqman The PC version was more or less identical to the Sega CD original. It had the same low sound quality issues, but it also had the correct (high color) credits sequence, which Gems doesn't. Besides that, there was no difference that I am aware of.

[@hondragrid]

I've only played Sonic CD on the Sega CD, which I still own both, and I'm glad to be able to see the animations from the game in a crisper smother form in the Collection. I always loved the animations they did in the original game but the upgrade in quality does it great justice. Thanks for vid upload!!!

[@PlanetZoidstar]

I prefer the way the water is all washed out and darker than the background in the Sega CD version, it helps you distinguish it more readily from the non-water parts of the levels, so you don't fall in without realizing there's water there.

[@SolarFarle]

I grew up the Gems Collection version.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

On the Sega CD version, yeah. If you own the PC version from 1997, that actually has the past remixes as CD music tracks, too.

[@HCKTROX]

I wouldn't say Sonic Jam's FMV has the correct speed,,, things seem way too faster there; in common anime/cartoons the overall speed never goes that fast. Perhaps they already knew of how slow the SegaCD reader is, so they tried to do the FMVs with such limitation into account?

[@nintendo1889x]

Because it was remastered. The Sega CD FMV was pretty bad.

[@theobserver4214]

HCKTROX It would have been neat if Sonic Jam had a second disc for Sonic CD, as the Saturn definitely had enough power to run Sonic CD

[@AmaroqStarwind]

The visual quality for the menu and intro is so much better in the Gems version.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Missing effects is "better"? There's a lot more to this game than just the FMV intro.

[@AmaroqStarwind]

BlazeHedgehog I said the intro and the menu. The rest of the game looks like crap in the Gems verison.

[@KezKaz]

I don’t lime how on the eu version of the game it had US music

[@Sly88Frye]

As I expected, the newer version on Gems Collection would look better. It looks like they obviously didn't want to make it look too much better as fans of the classic Sonic want to still feel like they are playing classic Sonic CD. But, what they did to make it look better is enough and it's especially important that those cutscenes have been so dramatically improved.

[@OrionsAngel]

Well good news Sonic CD fans. Sonic CD comes out tomorrow on XBL and not only does it let you play as Tails after you beat the game. An option not included in the original and only 400 points ($4.99) The best part of all is that it lets you switch between the American and Japanese soundtrack. Now that is freakin awesome and makes it worth buying for that alone.

[@japhreal]

How sonic cd Christian white head was made Game: *CD* Intro and ending: *PC* Sound track: *CD

[@Sean-D78]

Title screen gems made sonic even fater. WTF SEGA!?

[@quinnquartzhatesyoutubeove262]

THE JAPANESE VERSION IS WAY BETTER BY IT'S QUALITY IN LEVELS! I love the Sonic CD game allot. The intro is better in the USA version. While the Japanese had allot more fitting music. Palm Tree Panic was AWESOME! The Japanese and USA version did a great job in Stardust Speedway Bad future! They were both AWESOME!

[@K.J.S.est1994]

6:45 *INSERT BRAZZERS LOGO*

[@ElecManX]

The music quality isn't what's at question in that bit, it's the sound effect quality. The sound effects in Gems Collection have a noticeable crackling to them, while the sound effects in the original Sega CD version doesn't have that, though it does have channel overwriting.

[@RabidKanid]

Wow, so since the special stages for Sonic CD on the Gems collection runs at a faster than normal speed....that means I was technically playing on Hard mode O.o

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Yep! Like a lot of Sega CD games, the music in Sonic CD is just redbook audio, which is tech speak of saying "You can just put the disc in a CD player and listen to it like a music CD".

[@InterrobangPie]

I've always lol'd at the explosion effect of Robotnik's ship. Also in that scene, the engine looks taped on.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@xHEDGEHOGMAN1x Why? All the information you need is provided in this video.

[@RabidKanid]

Ah ok thanks, that makes me feel better. I guess I'll actually play the game later on when I get the chance to. Kind of busy at the moment.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@PaddyHawthorne It's not an emulator, it was ported from the PC version. It's just whoever did it didn't do a very good job.

[@videotape2959]

Love the clean water and sound effects of the Gems version. How were the sound effects in the two Windows versions?

[@nbaytony]

0:31 Look closely in the Sonic Gems Collection that his first eye is smaller than Sega CD o_o

[@ShadowPriestBear]

I deep love The us ost. This is the Best sonic game ever.

[@Nyan_Temmie]

JP is better

[@bartdude82]

54kirblox / Gino Much better.

[@luginess0]

Every version, we get a better quality intro and outro

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@localhbci Especially considering they did a remarkably poor job of resampling the framerate to make it stretch for time, so you end up with this wonderful high-res animation that's running at like, lower than half speed, probably.

[@silversunset23]

Sonic Jam really should've sped it up until the part where he through the rock at Eggbotnik. Everything after that in the other versions seems good, while Jam just sorta rushes through it.

[@NiGHTSnoob]

Oddly enough despite the high speed I'm generally more successful at the Gems Collections Special Stages. Same is true of Sonic 2 on my overclocked Genesis as opposed to my stock one. Something about high speed special stages just really clicks with me when it comes to the classic Sonic games I guess.

[@theobserver4214]

NiGHTSnoob The input is less delayed due to a higher framerate, as special stages run at 30fps/60fps on Gems compared to the 15/20fps of the original SEGACD version. Gems is faster, but the PC version just has a smooth special stage at the normal speed.

[@randomthings7997]

Also, a lot of the backgrounds in the Gems version are messed up.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@Sly88Frye If by "dramatically improved" you mean "Unnecessarily slowed down to less than half of their intended speed".

[@GoGojiraGo]

@BlazeHedgehog Not throwing a hissy fit over the credits not being visible isn't being "ignorant", nor am I trying to pick anything. Pardon me for not feeling outraged about a nearly two-decade-old game losing the credits list in its only redistribution.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@EkajTheSwordsman Did you pay attention to any of the text in the video at all?

[@apex2000]

nice to see the full version of the animations again, the old game had to sacrafice the quality etc.

[@VGAfanatic]

And then you got the HD Rerelease on consoles and Steam, which has all the superior aspects of either version...but is missing audible lyrics in the opening and ending cinematics.

[@theobserver4214]

Jacob Tucker Steam users can mod the game and get the lyrics back though, though for consoles mute your game and play the original one on your phone or something.

[@retsub102]

The Sonic Gems version is actually a port of the PC version but it's labelled in game as the SCD version which is dumb. Same also for Sonic R, PC port was labelled as the Saturn version despite looking waaaay different.

[@RabidKanid]

Found the time and after a few restarts and lots of concentration I beat Sonic CD with all Time Stones and got the best ending. Thanks for letting me know that information about Time Stones! ^^

[@AlluMan96]

I think with the release of the PSN/Xbox live port of this game all of these are outdated. They were good and all but they didn't fix the collision detection at all from the original until the newest version. They also added new stuff like Tails and a spin dash that works (Not that I'm complaining. CD was in developement longer than Sonic 2 I assume) and they also gave the option to switch between JP/EU and USA soundtracks which was awsome.

[@TheDanimatorsChannel]

i remember seeing some weird version someone made of the sonic cd intro where sonic was colored red when i was little...anyone else remember this?

[@RabidKanid]

I've always felt uneasy about playing this game. I have Sonic Gems Collection and I could play it at any time....but I've never actually wanted to. I think it's the idea that I have more on my plate than I'm comfortable with in the game. 1. Beat the game 2. Get all Time Stones 3. Go to the past of each stage and destroy the machine robotnik put in the past. I guess it's just the fear of failure in that from the start I want the best ending when I'm probably not going to be able to at first.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@GoGojiraGo I am pretty sure everybody who's name was in the credits wouldn't be happy that some c-list developer did a sloppy job and completely removed any record of them having worked on the game. The other stuff doesn't make the game unplayable, but it still means it's not a very good version of Sonic CD. I guess when it's your only option you take what you can get, but contrary to what internet memes would have you believe, Bear Grylls doesn't drink his pee because it tastes good.

[@yoshikfireball]

Is the Sonic CD hidden message on the Sonic Gems Collection?

[@SuperChaosControl]

The Water background looks different in the CD Version, and it looks clear in the Gems Collection version... Strange.

[@yoshikfireball]

Fun is infinite with Sega enterprises! -Devil Look closely at the Sonic sprite in the background. Is that a Wario moustache???

[@HitCoder]

Sonic boom is the game's intro music, "Brand new world" is the video intro music

[@kaldunaaa]

...And Metal Sonic is an unlockable character...

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@vanax8991 The scene where stars stream off of the little planet and then it vanishes are only present in the good ending, which is shown here. Trust me, it's the good ending.

[@Danuford10HernanD]

Japanese/European soundtrack version is better than the US one

[@BlazeHedgehog]

They're both good.

[@leoleonvids]

Is the Gems version missing one shot of the Eggman Mountain?

[@BlazeHedgehog]

In Sonic Adventure DX, Metal Sonic is identical to Sonic. He has no special properties, barely even any special sound effects. You work and work and work for hours to unlock him and there's basically no point.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

"Brand New World", from the "Sonic Remix" album.

[@SonicPAJ]

@BlazeHedgehog Worse is a HARSH word. It's my main game version of Sonic CD. The only real big thing I noticed was some graphic detail and sound.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

"Brand New World" from the Sonic the Hedgehog Remix album in 1994.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Probably. I don't see why not.

[@theobserver4214]

It’s sad how the 1996 PC port beats this Gems port in almost every way. FMVs look worse but visual oddities aren’t present (water is proper on PC), and there are mods that fix the low quality effects

[@videotape2959]

It's sad that the water is clean in the Gems version? Whoa, ok.

[@theobserver4214]

@@videotape2959 Yeah because that’s not how it’s supposed to look. The water is correct, sound effects and music are in higher quality, the special stages are the correct speed, loading screens can be eliminated, and there’s no visual bugs with how layers scroll on the 1996 PC port compared to Gems. That and the video output isn’t blurry but sharp.

[@videotape2959]

@@theobserver4214 I only have the Gems version, so I can't speak for some of these changes. Anyway I just played the game and the video output looked as sharp as could be. And why would you want to eliminate the barely 2-seconds long loading screens? They even give you a nice drawing with the planet during them.

[@theobserver4214]

@@videotape2959 I should have mentioned the blurry output is only an issue for the GameCube release. The Gems Collection PS2 versions only advantage is that via a system language toggle you can switch to Japanese music, and it’s as sharp as the PC Version is, but it still has the rest of the port bugs.

[@videotape2959]

@@theobserver4214 I only have the Gamecube release. Interesting that the PS2 version looks different. Yesterday, I was telling to myself how these graphics were some of the best I ever saw. And you're telling me that they're somehow blurry? Whoa. I hope I can see another version of the game one day.

[@marscaleb]

I can't really fault them for wanting to show the animated sequences at their full size, length, and quality when it was technically impossible to do so in the original version... what the hell did they do to the levels?!

[@kiltsonfire164]

I always play this game at my mother's work (she works at a school) on an old Windows 95 PC which is the oldest computer at the school.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@Neilousluda Are you saying that on another game franchise, incorrectly porting a game so that it is missing features, has worse sound quality, and completely omits the names of the people who created it would be an acceptable practice to you?

[@WillyToons]

Really cool!

[@Xeavone]

I remember when playing the original PC port as a kid on the Tidal Tempest stage, I mainly use to get thirsty and always had the urge to drink ginger ale. Why? Because the water was yellow-ish green (The color of said soda) and the female singer in the music emitting these "ah" sounds at 2:40 & 2:47 makes it sound like as if she's on one of those soda commercials, normally once they are done showing off taking a sip. Even still up to this day, I get thirsty playing this stage. @_@

[@BatBobOmb]

Well im sold, sonic gems collection is the better version. What was Spax3 talking about when he said the sega CD version was better or something and I think somecallmejohnny channel said it as well. Thanks for the comparison Blaze

[@gumgum99]

I have to admit, it would've been nice to have a credit sequence at the end for the Gems Collection. sigh...oh well.

[@josephfrye7342]

wait a minute the sonic gems collection was trying to become a sonic jam style from the sega Saturn era.

[@Ehal256]

well, it definitely runs smoother than the emulated version on the gamecube

[@sonicfeet]

What confuses me about the water palettes is, for some reason, I recall the water in the "Past" edition of the level was kept in the Gems Collection port... yet the green color in the "Present" edition wasn't.

[@mrhappysadass]

Who else actually preferred the animated intro bit on the Sega CD?

[@BlazeHedgehog]

"Brand New World" from the "Sonic Remix" album.

[@material___]

Wether or not the quality was better, I wasn't considering this in 2006 when I got this game for Christmas on the GameCube.