New Super Mario Bros.: I Like It, and Here’s Why!

~ Titus Richards ~ 2 Comments

New Super Mario Bros. is a series often maligned by the “purists” and “classic” fans of 2D Mario for being a same-y, nothing-new, over saturated series of games. This is a particularly amusing and ironic case of nostalgic bias and a clear misunderstanding of what exactly it means for a series to be unoriginal and over saturated. Let us take a trip down memory lane, and see just how silly the hatred for a return to form those said-same “fans” wanted since 1993 is.

First, it’d be smart to identify and describe the landscape of 2D Mario in the 90s and how Nintendo went about innovating the series… There was no attempt to innovate. After 1993 and the release of Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, Nintendo didn’t make any more 2D Mario games. They instead opted to go on to rerelease fever. They made the Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World compilation titles. These compilations gave graphical updates to the original trio of Super Mario titles on NES (and Super Mario Bros. 2 Japan a.k.a. The Lost Levels/Super Mario for Super Players), as well as a save system for said NES titles.

I am not trying to insinuate that All-Stars wasn’t a worthwhile release or substantial enough update to the Classics. On the contrary, a save system is a much appreciated addition to all of these titles, especially given the length of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the difficulty of The Lost Levels. The quality of life features and musical updates are also, for the most part, a step up. This is a solid collection and a bang for your buck, so much so that All-Stars got a rerelease on Wii, which was where I was introduced to the classic titles.

Good to be sure and worth SNES owner’s time, All-Stars was the definitive Mario package, and thankfully so, because Mario fans wouldn’t get a taste of another 2D Mario title until 1999 with the release of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe on Game Boy Color, which is funny because New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe came out quite recently.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe featured the original Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels as an unlockable extra. It had a calendar and card game, and extra goodies hidden around levels for players willing to search out for their secrets. It was actually a pretty cool package, despite being the third rerelease of a game from 14 years ago. The problem was its screen-crunch. To retain the original sprite quality of the NES game, Nintendo zoomed in the camera and made your line of sight very limited. Interestingly enough, when Nintendo was developing the original Super Mario Bros., it’s believed that the original camera was going to be zoomed in a similar fashion to the Game Boy Color port, but I can’t necessarily consider Nintendo’s decision an inexcusable offense. This was late-90s portable technology, and, let’s be real, I don’t know how they could have really done better.

After Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Nintendo began a new rerelease frenzy with the portable versions of famous Super Mario classics on the Game Boy Advance, selling them under the “Advance” series moniker. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Super Mario Advance), Super Mario World (Super Mario Advance 2), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (Super Mario Advance 4) were all the main-series Mario games rereleased. Yoshi’s Island was also rereleased as Super Mario Advance 3, but Yoshi’s Island had yet to be rereleased, so a port wasn’t necessarily a bad look, especially considering how different Yoshi’s Island is, even taking into account its original title being “Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island”.

The only issue fans truly had with the rereleases of these games is that nothing new was coming. Nintendo had yet to provide another 2D series Mario title. The only new levels to come from the Advance series were the e-Reader levels found in Super Mario Advance 4. There are a lot of levels in that package, but I can’t think of one person besides myself who owned an e-Reader or any e-Reader cards. Granted, the Wii U eShop rerelease of Super Mario Advance 4 comes with all the e-Reader levels, and I have played them. They’re good stuff, for the most part, mixing elements of Super Mario Bros. 2, 3, and Super Mario World to make an almost surreal package! Why they didn’t just use the concepts of e-Reader’s ideas for a new installment featuring a mesh of concepts throughout Mario’s history in 2D is beyond me. Maybe it’s because nobody cared about e-Reader? Poor e-Reader…

(Side note: The arcade classic Mario Bros. was rereleased in conjunction with all the Advance games and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, likely making it one of the most consistently rereleased video games of the 90s, if not in gaming history.)

You put all these things into perspective, realizing that 2D Mario has been dormant for 13 years with the exception of rereleases of older titles, and the announcement of New Super Mario Bros. seems less of a nostalgic cash-grab, and is more so Nintendo finally doing something new with a beloved series. New Super Mario Bros. gets released on the DS in 2006 and is loved by many. It had new power-ups, new stage gimmicks, new bosses, and great multiplayer fun through minigames and a versus mode where Mario and Luigi duke it out in death matches and Star-grabbing shenanigans.

Of course, what’s a Mario game without multiplayer co-op? Well, actually it’s every main-series Mario game that’s released up to 2009! I mean, the classic titles did have multiplayer in the sense that you take turns to do levels, but real-time, interactive co-op didn’t exist for Mario’s 2D or 3D titles. The developers needed something brick-breaking for this “New” Super Mario Bros. game coming out for the Nintendo Wii. What better way to spice up the ever-growing party machine that was the Wii than with an all-new, four player co-op game starring Mario?

New Super Mario Bros. Wii was the next step in interactive, couch co-op, family gaming for Nintendo’s main man. Finally, there would be no more getting mad at your brother for stealing your Star in Mario Party. Now you’d get mad at your brother stealing that Propeller Mushroom even though he already had the Propeller Suit on him! New Super Mario Bros. Wii was released to warm reception. It had been 3 years since the DS title, so it felt great seeing this title released. With all the new features, such as the various versus modes for multiplayer fun, New Super Mario Bros. was shaping up to be a popular Nintendo mainstay.

Fast-forward another 3 years, after the release of the 3DS and Wii U, and Nintendo decides to release New Super Mario Bros… 2? Yeah, for some strange reason, Wii didn’t count and the 3DS game was given the number treatment, making it the oddball in terms of naming convention. Disregarding that little quirk, it was actually a lot more fun than people make it out to be. Heavily inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3 in many ways, New Super Mario Bros. 2 featured a slightly restructured campaign, the long-awaited return of the  Raccoon Tail ability, and an entirely new goal. Collect 1,000,000 shiny, golden Coins across the game to become the richest player among your friends!

You can’t be expected to collect a million Coins in the short but sweet campaign provided in the main mode, but Nintendo has you covered with Coin Rush, a side mode and selling point of the game. In this mode, you chose a specific difficulty that would select three levels in the pool, and you have 100 seconds each level to make it to the end and maximize your coinage in one life. You essentially set up a speedrunning mini-gauntlet where your priority was money and not your own safety. Coin Rush is, above all else, a cautionary tale of late-stage Capitalism.

Coin Rush had Streetpass functionality, where you traded scores with people on Streetpass and challenged their high scores in the level set they faced. This along with the mini-DLC and co-op mode made New Super Mario Bros. 2 an ideal entry for 3DS players. If you wanted good pick-up-and-play 2D Mario action on the 3DS, you had this game. It’s solid and fun, and I can’t go wrong recommending it to newer and older fans.

The newest of the New Super Mario Bros. series, that I mentioned having gotten a port to Switch, was New Super Mario Bros. U, a game that came out, of course, on the Wii U. This game is the culmination of all the lessons learned from previous entries in the New series. You had improved level design, better co-op functionality, a Challenge Mode, a Coin Battle Mode with Coins and Star Coins you could manually set down in arenas (a possible hint as to what was to come a couple of years later), and a super solid DLC package released for the Year of Luigi, called New Super Luigi U, which was basically a more fair and fun version of The Lost Levels that featured all-new levels built around Luigi’s more vertical and slippery movement. It was such a big package, it got a separate physical release!

I would not hesitate to call New Super Mario Bros. U the most solid and optimized 2D Mario package there is. I’d also recommend those wanting to get into 2D Mario and have a Switch to get New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, a great way to experience both New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U wherever you are! There are even a few extra features for those who get the Deluxe version, but the base is still good and worth your while in my book.

New Super Mario Bros. U may feel like more of the same, but if “more of the same” means getting the best 2D Mario game out there, then I can’t really complain. I genuinely enjoy what these games have to offer, even more than what the classic games provide despite how fun they are. Is everyone that dislikes New Super Mario Bros. as a whole nostalgia blind? No. That’d be a stupid assumption. I do think that the series does get more flak than it deserves, and that it should be considered a fundamental part of Mario history. It shouldn’t be overlooked, and it shouldn’t be hated nearly as much as it is.

Each entry in the series does provide something new and different. Nintendo providing extra modes based on the context of the console sets each entry apart in a good way. It doesn’t stray to far from its core like Sonic does and I’d argue its quality across the board is to be commended and not taken for granted. To take quality for granted is a dangerous thing, and it’s what lead to the complacent AAA game industry we see today.

Overall, I find the New series to be a fun return and continued legacy for 2D Mario, but I can understand if people miss the older style of play, or maybe they want a new 2D experience that isn’t “New”. Maybe you don’t like the way Nintendo designed the levels of the New series and you want to show them up with your level design! It seems Nintendo has just the game for you, as Super Mario Maker 2 is releasing in June of 2019, and appears to have a lot of features and tools that fans will love.

Think you can make a better game than Nintendo did with the New Super Mario Bros. series? Prove it!

Undertale: Gem of an Indie

~ Titus Richards ~ Leave a comment

Undertale, the acclaimed indie masterpiece known for its subversion of tropes and excellent story-telling, has finally arrived on Nintendo Switch. I suppose now would be the perfect time for me to give my thoughts on the game. This review may feature minor spoilers involving gameplay and story details, so be warned that your enjoyment may be slightly barred by reading if you plan on going in blind. Let’s begin.

Undertale presents itself as a simple, NES-era RPG upon opening the game, with a simple narrative at the beginning explaining an ancient war between the human race and monster kind. The monsters lost the war and were sealed inside a mountain with the power of a mystic barrier. Fast forward to the year 201X, and it seems a child has fallen down a cavern on the mountain in which the monsters were sealed. The child is now trapped in the Underground, where all the monsters live. Now you, as the child, must brave the unknown and leave the mountain.

I’d rather not go into very specific story details, but subversion is heavily emphasized throughout all of Undertale’s story. No matter what decisions you make in how you influence the story of the Underground there will always be something interesting, funny, or sinister to find. How exactly do you influence the Underground and its fate? Well, it’s all a matter of mercy or murder. Indeed, Undertale is designed in a way that the decisions you make in battle directly affect the outcome of the events that unfold, whether it be to show kindness to those you encounter or killing the monsters where they stand.

The marketing doesn’t lie. You can go through all of Undertale without harming a single monster. No one has to die at all throughout the journey. However, being pacifistic can sometimes be a true test of patience, as you can’t gain any LV and increase your HP and DEF without killing monsters. Battles will be inherently more difficult the less you kill, like in any RPG, but it’s still more than doable if you gain a handle on the game’s base mechanics.

Of course, you could always go the easy route and simply kill with the FIGHT command, but doing that creates a bit of a distance between you and other NPCs, at least when killing at an excessive rate. Not only does it negatively impact those around you when you kill, but it’s also very boring, especially on a first playthrough, if all you do is kill. I honestly only recommend killing monsters if you are either really having trouble with the game’s battle system and need some stat boosts or just want to see the consequences of such behavior. The choice is yours and yours alone.

Then there’s the more difficult but more rewarding alternative. You can show monsters you don’t want to fight through the ACT command. ACTing a certain way can convince monsters to stop fighting, then through MERCY you can SPARE them. This suddenly transforms the turn-based RPG system into a sort of puzzle game. Every monster has commands and actions you can perform that are completely unique to them. There are 30+ monster types as well, so the variety is staggering, especially since every monster type has unique and interesting dialogue based on how the player interacts with them. I guarantee you will get a good chuckle out of at least half of the monsters you encounter if you seek out a peaceful solution.

Just know that the choices you will make matter more than you may expect, and certain tools and progression may be locked by killing monsters. Don’t let that stop you though, as the game is relatively short and you can always just RESET. No harm, no foul.

However, you aren’t the only one taking turns in these battles. Enemies you encounter, as you may expect, will attempt to attack and kill you. However, the design of enemy attacks is unique, interesting, and completely turns the Bullet-Hell genre on its head. You are taught in the beginning of the game that you move around in a box with your SOUL for the express purpose of dodging attacks that appear on enemy turns. Enemy attacks range from your standard bullet attacks that you expect from a “Bullet”-Hell, to crazy microgame-like challenges you may find in a WarioWare title. It’ll turn itself on its head and become a platformer, shooter, game of blocking bullets with a shield, and what have you. It’s just as cool and engaging as it sounds, and it keeps things fresh and exciting at all times, especially in Boss fights.

Every enemy has a unique attack, and you need to learn and master the techniques and technicalities of dodging said attacks. Enemies that are grouped together may also have unique team attacks exclusive to a group of two or three monsters. Getting a handle on dodging attacks can be a bit daunting at first, but all it takes is a little Determination to push forward and do what you need to do.

Overall, Undertale is a charming, unique, one-of-a-kind experience only captured by a few games that have the passion, love, and willingness to go the extra mile to succeed. It takes inspiration heavily from several places, but to call it a rip-off of any of those in which inspired it is an illogical, blind assertion and a disservice to Toby Fox and Tuyo Chang’s hard work to create something truly special. While I glossed over story in this review, let me assure you that it is a wild emotional rollercoaster that I have had the wonderful pleasure of experiencing. Undertale truly is a wonderful indie masterpiece that, after three years, is still adored by fans today, including myself. I whole-heartedly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of unique gameplay, quirky dialogue, fantastic music, and touching and deep story-telling.

If you haven’t already, pick it up today. You won’t be disappointed.

Sonic Forces: Carefree Critique

~ Titus Richards ~ Leave a comment

Sonic’s latest and most mediocre mainline title leaves nothing but a desire for improvement. His newest and most yawn-inducing outing on consoles has left fans stunned and worried once again about the future of our blue blur in 3D. With a story so underdeveloped, mechanics so surface-level, and level design so amateurish you’d swear it was some newbie’s first Sonic game… oh wait, it was! That was the huge and immeasurable disappointment that was Sonic Forces.

Before we chew and inevitably spit out the product itself, let’s talk about its marketing. Dear Lord, the marketing. It’s not that the marketing was bad. No, the marketing was actually exceptional in its execution, while also being one of the most deceptive marketing campaigns I’ve lived to see, barring on Bully Hunter-levels of falsities.

First of all, they claimed it was the same team that made Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, and while that is technically true, it is not the same staff of Sonic Team that made those games. In fact, the only developer that worked on the game’s level design that was from a previous Sonic Team staff was one who worked on Sonic Lost World, a Super Mario Galaxy clone that borrows elements from everywhere but Sonic for its level design, from Donkey Kong Country to various Mario titles (though still primarily Super Mario Galaxy).

Sonic Lost World was gimmicky and had little identity outside its underutilized parkour system, so whoever assigned this guy to make the levels for a Sonic Boost series title, a game with potential, promise, and good will behind it based on the Boost gameplay alone, deserves to get thrown out of SEGA and work at a fast food restaurant alongside the guy who thought inserting his fishing peripheral in Sonic Adventure and the guy who thought Sonic being a Twilight-themed beat-’em-up was a good idea. He was given a position of power and had control over how Sonic would traverse the world. He had three solid Boost titles as reference too, so the base was there! He had the tools and power in his hands, so what do we get? Two good levels, with the rest being a blurry mediocre mess.

We weren’t advertised this, of course. Who would buy a game if they knew the Lost World level designer was the lead of the team, with the other two having never worked on a Sonic game before? Sonic fans would, but that’s only because Sonic fans aren’t normal human beings. I should know, because I am one. Barring that, no one would buy the game unless they had some extreme faith in the product, which some might considering the Boost games, with the exception of Unleashed, are pretty solid.

The other main point advertising showed us was that this story was going to be darker than recent entries in the series, and the developers did not deliver this in practice very well. Granted, the story does have an interesting twist of Eggman starting out on top and everyone banding together to take back the world in Sonic’s absence, as he’s been captured and allegedly tortured for six months. The premise is promising, but the execution is rushed, holds no weight, and wastes the near-infinite potential of the idea. This is a contention many have cited, so I won’t bother going to deep into story details. Just know that, as many have pointed out, it’s a huge disappointment.

The gameplay is split into 3 styles. Two are decent, one is unneeded filler. The kind of filler that only Colors and Generations avoided in terms of Sonic’s 3D titles. The first gameplay style is Sonic himself. He has the signature Boost formula we’re all used to at this point. However, the new physics affect Sonic in many ways. He feels stiff, and not lose and free like previous entries. His double jump has been neutered, making it feel useless when it comes to correcting movement. His last quirk is that he has no drift, and let me tell you that in some snags that’s a detriment the level designs did not account for.

The second style is the Avatar. The Avatar’s only draw is customization of clothing, and the various routes you can take with Wispons, their signature weapons. There are several Wispon types, but Lightning is the only one to truly differentiate itself, as it allows you to fly through the skies and skip the mediocre level design on Ring trails. The Avatar also has a grappling hook that in many cases is automated.

I should mention the hybrid that is Tag Team, where you play as Sonic and the Avatar simultaneously. It’s a lot less interesting than it seems, like most of Sonic Forces. It’s essentially Sonic with a Wispon, or the Avatar with a Boost. The levels play practically identically to any Sonic or Avatar stage, so just forget I mentioned it. It’s not Sonic Heroes deep or anything, and Sonic Heroes isn’t even that deep to begin with.

Then there’s Classic Sonic… He’s terrible. Inferior to Generations, inferior to the classics, inferior to Sonic Mania, in level design, music, and in any way and form possibly conceivable. Floaty, heavy, clunky, momentumless, and with absolutely horrid level design. One of the levels even features an auto-scrolling section, probably put in by the one guy who liked Bridge Zone in Sonic Game Gear, a.k.a. that one guy in my high school class that claimed SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006) was the best game in the franchise. Much appreciated, buddy!

The level design for all three is generally flat, predictable, and boring, with two exceptions that I won’t describe here, because if I do, it’ll sound better than the stages themselves, and I don’t want to be the one responsible for your inevitable disappointment in them, because you will be disappointed. If you aren’t disappointed, you may be an optimist, but you are no realist.

Giving a little, miniscule, tiny bit of credit to the game, its writing is a bit flat, but not nearly as unbearable as the Sonic Adventure games. The cutscene choreography, sound mixing, and music during cutscenes is executed well, and the delivery of all lines by actors is the same cheesy yet endearing kind of delivery you’d expect from these characters, even if they don’t exactly take things seriously all the time, despite their circumstances being dire throughout the whole game. That’s not much of a complaint though, as I don’t go to Sonic for overly depressing tones.

It’s so frustrating, because I know what SEGA has done to bring Sonic back to the lime-light with Generations and Mania. However, if they do what they did with Forces to fans again, my faith in 3D Sonic will be at an all time low, and I do not want that to happen. At the very least, Sonic can have a victory with Sonic Mania, and I’ll gladly play Whitehead’s passion project over Iizuka’s vain attempts at keeping fans happy any time.

Fun is only as infinite as the effort put in to make it fun.

Five Minute Essay: Paper Mario Sticker Star Is An Anomaly

~ Titus Richards ~ Leave a comment

Paper Mario Sticker is what I consider to an anomaly throughout the entirety of the Mario RPGs. First of all, it’s the only Paper Mario to be released on a handheld, which was a strange market shift for a series that was primarily on consoles due to the Mario & Luigi games being portable titles. the biggest shift was in gameplay, however, as attacks would now take the form of items of a consumable nature.

The development cycle for Paper Mario Sticker Star is one littered with conflict. The identity of the series was at stake, and the identity of the game was ill-defined. Early screenshots showed us a partner character, but that didn’t pan out so well, and the gameplay was a bit of a hodge podge. Many suspect that reviews and opinions of Super Paper Mario lead to the change.

Nintendo is known for overcomplicating things, and I have no idea why they tried this new approach to begin with when they had a solid base. Maybe it was to differentiate the game from Mario & Luigi, since plans for Dream Team were being speculated to be around that time? Maybe they thought there was no potential in it, similar to F-Zero. Whatever the case, the Nintendo Switch is a promising console that could lead to Paper Mario’s golden return… If its even worth bringing back.

Why I Enjoy Subversion

~ Titus Richards ~ Leave a comment

Not many things rile up a fanbase more than a drastic shift in direction with the characters or stories they love. Star Wars: The Last Jedi proved that Star Wars fans have a very difficult time accepting change in beloved characters. Iron Man 3 proved that no matter how clever the setup and twist, people will automatically jump to hate when the big bad of a film isn’t who they wanted.

Neither of these films are perfect, of course, but people have a very special distaste for when their personal expectations are not met. We wanted to see Luke fight Kylo and for Rey to be a Kenobi or Skywalker, but the film went in a more interesting and eye-catching direction. We, in our post-9/11 mentality, wanted the guy from the Middle East to be the Mandarin, a terrorist threatening national security and the safety of the U.S. citizens, but were shocked and even infuriated that the real threat turned out to be an American, creating a subversion and twist to an age-old Iron Man rivalry on the big screen.

I’ve been a fan of comic and movie stories for years. Indiana Jones was my go to film for adventure, and I was attracted to the ambition and grandeur of the Star Wars franchise. I enjoyed stories from both Marvel and DC comics. I exposed myself to all kinds of story-telling, and I can tell you that, even at a young age, I became aware of tropes and cliques in these stories. I am, of course, aware that nothing is actually original. Every story ever told was a borrowed story that’s been remixed, which doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. It just makes it seem more predicable. Picture my surprise watching Iron Man 3 at a young age, and discovering that the Mandarin was not the one who took over television screens across the country, but was merely a face for a sinister corporation.

Personally, I thought it was awesome. It was something I had never seen before. A bait and switch that made me second guess all elements in future pieces of media I watched. Yes, Iron Man 3 made me very paranoid after that first viewing, and I always looked for hints throughout different stories that might clue me into a secret villain or traitor. Iron Man 3 gave me an edge when it came to predicting a new kind of trope, so imagine my surprise years later when I discover people were upset with the Mandarin twist! It still baffles me, especially when you consider the fact that many in the past have criticized Marvel for being predictable.

Then there’s The Last Jedi, a movie so controversial, even mentioning the film’s existence will cause the fanboys to shout about how much they despise it. Some say that it is as bad as the Star Wars Holiday Special. These people can have their views on the film, as long as they can accept the fact that they view the film with a crippling, invalidating bias. When it came to tropes, The Last Jedi throws our expectations out the window in favor of something that keeps you focused. The film opened up and expanded my perspective of Star Wars and its potential. If they could pull of something this incredible and mind-bending, imagine what incredible ideas will come from the new films coming later!

This is why I like subversion. It can take characters we love or hate in unexpected directions. It pulls the rug out from under the audience and creates a sense of surrealism to the events taking place. It makes a journey more mysterious and engaging, keeping the audience on the edge of their seat wondering what in the world is going to happen. I’m always satisfied with the conclusion to well made subversive stories, like Iron Man 3 and The Last Jedi, because a bunch of elements with seemingly no correlation can culminate to a sensible and interesting conclusion.

There will always be some dissatisfaction from fans who wanted something and got something completely out of left field, even if the conclusion makes total sense with the context clues and in-universe explanations given. The important thing to remember is that these universes have a natural course that is written years in advance before their eventual execution on the big screen, so what they do set up now will be used in the next installment in a series. I highly doubt the overall structure of these stories is improvised. That would just be foolish.

In conclusion, stories that can catch me off guard but still have logical reasoning behind the surprise being revealed are stories I can legitimately say impressed me. I learn from my own reading and my dad about tropes and stories and writing techniques all the time, so when a writer can use an oddball writing strategy and make it work I can’t help but applaud. Again, no movie is perfect, but if I can enjoy the film, that’s all that matters to me. You do you. I don’t really care.

An Opinion on Stardust Speedway (And How You Do a Climax)

~ Titus Richards ~ 5 Comments

New York, Los Angeles, Los Vegas. These cities have a reputation for bright lights and sleepless nights. The shimmering reflection of lights soar into a cloudy sky, leaving you with a sense of wonder as you peer into the night’s lively and sinister nature. We adore these cities more for their visual design, and less for the substance within them.

Indeed, a city or three with a magnificence and grandeur in design would give America a reputation for pride and bombasticism, as we often tout our achievements with these cities. Can you expect a place like this not to show at least some semblance of pride for these feats? Much like America takes pride in its cities, SEGA takes pride in its well designed Sonic levels in their games… when they’re even good to begin with that is.

Yes, the blue blur is known for his spunk, and his levels reflect his attitude in most games by being thrilling jaunts through unusual, surrealist landscapes, especially in the so-called “Modern” titles. Even the most terrible of Sonic’s levels usually have an artistic charm to them in the visual department, excluding Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), which tried to go for a more realistic, dry style to match what I call the Xbox 360 syndrome, where every game was required to have graphics that would look bland and dated in five years time.

Sonic CD is not an exception to the “unusual, surrealist” design I mentioned. Every Round in that game is vibrant, loud, and sometimes overwhelming, making the levels seem more Tokyo in design than New York. Each Round is styled in excruciating detail, from the sci-fi billboards of Collision Chaos to the glowing gemstones found in Quartz Quadrant. However, the crowning achievement in Sonic CD, in music, level design, and atmosphere is indisputably Stardust Speedway.

From a visual standpoint, Stardust Speedway hits all the right notes, whether it be the Past, Present, Good Future, or Bad Future. It has the best music, whether it be the Japanese/PAL region tracks or the United States tracks. It’s the only Round in CD where both versions of the soundtrack are loved by the majority of fans. It has the best boss fight,  but more on that later. It also has the best level design, encouraging the age-old Sonic philosophy of layout memorization and quick reaction times.

Stardust Speedway is more streamlined than most other Rounds in CD. Every level beforehand, with the exception of Palmtree Panic, the game’s first Round, is littered with confusing, maze-like design and a ton of gimmicks, making each Zone in a Round feel cluttered and claustrophobic. Stardust Speedway feels like a mad dash, keeping the verticality of the rest of the game while streamlining everything else, which sets it apart from the other levels in the series.

However, what is arguably the best part about this Round is the climactic duel with Metal Sonic, Sonic’s chrome doppelgänger. Metal Sonic is considered Sonic’s first true rival. He has a cold stare and wags his finger at you when you try to attack him, in parallel with Sonic’s own finger wag. In Collision Chaos’ first Zone, the metallic foe snatched up a pink hedgehog named Rosy (Known in Modern titles as Amy Rose), giving you more urgency to beat him.

Metal Sonic is probably the defining element that makes Sonic CD memorable to most people. No matter what region you get the game in, he’s on the front box art squaring off against Sonic. 1992’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had a metallic foe modeled after Sonic, so did 1994’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but those counterparts weren’t built for speed, the defining attribute of Sonic. They were big, bulky machines that could never match Sonic in a footrace. The Metal Sonic we see in CD can match Sonic’s speed, and to prove who’s the fastest, you have to beat Metal Sonic in a race.

This is, without a doubt, the most difficult and unique boss in CD. When you reach Metal Sonic, Dr. Eggman will show off his new ride: a machine that will instantly defeat Sonic, regardless of Ring count. The laser that follows you gives you a sense of urgency, of course, but your immediate concern should always be Metal Sonic. He has two different attacks that he uses on Sonic, depending on where Sonic is in relation to Metal Sonic. If you are behind Metal Sonic, he will create a Shocker Shield that will hurt Sonic on contact. If you are far enough ahead of Metal Sonic, he will use his special Maximum V Overdrive attack, an attack in which Metal Sonic will become an electrical fireball and zoom  ahead until he catches up with you.

The Boss is tense, dramatic, and atmospheric. It provides enough urgency to be stressful, but not stressful enough to make you through your controller. Whether it be fighting on the dark roads of the Bad Future, or securing peace for the Good Future, this Boss gives you incredible motivation. Playing sloppy here is a non-option, and anyone who plays this Round knows the feeling.

Two things are waiting for you at the end of the race track: The finish line, and Rosy. You are unable to damage Metal, and you have no choice but to move ahead to stay alive. If Metal Sonic beats you, the door leading to Rosy will close, and Metal Sonic will taunt you as the laser closes in to hit you, but if you keep cool and anticipate Metal Sonic’s attacks you will get to Rosy first, slam the door in Metal Sonic’s face, destroying him, and freeing Rosy. The only thing left to do is to take the fight to Dr. Eggman in Metallic Madness, the final Round of CD.

In my view, Stardust Speedway should have been Sonic CD’s final Round. Metallic Madness’ boss is simply Dr. Eggman trying to destroy Sonic with a D-Pad, and I think Metal Sonic would have been a more suitable finale. Metal Sonic, the game’s memorable yet secondary antagonist, made a great impression and, despite the ultimate failure of the SEGA CD, would be a main fixture in the Sonic franchise, going so far as to be the main antagonist of Knuckles’ Chaotix (A game on yet another failed SEGA Genesis peripheral, the 32X) and Sonic Heroes. Having Stardust Speedway be the game’s final Round would make the most sense, as Dr. Eggman’s ultimate countermeasure, the death laser, would make a lot more sense in this boss as a “last stand” scenario. Rosy would be rescued to close the game out, and all the ends would be tidied up in a more climactic manner.

Perhaps I’m not the only one who thought this. As the credits roll in CD, we see some amazing animations, created by the talented studio Toei, depicting the various events that took place on Little Planet, and the last Zone to be depicted was the Metal Sonic Boss on Stardust Speedway. Either way, Stardust Speedway is a testament to fundamental Sonic the Hedgehog design, as well as to how you go about making an iconic, climactic moment. Thanks for reading.