Obsolete Intros: Sonic CD

So your uncle who you really hated kicked the bucket and you were forced to go to a wake, on a school night only to be poked, prodded and questions by relatives you wished were in the casket next to dear old Uncle Ted. Then from the corner of your eye you see your cousin’s hot friend who feels so sorry for you that you end up making out in the janitor’s closet all night. Well my friend’s that is called getting something good out of a bad situation and Sonic CD is that hot friend at the horrible wake called the Sega CD.

This game was one of the few reasons to purchase a Sega CD and the cool anime-style intro helped set the mood. Sure, by today’s standards it may look and sound cheese, but for 1993 the visuals were pretty nice. What turned the tide however was the cool intro song titled; “Sonic Boom”.

If you’re strong, you can fly,
you can reach the other side of the rainbow.
It’s alright, take a chance,
’cause there is no circumstance
that you can’t handle (when you use your mind)

Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom
(Trouble keeps you runnin’ faster)
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom
(Save the planet from disaster)

Sonic Boom was performed by Pastiche, a band comprised of members, Sandy Cressman, Jenny Meltzer and Becky West. Sonic Boom was used as both the beginning and ending music with the instrumentals changed slightly for each. The actual full motion video was edited and shortened to sync up with the music.

Personally I thought this was the perfect video game song. Sonic Boom had those easy memorable lyrics and the pacing of the music both in the beginning and the end told the story you were about to enter and the one you just left.

As for the intro video itself you started off with a mountain valley and as the music starts we see our hero dashing in at super speed giving you a feeling of just how fast Sonic really is. I really though the effect of Sonic creating a rainbow when running across the water was a nice touch. In addition, showcasing how he does actually have to jump from place to place and spin dash through various debris in his way gave more credibility to the jumps and moves you would have to do in game.

We next get a shot of Sonic’s Lamborghini red shoes before he sprints across the landscape to perch himself atop a rock formation to view the target ahead of him. From there we see the super chain holding the planet at bay which conveniently broke up some boulders so Sonic can jump and spin dash through to his final viewing spot, again a nice touch and pretty good animated action sequence. We get a final overview of the landscape as Sonic locks onto his target before he runs down the rock formation, spin dashes and leaps into the air onto the chain and rushes toward the planet.

Overall, I enjoyed this opening, it was well animated with great music and got you hyped up to play the game.

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