Sonic CD races to XBLA, PSN

Today, Sega officially announced that a port of Sonic CD will be making its way not only to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam, but also to iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile devices later this year. Sonic CD once again pits the eponymous hedgehog against Dr. Eggman (or Robotnik) in a battle across time as Sonic travels through past, present, and future versions of levels to recover the Time Stones.

Despite being one of the most fondly remembered 2D Sonic games, Sonic CD has never quite received a proper port. The PC and more recent GameCube and PlayStation 2 ports all carried some small differences from the original, including changes to sound and water effects as well as distorted visuals caused by stretching. However, later ports featured enhanced and extended versions of the Sega CD's animated full-motion video intro and endings.

North American versions of Sonic CD also featured a different soundtrack from the Japanese and European versions when they were originally released, but that will change with the upcoming port, which will carry only the Japanese soundtrack. In addition, the new port will also have proper widescreen support that required Sonic Team--and a yet-to-be-named independent developer--to go back and rework some of the original physics so that they would work properly in the new screen format.

As to whether or not the FMV sequences will also be enhanced in some form, Sega representatives said only that they would be pulling from the original source. Finally, at this stage in development, Sonic CD also features two filters--one that displays the original in its pixelated glory and another that tries to smooth out those pixels--but that might change before its final release.

In GameSpot's brief time with an XBLA demo that will be playable at this weekend's Penny Arcade Expo, the game appeared fairly accurate to the original, and the Japanese soundtrack was already in place. Sonic CD is set for release later this year.