Michael Jackson confirmed to have composed the Sonic 3 soundtrack

[Rökkan]

Sonic CD is the black sheep of the series imo.
It just doesn't seem as good as the others to me.

Oh, and if you're talking about the game itself, don't even get me started.

Actually, yeah. That's what I was talking about.
Soundtrack aside, the gameplay just feels like a step backwards for me.

Especially the spindash. Instead of holding down and repeatedly pressing the jump button, you have to hold down, hold the button, and wait for the spindash to charge. You can't actually launch during charging like in other games. You actually have to sit and wait.
Yes, it isn't that long of a wait, but still.

Also, the time travelling aspect was a cool idea, but I don't like how it was implemented. Having to travel around in time and having to find and destroy those generator things felt like a waste of time, and not very sonic-like.

edit- also don't take this as me calling the game bad
It's not a bad game. It's just not as good.

A game isn't only made of gameplay you know. Sonic CD's mechanics/engine felt different because it wasn't programmed by Yuji Naka (feels wonky to people that are accostumed playing the other Sonics, but at least there aren't any bugs at all, unlike the other Sonics). Having to wait the Spin-Dash to charge for me feels better than just charging it a bit and releasing. Because it obligates the player not to spam the fuck out of the Spin-Dash, because, it is kind of a cheap move. Sonic's original design was about getting speed and avoiding all sorts of obstacles to maintain this speed. The Spin-Dash breaks this concept a bit, because you can get speed almost instantaneously, without having to work to get it, and you can destroy certain obstacles. The longer wait "nerfs" the Spin-Dash a bit, making sometimes, running at your own, much faster than Spin-Dashing - which would make going through the level easier. But I agree that Sonic CD's Spin-Dash isn't all that good, and the wait was a bit of a downer. A midterm between that and Sonic 2/3's Spin-Dash would be perfect.

And having to travel back in time isn't obligatory at all, not even to get the Good Ending. To get the Good Ending, you need to grab all Time Stones OR do that. Plus, Sonic was all about exploration as well, it isn't just about clearing the stage in the least time, look at Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles' level design, it's so full of alternative paths and secret rooms, there are people finding new paths even nowadays. The original game design though, used Time Travelling in a much better way. Sonic would time travel in an instant, the level would just flash and change in an instant the time you are in, instead of having to wait that sequence of Sonic warping through. But the programmers said it wasn't possible, no matter how bad Naoto Oshima (Sonic CD game designer, the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog) wanted that idea.

In counterpart, Sonic CD has beautiful and surreal settings which SHOULD be used as inspiration (alongside Knuckles' Chaotix's landscapes which are even more beautiful and surreal sometimes) for the next Sonic games instead of just using realistic settings, Sonic CD has one of the best soundtracks ever conceived to the Sonic games (and that's a lot, considering that Sonic the Hedgehog has incredible soundtracks, heck, even the piece of shit that was Sonic the Hedgehog for the 360/PS3 had an amazing soundtrack), great level design and bosses design (except one or two acts/bosses that are a letdown, like the final boss itself), simple but different and great story with animated cutscenes by Toei Animation, and I really can't believe you don't consider Sonic CD at least better than the first Sonic the Hedgehog.