Highly popular ‘Sonic CD’ free on iOS for a limited time

By Imad Khan Published April 21, 2022

sonic cd free ios 4851109688 004af75545 o cropped — Vincent Tcheng Chang/Flickr

One of the best Sonic The Hedgehog games ever made is now free for iOS users, although there’s a small catch.

Sega has announced that the widely beloved Sonic CD will be free to iOS users for a limited time, but with ads included.

Recommended Videos

Sonic CD is free on iOS (w/ads) for a limited time. pic.twitter.com/RJWRcpbNxx

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) October 29, 2016

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Sonic CD was released back in 1993 on the Sega CD. Unlike previous Sonic games, it was one that pushed players to explore levels rather than run through them as quickly as possible. Using a time travel mechanic, players were able to jump forward or backward in time, changing the level layout as they did so. The game was also lauded for its excellent soundtrack. The Sega CD allowed developers to create more complex music with a wider range of timbers.

The mobile version of Sonic CD was actually created by Christian Whitehead, an Australian indie developer and major fan of the series. He created a new game engine, Retro Engine, to enable Sonic CD to run on mobile hardware. After approaching Sega with his concept, the company moved forward with releasing the game on mobile.

Fans have lauded Whitehead’s ports as being true to the original and for running with nary a hiccup. His port also included the ability to switch between the Western and Japanese soundtracks, both of which are excellent.

Sega is actually going back to its 2D roots with Sonic Mania, a new game to release on console and PC next year. The game is being developed by Sega of America, along with Whitehead, and prominent mobile indie developer Pagoda West Games.

As for Android users, the game sadly is not free in the Google Play store. But there is a way to get it for free via the Amazon Underground app. The only platform in which the game is not free is Windows Phone.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Imad has been a gamer all his life. He started blogging about games in college and quickly started moving up to various…

Mobile

Things still aren’t looking good for Apple’s iOS 19 update

iPhone 16 Pro Max in Desert Titanium.

The latest version of iOS 18.2 rolled out to (most) iPhone users yesterday, and it brought with it a slew of new features that fans have eagerly waited for. These include Visual Intelligence for iPhone 16, Genmoji, and Image Playground. However, this slower rollout of iOS 18 features is having an impact on development times for its next iteration, and that means iOS 19 might be delayed.

There have been whispers of delays before, so this doesn't come as a huge surprise — particularly when you think about how the production flow at Apple usually goes. In a Threads post, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said: "I continue to hear that the gradual rollout of features across iOS 18 to iOS 18.4 is leading to delays of some features scheduled for iOS 19. That will lead to a long-term rollout of features next cycle as well. Engineers are stuck working on iOS 18 projects when they’d usually already be on to the following OS."

Mobile

RCS messaging is now live in iOS 18.2 for Boost Mobile subscribers

RCS messaging on iOS 18.

This week, Apple released iOS 18.2. Though the update is mostly being advertised for its new Apple Intelligence features, it also includes another feature long promised for certain U.S. iPhone users.

With the iOS 18.2 update, Boost Mobile customers using iPhones can now use RCS (Rich Communication Services) as an alternative to SMS and MMS. A Reddit user (via Android Authority) was the first to discover the change. Apple teased RCS support last year before making an official announcement at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

Mobile

The iOS 18.2 update includes a special feature just for iPhone 16 Pro users

A person holding the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.

If you have an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, updated to iOS 18.2, and regularly use the Voice Memos app, then your phone just got even better if you're a musician. Originally teased in September’s iPhone 16 event, Layered Recordings is now available in the Voice Memos app with the iOS 18.2 update.

What exactly are Layered Recordings? Basically, you can now add a vocal track layer on top of any existing instrumental recording without the need for headphones. In the iOS 18.2 update, users are now able to play original instrument ideas through the iPhone’s built-in speakers while simultaneously recording vocals with the studio-quality microphone on the iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max.