When Direct of Programming for Microsoft's XBLA, Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson, revealed Microsoft's lineup for PAX this year, careful readers may have found a surprising inclusion on the list. Sure you'll be able to see more of Gears of War 3 and Kinect Sports but hey, at Booth #432, is that Sonic CD I see?
Why yes, yes it is. In Major Nelson's blog, he lists the full lineup of games to be shown at the numerous booths: "Mass Effect 3 has landed... in the Xbox 360 booth! Come on by to check it out, along with a slew of Xbox LIVE Arcade titles: Trials Evolution, Skulls of the Shogun, Crimson Alliance, Splatters, Orcs Must Die, Ms. Splosion Man, Retro City Rampage, Sonic CD, War of the Worlds and Trine 2."
Major Nelson doesn't seem to be making a big deal out of the game's inclusion, but no one has heard from the blue mammal's short-lived diversion on the CD in some time. The 1993 game was later ported to the PC and then packaged into Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube in 2005. While many of the other Sonic games have found homes on mobile platforms or other modern consoles, Sonic CD is considered even by Sonic fans to be a relatively obscure title. That said, clearly someone at Microsoft thinks that a Sonic CD port can sell reasonably well.
For some Sonic fans, Sonic CD is a much loved (especially given its catchy theme song) installment that occurred before the dark days. For others, Sonic CD was either a step towards the icon's decline or just a completely forgettable exercise, along with the terrible Sega CD system. Then again, maybe Sonic CD's inclusion was a simple typo on Major Nelson's blog. Regardless, if you're at PAX this week, you're going to want to check out Booth 432 and solve this mystery.
