Its hard to imagine Segas quirky mascot being used to wind players up deliberately, but then, Sonic CD was hardly a run-of-the-mill Sonic game. With Yuji Naka relocating to the US to work on Sonic 2, a new team was assembled to work on an enhanced version that would include FMV sequences and high quality music, showcasing the power of Segas CD add-on. It also freed up enough space to allow the developers to include some jokes and easter eggs, including a picture of Tails - which would have held more significance had the games lengthy development not seen it release a full year after Sonic 2. One joke that left players less than amused, though, concerned Sonics famous toe-tapping animation. Most people knew that if Sonic was left idle for more than a few seconds, hed start tapping his foot in annoyance. In Sonic CD, though, leaving Sonic untouched for three minutes would cause him to exclaim Im outta here! and leap out of the level, immediately ending the game. Sonic CD is one of the series trickier adventures, and save games wouldnt be introduced until Sonic 3, so its not hard to imagine the floods of tears as kids nipped downstairs for a snack without pausing and returned to find Sonic, their childhood hero, had wiped out their progress in the hedgehog equivalent of a temper tantrum. Unsurprisingly, this was not a gimmick that Sega ever repeated in Sonics more recent games, its the players who ragequit, not the characters.
