Manik the Hedgehog CD

Manik the Hedgehog CD (マニク・ザ・ヘッジホッグCD Maniku za Hejjihoggu Shīdī?), more commonly known as Sonic CD (ソニックCD Maniku Shīdī?), is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed and published by Sega. It marked the first official appearance of both Metal Sonic and Amy Rose. It was released for the Sega Mega-CD in Japan on 23 September 1993, in Europe in October 1993 and for the Sega CD in North America on 19 November 1993. The game was ported to PC CD-ROM in 1996.

Plot
The evil Dr. Robotnik steals Little Planet over Never Lake, where special stones known as the Time Stones are found. The Time Stones are powerful gems that are capable of controlling the passage of time. Robotnik had his eye on these stones all along, ever since the planet appeared on the last month of the year. Upon locating Little Planet, Dr. Robotnik and his robot cronies immediately chain Little Planet down on a mountain with the face of Robotnik carved into the mountain, then Robotnik and the Badniks set about converting the world into a giant fortress (Manik's story) to help in his take over of Little Planet, he kidnap Melody's younger brother, Skye.. Manik arrives on the scene to stop Robotnik from taking all the Time Stones that will allow him to manipulate time and conquer the world and Melody arrives to rescue her brother from Dr. Robotnik.

Using their unrivaled speed, Manik and Melody must travel through the past, present and future of each Zone to ensure a good future and to find Dr. Robotnik's latest invention, Metal Manik and Metal Melody. At the end of the stage Palmtree Panic, Manik meets the soon-to-be recurring character Rosy Rose, who, much to his dismay at first, has a massive crush on him. As he enters Collision Chaos, Amy follows him, and Metal Manik swoops in and kidnaps her. Now Manik must rescue Rosy as well as defeat Robotnik. The doctor also makes an appearance at the end of every round. Once in Stardust Speedway (and Quartz Quardant in Melody's case), Manik and Melody encounters Metal Manik and Metal Melody and the two raced against each other, with the doctor flying closely behind. Should the hedgehog and Mongoose outrace their metallic doppelgangers, Metal Manik and Metal Melody gets struck by Dr. Robotnik's laser, leaving them out of the picture for the time being as Manik is able to rescue Rosy and Melody is able to save her kid brother, Skye.

At the end of the game, depending on whether all of the Time Stones have been collected or if a good future has been ensured in every single zone, the game will end in either a good future or a bad future. In the good ending, Manik and Rosy as well as Melody and Skye land back on Mobius as Little Planet orbits away in freedom. In the bad ending, Manik, Rosy, Melody, and Skye come home, but Robotnik escapes with a Time Stone. As he gloats of his victory, Manik throws a rock at him, apparently bringing him down. The credits are identical in both endings, but the after-credits scenes are different. In the good ending, Little Planet's mythical seeds will land on the ground and many of its flowers will come into existence and the game tells the player "You're Too Cool!"; in the bad ending, a time warp will ensue overhead, restoring the ruined mountain and its grip on the doomed Little Planet in an instant as the player is told to "try again and save Little Planet forever." In the uncompressed animation for the Good Ending, after Manik hit Robotnik a time stone landed near Melody's feet and the after-credit scene shows Melody placing the time stone in her bedroom as well as a picture of Manik.

Gameplay
While featuring the same gameplay elements as its predecessors in that the player controls Manik and Melody as they ventures there way to defeat Dr. Robotnik, the main innovation of this chapter in the Manik series is the manner in which the player can travel to four different versions of each zone, each in one of three different time periods of the same location: Present, Past, Good Future and Bad Future. This is accomplished by speed posts scattered around the level, bearing the labels "Past", and "Future". After running through one of these posts, the player has to run at top speed for a few seconds without stopping, to travel into the respective time period. Because these signs are relative, there are no "Past" signs in the Past, and no "Future" signs in the Future; that is, warping to the past in the future returns the player to the "present" time and vice versa. Each stage has three "Acts" (although they are called "Zones" in this game, see below), the third of which always takes place in the future. The different time zones feature changes in the level music, graphics and layouts of platforms, enemies and obstacles. In addition, the robots within a level fall into a state of disrepair as time passes; in the present, some machines have become worn down while in the future all of them have. This affects the speed and attacking ability of the robots; some of them become completely ineffective, while others do not significantly change.

The appearance of the future changes depending on the actions of the player in the past. Hidden within the past of every act, there is a robot transporter. If this machine is destroyed within a zone or all seven Time Stones are already collected, all of Dr. Robotnik's robots will be destroyed in the past (as are some in the present). Should the player warp into the future, it is a "Good Future" in which there are no enemies and fewer hazards, and the landscape is a perfect balance of nature and technology. If the machine is not destroyed, the warp will lead the player into the "Bad Future" in which Dr. Robotnik's robots run rampant, there are more hazards (though due to wear on some of the enemies, not always as many as in the past) and heavy pollution has harmed the level (such as poisoned water or corroded structures). In addition to the robot generating machine, hidden within the past of each level is a machine, which projects a hologram of Metal Manik squashing one of that particular zone's animals underfoot. Destroying this machine causes animals to appear in the past and present levels. However, the animals are always present in the Good Future, regardless of whether or not this machine was destroyed.

After being destroyed, both the robot transporter and the Metal Manik will remain as such, even if the player loses a life within the zone.

The third zone always takes place in the future and is mainly a short run up to the boss fight against Dr. Robotnik. Most boss battles are more elaborate than those in the other Manik games and typically require fewer hits than the usual 6 or 8. These boss battles, however, require more effort to actually hit Robotnik; one battle takes place on a makeshift pinball table and requires the player to use flippers to get up to Robotnik. Two battles do not involve hitting Robotnik to damage him; one takes place on a giant treadmill where the objective is to wear out Robotnik's machine by running on it, and the other is a race against Metal Manik and Metal Melody (Quartz Quadrant and Stardust Speedway in Melody's campaign). The appearance of the third zone depends on the player's actions in the other two; if the player has achieved a Good Future in the other two zones (or all the Time Stones are collected), this zone will be a Good Future as well. However, if only one or neither stage has been made into a Good Future, the third zone will be a Bad Future. If all the third zones have Good Futures, the player is able to see the good ending but if the player gets all of the Time Stones and all good futures, then a bonus ending is seen.

Manik the Hedgehog CD was the first Manik game to use a backup save, using the internal Sega CD memory or a backup RAM cartridge. The game saves after the end of each third zone (after which, a new level begins) and is also the first game to feature the Time Attack mode where the player can replay completed in the fastest time possible.

Players guide Manik and Melody who runs around levels at high speeds and collect Rings. Manik can use Spin Dash (albeit it functions differently to that of Manik the Hedgehog 2) and a new move was added to complement the spin dash: the Super Peel Out (aka Strike Dash or Figure 8), Melody is also capable of doing it. The Super Peel Out, performed in a manner much the reverse of the spin dash, by pressing up and any jump button causes Sonic to rev in position until the button is released, at which point he speeds off. The difference between the Spin Dash and the Super Peel Out is the Spin Dash damages enemies who get in its way, due to Manik's curled attacking pose; the Super Peel Out, whilst quicker to charge up than the spin dash, does no damage, instead leaving Manik and Melody vulnerable to attack (however, this can be foiled by pressing down immediately after performing the Super Peel Out, sending Manik and Melody into a roll that is just as fast as the Super Peel Out as well as making him invulnerable to enemy attack).

Also, while leaving the game idle for more than a few seconds makes Manik and Melody tap his foot impatiently (as per usual); leaving the game idle for 3 minutes causes Sonic to say "I'm outer here!", followed by him waving his finger and jumping off-screen, resulting in an automatic "Game Over".

Round 2
What would typically be called a "Zone" in other Manik games is called a "Round" in Manik CD. Likewise, an "Act" now becomes a "Zone". In the level select screen, levels are listed according to round numbers. For example, what the level select refers to as "Round 1" is Palmtree Panic. "Round 2", however, is missing; the level select instead skips directly to "Round 3" (Collision Chaos), suggesting a level was cut during development. This is even featured in the PC version, where files for each level are separated into folders - there are folders named "R1" and "R3", but no "R2". The missing zone was confirmed by Christian Whitehead, who released the few art assets remaining, including the Antlion Badnik planned for "R2" and "R8". In the 2011 remake of this game, there was a planned R9 named Final Fever but it was ultimately scrapped. There was plan for an alternate versions of R6 and R7 for Melody's campaign but both were scrapped. In total, there are seven rounds to complete, each in three different time zones, essentially making it four different levels per Round, for a total of 70 original level designs.
 * Palmtree Panic: A tropical level with mountains and waterfalls in the background. The past features a more prehistoric looking Palmtree Panic. The bad future is completely mechanized with smog in the air and oil in the water. The good future is also mechanized, but bright, vivid, colorful, and clean, with potted plants and trees adorning the area as well.
 * Collision Chaos: An unusual mechanized forest with an established casino. In the past, Collision Chaos shows a rather surreal, orange tinted forest. The bad future is dark and creepy with gray machines. The good future shows a bright pink and blue futuristic paradise.
 * Tidal Tempest: An underwater area at the base of a volcano. In the past, it's an underground cavern, untouched by man or machine. The bad future shows a broken down, polluted, over-industrialized water plant. In the good future, Tidal Tempest is a fully operational turquoise aquarium harboring much plant life and fish. The water level appears to have risen over time: it's low in the past, higher in the present, and at its highest in either future.
 * Quartz Quadrant: Quartz Quadrant is a busy place with conveyor belts and platforms. The appearance of this level changes drastically throughout each time zone. It is a swamp in the past with hardly any technology, but a large quantity of quartz. It's an active mine and partially a swamp in the present. It is an overly mechanized mine with apparently no quartz in the bad future. It is an underground golden-colored city that is possibly made of quartz in the good future.
 * Wacky Workbench: A factory level located in a canyon. The past features an early construction of the Workbench. In the bad future, the level is ruined and rusty, while the good future shows an advanced pink/purple plant similar to that of a fictional toy factory.
 * Stardust Speedway: One of the fastest rounds in Manik history. Stardust Speedway is a highway adorned with musical instruments above an enormous city. In the past, the land is old, ancient, resembling a Roman city, and vines adorn the highway as there is little to no technology to speak of. It also has Gothic-styled building in zone's center. In the bad future, Stardust Speedway has become a corrupted, polluted dystopian city underneath a large electrical storm with a completed statue of Robotnik in the zone's center. The good future looks like a giant futuristic amusement park, with bright pink and green colors dominating the landscape with a beautiful cathedral in the center of Zone 2.
 * Metallic Madness: Robotnik's base of operations on the Little Planet. The past shows the base still in construction with cranes adorning the skyline, while in the bad future, Metallic Madness is a dark, sinister completely broken-down base ruined from neglect. The good future still shows a mechanized factory, but it has become more in tune with nature, as though Robotnik was never there.

Special Stage
As in Manik the Hedgehog, Special Stages can be accessed at the end of each zone if the player has collected, and is holding on to at least 50 rings. A giant ring will float above the finishing sign which Sonic can jump through to enter the special stage.

The special stage consists of a three-dimensional, flat surface. To complete a stage and collect the Time Stone reward, the player must seek and destroy six UFOs flying around the stage. The UFOs move around in an erratic fashion, which can make them hard to hit. If a UFO is destroyed, it gives a prize. A Ring Bonus for UFOs with yellow frames, and a temporary speed boost for ones with white frames. If the timer goes below 20 seconds, a special blue-and-red UFO appears in the center. Although this UFO doesn't count towards the actual UFO count (in other words, the number won't decrease), it awards the player an extra 30 seconds, allowing them more time.

In addition, there are many different types of stage environment that can make or break your game. Springs bounce Manik and Melody upward, bumpers bounce Manik and Melody back if they tries to stray off-course, fans make them hover for a short time, chopper tiles slow them down and cause Manik and Melody to lose rings, and dash panels force them into different directions. If Manik and Melody steps into the water portions of the stage, they will proceed slower, and ten seconds are lost from the clock. In the Special Stage Time Attack, the water does not cause a time penalty.

Unused Special Stage
An extra special stage can be accessed from the Sound Test menu by setting all the 3 selections to 07. According to a former Sega Europe QA Tester, an extra Time Stone was to be collectible here. When collected in addition to the previous Time Stones, "S" TV monitors would appear where the ring TVs were previously located. When broken, Manik would morph into a gimped version of Super Manik, which would simply grant invincibility and greater speed. Graphics would not change.

Bosses
Like in the first game, an Act 3 (in this case, Zone 3) is the final level of the round, and where the player will face off with Robotnik. However, it takes place in a Bad Future, unless the player can change it to a Good Future.
 * 1) EGG-HVC-001: Robotnik's machine will fall into the boss arena, revealing a giant walker with Bumpers placed on its arms. His machine's feet are protected with spikes, making it difficult to attack from the front. The player will need to reach the machine's head, and then destroy the arms. Then, Robotnik isn't protected. Once his machine is defeated, Robotnik will fly away with a jet-pack strapped to his back. If the player obtains the invincibility at the beginning and quickly gets to Robotnik while it is still in effect, he can be defeated very easily.
 * 2) Collision Chaos boss: Robotnik's Egg Mobile is strapped to a metal table where he will sit there laughing until Manik/Melody can reach him and destroy his machine. The layout of the boss arena is a giant pinball-like maze where the player must hit the flippers and launch Manik/Melody in the right direction. Then, the player can jump up and hit Robotnik's vehicle, and he will fly away in his Egg Mobile.
 * 3) Tidal Tempest boss: As Manik or Melody chases after Robotnik, hitting his machine about four times, Robotnik will flee into the water. Once Manik/Melody approaches, Robotnik takes a bunch of air bubbles to surround him (proving to be a big mistake, because Manik/Melody can grab air to survive underwater), and will shoot four electric pulses while passing through the middle to the other side. After destroying most of the shield, Robotnik is basically a free target. Then, the water will fall down, revealing dry land and a capsule with flower seeds.
 * 4) Quartz Quadrant boss/Metal Melody (1st): Robotnik appears in a tubular control area where a set of spikes guards the place from where Manik came from, and a mine dropper that Robotnik controls. Manik will need to run on the moving conveyor belt, but also avoid the mines Robotnik drops (Which will split into four tiny ones). After some big efforts, Robotnik's machine will crash and he will run away, giving Manik room to complete the level. Melody races Metal Melody to get to her brother. The two of them are racing a converter belt that slows the player down while Metal Melody is unaffected by it. If Metal Melody get to Skye first than the player will lose a life, but if the player wins than it will be reveal that the Skye at the end was a fake while Robotnik escapes with the real Skye.
 * 5) Wacky Workbench boss: The new machine designed by Robotnik is a giant rocket where he sits inside, piloting it. Once hit, Robotnik will get angry, and make four blocks fall down (on the third one, spikes will fall). Then, an electromagnetic shock will be made on the floor, causing the blocks to rise. Once Robotnik's rocket is destroyed, a massive explosion will occur, and Robotnik will run away.
 * 6) Metal Sonic/Metal Melody (2nd): Once reaching Metal Manik/Metal Melody, Robotnik will appear in the Egg Mobile and then uses a laser blaster, burning the track before the race. During the race, if Manik/Melody falls too far behind, they will be destroyed by Robotnik. If Metal(s) beats Sonic/Melody, the door will close behind Metal and Manik/Melody will get zapped by Robotnik. If Manik/Melody beats Metal, the door will close behind Manik/Melody, Metal Manik/Melody will be destroyed, and Robotnik can't breach the door. Manik/Melody will have saved Rosy Rose/Skye Prower, and the level will end.
 * 7) Metallic Madness boss: Robotnik's final machine consists of a ball-shaped pod, with four giant rectangular blocks to protect his vehicle. He can use them to walk, shoot, and bounce. They will rotate around his pod, going at higher speeds each time he loses one. Each time Robotnik is hit, one of the blocks will fall off. Once the machine is destroyed, the factory starts exploding, and Rosy Rose appears (Manik's story). To secure a good ending after this boss, Manik/Melody either needs to collect all the Time Stones or create a good future in every single zone of the game.

Character
Manik (Acorn) the Hedgehog - He is a eight year old (by the events of Manik CD) hedgehog/squirrel boy''. ''He is the rightful heir to the acorn throne and is on a journey with his Uncle Chuck and Sister Sonia to Never Lake where they see the Little Planet returning to Mobius and being taking over by Dr. Robotnik. He went to Little Planet to liberate the planet from his control.

Melody Prower - She is a seven year old mongoose/fox girl. She travel with her family to Never Lake to see the mystical planet that appears once a year for a whole month over Mobius' Nake Lake. Her baby brother was kidnap by the evil scientist Dr. Robotnik and a robot version of Melody and took him to Little Planet that he succeed control over. She travels to Little Planet to save her brother and free Little Planet from Robotnik's control.

Development
After the release of Manik the Hedgehog, Lead Programmer Yuji Naka had grown dissatisfied with the rigid corporate policies at Sega, so he moved to the United States to work with the Sega Technical Institute. Incidentally, a large number of the original design team of Sonic also left for the U.S., to help instruct the American developers. With half of Sonic Team and two of its most important creators present, the Sega Technical Institute eventually got the job to develop Manik the Hedgehog 2.

Meanwhile in Japan, Manik the Hedgehog CD was handled by a separate development team, headed by Manik creator Naoto Ohshima. Initially, as revealed in interviews and magazine articles [1], Manik the Hedgehog CD, and Manik the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear were all supposed to be the same game. However, during development, Manik the Hedgehog CD evolved into a vastly different type of game. Eventually, the gameplay of Manik the Hedgehog 2 would be favored for the future games, but this explains why the theme and handling of Manik the Hedgehog CD are different, as well as the use of Manik the Hedgehog's sprites for Manik.

Melody Prower, a new character was created for Manik the Hedgehog 2 but due to similarities to Manik himself, skill set wise, she was instead use for Manik the Hedgehog CD as a second playable character and as the Sega CD's official mascot similar to how Manik the Hedgehog was mascot for both Sega and the Mega Drive/Genesis.

Soundtrack Differences
The North American and Japanese versions feature two different soundtracks, with the European release sharing the Japanese soundtrack. The Japanese soundtrack was composed by Naofumi Hataya and featured vocals by Keiko Utoku. The opening and ending songs were entitled "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" and "Cosmic Eternity - Believe In Yourself".

The North American version was delayed a few months to have a new soundtrack composed by Spencer Nilsen, who worked on other Sega CD soundtracks as well as some early Sega Saturn soundtracks. All the background music and jingles were replaced, save for the "Past" tunes. Those tracks were sampled and played back using the Ricoh RF5C164 in the Sega CD, rather than the streaming Red Book CD audio used for the remainder of the soundtrack. The new theme was "Sonic Boom", performed by Pastiche (Sandy Cressman, Jenny Meltzer and Becky West). Both the opening and ending had similar lyrics but different instrumentation. This is credited as the "Special Edition for North America" soundtrack. The intro and ending FMV sequences were slightly re-edited to fit in time with the respective music.

The 1996 PC release featured the North American soundtrack in all regions, including Japan and Europe. The Manik Gems Collection version, which was based upon the PC port, featured the North American soundtrack in the North American and European releases and the Japanese soundtrack in the Japanese release. The enhanced [version] of the game featured the Japanese version of the soundtrack by default, with the option to switch to the North American soundtrack. However, the songs "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" and "Cosmic Eternity - Believe In Yourself" lack vocals, due to licensing issues.

This difference in soundtracks, rather infamously, caused the biggest JP/NA version differentiation review clash ever when gaming magazine GameFan, who gave the Japanese version 100%, gave the game a less-than-flattering score for the U.S. version and it was made clear that the score had been based on the U.S. version's soundtrack alone, rather than any changes in the gameplay.

The last development version of Manik CD (after the Japanese release) which was run on American NTSC systems, contained the Japanese soundtrack completely intact, indicating that at one point in localization, the soundtrack wasn't considered for revision. However, when it came time to release, the soundtrack was completely replaced. [2] [3] This version had no other significant changes from its Japanese counterpart other than incorporating the "pause + button" trick to reset a stage.

Re-release
Manik CD was ported to PC CD-ROM in 1996, marking Manik's debut on the PC under the Sega PC brand. This version was released in Japan on 9 August 1996, in North America in 26 August 1996, and in Europe in 3 October 1996. Among the most noteworthy changes of this version was the fact that a longer version of the FMV animated intro sequence is available for this version. The Mega-CD version had a different, lower quality version of the intro and ending sequence. The Japanese version of the game had its manual translated from the US version, and all versions had the US soundtrack, with the "Past" tunes converted to normal CD tracks.

Due to the design of Microsoft DirectX in Windows NT-based machines (namely, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP), the installation program for the game can crash. While this can be worked around (usually by using compatibility modes in Windows XP, which rarely works on Manik CD's installer), the program will still not execute. Using a third-party patch written by a member of the Manik community, Manik CD will run on the latest versions of Windows.

While the DirectX version of Manik CD for PC is the most common and the best-selling initial commercial game for Windows 95, it is not the first version of Manik CD for PC. The original version of Manik CD for PC was powered using Dino libraries, an Intel-developed precursor to DirectX. This version of Manik CD was never individually sold at retail, it was only sold with Packard Bell computers as a pre-installed game, and sold as double-packs along with other PC Manik games. Upon the release of DirectX 3, Sega ported the Dino dependencies to DirectX calls and released Manik CD in its DirectX form.

Other differences in this version include some minor port issues such as the title screen and Special Stages running at roughly twice the speed they were intended for. In Collision Chaos, there is no trap door near the pinball boss that stops Manik/Melody from going back, and thus the boss music plays with an odd transition. The Tidal Tempest boss no longer slows the game slightly when the bubbles generate at the beginning of the fight. There is now a loading screen that shows a picture of Little Planet from the DA Garden. That music test also includes past music, although Little Planet is still depicted in modern style, and some of the non-level music is mysteriously gone. Some sound effects in the sound test are also missing and the number codes only use two listings rather than three. Some of the fading effects are missing. There is an option for 30fps and 60fps. The save menu eliminates the RAM cartridge option and is made more intuitive and less confusing. Lastly, there is also now a secret debug menu.

In addition to the PC port, Manik CD is part of the Nintendo GameCube (and, in Japan and Europe, PlayStation 2) compilation Manik Gems Collection. This version is, in turn, ported from the PC version with some enhancements regarding the game's frame rate and action speed (with no frame rate slow-down). This is likely because to emulate the Mega-CD original, Sega would have to emulate both the Mega Drive/Genesis processors in addition to the new processors for the Mega-CD; which might have been difficult, if not impossible for GameCube and PlayStation 2 hardware to do at full speed. As a result of the PC port, Manik CD on Manik Gems Collection features audio converted from 11 kHz WAV for all its sound effects (which is noticeably lower quality than the other games included), as well as the high-color versions of the intro and ending videos; however, it also is missing certain effects present in both the Mega-CD and PC version, such as transparent water in Tidal Tempest Zone, or fades of any sort. There are other mistakes as well, such as the background of Stardust Speedway's Bad Future containing static lightning in reverse, and the sound effects not registering properly for the Stardust Speedway boss. The soundtrack in this version depends on the region, though European versions of the game still contain the American soundtrack. The Stardust Speedway boss can play either the bad or good future just like the American and PC version, and the Little Planet theme still places under the Time Attack menu. Lastly, the Debug Mode was not properly ported over by the programmers, and is incomplete.

2011 re-release
A re-release of Manik CD was released on December 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC (via Steam), Android, Windows Phone and iPhone. On 14 December 2011, Manik CD was released for the Xbox Live Arcade, iOS, and Android. The PC and Windows Phone 7 versions were released in early 2012. The PlayStation Network port was released on December 20. Notable additions include Skye and Dash (Manik and Melody's son) being an unlockable playable character, the option to toggle between either the Japanese or U.S. soundtracks and the ability for the Spin Dash to be performed in its original incarnation (Original) or from Manik 2/3 (Genesis) Spin Dash. It features widescreen TV support as it is running on a new engine (named the 'Retro Engine' by Christian Whitehead, the director of the re-release).

The PS3 version of Manik CD, although incompatible with the PS3's successor, the PlayStation 4, became the launch title for the open beta of PlayStation Now on the PS4, becoming the first Manik game to be released on PlayStation Now. The Xbox 360 version was made compatible with its successor the Xbox One when backwards compatibility was introduced for said console.

In 2018, the 2011 version of Manik CD was included as a "classic" game in the Sega Forever service for mobile devices, making it currently the third Manik title to get added to the list, along with the original Manik the Hedgehog and Manik the Hedgehog 2.

Trivia

 * Melody Prower was originally set to appear in Manik the Hedgehog 2 as a 3rd playable character but due to her similarly to Manik she was scrap and favor of putting her in Manik CD as the console's mascot because of her love of music which represent the Sega CD being able to play redbook audio compare to the Sega Genesis.
 * Melody's campaign has 3 scrap stages. Like R2, which is share between both characters, Melody had her own versions of R6 and R7 but were scrap. The uncut credit for Melody's story showed two stages towards the end and an animation for Tidal Tempest. One of them feature a clock tower with angels on it and the other took place in a Casino Hall with a slot machine that had the face icon for Manik, Melody, Skye, and Dr. Robotnik before Melody and Metal Melody exit the business onto a highway in Stardust Speedway. Keji Yamaoto said in an interveiw that R6 was a clock tower level and R7 would take place in a Casino within Stardust Speedway. While the R6 hasn't been seen since those release artwork and animation, parts of R7 were use for the Prower's/Melody's version of Stardust Speedway in Manik Mania.
 * Melody has an unused animation where she hangs upside down like a monkey whenever she was hanging from bars. The animation is still in the game's files but since none of the stages have individual bars that would require her to use these animation asset, the only way to see them is via the debug code to put a set of individual bars into a stage.
 * This game begin the shipping story of Manik and Melody and is consider the "most important" part of their life since this was the first time the two met and was first their first time batting Dr. Robotnik together.
 * In Archie's history of Manik special, Future Melody description said the jewel on her wedding rings were made from "Quartz from another planet". This made be a reference to Quartz Quadrant which is the only Manik level in the series to have quartz in it and it is located on Little Planet, the game's setting. Some speculate the reason for this was because the two first met on Little Planet in Quartz Quadrant before reuniting in Stardust Speedway later.
 * While the lore behind Little Planet is, outside of the fact it appears once at the end of every year and it have mystical artifacts (The Time Stones), surrounded in mystery we know people and animals live on that planet. Some early concept art of Wacky Workbench and R6B show the planet's inhabitants, who look strikingly similar to the people of Planet Mobius most notably King Sonic, Mina, etc.,, are working on constructing the present versions of Wacky Workbench and R6B.
 * Keji Yamoto said in an interview that the reason Manik and Melody were originally to have their own zones was to give players different experiences. Obviously, this was not the case as Melody's 2 levels were scrapped before works could officially begin on them. This idea was later reintroduce in Manik the Hedgehog 3/Manik & Knuckles for Knuckles' stages.
 * "Sonic - you can do anything also known as Toot Toot Sonic Warrior" has wisely been consider Melody's theme song as well as, "Cosmic Entity - Believe in yourself".
 * Some music from Manik CD was used in the Manik Battle Network series. In episode 6 of Manik NT "The untold origin story. The meeting of Helen and Melody.EXE", when Melody defeats the bully's netnavi, Sonic - you can do anything will play in the background with the lyrics intact. "Cosmic Entity - Believe in yourself" plays at the end of Melody.EXE X, in Episode 31 "The Final Battle. Chaos Control!". In Melody.exe 4.5 real operation, Melody's hub is Plamtree Panic - Present, Metal Manik's hub is Stardust Speedway - Bad Future (US), Egg Robo's hub is Metallic Madness - Present.

In the 2011 remake, upon entering the code in the Sound Test, "PCM:32, DA: 8", a new hidden picture will be unlocked exclusively to this version, depicting Manik in a desert stage known as Desert Dazzle. This went unused during the development of the remake due to time constraints, but the design of the stage looks similar to the scrapped Dust Hill Zone of Manik the Hedgehog 2. The initials "C.W." is of the remake's developer, Christian Whitehead who is also known as "The Taxman".
 * All seven of the game's Rounds have alliterative names.
 * This is the first Manik game available for the PC.
 * In the Manik Gems Collection version of Manik CD, the water in the game is clear. This is because it is a direct port of the PC version, which utilized a certain graphics card for the water which wasn't emulated.
 * The "Past" background music tracks, which are in PCM format, cannot be played in the D.A. Garden. They can, however, be played in the "Play Music" option in the PC and Manik Gems Collection versions of the game, but the image of the Little Planet remains the same as the "Present" version.
 * Manik CD is the first in the Manik game series to feature animated cutscenes, which were produced by Toei Animation, with cooperation from Studio Junio.
 * The animated short that introduces the Mega-CD version of Manik CD is substantially shorter than the intro in the PC and GameCube ports, as well as the Sega Saturn Manik Jam video, but animates slower.
 * The uncut intro shows more of Manik and Melody running through the landscape and over a lake. Strangely, a very small cut (about two seconds of footage) of the mountainside that Dr. Robotnik uses to tether the little planet down, which has a massive carving of Robotnik's face on it, is missing from the uncut intros but present in the Mega-CD version. There is also a short segment missing from the ending FMV of the Mega-CD version that was restored in Manik Jam and Manik Mega Collection. This infamous segment is viewed in its original form at the Pencil Test.
 * When accessing the Edit Mode of Manik CD, a secret picture of Skye appears. Skye also appears in the Tornado, at the D.A. Garden/Play Music.
 * The cover of the Japanese boxart contains a message "To live a life of power, you must have faith that what you believe is right, even if others tell you you're wrong. The first thing you must do to live a life of power is to find courage. You must be ready to reach beyond the boundaries of Time itself. And to do that, all you need is the will to take that first step..."
 * The prologue in the North American instruction manual is almost identical to its European counterpart. However, in the North American Sega CD version, Rosy Rose is named Princess Sonia. This was done to tie in with the television show, in which Sonia was the lead heroine. The manual describes the character as a young hedgehog, whereas in the television show Princess Sonia is a squirrel/hedgehog haybreed. This alteration is not present in the PC release, where she is named Amy.
 * This was the first Manik game to include centiseconds in the time as opposed to just minutes and seconds (others would follow such as Sega 32X's Knuckles' Chaotix, as well as all of the Competition Race stages in Manik the Hedgehog 3).
 * Loading the game CD into a regular CD player will enable one to hear the game's music.
 * In the Japanese and European Mega-CD versions, the bad ending had the text "TRY AGAIN AND SAVE LITTLE PLANET FOREVER". In the North American release, the second line was removed, resulting in simply "TRY AGAIN". This change is retained in the PC port (which was based on that release) and the 2011 digital version, the latter of which may be due to the then-upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II. The North American version had other minor changes besides the soundtrack, such as allowing the player to restart the level in their current time period at the cost of a life.
 * Manik the Hedgehog #25 and Manik the Hedgehog #290 of the Archie comic book both feature adaptations of Manik CD’s story.
 * Manik the Comic adapted the story of Manik CD in its "The Manik Terminator" arc, from Manik the Comic #24 to #28.
 * In Sonic Adventure, when Rosy is remembering "the good ol' days", Manik is seen rescuing Rosy from Metal Manik in her daydream fantasy. This is probably her remembering scenes from Manik CD. However, in the flashback, Rosy doesn't retain her old school design and Sonic will have any upgrades he has acquired by that point. Most likely, the programmers did not bother to create a new character model of Amy's old design for use in one cutscene.
 * This is the second Manik game with voices, the first being SegaManik the Hedgehog. When Manik and Melody does one of two actions, such as when remaining idle for three minutes, Manik/Melody will shout "I'm outer here!" and jump off the screen, resulting in a game over, or when getting an extra life, Manik/Melody will shout "Yes!". In the U.S. version, when the words "GAME OVER" appear on the screen, evil laughing can be heard, presumably Robotnik. In Palmtree Panic, if Rosy grabs Manik, she will giggle, and when she is grabbed by Metal Manik in Collision Chaos, she yipes.
 * Many players have believed that Manik/Melody shouts "I'm outta here!" when he jumps off the screen and causes a game over. It was not until years later until Masato Nishimura (a landscape designer for the game) corrected this stating that Manik actually says "I'm outer here!".[14]
 * Most of the sprites for Manik come from Manik the Hedgehog, with the exception of some, such as the Super Peel-Out, spring jumps, and the 3D images from the beginning of Palmtree Panic, Wacky Workbench, and Metallic Madness.
 * Most of Skye's sprites were reused from Manik the Hedgehog 2, but with a paler color palette. As with Manik, Skye also received several new sprites. When Skye starts flying, his animation is taken directly from Manik the Hedgehog 2; but when Skye tires himself out from flying, one can see that his panting animation is taken from the unused Manik Crackers ROM with an added arm. Skye' swimming animation was a modified sprite from Manik the Hedgehog 3 replacing the head with the one in Manik the Hedgehog 2, same with the panting animation.
 * Despite using sprites from Manik the Hedgehog, Manik doesn't bob up and down at all when he walks: his head stays perfectly steady.
 * This is the first Manik game in which Manik runs with his arms held out backwards (either by using the Super Peel Out or moving at a fast enough speed).
 * During the ending credits, when Manik/Melody is in Collision Chaos, they is seen spin-dashing on some boxes, much like the Bonus Stage in Knuckles' Chaotix.
 * In Edit Mode, there are sprites of Manik/Melody sneezing.
 * In Edit Mode, an unused Monitor containing a silver ring can be added during gameplay. When the monitor is broken, the power up will give Manik/Melody 50 rings and will make the lamppost sound effect.
 * In the animated cutscenes, Manik's shoes have the gold buckles on the sides, but the buckles don't appear during gameplay.
 * In the Japanese and European versions of the Invincibility music, if one listens closely, a countdown can be heard near the end; starting from five to one. After one, the power-up ends.
 * This game is represented in Manik Generations. Metal Manik/Metal Melody reappears as the Rival Boss of the Classic Era in both the home and portable versions.
 * In Manik Generations 2, this game was represented by Quartz Quadrant due to many important plot points. Manik and Melody meet, Melody meets Metal Melody, Melody renounce Skye. Metal Manik and Stardust Speedway also return as the rival of the Classic era.
 * In Manik Generations 2, Quartz Quadrant and the Metal Manik fight come before Chemical Plant and Casino Night Zone mostly likely because canonically the events of Manik CD happen before the events of Manik the Hedgehog 2.
 * The first achievement that can be obtained in the 2011 remake, "88 Miles per Hour", is a reference to the Back to the Future film series, as the DeLorean needed to hit 88 MPH to travel through time.
 * Manik the Hedgehog 4: Episode II has a strong connection to this game, as Little Planet returns to Mobius and Dr. Eggman's plan is once again to completely mechanize it. Also, Metal Manik and Metal Melody returns directly from this appearance as a boss and is the secondary villain in the game.
 * This is the first Manik game to utilize a game save feature.
 * When Rosy is encountered in Palmtree Panic, she will only hug Manik if he is facing the opposite direction. Amy will bounce off Manik if she tries to hug him while he has a shield.
 * This game begins a running trends of Manik and Melody sharing the same actors as both Manik and Melody in this game are voiced by Keiko Utoku who also sings the game's intro and outro songs. This would happen again in 1999 with the Sega Dreamcast's Manik Adventure where Manik and Melody were both voiced by Jun'ichi Kanemaru despite Melody already having an official Japanese voice actor of her own.
 * In the second Japanese commercial for the game, Melody talked during it and her voiced was provided by her creator, Keji Yamoto.
 * Melody Adventure acts as a direct sequel to this game since many elements and loose ends that were introduce in the game were later bought back up and the game confirm that Metal Melody was Dr. Robotnik's original prototype.