Nightmare Fuel / Sonic the Hedgehog CD

Fun is infinite with Sega Enterprises!^note Not to be confused with that Infinite.

Gameplay and visuals

Bad Futures

• Every stage in the Bad Future has settings that look like post-apocalyptic hellholes:
  • Palmtree Panic becomes an environmental disaster—the grass is dead, the trees have been replaced with machinery, and the water is polluted.
  • Collision Chaos looks like a rusty, abandoned amusement park, full of flashing signs with random lines.
  • Tidal Tempest is dark, the water is polluted (yet again), the plant life is dead, and the pipes are broken.
  • Quartz Quadrant has been overmined and has become a dark place with machinery everywhere. What at least looked like water in the past and present has been, you guessed it, pollu- dried out and replaced with more space for machines.
  • Wacky Workbench has been rusted and rotted beyond repair.
  • Stardust Speedway has an evil red color scheme with lightning flashing in the background. On top of that, the instruments on the road are destroyed.
  • Metallic Madness is kind of an unnerving area, even compared to the rest. The American themes are bad enough, while the Japanese themes are a bit more frantic and groovy, but it's practically an endless sea of nothing but machinery, as if you're running through the literal metal layer covering Little Planet and holding it in place. If Scrap Brain Zone was creepy for looking like a polluted hellscape, this place is what happens if the early days of Robotnik were to get his way: all organic life giving way to technology and destroying all hope and geography to get his way.
• The visibly-decayed and run-down state of the badniks in Bad Futures can also be disturbing, moving slowly and usually missing most of their powers. Some of them still try to fire weapons that fell off long ago or no longer work. Many of them look sad, as if they know how broken they are. It shows that Robotnik is so evil that he doesn't even care about his own creations and leaves them to rust.

Fun is infinite

The notorious "Fun is infinite" screen, with the boss battle music and the repeating creepy Sonics making disturbing expressions in the background. The screen is noticeably less intimidating in the Japanese and European versions, due to the boss theme in those versions being funky and upbeat rather than disturbing. Apparently, it was made in mind with the JP/EU soundtrack in mind from using the more upbeat music from those versions, which makes it a case of Accidental Nightmare Fuel.

• It doesn't help that it helped inspire Infinite, the big villain for Sonic Forces. In addition, if you look closely, you can even see "Fun is infinite" written on the card that came with the Deluxe edition of Sonic Mania, further hinting at their connection.
• It had been rumored that it was a message from the devil himself. This was not true, obviously: "Majin" is simply an alternate way to read Masato (真人) Nishimura, game designer and creator of the message's given name.
• It's also Nightmare Fuel in-universe too, as Tails is scared of it. Given, it's lessened when you discover on close inspection that it's actually Sonic wearing a mask with the creepy expression, but it's still quite unnerving due to the Awesome Art shown here, which draws said expression in an overly detailed and almost startlingly photorealistic manner, dunking it into the deepest depths of the Uncanny Valley. It says something that even Amy is surprised by it as well.
• For further measure, it's also seen at the end of the Sonic 3K episode of Sonic Origins: Speed Strats, and in the thumbnail for the Secrets episode, though it isn't directly mentioned outside of the code to access it in-video.

Other

• The old Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik himself is eerie every once in a while in this title, despite how easy most of his fights are. Sometimes he matches up with his designs in the first and second games, but other times he has a more hunched-over look with his Bald of Evil more prominent and a slight hint of his eyes behind the glasses. This single sprite looks a little more than eerie, as if he's gone from the goofy cartoon design to being doggedly determined to kill you; the fact that this accompanies his instant-death laser in the Metal Sonic race, and that he doesn't even visibly react to his creation eating solid wall when they lose, doesn't help. And while the final battle has him back to his normal design, he's highlighted by the Egg Spinner's interior lighting, making him look particularly delighted to make this Sonic's last adventure. Fight him in the Bad Future, and those boss themes exacerbate the problem.
• If the game is not paused or is idle for three minutes, Sonic says "I'm outta here!" and jumps off the screen, resulting in an instant Non-Standard Game Over; if you are using the American soundtrack, the aforementioned terrifying Game Over music comes into play. If you did not expect it, it's pretty jarring.
• The Metal Sonic projectors scattered about the past versions of the stages, which shows a hologram recording of Metal Sonic beating up helpless animals. All of this while a bird desperately flies around the evil duplicate, unable to do anything. Thankfully, you can quite easily destroy them when found, and watch as all the freed animals flourish across the stage.
• On the subject of Metal Sonic, the race with him: if you fall too far behind or if Metal reaches the end first, Eggman will hit you with a massive laser that he continuously blasts the course behind him with. Those who simply expect the usual "fly back and drop all your Rings" routine are in for a shock when they discover that the laser is, in fact, an unconditional One-Hit Kill. It's much worse in the latter case; after the door seals shut, you see Metal Sonic mockingly imitating Sonic's trademark finger wag as you're left trapped and helpless. At that point, there's nothing you can do but wait for Eggman to reach the end and kill you.
• The Stinger for the Japanese/European bad ending — shown if you beat the game without collecting all the Time Stones and/or Good Futures — is quite the unpleasant surprise. It shows Never Lake as the Little Planet begins to swirl over it, only for it to suddenly reappear as its mechanized form; once again chained up to an Eggman-shaped rock formation, and accompanied with a short but daunting tune that has four loud, sudden drum notes and a distorted version of Eggman's creepy, mocking laughter at the end of it.^note It also reappeared in the bad ending for Sonic Mania Plus. The American version of the game still has this ending, but still has the end credit theme still playing without the sound effects, making for a much dissonant ending.
  TRY AGAIN
  AND FREE LITTLE PLANET FOREVER
• The secret Batman parody image can also be this with the American soundtrack, much like the "Fun is infinite" image. This image appears with an uncanny-looking muscular Sonic under a dark cloudy background. Additionally, the final boss theme is playing here. While it's not bad in the Japanese/European soundtrack which has a choral suspenseful song that sounds more akin to Batman, the American soundtrack is just a remix of the boss theme, which itself puts a much scarier tone to the screen.

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Music

If the demented environments and mass of enemies of the various Bad Futures doesn't make it clear that the zone has been ruined by Eggman, the music sure does. Both soundtracks are terrifying in their own ways.

Japanese soundtrack

• The Japanese Bad Future themes are more on the threatening side by twisting the melodies of its own cute, upbeat themes making the mechanical tone all the more jarring.
  • Palmtree Panic's Bad Future really emphasizes on the "panic". In contrast to the upbeat and welcoming themes of the Past, Present and Good Future themes, the Bad Future instead uses loud, mechanical noises, making it sound more like a boss theme for a scary looking machine. While the first "Yay!" sound from the other themes is heavily pitched down and distorted in a way that sounds like they're dying, the second is just the normal "Yay!" which is then a bit distorted, sounding like the kids are forced to be happy or don’t know better than the Crapsack World Little Planet has become.
  • Tidal Tempest's Bad Future is a major contender for this. If you were expecting something peaceful like the Present, Past and Good Future, you're dead wrong. It's anything but peaceful with mechanical sounds being played over it, giving off a chaotic mood over the now horribly-polluted zone. It really does not help either that you have to fight Eggman in the dark red polluted water in the Bad Future of this zone.
  • Quartz Quadrant's Bad Future isn't very nightmarish at all - until you hear a female voice yelling something like, "Go! Forget this place!", followed by some extremely frantic drumming. If you reach it during Zones 1 or 2, then it sends a clear message: the Future is already beyond saving, and you need to get back to the Present (and then preferably to the Past) right now.
  • Wacky Workbench’s Bad Future is a Dark Reprise of the already tense Present theme, and turns the song from intimidating to malevolent. Harsher instruments, alarms, and other elements make it sound like the factory could collapse from its own decay at any minute.
  • Stardust Speedway's Bad Future mirrors all the broken instruments with its tinny and underpowered arrangement of the Present and Good Future theme, accompanied by a distorted and chaotic version of the Present and Good Future's vocal track, topped off with police sirens.
  • Metallic Madness’ Bad Future deserves merit: the industrial music already sounds sinister, but Eggman's comical laugh is included in the song and sounds deeper than usual, like if he let himself decay. The music also has spoken lyrics, and not only are they distorted and robotic, but it sounds as though Eggman (or somebody else, possibly Metal Sonic) is taunting you, the player. The worst part of its taunting is the fact that it is right; if you're seeing the Bad Future versions of Metallic Madness, then you have (thus far) failed to collect the seven Time Stones or missed at least one Robot Generator from all the previous levels. And if you are in Zone 3 of Metallic Madness, which is Sonic CD's final level, and you're still seeing its Bad Future, then the Little Planet is doomed to remain under Eggman's control forever, even if you manage to defeat him in the final boss fight.
    YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING, SO DON'T EVEN TRY IT. GET SOME HELP.
    DON'T DO WHAT SONIC DOES.
    (Ge-g-g-g-get outta' here!)
    ...
    SONIC, DEAD OR ALIVE, IS M-M-MINE.
• While it's tame in comparison to its American counterpart, the Japanese Game Over theme still has an eerie atmosphere as it is essentially a Dark Reprise of "You can do anything" with a heavily deep and distorted "Toot-toot Sonic Warrior..." which now sounds like a distorted Mocking Sing-Song, an industrial hip-hop music sounding like the game is collapsing, and it ends on a weird high-pitched noise similar to a scream.

American soundtrack

• The American Bad Futures are more on the haunting side. While the Japanese tracks gave you the feeling that you still have a chance to save Little Planet and seem to blame Sonic for the horrible state the zones end up in, or even outright mocking him for not using his full power to do enough, these tunes just outright signal that you not only failed to save the zone, but also Little Planet as a whole, and that there's nothing you can do to change it, with the tunes mournfully blaming Robotnik for his horrible acts.
  • Palmtree Panic's Bad Future has a ghostly vibe to it and is also a very depressing tune that is nothing like its Present counterpart and a depressing arrangement of its Good Future counterpart.
  • Collision Chaos's Bad Future is rather similar to the Present tune, only darker and creepier, and has more guitar alongside a more hollow melody to fit the zone's bleak and gray color palette.
  • Tidal Tempest is probably the worst of them all: a very sad and depressing tune that is, once again, not at all similar to its Present, Past and Good Future counterparts. The theme gives off a feeling that the zone is starting to dry out from the tainted water. To make matters worse, there is female chanting playing throughout the second half of the tune, which may sound like the vocalists from the Present and Good Future tunes are being assaulted to some.
  • Quartz Quadrant's Bad Future theme has ghastly moans and wails created by the guitars and metallic-like sounds in the middle of the tune, showing that the zone is hopelessly polluted and there is no way to ever recover its once beautiful landscape.
  • Metallic Madness' Bad Future, which has a very uncanny guitar solo throughout, with the relaxing bongos of the Good Future version hopelessly drowned out by a chaotic, distorted, and frantic melody, only made more nightmarish by Metallic Madness itself looking like it is collapsing slowly while the machines still toil away in their sparking, broken, and decaying state.
• The American boss battle music is one of the creepiest songs in the game with the creepy laughs placed throughout it and its manically chaotic theme. It sounds like Eggman himself has gone insane and just wants to outright kill Sonic. The Final Boss theme, while sounding the same as the boss theme at a normal glance, is even worse with added emphasis of its creepiness in the background, as well as the disturbing, slow laugh played just at the end before it loops.
• The worst offender, no matter the version you're playing, is the American Game Over music. On top of being played by disturbing pipe organs which are extremely effective Jump Scares, hearing the mad doctor himself laughing maniacally, a woman laughing alongside them who's never seen in-game (some commenters in the video above think it could be a roboticized and/or brainwashed Amy), and metallic scratching sounds (presumably from Metal Sonic himself) being played on top of it only makes it more unnerving to hear Sonic's defeat, even if it plays only for a few seconds. No wonder Sonic.exe decided to reuse it (but played in reverse for horror effect)...

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