Format: Sega CD
Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Core Design Ltd.
Publisher: JVC Musical Industries, Inc.

From the minute Wonder Dog opens with lengthy FMV and animated sequences, the game's identity as one of those "Soccer Kid"-style, Amiga-esque Euro-platformers is on full display: sharp tile art makes up forests and junk yards, while there is the obligatory "clip art" background in stages like "Planet Weird". Enemy designs are typically British, like the sorts of baddies you'd see in an old "Danger Mouse" cartoon.

Essentially everyone involved with this title went on to make "Tomb Raider" a few years later, and composer Martin Iveson is no exception: here he delivers some RedBook funk and jazz fusion music, along with a plethora of fitting digital sound effects, such as a Homer Simpson-reminiscent "doh!" when enemies get hit. In terms of audio, Wonder Dog is a significant step up from the typical Genesis platformer, and must have been very impressive in 1992.

Wonder Dog is a conventional left-to-right affair, with some verticality, and an exploration focus: there is no timer, so the player moves about the levels firing star projectiles at enemies, while scooping up collectibles. Attack trajectory is controlled by holding down the fire button, a mechanic which would eventually become popular thanks to Nintendo's "Yoshi" games. There are a few blind drops and jumps, but the level design plays it safe enough to not make any serious missteps.

As a very early Sega CD game, Wonder Dog is a fun albeit by-the-numbers platformer, which delivers crisp and smooth graphics, along with at-the-time pumping audio, well paced levels, and some gigantic boss sprites to boot. There is no save support oddly, but simple passwords are doled out after each world. It's not going to wow anyone, but Wonder Dog's familiarity and solid design would have made a great second title for anyone's shiny new Mega CD add-on.