 Retrospective reception of the Sega CD is mixed , praising certain titles in its game library but criticizing its low value for money and limitations on the benefits it provides to the Genesis . GamePro listed the Sega CD as the 7th @-@ worst selling video game console of all time , with reviewer Blake Snow noting that " The problem was threefold : the device was expensive at $ 299 , it arrived late in the 16 @-@ bit life cycle , and it didn 't do much ( if anything ) to enhance the gameplay experience . " Snow went on to note , however , that the Sega CD did have in its library " the greatest Sonic game of all time " in Sonic the Hedgehog CD . IGN 's Levi Buchanan criticized Sega 's implementation of CD technology for the Genesis , noting , " What good is the extra storage space if there is nothing inventive to be done with it ? No new gameplay concepts emerged from the SEGA CD — it just offered more of the same . In fact , with few exceptions like Sonic CD , it often offered some of the 16 @-@ bit generation 's worst games , like Demolition Man . " Jeremy Parish of USgamer pointed out that " Sega was hardly the only company to muddy its waters with a CD add @-@ on in the early ' 90s " and highlighted some " gems " for the system , but cautioned " the benefits offered by the Sega CD had to be balanced against the fact that the add @-@ on more than doubled the price ( and complexity ) of the [ Genesis ] . " Writing for Retro Gamer , Damien McFerran cited various reasons for the Sega CD 's limited sales , including the add @-@ on 's high price , lack of significant enhancement to the Genesis console , and lack of ability to function without a console attached . Retro Gamer writer Aaron Birch , however , defended the Sega CD and wrote that " the single biggest cause of the Mega @-@ CD 's failure was the console itself . When the system came out , CD @-@ ROM technology was still in its infancy and companies had yet to get to grips with the possibilities it offered ... quite simply , the Mega @-@ CD was a console ahead of its time . " 
