What am I supposed to do.

[Quinfish]

Am I just supposed to run to the right side of the screen? What is with these past and future boards? I got into a 3d segment once. Am I doing it right, am I missing story parts? Is there even a story?

[NBOX21]

The main objective on each level is simply to reach the end, which is almost always at the right-most side of the level. Simply run through the signpost at the end and that's it. The levels are usually open-ended, but so long as you keep moving in the general direction the level guides you through, you should reach the end without getting lost.

If you're playing the game normally, don't worry too much about the past or future signs, they're only used to travel to different time periods which changes the levels slightly. In the past, this allows you to destroy the robot generators in each level which is one of the two ways to get the good ending.

Those "3D segments" you ran into are the game's special stages, which is the second way to achieve the good ending. Simply hold on to 50 rings at the end of a stage and you can jump into the big giant rings that appears that takes you to one. By destroying all the UFOs in the special stage before time runs out, you get a time stone which, after collecting all seven, grants a good future in every zone as well as the good ending.

Also, don't worry too much about the story - a good chunk of it is explained in the manual, at least for the Mega CD, Windows 95 and PS2/GCN versions, but it's not at all necessary to enjoy the game.

[Ikagura]

Going into the past to destroy the hologram and cage to get the good future is just for the true ending.

[Tyree1579]

Sonic CD Manual
A world that defies Time

"Sonic, where are you going now?"

Sonic the Hedgehog looked over his shoulder at Amy Rose, the young hedgehog who was racing hot on his heels.

"To Never Lake," he called back.

"Why Never Lake?"

Sonic slowed down a little so he could explain. "Ever heard of the Little Planet?"

"Isn't that the tiny world that orbits around Mobius?" Amy Rose asked. "The one with the special stones that alter time and change everything around them? I heard that the planet's full of places that are completely ignored by the passage of time!"

"Yeah. On the last month of every year, the Little Planet appears over Never Lake. It's that time now, and I'm going to check it out. I bet space travel will be exciting!"

"With all those Time Stones, I bet you'll try to outrun time itself!" Amy Rose sighed in adoration.

Sonic didn't reply. He just smiled, eyes gleaming.

When they arrived at Never Lake, the Little Planet was there as expected. But something was wrong. Where there should have been tall trees and bright flowers, there was nothing but dry sand and jagged rocks. The Little Planet was tethered to a rock with a huge chain and its surface was covered with twisted, gleaming metal.

"What happened?" Amy Rose wondered.

Before Sonic could reply, something whooshed over them. Amy Rose shrieked as she was snatched up, and she and her captor vanished in a blue streak of light!

"What the -- AMY ROSE!"

It didn't take long for Sonic to realize what had happened. "This has to be one of Dr. Robotnik's tricks!"

Indeed it was! Upon discovering the location of the Little Planet, the evil Dr. Robotnik and his robot cronies had immediately set about converting it to a giant fortress. When Robotnik saw Sonic approaching, he had dispatched his prize creation, the Metal Sonic, to grab Amy Rose and lure his arch enemy into danger.

"How convenient!" Robotnik crowed, bouncing about like a malicious rubber ball. "This time my scientific expertise will crush you! Once all the Time Stones are in my hands, I'll be able to manipulate time and conquer the world! HO, HO, HO, HO!"

Sonic stood on a rock and though. Robotnik had control on the Little Planet. He had Amy Rose, and soon he would have the Time Stones...but not if Sonic got to them first!

His adventure on the Little Planet was going to be more exciting and dangerous than he'd planned. It was time to get a move on!