For many years it seems that Sonic CD was the one Sonic the Hedgehog game that hardly anybody had played.  Few Sega Genesis owners sprang for the costly and required CD-ROM add-on back in the day and the PC port of the game doesn't officially work on modern operating systems.  The game finally turned up again for the Nintendo GameCube and, internationally, the Sony PlayStation 2 in Sonic Gems Collection, but few people took the plunge.  Now, finally, the best of the old school pre-Knuckles Sonic games is coming back in a variety of formats at a fair price right now.  Game Informer fills us in.

SEGA's re-release of the classic side-scroller Sonic CD is coming to Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow, December 14. It's also hitting PlayStation Network in Europe and iOS devices that same day. PlayStation Network users in North America can get it on December 20 and Android and Windows Phone 7 devices in 2012.  This version contains the original Japanese and US soundtracks, and for the first time, the ability to play the game as Tails, who unlockable by completing the game.

Sonic CD costs 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live, $5.00/£3.59/€4.49 /AUD$6.25 on PlayStation Network, and $4.99/AUD$5.49/Euro $3.99/UK £2.99 for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

Five dollars for Sonic CD?  Including both soundtracks and Tails as a playable character?  Sold, sold, sold!  We heard about this re-release a few months ago along with some of the extras in store (Achievements/Trophies, spin dash, etc.), but it had fallen off of the radar in recent weeks, so it's great to see it pop up now.  I'd thought for certain that this would have been a $15 release just because Sega felt it could get away with it.  Between Sonic CD and Sonic Generations, this has turned out to be a fantastic season for fans of speedy hedgehogs.  Here's the launch trailer: