Sonic Chaos
1993 Aspect/Sega Sega Master System Sonic Chaos is part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, only released on the Sega Master System and Game Gear in 1993. Similar in style to the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Chaos also features Tails and is the first time on 8-bit that Tails is playable. The story of Sonic Chaos once more features Sonic’s nemesis, the evil Dr. Robotnik, who steals the Red Chaos Emerald which causes Sonic and Tails to race against time to stop South Island from sinking into the ocean. The main difference in Sonic Chaos between playing as Sonic or Tails is that Sonic is the only character capable of collecting the Chaos Emeralds, thus it is only possible to get the ‘good’ ending with Sonic. That said, a lot of fun can be had by playing Tails, being able to fly is quite distracting at times and when playing Tails it can feel like you’re on an easier mode. Sonic Chaos suffers from being released at the back end of the 8-bit era when the majority of the focus was on 16-bit. Stylistically, Sonic Chaos is not an improvement on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and if anything Sonic Chaos may even be a step backwards. Sonic Chaos suffers from frame-rate issues right from the get go, Sonic Chaos feels sluggish and can be clearly seen once the Sonic or Tails reach high speeds. That said, there is still a lot of fun to be had on Sonic Chaos, the inclusion of the Rocket Shoes causing Sonic to be able to fly for a limited time is a nice touch, as well as the pogo springs allowing Sonic to bounce and move brings in another dimension to the game. Sonic Chaos is not an overly long game and can easily be finished within the hour. In typical Sonic style, each Zone is subdivided into 2 levels and a 3rd boss level. Sonic Chaos doesn’t stray too far away from the mould with the ideas for the levels, however, one level in particular is very good. Green Hill once more makes a return, but with a twist, it has now been mechanised into Mecha-Green Hill Zone and is a brilliant idea for a Zone with its pseudo-3D walkways, which originally make their appearance in Gigapolis Zone and the return of the spiral passageways from Turquoise Hill Zone. Sonic Chaos does rehash a lot of ideas, Sleeping Egg Zone feels very similar to Sky High Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with the pipes and chutes of Electric Egg Zone being massively reminiscent of Scrambled Egg Zone. As a game on the whole, for a Sonic game, feels rather uninspired, even the graphics of Sonic the Hedgehog from 1991 feel better, brighter and much more welcoming than Sonic Chaos’ rather dull pallet with even the Badniks feeling rather lacklustre and easily overcome as opposed to some of the more irritating Badniks of the previous games in the series. Sonic Chaos has not aged as well as the previous 8bit games in the Sonic series. However, Sonic Chaos is not without its charm and there are parts of the game which are fun and will keep you playing, but overall, Sonic Chaos is distinctly average. 5/10 Adam
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