Overall 8.5 Graphics 7.6 Sound 7 Addictive 5.5 Story 8 Depth 5.8 Difficulty 5.8
6.5
Sonic Chaos Review gamerforlifefor..
On November 24, 1993 Sega released a game for the Game Gear called Sonic Chaos in the U.S. It was the 3rd 8 bit Sonic game to be made, but was it as good as the other 2 games? I'm going to answer that question right now with this review.
Graphics: 7/10 For a game gear game, Sonic chaos has pretty good graphics. The environments look nice for it's time, there's plenty of color, and the character designs also look good. While there are some better looking game gear games out there, Sonic Chaos is still a nice looking game. Because of that, I'm giving the graphics a 7.
Sound: 5/10 Sonic games always seem to have great soundtracks, however I wouldn't classify Sonic Chaos' soundtrack as "great". I'd just say it's very decent. None of the music really stood out and wowed me. The sound effects are decent as well. Since the soundtrack is so mediocre, I'm giving this category a 5.
Addictiveness: 5/10 Sonic Chaos isn't the most addicting Sonic game out there, nor is it a game that you'll want to replay very much. There are better games in the series. However, I absolutely love the Rocket boots that Sonic can use, which makes him be able to fly at very high speeds. I wish more Sonic games had that item. The awesome rocket boots can't save this category though, so I'm giving the addictiveness a 5.
Story: 7/10 The story takes place on South Island, where Dr. Robotnik has found the Red Emerald. As a result, the other emeralds have been thrown off-balance. Without the power of all the chaos emeralds, South Island and it's inhabitants will sink in the water... So now, Sonic and Tails must find the chaos emeralds before it's too late. It's a pretty good story for a Sonic game, so I'm giving this category a 7.
Depth: 5/10 Sonic chaos has 6 areas with 3 levels each; a main level, an emerald stage, and a boss battle. The levels are very short and they're very easy as well, which makes Sonic Chaos one of the shortest games in the series. My first playthrough only took me about an hour. I'm not even kidding, it only took me an hour to beat this game. If there's one plus about the depth, it's the fact that you can play as either Sonic or Tails, so if you want to you can complete the game as both characters you can. The only problem is that when you're playing as Tails, you can't access the special areas which allow you to get the chaos emeralds. This really disappointed me since I really playing as him. With all of this in mind, I'm giving the depth a 5.
Difficulty: 2/10 Out of all the 8 bit Sonic games that were made, Sonic Chaos is by far the easiest. There was only one level in the entire game that gave me any trouble, and that was the final boss stage. Let's just say I was disappointed with how easily I breezed through this game with no problems at all. After all the trouble I had with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, I expected more of a challenge. Since this game is so easy, I'm giving the difficulty a 2.
Overall Score: 6.5/10 Sonic Chaos is a solid platforming game gear game. I loved how you could play as Tails, However the fact that this game is so easy, combined with the fact that the soundtrack isn't super impressive and that the game is so short hurts the overall experience of this title. I'm giving this game an overall score of 6.5.
Graphics 7 Sound 6 Addictive 5 Story 7 Depth 5 Difficulty 2
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 04-01-15
Review Replies: 1
8.9
Sonic Chaos: the best Game Gear Adventure janus
While Sonic was making more and more graphical prowess on the Sega Genesis, his Game Gear/ Sega Master System counterpart always seemed to stay at the same level, with very hard-to-find emeralds and downright impossible bosses like in Sonic 2. That all changed with Sonic Chaos, his best adventure on the little console (I have not played Sonic Triple Trouble so I can not compare).
Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are quite decent for a Game Gear game. They are much better-defined than Sonic 1; Sonic himself almost looks like his 16 bits self. And he can finally spin dash! This is a most welcomed addition; Sonic 1 and 2 were so difficult without this simple feature. In fact, it is such an essential part of the game that you must use it to defeat the boss of Turquoise Hills. At times he will even get rocket shoes, which make him fly for a few seconds. That way you can reach higher places, usually containing rings. You can also control Tails, who can fly for a little amount of time. His is well-drawn, but I found his "hurt" animation to be inferior to Sonic's; he does not look like he is suffering that much. However his running speed/ jumping abilities look equal to Sonic's, so the only thing you will lose by choosing him is to go into the special stages.
Speaking of which, the chaos emeralds are now all in special stage. Granted, you will not get them by accumulating enough rings. Nevertheless, they will be easier to find since they are within a relatively small area, whose size does expand as you accumulate the emeralds. You can access them whenever Sonic gets 100 rings - no need to finish the zone.
The graphics overall are also richer and more detailed than previous adventures. There are twisted loops like the ones in Emerald Hill in the Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the various platforms and hills look better-defined and there is even perspective. In Gigapolis for example, there are some (harmless) laser barriers behind which you can get; I do not remember Genesis Sonics having this.
The levels are varied, all with different (and more numerous) enemies and traps. Gigapolis (with its "wintry" night background) and
Sleeping Egg (with its Robotnik drawings) were the most visually appealing.
Of course, because of graphical limitations you will only see one of two rings flying around when you get hurt. There are also occasional lags when you move, but I found them less of a hassle than the two-player mode in Sonic 2. You also can not accumulate more than 100 rings; either you start back to 0 (Tails) or you get into a Special Stage (Sonic, although THERE you can gain lives if you find more than 100 rings).
Music: 9/10
Wow! Who could have thought that 8-bits music could be so good, almost at par with its 16-bits brother?
Like so many other games before, the music is one of the main reasons why I kept playing this game. All the zones have relatively elaborate soundtracks, looping after 45 seconds or more. I found them more enjoyable than Sonic 2, even if there are fewer tracks. Even the invincibility track is good, much better than the one from Donkey Kong Country 2, where the composer simply slept on his synth and recorded the result. The rocket shoes also have their own theme; it is short (only the duration of your flight) but sound appropriate. Finally the Special Stage, while not as epic or racy and Sonic 2 or 3, is good enough to be enjoyed on a play list.
Slight caveat though: Electric Egg (the final zone) does not sound dramatic enough (like the various Death Egg or Final zones) or intriguing (like Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3) for an ultimate zone. Because of all the neons around it sounds more like a casino zone.
The sound effects are OK. There are the standard jumping, dash, ring at ring-losing sounds. The block-destroying sound is done well, the spring sound is fine and the rising spikes sound good. Finally, Tails' flying sound, probably because of technological limitations, sounded like an engine that has a hard time starting up.
Addictiveness: 7/10
Other than the music the game can get you hooked up. With the possibility of using two different characters with different abilities (as stated above), this game has a lot to offer. I personally prefer Sonic, but Tails is good too; the flying helps reaching hard-to-attain spots with lots of rings.
The Special Stage, while more difficult than on the Genesis, will still hook you up. Most of them require good reflexes and thinking so you either take the right tube or avoid the right spring so you can move forward.
Finally, the lesser level of difficulty will rejoice people whose dexterity is not too great like me. You finally have rings in boss zones! Sonic 2 for Game Gear did not have any, and I have never been able to get past the first zone because of it.
Story: N/A
Like most Sonic games, the story line is slim, if existent at all. You simply go through the zones to finish them quickly and kill the boss at the end of act 3. You do not even free robotized enemies is the machine at the end of that act.
Depth: 5/10
It is a Game Gear game, so do not expect zones that will take you all the way to your 10-minute time limit.
The zones are rather simple, with only two of the 3 acts that have exploring to do. If you only aim at finishing quickly, then you can easily finish the zones in less than 30 seconds. But if you like exploring and getting rings to have more lives/ enter the Special Stage, then it will require some exploring as getting 100 is not easy. Ring boxes are usually scattered (except starting at Mecha Green Hill) and you will often get surprised by enemies/ hiding spikes. If you watch the few videos published on Vizzed, you will see that enemies to tend to come out of nowhere.
Difficulty: 6/10
This can therefore become frustrating when you try to accumulate rings for whatever purpose. They do not continue their road; they pop up at exactly the same place if you do not kill them, making springing out of a pit challenging.
Also, starting at
Sleeping Egg there are a lot of bottomless pits, many of which are hard to avoid since your jumping destroys blocks keeping you from falling. In Mecha Green Hill many of this holes can be found when you run from "the sides", on those ledges that make you fall if you momentum is too low (you find them in Gigapolis too).
Fortunately, Sonic Chaos includes modern features that decrease the difficulty level. There is the spin dash, as I mentioned above. Old Sonic fans will remember the frustrating of not having enough momentum to go around a loop-the-loop, making you run back far from the left to get around. The spin dash solves that problem; it also helps defeating enemies on the ground rather than jump on them. In fact it's sometimes impossible because they have a spring on their back.
Furthermore, you can finally have rings (if you take the right route like in Turquoise Hills) in boss zones! Sonic 2 Game Gear was downright impossible to complete since the boss zone yielded no right. And with the size of the screen, I couldn't not even see that the boss was self-destructing with the rock coming at it that were always hitting me.
In short, I recommend this mighty fine game. It is visually appealing, has a very addicting soundtrack, offers two different characters and has a reasonable difficulty level. The chaos emeralds are still hard to find, but at least now they are confined within a smaller space.
Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 7 Depth 5 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 4.4/5
Submitted: 07-19-15
Review Replies: 1
4.8
Another Frustrating Handheld Sonic Game! luigi25
I don't know what it is about the Sonic games Sega did for the Game Gear! I didn't mind playing the first Sonic game on the Game Gear. I hated playing Sonic 2 on Game Gear, but I did manage to push through that one and finish it without the Emeralds. Sonic Chaos is the third handheld Sonic game that Sega released on this console near the end of 1993. The gameplay is crap in this one too, and I cannot finish it! I've beaten it maybe once or twice, but I can't do it now! All the other categories for this review are positive, but the gameplay just sucks!!
It feels like you're just getting into the same problems with the last game, but you get to continue more in this one. The story felt sort of bland too, and these games were starting to get pretty tiring on this handheld system that didn't have the popularity of Nintendo's Gameboy. I can see why the Game Gear never got to be that popular. Even the first game wasn't that great of a game either, but it played way better than this one and was more original with the plot.
Graphics 8/10: I don't think Sonic Chaos looks as good as what the previous game looked. Sega did give Sonic and the other sprites quite a lot of detail, but it isn't as good looking of a game. It still looks okay, and you can tell that they were trying to give Sonic more of the same type of look he would have in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, but it just don't work for the 8-bit system. The backgrounds are about like what they were in Sonic 2 for Game Gear. They're decent but nothing amazing, and overall, this game does look pretty nice but not as good as before.
Music 10/10: Perhaps the strongest point to Sonic Chaos was its soundtrack. There isn't a dull track in this whole game just like you got with Sonic 2! The track for Mecha Green Hill Zone is my favorite. They all sound fantastic. One thing Sega did right with these games was the music. I think both Sonic Chaos and Sonic 2 are about equal when it comes to their soundtracks. I can't decide which one is better. This game is another early '90s classic Sega game just like all the others. Sonic games always had good music in them even the Game Gear games.
Gameplay 2/10: This is the part of the review where I have a lot to complain about. Everything in Sonic Chaos is the same as it was in all the other Sonic games. Sonic has to get to the end of the level without dying from: running into enemies, falling into bottomless pits, collecting rings, etc. This game is more generous with lives and continues than what Sonic 2 was. Sonic Chaos also gives you rings for the boss fights which is something the other two games didn't do. Although, the enemy placement in this game is terrible, and there are so many: bottomless pits, spikes, and fall-through floors that it drives me into a rage fit!!
The controls are also unresponsive a lot of times, and you can't hold onto your rings to save your life! You can't help but get hit on the boss fights, lose your rings, and die!! The Final Boss in this game is a joke! The first part I can beat without rings (until I was able to find them because they're always hidden in this game), but the second part always killed me no matter what I did! I couldn't move out of the way because Robotnik would always attack me from out of nowhere. It's like he was physic and knew when I was going to jump, and this was an instant kill hit!
He'd hit me no matter what I did which was the same problem I had with all the other bosses in this game. It felt like there was no pattern to any of this, and it was all so random. I can't count how many times I Rage Quit on Sonic Chaos! The Final Boss just trolled me, and so did some of the fall-through sections in Mecha Green Hill Zone. I mean, you just don't seem like you can improve with this game unlike in some of the other Sonic games. It's just as bad as Sonic 2! I can't tell which one had worse gameplay.
Despite all the Game Overs I got with Sonic 2, I got better over time. Sonic Chaos never gets easier and just trolls the hell out of you until you Rage Quit! I did manage to beat this game once or twice, but I could never consistently beat this game! I felt like most of my success depended on luck, and I could never remember how I did it. I relied too much on rings in some parts, and the Final Boss just finally let me win after dying a lot and using up every continue I had!!
Once I got to Mecha Green Hill Zone, I started to get frustrated. Some zones are easy as hell to finish, but the Mecha Green Hill part and the Final Boss can GO TO HECK!! Sonic Chaos has some replay value to it, but get ready to lose a lot of lives and continues!
Story 0/10: It feels like the plot for Sonic Chaos picks up right after Sonic 2. You can play this game as either Sonic or Tails. Whichever player you choose, they have to go after a giant Chaos Emerald that Dr. Robotnik has stolen. Is that all there is to this game? No offense, but most of us could have come up with a better story than that! Sega had to be running out of ideas at this point in the handheld Sonic series! All the other games in the classic Sonic series had a great plot and new characters such as Knuckles. I give this storyline a big THUMBS DOWN!
Content 4/10: Another disappointing aspect of Sonic Chaos is its lack of content. Good players can finish this game in 25 to 30 minutes. I believe most players that are masters with Sonic Chaos don't like how short it is. This Sonic game consists of 5 stages: Turquoise Hill Zone,
Sleeping Egg Zone, Mecha Green Hill Zone, Aqua Planet, and The Electric Egg Zone. You get to play the Special Stages in this game by collecting 100 rings on a regular stage. If you are able to collect all the Emeralds, Sonic or Tails gets the big Emerald at the end. Exciting Finale!
Difficulty 10/10: Sonic Chaos is yet again another frustrating handheld Sonic game. It is not due to lack of lives or continues that make it so hard. Players have plenty of extra chances to keep playing if they are able to deal with all the random things this game throws at you. I hate how the controls can be so unresponsive in the game as well. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY SPIKES IN THIS SONIC GAME!? MY GOD, I'VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY RANDOM SPIKES!! And bottomless pits!! Good luck holding onto your rings, this is just like Metropolis Zone in Sonic 2 on the Genesis with this bad enemy placement!!
That Final Boss, how can anyone know which direction he is going to fly at you from?! I can't dodge him no matter what I do!! I can't beat it.
Overall 4.8/10: Man this game sucks!! I didn't think I would end up rating Sonic Chaos as low as I did 4 years ago when I first started playing it on here!! It's the lack of originality that really hurts it as well as the random and unbalanced difficulty. It never gets easier no matter how much I play it! The graphics are okay, and the soundtrack helps it some, but those things are so superficial. You can't make a good game without good gameplay period!! If you take that part out, the game has no substance, and I don't feel like wasting my time on it anymore!
Graphics 8 Sound 10 Addictive 2 Depth 4 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 03-19-21
Review Replies: 1
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