Sonic Chaos

"Sonic & Tails" redirects here. For the Sonic Mania Adventures episode, see Sonic and Tails. For the fan game, see Sonic & Tails (fan game).

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Sonic Chaos
System(s): Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega Majesco Sales (US; re-release)
Developer: Aspect M2
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code Rating EU 1993-10-25 €? 9021 UK 1993-10-25 £29.99 9021 BR 1993 R$? 028320 AU 1993 $79.95 FSON02SEC PT 199x  ? ? JP 1993-11-19 ¥3,800 G-3331 US 1993-11-23 $? 2515 US (Majesco) 199x $? 1204 EU 1993-11 €? 2515 UK 1993-11 £29.99 2515 BR 199x R$? 077080 JP 2009-03-17 500pts ? US 2009-02-02 500pts ? EU 2009-02-06 500pts ? AU 2009-02 600pts ?

Sonic Chaos, known as Sonic & Tails (ソニック＆テイルス) in Japan, is a 2D Sonic the Hedgehog platform game released for the Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System in 1993, and developed by Aspect Co. Ltd, the same developer who worked on the 8-bit versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

This Sonic game is notable as being the first 8-bit title to feature Tails as a playable character. Not only is it the first game on any system to allow the player to control Tails' flight, it is also the first 8-bit title to introduce the Spin Dash and the Super Peel Out (referred to as the Strike Dash). Also of note is that the game shares the same title music and death jingle as the 8-bit versions of Sonic 2, but in a higher key.

Story

Opening sequence.

In another bid to conquer the world, Dr. Eggman has taken one of the Chaos Emeralds, causing the remaining five to lose their balance and scatter elsewhere. Without the power of the Chaos Emeralds to sustain it, South Island has begun to sink into the sea. Sonic and Tails are entrusted with saving South Island before it is too late.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Sonic Chaos builds upon the gameplay of the previous 8-bit title, however following the previous game's high difficulty level the difficulty has been decreased significantly for Chaos, as levels are shorter in length and are designed for getting to the end as quickly as possible. In addition, the player can now use the Spin Dash as a move, which is performed by holding and repeatedly tapping the or buttons as either character. The player's character curls into a ball and takes off at great speed, and due to being in ball form is protected from enemy collisions. These additions and changes make the game feel closer to the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

The Zone structure remains the same as the previous 8-bit titles in that each Zone spans three Acts, with the first two Acts being standard levels, while the third Act is merely a short run up to the boss. Starting from this game, Rings are now provided in the third Act, making bosses significantly easier. Rings are still handled in the same way that collecting 100 Rings will reset the Ring counter to 00.

Characters

The character select screen in the Master System version.

The player has a choice between Sonic and Tails. Sonic comes equipped with two moves: in addition to the Spin Dash, he also has the Strike Dash, performed by holding and tapping or once. This move is slightly faster, but since he is standing up he is vulnerable to enemy collisions. However, Sonic will quickly stop unless the D-Pad is held the opposite way he was going. Another disadvantage of this move is that Sonic is heavier while using this move so he slows down quicker. Rolling uphill is less difficult than running uphill. This means that the faster way to go downhill is the Strike Dash, but the faster way to go uphill is the Spin Dash.

Sonic also must collect five of the six Chaos Emeralds. Unlike the two previous 8-bit Sonic games, the Chaos Emeralds are located in Special Stages. To enter these Special Stages, 100 Rings must be collected in one Act. Eggman himself has the sixth Chaos Emerald; the player will get it back if he is defeated and the other five have been found.

Playing as Tails is slightly different but generally easier. Tails runs slower, but he starts the game with 5 lives and 3 Continues (Sonic starts with 3 lives and no Continues). He is also not required to collect the Chaos Emeralds, thus he cannot enter the Special Stage. He has the Spin Dash attack like Sonic, and the ability to fly by pressing and either or . Flying is handled differently than other games as it must be performed from a standing position and he hovers in position if the D-Pad is let go. He stops flying after a short amount of time or if he bumps into a ceiling.

Items

Sonic Chaos features two new items: The Pogo Spring item and the Rocket Shoes item monitor. The Rocket Shoes gave Sonic the ability of even more incredible speed and limited flight. Often, this was enough to blaze through the entire stage. When playing as Tails, the Rocket Shoes monitors are replaced by 10-Ring monitors. The Pogo Spring item also made a limited appearance here, which were basically springs strapped on to Sonic's (or Tails') shoes, and also lasted a limited time. It gave them an unprecedented jump that let them pass otherwise impossible obstacles. The other items are standard Sonic fare (excluding Shield Monitors).

Bonus Panel

At the end of Acts 1 and 2 of each Zone, a Bonus Panel is spun, with a reward given based on what it lands on:

	Flicky
	No prize is awarded.
	Ring
	10 Rings are added to the player's final Ring tally.
	Sonic
	Sonic gets a 1-Up, Tails gets a Continue.
	Tails
	Tails gets a 1-Up, Sonic gets a Continue.
	Back of Panel
	The panel must be spun again.

The prizes the player will get depends on the number of Rings collected at the end of an Act within a certain Zone (Zone 1, 3 & 5/or Zone 2, 4 & 6). The "extra life" bonus can be alternatively won by doing specific times. The player's speed will also be calculated and displayed above the Bonus Panel as a measurement of how quickly they got through the Act. If the calculated speed has all digits the same, the player will receive an extra life.

Scoring

Enemies: 100 points each.

End Level Ring Bonus: 100 points for each Ring held at the end of an Act. Because the Ring counter resets past 99, the maximum possible bonus is 9,900.

End Level Speed Bonus: Points awarded based on the player's speed calculated after passing the Bonus Panel multiplied by 10. The maximum possible bonus is 9,990.

Zone Clear Bonus: Awarded after defeating the boss of each Zone, before Ring and Speed bonuses are calculated:

• Turquoise Hill Zone: 5,000 points
• Gigalopolis Zone: 10,000 points
• Sleeping Egg Zone: 15,000 points
• Mecha Green Hill Zone: 20,000 points
• Aqua Planet Zone: 25,000 points

Special Stage:

• Ring Bonus: 100 points for each Ring held at the end of an Act. Because the Ring counter resets past 99, the maximum possible bonus is 9,900.
• Time Bonus: 100 points for each second remaining.

History

Development

Main article: Sonic Chaos/Development

Versions

Mecha Green Hill Zone features a different background colour in the Game Gear version.

Much like the previous title, Sonic Chaos had both its Master System and Game Gear versions developed simultaneously, with the Game Gear version having many noticeable differences from the Master System version, mainly presentation differences such as different fonts and designs for the title screen, menus and title cards to take advantage of one system's advantages over the other, and updated music. The core gameplay remains the same, though the third Acts of each Zone were given changes.

The Japanese Game Gear version, Sonic & Tails, received further differences albeit minor, such as using a combination of Master System and English Game Gear versions' Act 3 layouts. It uses the Master System's layouts for Turquoise Hill Zone and Gigalopolis Zone, an altered version of Master System's layout for Sleeping Egg Zone, altered versions of English Game Gear's layouts for Mecha Green Hill Zone and Aqua Planet Zone, and the English Game Gear's layout for Electric Egg Zone. It also includes an exclusive feature intended for a contest that was held in Japan.

Comparisons

Main article: Sonic Chaos/Comparisons

Also released on

• Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut for the GameCube and PC (Game Gear) (2003-2004)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC (Game Gear) (2004-2005)
• Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos & Spinball for the Techno Source Plug and play console (2005)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus & Super Monkey Ball Deluxe for the Xbox (Game Gear) (2005)
• Playpal Plug and Play for the Coleco Plug and play console (2006)
• Sega Fun Pack: Sonic Mega Collection Plus & Shadow the Hedgehog for the PlayStation 2 (Game Gear) (2009)
• Virtual Console on Wii (Master System) (2009)
• Sonic PC Collection for the PC (Game Gear) (2009)
• FunPlay 20-in-1 for the Plug and Play console (2009)
• Game Gear Micro, blue model (Game Gear) (2020)
• Sonic Origins Plus for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Steam and Epic Games Store (Game Gear) (2023)

Production credits

Main article: Sonic Chaos/Production credits

Manuals

Main article: Sonic Chaos/Manuals

Magazine articles

Main article: sega:Sonic Chaos/Magazine articles

Promotional material

• 

  Japanese B2 Sized Poster'

Artwork

• 

  US/EU logo

• 

  JP logo

• 

  JP logo

• 

  Master System cover art

• 
• 

  Sonic

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Tails

• 

  Tails

• 

  Tails

• 

  Dr. Eggman

• 

  Boing-o-Bot

• 

  Beeton

• 

  Bouncy Boss Robot

• 

  Veg-o-Bot

• 

  Metal-o-Turtle

• 

  Frogger

• 

  Bead Worm

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  Tree Crawler

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  Lady Bug

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  Laser Walker

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver

• 

  US/EU Game Gear cover art

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  Master System cover art

• 

  Sonic

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  Tails

Physical scans

Game Gear version

Reception »

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart File:Sonic Chaos Game Gear JP Manual.pdf Manual

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart File:SonicChaos GG US manual.pdf Manual

Game Gear, US (Majesco rerelease)
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart File:SonicChaos GG EU manual.pdf Manual

Game Gear, PT
Manual

Game Gear, BR
Cover
Cart

Master System version

Reception »

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart File:Sonic Chaos SMS EU Manual.pdf Manual

Master System, PT
Cover

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart File:SonicChaos SMS AU manual.pdf Manual

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR (alt)
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR (?)
File:SonicChaos SMS BR manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 aedf3bdf MD5 1d661134b14eedf6b4ae1c907581fd96 SHA-1 f64c8eea26a103582f09831c3e02c6045a6aff94	512kB	1993-08-03	Cartridge (EU)	Sonic Chaos v1.20
?	CRC32 d3ad67fa MD5 e9b3410c02d605b2ac5f88d0886416b1 SHA-1 fa4dc67267f591ae00e22bcfb66896722054a61b	512kB	1993-06-30	EPROMs	06-30 prototype v0.20		(195 kB) (info)	Page
?	CRC32 765234d8 MD5 c829f2e52f962d88268367aee32e24b4 SHA-1 982012a4868315c888c936ca3283fee8c5170cdf	512kB	1993-07-13	EPROMs	07-13 prototype		(187 kB) (info)	Page
✔	CRC32 663f2abb MD5 895ca34f733c445341e5ca1642527690 SHA-1 5b5b7d9cd8adf0f8e1ee15fd4557828f91dfdca1	512kB	1993-09-01	Cartridge (US/EU)	Sonic Chaos v1.00
✔	CRC32 8ac0dade MD5 aac8371d2179295159c73ae2cb92892d SHA-1 e70228cbde1b54f1520804c6e3c28b4130a68c84	512kB	1993-09-07	Cartridge (JP)	Sonic & Tails v1.01
?	CRC32 f95bbd91 MD5 7ee83089f6cba6042493c0d49f1dc67c SHA-1 77294880735369d09f2688784d85cdf3e80fa8a3	512kB	1993-05-17	EPROMs	05-17 prototype		(129 kB) (info)	Page
?	CRC32 e0e3fb6a MD5 f26a5632af1edbca9951a53bbaa68210 SHA-1 cb09f304f3da4bb23fe70abec4b94b4826c41111	512kB	1993-09-14	Cartridge (JP)	Jitsuenyou Sample v0.99		(194 kB) (info)	Page

External links

• Sega of Japan Virtual Console page (Japanese)
• Nintendo catalogue pages: US, UK, AU

References

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems

1991  Sonic the Hedgehog     1992  Sonic the Hedgehog 2     1993  Sonic Chaos | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine     1994  Sonic Drift | Sonic Spinball | Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble     1995  Sonic Drift 2 | Tails' Skypatrol | Tails Adventures | Sonic Labyrinth | Sonic 2 in 1     1996  Sonic Blast      Demos  Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit) AutoDemo | Sonic & Tails Jitsuenyou Sample | Sonic Drift (demo)  Prototypes  Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear prototype) | Sonic Chaos prereleases | Sonic Spinball (8-bit) prereleases | Sonic Triple Trouble prereleases | Sonic Blast prereleases  Unreleased  Sonic's Edusoft

	2006  Sonic the Hedgehog | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine     2007  Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic Spinball | Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island     2008  Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit) | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)     2009  Sonic Chaos | Sonic & Knuckles     2010  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I      Prototypes  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I (WiiWare JP prototype)