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Sonic Chaos

From Sonic Retro

"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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  • Master System
  • Sega Game Gear
    US/EU
  • Sega Game Gear
    JP
Sonic Chaos title.png
Sonic Chaos title GG.png
SonicandTails GG Title.png
Sonic Chaos
System(s): Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega
Sega Game Gear
Majesco Sales (US; re-release)
Developer:
Genre: Action[2][3][4]
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code Rating
Sega Master System
EU
1993-10-25 €? 9021
Sega Master System
UK
1993-10-25 £29.99[5] 9021
Sega Master System
BR
1993 R$? 028320
Sega Master System
AU
1993 $79.95[6] FSON02SEC
Sega Master System
PT
199x  ? ?


Sega Game Gear
JP
1993-11-19[3] ¥3,800 G-3331
Sega Game Gear
US
1993-11-23 $? 2515
Videogame Rating Council: GA
Sega Game Gear
US
(Majesco)
199x $? 1204
ESRB: Everyone
Sega Game Gear
EU
1993-11 €? 2515
Sega Game Gear
UK
1993-11 £29.99 2515
Sega Game Gear
BR
199x R$? 077080


Wii Virtual Console
JP
2009-03-17[7] 500[8]pts ?
CERO: A
Wii Virtual Console
US
2009-02-02[9] 500[9]pts ?
ESRB: Everyone
Wii Virtual Console
EU
2009-02-06[10][11] 500[10]pts ?
PEGI: 3+
Wii Virtual Console
AU
2009-02 600[12]pts ?
OFLC: General (G)

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 the red Chaos Emerald, and he's hunting for more. Upon getting his hands on the red Emerald, the remaining five ended up losing their balance and scattered elsewhere, and without the power of the Chaos Emeralds to sustain it, South Island began 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 Down and repeatedly tapping the 1 or 2 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 Up and tapping 1 or 2 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 Up and either 1 or 2. 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:

SonicChaos GGSMS Sprite BonusPanel.png
Flicky
No prize is awarded.
SonicChaos GGSMS Sprite BonusPanel.png
Ring
10 Rings are added to the player's final Ring tally.
SonicChaos GGSMS Sprite BonusPanel.png
Sonic
Sonic gets a 1-Up, Tails gets a Continue.
SonicChaos GGSMS Sprite BonusPanel.png
Tails
Tails gets a 1-Up, Sonic gets a Continue.
SonicChaos GGSMS Sprite BonusPanel.png
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 is exactly 777km/h, 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:

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

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: Sonic Chaos/Development

Versions

MechaGreenHill-GG.png
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

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: Sonic Chaos/Comparisons

Also released on

Production credits

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: sega:Sonic Chaos/Production credits

Manuals

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: Sonic Chaos/Manuals

Magazine articles

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: sega:Sonic Chaos/Magazine articles

Promotional material

Artwork

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver

Physical scans

Game Gear version

Segaretro-round.svg Reception »
Game Gear, JP
Sandt jp back cover.jpgSchaosgg-box-jap.jpg
Cover
Game Gear, US
Schaosgg-box-us.jpg
Cover
Game Gear, US (Majesco rerelease)
SonicChaos GG US Box Back Majesco.jpgNospine.pngSonicChaos GG US Box Front Majesco.jpg
Cover
Chaos gg us majesco cart.jpg
Cart
Game Gear, EU
SonicChaos GG EU backcover.jpgNospine.pngSchaosgg-box-eu.jpg
Cover
Game Gear, PT

GG SonicChaos PT.png
Manual
Game Gear, BR
SonicChaos GG BR.jpg
Cover
SonicChaos GG BR Cart.jpg
Cart

Master System version

Segaretro-round.svg Reception »
Master System, EU
Schaosms-box-eu.jpg
Cover
Master System, PT
SonicChaos SMS PT cover.jpg
Cover
Master System, AU
SonicChaos SMS AU Box.jpg
Cover
Master System, BR
Schaos-box-br.jpg
Cover
Chaos sms br.jpg
Cart
Master System, BR (alt)
SonicChaos SMS BR Box Alt.jpg
Cover
Chaos sms br.jpg
Cart
Master System, BR (?)

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Master System
CRC32 aedf3bdf
MD5 1d661134b14eedf6b4ae1c907581fd96
SHA-1 f64c8eea26a103582f09831c3e02c6045a6aff94
512kB 1993-08-03[13] Cartridge (EU) Sonic Chaos v1.20
Sega Master System
 ?
CRC32 d3ad67fa
MD5 e9b3410c02d605b2ac5f88d0886416b1
SHA-1 fa4dc67267f591ae00e22bcfb66896722054a61b
512kB 1993-06-30 EPROMs[14] 06-30 prototype v0.20 Download.svg (195 kB) (info) Page
Sega Master System
 ?
CRC32 765234d8
MD5 c829f2e52f962d88268367aee32e24b4
SHA-1 982012a4868315c888c936ca3283fee8c5170cdf
512kB 1993-07-13 EPROMs[15] 07-13 prototype Download.svg (187 kB) (info) Page
Sega Game Gear
CRC32 663f2abb
MD5 895ca34f733c445341e5ca1642527690
SHA-1 5b5b7d9cd8adf0f8e1ee15fd4557828f91dfdca1
512kB 1993-09-01[13] Cartridge (US/EU) Sonic Chaos v1.00
Sega Game Gear
CRC32 8ac0dade
MD5 aac8371d2179295159c73ae2cb92892d
SHA-1 e70228cbde1b54f1520804c6e3c28b4130a68c84
512kB 1993-09-07[13] Cartridge (JP) Sonic & Tails v1.01
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 f95bbd91
MD5 7ee83089f6cba6042493c0d49f1dc67c
SHA-1 77294880735369d09f2688784d85cdf3e80fa8a3
512kB 1993-05-17 EPROMs[16] 05-17 prototype Download.svg (129 kB) (info) Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 e0e3fb6a
MD5 f26a5632af1edbca9951a53bbaa68210
SHA-1 cb09f304f3da4bb23fe70abec4b94b4826c41111
512kB 1993-09-14 Cartridge (JP) Jitsuenyou Sample v0.99 Download.svg (194 kB) (info) Page

External links

References


Sonic Chaos
Sonic Chaos title.png

Main page
Comparisons
Maps
Credits


Manuals
Promotional material
Magazine articles
Reception


Development
Hidden content
Bugs

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems
Sega Master System
Sega Game Gear
 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    
 Unreleased  Sonic's Edusoft
Wii Virtual Console
WiiWare
 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