Sonic Labyrinth

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Sonic Labyrinth
System(s): Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Minato Giken M2
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code Rating JP 1995-11-17 ¥3,800 G-3374 US 1995-11 $? 2584 EU 1995-10 €? 2584-50 UK 1995-10 £29.99 2584-50 JP 2012-05-16 ¥286 (300) ? US 2013-06-27 $4.99 ? EU 2012-05-10 €5.00 ? UK 2012-05-10 £4.50 ? AU 2012 $? ? DE 2012-05-10 €5.00 ?

"Labyrinth" redirects here. For the Sonic 1 Zone, see Labyrinth Zone.

Sonic Labyrinth (ソニックラビリンス) is an isometric puzzle/action game for the Sega Game Gear. Sonic must move around a pinball-like arena, using his power to roll into a ball to defeat Badniks and pick up keys in order to exit through the Goal door and clear the stage. The only move Sonic can use in the game is the Spin Dash, because Dr. Eggman secretly replaced his famous red shoes with a pair of Speed Down Boots that took away his ability to run fast or jump.

Gameplay

The game uses a 3D isometric overhead view similar to that of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. However, gameplay is restricted to a single button which is the Spin Dash (the arrows overhead determine the strength). There is no jump button whatsoever and the only way to make Sonic airborne is through the use of obstacles. The objective of each level is to collect 3 keys in order to be able to exit through the door which leads to the next level.

The power-ups are also not contained in monitors but are found inside colored triangles instead. Their formation, which constantly shifts to another formation, determines which power-up is given. These power-ups can increase time (yellow), destroy onscreen enemies (green), grant lives (pink), increase movement speed (blue), or grant invincibility (red). Interestingly, these triangles cannot be found in the third act of Labyrinth of the Sea, but there are oil slick-spitting octopus robots that have two colored diamonds that cycle through the colors of the triangles. Rings can only be found in the Scroll Zones which precede the boss encounters and these will increase lives, not health. Instead, health is determined by amount of time available and each hit will shave 10 seconds off the clock. When time runs out, Sonic will lose a life. Fortunately, seconds can be added to the clock by collecting keys or by destroying enemies. Boss levels lack a timer so these can be tackled at the player's leisure.

The boss levels are different as they lack a timer. Sonic can use the Rings collected in the preceding Scroll Zone as protection from hits, as in most Sonic games, but Rings lost cannot be collected again. After defeating the Boss, a Chaos Emerald is awarded, meaning there are a total of 5 Emeralds which can be earned without any extra effort. The sixth Emerald is hidden in a Special Stage found in Act 3 of the Labyrinth of the Sea. All Emeralds are needed to attain the good ending of the game.

The Time Attack mode allows players to race to achieve best times. When completed, a best time and score are given. In addition to that, there is a 5-digit password which has no actual use in the game. The password was for use in a contest held in Japan where one hundred players with the best times would be awarded prizes. The contest was only held from November 17 to December 31st in 1995.

Versions

Also released on

• Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut for the GameCube and PC (2003-2004)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC (2004-2005)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus & Super Monkey Ball Deluxe for the Xbox (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 (2009)
• Sonic PC Collection for the PC (2009)
• Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS (2013)
• Sonic Origins Plus for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Steam and Epic Games Store (2023)

Production credits

• Director: N.Machida, H.Katagiri
• Planner: K.Tanaka
• Programer: K.Iwanaga, Y.Kataoka, A.Inoue, T.Ueshima
• Designer: K.Kayajima, K.Tanaka, K.Tamura
• Sound Programer: A.Iwanaga
• Special Thanks: N.Matsushima, S.Yoshihara, K.Kumakura, N.Tabata, M.Araki, N.Gotoh, Y.Yanagisawa, A.Matsumoto, M.Morohoshi, N.Honda, K.Hijiya, M.Ohta, K.Mine, H.Ozaki, T.Takinoue

Source: In-game credits

Manuals

Main article: Sonic Labyrinth/Manuals

Artwork

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Physical scans

Reception »

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 5550173b MD5 aa6598585b2cdb92a14476beeb34991b SHA-1 e24bf33d8d5a79f371485f20f207b6b26f5b341e	512kB		Cartridge
?	CRC32 5550173b MD5 aa6598585b2cdb92a14476beeb34991b SHA-1 e24bf33d8d5a79f371485f20f207b6b26f5b341e	512kB	1995-05-25	EPROM cartridge				Page

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Game Gear
• Sega of Japan Virtual Console page
• Nintendo catalogue pages: JP, 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