Tiny Chao Garden
From Sonic Retro
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| Tiny Chao Garden |
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| System(s): Game Boy Advance |
| Publisher: Sega |
| Developer: Sonic Team, Dimps |
| Genre: Simulation |
| Number of players: 1 |
The Tiny Chao Garden (チャオのプチガーデン or Chao no Petit Garden) is a mini game available in Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Pinball Party, and downloadable to a Game Boy Advance via Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, and Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (GameCube version). The 2 Games in 1: Sonic Advance & Sonic Pinball Party compilation contains a separate Tiny Chao Garden for each game.
Like the Chao Adventure mini-game on consoles, Tiny Chao Garden allows the player to take their Chao with them and raise it on their Game Boy Advance. The Chao does not age like it does in Sonic Adventure, so the player has plenty of time to raise all of its stats to level 99. The player must pause the game and select Save & Exit for progress in the Tiny Chao Garden to be recorded. Simply turning the system off will not save progress.
It should be noted that in Sonic Advance, deleting the main game's save file does not delete the Tiny Chao Garden, but once done so, Rings earned in the new game will not be transferred to the Tiny Chao Garden due to a glitch. Since this is the primary and easiest source of Rings for the Tiny Chao Garden, it is highly recommended that the player does NOT delete their save data in Sonic Advance. However, this doesn't happen in the Sonic Advance and Pinball Party Combo Pack version of Sonic Advance.
Contents
Overview
The player begins the game with a free normal Chao egg. To hatch it, they should simply leave it alone, or pet it by moving the cursor over it and pressing the 
button (hereafter "clicking") to speed up the process. Neither method affects the Chao after it hatches. The hatched Chao comes with a default name; its name can be changed at any time without consequence by clicking on its name in the right panel. Below its name is its life stage. Chao do not age in the Tiny Chao Garden, so a newly hatched Chao will remain in the Child stage if the player never transfers it to another game. The other stages are Normal, Swim, Fly, Run, Power, or Chaos, as in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic Adventure DX.
Upon opening the minigame after hatching the initial Chao egg, a random Chao egg is available from the shop. The available egg will either be a Normal egg or a Rare egg; some eggs appear more rarely than others.[1] The non-basic eggs are also known as Jewel eggs, though some Jewel eggs are considered Normal eggs. If the player's Chao runs away, the store will always offer a free Normal Chao Egg.
The goal is to keep the Chao happy and healthy. Its happiness is gauged by the Mood bar in the right of the screen. Petting the Chao at the right times will raise its Mood stat by 1 bar. Occasionally, weeds grow in the garden. They affect the Chao's mood, so it's best to pluck them by clicking on them. Sometimes, the Chao will speak to the player. What it says is usually influenced by its mood, but other than that is random.
Its health is gauged by the Belly bar. The player must feed the Chao fruit purchased from the store to keep it full. It will not eat anymore when full. Some foods will increase or decrease a Chao's mood. Both the Chao's health and happiness slowly decrease over time. If a Chao's mood and belly bars are empty for long enough, it will run away and will be lost forever.
After approximately one hour of the Chao's Mood and Belly stats being depleted, it will start slowly walking to the left side of the screen, saying "I'm running away. This is your last chance to stop me." If the player pets the Chao during this sequence, it will stop running away. If not, the Chao will leave and a Normal Chao egg will appear for free in the store.
Below the Chao's Belly stat are other stats which are useful only if the player plans on transferring them to another game. They are Swim, Fly, Run, Power, and Stamina. The stats are affected by the fruits the Chao eats. Stats can be raised or lowered this way, but once they hit a new level, they cannot go down to the previous level.
There are two minigames that the player can play to earn Rings to spend on things in the store. To access them, click the first (white) GBA or the second (purple) GBA in the upper right corner. The white GBA minigame depends on the player's version; see the minigame section for details.
On the bottom of the right panel is the number of Rings the player currently possesses, which are earned from the main game or the mini-games.
Store
By pressing the 
button, the store menu panel appears on the left of the screen where the player can buy fruit, Chao eggs and toys using Rings earned either in the main game, or in the various mini-games. The fruit and eggs can be uploaded to Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic Adventure DX. The Tiny Chao Garden has special colored eggs, and is the only place to buy Normal Chao eggs, which are free. Press the button again to close the panel.
Note that while the player is allowed to transfer Rings from the Tiny Chao Garden to Sonic Adventure 2: Battle or Sonic Adventure DX, they cannot transfer Rings to the Tiny Chao Garden, so doing so is not recommended.
Fruit
The different fruits one can buy at the store all have different effects on the Chao. They are summarized as follows:
| Sprite | Name[2][1] | Cost | Mood | Belly | Swim | Fly | Run | Power | Stamina |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Fruit A | 30 | +1 | +2 | +3 | -2 | -2 | +3 | +1 |
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Fruit B | 60 | ±0 | +1 | +2 | +5 | -1 | -1 | +3 |
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Fruit C | 55 | +2 | +2 | +4 | -3 | +4 | -3 | +2 |
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Fruit D | 50 | -1 | +1 | ±0 | -1 | +3 | +4 | +2 |
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Fruit E | 30 | +1 | +2 | -2 | +3 | +3 | -2 | +1 |
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Fruit F | 55 | +2 | +2 | -2 | +4 | -2 | +4 | +2 |
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Fruit G | 70 | -3 | ±0 | +3 | +1 | +3 | +2 | -5 |
Eggs
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Main article: Chao Egg |
The player is allowed to raise only one Chao at a time, however they can purchase a single Chao egg to keep in the garden to transfer to another game later. Between the last fruit and the toy slot in the store, a random egg is shown for sale whenever the Tiny Chao Garden is launched. The more expensive the egg, the rarer it is to appear in the store for purchase.
| Sprite | Egg[2][1] | Cost | Rarity[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal Eggs | |||
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Normal | Free | 20% |
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Silver | 500 | 20% |
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Gold | 1000 | 15% |
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Ruby | 5000 | 15% |
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Sapphire | 7000 | 10% |
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Amethyst | 8000 | 10% |
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Emerald | 10000 | 10% |
| Rare Eggs | |||
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Garnet | 12000 | 20.5% |
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Aquamarine | 14000 | 20.5% |
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Peridot | 16000 | 50.5% |
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Topaz | 18000 | 0.5% |
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Onyx | 20000 | 8% |
Toys
The last slot in the store is a toy the player can purchase for their Chao. Only one is shown; all of them must be purchased in order. Once they are bought, they remain in the garden forever.
| Sprite | Toy[1] | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
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Trumpet | 2000 Rings | If given to a Chao, it'll attempt to play it, making a short tune. |
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Rubber Ducky | 2000 Rings | It is placed in the water where it floats. In Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Pinball Party, the Chao will occasionally ride the duck around the water. |
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TV Set | 2000 Rings | This only appears about 3 hours after purchasing the duck. It is placed on the ground, and on occasion the Chao will sit down and watch it. If the player interrupts the Chao while watching TV, it will be angry, like if they wake it prematurely while sleeping. Sometimes the Chao will comment on what it watched on TV. |
Different versions
Several games feature the Tiny Chao Garden minigame, either built-in or as a downloadable multiboot game. Most vary in some way:
Version 1
Included in Sonic Advance, and downloadable via Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, the first version of the Tiny Chao Garden includes basic Chao care. The PSO version has a title screen, much lighter backgrounds, and also comes with a Tails Chao.
All Version 1 Tiny Chao Gardens have Janken as the first minigame.
Version 2
Included in Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Pinball Party and downloadable via Sonic Adventure DX and the Summer 2003 edition of the Nintendo GameCube Soft eCatalog demo discs, the player's Chao can now Swim and Fly if it has high enough stats to, and will emit Z's when sleeping.
Mini-games
Each Tiny Chao Garden has two mini-games. The first minigame, accessed by clicking the white GBA, varies between games:
- Janken - Sonic Advance, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Phantasy Star Online
- Chao Super High-Jump Game - Sonic Advance 2 and Nintendo GameCube Soft eCatalog (Summer 2003)
- Chao's CC Shoot - Sonic Pinball Party
- Tomodachi Sagashi Chao - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
The second mini-game, the purple GBA, is the same for every game: Memory Game.
Janken
Janken is included with Sonic Advance, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Phantasy Star Online. Several cards with a random distribution of Rock, Paper, or Scissors hand gestures on them fly around the player's Chao. At the bottom of the screen, the player is dealt three random cards like those above. Rings are earned by shooting the cards at the bottom into the cards spinning around. The player is given a time limit of 30 seconds to remove as many cards as possible.
A stock of 5 replacement cards is given in addition to the 3 given at the start. The rules of Rock/Paper/Scissors apply:
- If the player shoots a card that beats the card it hits (i.e. shoot a paper at a rock) then the card hit is removed and the player is rewarded 1 Ring and a replacement card.
- If the player shoots a card that is identical to the card it hits (i.e. shoot a paper at a paper) then the card hit is removed and the player is given a replacement card, but they do not receive a Ring reward.
- If the player shoots a card that is beaten by the card it hits (i.e. shoot a paper at a scissors) then the card is deflected, the card 'hit' remains in play, and the player's card is replaced with one from the stock.
- If the player shoots and misses, they are given a card from the stock.
As the player removes cards, the remaining ones will go faster. When they remove all but the last card, the last card moves around much faster. If they remove the last one, a new set of cards appear and the player is given an additional 10 seconds to continue, however their stock is not replenished. For every two sets of cards they beat in a single round of Janken, they will earn more Rings for each card they beat:
- After beating two sets, each card beaten will earn the player two Rings.
- After beating four sets, each card beaten will earn the player three Rings.
- After beating six sets, each card beaten will earn the player four Rings.
- The player cannot win any more than 99 Rings per round; the counter will freeze at that number even though the mini-game keeps playing. If the player pauses and quits early, they will keep the Rings they've earned so far.
The cards received at the start of the game and from the stock are entirely random, so it is entirely possible that the player will have three Rocks when there are only Paper cards left on the field.
When the player runs out of time or cards to shoot, the game is over and the player will return to the Tiny Chao Garden with any Rings they have earned.
Chao Super High-Jump Game
Chao Super High-Jump Game[3], or Chao no Super High Jump (チャオのスーパーハイジャンプ)[4] in Japan, is included with Sonic Advance 2 and Nintendo GameCube Soft eCatalog Summer 2003. Cream and Cheese team up to get Rings, Cream moves a spring on wheels in order to spring Cheese up to get the Rings that fly across the sky. The player must use 
and 
to move Cream, and the button to launch Cheese into the air. Holding 
will allow Cream to move faster.
To clear the level, the player must get all of the Rings. Later levels have more Rings which are higher up and require timing with the button to launch Cheese higher, as the spring is also on a see-saw. If Cheese hits the ground, a life is lost. The game is over if the player lets Cheese fall 3 times, or after they win the third round. If the player wins all three rounds, they get a maximum of 113 Rings.
Chao's CC Shoot
Chao's CC Shoot[5] is included with Sonic Pinball Party. Several red and green Colour Chips appear at the top of the screen and descend lower, with the player's Chao at the bottom. The goal is to remove as many chips as possible, releasing any Rings above them. By pressing or , the player can throw more red and green chips upward, respectively. When 10 chips of the same color are touching, they disappear. When Rings fall, the player must maneuver their Chao so it catches them, or they will fall off the bottom of the screen and be lost. As the game goes on, the speed of descension increases, but the caches of Rings become larger.
If the player shoots a chip so that it encases chips of another color with a ball of the same color on the other side, any chips in-between will become that color, speeding up the removal process. E.g. If the player has RGGGG and shoots a red onto the right end, RGGGGR turns into RRRRRR. Indeed, in the picture to the right, when the red ball connects, the green ball under the Ring will be transformed into a red chip, and the chips will be removed and the Ring will fall. This works orthogonally and diagonally, and chain reactions will occur.
Note that these removals do not occur automatically when chips spawn from the top of the screen, it is something the player must trigger. There can be dozens of chips of the same color touching, and encasing chips of different color, but they will not disappear or change color until the player fires a chip to trigger one or both of the removal techniques. If even a single chip descends into the purple Chao area, the game is over and the player will return to the Tiny Chao Garden with any Rings they caught.
Tomodachi Sagashi Chao
Included with the Tiny Chao Garden downloadable from Sonic Adventure DX, Tomodachi Sagashi Chao (ともだちさがしチャオ)[6] has Cheese asking Sonic to help them find and gather 10 Chao friends to them at the top of the play area. Sonic is only given the Chao's name, which is not helpful as the player is not told the Chao's names as they encounter them. They are given two minutes and must walk around the randomly-generated area finding Hint Orbs; touching them will have Tikal give Sonic a clue as to the whereabouts of the Chao, such as what the Chao is currently doing (eating, sleeping, etc.), if it's on the grass or pavement, or if the Chao can see Sonic and, if so, from which cardinal direction.
The player must use deduction to find the correct Chao within the time limit, and bring it to Cheese. Each Chao successfully returned will award Rings, with more rewarded the more the player finds. Each incorrect guess will deduct 30 seconds from the timer, which is a huge portion of the player's allotted time, so it is wise to seek out as many clues as possible. Completing this mini-game without making a single mistake will earn the player a special Ring bonus.
Memory Game
Memory Game[7], or Okashi Mekutsu Chao (おかしめくっチャオ)[4] in Japan, is the second mini-game in all versions of the Tiny Chao Garden. 14 cards with 7 different food items (Apple, Banana, Cake, Candy, Lime, Lollipop, and Orange) on them are set up on a 6 by 5 grid. After being shown all the cards for a moment, the cards will all be flipped over. Then, the player's Chao will walk around a random path; it will push any cards along its path if there is a blank space behind them. Pressing while the Chao is walking will cause it to trip; if the player does this while the Chao is pushing a card, the card will be briefly revealed.
If the player flips over two matching items, they will get Rings for each card depending on where on the grid the two cards are located. Cards on the blue, outermost ring will award 1 Ring each, cards on the middle, pink ring will award 3 Rings, and cards on the inner two red spots will award 5 Rings. If the player flips over two items that do not match, they will use up a mistake, of which they are given three, and the cards are flipped back over. If the player manages to flip all the cards successfully, they will get a bonus based on how many mistakes they have remaining:
- 1 mistake left: 10 Rings
- 2 mistakes left: 30 Rings
- 3 mistakes left: 60 Rings
When the player uses up all three mistakes, the game is over and they will return to the Tiny Chao Garden with any Rings earned.
Production credits
- Product Coordinator: Akinori Nishiyama
- Game Designers: Sachiko Kawamura, Yoshihisa Hashimoto
- Lead Programmer: Takahiro Hamano
- Mini Game Programmer: Takaaki Saito
- Artists: Sachiko Kawamura, Kazuko Ito
- Source: In-game credits
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Sonic Advance Official Perfect Guide Versus Books, page 37
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:SonicAdvance-SonicAdventure2Battle OfficialPerfectGuide.pdf, page 109
- ↑ File:SonicAdvance2 GBA US manual.pdf, page 35
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:SonicAdvance2 GBA JP manual.pdf, page 53
- ↑ File:SPP GBA UK manual.pdf, page 33
- ↑ File:Sadx jp manual.pdf, page 64
- ↑ File:SonicAdvance2 GBA US manual.pdf, page 36
| Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems | |
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2001 Sonic Advance | Tiny Chao Garden 2002 Sonic Advance 2 2003 Sonic Pinball Party | Sonic Battle 2004 Sonic Advance 3 | Sonic X: A Super Sonic Hero 2005 Sonic Advance & Sonic Pinball Party | Sonic Advance & ChuChu Rocket! | Sonic Advance & Sonic Battle | Sonic Battle & ChuChu Rocket! | Sonic Pinball Party & Sonic Battle | Sonic Pinball Party & Columns Crown 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis Demos Sonic Advance 3
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