Sonic Chaos
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 This game is not a chaos.
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Sonic Chaos is a 2D platformer released in 1993 for both the Game Gear and Master System. Developed by Aspect and published by Sega, it would also be the last Sonic game on the Master System to be released in Europe.
Plot
While Sonic and Miles "Tails" Prower were gone on an adventure, Dr. Eggman managed to procure one of the Chaos Emeralds. As a result, the rest of the Emeralds scattered around South Island. Without the Emeralds' power, South Island began sinking into the sea. Hearing rumors of Eggman's plot, Sonic and Tails returned to South Island, only to find it in chaos. With no time to lose, the duo rushed off to stop Eggman's plan and save the island by regaining the Emeralds.
Why It Anything But Chaos
- It's the first 8-bit Sonic game to have Tails as a playable character, and he gets to fly in this game unlike Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Sega Genesis, making it the very first game where Tails has the ability to fly.
- This game can be a great introduction to the Sonic series, especially for those who don't know anything about the Sonic games, as it's very friendly in terms of difficulty.
- The graphics are very great for a Game Gear/Master System. While not the best-looking Sonic game on a Game Gear/Master System, it's very good and even looks like a 16-bit game for the most part, such as the sprite work.
- Like most Sonic games released out there, the soundtrack is great, and it's one of the best soundtracks out of any Game Gear or Master System games.
- For the first time in an 8-bit Sonic game, Sonic can fully spin dash, and he also has the Super Peel-out from Sonic CD, which is now called the Strike Dash in this game.
- Great gameplay that is an improvement over the first two Sonic games on 8-bit, as here it's even faster than the second Sonic game on Master System, and it's simply fun to play the game over and over.
- Rocket Shoes are introduced for Sonic, which allows him to fly really quickly in the sky, and it's can make the speedrun easier with this power up, but unfortunately, this power up is not that common in the Sonic games.
- The Chaos Emeralds are not hidden in levels this time, but rather inside special stages that can be accessed once Sonic collects 100 rings in a level. These involve Sonic getting through an obstacle course within the time limit to collect the Chaos Emeralds.
- Despite the boss fight being pretty bad, it actually has a good concept.
- This game focuses more on substance than unnecessary gimmicks, and it's an improvement over Aspect's 8-bit Sonic 2.
- Unlike the first two Sonic games on Master System/Game Gear, the boss fights level actually has rings, which makes them a bit easier compared to the Genesis titles and CD, for that matter.
- It is very speedrun-friendly, as it has a lot of alternate routes and has less trial-and-error than most Sonic games released in the early 90s.
- Score compensates speed, something that would get reused in Unleashed.
- Much like previous 8-bit titles, you can get different rewards at the end of a level, ranging from extra rings to a 1-up or a continue.
- The level design is not extremely straight forward and compensates for well-timed jumps and backtracking; it also has a lot of alternate routes, just like in the previous games.
- Eggman boss battle is decent compared to most boss fights in the game.
Bad Qualities
- The game is somewhat too easy, even for Sonic games, as there's extra life almost everywhere, and in the bonus stages with Sonic, there are enough rings to get an extra life in these bonus stages. The extra lifes are even more present when playing as Tails.
- Flying with Tails is arkward since you have to press the jump button while holding up on the D-pad, as opposed to pressing the jump button in mid-air. Tails also lacks momentum when flying, and he can't fly as much as in the later Sonic games; fortunately, this problem was fixed with the release of both Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles.
- On the subject of Tails, he doesn't have any unique power-ups, and he isn't allowed to go into special stages and collect Chaos Emeralds like Sonic.
- The collision can be hit or miss at best, especially with the rings, although not as much as Sonic Blast (which was released later).
- Like the previous games on the Master System/Game Gear, there aren't any checkpoints or shields, although it's not a huge problem considering how easy the game is.
- The game can sometimes suffer from slowdown and input lag, even in the Game Gear version.
- Despite the great concept, the boss fights are poor and have cheap patterns and basic attacks (with the exception of Eggman), and they are easy to beat overall.
- Sometimes, the game may instantly kick the player out of a special stage if the player gathers 100 rings.
- The game is a bit too short since you can beat it in only 30 to 40 minutes.
Reception
Sonic Chaos received mixed to positive reviews. The critics praised the gameplay, graphics, and sound but criticized the easy difficulty.
Trivia
- The Bead Worm Boss' concept got re-used for the Uber Caterkiller mini-boss in Knuckles' version of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1 in Sonic Mania.
- The Master System version of Sonic Chaos was the final mainline Sonic game released for the Sega Master System in Europe.
- Sonic Chaos was the first game in the Sonic series to actually show how fast the player was moving through zones, as it features a km/h speedometer at the end of each act. Only two other games have adopted this feature: Sonic Labyrinth and Sonic Unleashed.
- The background music for Mecha Green Hill Zone is a remix of Green Hills Zone's music from the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which was also remixed into the main theme of the Japanese soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog CD, "Sonic: You Can Do Anything."
- Similarly, this game's final boss theme is an arrangement of the previous Sega Game Gear game's boss theme, which was remixed into the music for Metallic Madness from Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
- When accessing the Sound Test feature in the game, "BGM#09BH" is a track that never plays through the entire game. Interestingly, it was later used in Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble as the background theme of Sunset Park Act 3.
- The title and life lost themes from the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are reused in a higher pitch.
- Sonic Chaos was the first game to let Miles "Tails" Prower fly with his twin tails.
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