Sonic Chaos

Sonic in the game's final level, Electric Egg Zone

In Sonic Chaos, players control one of two characters — Sonic the Hedgehog or his sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower — and must complete each of the game's eight worlds in a quest to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from the evil scientist Dr. Robotnik, who plots to use them to rule the world.[2] Each world, referred to as "zones" ingame, consists of two stages and a boss fight with Robotnik. Levels are designed to allow the player to move as quickly as possible, and are largely based on those in its precursor Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Gameplay itself involves running through each level while collecting rings and defeating Robotnik's robotic minions; rings protect Sonic and Tails from being hit by an enemy or obstacle. Levels also contain small television monitors that can be smashed to reveal a power-up icon, which grant Sonic and Tails with unique abilities, such as speed shoes, a one-hit shield, and extra lives.

Chaos adds several new editions to the core Sonic gameplay. Both characters have their own unique characteristics; Sonic can perform a move called the "Super Peel-Out", originally in Sonic CD, that makes him move extra fast, while Tails is able to fly and can hover over traps and other obstacles. Sonic can collect a new power-up called the "Rocket Shoes", which grant him the ability to fly for a short period of time; Tails is unable to use this, and will simply be granted extra rings if he were to smash a monitor containing Rocket Shoes. If Sonic collects 100 rings in a level, he will be teleported to a "Special Stage", where completing it will award him with a Chaos Emerald, an item needed to unlock the best ending.

Chaos was the first original Sonic game produced for a handheld, in this case the Game Gear.

Sonic Chaos was developed by Japanese studio Aspect Co., being the third Sonic the Hedgehog game they produced, and published by Sega for the Master System and Game Gear.[3] Chaos is largely based on the Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and is thus considered a follow-up or successor to that game.[4] With Aspect's prior experience on producing Sonic games, they had a better idea on how to design Chaos, and thus were able to greatly expand upon its predecessors in both design and visuals.[5][6] For the same reason, they were also able to make the game run faster.[5][6] Chaos is both the first original Sonic game for a handheld system, and the first to feature Tails as a unique playable character.[4]

Sonic Chaos was released for the Master System on October 25, 1993, and for the Game Gear a month later to coincide with the release of Sonic CD.[5] In Japan, it was renamed to Sonic & Tails. Chaos is included as an extra in the GameCube version of Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) as one of the eleven unlockable Sonic Game Gear games, and in Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2005) for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC.[7] In 2009, it was digitally-released for the Wii Virtual Console in North America.[8]

Reception
Review scores Publication Score Master System SGG EGM N/A 8.25/10[9] Nintendo Life [10] N/A Entertainment Weekly N/A A-[11]

Sonic Chaos initially received a positive response from publications. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly commented that the Game Gear version retains all the elements that made the 16-bit Sonic games fun to play. They also praised the graphics and the ability to play as Tails.[9] Sonic Chaos was awarded Best Game Gear Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[12] Entertainment Weekly gave the game an A- and wrote that the game may be enjoyable for younger children.[11] In their review for Sonic Mega Collection Plus, GameSpy felt that both it and the 8-bit Sonic the Hedgehog were the only Game Gear games in the series that are worth playing.[13]

In later years, Chaos was met with a more average reception. Nintendo Life criticized the Master System version for being a generally uninspired game, criticizing its difficulty for being too easy and its level designs for being bland and mediocre.[10] Retrospectively in 2019, Hardcore Gaming 101 gave a rather mixed response to the game; they felt disappointed with the gameplay and stage designs for lacking the uniqueness and puzzle-solving in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and disliked its slow framerate.[14] They were also critical of the soundtrack for being generally lacking in quality and for the overall presentation being unimpressive.[14] Hardcore Gaming 101 said that Chaos was only worth checking out for dedicated Sonic fans writing: "Sonic Chaos is by no means a bad game, but it’s not a particularly great game either. It’s a functional platformer that’s only worth checking out if you’re really into 8-bit Sonic games, or have an interest in a traditional Sonic platformer with a bigger focus on exploration."[14]

A fan-made remake of Sonic Chaos was announced in 2018, and a demo was released in August 2018. It features 16-bit era-styled graphics, as well as new game mechanics and boss fights. VG247 described the project as "incredibly well produced" and wrote it could "pass for the next project from Sega after Sonic Mania."[15]