Only two hurdles stood between Pachacamac and his ambition: a guardian water spirit and Tikal, his own daughter. Tikal had learned the lore and literature of the Knuckles tribe directly from her grandmother, whose pacifistic teachings stuck with her in spite of her father's aggressive tactics. After befriending the mysterious water spirit and the Chao creatures that inhabit the Emerald shrine, Tikal took a firm stance against her father and his crusade. At the moment of truth, as Pachacamac and his men approached the Emerald altar, Tikal stood between them and the legendary gems. Infuriated by his daughter's rebellion, the impetuous chieftain ordered her moved aside by force, and the ensuing attack on the shrine and the helpless Chao within enraged the water spirit. By absorbing the power of the 7 Emeralds, the creature transformed into a giant liquid monster and began a furious assault on the entire echidna civilization. Desperate to end the beast's rampage, Tikal prayed for the souls of herself and the monster to be sealed within the Master Emerald.

   With the echidna civilization in ruins, the few survivors took it upon themselves to guard the Master Emerald and ensure that the power within would never again be unleashed upon the world. The Chao creatures that inhabited the shrine faced almost total extinction, but the surviving specimens found new places to live and their numbers gradually rebounded. The water spirit became known in lore as Chaos and the 7 Emeralds as the Chaos Emeralds.

   3,000 years later... The industrious Dr. Eggman has targeted the city of Station Square as the future location of his own personal empire, Eggmanland. He establishes a base in the neighboring jungle region, Mystic Ruin, and while excavating the site discovers an ancient tablet with mysterious inscriptions. The tablet chronicles the legend of Chaos and the fall of the Knuckles civilization, which gives Eggman an idea. If this Chaos creature can wipe out a mighty ancient race, it can surely make short work of the modern day Station Square. With this new plan, the iniquitous Doc sneaks onto Angel Island and shatters the Master Emerald, releasing a weakened but still embittered Chaos. Eggman uses Chaos Emeralds to restore his new pet back to its former strength, not realizing the true extent of the ancient horror he is unleashing upon the modern world...

   Sonic Adventure eschews the series' trademark momentum-based physics in favor of a simpler, somewhat clunkier system that makes precision movement difficult but allows for smoother acceleration. Max speed is hit almost instantaneously, which makes getting around the expansive environments a fluid and painless experience. The analog stick handles character movement while the L and R triggers rotate the camera. Press button A to jump and X or B to perform a special attack / context-sensitive action (such as picking up a Chao). Button Y can be used as a safe way to perform certain context-sensitive actions without the risk of accidentally Spin Dashing your subject. Tap any direction on the digital D-pad to get a first-person view of your surroundings (the camera switches back to third-person as soon as you move your character).

   While the mechanics are a fairly natural evolution of 2D Sonic stylings, Adventure separates itself from hedgehogian tradition in overall structure. Action Stages, boss fights, and cutscenes are connected via three small "hub" areas called Adventure Fields. There are no enemies and few obstacles in the Adventure Fields, plus they tend to be alot more wide open than Action Stages, making them a good place to boondoggle with the mechanics. Permanent power-up items (both essential and inconsequential) can be found hidden in the nether regions of each field, and wandering citizens can be spoken to in RPG fashion. As Action Stages and events are completed, new areas (and new stages) become accessible through each hub.

   Along with the new dimension of space added to Sonic's world is a richer assortment of power-up items than the original 2D games would have had any justification for:

   Eggman's latest mechanical menagerie is a bit sparser than some of his recent sets, but the poor old fart is just learning to design in three dimensions, so we must forgive him. Bust an enemy with the usual spin attack (or one of the new alternative methods) to free the cuddly critter within. Tag the liberated fuzzball to add him to your inventory: you can hold up to 10 per stage. Exit or complete the Action Stage and take your hoard to a Chao Garden where you can use the prancing pests to fortify your Chao warriors with stat upgrades. (For more info, scroll down to the Chao section further south on this page.)

	Kiki (キキ) -- Twittering monkey bots based on Ai-ai from Sonic 2. Found on the ground or in trees, they chuck bombs at approaching heroes. Some bombs explode immediately while others only blow after a short delay: long enough to pick the bomb up and toss it back at its progenitor.
	Rhinotank (リノタンク) -- Rhino bots based on Cyclone from Sonic 3. They roll casually along the ground, but charge as soon as they catch sight of Sonic.
	Sweep (スイープ) -- Water strider bots that glide along the surface of pools and thrust pointy needle noses at whichever colorful mascot happens to be passing by.
	Boa-Boa (ボアボア) -- Large airborne caterpillar-looking bots that bear a passing resemblance to Sonic 3's Meramora. They glide gracefully through the air, spouting puffs of flame from their sides. Attack from above or below.
	Leon (レオン) -- Chameleon bots that sneak around and attack with lashing tongues. They can make themselves invisible to avoid detection.
	Spina (スピナ) -- Bladed bat bots that hover around in midair. Attack from above or below to avoid their spinning chopsocky wings.
	Ice Ball (アイスボール) -- Frosty sphere bots that scutter along the ground and spout puffs of cold air. Touch the puff and you'll be momentarily frozen in a block of ice: wait a few moments for the ice to shatter (it doesn't inflict damage). Hit the machine once to destroy the outer shell, exposing its rider who can do naught but waddle helplessly along the ground.
	Kart Kiki (カートキキ) -- These Kikis man the hovercars in Twinkle Park. Their best efforts to mow down pedestrians can be scuttled with a spin attack from above. Hop into the empty karts they leave behind for a ride down Twinkle Circuit.
	Buyon (ブヨン) -- Bizarre long-eared bots that waddle slowly along the ground and inflate their midsections to increase their size. Only their heads are vulnerable: attack the gelatinous midriff and you'll be bounced right off.
	Unidus (ウニダス) -- Series staple Unidus returns with a visual makeover and attacks in one of two ways: he'll either hurl his spiked balls at you or send them rotating in a wide radius for a sweeping attack.
	Cop Speeder (コップスピーダー) -- Similar to Kart Kiki, these exasperating apes chase Sonic down with sirens blaring. Attack from above and tell them precisely where they can put that citation.
	Spana (スパナ) -- Bat bots identical to Spina except they periodically charge up with a forcefield of electricity. It goes without saying that you should wait until the charge subsides before venturing a poke.
	Gola (ゴーラ) -- Unidus' fiery cousin from Sonic 2 returns. Gola hovers around near the surface, orbited by a cluster of flaming orbs. The cluster expands and contracts, altering Gola's attack radius. Dodge the fireballs and attack the helpless core.
	Egg Keeper (エッグキーパー) -- Airborne bots with long arms and saucer-like heads. They fling their craniums off like frisbees: the detached noggin hovers around overhead, sweeping the ground with a stun laser. Get caught in the laser and your character will be momentarily locked in place, allowing the Keeper to move in and attack. Keepers can only be damaged when their heads are detached: violate their space when they're whole and they'll simply knock you away with their arms.
	Beat (ビート) -- Mite-looking bots that crawl along the ground and attack en masse with wild abandon. They respawn quickly and can overwhelm slow-moving victims. Best avoided altogether.

   There are a total of 6 playable characters, though only Sonic is available from the get-go: other members of the cast become selectable after you've encountered them over the course of the story. Each character has his/her own route through the adventure, though encounters are frequent. Only by playing through each hero's story will the big picture come into focus. There are a total of 11 Action Stages, though no one character has access to the whole lot. Goals vary depending on who you're playing, but each character has 3 different Missions per stage with an Emblem awarded upon the successful completion of each. Level structure also changes from hero to hero - some characters have exclusive access to certain portions of each stage. Finish the zone and your score is tallied with bonus points awarded for completion time, Rings remaining, and the enemies you destroyed along the way.

Sonic the Hedgehog -- Our namesake hero is the only character available at the outset. His quest is by far the longest; roughly double that of anyone else's. He is, needless to say, the fastest character of the bunch and his goals in each stage are simply to get from start to finish. Spin Attack (スピンアタック) -- Tap button A to leap into the air with a spin attack. The height of the jump is proportional to how long you hold the button down. Homing Attack (ホーミングアタック) -- Jump, then press the A button again while in midair to home in on the nearest enemy or Item Box. Spin Dash (スピンダッシュ) -- Press and hold B or X to rev up with a stationary spin, then release to dash off with a max speed rolling attack. While rolling, tap B or X again to revert to standing posture without losing speed. Light Speed Dash (ライトスピードダッシュ) -- The Light Shoes are required to perform this maneuver. Rev up with a Spin Dash near a trail of Rings to charge up with light. When Sonic says "ready", release to fly at light speed along the Ring trail. Light Spin Attack (ライトスピンアタック) -- The Taiko no Hikari item is required to perform this maneuver. Rev up with a Spin Dash near a group of enemies to charge up with light. When Sonic says "ready", release to bombard the enemies with a series of light speed Spin Attacks. While joyously ripping up the Station Square landscape, Sonic notices a police brigade surrounding the entrance to city hall. Moving in to investigate, he sees the source of the commotion: a liquid monster completely immune to police guns. Chaos 0 -- Chaos, still fresh from his 3,000 year nap in the Master Emerald, is weak but no less aggressive through his morning haze. He simply lumbers around and slashes at Sonic or extends his stretchy arms and whirls around like a tornado. After 2 hits, he'll jump to the top of the flagpoles for a long-distance probing attack. Defeated in 3 hits. The liquid monster escapes down a drain, leaving a perplexed Sonic to scratch his blue head as Eggman watches gleefully from the roof of a nearby building. The following day, Sonic enjoys some sun at the hotel pool when he notices Tails crash land in a rickety airplane. Knowing his duty as an idol and mentor, Sonic abandons his repose to check on the status of his fox buddy. Emerald Coast -- A beachside resort complete with towering condos, docks, and (of course) palmtrees. If you're feeling destructive, you can smash the prissy lounge chairs and tables along the beach, though there's nothing to be gained by your wanton behavior. About halfway through the first area, Sonic finds himself assaulted from behind by a very large and irate killer whale. Keep moving forward while the embittered orca smashes up the dock several feet to your rear. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Rhinotank | Sweep ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Rescue Tails    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 2'00" The resilient young canid is unharmed by the crash and explains to Sonic that he was testing a new propulsion system. Its power source, to Sonic's shock, is the purple Chaos Emerald, a treasure Tails had discovered on one of his test flights. An excited Tails insists that there's more to see at his workshop, so the duo head for Mystic Ruin. Upon their arrival, they're greeted by old buddy Dr. Eggman, who would love to have that purple Emerald for his own projects. Egg Hornet -- Eggman flies around just out of reach, firing homing missiles which are easily avoided with a bit of speed. After a while he'll charge straight at you and get his mobile stuck in the ground: this is your opportunity to attack. Defeated in 3 hits. Eggman lies on the ground, seemingly defeated, but no sooner does Tails let his guard down than he finds the Emerald swiped straight out of his hands. Chaos appears and munches on the sacred stone like an afterschool snack, while Eggman explains that the beast grows in strength with each Emerald it consumes. With all 7 Emeralds the monster would be invincible, and thus a suitable instrument for remodeling Station Square into Eggmanland. Having explained his latest plot for world domination, El Rotundo makes like a banana and splits. Tails muses that if they can get the remaining 6 Emeralds before Eggman, Chaos won't be able to grow any stronger. Smart kid. Look near Tails' workshop for the wind stone. Pick it up and place it in the pedestal in the nearby cave to access Windy Valley. Windy Valley -- Strong winds, produced by nature and giant industrial fans alike, offer invisible paths for Sonic to tread. Keep pushing forward or fall to your doom. About halfway through the stage, Sonic finds himself sucked into the interior of a big, mean tornado. Leap off debris to catapult yourself up and out the top of the twister. (Note that the BGM in the second half of the stage is based on Green Grove Act 1 [MD version] from Flickies' Island.) Enemies:    [ Boa-Boa | Leon ] Animals:    [ seal | parrot | peacock | swallow | mole ] Missions:    C: Get the Chaos Emerald    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 3'00" Return to Station Square and head into the stinky sewers to obtain the Light Shoes, which enable Sonic to perform the Light Speed Dash and thus gain entrance to Casinopolis. (Once you get the Light Shoes, you can also access the Crystal Ring in the hotel lobby. The Crystal Ring, an optional power-up, reduces the time required to charge up a Light Speed Dash.) Casinopolis -- This glitzy casino consists of a central lobby with 5 extensions: the Ring chamber, shower room, sewers, and two giant pinball boards. Sonic's goal is in the upper level of the Ring chamber, but in order to reach it, a minimum of 400 Rings must be deposited into the bin. Some Rings can be acquired from vandalizing the slot machines in the lobby, but the only way to obtain enough to reach the goal is to venture into the pinball boards. Sonic becomes, as is his wont, a spinning pinball to be knocked about the arena at the player's whim. There are 2 boards to try: Slot Pinball Course -- A Sonic-themed table with a slot machine in the middle. Hit bumpers for 1 Ring a smack. Line up 3 character portraits on the slot for a bonus: Ring 3K -- 15 Ring bonus + a 30 second multiplier Speed Star -- 50 Ring bonus + a 99 second multiplier T-Kickback -- 15 Ring bonus + a 45 second stopper blocking the flipper basin Shining "K" -- 30 Ring bonus + an 80 second multiplier Blue Rose -- 50 Ring bonus + a 60 second multiplier Final Eggman -- 50 Ring penalty + a 60 second stopper blocking the slot machine Card Pinball Course -- A NiGHTS-themed table with character cards scattered around the board. Once you've flipped 5 cards, you get a Ring bonus based on the cards in your hand. Tag the 3 purple bumpers to open the path to a secondary board with a load of cards in the middle. Collect Ideya here, and when you fall through the flipper basin back to the first board, Sonic takes a scenic route through a rendition of Spring Valley. The Ideya are automatically deposited into the Ideya Palace while NiGHTS himself hovers overhead. Fill all 5 posts for a 300 Ring bonus. (BGM is taken from the NiGHTS end-of-stage score tally.) One Pair -- 10 Ring bonus Two Pair -- 20 Ring bonus Three Card -- 30 Ring bonus + a 30 second multiplier Four Card -- 70 Ring bonus + a 45 second multiplier Full House -- 50 Ring bonus + a 30 second multiplier Straight -- 100 Ring bonus + a 60 second multiplier Sonic begins either table with 3 balls. The goal is to amass 100 Rings before falling through the flipper basin: fail to meet your quota, and Sonic finds himself dumped into the stinky sewers below the casino. There's Rings a-plenty in these dank catacombs, but it's a precarious journey filled with Spinas and iron balls. Work your way back up to the lobby by squeezing through ventilation ducts. Ride gusts produced by giant industrial fans to speed your ascent. Keep collecting Rings even after you've amassed the minimum 400 and you'll notice a giant golden Sonic statue being erected in the middle of the lobby. The statue is finished at about 8,000 Rings. Enemies:    [ Spina ] Animals:    [ peacock | swallow | parrot | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Get the Chaos Emerald    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 5'00" As Sonic and Tails triumphantly exit the casino with their newly acquired Chaos Emerald, they are promptly ambushed with sleeping gas. Upon awakening, they notice that the Emerald is gone (along, possibly, with the sanctity of their hind quarters). Tails observes that Eggman now has 2 Emeralds while they only have 1. Smart kid. Search the alley near the casino for the ice stone. Pick it up and carry it to Mystic Ruin, then place it on the pedestal in the frozen cave to access Icecap. Icecap -- Our intrepid hero returns to the freezy peaks of Sonic 3's showcase stage. Jump onto icy stalactites to grab hold: slide around the surface by pressing the control stick left or right, and jump off by pressing A. The latter half of the stage entails the now customary snowboarding scene, though the stakes are a bit higher this time as Sonic finds himself trailed from behind by a sizable avalanche while facing an aerial assault from Eggman's fighter jets. Enemies:    [ Ice Ball | Boa-Boa ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | gorilla | mole ] Missions:    C: Get the Chaos Emerald    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 4'00" As Sonic and Tails exit to Mystic Ruin, they encounter the ever-gullible Knuckles who demands that Sonic hand over their newly acquired green Chaos Emerald. Sonic, unsurprisingly, refuses, and a brief player-controlled spat ensues. Knuckles has all of his normal moves which are easily dodged, but even a victorious battle ends with the red antagonist knocking the 2 Emeralds out of Sonic's grasp. Before either party can recover the jewels, Eggman zips in from nowhere and feeds the stones to his new pet Chaos. Chaos 4 -- Powered now with 4 Emeralds, the strengthened Chaos attacks in a lily pad encrusted pond. The surface of the pond is grimy enough to stand on briefly, but keep jumping to avoid sinking. Lily pads offer the only safe haven for gravity-prone mascots. Chaos bubbles in and out of the water, flipping lily pads and attacking with a slash beam that sweeps the surface of the pond. He'll also break up into large sentient blobs for a direct attack. Defeated in 5 hits. The Egg Carrier flies overhead and Eggman makes his timely escape. Sonic and Tails head for Tails' workshop to give chase in the Tornado while Knuckles bails without explanation or apology. Sky Chase Act 1 -- The Tornado weaves around the massive Egg Carrier on a prescripted course while the player uses the plane's guns to shoot down enemy fire. Use the control stick to maneuver the Tornado around the screen. Press A, B, or X to fire basic missiles and hold the button down to lock-on to multiple targets. Release to fire Panzer Dragoon-esque homing lasers. Enemy planes are worth 30 points each while the Egg Carrier's guns are worth 50. A power bar at the bottom of the screen monitors damage: if it hits empty, the Tornado falls out the sky taking our intrepid heroes with it. After taking a nasty spill out of the sky, Sonic lands face-first in the sand near Station Square. Tails is nowhere to be seen and the rail workers are on strike, making travel to Mystic Ruin impossible. As Sonic approaches the casino, he has a rather unfortunate (for him) encounter with his chief groupie Amy Rose, who is accompanied by a green bird. Amy explains that the bird is being pursued by an irate robot and tries to delegate bodyguard duty onto Sonic, who makes a valiant effort to refuse. Amy, however, will hear none of it and insists on tagging along regardless of Sonic's opinion on the matter. A beaten man, the blue hero grudgingly agrees. As the duo approach the entrance to Twinkle Park, ZERO rounds a corner and homes in on the bird. Sonic is eager to bust the bot and be done with it, but Amy, noticing the "couples get in free" promotion at Twinkle Park, impulsively runs inside before Sonic can stop her. Twinkle Park -- This dazzling amusement park of lights begins with a lengthy kart race. Knock a Kart Kiki out of its vehicle with a Spin Attack, then hop in and press A to accelerate and X or B to brake. Other attractions include a roller coaster, carousel laced with iron balls, and giant bowling lanes (where Sonic plays the part of the ball). The latter half of the stage entails an ascent to the peak of a magic castle with rotating spires. (BGM during the kart race segment is based on Panic Puppet [MD version] from Flickies' Island.) Enemies:    [ Kiki | Kart Kiki | Sweep | Buyon ] Animals:    [ wallaby | deer | elephant | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Destroy the Capsule and rescue the animals    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 3'00" Upon emerging from the park, Sonic notices with both relief and concern that he's lost Amy and wonders if the robot is still after her. (Sonic now has access to the optional Twinkle Circuit minigame.) Search the street in front of the train station to find the employee ID card. Pick it up and carry it to the skyscraper nearby to access Speed Highway. Speed Highway -- Sonic Adventure's showcase stage begins along a lengthy aerial highway. Glass floors crumble under your feet, so keep moving. Smack into giant bells to shake loose a few Rings. Latch onto helicopters for a precarious ride from rooftop to rooftop. At the end of the first area, Sonic falls through a glass observatory and dashes full-throttle down the side of a tall skyscraper. The second half of the stage takes place down in the streets: watch for speeding motorists eager to fill their clean city with hedgehog pizza. Enemies:    [ Spina | Unidus | Cop Speeder | Spana ] Animals:    [ swallow | deer | wallaby | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Destroy the Capsule and rescue the animals    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 2'30" Unable to locate his missing groupie, Sonic wonders what his next action should be when he spots ZERO hauling a struggling Amy through the train tunnel to Mystic Ruin. Sonic catches up to the molesting mech just in time to see him warp with his victim to the Egg Carrier. Sonic pursues the airship on foot to the fallen Angel Island, where he picks up the Taiko no Hikari (ancient light) upgrade, allowing him to perform the Light Spin Attack and gain access to Red Mountain. Red Mountain -- The trees are dead and the grass probably never even existed in this ruddy canyon. The first half of the stage takes place in and around the canyon plateaus. Abandoned construction sites make for hazardous passage. Round 2 takes place in a volcanic underground prison. Keep moving to avoid rising magma. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Spina | Gola ] Animals:    [ parrot | gorilla | lion | elephant | mole ] Missions:    C: Chase the Egg Carrier    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 3'00" Just when the Egg Carrier flies over a huge chasm leaving Sonic with no ground to run on, hero-in-training Tails makes a timely return along with his new and improved Tornado 2. Sonic assumes his position on the wings and takes the pursuit to the air. Sky Chase Act 2 -- The Tornado 2 can lock on to more enemies at a time than the original, a necessary upgrade since Eggman's aerial assault is much more aggressive than the first time around. (About halfway through the stage, Tails transforms the plane to attack mode though there doesn't seem to be any change in game mechanics.) Work your way to the front of the Carrier to be greeted by a gigantic laser cannon: nail the cannon's core when it opens to charge, but fly out of the way before the blast. Land 5 hits to disable the laser, enabling safe approach to the Carrier's deck. As they approach the deck of the Carrier, Tails suddenly remembers that the Tornado 2 has no landing gear when in attack mode. One crash later, the heroes dismount onto Eggman's latest aerial fortress. Sonic marvels at the size of the structure but Tails, business minded as always, reminds him that their priority is rescuing Amy. As they approach the center of the craft, the do-gooders are detected by Eggman, who assures them that they ain't seen nothin' yet. The wily villain transforms the ship to attack mode, leaving Sonic and Tails with no way to proceed except the Carrier's dangerous underbelly. Sky Deck -- Abyssal death looms below as Sonic swings precariously around the underside of Eggman's Egg Carrier. Crawl around giant columns to land on narrow walkways, but keep an eye on the airship's cannons which will blast up the path behind you. Worm your way to the top of the airship only to find that the situation is not much rosier: wind gusts threaten to blow you straight off the side while guns and cannons of all sizes strafe the surface of the craft. The cargo area tilts continually, creating an obstacle course that frequently changes its orientation. Enemies:    [ Spina | Spana ] Animals:    [ parrot | peacock | swallow | lion | skunk ] Missions:    C: Destroy the Capsule and rescue the animals    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 5'00" Sonic and Tails arrive at the bridge just in time to see Eggman snatch the green bird away from Amy. He wrests a Chaos Emerald from the hapless tweeter and chucks the poor thing back at the mothering hedgehoglet. While doing so, the mean-spirited Doc notices Sonic and Tails and sics his new favorite flunkie E-102 Gamma on the invaders. After a brief player-controlled skirmish, Amy runs in to keep Sonic from laying the final blow on the damaged Gamma. Apparently she had bonded with the robot while imprisoned on the Carrier, so Sonic respects her wishes and shows mercy on his attacker. Tails, meanwhile, notes that the Egg Carrier is rapidly losing altitude. Sonic suggests that the two kiddies make their escape while he catches up with Eggman to take care of some grown-up business. Tails grabs Amy and flies for safety while Sonic pursues the rotund villain. After changing the ship back to its original shape, Sonic arrives on the upper platform to find Eggman, Chaos, and Big the Cat. Sonic approaches the feline stranger and learns that he's there to rescue his frog buddy who has been swallowed by Chaos. Eggman, meanwhile, is busy bragging about how he's already fed Chaos 6 Emeralds, and has even found its missing tail. Yeah, we're happy for you, Doc. Chaos 6 -- Chaos, now fueled with all but 1 of the Emeralds, lumbers around the arena and attempts to inhale Sonic with his large, vacuumous maw. With mighty leaps he slams into the ground, releasing large shockwaves that sweep the surface and are difficult to avoid. Eggman, meanwhile, flies about overhead in his mobile, dropping icy satellites onto the arena. The satellites zip around puffing jets of frigid air: get stuck in the blast and Sonic will be momentarily frozen solid, usually just long enough to be inhaled by the ravenous Chaos. Satellites can be momentarily disabled with a spin: while they're blacked out, quickly pick them up and throw them in Chaos' mouth. The creature will freeze into a huge chunk of dry ice: smash the brute before he thaws to inflict damage. Defeated in 4 hits. Knuckles shows up just as Chaos is defeated (nice timing, Red). Eggman makes a run for it and Sonic jumps right off after him. Our intrepid hero lands deep in Mystic Ruin, where the spirit of Tikal directs him toward the temple in the middle. Lost World -- Sonic begins his trek through the ancient echidna pyramid by navigating a series of narrow, twisting, claustrophobia-inducing tunnels. You can run straight up the sides, but watch for flaming block traps and spike pits. Toward the middle of the temple, Sonic finds himself in a giant chamber filled with water and a serpentine stone golem. Press buttons to raise the water level and ride the serpent to reach new platforms. Light up pitch black chambers by using mirrors to catch rays of sunshine. An Indiana Jones style chase scene finds our spelunking hero running for dear life from a giant rolling boulder (a scene, incidentally, Sonic Team had wanted to include since the original Sonic 1). Push buttons to slide blue blocks along the interior walls of the cavernous central chamber: when aligned correctly, the blocks create glowing lateral pathways that Sonic can dash along with no regard for gravity. Enemies:    [ Boa-Boa | Leon | Gola ] Animals:    [ gorilla | elephant | lion | mole | penguin ] Missions:    C: Get to the center of the ruins    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 4'30" At the center of the temple, Sonic discovers a huge chamber with a mural on the wall. The mural depicts a giant serpentine monster attacking an ancient city. Before Blue can put 2 and 2 together, he's spirited away to the distant past where he finds the burning ruins of an ancient fountain. Dozens of roadkill Chao litter the ground, and Tikal, mourning the tragedy, decides she must take action. As she approaches the Master Emerald, Sonic awakens in the real world just in time to spot Eggman escaping through the sky. Final Egg -- Eggman's latest base is rather tightly packed and brimming with traps. Bust Spark Units with a spin to shut off laser fences. Dodge probing mechanical claws and try not to get squished by spiked rollers along conveyor belts. Beats respawn continually and always attack en masse in small chambers: avoid them like the black death because no amount of Spin Dashing will stay their relentless assault. A Light Spin Attack may give you a moment to break free if you can manage to charge one up without being overwhelmed. Enemies:    [ Egg Keeper | Spina | Spana | Beat ] Animals:    [ gorilla | deer | wallaby | rabbit | mole ] Missions:    C: Get to the center of the base    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the Capsule    A: Reach the goal within 4'30" Egg Viper -- Sonic is restricted to one of two long, narrow bridges above a deep, perilous pit while Eggman attacks in a whip-tailed serpentine contraption. The Viper has several different methods of offense, and Eggman will introduce new attacks as he sustains damage. He begins by strafing the bridge with laser fire. After a short while, he'll fly out to the center of the pit to charge a bright electric homing orb: in doing so, he exposes the Viper's cockpit. Use the Homing Attack to hop along the Viper's tail and smash the cockpit before the charge finishes (Sonic will land safely on the opposite walkway). After taking 1 hit, Eggman repeats the strafe attack and finishes off with a charged blast. Land 2 hits more and he'll charge headlong over the length of the walkway. Land another hit and he'll position himself at the end of the walkway and fire off a pair of large razor discs: hop on one of the discs before it zips back to position yourself to land another hit. Now Eggman starts getting all pissy and busts up the opposite bridge before repeating the disc attack. He'll destroy a single block of the bridge during each round, so now missed opportunities become perilous. Land another 2 hits (total of 7) and the desperate Doc maneuvers the wildly careening Viper for a final kamikaze attack right at Sonic. Move fast to dodge the assault or all your work is for naught. Foiled but not defeated, Eggman escapes to wreak havoc another day while Sonic and Tails celebrate their victory by running mindlessly around Mystic Ruin. This ends Sonic's game.

Miles "Tails" Prower -- Young Prower's new hobby is racing Sonic to the end of each Action Stage. While he lacks the raw speed of his spiny idol, his ability to fly gives him a good advantage: barnstorm through Dash Rings to cover huge amounts of ground quickly. Fail to beat Sonic to the goal and you have to play the stage again. Spin Attack (スピンアタック) -- Tap button A to leap into the air with a spin attack. The height of the jump is proportional to how long you hold the button down. Propeller flight (プロペラ飛行) -- Jump, then press and hold button A while in midair to take flight. (It's actually more like a long, broad moon leap.) Release the A button in mid flight to fall to the ground. tail rotation attack (シッポ回転攻撃) -- Press B or X to have Tails whip his caudal appendages around for a 360° slash attack. The slash can also be used to cut through tall grass for hidden Rings and Item Boxes. continuous tail rotation (連続シッポ回転) -- The Rhythm Brooch is required to perform this maneuver. Press and hold B or X to have Tails whirl around with butt protuberances extended for a continuous tornado attack. Release to revert to standing posture. Tails is flying the friendly skies in a new experimental plane when the contraption sputters out of control in midair. After a zany flight through Station Square, the young fox crash lands in Emerald Coast, where he's found by Sonic. Tails explains that he was testing a new Chaos Emerald power supply and invites Sonic to his workshop to check out a secret project. (Explore the drainage ditch near Twinkle Park to find the optional Jet Anklet power-up, which increases the distance Tails can cover during flight.) Upon their arrival at Mystic Ruin, the heroic duo are greeted by old buddy Dr. Eggman, who would love to have Tails' Chaos Emerald for his own projects. Egg Hornet -- Eggman flies around just out of reach, firing homing missiles which are easily avoided with a bit of speed. After a while he'll charge straight at you and get his mobile stuck in the ground: this is your opportunity to attack. Defeated in 3 hits. Eggman lies on the ground, seemingly defeated, but no sooner does Tails let his guard down than he finds the Emerald swiped straight out of his hands. Chaos appears and munches on the sacred stone like an afterschool snack, while Eggman explains that the beast grows in strength with each Emerald he consumes. With all 7 Emeralds the monster would be invincible, and thus a suitable instrument for remodeling Station Square into Eggmanland. Having explained his latest plot for world domination, El Rotundo makes like a banana and splits. Tails muses that if they can get the remaining 6 Emeralds before Eggman, Chaos won't be able to grow any stronger. Smart kid. Look near Tails' workshop for the wind stone. Pick it up and place it in the pedestal in the nearby cave to access Windy Valley. Windy Valley -- Tails only plays through the latter half of this stage. Dash Ring shortcuts are easy to spot against the winding crosshatch roads. Enemies:    [ Leon ] Animals:    [ seal | parrot | peacock | swallow | mole ] Missions:    C: Beat Sonic to the Chaos Emerald    B: Collect 50 Rings and beat Sonic to the Capsule    A: Beat an even faster Sonic to the Capsule Casinopolis -- Poor Tails only has access to Casinopolis' dank sewage system (he's not old enough to be in the lobby anyway). Beating Sonic can be tricky until you learn which ventilation ducts offer the shortest route to the surface. Enemies:    [ Spina ] Animals:    [ peacock | swallow | parrot | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Beat Sonic to the Chaos Emerald    B: Collect 50 Rings and beat Sonic to the Capsule    A: Beat an even faster Sonic to the Capsule As Sonic and Tails triumphantly exit the casino with their newly aqcuired Chaos Emerald, they are promptly ambushed with sleeping gas. Upon awakening, they notice that the Emerald is gone (along, possibly, with the sanctity of their hind quarters). Tails observes that Eggman now has 2 Emeralds while they only have 1. Smart kid. Search the alley near the casino for the ice stone. Pick it up and carry it to Mystic Ruin, then place it on the pedestal in the frozen cave to access Icecap. Icecap -- Tails races Sonic through the snowboarding section only. Press A as you fly off ramps to perform tricks and gain speed. There are no enemies here, making this a bad stage to play when hunting furries for Chao fortification. Enemies:    [ none ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | gorilla | mole ] Missions:    C: Beat Sonic to the Chaos Emerald    B: Collect 50 Rings and beat Sonic to the Capsule    A: Beat an even faster Sonic to the Capsule As Sonic and Tails exit to Mystic Ruin, they encounter the ever-gullible Knuckles who demands that Sonic hand over their newly acquired green Chaos Emerald. Sonic, unsurprisingly, refuses, and a brief player-controlled spat ensues. Knuckles has all of his normal moves which are easily dodged, but even a victorious battle ends with the red antagonist knocking the 2 Emeralds out of Tails' grasp. Before either party can recover the jewels, Eggman zips in from nowhere and feeds the stones to his new pet Chaos. Chaos 4 -- Powered now with 4 Emeralds, the strengthened Chaos attacks in a lily pad encrusted pond. The surface of the pond is grimy enough to stand on briefly, but keep jumping to avoid sinking. Lily pads offer the only safe haven for gravity-prone mascots. Chaos bubbles in and out of the water, flipping lily pads and attacking with a slash beam that sweeps the surface of the pond. He'll also break up into large sentient blobs for a direct attack. Defeated in 4 hits. The Egg Carrier flies overhead and Eggman makes his timely escape. Sonic and Tails head for Tails' workshop to give chase in the Tornado while Knuckles bails without explanation or apology. Sky Chase Act 1 -- The Tornado weaves around the massive Egg Carrier on a prescripted course while the player uses the plane's guns to shoot down enemy fire. Use the control stick to maneuver the Tornado around the screen. Press A, B, or X to fire basic missiles and hold the button down to lock-on to multiple targets. Release to fire Panzer Dragoon-esque homing lasers. Enemy planes are worth 30 points each while the Egg Carrier's guns are worth 50. A power bar at the bottom of the screen monitors damage: if it hits empty, the Tornado falls out the sky taking our intrepid heroes with it. After taking a nasty spill out of the sky, a KO'd Tails has a dream/memory of his first encounter with Sonic: the young fox trudges through Mystic Ruin with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Suddenly, that speeding blur of blazing blue glory dashes by, and young Miles perks up and follows him around, laughing like a kid on a carnival ride. Upon regaining consciousness, Tails finds himself lying on a hill in Mystic Ruin. He wonders where Sonic is, but decides that the more urgent line of business is to find a Chaos Emerald to power his prototype plane. As he wanders through the labyrinthine jungle, the boy wonder finds exactly that which he seeks only to witness it become lunch for a voracious frog. Tails chases the offending amphibian into a sandy cave. Sand Hill -- Tails landboards down the sandy valley ala Icecap. The course itself is shorter, but much wider than Icecap, and littered with obstacles a-plenty ranging from crumbling ruins to serpentine golems. Ski through gates for 10 points each - pass through multiple gates in rapid succession to multiply the bonus. With no regard whatsoever to a potential case of warts, Tails grabs the Emerald-munching frog and is promptly whisked away by Tikal to the echidna village in the distant past. Search the Mayan-inspired city for the Rhythm Brooch, which allows Tails to chain consecutive slash attacks. Mosey on down to the base of the pyramid to meet Tikal, who introduces herself and talks about the legend of the Emeralds. Before he can even get her number, Tails wakes up back in Mystic Ruin, still clutching the frog. He is startled to find the rather grandiose Big charging straight at him, but is saved from certain doom when the fat cat trips and falls flat on his ample belly. Kaeru slips out of Tails' grasp and leapfrogs right over Big, who, without so much as a "sorry for almost crushing you", turns tail and pursues his polliwog pal. Fortunately, the hungry frog inadvertently hacked up one of the 2 Emeralds he consumed while making his escape. The perplexed Tails grabs the regurgitated gem and heads for his workshop to put the finishing touches on his new plane. With the work done some time later, Tails launches the new & improved Tornado 2 from a secret launchpad behind the waterfall. He locates the Egg Carrier at Red Mountain and notices Sonic standing on the edge of a cliff. Tails picks up the blue one and together they pursue the flying fortress. Sky Chase Act 2 -- The Tornado 2 can lock on to more enemies at a time than the original, a necessary upgrade since Eggman's aerial assault is much more aggressive than the first time around. (About halfway through the stage, Tails transforms the plane to attack mode though there doesn't seem to be any change in game mechanics.) Work your way to the front of the Carrier to be greeted by a gigantic laser cannon: nail the cannon's core when it opens to charge, but fly out of the way before the blast. Land 5 hits to disable the laser, enabling safe approach to the Carrier's deck. As they approach the deck of the Carrier, Tails suddenly remembers that the Tornado 2 has no landing gear when in attack mode. One crash later, the heroes dismount onto Eggman's latest aerial fortress. Sonic marvels at the size of the structure but Tails, business minded as always, reminds him that their priority is rescuing Amy. As they approach the center of the craft, the do-gooders are detected by Eggman, who assures them that they ain't seen nothin' yet. The wily villain transforms the ship to attack mode, leaving Sonic and Tails with no way to proceed except the Carrier's dangerous underbelly. Sky Deck -- Tails only has access to the first half of Sky Deck. Daring aviators will find plenty of shortcut opportunities, but misjudge a single leap and your venture will end in doom. Enemies:    [ Spina | Unidus ] Animals:    [ parrot | peacock | swallow | lion | skunk ] Missions:    C: Beat Sonic to the Capsule    B: Collect 50 Rings and beat Sonic to the Capsule    A: Beat an even faster Sonic to the Capsule Sonic and Tails arrive at the bridge just in time to see Eggman snatch the green bird away from Amy. He wrests a Chaos Emerald from the hapless tweeter and chucks the poor thing back at the mothering hedgehoglet. While doing so, the mean-spirited Doc notices Sonic and Tails and sics his new favorite flunkie E-102 Gamma on the invaders. After a brief player-controlled skirmish, Amy runs in to keep Tails from laying the final blow on the damaged Gamma. Being a smart kid, Tails obliges and quickly changes the subject by observing aloud that the Egg Carrier is losing altitude. Sonic commands everyone to escape, so Tails grabs Amy and flies for safety while Gamma heads off in another direction. The Carrier blows to ribbons as Tails and his pink passenger arrive safely in Station Square. Amy is deposited and quickly forgotten when Tails notices Eggman crash land nearby. The old Doc's about to throw one of his world famous tantrums, deciding that if Station Square isn't his, it's better off in bits and pieces. With that, he launches an offshore missile that smashes right into the heart of the city with a largely unimpressive thump. A furious Eggman sets off to detonate the dud missile himself, and Tails - being a smart kid - realizes the only course of action is to get to the missile first. Speed Highway -- Sonic's off taking care of other business, and Eggman's not nearly as good a sport. Touch the fleeing villain and you'll sustain damage (which makes inching ahead of him a tricky affair). Furthermore, the nefarious Doc can fly in his Egg Mobile, so Tails has no advantages in this stage. Enemies:    [ Spina | Unidus | Cop Speeder ] Animals:    [ swallow | deer | wallaby | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Beat Eggman to the missile    B: Collect 50 Rings and beat Eggman to the goal    A: Beat an even faster Eggman to the goal Having grown extremely cranky with all the unexpected hurdles to his simple and justifiable desire for world conquest, Eggman breaks out a large machine and stomps through the streets of Station Square, roundly terrifying the residents. Egg Walker -- Eggman begins his assault by firing a constant stream of missiles that explode on the ground. As soon as Tails approaches the contraption, the Doc whips out a massive flame thrower. Work your way underneath the machine where you will notice that each of the Walker's 4 legs has a bright blue disc at the ankle joint. Eggman will raise a single leg and slam it back down to the ground creating a shockwave: leap over the shock and attack the stunned leg while the blue disc flashes. The machine's cockpit will fall to the ground: land a hit and Eggman leaps to the other side of the arena to resume his assault. Land another hit and the Walker will lumber along the ground while dropping showers of bombs and sweeping the sky with flame. Get back underneath the machine and Eggman will stomp twice: both legs must be stunned to bring the cockpit back down for another 2 hits. In the final round, Eggman picks up speed and stomps with 3 legs. Land 1 more hit (total of 5) to finish the Walker. The crowd cheers as Tails revels in his solo act of heroism. Young Prower flies back home to Mystic Ruin, where he high-fives Sonic and rips up some airspace in celebration. This ends Tails' game.

Knuckles the Echidna -- Knuckles' sole interest is locating the scattered shards of Master Emerald to piece the sacred stone back together and restore Angel Island to its rightful place among the clouds. Shards can be found out in the open, buried underground, or hidden in enemies. An on-screen radar flashes and beeps with increasing regularity as shards are approached. Tag a Hint Ball and Tikal will point you in the direction of nearest piece. Spin Attack (スピンアタック) -- Tap button A to leap into the air with a spin attack. The height of the jump is proportional to how long you hold the button down. glide (滑空) -- Jump, then press and hold button A while in midair to have Knuckles fan out his dreads for a gliding attack. Release to fall back down to terra firma. climb (壁登り) -- Glide into a vertical surface to have Knuckles latch on. Maneuver him around the surface with the control stick and jump to let go. Punch attack (パンチ攻撃) -- Tap button B or X to have Knuckles throw a powerful punch. Tap twice in rapid succession for a quick follow-up jab and 3 times to finish off with a charging smash. dig (穴掘り) -- The Shovel Claw is required to perform this maneuver. Press A+B or A+X to burrow into soft ground and dig up Emerald shards, Rings, or Item Boxes. Maximum Heat Knuckle (マキシマムヒートナックル) -- The Fighting Glove is required to perform this maneuver. Press and hold B or X to charge, then release near a group of enemies to cut loose with a series of light speed gliding attacks. One rainy night on Angel Island, Knuckles relaxes near the Master Emerald altar, pondering his destiny as guardian of the mystic stone. His reverie gives way to sleep as the Egg Carrier discreetly approaches. A massive earthquake rouses the snoozing hero, who is horrified to see the Master Emerald shattered to pieces. In its place stands the freed Chaos. Knuckles attacks the beast and is promptly slapped stupid. Chaos bails while Angel Island plummets to the earth once more, scraping the cliffs of Mystic Ruin. When Knuckles regains consciousness, he commences his search for the scattered shards of the Master Emerald. Speed Highway -- Knuckles only has access to the second half of this stage, the city streets. Punch water tanks and billboards to destroy them, occasionally revealing Emerald shards. Enemies:    [ Spina | Unidus | Cop Speeder | Spana ] Animals:    [ swallow | deer | wallaby | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Find the 3 Emerald shards    B: Find the 3 Emerald shards without using Hint Balls    A: Find the 3 Emerald shards within 1'00" Casinopolis -- Knuckles only has access to the lobby area of the casino, but he can reach the upper floor which Sonic can only gaze at wistfully. The golden Sonic statue in the middle of the arena can be smashed to bits with a punch (it occasionally contains an Emerald shard). Animatronic pirates won't attack Knuckles, but if you happen to be standing in their way, they'll inflict damage - bust them with a punch for 3 Rings a piece. Enemies:    [ Spina | Spana ] Animals:    [ peacock | swallow | parrot | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Find the 3 Emerald shards    B: Find the 3 Emerald shards without using Hint Balls    A: Find the 3 Emerald shards within 1'00" After collecting the shards in Casinopolis, Knuckles encounters the soul of Tikal who warps him to the echidna city in the distant past. Near the entrance to the Emerald shrine, Knuckles overhears Tikal pleading with her father to reconsider his belligerent practices. Before Knux can learn the outcome of the conversation, he finds himself transported to Station Square. He observes with some disgust Sonic and Tails snoozing in the streets, then notices Eggman carrying a shiny object into the nearby hotel. Thinking the object is a shard of the Master Emerald, Red follows the bad man up to the rotating diner on the top floor. He confronts Eggman only to see that the shiny object is not a Master Emerald shard at all but a normal Chaos Emerald. The villainous doc decides to use the hapless echidna as a guinea pig to test Chaos' strength, and promptly summons the liquid spirit. Recognizing the beast as the same that stood above the shattered Master Emerald, Knuckles happily accepts the challenge. Chaos 2 -- Powered with 2 Emeralds, a slightly strengthened Chaos will block all direct attacks and can only be damaged immediately after his thrusting punch maneuver. After taking a hit, Chaos transforms into a giant ball and bounces around the arena: he can't be damaged while in ball form, but you can bump him into a wall to hasten his return to normal posture. After taking 3 hits, Chaos will flood the entire arena with malignant water: jump and glide until the floor is dry again. Land 1 more hit (total of 4) to finish the job. Chaos having been foiled once again, Eggman makes the best of a bad situation and tricks Knuckles into believing that Sonic and Tails are after the Master Emerald shards. Of course the less-than-perceptive guardian buys the story and makes a mental note to confront Sonic about the issue. Hop a train to Mystic Ruin and pick up the Shovel Claw power-up, which enables Knuckles to dig and gain entry to Red Mountain. Red Mountain -- Knuckles only has access to the first half of this stage (the mountain plateau area). You'll need the Shovel Claw to dig for buried Emerald shards. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Spina | Gola ] Animals:    [ parrot | gorilla | lion | elephant | mole ] Missions:    C: Find the 3 Emerald shards    B: Find the 3 Emerald shards without using Hint Balls    A: Find the 3 Emerald shards within 1'00" Knuckles spots Sonic and Tails by the waterfall and catches a glimpse of the green Chaos Emerald in Sonic's hands. Mistaking it for a Master Emerald shard, Knuckles attacks (again) and demands that Sonic hand the jewel over. Sonic naturally refuses and a brief player-controlled skirmish ensues. Sonic has all of his normal moves which are easily avoided, and the battle ends with Knuckles successfully knocking the 2 Chaos Emeralds out of Tails' grasp. Before either party can recover the jewels, Eggman zips in from nowhere and feeds the stones to his new pet Chaos. Chaos 4 -- Powered now with 4 Emeralds, the strengthened Chaos attacks in a lily pad encrusted pond. The surface of the pond is grimy enough to stand on briefly, but keep jumping to avoid sinking. Lily pads offer the only safe haven for gravity-prone mascots. Chaos bubbles in and out of the water, flipping lily pads and attacking with a slash beam that sweeps the surface of the pond. He'll also break up into large sentient blobs for a direct attack. Defeated in 5 hits. Eggman escapes to the Egg Carrier while Sonic and Tails head to Tails' workshop to give chase in the Tornado. Knuckles lets the rowdy bunch go their way and gets back to the Emerald shard business. Head to the jungle labyrinth and locate the gold and silver idols, then place them in the slots on the pyramid to open the way to Lost World. (You can also grab the optional Fighting Glove power-up, which enables Knuckles to perform the Maximum Heat Knuckle attack.) Lost World -- Knuckles only has access to the large central chamber of the pyramid. Ancient blocks can be shattered with a punch. Enemies:    [ Leon | Gola ] Animals:    [ gorilla | elephant | lion | mole | penguin ] Missions:    C: Find the 3 Emerald shards    B: Find the 3 Emerald shards without using Hint Balls    A: Find the 3 Emerald shards within 1'00" As he approaches the Emerald altar with his collected shards, Knuckles gets flashed into the past once more. He watches as Tikal has what appears to be a one-sided conversation with the Master Emerald. She advises it to move far away, as Pachacamac is preparing to attack. The stone explains that it can't leave its place, so Tikal vows to try and talk to dear old dad one more time. Knuckles pops back into reality right where he originally stood and returns the collected shards to the Emerald pedestal. The shards coagulate back into the Master Emerald, but there's still a chunk missing. Peering inside, Knuckles sees an image of the Egg Carrier and realizes that's where the remaining shards must be. Unfortunately, he has no idea where to find the airship and wonders what he should do when, as luck would have it, he spots Gamma in the distance. Recognizing him as one of Eggman's robots, Knuckles discreetly follows the mechanical stranger into the Mystic Ruin base and onto the Carrier. As the dreadlocked stowaway approaches the middle of the deck, the entire ship transforms into attack mode. Sky Deck -- Knuckles only has access to the cargo area of the Carrier. Use the lever on the deck to control the tilt of the entire arena: when uphill, locked doors will open, potentially revealing Emerald shards. Enemies:    [ Spina | Spana | Unidus ] Animals:    [ parrot | peacock | swallow | lion | skunk ] Missions:    C: Find the 3 Emerald shards    B: Find the 3 Emerald shards without using Hint Balls    A: Find the 3 Emerald shards within 2'00" As Knuckles obtains the final Emerald shard, he's whisked into the past yet again. Tikal lies on the ground amidst the fiery ruins which have apparently just been raided. She mutters some words of lament about her father's actions, then gets up and approaches the Master Emerald... Knuckles awakens back on the Egg Carrier and complains that even though he's got all the Emerald shards he still don't know wassup wit dat Chaos dood. His whining is interrupted by an explosion on the highest platform, so he trots off to investigate. He's just in time to watch Eggman escape while Sonic gives chase. Once again deciding that their battle is none of his business, Knuckles prepares to head back down to terra firma when his escape is interrupted by the still kicking Chaos. Chaos 6 -- Chaos, fueled with all but 1 of the Emeralds and still surviving after Sonic's assault, lumbers around the arena and attempts to inhale Knuckles with his large, vacuumous maw. Note that 2 of the glass covers on the platform have been blown off by the explosion, and the smoking clockworks within inflict damage: glide over the gaps to avoid burning your tootsies. In addition to the shockwave leap, Chaos is also equipped with a bizarre new attack in which he assumes a squid-like form with glowing razor mantle. Countless probing tentacles shoot outward from all sides, leaving a narrow gap for Knuckles to scuttle around in. Chaos promptly sweeps the gap with his razor mantle before reverting to his normal form. Eggman's icy satellites are still floating about the arena, and Chaos can still be damaged with Sonic's freeze dry tactic. Defeated in 4 hits. Knux grabs the Emerald shards and makes a break for it just as the Carrier blows to bits. Back on Angel Island, he restores the Master Emerald and gets back to his loafing as the island returns placidly to the heavens. This ends Knuckles' game.

Amy Rose -- What the pink rascal lacks in speed, she makes up for with a big-ass mallet. She's taken it upon herself to protect her new bird buddy from the relentless pursuit of a gorilla-like robot, and that means running in constant fear of the brute. The mad machine (E-100 Alpha, aka ZERO) can be momentarily incapacitated with a whack from the Piko-Piko Hammer, but he'll eventually wise up to that trick and become invincible for the remainder of the stage. If the chase gets too intense, you can cop a moment of reprieve by hiding under nearby objects (such as barrels), but when ZERO loses sight of you, he'll throw a tantrum and sweep the ground with damage-inflicting shockwaves. Amy's goal in each Action Stage is a giant yellow balloon that takes her up and away from her pursuer. Jump (ジャンプ) -- Tap button A to leap into the air. The height of the jump is proportional to how long you hold the button down. Hammer attack (ハンマー攻撃) -- Tap button B or X to smash the ground with a whack from the Piko-Piko Hammer. Jump Attack (ジャンプアタック) -- Jump, then press button B or X in midair to break out the Piko-Piko Hammer for a vertical slash attack. Hammer Jump (ハンマージャンプ) -- While running full speed, press B or X to have Amy slam the hammer into the ground and catapult high into the air. spinning Hammer (回転ハンマー) -- The Senshi no Hane item is required to perform this maneuver. Press and hold B or X, then rotate the control stick to have Amy spin around like a top with hammer extended for a 360° tornado attack. (Note that Amy can't move while performing the spin.) Keep the attack going for too long and Amy stops it herself, becoming momentarily dizzy and difficult to control. While raiding the shopping district of Station Square, Amy complains about how boring her life has become and reminisces about her glory days with Sonic. Just as she resolves to hunt down her old love interest and rekindle the flame, her attention is drawn to the darkening sky as the Egg Carrier flies overhead. Amy dies of shock when she notices Eggman's insignia on the craft, but her panic attack is interrupted by a smack in the face from a fleeing bird. The rascal Rosy deduces that the bird must've escaped from the ship, and her suspicion is confirmed when a gorilla-esque robot drops down and charges the hapless tweeter. Amy runs with the bird and finally evades pursuit by ducking into the burger shop. Once the coast is clear, Amy steps back out onto the street and gives in to maternal instinct, vowing to protect the helpless bird. As fortune would have it, Amy encounters Sonic in front of the casino and tries to cajole him into acting as the bird's bodyguard. Sonic refuses and dashes away before the frustrated hedgehoglet can argue. She finally catches up with the unwilling object of her affections by the entrance to Twinkle Park just in time to be found by the brutish ZERO. Sonic is eager to bust the bot and be done with it, but Amy, noticing the "couples get in free" promotion at Twinkle Park, impulsively runs inside before Sonic can stop her. Twinkle Park -- Push all the buttons in the pool area underneath the swinging ship to open the gate to the mirror funhouse, which Amy alone can access. Approach bomb barrels to ignite them, but move out the way before they blow up in your pretty pink face. Watch the background mirrors to identify trap floors. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Buyon ] Animals:    [ wallaby | deer | elephant | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Evade ZERO and grab the balloon    B: Collect 50 Rings and grab the balloon    A: Reach the goal within 2'00" (Amy now has access to the optional Twinkle Circuit minigame.) Upon exiting Twinkle Park, Amy expresses relief at having ditched the robot, but finds herself suddenly overtaken by a dark shadow: ZERO's managed to sneak up right behind. Amy's attempt at escape is promptly foiled as she and the bird are whisked away through the train tunnel to Mystic Ruin. Fortunately, Sonic spots them from a distance and gives chase. Amy soon finds herself locked up in a cell on the Egg Carrier. Before long, Gamma enters the prison chamber and demands that the pink priss hand over the bird. She vehemently refuses, and a perplexed Gamma wonders aloud why she's so hell-bent on protecting a little bird she knows nothing about. Amy coughs up some sticky sentimental nonsense about human dignity (a bit ironic considering neither one of them is human) while the bird flies of its own will right up to Gamma. Touched by the show of trust, the confused robot hesitates a moment and finally opens Amy's cell, instructing her to escape. A surprised Amy decides that this robot must be a friend and takes his advice. Hedgehog Hammer -- Upon exting the prison chamber, Amy enters a trap room and finds she must play a game of whack-a-mole to proceed. Smash the pop-up toys as they appear: Sonic is worth 100 points, Super Sonic is worth 500, and Eggman slashes 200 points from your total. You must score a minimum of 2,000 points to proceed. Clear the game and Amy is awarded the Senshi no Hane (warrior's feather), which allows her to perform the Kaiten Hammer. Hot Shelter -- The Egg Carrier's interior corridors. Grab hold of levers with any action button and rotate the control stick to open doorways or raise elevators. Pop into bathroom stalls to find Item Boxes, but watch for Kikis making use of the facilities. Pick up colored blocks and place them into matching notches on the floor to open gates - easier said than done with the relentless ZERO on your tail. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Egg Keeper | Leon ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | skunk | deer ] Missions:    C: Evade ZERO and grab the balloon    B: Collect 50 Rings and grab the balloon    A: Reach the goal within 6'30" Upon clearing Hot Shelter, Amy is spirited away by Tikal to the distant past. The echidna princess sits placidly at the Emerald shrine befriending a group of Chao. Something suddenly rises from the fountain, but before Amy can learn what the invading force is, she awakens back on the Egg Carrier. With no further ado, young Rose escapes onto the deck with her feathered friend who is promptly ambushed by a waiting Eggman. Sonic and Tails arrive on the scene just a moment too late: the Doc wrests a Chaos Emerald from the bird and tosses the hapless tweeter back at Amy. Having obtained that which he sought, Eggman runs off, summoning Gamma to do the dirty work. Sonic emerges as the clear winner in a brief skirmish, but just as he's about to land the finishing blow, Amy interferes and begs him to lay off the damaged bot. Sonic obliges, and Tails observes that the Egg Carrier is falling with the quickness. Smart kid. Sonic commands his young comrades to escape. Amy checks up on Gamma, then pep talks him into bailing the plummeting Egg Carrier. Tails grabs Amy and flies to safety while E-102 escapes in another direction. After being deposited by Tails in Station Square, Amy waves bye to her free flight and goes back to complaining about her own uselessness. While whining, she notices that the bird is wearing a locket with a picture of two other birds. Concluding that birdie's family must've been kidnapped by Eggman, she vows to locate and reunite them. (Note that you can now board the fallen Egg Carrier. Play the Hedgehog Hammer game again and top 5,000 points to win the optional Long Hammer, which extends the length of Amy's basic attack.) Final Egg -- Amy only has access to a small portion of the first half of this stage. The central chamber has 5 doorways, 4 of which lead to dead ends: the true exit will randomly appear behind any of the 5 doorways. Enemies:    [ Egg Keeper | Spina ] Animals:    [ gorilla | deer | wallaby | rabbit | mole ] Missions:    C: Evade ZERO and grab the balloon    B: Collect 50 Rings and grab the balloon    A: Reach the goal within 2'30" With no sign of birdie's family in Eggman's base, Amy decides that the fallen Egg Carrier would be the next logical place to look. Sure enough, she finds the bird's family waiting on the Carrier's deck. However, just as the joyful reunion is about to begin, birdie gets smacked upside the head by a familiar fist: ZERO is back, and apparently Eggman forgot to reprogram the mindless mech. Amy gazes down at her unconscious comrade and snaps. Now, it's war... ZERO -- ZERO hovers around the arena attacking with all his usual tricks: he'll try to catch Amy in his target laser, and once he's locked on, he'll unleash his Rocket Punch. Run too far away and he'll smash the ground with sweeping shockwaves. He can't be damaged directly: to administer some well-deserved hurt, you must first knock the bully into the electric fence surrounding the arena. He'll be momentarily stunned and his lid will pop open, exposing his vulnerable green core. Smack the core with your trusty mallet to inflict damage. After taking 2 hits, ZERO adds a new trick to his arsenal: he'll stretch both arms out to cover the entire radius of the arena and whirl around for a 360° sweep attack. Land 1 more hit (for a total of 3) to trash that automated ape once and for all. Amy applies a little TLC to the injured bird who quickly recovers enough to rejoin his (her?) family. As the feathery trio fly off into the sunset, Amy vows once again to earn Sonic's undying admiration. This ends Amy's game.

E-102 "Gamma" -- Rogue robo Gamma is equipped with a laser rifle adequate for blowing the living snot out of everything in sight. Indeed, the suicidal mech has no choice but to do so, because unlike the rest of the cast, his timer counts down. Shooting enemies adds valuable seconds to the clock, and chained explosions multiply the bonus. The timer begins at 3'00" in each stage and enemies are abundant. Jump (ジャンプ) -- Tap button A to leap into the air. The height of the jump is proportional to how long you hold the button down. alignment Laser (照準レーザー) -- Press and hold B or X to unleash a target laser that automatically locks-on to any breakable object it comes in contact with. Each lock only lasts a few seconds, so be quick. Gun fire (ガン発射) -- When you've got enough lock-ons, let go of the action button and Gamma will cut loose with a barrage of homing missiles. transformation (変形) -- After moving at a steady speed for several seconds, Gamma will automatically fold in his legs and lower treads to enter rolling mode. (Venture over water, and his legs transform into a propeller for hovering.) Jump to revert to standing posture. Hovering (ホバーリング) -- The Booster is required to perform this maneuver. Jump, then press A in midair to fire up a booster jet and descend at a slower speed. Gamma awakens in a glass tube at Eggman's Mystic Ruin base. The first thing the newly created bot sees is the mustachioed mug of his creator, Dr. Eggman. Eggman introduces himself as such and briefs Gamma on his life story: he's the second model in a line of robots called the E-100 series, and he is to obey the every command of his creator. Eggman explains to E-102 that his older "brother", E-101 Beta, is practicing in the shooting range. He commands Gamma to enter, noting that even though he's not as advanced as his predecessor, he should do fine. Final Egg -- Gamma's run through Final Egg is so short it's more of a practice range than a full-blown Action Stage. There are no enemies: Tails and Knuckles dolls serve as timer-filling targets. The Sonic doll at the end of the course takes 3 shots to destroy. Enemies:    [ none ] Animals:    [ gorilla | deer | wallaby | rabbit | mole ] Missions:    C: Destroy the Sonic doll    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the target    A: Destroy the target with at least 2'30" remaining Despite having just assured Gamma he'd do fine on the course, Eggman expresses surprise that the newborn bot was able to finish it at all. He goes on to explain that the Egg Carrier needs a good crew, and a one-on-one battle is the most efficient means of determining the best bot for the job. He pits Gamma against his older brother Beta, noting that while he expects the latter to emerge triumphant, he may as well give the younger droid a fair chance. E-101 "Beta" -- Beta has all of Gamma's moves plus the ability to hover (which Gamma won't get until later), but his homing missiles are a cinch to avoid. Defeated in 3 hits. Having beaten Beta in combat, Gamma is given the honor of serving aboard the Egg Carrier. When the jealous Beta butts in, Eggman decides that he can always use spare parts and gives the elder bot special permission to board. Later, in the bridge of the Egg Carrier, Eggman addresses the E-100 bots and commands them to spread out and locate a certain frog with a peculiar tail... Emerald Coast -- Gamma only has access to a very small stretch of the first half of the stage (near the hotel). Umbrellas and tables can be smashed up with excess laser fire, but they won't add seconds to the clock. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Rhinotank ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Catch Kaeru    B: Collect 50 Rings and locate the target    A: Locate the target with at least 3'00" remaining Upon nabbing Kaeru, Gamma finds himself warped to the distant past by Tikal. The Emerald shrine is filled with cheery Chao merrily singing the day away. Tikal walks up and explains that the helpless Chao are protected by a mighty being, but their home is about to be raided by a certain echidna chieftain... Gamma awakens in the Egg Carrier bridge. The E-100 bots are lined up so that Eggman may inspect the frogs they've caught. He doesn't seem at all pleased with the results until he gets to Gamma, who has captured the correct amphibian: the one that swallowed a Chaos Emerald. Eggman heartily praises the victorious E-102 while zapping the rest of the bots with painful-looking laser beams. As he's being beamed away, Delta turns to look at Gamma who can do naught but gaze back at his suffering comrade. Eggman, meanwhile, wastes no time in giving his prize peon a new mission: seize the bird from Amy, who is currently locked up in the Carrier's prison chamber. As our irresolute hero heads for Amy's cell, he gets caught up in a rotating platform on the floor and ends up entering the wrong room. What he sees there is his older "brother" Beta undergoing a bit of Eggman's dubious reconstructive surgery. Gamma walks out, pauses for a moment of reflection, then enters the correct door. He walks up to Amy's cell and demands that she hand over the bird. The pink priss vehemently refuses, and a frustrated Gamma wonders aloud why she's so hell-bent on protecting a little bird she knows nothing about. Amy coughs up some sticky sentimental nonsense about human dignity (a bit ironic considering neither one of them is human) while the bird approaches Gamma of its own accord. Touched by the show of trust, the vacillating robot hesitates a moment and finally opens Amy's cell, instructing her to escape. A surprised Amy decides that this robot must be a friend and takes his advice. Head to the ammo room to fetch the Booster, which gives Gamma the ability to hover. Upgrade obtained, head to the deck where Sonic and Tails have shown up to ruin the day as usual. Eggman commands his new favorite flunkie to pump Sonic full of laser. A brief player-controlled skirmish ensues, and as Gamma prepares to give the finishing blow, Amy leaps in to defend the injured Sonic. She convinces Gamma to forget Eggman's orders and escape, then hitches an outbound flight with Tails. Gamma takes her advice and flies off in another direction as the Egg Carrier explodes. As he hovers safely into Mystic Ruin, E-102 ruminates over his past experiences and decides that Eggman is his enemy while his brothers, the E-series rejects, are his friends and must be liberated. Having successfully rewritten his own core program, Gamma sets out on his new mission. Head to the fallen Egg Carrier to pick up the optional Sanshiki Laser Juu [triple laser rifle] power-up, which increases the range and lock-on duration of Gamma's laser. Whether you take the power-up or not, head to Mystic Ruin and grab the wind stone in front of Tails' workshop to access Windy Valley. Windy Valley -- Gamma only has access to the first half of this stage. You'll need the Booster to hover across long gaps between platforms. Aim at Boa-boa's for big, beefy time bonuses: each individual segment adds to the tally. Shoot bombs on stone walls to tear down the offending structure. E-103 attacks in the same pattern as E-101, but is a bit faster on the draw. Defeated in 5 hits. Enemies:    [ Boa-Boa | Rhinotank | Leon ] Animals:    [ seal | parrot | peacock | swallow | mole ] Missions:    C: Destroy E-103 "Delta"    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the target    A: Destroy the target with at least 2'30" remaining Red Mountain -- Gamma only has access to the second half of this stage (the volcano). Blow down boulders to create land bridges over magma. E-104 is identical to his elder siblings, but speedier and capable of firing off multiple homing missiles at once. Defeated in 5 hits. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Spina ] Animals:    [ parrot | gorilla | lion | elephant | mole ] Missions:    C: Destroy E-104 "Epsilon"    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the target    A: Destroy the target with at least 3'00" remaining Having "liberated" his younger siblings, E-102 ponders where he might find E-105 and E-101. Recalling his encounter with the latter aboard the Egg Carrier, Gamma decides to return to the fallen craft and look there. Hot Shelter -- Push (or shoot) buttons to power giant claws for passage to high platforms. In the latter half of the stage, Gamma gets dropped onto a pair of parallel, moving trains: when a freight car blocks your path, hop over to the next train. E-105 has undergone a bit of reconstructive surgery: the giant robot sits immobile in the center of a large, rotating platform. He's equipped with a belt full of cannons that fire numerous homing missiles at once. Defeated in 6 hits. Enemies:    [ Kiki | Egg Keeper | Leon ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | skunk | deer ] Missions:    C: Destroy E-105 "Zeta"    B: Collect 50 Rings and destroy the target    A: Destroy the target with at least 2'00" remaining With all the younger E-series brothers accounted for, Gamma determines that only 2 units remain to be liberated: E-101 and himself. Gamma briefly recalls his past experiences and gazes philosophically at his mechanical hands when all of a sudden his existential awakening is interrupted by the appearance of a heavily upgraded E-101. E-101 Kai -- The new and improved Beta zips agilely around the arena and will block all direct attacks. He periodically charges Gamma with a high speed dash that is tricky to avoid: as soon as he's passed by, whip around and nail him from behind. Now the envious brother will add homing missiles to his assault. Land another hit and he'll increase the homing missile barrage and mix things up with an occasional charged blast that covers a large portion of the arena. Land another hit and the enraged Beta will begin sweeping the entire surface with laser fire. Land 1 hit more (total of 4) to put the cantankerous contraption out of his misery. As Beta processes his final algorithm, Gamma steps close enough to his fallen rival to be blasted point-blank. Having sustained fatal damage, Gamma trudges to the edge of the deck as E-101 explodes, releasing a yellow bird. The bird confronts his savior with a silent "thank you" and flies away just as Gamma himself breaks down and explodes. A red bird rises from the rubble and joins his yellow companion. This ends Gamma's game. *sob*

Big the Cat -- Every time the fat cat gets his amphibian amigo back, the little slime seems to get away again. Thus, the goal in every single Action Stage is simply to catch Kaeru. This is achieved by fishing. Cast your lure into the water, then wiggle it around to entice the possessed frog to bite. When you get a nibble, pull back on the rod (down on the control stick) to hook your victim and start reeling him in. Press B or X to reel slowly, A to reel quickly, and tap any direction on the control stick to tug on the line. Keep an eye on the meter at the right hand corner of the screen: when the gauge turns red, the line is strained. When that happens, stop reeling and let the fish run for a few seconds. You lose a life if the line snaps, gets snagged on debris, or if the fish runs too far. Land Kaeru to end the stage, but catch as many fish as you like beforehand for bonus points at the score tally. Jump (ジャンプ) -- Tap button A to leap into the air. The height of the jump is proportional to how long you hold the button down. Rod attack (ロッド攻撃) -- Press B or X to have Big whack any nearby enemies with his rod. (The fishing rod, I mean.) Cast (キャスト) -- Press and hold B or X, then move the indicator around the surface of the water and release to cast. Lure attack (ルア攻撃) -- Cast on dry land to smack distant enemies with your lure. float (水面移動) -- The Life Belt is required to perform this maneuver. Walk into any body of water to have Big float on the surface. Hold button A to submerge and release to surface. Big is sound asleep one night at his hut in Mystic Ruin while his frog buddy "Kaeru-kun" lies contentedly on his massive belly. A loud, distant crash rouses the frog who leaps off to investigate and encounters a strange puddle crawling along the ground. The malignant puddle overtakes the hapless Kaeru who immediately sprouts a tail. All the commotion awakens Big who is surprised to find that his amphibious roommate has sprouted a new appendage and is even more surprised when the little guy swallows a Chaos Emerald lying on the table. Having made a midnight snack of Big's "lucky charm", the edacious frog hops away for parts unknown. The confused Big grabs his fishing rod and follows his escaping friend all the way to Station Square. The little slime slips under a car that has been very carelessly parked over an open manhole. (Search the drainage ditch near Twinkle Park for an optional Level Up Lure, which causes larger fish to appear in Action Stages.) Twinkle Park -- Big only has access to the small pool underneath the swinging ship attraction. You'll only find black bass on your first trip: collect Level Up Lures to attract larger fish to the pond. Enemies:    [ Kiki ] Fish:    [ black bass | piranha | mecha fish ] Animals:    [ wallaby | deer | elephant | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Catch Kaeru-kun    B: Catch a 1,000g fish and Kaeru-kun    A: Catch a 2,000g fish and Kaeru-kun (Big now has access to the Twinkle Circuit minigame.) Head back to Mystic Ruin and search Big's hut to find the optional Power Rod, which enables Big to land larger fish. Search the labyrinth for another optional Level Up Lure and head to Icecap to find the essential Life Belt, which enables Big to float on water. Icecap -- Big only has access to the cavern area of this stage. Jump or throw boulders on cracks in the ice to create holes adequate for ice fishing. Look for a Level Up Lure underneath the giant dinosaur fossil. Enemies:    [ none ] Fish:    [ black bass | eel | mecha fish | shark | hammerhead | salmon ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | gorilla | mole ] Missions:    C: Catch Kaeru-kun    B: Catch a 1,000g fish and Kaeru-kun    A: Catch a 2,000g fish and Kaeru-kun Night has fallen by the time Big exits Icecap. He heads to the waterfall area and spots the hapless Kaeru in the clutches of the nefarious Tails. The pudgy puss charges at the marauding fox who leaps back in terror, releasing the slippery Kaeru. Without saying a word to the startled Tails, Big takes off after the fleeing frog. Emerald Coast -- Big only has access to a small portion of the first area (near the lighthouse). The variety of fish here is richer than any other Action Stage. Look for a lone island protruding out of the water near the western edge of the map: it's actually a hollow cavern. Dive around the periphery to locate an underwater cave leading to the interior for prime fishing grounds. Enemies:    [ Kiki ] Fish:    [ sea bass | moray eel | striped beakfish | red sea bream | mecha fish | shark | hammerhead | marlin ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | rabbit | koala ] Missions:    C: Catch Kaeru-kun    B: Catch a 1,000g fish and Kaeru-kun    A: Catch a 2,000g fish and Kaeru-kun Big once again retrieves the elusive Kaeru only to have him swiped right out of his hands by Gamma, who seems to maintain a better grip on the slippery frog and escapes with his prize to the Egg Carrier. The guileless Big gives chase. (The fourth and final Level Up Lure can be found in the Egg Carrier prison.) Hot Shelter -- Kaeru is swimming around in one of the aquariums: press the button in the central chamber to drain the tanks onto the floor. Once the tanks have been spilled, look for an underwater passageway that leads to the flooded upper level. Snag the drain plug with your lure to empty the chamber onto the floor below, attracting larger fish to the pool. Enemies:    [ Kiki ] Fish:    [ anglerfish | moray eel | shark | hammerhead | oarfish | coelacanth ] Animals:    [ seal | sea otter | penguin | skunk | deer ] Missions:    C: Catch Kaeru-kun    B: Catch a 1,000g fish and Kaeru-kun    A: Catch a 2,000g fish and Kaeru-kun After getting Kaeru back (AGAIN), Big finds himself warped to the distant past by Tikal. Tikal approaches the Emerald altar for the first time, and recalls the legend of the Emeralds as taught to her by her late grandmother. Big awakens back on the airborne Egg Carrier, and decides that a hasty retreat is in order (his most astute observation yet). As Big and Kaeru approach the main deck, they encounter Chaos 4. Eggman is on-hand to chuck a Chaos Emerald into the liquid leviathan and Kaeru, conveniently enough, coughs up the one he ate. Now powered with 6 Emeralds, Chaos swallows the unlucky amphibian and regains its disembodied tail. No longer possessed by Chaos' butt side, Kaeru struggles to break free of the monster's gut. The ever-heroic Sonic makes his timely appearance and offers his services. Chaos 6 -- Chaos lumbers slowly around the arena. His only attack is a massive leap that creates a sweeping shockwave along the ground: since Big can't leap as high as the other characters who must face the assault, it's a difficult attack to avoid. A red indicator marks Kaeru's location in Chaos' watery bulk: cast your lure on the mark to hook and free the hapless frog. Having successfully fished Kaeru out of Chaos' gut, Big runs with his tadpole chum for safety while Sonic steps in to handle the dirty work. Looking for a way off the Carrier, Big spots the crashed Tornado 2 lying on the deck and, despite his girth, manages to use the sputtering contraption to fly back down to terra firma. Back at Mystic Ruin, the fat cat and friendly frog resume their carefree life. This ends Big's game.

   Note that all 6 characters can play the Twinkle Circuit kart-racing minigame. For Sonic, Amy, and Big, the race becomes accessible immediately after clearing Twinkle Park. For Tails, Knuckles, and Gamma (who can't access Twinkle Park), look for the Twinkle Pass card in Station Square, then pick it up and bring it to the park entrance to access the circuit. Additionally, Sonic can access Tails' Sand Hill minigame via Trial mode, though it isn't playable during his normal quest.

Though centrifugal to the story, Chao make only sporadic appearances during the unfurling of the game's meshwork narrative. To compensate for this lack of presence, the water goblins star in an intricate (and totally optional) virtual pet minigame. Note that there's nothing to be gained from Chao farming except Emblems (and there's nothing at all to be gained from Emblems), so only the bored and/or curious need apply. There are 3 different Chao Gardens, one in each Adventure Field. Each Garden is stocked with 2 speckled Chao eggs: incubate 'em with some luvin' snuggles or force the little buggers out straightaway by hurling the egg into a wall. (The newborn Chao's opinion of you will be heavily affected by how you choose to rouse them from their infantile slumber.) Each Chao has 5 stats used to determine its skill in racing: HP, speed, strength, flying ability, and swimming ability. Stats can be upgraded with coconuts shaken from palmtrees in each Garden or with animals collected by defeating enemy robots in Action Stages. Coconuts raise max HP by 1, while animals raise (and lower) a number of stats with emphasis on a particular trait: Swim penguin seal sea otter Fly parrot swallow peacock Run rabbit deer wallaby Power gorilla elephant lion All koala skunk mole Chao will slowly develop physical traits based on their affinity and the animals used to enhance them. Swim type Chao turn yellow and grow a long, fin-like protrusion from their heads; fly type Chao turn purple and develop NiGHTS-esque jester distentions; Run type Chao turn green and grow spines like a certain hedgehog whose name escapes me at the moment; Power type Chao turn orange and develop horn-like spikes on their head; neutral Chao remain blue and can develop any combination of traits. Chao fortified with rabbits sprout bunny ears and cut backflips; Chao fortified with parrots grow red plumes and learn to sing, etc. The Chao growth cycle consists of 3-4 phases: first is the egg phase, as described above. Then comes the baby phase, followed by a brief cocoon phase. Chao emerge from the cocoon as fully-developed adults, capable of reproduction. After a while, the adult Chao will cocoon again and one of two things will happen: the Chao will die (disappear, patootie) or, if you've been a loving parent, will be reborn as a new egg. The hatchling will retain his predecessor's name and characteristics, but his appearance will return to normal and his stats will be significantly lower. Expert breeders who can coax their Chao into reincarnating multiple times might eventually be rewarded with a rare Chaos Chao: a highly evolved specimen that takes on the majestic appearance of Chaos. Each Garden comes prepacked with a pair of basic blue eggs, but intrepid explorers will find a rare color egg hidden in each Adventure Field: gold in Station Square, silver in Mystic Ruin, and black in Egg Carrier. Raise and breed rare color Chao for interesting combinations. For example, cross a metallic Chao with a black Chao and the offspring could potentially be a metallic black Chao. Ooh! Enhacing Chao with liberated critters is all good and well, but the fastest way to raise an omnipotent speed demon is by way of Osanpo Adventure, the VM memory card game. Transfer your chosen Chao into a VM to watch him trot along a mostly non-interactive course. The encounters he has on his pint-sized excursion will enhance his stats in various ways. Each journey lasts 5 fields and each field is 4,000 meters long. Shift thy gaze eastward for a simple map (read right to left). Events come in three flavors: treasure chests -- Choose one of 3 switches to open the chest. Flick the right one and you'll earn one of 9 different power-up fruits. Fruit can be stored for use at any time, and the leftovers will pop into the Garden when you release your Chao. yellow fruit (raises swim stat) purple fruit (raises fly stat) blue fruit (raises run stat) red fruit (raises power stat) heart fruit (full HP recovery; aphrodisiac) star fruit (punch power doubles) haste fruit (distance per step doubles to a max of 25m) unwilling fruit (puts Chao to sleep) Chao fruit (raises all stats; full HP recovery) battles -- A one-on-one fist fight between your Chao and a rival. Attacking is based on a roulette system: press the A button to stop the roulette on the light square. As your Chao strengthens, the number of light squares increases (along with your chances for successfully landing a Guru-guru Punch). character encounters -- Encounter any of the game's playable heroes for a major boost in one stat: Sonic -- raises run stat Tails -- raises fly stat Knuckles -- raises power stat Amy -- full HP recovery Gamma -- nothing happens Big -- raises swim stat Press A at any time during the stroll to bring up the Osanpo Adventure menu: Status -- View your Chao's stats Item -- Check your item stash or feed your Chao Game -- A game of miniature concentration. Clear 3 rounds in a row to win a prize. Get a perfect score to earn a Chao fruit. Omiai -- Connect your VM to a friend's and your gelatinous pets will waste no time doing the Chao nasty (represented on-screen by little hearts). Assuming your Chao are full-grown, each one will be heading home with an egg in tow. (In Japanese tradition, an "omiai" is a formal meeting between two strangers to discuss marriage.) battle -- Plug into a friend's VM again for some action of an altogether different nature owner -- Displays your personal data (name, gender, blood type, birth date, phone number, favorite thing, a personal secret, and best Chao Race time) friends -- Displays data exchanged during omiai map -- Displays your Chao's progress on his adventure settings -- Options include: sound on/off, enable/disable data exchange, or edit personal data Chao's name -- Give your Chao a name Any specimen in your Chao ranch may be put to the test in the Chao Stadium, an athletic field for Chao Races. The entrance to the Stadium can be found in the Station Square Garden. Hop inside and select one of 3 different circuits: Jewel, Beginner, or Multi Entry. The Jewel circuit consists of 5 races with an Emblem awarded upon the successful completion of each. The Beginner courses are shorter, the contestants weaker, and winning is impossible thanks to Chakuron, a black Chao prodigy who snoozes at the starting line until the last minute, then zips ahead of the competition at ridiculously high speed. (If you get sneaky and try to use a level 999 Chao in a Beginner race, you'll find your wise ass going up against a whole troop of golden level 999 contestants.) In Multi Entry, you can pit your own Chao against each other. At any time during any race, press any of the 4 action buttons to cheer your Chao along with goofy sound effects. Pearl Course -- test of strength Amethyst Course -- test of speed Sapphire Course -- test of flying ability Ruby Course -- test of swimming ability Emerald Course -- This final race is only unlocked after all other courses have been cleared. It's a long, winding route that will test all of your Chao's attributes.

   Up to 3 game saves can be stored on each VM memory card. Adventure mode aside, the game also includes a Trial mode accessible from the main menu. In Trial mode, you can run through any Action Stage or Minigame you've cleared in Adventure mode. The computer keeps records of your best score, best time, and highest total of Rings. From the options menu, players can access an exhaustive sound test, turn subtitles on or off, set sound output to stereo or mono, or load another save file.

   The final option in the main menu is the cutting edge Internet mode, an in-game website that pulls content live from a remote server. From the website, players can access bonus downloads, an online strategy guide, a primitive BBS, national scoreboards, and an online Chao Garden for swapping the fiendish liquid gremlins. (These downloads are also compatible with Sonic Adventure International):

• Christmas: Available at release on 12/23/98 - 12/25/98. Three small Christmas trees are erected in Station Square: one near the train station and one on either side of the entrance to city hall. The tree on the left of city hall plays Joy to the World while the other two play Jingle Bells. 88 blocks.
• 1st nationwide ranking added on 12/24/98.
• Kadomatsu: Available 12/26/98 - 01/07/99 (a bug fix version was added on 12/29). I've never seen this download and it may be lost to Dreamcast history. (A kadomatsu [literally, "gate pine"] is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration consisting of 3 large bamboo shoots adorned with pine sprigs. They're displayed from January 1-7.)
• 2nd nationwide ranking added on 01/08/99.
• 3rd nationwide ranking added on 01/13/99.
• QUO contest: Released 01/22/98. Locate all 6 Hidekazu Yukawa QUO cards hidden around Station Square and Mystic Ruin within 10 minutes. Tag the red orb in front of the Station Square terminal to begin the countdown, and tag the blue orb in Mystic Ruin when you've found all 6 cards. As you grab each card, you're cheered on by an enthusiastic "yosh!" in Yukawa's own voice. 34 blocks. (Hidekazu Yukawa was an executive at Sega Japan around the time of the Dreamcast's release. He gained short-lived stardom when he began appearing in a series of self-deprecating commercials preceding the Dreamcast launch. Such was his popularity that he earned his own series of QUO cards, a brand of prepaid cash cards produced by Japan Card Center Kaisha, one of Sega's sister companies under parent corporation CSK. [Note that as of 2003, Sega is no longer owned by CSK.])
• 4th nationwide ranking added on 02/12/99.
• Famitsu contest: Released 02/12/99. A contest sponsored by Famitsu magazine. Locate all 5 hedgehog photos hidden around Station Square and Mystic Ruin within 10 minutes. Tag the red orb in front of the Station Square terminal to begin the countdown, and tag the blue orb in the terminal itself to end the game. 18 blocks.
• 5th nationwide ranking added on 03/17/99.
• 6th nationwide ranking added on 04/07/99.
• 7th nationwide ranking added on 04/22/99.
• Chao black market added on 06/08/99. Players with enough Emblems can access rare Chao.
• 8th nationwide ranking added on 06/17/99.
• 9th nationwide ranking added on 09/02/99.
• Launch Party!: Released 09/09/99. Celebrates the US Dreamcast launch with banners and balloons around Station Square. 40 blocks.
• Ruby Chao available for download on 09/09/99.
• Eme Chao (Emerald Chao) available for download on 10/14/99.
• Halloween Party: Released 10/18/99 - 12/28/99. Decorates Twinkle Park with floating jack-o-lanterns decked out in witch hats and black capes. 53 blocks.
• Merry Christmas: Released 12/17/99 - 12/28/99. A more compact Christmas file that decorates Station Square with 2 large Christmas trees: one in front of the train terminal and one in front of city hall. Tag either tree and the BGM changes to Dreams Dreams A Cappella from Christmas NiGHTS. 55 blocks.
• Sappha Chao (Sapphire Chao) available for download on 12/23/99.
• Neo Millennium: Released 12/29/99. Two giant special Rings are hidden in each Action Stage. Tag one and the BGM changes to Palmtree Panic present from Sonic CD. 62 blocks.
• Samba GP: Released 04/27/00. A new Twinkle Circuit course to mark the release of Samba de Amigo on Dreamcast (though the course has nothing at all to do with Samba de Amigo.) BGM is Super Sonic Racing (instrumental version) from Sonic R. 61 blocks.

   International's showcase feature is the addition of a complete English language voice track as well as new subtitles in English, German, French, and Spanish. The game also sports a more solid frame rate, tweaked cameras, additional voice clips and a number of new download contests (some country-specific). Some graphics have been tweaked or changed entirely (most perplexing is the removal of the neon cowgirl billboard from Casinopolis). A new World Ranking mode allows players around the globe to upload best times to an international scoreboard for prizes.

• Launch Party!: Released 09/09/99. Celebrates the US Dreamcast launch with banners and balloons around Station Square. (In the European version, Dreamcast logos are blue to correspond with Sega Europe's dubious marketing strategy.) 40 blocks.
• Eme Chao (Emerald Chao) available for download on 10/14/99. Japan only.
• World Ranking #1 added on 10/15/99 - 10/29/99. Time Attack as Sonic in Emerald Coast.
• Halloween Party: Released 10/18/99 - 12/28/99. Decorates Twinkle Park with floating jack-o-lanterns decked out in witch hats and black capes. 53 blocks.
• Sonic 2K #1: Released 10/29/99. Part 1 of a 3-part contest sponsored by AT&T and Official Dreamcast Magazine. Adds AT&T and ODCM banners to Station Square. Speed Highway features AT&T banners and platforms. Playable as Sonic only and only open to US players. 68 blocks.
• Sonic voice file: Released 11/04/99. Sonic's voice replaces the default announcer in the menu screens. 2 blocks.
• World Ranking #2 added on 11/05/99 - 11/19/99. Time Attack as Sonic in Windy Valley.
• World Ranking #3 added on 11/26/99 - 12/09/99. Score Attack as Tails in Icecap.
• Sonic 2K #2: Released 11/26/99. Part 2 of a 3-part contest sponsored by AT&T and Official Dreamcast Magazine. Adds AT&T and ODCM banners to Mystic Ruin. Tag a banner to receive a clue as to the whereabouts of 4 buried treasures. Playable as Knuckles only and only open to US players. 58 pages.
• Tails voice file: Released 11/26/99. Tails' voice replaces the default announcer in the menu screens. 2 blocks.
• Sonic Speed Challenge: Released ??/??/99. A contest sponsored by Reebok. Find 5 pairs of Reebok DMX shoes hidden around Emerald Coast. Playable as Sonic only and only open to European players.
• Knuckles voice file: Released 12/17/99. Knuckles' voice replaces the default announcer in the menu screens. 2 blocks.
• World Ranking #4 added on 12/17/99 - 12/30/99. Time Attack as Knuckles in Red Mountain.
• Merry Christmas: Released 12/17/99 - 12/28/99. A more compact Christmas file that decorates Station Square with 2 large Christmas trees: one in front of the train terminal and one in front of city hall. Tag either tree and the BGM changes to Dreams Dreams A Cappella from Christmas NiGHTS. 55 blocks.
• Sappha Chao (Sapphire Chao) available for download on 12/23/99. Japan only.
• Sonic 2K #3: Released 12/24/99. Part 3 of a 3-part contest sponsored by AT&T and Official Dreamcast Magazine. Decorates Sand Hill with AT&T and ODCM banners for a score attack challenge. Only playable as Tails and only open to US players. 68 blocks.
• Neo Millennium: Released 12/29/99. Two giant special Rings are hidden in each Action Stage. Tag one and the BGM changes to Palmtree Panic present from Sonic CD. 62 blocks.
• World Ranking #5 added on 01/07/00 - 01/21/00. Weight Attack as Big in Emerald Coast.
• Big voice file: Released 01/07/00. Big's voice replaces the default announcer in the menu screens. 2 blocks.
• World Ranking #6 added on 01/28/00 - 02/10/00. Time Attack as Amy in Twinkle Park.
• Amy voice file: Released 01/28/00. Amy's voice replaces the default announcer in the menu screens. 2 blocks.
• World Ranking #7 added on 02/18/00 - 03/02/00. Time Attack as Gamma in Red Mountain.
• Gamma voice file: Released 02/18/00. Gamma's voice replaces the default announcer in the menu screens. 2 blocks.
• World Ranking #8 added on 03/10/00 - 03/23/00. Score Attack as Tails in Sky Chase Act 2.
• World Ranking #9 added on 04/04/00 - 04/26/00. Time Attack as Sonic in Twinkle Circuit.
• Samba GP: Released 04/27/00. A new Twinkle Circuit course to mark the release of Samba de Amigo on Dreamcast (though the course has nothing at all to do with Samba de Amigo.) BGM is Super Sonic Racing (instrumental version) from Sonic R. 61 blocks.
• World Ranking #10 added on 05/05/00 - 05/19/00. Time Attack as Knuckles in Casinopolis.
• World Ranking #11 added on 05/26/00 - 06/08/00. Score Attack as Sonic in Sand Hill.
• World Ranking #12 added on 06/16/00 - 06/30/00. Time Attack as Gamma in Final Egg.
• World Ranking #13 added on 07/07/00 - 07/21/00. Time Attack as Knuckles in Lost World.
• World Ranking #14 added on 08/25/00 - 09/08/00. Weight Attack as Big in Icecap.
• US-only Ranking added on 09/14/00. Time Attack as Sonic in Lost World.
• US-only Ranking added on 10/15/00. Score Attack as Amy in Hedgehog Hammer.
• US-only Ranking added on 11/06/00. Time Attack as Gamma in Hot Shelter.
• US-only Ranking added on 11/30/00. Time Attack as Sonic in Sky Deck.
• Final update added 12/00 (US only). All World Rankings reopened (without prizes).

   Note that the Chao black market was never opened to US players. Though the feature was added to the website, a CGI error prevented it from loading, and Sega of America didn't seem interested in addressing the problem...

• Character models are higher poly (though still not as rich as their SA2 counterparts). Environments and enemies are unchanged.
• The standard frame rate has been upped to 60 fps, although it's as inconsistent as it was in the original, and frequently dips as low as 15.
• A new map feature for Adventure Fields makes getting around easier (particularly in the Mystic Ruin jungle labyrinth).
• C stick camera manipulation can be set to auto or free: auto is the original setting in which you get a first-person view of your surroundings while free is used to rotate the camera around your character (same effect as L & R triggers).
• The game features a progressive scan (480p) mode for compatible TV's.
• All online functions are removed
• Cream the Rabbit makes a brief cameo appearance in Adventure mode. She can be seen flying through Station Square and (apparently) drops the ice stone used to access Icecap.
• Collect all 130 Emblems to unlock Metal Sonic as a playable character in Trial mode. Metal is mostly identical to Sonic and has access to all his Action Stages and minigames. (Supposedly, this feature was meant to have been included in the original Dreamcast version, but had to be cut due to time constraints.)

   For every 20 Emblems collected or 20 Missions completed, you'll unlock a pixel-perfect rendition of one of Sonic's Game Gear titles, courtesy of the emulation experts at VR-1 Japan (the group behind Sonic Mega Collection). The games default to full-screen, but can be resized closer to the original Game Gear resolution by pressing the L and R triggers. Sonic's complete 12-title Game Gear library is included, and you can even toggle between Japanese or US region versions by changing the language settings in the main options menu. During any game, plug in a second controller and press the START button to switch to a split screen: now two people can play at once. On games with Taisen Cable (Gear-to-Gear cable) support, the two screens automatically synchronize themselves for versus play. The games are unlocked in this order:

Immortal Chao: Pop a Chao into the Osanpo Adventure VM game and change its name to 1234567. The numeric moniker imbues the scrubby sprite with infinite health.

Chao Puzzle: Begin Adventure mode as any character with an extra controller and VM plugged into slot 3. Press START on controller 3 to access a VM minigame called Chao Puzzle, a sliding puzzle game with a 3x3 grid. Use the control pad to select a square and press A to slide the piece. Press B for a different puzzle or press START again to quit. The game consists of 15 stages with a congratulatory message at the end of every 5th round.

PC goodies: Pop the game disc into a PC CD drive to access bitmap wallpapers adequate for sprucing up a dreary Windows desktop.

   Prior to the game's development, several key members of the team flew down to Central America to cull some inspiration for the project. The exotic Mesoamerican landscape provided the basis (and many of the actual textures) for the Mystic Ruin Adventure Field. The echidna tribe was modelled after the Maya civilization, and the principal character - Tikal - was named after an actual city and modern-day archaeological site. (Pachacamac is the name of an ancient city and empire in Peru, unrelated to the Maya.)

   After some cryptic hints regarding its existence (most notably the now-famous "Sonic face" image), Sonic Adventure was unveiled to the public on August 22, 1998 via a raucous press conference at the Tokyo International Forum. Open to the public and free of charge, the event was a massive success with performances by a number of Japanese celebrities. Hiroshi Fujioka, Sega's popular Segata Sanshiro, lead the crowds in a chant of "SONIKKU" which was recorded and used in the final battle scene of the game.

   Despite the fanfare surrounding its release, Sonic Adventure was rushed to market to add some much-needed oomph to the Dreamcast's insipid launch lineup. The finished product was, well, not really finished, and Sega was aware that the glitchy results wouldn't fly in the less forgiving US market. To rectify the matter, 12 members of Sonic Team (Iizuka himself among them) moved to Sega's US headquarters to establish Sonic Team USA. In the 9 month gap before the US Dreamcast launch, the group added some spit & polish to the game which was rereleased in Japan as Sonic Adventure International. Once the project was completed, the San Francisco-based group immediately began development of the game's sequel, Sonic Adventure 2.

• When Iizuka and the other artists presented the idea for Chao along with concept sketches, producer Yuji Naka was so impressed that he approved the idea on the spot.
• The rapping segments in Knuckles' theme song were performed by John "Dredd Foxx" Simpson III, voice of Sony's PaRappa the Rapper.
• In March 2000, Archie Comic Publications released a 48-page comic titled and loosely based on Sonic Adventure. The special was released as a supplement to their ongoing Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.