Handheld games are pretty interesting. What was a handheld console like during the 1990s? They were pretty limited compared to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or the Sega Genesis so they had to limit the scope of ambition. Despite this, several game series would have ambition but in different areas like settings, ideas, even the foundation of a series. The Game Gear was a competitor to the Game Boy Handheld which didn’t work because the Game Boy sold way more than the Game Gear. It’s interesting that despite the Game Gear having color compared to the Game Boy, it was pricing that led to the Game Boy selling a lot.
There were some Interesting games like Sonic Chaos, which was an interesting game continuing after Sonic 2 for Game gear and Master System. The Sonic Game Gear games are pretty unique because they had to deal with the limitations of the Game Gear and these games put their own unique ideas and Zones somewhat.
Sonic Chaos has interesting gameplay. It can kinda emulate the speed of the Sega Genesis Sonic games but not really. The Game Gear and Master System Sonic games were usually more based on platforming and less emphasis on the speed and the cool factor because the Game Gear and Master System hardware limited that. This review will be using the Game Gear version of this game.
Onto the actual Gameplay on Game Gear, Sonic plays relatively the same as his Sonic 2 counterpart. He has the jump and Spindash, but also the Super Peel Out which was a move from Sonic CD for the Sega CD addon. It allows Sonic to go fast like the spin Dash except he is running which makes him vulnerable so you need to press down basically to defend yourself through rolling. The spin dash and Super peel out are almost interchangeable to be honest.
Onto the zones, Turquoise hill zone is extremely easy. There really isn’t much to say about it. It has springs and that is really it. It introduces the Jet shoes which allows Sonic to fly to the end of this short level. Let’s talk about the special stages for this game, you need 100 rings to get into them. 50 rings to go to a special stage was okay, not the best requirement because of the vast difference between playing it normally or getting all the chaos emeralds. Getting all the chaos emeralds slowed things down to get the required amount of rings. 100 rings is asking too much because it really slows down the pace because you have to go all over the zone to get these rings. Combined with the screen size of the Game Gear being small, it’s not worth it for a different ending. This game also has a 3rd act but unlike the 3rd act of Sonic 1 in which it felt like an unneeded extension, Sonic chaos’s 3rd act is very short so that’s a positive. The Boss for this however is very easy. Overall, this sets the general precedent of this entire game.
Gigalopolis Zone is a dark city setting type of zone. It introduces the 3D looking platform which shows dimension. It also requires Sonic to be running because otherwise Sonic will fall. Other than that, it’s uninteresting. The boss is an interesting idea. A caterpillar looking boss that throws its spiked segments towards the player is a neat idea. Overall, the most interesting zone but that’s not saying much considering the rest of the zones.
Sleeping Egg zone is an interesting zone. The setting is something because it’s hard to describe it. It isn’t a city but it isn’t exactly natural. Anyways, the gimmick is that some of the blocks of this stage are breakable. It also introduces the spring powerup which allows Sonic to use a spring like a pogo stick. It can be knocked off if you hit a wall. Fortunately, it’s not required for anything. The boss is so uninteresting.
Mecha Green Hill Zone is very interesting. Taking the first zone of Sonic 1 and showing what it would look like if Dr. Eggman took it over. Shame this zone is pretty bad. It’s uninteresting and with the screen size of the Game Gear, it turns it into a mildly frustrating zone with the bottomless pits of the 3rd act. The boss is boring. Overall, the 2 things that are memorable about this zone are the setting and the mildly frustrating Act 3.
Aqua Planet Zone is an odd level. It’s a water level with barely any water which despite the past Sonic 1 review and the dislike of Labyrinth Zone, this is still strange. It also takes its only gimmick from Labyrinth zone being the spears that pop out. This zone is majorly boring. The boss is also boring and tedious because it drags out the fight with the few bird egg looking robots and then the boss takes like 12 hits or so which drags it out. Near the end of the boss fight, it shoots missiles to hit Sonic on the ground and you need to hit the boss one more time. Overall, this zone is a nothing zone.
Electric Egg Zone is the final zone and it introduces the tube gimmick. This gimmick is boring and also a little bit frustrating because it can just take you to a bottomless pit. The 2 acts are basically just figuring out where to go while dealing with the screen size of the Game Gear. It’s not fun. The boss of the 3rd act is an interesting boss but dragged down a bit in quality because it kinda takes a while. The Second phase is actually a bit funny. Eggman uses his little flying vehicle to run Sonic over. It insta kills no matter the ring count. It takes one hit to the head though to counterbalance that. Overall, it’s a mild frustration with interesting ideas.
Overall, This game is majorly boring. It has a few neat ideas but not much really there to play this game. Play the better Master System version of this game but it probably wouldn’t improve much overall other than getting the 100 rings for the chaos emeralds. You can play it on the Game gear, Master system, or the Sonic Origins collection.
