Sonic Chaos (SMS, 1993)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-6.5 Story-4
Level Design-7 Frustration-6.5 Fun-7 Originality-5
Overall Score-6.5/7*
*Remake
+
Two playable characters (Sonic and Tails, Tails can fly)
Quite fast when using the speed shoes and flows well overall if not going for the emeralds
Pretty good art direction
Spindash
Hidden items and breakable walls
Some decent new gimmicks (can skip on water if your movement speed is high enough, springs that attach to you like a pogo stick - shouldn't have been dropped when bouncing on an enemy or touching a wall though, the platforms that require high speed running not to fall down)
Some good bosses (level 5 egg - three phases, final boss - two phases)
Decent variety
Fewer death pits
Some alternate paths through levels
Decent second and fourth bonus levels (use the attachable springs to climb higher / mix of rocket shoe use and platforming)
PC fan remake (v1.2.1, 2024):
-Higher and smoother framerate, no slowdown, widescreen
-Time trial and boss rush modes
-Playable Knuckles
-Slightly improved rocket shoes bonus levels - some added obstacles but you move too close to the screen to react to them and you can bounce into most of them and still beat the levels
-Save feature (multiple slots)
-Tighter turning while using the rocket shoes (you still lose them from flying into an item box though)
-Can start flying after jumping as Tails (flight is also Joust-style like in the 16-bit games)
-Can actually stop fully in a slope here
-Unlock a level select after beating the game (so if you missed getting the emerald in a level you should be able to go back and get it)
-Can unlock Super Sonic? (didn't seem to work for me)
+/-
Flight mechanics are different compared to the 16-bit games (don't have to mash the button, no "tired" animation before you drop, drop immediately rather than slowly sink)
Short levels overall (also repeats what the prequels did with the third act of each zone being much shorter). Perhaps too short considering you can only get 5 emeralds before the final boss so there's not much point to exploring beyond the first half of the game or so
You only drop one ring when hit unless you were holding 50+ of them (it's generally easy to catch though)
No ring magnet (Sonic 3 is from 1994)
Easy to rack up lives and continues
The rocket shoes would've been more fun if turning wasn't as sluggish and they lasted a bit longer in the main levels (and weren't as rare)
Remake:
-Tails and Sonic can jump after falling off of a platform (similar to Donkey Kong Country) - makes platforming easier overall
-Inconsequential additional options
-
Some control issues (have to be standing still to fly as Tails - can't jump and start flying, can't roll into a ball after bouncing into the air using a spring, can't manually cancel flying as Tails, have to be completely still to crouch and spindash which you can't do while in a gentle slope, if you drop the ring while near the top of the screen it might disappear, can't hold down jump while breaking blocks in ball form from above to bounce higher based on how far you fell, can't skip the score countdown screens - only speed them up slightly)
Pathetic first boss, Easy level 4 boss
Uneven framerate with fairly frequent slowdown (pretty heavy when breaking a lot of block in level 3 or sometimes at random moments when you're just jumping around and grabbing rings)
Meh intro (nothing happens!), Worse (low/mid-speed) run animation for Sonic, No sped up music while using the speed shoes
Difficulty spike at the second boss (weird physics when interacting with it) and at the final boss
No hub map or level transitions
Some slow moving platforms
Need 100 rings to reach the bonus level in an act and the levels themselves are mostly meh. Sometimes rings could've been placed better so as not to break flow
Only Sonic can go for the emeralds
Mostly single pattern bosses
Some trial & error (level 6 speed tunnel mazes - handled better than in Sonic 2 SMS though, getting to the rings before the final boss, a few leaps of faith into hazards, fifth emerald bonus level - another speed tunnel maze, getting the sixth emerald - have to hit Robotnik during a brief period in what seems like an in-game cutscene when he flies upwards and escapes to make him drop it)
No real ending even if you got the emeralds (just shows Sonic running around inside some giant emeralds during the staff roll)
Pretty short (about 30-40 mins if you're a decent player)
No difficulty options
Remake:
-Can't look up/down here and the camera seems somewhat tighter when jumping? Was a bit tight already, making it harder to see where you'll land
-Slow down a bit from spindashing down a slope
-Not enough horizontal acceleration when starting to move
-If you hold right when rolling up the very first slope, your avatar stops and starts pushing against the slope when near the top. This happens again in some later levels
-Weird and annoying how you fall through boss 2 onwards after hitting their weak spot here - could've just made it harder to repeatedly bounce on them or increased their invincibility time a bit (or better yet, add more movement patterns)
-Bug where you die when the first boss spawns if you fly into its arena
-Bug where Sonic won't get out of ball form after landing on a higher platform if the jump is very tight (one of the bonus levels)
-Bug: In some parts of level 3 it's as if a force is pushing Sonic in the other direction in a few parts
-Much slower movement in corkscrews
-Bug: The camera wouldn't scroll back down when entering some boss fights from above
-Unskippable staff roll
-Somewhat easier level 5 boss and final boss
Level Design-7 Frustration-6.5 Fun-7 Originality-5
Overall Score-6.5/7*
*Remake
+
Two playable characters (Sonic and Tails, Tails can fly)
Quite fast when using the speed shoes and flows well overall if not going for the emeralds
Pretty good art direction
Spindash
Hidden items and breakable walls
Some decent new gimmicks (can skip on water if your movement speed is high enough, springs that attach to you like a pogo stick - shouldn't have been dropped when bouncing on an enemy or touching a wall though, the platforms that require high speed running not to fall down)
Some good bosses (level 5 egg - three phases, final boss - two phases)
Decent variety
Fewer death pits
Some alternate paths through levels
Decent second and fourth bonus levels (use the attachable springs to climb higher / mix of rocket shoe use and platforming)
PC fan remake (v1.2.1, 2024):
-Higher and smoother framerate, no slowdown, widescreen
-Time trial and boss rush modes
-Playable Knuckles
-Slightly improved rocket shoes bonus levels - some added obstacles but you move too close to the screen to react to them and you can bounce into most of them and still beat the levels
-Save feature (multiple slots)
-Tighter turning while using the rocket shoes (you still lose them from flying into an item box though)
-Can start flying after jumping as Tails (flight is also Joust-style like in the 16-bit games)
-Can actually stop fully in a slope here
-Unlock a level select after beating the game (so if you missed getting the emerald in a level you should be able to go back and get it)
-Can unlock Super Sonic? (didn't seem to work for me)
+/-
Flight mechanics are different compared to the 16-bit games (don't have to mash the button, no "tired" animation before you drop, drop immediately rather than slowly sink)
Short levels overall (also repeats what the prequels did with the third act of each zone being much shorter). Perhaps too short considering you can only get 5 emeralds before the final boss so there's not much point to exploring beyond the first half of the game or so
You only drop one ring when hit unless you were holding 50+ of them (it's generally easy to catch though)
No ring magnet (Sonic 3 is from 1994)
Easy to rack up lives and continues
The rocket shoes would've been more fun if turning wasn't as sluggish and they lasted a bit longer in the main levels (and weren't as rare)
Remake:
-Tails and Sonic can jump after falling off of a platform (similar to Donkey Kong Country) - makes platforming easier overall
-Inconsequential additional options
-
Some control issues (have to be standing still to fly as Tails - can't jump and start flying, can't roll into a ball after bouncing into the air using a spring, can't manually cancel flying as Tails, have to be completely still to crouch and spindash which you can't do while in a gentle slope, if you drop the ring while near the top of the screen it might disappear, can't hold down jump while breaking blocks in ball form from above to bounce higher based on how far you fell, can't skip the score countdown screens - only speed them up slightly)
Pathetic first boss, Easy level 4 boss
Uneven framerate with fairly frequent slowdown (pretty heavy when breaking a lot of block in level 3 or sometimes at random moments when you're just jumping around and grabbing rings)
Meh intro (nothing happens!), Worse (low/mid-speed) run animation for Sonic, No sped up music while using the speed shoes
Difficulty spike at the second boss (weird physics when interacting with it) and at the final boss
No hub map or level transitions
Some slow moving platforms
Need 100 rings to reach the bonus level in an act and the levels themselves are mostly meh. Sometimes rings could've been placed better so as not to break flow
Only Sonic can go for the emeralds
Mostly single pattern bosses
Some trial & error (level 6 speed tunnel mazes - handled better than in Sonic 2 SMS though, getting to the rings before the final boss, a few leaps of faith into hazards, fifth emerald bonus level - another speed tunnel maze, getting the sixth emerald - have to hit Robotnik during a brief period in what seems like an in-game cutscene when he flies upwards and escapes to make him drop it)
No real ending even if you got the emeralds (just shows Sonic running around inside some giant emeralds during the staff roll)
Pretty short (about 30-40 mins if you're a decent player)
No difficulty options
Remake:
-Can't look up/down here and the camera seems somewhat tighter when jumping? Was a bit tight already, making it harder to see where you'll land
-Slow down a bit from spindashing down a slope
-Not enough horizontal acceleration when starting to move
-If you hold right when rolling up the very first slope, your avatar stops and starts pushing against the slope when near the top. This happens again in some later levels
-Weird and annoying how you fall through boss 2 onwards after hitting their weak spot here - could've just made it harder to repeatedly bounce on them or increased their invincibility time a bit (or better yet, add more movement patterns)
-Bug where you die when the first boss spawns if you fly into its arena
-Bug where Sonic won't get out of ball form after landing on a higher platform if the jump is very tight (one of the bonus levels)
-Bug: In some parts of level 3 it's as if a force is pushing Sonic in the other direction in a few parts
-Much slower movement in corkscrews
-Bug: The camera wouldn't scroll back down when entering some boss fights from above
-Unskippable staff roll
-Somewhat easier level 5 boss and final boss