OptOut | 8,892 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I love Sonic games but man, this game is weak. This is probably not news to anyone who has played it, but I was just sitting down to finally actually play this one, and damn, lame, no good! The linked player mechanic is utterly pointless. It only ever impedes the player and never seems worthwhile, fun or in the slightest bit necessary. You can beat almost every level just ignoring the CPU player dangling off of you and cramping your style. Every level has a very similar design, a lot of verticality, enclosed spaces, and endless repetitive half-loops, bouncers and dead-ends. The levels look different, but the graphics are super busy, even for a sonic game, and the colours clash and make your eyes hurt after a while. There are also few enemies, and the link mechanic makes taking them out a chore. The real highlights of Sonic games for me, have always been the bonus stages and the bosses. Chaotix shits the bed on both these fronts. The in-stage bonus levels suck, you fall through an endless pit with very little control of your character... I THINK the idea is to grab rings, but you also LOSE rings the whole time you are in there. I usually end up worse off after the bonus stages... What the actual fuck. The end of level bonus stages to get chaos... RINGS... not emeralds for some reason, are better, but no where near as good as Sonic 2 and you can only see a foot in front of you due to draw distance. As for bosses, you rarely see them. There are 5 zones with 5 levels each and you get a boss at the end. This is a pretty low ratio for sonic games, especially Sonic 3 which has a boss at the end of EVERY level. But, worse, you don't play through levels in order, it's literally random which zone is picked, so chances are you won't play a SINGLE boss stage for practically MOST of the game until right at the end. Awful design. Other than that, power ups are all lame, the partners you pick have ZERO impact on the game, and this game is full LAME. Review over. 4 out of ten I guess... Or whatever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,994 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Yes it is 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintegageo | 582 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I'm not saying this to change your mind, though you keep comparing it to a Sonic game. It's not. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Nintegageo said: I'm not saying this to change your mind, though you keep comparing it to a Sonic game. It's not. I mean it would be, if the linking mechanic was removed. There is practically no difference between it and a regular sonic game other than the fact it's entirely gimped by the linked characters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPX | 1,373 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I tend to think of it as Sonic in a parallel universe where he’s a criminal on probation and has to be chained up with another inmate. And yeah, it was pretty average on the first level that I tried it some years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintegageo | 582 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 59 minutes ago, OptOut said: I mean it would be, if the linking mechanic was removed. There is practically no difference between it and a regular sonic game other than the fact it's entirely gimped by the linked characters. So if it included the main character and removed the main mechanic, it would be a Sonic game? I do understand your pov, I just consider it as its own sorta thing, the way Yoshi's Story games are their own. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, Nintegageo said: So if it included the main character and removed the main mechanic, it would be a Sonic game? I do understand your pov, I just consider it as its own sorta thing, the way Yoshi's Story games are their own. I mean, the Yoshi games are majorly different, mechanically from regular Mario games, so I also consider them different. But here Knuckles plays exactly the same as Sonic 3 and K (ignoring the link stuff) and the level designs and everything are pretty much the same as a regular Sonic game... If you hacked this game to remove the link (which as I said is actually an impediment to gameplay) and put sonic in it, you'd call is a sonic game. If you hacked Yoshi's Island to put Mario in there, the game just wouldn't work. So, for my money, it's a sonic game, just an incredibly flawed one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart010 | 1,708 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Yes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_robot | 546 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Agreed. Like most 32X games, it feels unfinished to me. The rubber band gimmick might have been OK if they found something interesting to do with it in the level design, but they did not. Just annoying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot_Ninjutsu | 122 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I owned this game for a short while, and agree that the rubber band aspect was a puzzling gameplay choice. 2 hours ago, OptOut said: If you hacked Yoshi's Island to put Mario in there, the game just wouldn't work. I don't like that they call the game "Super Mario World 2". It's not a Mario game, it's not a sequel, its a Yoshi game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,583 Editorials Team · Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 2 hours ago, OptOut said: So, for my money, it's a sonic game, just an incredibly flawed one. How redundant 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,994 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 3 hours ago, cj_robot said: Agreed. Like most 32X games, it feels unfinished to me. It literally is. Pretty sure it's been confirmed and documented well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange | 1,700 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I need it for that sweet shelf cred though 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estil | 1,265 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I wonder why they didn't call it Knuckles 32X...you know, to go with the Sonic CD name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDIRunner | 2,771 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I don't think there is anything wrong with the game itself. The problem is that everyone expects it to be a standard side scrolling Sonic style game, and it isn't. If they had also released a standard side scrolling Sonic style game along with Knuckles Chaotix, I don't think people would be saying as many bad things about it. It's just frustrating because all they had to do was follow the standard Sonic formula and they probably would have made a game that would have made owing the 32x worth it. This game had the biggest chance to be the killer app for the system, but it just didn't work out. This game would have been way more popular if it had been released on the Genesis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 5 hours ago, TDIRunner said: I don't think there is anything wrong with the game itself. The problem is that everyone expects it to be a standard side scrolling Sonic style game, and it isn't. If they had also released a standard side scrolling Sonic style game along with Knuckles Chaotix, I don't think people would be saying as many bad things about it. It's just frustrating because all they had to do was follow the standard Sonic formula and they probably would have made a game that would have made owing the 32x worth it. This game had the biggest chance to be the killer app for the system, but it just didn't work out. This game would have been way more popular if it had been released on the Genesis. I disagree with this I'm afraid. Even on its own terms, the game is flawed. The central mechanic is unfun, the linked characters simply offer no advantages to the players, only drawbacks. Also, as @cj_robot said, the designers failed to implement any features of the level designs to actually take advantage of the link system, or make it necessary for progress. Most of the time, the link mechanic can literally be ignored and it won't hamper your progress. There are a FEW half-loops where you need to elastic band off your team mate, but even then it is FORCED necessity... You SHOULD be able to spin dash up those loops no problem, and the only reason you CAN'T is because the spin dash in this game is weighed down and slowed by your partner! So you need your partner to elastic up the loop, but if you didn't have your partner, you could get up quicker and easier on your own! Bad game design, from the ground up, I'm sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmikace | 68 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 I just find the game the most fitting game for 32x. Somewhat impressive but rushed and unplanned like the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaMan52 | 2,460 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 One of the few Sonic/Sonic-related games I haven't played. Maybe someday, though I don't think I'll ever like it as much as Sonic CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot_Ninjutsu | 122 Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 15 hours ago, asmikace said: I just find the game the most fitting game for 32x. Somewhat impressive but rushed and unplanned like the system. I wanted to like the 32X, but I kept getting this voice in my head saying "Why didn't they just release this on the Saturn instead of this?" Perhaps some more time in the oven, and a Saturn release, would have made Chaotix a better game. At least I wouldn't have had to plug in two systems, and 900 cables to find out I don't like the game. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 11 hours ago, MegaMan52 said: One of the few Sonic/Sonic-related games I haven't played. Maybe someday, though I don't think I'll ever like it as much as Sonic CD. That depends... If you really don't like Sonic CD, you might just LOVE this game, it's basically the complete inverse according to quality, lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andykin Skysk8r | 49 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Its not as fun as a face paced sonic game but thats what happens when you experiment with a different approach, you often get mixed results. Chaotix does some things well and is kinda lame is some regards, but overall its a solid and fun game as long as youre not expecting it to be a Sonic game. I give it a B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 4,952 Posted October 6, 2022 Share Posted October 6, 2022 Surprised to see this fished up after over a year, but it got me wondering now as I missed it the first time around. IF that game tweaks you off, how is Sonic 3D Blast viewed, spinball, some of the strange game gear tangents? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 4,952 Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I prefer 3D Blast to most sonic games, it's more fun not being a stupid speed demon that's gotta go fast. I prefer the take your time, explore, enjoy the stage type design it uses. I am not a fan of action based isometric style though so that's a point against it. I always thought spinball was fairly nice, but I also never took it seriously because pinball is equally luck as skill so trying to do huge stages with bosses would be infuriating over time. I just treated it like normal pinball, go for points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,727 Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 On 5/23/2021 at 6:44 AM, OptOut said: It sounds like you played a Sonic game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart010 | 1,708 Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 In Sonic the core game mechanic is going fast. In Chaotix the core game mechanic is going slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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