Knuckles' Chaotix
Release: 1995
System: Sega 32X
Release: 1995
System: Sega 32X
When Knuckles first made the scene back in the mid 90's, he started to get a fan following of his own. Fans would argue who would win in a fight between him and the blue pincushion, they would discuss his back story and just where he came from, wonder how in the hell he could fly... What mattered was Sega saw the chance to cash in on his popularity and they took it... Of course, it was released on a piece of junk console and it faded into obscurity... Well, let's just see what we were missing out on!
STORY
While guarding the Master Emerald one day, Knuckles decided, "Why not open an amusement park on this very island!?" So he did... and Robotnik came to mess it up. Using his new gadget called the Combi Confiner, he's able to freeze Knuckles' friends. Though, with the use of a Power Ring, Knuckles can unfreeze on friend at a time, allowing the two to take on Robotnik.
A bit on the weak side.
SCORE:
out of 
DESIGN
The game contains five levels, seven if you bother counting the practice level and the gate entrance where you choose your characters and levels. You get to choose a character to control at the start of the game, but selecting a second character is more based on chance. You have to operate a crane machine to select the character you want, and if you mess up you're stuck with them for the time being.
You have five characters to choose from and they are Knuckles who save for some sprite upgrades plays just like his Genesis counterpart. Mighty the Armadillo, who's more or less a Sonic clone. Vector the Crocodile and Espio the Chameleon, both of which can scale walls, and finally Charmy Bee... who flies (obviously). Each world contains 5 sections, and eventually a boss battle with Robotnik.
As always, we get a special stage. This time, it seems like a mix of the Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 special stages. Players control the key character in a semi 3D-ish stage design set on a rail... in space or something. The player has to collect rings to keep their timer up, all while looking for blue spheres and dodging spikes and pits... It's a little on the slow side, though. Once completing the stage, you are awarded with one of the six Chaos emer- rings... the Chaos Rings. Don't know what they are? Don't worry, they don't do anything here and to my knowledge never show up again. Frankly, the 3D looks cool, but it can get a bit tiring on the eyes over time.
SCORE:
out of GAMEPLAY
The point of this title, like most Sonic games, is to race to the end of the stage, hit the goal mark, and eventually trash a boss... of course, this time around there's a slight twist. While not a lot of people had the chance to try this game out, odds are anyone who has heard about it knows about the tag team feature. Yeah, unlike the past titles where Sonic was the only one you could control while the AI was busy running in to spikes and robots, this time around the story and gameplay revolves around controlling two characters at a time (an idea that was later re-used in Sonic Heroes and Sonic Advance 3 many years later). By the means of some magical bungee cord, the two characters have to work together in order to win. A clever concept... but not without faults.
Controlling the two characters gets pretty annoying at times. The basics are there, such as run, jump, gliding and scaling. But now you have to give commands to your companion, such as ordering them to stay in place, activate special moves... it should be simple, but it just feels clunky and annoying dragging your partner along. Though, one of the biggest problems was lack of strategy. The stages seem deserted with little to worry about, navigation through the levels is pretty simplistic and over time it just get boring.
The two player idea is pretty interesting, but in the end, it's just a bunch of dead weight.
SCORE:
out of PRESENTATION
I'm... extremely mixed on this one, guys. On one hand, the graphics are extremely detailed, obviously putting the 32 bits to use. But on the other hand the colors and layout almost ruin it for me. It's hard to explain, but the visuals just looks cluttered thanks to all the bright colors... they wanted it to stand out, and the got the job done... it's like a freaking circus.
SCORE: out of
out of OVERALL
You know, I didn't really care for this game... yet it was still fun to check out. I remember wanting to play this game like crazy when I was a kid, and getting the chance to finally try it out at least brings some satisfaction... but after finally playing it, all I can say is it just isn't anything special... save for the novelty of playing a Knuckle's game.
SCORE:
out of 
