Sonic Chaos No-Death Playthrough (Sonic Adventure DX - GameCube)

This is a capture of me playing through Sonic Chaos for the Sega Game Gear via Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut for the GameCube. I'm playing the game in progressive scan mode using an actual GameCube (not the Wii). I'm using Sonic and collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds in this playthrough.

After posting playthroughs of Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 for the Game Gear, I naturally wanted to post the third game, Sonic Chaos, but I ran into a problem. I was relying on the 3DS Virtual Console to play Game Gear games, but for some odd reason, Sega never released the Game Gear version of Sonic Chaos on the 3DS despite releasing other games such as Sonic Blast and Sonic Labyrinth. So I had to look elsewhere.

After doing some research, I found out that all 12 Sonic games for the Game Gear (including non-U.S. releases such as Sonic Drift and Tails’ Skypatrol) were included as unlockables in Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut, which was released on the GameCube back in 2003. Also, Sonic Adventure DX supported progressive scan mode, meaning 60 fps. After finishing Sonic 2 on the Game Gear, I picked up a copy of Sonic Adventure DX off eBay and spent two weeks unlocking all of the Game Gear games by collecting all 130 emblems and beating all 60 missions in Sonic Adventure.

The Game Gear emulation in Sonic Adventure DX seems good, from what I can tell, though I have noticed a bit of input lag. It doesn’t have the additional features available for the 3DS Virtual Console such as Game Gear-style screen filters or performance optimization, but the games run crisp and clear at their native 60 fps. Sonic Adventure DX does have one advantage over the 3DS Virtual Console though: it offers built-in two player mode for multiplayer titles. All you have to do is press start on controller two and you’ll get two separate screens displayed - one for each player. I think that’s really cool, so I may eventually post some footage of that.

As the third main Sonic title on the Game Gear, Sonic Chaos offers some noticeable improvements over Sonic 2 such as finally including the spin dash and super peel out, and thankfully, being a much easier game. Also, Tails is also now a playable character, though he isn’t available as an AI-controlled companion like in Sonic 2 for the Genesis. He does, however, have the ability to fly on command.

This game of course has Chaos Emeralds to collect, but unlike the prior two games, they are no longer hidden in the main stages. Instead, you can only obtain the emeralds with Sonic by collecting 100 rings in a level. You’ll then be instantly transported to one of the unique bonus stages, which become increasingly difficult as you progress. I’m actually not a fan of this design because collecting 100 rings is a bit excessive, and once you collect a Chaos Emerald, you don’t get to complete the rest of the main stage, so it feels like you’re skipping part of the game.

If you use Tails you won’t get to collect the Chaos Emeralds, but you will still get the same basic good ending. After you’ve had the experience of collecting the Chaos Emeralds once, I would simply recommend using Tails for replaying the game. He’s more fun to use and gets to complete entire stages regardless of how many rings you’ve collected. However, for this video I’m playing through the game with Sonic while collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds and not dying. Enjoy the footage.

Recorded with the Hauppauge HD PVR and the GameCube's component cables at 60 frames per second.