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Feel the need for speed!!! Sonic is back at his best for the NEOGEO POCKET COLOR!


— Tagline

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグポケットアドベンチャー Sonikku za Hejjihoggu Poketto Adobencha?), also known as Sonic Pocket Adventure, is a platforming game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and the only Sonic game to be made for the Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld console. Released on 4 December 1999 in United States, the game was developed by SNK and is the second Sonic game to be released on a non-Sega system (the first being Sonic Jam for the Game.com).

Sonic Pocket Adventure borrows several gameplay elements from the original Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive, using similar graphics, music, and enemies. The game also contains exclusive content, such as puzzles and multiplayer modes.

Gameplay[]

PktAdv title

The title screen of Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure is a side-scrolling platforming game with graphics and gameplay heavily similar to Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive. The game's objective is to reach the end of each Act of a zone (a level in the game) in ten minutes. The main feature is the single player mode, where the player takes control of Sonic the Hedgehog in gameplay much like he had in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. His move set includes classic techniques like the Spin Jump, Spin Attack (called "Sonic spin" here), and Spin Dash. Momentum physics in the game are nearly the same as in earlier games, except that Sonic is slightly heavier.

The game borrows several gimmicks and items from both Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Like in earlier games, Rings can be found everywhere in the Acts and will protect the player from taking damage, though they cannot protect from drowning, falling in bottomless pits, or getting Time Overs. Collecting them adds points to the end-of-Act score tally and collecting a hundred grants the player an extra life. When taking damage, Sonic loses all his Rings and getting hit without any Rings costs the player a life, along with making them restart from either the beginning of the Act or the last passed Star Post. If Sonic loses all of his lives, the game is over, but the player can resume playing as long as they have continues.

The game also features item boxes containing the basic power-ups, such as the Super Rings (grants ten extra Rings), Shield (protects against one hit of damage), 1UP (grants an extra life), Power-Sneaker (briefly increases speed), and Invincible Protect (grants brief invulnerability). Each Act also has several Start Posts, which save the player's progress when passed. Additionally, there are 96 hidden photo pieces throughout the game, which can be collected to assemble puzzles in the Puzzle Room.

Neo-South-Island-Zone

Sonic in Neo South Island Zone, the first zone in the game.

When at the end of a zone's first Act, the player must run past a goal plate to finish. To complete the second Act of a zone, a capsule must be opened after beating the boss. The player can collect six of the Chaos Emeralds by completing the Special Stages and the final one by clearing the penultimate zone. Collecting all seven Emeralds will unlock the game's good cinematic ending.

Scoring system[]

Controls[]

Button formation Sonic-Icon-Sonic-Pocket-Adventure Movement
Lever left/right Walk/Run/Push
Lever up Look up
Lever down Look down/Crouch
Sega Genesis A Button/Sega Genesis B Button Spin Jump
Lever right/left > down Sonic spin
Lever down + Sega Genesis A Button/Sega Genesis B Button Spin Dash
OPTION Pause
Sega Genesis A Button + Sega Genesis B Button + OPTION Reboot

Objects[]

Items[]

Gimmicks and obstacles[]

Characters[]

Playable characters[]

Non-playable characters[]

Enemies[]

Bosses[]

Pocket 08

Secret Plant Zone boss

Zones[]

AquaticRelix

Sonic in Aquatic Relix Zone, the fourth zone in the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure consists of nine zones. Most are made up of two Acts, while others only have one. The majority of these zones involve standard platforming, and at the end of each, the player has to fight a boss that is either Dr. Robotnik in one of his machines or an entirely different opponent.

All zones in the game are directly inspired by those in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with graphics of the first zone being duplicated from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. While most zones are unlocked as the player clears them, the player has to gather all seven chaos emeralds to unlock the final one. All the zones in order are:

  1. Neo South Island Zone
  2. Secret Plant Zone
  3. Cosmic Casino Zone
  4. Aquatic Relix Zone
  5. Sky Chase Zone
  6. Aerobase Zone
  7. Gigantic Angel Zone
  8. Last Utopia Zone
  9. Chaotic Space Zone

Special Stages[]

By holding onto fifty Rings at the end of each zone's first Act (including Sky Chase Zone) and leaping into the large ring that appears behind the goal plate, the player can enter one of six Special Stages. In these stages, the player can collect six of the seven Chaos Emeralds. The seventh emerald is kept by Dr. Robotnik and is obtained from the Last Utopia Zone boss.

Special Stages in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure heavily resembles the ones in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Here, Sonic runs through a 3D half-pipe littered with rings and Bombs. The player must collect the requisite amount of rings to cross each checkpoint and obtain a Chaos Emerald. Fail to amass the quota and the player will fail the Special Stage. There are three checkpoints per round and ring requirements become increasingly stringent as the game progresses. There are also sparkling flower objects exclusive to this game, which reward the player with continues.

Rooms[]

Sonic-Pocket-Adventure-Room-Select

Room select menu.

Aside from single player mode, Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure features multiple other playable modes, referred to as "Rooms", which can be accessed by selecting the "Go To Room" option on the title screen. The zones available in the rooms depend on how far the player has gotten in single player mode.

Trial Room[]

The Trial Room is a time attack feature which allows players to replay previously cleared Acts with the aim of beating their record. After inputting a name upon the player's first entry on the menu, the best times are recorded on a score screen with the overall performance being graded with the following medals: Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Two modes are available:

  • Time Trial: The basic time attack mode for each Act available.
  • Advanced: This mode is the same as the Time Trial mode, except the player is required to reach the end of an Act with at least fifty Rings for their score to be recorded.[4]

Ranking[]

A rankings option is available to view the best time records for both Time Trial and Advanced.[5] A Top 5 Update feature is available to connect with other players and exchange or combine each other's rankings by using a link cable for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.[5] There is an option to switch between personal best and all time best, from the personal records section a reply of the Act is able to be played. The Data Initialize function clears all records.[6]

Duel Room[]

The Duel Room serve as the multiplayer component of Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, which allows gaming for two players over link cable between two Neo Geo Pocket Colors with two copies of the game. In both two player versus modes, player 1 controls Sonic and player 2 controls Tails. The two characters share the same move set, making the gameplay identical for both players. The Duel Room features two modes:

  • Sonic Rush: Players race to reach the goal plate at the end of each Act first.
  • Get the Rings: Players race to collect a set amount of Rings within a chosen Act. When one of the players has obtained the specified number of rings, they are declared the victor and the other automatically loses. Players will also lose if they lose too many rings to the point that there are simply not enough rings left in the Act.[6]

Puzzle Room[]

The Puzzle Room is where the photo pieces found in the single player mode are gathered and placed into six character images, each containing sixteen photo pieces. This room features three modes:

  • Build Puzzle: Players can build the puzzles by using the pieces found so far.
  • View Puzzle: Players can view their completed puzzles.
  • Puzzle Initialize: Releases all the photo pieces back into the zones to be found again.

Completing three puzzles unlocks the game's Sound Test, and by assembling all six, a "Special Stage" mode is unlocked where the player can play through the game's six Special Stages in succession.

Game Option[]

PktAdv game options

Game Option menu

Game Option is the settings menu for Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure. Here, the player can change the game's difficulty between "Easy" or "Normal" mode (Easy mode removes several obstacles in the zones), toggle the ability to Time Out, start the game with one, three, or five lives, or toggle the auto power off function where the system will shut off after a certain amount of time.[7]

Development[]

SNK Product Development Dept. Division 1 developed Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, though Yuji Naka from Sonic Team are credited as a supervisor and producer. The game was originally announced in February 1999, when SNK revealed that Sonic was to be among the upcoming titles for their new handheld system, the Neo Geo Pocket Color.[8] The game was unveiled in early August of the same year, revealing plenty of the game's first level as well as some of the various gameplay modes. More and more of the game was revealed up until it was fully released on 4 December 1999 in North America,[2] 25 May 2000 in Japan,[1] and 25 February 2000 in Europe.[3]

Soundtrack[]

All music tracks are 8-bit arrangements of pieces from the original soundtracks from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic Jam.

Reception[]

 Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 83.00%
Review scores
Publication Score
AllGame 4/5 starsStar fullStar fullStar fullStar empty[9]
Computer and Video Games 5/5 starsStar fullStar fullStar fullStar full[10]
Electronic Gaming Monthly 6.5/10[11]
GameSpot 8.3/10[12]
IGN 10/10[13]
Pocket Magazine 4.67/5[14]
Retro Gamer 4.67/5[15]
Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) 9/10[16]
Arcade 5/5 starsStar fullStar fullStar fullStar full[3]
Gamers' Republic B[17]

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure received high positive reviews during its release. IGN acclaimed it with a 10 out of 10 score, praising the game's high capabilities on the handheld, multiplayer modes, and replay value.[13] Pocket Magazine gave the game 4.67 stars.[14] Dean Scott of Computer and Video Games magazine gave the game 5 stars, praising how the single player mode is familiar to the original three 16-bit games.[10] Christian Huey of AllGame gave the game 4 stars of out of 5, stating that the game is a "dumbed down version" of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Mega Drive.[9]

GameSpot gave the game an 8.3 out of 10, praising the game for its graphics, multiplayer modes, and puzzles, while stating the only criticism being the game's short length.[12] Daily Radar also gave positive reviews, stating that the game is "awfully good. We'd love to say it's the single best reason to buy a Neo Geo Pocket."[18] Chris Murphy of Retro Gamer gave the game 4.67 out of 5, stating the game to be reasonably substantial and concluding the review with: "If you're a Sonic fan, this is definitely high on the roll of honor in his CV, and you owe it to yourself to play it." [15]

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure was one of the games to be included in IGN's "DSi Virtual Console Wishlist," stating that "Sonic Pocket Adventure would be a must-have on [the Nintendo DS] if Neo Geo Pocket Color support came to its Virtual Console -- it was the perfect Pocket platformer."[19]

Trivia[]

  • There is a common misconception that Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure was developed by Dimps, the studio behind the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games. The development studio was not found until several months after the game's release, though many of studio's personnel are known to be former SNK and Capcom employees.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure is notably the only Sonic game to this day to mix both the classic Sega Sonic and the modern post-Dreamcast designs. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' in-game sprites are based on their classic sprites, but with the colored eyes that they were given in Sonic Adventure, although Tails' eyes are black on his sprites when piloting the Tornado. The title screen, menus, puzzles, and cutscenes also show them with their post-Dreamcast designs. Dr. Robotnik, who is wearing his classic outfit while riding in the Egg Mobile, has his outfit changed to his post-Dreamcast attire (minus the grey goggles) when Sonic reaches the Gigantic Angel Zone. Also, the Tornado uses its design from Sonic Adventure, leaving only the Animals and Badniks with their same designs from the original games.
  • The title screen is directly duplicated from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, along with the 8-bit variation of the same background music.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure was the last game to feature Sonic as the only playable character until Sonic and the Secret Rings was released eight years later.
  • Rocky is the only original Animal to not appear in this game.
  • In the North American version of the game, the Advanced menu picture in the Trial Room shows Sonic with blue arms. The puzzle with Sonic and Tails on a green background also features this error as well.
  • When the Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia was released, Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure was one of the notable games to be left out the book. When asked about the games that were not included, the book's writer, Ian Flynn, mentioned that the game was out of limits for Sega at the time, even going further by stating that the game was not even allowed to be mentioned by name.[20] Likely as a consequence of this, Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure is considered non-canon.[21]
  • Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure was available in a combo pack with a specially colored platinum silver or blue Neo Geo Pocket Color. The bundle was sold for $99.95 USD which, considering the separate prices of $69.95 USD for the system and $34.95 USD for the game, was not much of a deal.[2]
  • This was the last Sonic game to be released during the 1990’s.

Videos[]


References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグポケットアドベンチャー (Japanese). エス・エヌ・ケイ. Archived from the original on 8 June 2000. Retrieved on 25 December 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mullen, Micheal (30 November 1999). Sonic Returns to Handhelds. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 6 June 2000. Retrieved on 30 January 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sefton, Jamie (February 2000). "Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure". Arcade (UK) (Future Publishing) (16): 102. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 21 February 2022.
  4. Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color) United States instruction booklet, pgs. 12-13.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color) United States instruction booklet, pgs. 14-15.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color) United States instruction booklet, pgs. 16-17.
  7. Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color) United States instruction booklet, pg. 5.
  8. IGN Staff (6 August 1999). Sonic on NeoGeo Pocket Color. IGN. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved on 22 February 2022.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Huey, Christian . Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure. AllGame. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved on 9 December 2018.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Scott, Dean (January 2000). "Sonic Pocket Adventure: Spikey Speedster Gets shrunk in the Wash". Computer and Video Games (220): 100. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 30 January 2022.
  11. "Review Crew: Sonic Pocket Adventure". Electronic Gaming Monthly (127): 185. February 2000. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 21 February 2022.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Gerstmann, Jeff . Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure Review. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved on 16 November 2015.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Craig, Harris (7 December 1999). Sonic Pocket Adventure. IGN. Retrieved on 16 November 2015.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Kiwi (1 February 2000). Sonic Pocket Adventure (French). Pocket Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved on 9 December 2018.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Murphy, Chris . Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure. Retro Gamer. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved on 16 November 2015.
  16. Shamoon, Evan (March 2000). "Pocket Sonic". Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) (4): 81. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 21 February 2022.
  17. Hobbs, Michael (March 2000). "Mobile Gaming: Sonic Pocket Adventure". Gamers' Republic (22): 116. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 22 February 2022.
  18. O'Connor, Frank . Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket Adventure. Daily Radar. Archived from the original on 2 March 2000. Retrieved on 16 November 2015.
  19. ; Harris, Craig The DSi Virtual Console Wishlist. IGN (17 August 2009). Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved on 22 February 2022.
  20. BumbleKast Priority Q&A for December 20th, 2021 (1:21:35). YouTube (20 December 2021). Retrieved on 21 December 2021.
  21. BumbleKast for July 6th, 2022 - Priority Q&A Podcast with Ian Flynn (46:41). YouTube (6 July 2022). Retrieved on 6 July 2022.

External links[]

Sonic the Hedgehog handheld games

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