Knuckles' Chaotix

Knuckles' Chaotix is a video game that consists of 3 releases

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A game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series released on Sega's ill-fated 32X. Introduces many new characters, most of which end up in Sonic Hereos.

Overview

Knuckles' Chaotix is the only game from the Sonic universe to feature Knuckles the Echidna as the main character, and introduces the Chaotix crew, most of which have featured within more recent Sonic games such as Sonic Heroes and other areas of the Sonic franchise such as comics and the TV series Sonic X. It is the only game from the Sonic franchise to be relased on the 32X and was praised as one of the 32X's better titles for its colorful graphics and music.

All of the chaotix characters with the exception of Mighty the Armaldo later appeared in Sonic Heroes, their only other game appearance to date.

Story

Knuckles is the Guardian of Carnival Island, which is a huge amusement resort powered by the Power Emerald that the evil Dr Robotnik (Dr Eggman) wants to steal so that he can fuel his latest invention. Using the 'Combi-Catcher', he imprisons all of Knuckles friends, only by using the power rings can he release his friends, which connects two of them together like a rubber band. Using this ability, Knuckles and his friends can reach even greater speeds and heights than normal to stop Dr Robotnik as he drains the power from Carnival Island before its grand opening!

Gameplay

The 'Hold' mechanism

Whilst Knuckles Chaotix is similar to previous 2D Sonic the Hedgehog games in terms of working through a 2D platform level with elements of speed, collecting rings a long the way, Knuckles' Chaotix introduced a buddy system where two characters are connected at all times by a ring. This connection can be stretched like an elastic band, and so can be used to propel characters along the levels either horizontally or vertically, and is also used to open doors and complete some small puzzles when one character stands still and 'holds' the ring whilst the other character runs in a direction to stretch the link between them. This system is used for multiplayer cooperative play between two players that operate on the same screen, or can be controlled by the computer within single player.

Characters

There are five main characters within Knuckles Chaotix. Characters are selected by using the 'Combi-Catcher' between stages, which can result in the selction of a character not desired. Each character have their own special abilities with the exception of t he two 'badnik' characters Heavy and Bomb, which are 'booby prize' characters of the 'Combi-Catcher' that are slower than the other characters to 'drag along'. The playable characters are:

Knuckles the Echidna.

Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles, originally introduced within Sonic the Hedgehog 3, retains all of his tradmark abilities such as climbing up walls and gliding.

Mighty the Armadillo

His only other appearence within the Sonic franchise was Sega Sonic the Hedgehog, an arcade game alongside Ray the Squirrel. He is the fastest of the characters and is similar to Sonic in terms of speed and attacking.

Espio the Chameleon

A future member of the Chaotix Team, but unlike the other Chaotix members, Espio also appeared within Sonic the Fighters. Espio has the power to walk up walls and ceilings, making him useful for getting out of tight situations. He can also charge at enemies.

Vector the Crocodile

A future member of the Chaotix Team, Vector is the biggest of the characters and can also climb up walls. He also has the ability to perform a mid-air dash attack.

Charmy Bee

A future member of the Chaotix Team, Charmy is the smallest character and cannot attack enemies. He can however fly in any direction without needing a break and can be used to pull up other characters.

Stages

Similar to how characters can be chosen using the 'Combi-Catcher' between stages, the stages themselves are also chosen at random using a similar device. There are up to five 'acts' and each are chosen randomly, rather than completed in turn, with a boss at the end of each stage. When a stage is complete, it cannot be selected anymore. The stages are:

Speed Slider

Botanic Base

A lush green area of the island within a greenhouse that holds beautiful plants and deadly badniks.

Speed Slider

Based on past Sonic levels such as Casino Night, Speed Slider is a speedy rollercoaster-based level with dips and slides and a merry-go-round, and a section within the middle of the stage that dips up and down.

Amazing Arena

At the start of this stage, the area is grey with full music. You must find the light switch to 'switch on' the stage into a colourful musical stage. This stage is maze-like with many different teleporters and platforms.

Marina Madness

A stage based on a cruise, the 'ship' moves up and down the stage, revealing different platforming areas.

Techno Tower

A futuristic tower, where you must climb all the way to the very top!

Bonus and Special Stage

The Special Stage

By finding large hidden rings, you can access the Bonus Stage if you have 20 rings. The bonus stage is a vertical free falling mini-game where you navigate past blocks to pick up power ups, extra rings and lives and other bonues, such as the ability to move the 'Combi-Catcher' freely when selecting a character. You lose rings as you float down the bonus stage, which ends when you either touch a 'End' block or run out of rings.

The Special Stage is accessed by a large ring at the end of each stage act if you have 50 rings. Here, you move your character along a hexagon-shaped tube collecting blue spheres whilst avoiding pitfalls, spikebombs and other traps. Similar to the Bonus Stage, your rings are your timer and count down, ending the stage when you run out. By collecting all of the 'Chaos Rings', you can unlock a better ending.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Knuckles' Chaotix
Platform(s)	Sega 32X
Publisher(s)	Sega
Developer(s)	Sega
Genres	Add a new genre Action Platformer
Themes	Add a new theme Fantasy
Original US Release	need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	March 1995 know the real date?
Aliases

Trivia

Although Knuckles' Chaotix is one of the lesser-known installments in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it started life as a prototype game with the famous blue mascot. What was its title?