Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket Adventure | Sega / SNK 1999

The announcement of Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (Pocket Adventure) exclusive to the short lived NeoGeo Pocket Color (NGPC) came as somewhat of a surprise to the gaming masses and Sonic fans alike. This after all, was to be a Sonic game on a non-SEGA platform (a sign of things to come) and was the first 2D Sonic game since Knuckles: Chaotix on the 32X back in 1995.

It was another product of the short partnership enjoyed by SEGA and SNK through the Dreamcast years with another product being the link between the NeoGeo Pocket and the Dreamcast.

Pocket Adventure enters with the slight distinction of being the third Sonic game to be released on a non-SEGA console, the first being Sonic CD on the PC and the second being Sonic Jam on the Tiger Game.com, but that is not such a big deal these days.

STORY

The story revolves around our resident bad guy Dr Robotnik. Never deterred, he's out for the Chaos Emeralds to power all sorts of contraptions for megalomania. Sonic must prevent him from getting his fat sweaty hands on them all.

GAMEPLAY

It's easier to describe Pocket Adventure as a collection of elements from previous Sonic games. The graphical style is very close to Sonic 2 on the Mega Drive/Genesis with music and some story elements pulled from Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Overall the game looks much better than a Sonic game on the Game Gear and runs as if it was on a Mega Drive. Level construction and layout is excellent.

The gameplay to Sonic Pocket Adventure is traditional Sonic: running left to right, collecting rings, killing enemy robots etc. Populated throughout each act are enemies and various hazards familiar to all whom may have played a Sonic game or two such as spikes and bottomless pits.

The regular cast of items to collect in each act are present including a new item called Puzzle Pieces which are collected for use in a Puzzle Room. See the Options detail below for more on these.

Rings Monitor - Gives 10 rings.
Shield - Protects you from one hit.
Speed Boots - Temporary boost in speed.
Invincibility - Makes Sonic invincible trailing stars for a short period of time.
Extra Life - Grants Sonic an extra life.

You can perform Sonic's Spin Dash move by holding DOWN on the D-Pad and revving with the jump Buttons A and B.

When an act is completed with 50 rings or more Sonic can enter the Special Stage by jumping through the giant ring above the signpost. This is only possible on act 1 of a zone.

By default you begin the game with three lives. Extra lives are earned for every hundred rings and continue credits can be collected also.

SCREENSHOTS

There are seven normal zones in total which consist of 2 acts with a Robotnik fight (boss) appearing at the end of act 2. There are two more, both being Robotnik encounters, one of those entitled 'Chaotic Space' only being available when you have collected all the Chaos Emeralds.

Progress is automatically saved by the system. By selecting continue on the title screen you can select any act of any zone you have played up to.

There are two different endings depending on whether you have completed Chaotic Space.

Special Stage

There are only 6 Chaos Emeralds to collect in this game (Robotnik is in possession of another) but being only able to enter the Special Stage a limited no of times makes their collection are little more tricky as you have no second chances. You can however, replay acts from the title for more attempts.

The Special Stage plays exactly the same as in Sonic 2 but the object placement is different and slightly more difficult. You run down a half-pipe collecting a specified amount of rings within a certain distance avoiding mines as hitting them will make you loose rings.

Somewhere in a Special Stage will be a flashing flower. Collecting this will earn you a continue credit.

Game Options

The options screen has several tweaks that can be made to the gameplay and access to extra modes of the game. They are accessed under the Go To Room option on the title screen.

Under Trial Room you have the choice of 2 Time Attack modes; Time Trial which is your standard race against the clock and Advanced Time Trial where you must also have 50 rings when you get to the end to have your time recognised.

Completion times are given an award of bronze, silver or gold. Your Time Trial times can be exchanged with others through the use of the NeoGeo Pocket Link Cable if you are in the spirit of competition and possess one.

The Dual Room pits you against another player via a link-up. Your opponent must also have a copy of the game. Player 1 will control Sonic and Player 2 will control Tails. There are 2 modes available for duelling; Sonic Rush and Get The Rings. For Sonic Rush - the first player to the end of the act. For Get The Rings - the first player to collect a randomly specified amount of rings.

The final mode; Puzzle Room is a unique feature for a Sonic game. Scattered throughout the game are 96 pieces of a puzzle. Somewhat irritatingly, these are unevenly distributed so there is no way to know if all the pieces in an act have been collected.

As you collect them they are placed into a pool in the Puzzle Room. Using the pieces you have managed to collect you must reconstruct 6 character images. Once done, Special Stages are unlocked on the Options Menu where you can play all 6 Special Stages in succession. Puzzles can be started at any time and the pieces get returned back into the game after your attempt.

For gameplay options the choices are:

Difficulty - easy or normal. Easy mode reduces the amount of obstacles in the game.
Time Out - On or Off. Toggle the 10 minute limit for completing an act.
Player - 1,3 or 5. How many lives you wish to start the game with.
Auto Power Off - Turns off your Neo Pocket after a period of inactivity.

Cheats and Secrets

So far, there are no specific cheats for this game that can be done without an emulator. Read on.

Debug Mode

The Debug mode in Pocket Adventure can be activated by NGPC emulators R.A.P.E (Rather a Pokemon Emulator) and NeoPocott and pressing the Options Button when the SEGA logo is displayed.

When opened several options can be selected. These are: level select, sound test and debug tool which is similar to those from the other 2D Sonic games.

Debug mode itself has a few other options.

You can also play as Tails by activating the debug cheat and pressing Button B during the game. Do this again to change back to Sonic. In this game, however, Tails can not fly.

At present, there is no way to access this mode in the form of a cheat.

MISC INFO

• This was the first game to be developed by Dimps - a company SEGA would use for many times for almost all the handheld Sonic The Hedgehog games such as Sonic Rush.
• Tails can not be played in a standard single player game without using the debug mode or otherwise hacking the ROM.
• The Sound Test option does not become unlocked after simply completing the game with all the Chaos Emeralds.
• The packaging for Sonic Pocket Adventure came in 2 versions; one white thin card board box for the Japanese release and the highly robust black plastic case for the European release.
• The game was later bundled with a NGPC console (platinum and blue versions) for about £80.
• This is one of the few games that is not compatible with the original NeoGeo Pocket (mono).
• A prototype/demo version of the game was later discovered. This was 1 zone and a Special Stage but it had a different intro sequence.
  
• It remains exclusive to the NGPC and has not appeared on any of the Sonic compilation titles.

EMULATOR COMPATIBILITY

Works perfectly in NeoPop.

Works perfectly in Koyote except for sound issues as the emulator has incomplete sound emulation.

Works perfectly in NeoPocott except for lack of sound emulation.

For a low down of NGPC emulators, check out the emulation section on the NeoGeo Pocket Color Feature.

LINKS

Review to the game at Gamespot.com

Click the image for a scanned review from Computer and Video Games Magazine.