_yygggyy__ _ygQQQQgg yyyyyg ,yyyy yyyyy __ygggggy jQQQQQQQQQQf jQQQQQQQQQQQg QQQQQQ& jQQQQ QQQQQ _gQQQQQQQQf QQQQQQ""""" jQQQQQWPP9QQQQQ QQQQQQQQ jQQQQ QQQQQ jQQQQQQQQQW 4QQQQQQQQgg QQQQQ^ jQQQQ QQQQQQQQQjQQQQ QQQQQ QQQQQP 9QQQQQQQQQQ QQQQg _gQQQQ QQQQDQQQQQQQQQ QQQQQ QQQQE ____,QQQQQQ 9QQQQ#gggQQQQQP QQQQf^QQQQQQQQ QQQQQ BQQQQQgggQQ# QQQQQQQQQQP "WQQQQQQQQQWP QQQQf "QQQQQQQ QQQQQ 3QQQQQQQQQg =HWWWWWWH"^ `^VVWWH"^ QQQQf !QQQQQQ WWWWW "QQQQQQQ" jQQQg QQWWQ TQQf QQf QQWWF QQ QQ WWQQWW QQF QQF QQQQQ QQQQQ QQ TQ QQf QQ QQF QQ QQ__ QQ&_QQ QQ QQF QQF QQ QQ QQ jQQ jQL QQf QQ BQQQQF QQ"" QQ^QQQ QQ QQF QQF QQP4Qb QQQQO &QQQQQQ QQgyQ QQQQ QQQQf WW WW QQ 4QQQQQF QQ QQ QQ jQQ# T0P """`` `" "" HWQQQ T H E U L T I M A T E S O N I C A D V E N T U R E F A Q --------------------------------------------------------------- t h e u l t i m a t e s o n i c a d v e n t u r e f a q ========================================================================== Compiled by: Chris Kohler Version: 3.10 A-Life Info: Mike White Revised: 7/20/2001 ========================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------- table of contents -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ 1] INTRODUCTION 1.1 How best to view this FAQ 1.2 Submitting Info (Dispanded) 1.3 Spoiler Disclaimer 1.4 Copyright Information [ 2] GENERAL INFORMATION 2.1 Welcome to Sonic Adventure! 2.2 Starting up and selecting a VMU 2.3 Understanding the in-game menus 2.4 Getting through the game [ 3] PLAYING THE CHARACTERS 3.1 Sonic the Hedgehog 3.2 Miles "Tails" Prower 3.3 Knuckles the Echidna 3.4 Amy Rose 3.5 Big the Cat 3.6 E-102 "gamma" 3.7 Super Sonic [ 4] THE ADVENTURE QUESTS 4.1 Sonic's Adventure Quest 4.2 Tails' Adventure Quest 4.3 Knuckles' Adventure Quest 4.4 Amy's Adventure Quest 4.5 Big's Adventure Quest 4.6 E-102 "gamma"'s Adventure Quest 4.7 Super Sonic's Adventure Quest [ 5] THE ACTION STAGES 5.1 Emerald Coast 5.2 Windy Valley 5.3 Casinopolis 5.4 IceCap 5.5 Twinkle Park 5.6 Speed Highway 5.7 Red Mountain 5.8 Sky Deck 5.9 Lost World 5.A Final Egg 5.B Hot Shelter [ 6] THE BONUS GAMES 6.1 Sky Chase Act 1 6.2 Sky Chase Act 2 6.3 IceCap (Snow boarding) 6.4 Sand Hill (Sand boarding) 6.5 Twinkle Circuit 6.6 Whack-A-Sonic [ 7] UPGRADE ITEMS 7.1 List of action stage item boxes 7.2 List of character upgrades [ 8] SONIC ADVENTURE A-LIFE FAQ 2.1 8.1 What is an A-Life? 8.2 Where do I find them? 8.3 Where do I take them? 8.4 How do I take care of my A-Lifes outside the VMU? 8.5 The A-Lifes gestures and actions 8.6 How do I raise my A-Life in the VMU? 8.7 Advanced A-Life Raising 8.8 How do I race my Chao? 8.9 How do I interact my A-Life VMU with another? 8.A Chao on the SA Website [ 9] THE SONIC EMBLEMS 9.1 Different characters, different goals 9.2 Total number and locations of the emblems 9.3 General Advice on obtaining emblems 9.4 How to Catch Big's Twinkle Park Fish 9.5 Where is the third cave in the rain forest? 9.6 What do you get when all emblems are collected? [10] VMU DOWNLOADS AND ADDONS 10.1 The christmas/newyears download 10.2 The QUO mini-game download 10.3 The menu voices downloads 10.4 Dreamcast launch party download 10.5 Tremble Park 10.6 Much, Much More... [11] TRICKS AND SECRETS 11.1 The PC desktop wallpaper 11.2 Twinkle Circuit rocket start 11.3 One and a half play 11.4 The secret Chao puzzle game 11.5 Getting the Special/Colored Chao 11.6 Button Tricks 11.7 Easy extra lives 11.8 Amy in Casiopolis (bug) 11.9 Twinkle Park Pass Card 11.A Change Sonic's snowboard color 11.B Bottomless Windy Valley 11.C Tails in "Going Down" & "At Dawn" (bug) 11.D Chao Editor [12] INTERESTING FACTS & UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENON 12.1 Minor camera and collision detection glitches 12.2 Often unnoticed graphic details 12.3 Unused music tracks and recycled Sonic tunes 12.4 Fake Doors 12.5 Metal and Mecha Sonics 12.6 The Hamburger Shop Statue 12.7 The Moving Enchidna Statue 12.8 Changes in US & Internation Versions 12.9 Hoaxes and False/Unconfirmed Codes 12.A The mysterious Lone Ring [13] HISTORY/REVISIONS [14] CREDITS ========================================================================== 1 . 0 INTRODUCTION ========================================================================== Welcome to the Ultimate Sonic Adventure FAQ! My name is Chris Kohler. I've been a long time console gamer, a die-hard Sonic fan and a proud early adopter of Sega's Dreamcast console. I've created this FAQ to be the end-all reference for this masterpiece of a game. Creating it took quite a while, but believe me, it was a labor of love. =) This FAQ was originally written using the Japanese import version of Sonic Adventure. It was later modified and appended to after playing the American domestic version. There may still be bits of info in this FAQ that pertain to the original Japanese version, but these would only be small things such as an item name or plot reference. Lastly, I hope you find this FAQ useful and easy to read. I've enjoyed making it. Also, a big thanks to everyone who's helped me create this FAQ. - c h r i s -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 . 1 How best to view this FAQ. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is composed only of ascii text characters. This means that it should be viewable in just about any application that can view plain text. One thing you will want to make sure of is to use a program that displays the text using a "mono-spaced font". An example of a common mono-spaced font would be Courier. If you are unsure if you have any such application, you can always just use a web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both of these will display text files like this using a monospaced font automatically. Through out the FAQ, I use several abbreviations for common words and phrases. These include: SA = Sonic Adventure SS = Station Square. The first adventure location. MR = Mystic Ruin. The second adventure location. EC = Egg Carrier. The third and final adventure location. FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions file. A text based guide. FMV = Full motion video. Some video that plays during the game that is not actually rendered "on-the-fly". RPG = Role Playing Game. Games where characters interact. VMU = Visual Memory Unit. The Dreamcast memory card. It is called a VMS in Japan. Gamma = This is a nickname I often use for the E-102 robot who's full name is E-102 "gamma". This FAQ seems to have become quite popular. So, it's not surprising that it is available for download from many websites on the net. I'd just like you to know that the latest version of this FAQ will always be found at the internet's leading FAQ authority...CheatCC.com and GameFaqs.com at the following address. Be sure to check there. http://www.cheatcc.com/ http://www.gamefaqs.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 . 2 Submitting Info (Dispanded) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I originally wrote this FAQ over two years ago and frankly, I grew tired of updating it long ago. Still, the popularity of SA and this FAQ continues to this day and I continue to get emails from readers offering tibits of information of requesting help. Let me say right now that I am officially *resigning* my work on this FAQ and there will most likely not be another update after this one. Any emails sent to me requesting help on playing will be ignored outright. PLEASE, DO NOT ASK FOR HELP! As well, any emails offering further tips or "bugs" that people find while playing will be ignored. I'm sorry if this sounds a little rude, but after years of constant emails I'd like to get back to my life. I'm also not accepting any offers to have someone take over for me or convert this FAQ into a website. I want the FAQ to remain as it is right now. If you want to write and thank me for my work, feel free. Otherwise, please respect my privacy by not asking for any more help playing SA or offering any further information. This FAQ is by far the most complete SA FAQ available, but I realize it does not contain every tiny bit of info and it never will. I've accomplished my original goal to create the most comprehensive SA guide. To continue to try and expand on it indefinatly would be a futile effort and I've much better things to do now... like playing SA2. Oh, and before you ask, I will *not* be writing a FAQ on that. Thanks to everyone for their help over the years. Now, with that out of the way, please enjoy the FAQ! - c h r i s -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 . 3 Spoiler Disclaimer -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPOILER WARNING! When it comes to information, this FAQ holds nothing back. To be as comprehensive as possible, I will not make any effort to withhold any information about the plot, secrets or gameplay aspects of the game. If you want a FAQ that will get you through the game without giving too much away as far as plot goes, there are a couple of those type of FAQs available. Although, I doubt that any serious gamer would just read this entire FAQ straight through before ever playing the game. Anyway, all in all, this FAQ is an open book when it comes to spoilers. I hope this doesn't detour you from reading my FAQ, but I'd rather be comprehensive than the be spoiler free. If you want to know everything there is known about the game, then read on. Otherwise, save this file and return to it once you've beaten the game to the best of your ability. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 . 4 Copyright Information -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is copyright 1999 Chris Kohler (ckohler@evansville.net) with the exception of the A-LIFE section (section [8]) which is copyright 2001 Mike White (mikewh@hfx.andara.com). The chao data was later appended by content copyright 2001 George Ettinger (AndvariAR@aol.com). You MAY distribute this FAQ as long as it's contents are not changed. Only Chris Kohler is authorized to make changes and updates to this FAQ. Any unauthorized changes or updates made to this FAQ not approved by Chris Kohler is prohibited by law. Please.. be nice to FAQ writers by not plagiarizing! I have spent many, many hours of my time bringing you this FAQ with only the satisfaction of knowing that it will help others. Not only is plagiarizing this FAQ unlawful, it's just plain wrong. If you feel the need to publicly announce information found in this FAQ, please at least quote this FAQ as the source. Sonic Adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog, and all other game related characters and items mentioned in this FAQ are Copyright Sega Enterprises, Ltd. ========================================================================== 2 . 0 GENERAL INFORMATION ========================================================================== The following section is basic, general information concerning the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 . 1 Welcome to Sonic Adventure! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon placing the blue and silver SA disc in your Dreamcast, you will be greeted by two Sega disclaimers. Then a pre-opening animation will play that says "SonicTeam presents". Then the main intro will appear. It is a pre-rendered FMV intro of very high quality. It features all the characters in the game including "Perfect Chaos", the final boss. He's the big water creature coming out the side of the building. Yes, you do fight him! Now I know you're anxious to play. ^_^ You can press the START button at any time to begin the game. Also, you can skip the FMV intro by pressing START. If you don't press the START button, the game will go into "attract mode". This means that the game will show a brief portion of the RPG aspect of the game (like some characters talking) and then show one of the action stages being played. While in this mode, the words "Press Start" will appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen. It will do this 6 times, each time featuring a different character. It will play three in order, show the FMV intro again, and then the last three characters. Between each it will show the main menu (more on that below). This process will repeat forever until the Dreamcast is turned off or the START button is pressed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 . 2 Starting up and selecting a VMU -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the START button is pressed one of two things will happen. If you don't have a VMU inserted into any of the controllers, you should have seen a message already that said that your progress through the game will not be saved without a VMU and you will be then taken to the main menu. It is entirly possible to play, and even beat Sonic Adventure without a VMU, but the moment you turn off your Dreamcast, you will loose your place and have to start from scratch every time. If you have a VMU inserted into a slot on a controller attached to the Dreamcast, you will instead get a screen asking you to pick which VMU you would like to use to save your game data. Henceforth, all game saving will be automatic, although you will have to re-select which memory card to use every time you boot the game from scratch. A standard VMU has 128k of ram on it. The SA savegame file only takes up ten blocks space and it can hold only three separate games at once per VMU. Also, if you collect/raise Chao during your game (see section [8.0]), a 28 block save file will be added to your VMU that contains all of your Chao data. Lastly, if you decide to take one of your Chao's out of the game and into the VMU mini-game (see section [8.6]), a large 128 block game file will be put on your VMU. If you do not have enough space for any of these three files, the game will give you a warning. The next screen will ask you to "Select a File". You can save up to three separate games on one VMU. You will notice that there are actually four options on this screen. The last option allows you to go back to the "Select a VMU" screen. Pick one of the three slots to save your game in and a dialog box will appear with some round, blue buttons. The first is "OK", the second is "CANCEL" and if you are returning from a previous game, there will be a third which is "DELETE". If you select "DELETE", another smaller dialog box will ask you to confirm your deletion. The button on the left is "OK" and the one on the right is "CANCEL". After selecting your file you will be taken to the main menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 . 3 Understanding the in-game menus -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are four options on the main menu. These options are: ADVENTURE = Play the game's adventure quests. TRIAL = Replay the completed stages to collect Sonic Emblems. OPTIONS = Set the games various options and listen to the Music. INTERNET = Use your Dreamcast to connect to the exclusive SA website. ---------- ADVENTURE will be the option you select most often. It is how you progress through the quest of each character. Once you click this option, you will be taken to the character select screen. If it is your first time playing you will only be able to pick Sonic. Once you select the character you want to play, you will get a dialog box with three buttons. These buttons are "OK", "TUTORIAL", and "CANCEL". If you select TUTORIAL, you will be shown some screens on the basics of how to play that character. If you select OK instead, you will be taken to that characters last save point in their quest. First time players will be treated to a short real-time intro that introduces the character. ---------- The TRIAL option will list the action levels you have completed and will allow you to replay them without having to journey to those stages through the adventure fields. Once your select this option you will get three additional choices: - Action Stage - Mini Game (the Minigames) - Emblems Results (US or Internation versions only) IF you select one of the first two options will be asked to choose a character. This will list that characters stages that you can play. As you switch between the available stages, it will display which emblems you have collected. The third option does nothing but just list the emblems you have collected for each character and can save you a step if just want to see how far away you are from the 130 total emblems. For more on collecting the Sonic Emblems, see section [9]. If you want to show a friend an action stage, or just want to jump right into the action, this option is what you'll want to use (instead of the adventure option). ---------- The OPTIONS menu is broken down in to four options. From the top left corner and going clockwise, those options are: SOUND TEST = Listen to all the music and sound effects. MESSAGE SETTINGS = Turn on or off the subtitles at the bottom of the screen when characters talk. LANGUAGE = Select whether to have the voices in English or Japanse. Also lets you select the language of the subtitles between English, Japanese, Dutch, French or Spanish (Only in US or International version) SOUND OUTPUT = Select if you want sound to be in stereo or mono. FILE CHANGE = Lets you change which VMU to load/save data from or which savegame file to use without having to reboot the Dreamcast. If you go into the SOUND TEST option, you will be greeted with a rather large list of choices. Those choices are: CHARACTER = These are the theme songs for each character. ACTION STAGE = This is music from all the action stages. These loop. Also includes the boss music. ADVENTURE FIELD = This contains the music from the adventure locations and the mini-games, and Chao areas. EVENT = Music that plays when something is happening in the quests. OTHERS = Music that play at various menus. JINGLE = Other music such as the music that plays when you have a PowerUp item, etc. S.E. = Where you can actually go in and listen to the sound effects and voice samples. MAIN MENU = This last option takes you back to the main Options screen. If you select the SOUND OUTPUT option, you will be given an dialog box with two choices. Those choices are "STEREO" on the left and "MONO" on the right. If you only have your Dreamcast plugged into a mono TV or VCR, you should choose Mono. Then make sure the white connector (of the two sound connectors) is the one plugged in. If you have a stereo TV or VCR, both the red and white connectors should be plugged in and this option should be set to STEREO. If you select Subtitles, you will be given a dialog box with choices to turn on and off subtitles when the characters speak. ---------- Finally, the INTERNET option on the main menu allows you to connect to the Sonic Adventure website. This option will not be accessible if your Dreamcast does not have a modem attached (which is unlikely unless you have an import Dreamcast). The website you are taken too is only accessible through the SA game disc. It has a BBS section, a place to trade Chao (see section [8.A]), you can post your best stage times, download addons to the game, enter contests and much, much more. If you have an internet account, it's definatly worth exploring! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 . 4 Getting through the game -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sonic Adventure is different than any other Sonic action/platform style game yet released. Unlike the others, this game has some RPG elements to it. In fact, before the game was announced, the tentative title was "Sonic RPG". Instead of just one action stage after another, there are now areas to explore and tasks to complete. When these tasks are completed the next action stage is revealed. Through out the course of unlocking the action stages, the story of Sonic Adventure unfolds. When starting from scratch, only Sonic is a selectable character. As you encounter the other main characters in the game, they too become playable. When you select the other characters, you get to play the same adventure from their perspective and any differences or branches of the story not explained in Sonic's quest become clear. This feature alone gives SA up to seven times the replay value! To enjoy the game at it's fullest, I would suggest completing each character's quest in succession starting with Sonic (of course). This isn't required, but it might make the story of the game a bit easier to understand. The basic storyline (and I do mean basic) is this: The evil Dr. Robotnik (or Dr. Eggman as the characters call him) is out to harness the power of the water creature known as Chaos to destroy Station Square and build Robotnic Land in its ruins where he will rule supreme. Eggman takes animals and converts them into robot soldiers for use in his army. Sonic takes it upon himself to stop Dr. Eggman, rescue the trapped, robotisized animals and collect the Chaos emeralds before Eggman feeds them all to Chaos. ========================================================================== 3 . 0 PLAYING THE CHARACTERS ========================================================================== There are seven playable characters in SA. There are many other non-playable characters that the six main characters meet or see during their quests. At first only Sonic is selectable, but as you progress through his quest and meet the other characters, they too become playable. Each character has different moves and actions which will be explained in this section. Although, all characters share the following moves: + The A button is for jumping. + The X and B buttons are for attacking although they can also be used for grabbing some objects. + The Y button is only for grabbing some objects (Chao for example) + Use the analog pad to move the characters in 3D space. Because it is an analog pad, the harder you push the faster the character will move. + Use the L and R buttons located at the top of the controller to rotate the camera around the character left and right. + Use the D-Pad to look around from the character's perspective. + Use the START button to pause the game at any time. When you pause, you will typically have three options to choose from: - Resume - Restart Stage (if in an action stage and have extra lives left) - Exit (to an adventure field or character selection screen when in an action stage. Otherwise it exits to the main menu when pressed in and adventure field.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 1 Sonic the Hedgehog -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (1) - Sega Genesis/Megadrive This is the star of our story. Sonic returns as his typical speedy, attitude enriched self. He and the rest of the cast have made a nice transition into 3D. Sonic in particular is rendered very nicely and looks very much like the anime style Sonic that Yuji Naka has always intended him to look like (instead of the much rounder, chubbier looking Sonic that often graces the cover art of domestic Sonic games.. bleh..). Playing Sonic -------------- Sonic has retained all of his previous moves from past Sonic games, but since Sonic is now in 3D, several of his classic moves have changed when it comes to performing them. The basic goal for all his action stages is to make it to the end, while destroying bad guys, thus rescuing the animals trapped inside. At the end of every level is a device holding many animals capture. Jump on top to release them and end the stage. Sonic's moves include: Spin Attack: Press the jump button and Sonic will jump into the air, rolling up into a ball. While in the air you can maneuver slightly, destroying enemies or obstacles. Since Sonic is now in 3D, hitting enemies this way is much more difficult. Instead, try using the new "Homing" Spin Attack (see next). When in the air, if you press the attack button, Sonic will drop back to the ground more quickly by straightening himself out. "Homing" Spin Attack: Press jump (A button) and then jump again while still in the air and Sonic will automatically home in on the nearest attackable object. This can be an enemy, an item box, or even an obstacle. If there is no attackable object in front of Sonic when you perform this, he will still jump twice as far forward, but not be rolled up which makes him vulnerable to attack. Also, you can perform this attack several times by continuing to press the attack button before you touch the ground. Once you touch the ground you will have to do the double jump again. This attack was added to this game since the standard Spin Attack was much too difficult to aim in a 3D environment. It also helps you to destroy enemies quicker, keeping the action moving. Spin Dash Attack: Tap the attack button (X or B) while on the ground to spin and dash off in the direction your facing. You can do this while moving or while just standing. This is a spinning attack which means it can destroy most enemies or obstacles. Be carefull when using this move! While it can get through a stage much faster, it can also leave you with little control as to where you are going and can have you easily flying off into bottomless pits or oceans. Light Speed Dash/Attack: Once Sonic receives the special Light Sneakers Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), Sonic will be able to perform the Light Speed Dash. Stand still and hold the attack button down for four seconds, Sonic will stop spinning and get up. He will be glowing and will say "Ready...". Release the button to perform a short, but very fast dash in the direction you're facing. The unique purpose of this move is to get Sonic places he normally couldn't reach. This is possible, because the Light Speed Dash will automatically follow the nearest line of rings. If you see a row of rings in front of Sonic, perform this move. Hold the attack button until Sonic say's "Ready.." and then release. He will yell "GO!" and automatically follow the rings where ever they lead. Even if they lead up into the air or across water, Sonic will be pulled along until the line of rings end. In later action levels, this move is required to pass certain areas. After receiving the special Ancient Light item (see section [7.2]), the Light Speed Dash becomes the Light Speed Attack. This will allow you to not only follow rings, but to destroy some enemies with the same move (i.e. the monkeys in the cages). Also, after Sonic gets the Crystal Ring Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), it will only take two seconds to charge up the Light Speed Dash, instead of four. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 2 Miles "Tails" Prower -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sega Genesis/Megadrive Tails is still the Sonic wannabe that he's always been; chasing after Sonic, trying desperately to keep up with his idol. But in this game, Tails learns a valuable lesson in becoming his own hero and facing things on his own. Playing Tails ------------- Just as Sonic's strong point is speed, Tails' strong point is flying. And flying high is something you will need to do well to complete most all of Tails' action stages. You see, whenever Tails is in an action stage, he not only has to make it to end alive but he also has to race someone to the end! Most of the time, it's his hero Sonic, but he does have to race Eggman on the Speed Highway stage. The only way Tails can possibly beat someone as fast as Sonic is to find shortcuts through the stages using his flying ability. You will often see a row of green hoops floating in the air. Have Tails fly through them to be boosted along and gain ground. Tails' moves include: Spin Attack: Press the jump button and Tails will jump into the air, rolling up into a ball. While in the air you can maneuver slightly, destroying enemies or obstacles. While in the air, if you press the attack button Tails will drop straight back to the ground very quickly. If Tails is running at full speed, just pressing the attack button rolls Tails up into a ball while keeping him moving forward. You will need to be running fairly fast to perform this move seeing as the Tails Attack (see below) will supersede this attack at low speeds or when standing still. Propeller Flight: Perform a jump and then jump again when in the air. Be sure to continue holding the jump button to achieve maximum height and duration. Let go of the jump button when you want to finish flying. If you hold it too long, Tails will become tired, yawn and start to fall. When this happens you will have no control over the direction he falls. Because of this, try to limit your flight time as much as possible by finding places to land on before continuing flying some more. If you want to fall quickly to the ground while flying, just press and hold the attack button in flight. Also, when Tails' tails are spinning they act as a weapon, destroying enemies or opening item boxes and obstacles. Be sure when attacking enemies it flight to not expose your underside to them since you are still vulnerable there. Instead, try only to hit them with your tails. Tails Attack: Press the attack button when not moving fast and Tails will spin around for a second on his feet and hands whipping his tails about. This will destroy most enemies or open itemboxes and obstacles. After Tails receives the Rhythm Broach Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), Tails will be able to continue spinning indefinalty by simply holding the button down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 3 Knuckles the Echidna -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Sega Genesis/Megadrive Knuckles wants nothing to do with Sonic or his friends. But when the Chaos Emeralds are missing and the Master Emerald is threatened, he'll do everything in his power to protect it and the mysterious, floating Angel island. Oh, and in case you're wondering, it's pronounced E*chid"na, the name given to a common Australian ant-eater. Playing Knuckles ---------------- In Knuckles action stages, he is looking for shards of the Master Emblem. There are three hidden in each stage. Luckily, Knuckles can sense when a shard is near. For the player this sense shows up on the screen in the form of the "Hot/Cold" meter at the bottom center of the screen. When Knuckles senses an emerald shard nearby, the emerald will light up blue at first and slowly become green as you get closer. Once the emerald shard glows red and is beeping very fast, you know you are right where the emerald should be. Keep in mind, that the shard could be inside an enemy or obstacle, or even the ground. Grab all three shards to exit the stage. Knuckles has lots of moves to help him accomplish the task of collecting the emerald shards. Spin Attack: Press the jump button and Knuckles will jump into the air, rolling up into a ball. While in the air you can maneuver slightly, destroying enemies or obstacles. When in the air, if you press the attack button, Knuckles will drop back to the ground more quickly by straightening himself out. Glide: Jump and then jump again to perform the glide. Unlike Tails' Propeller Flight move, the glide will not make you go higher, but since it doesn't take any strength to perform, Knuckles can do it indefinitely or until he touches the ground. When Knuckles glides, he sticks his knuckles out in front of him allowing him to destroy enemies and open item boxes or obstacles. Climb: When Knuckles touches a climbable surface, he will latch his powerful knuckles into it allowing him to shear it. When this happens, just use the analog stick to move him around and the jump button to have him release his grip. He can climb up almost any angle or direction. Punch Attack: When standing on the ground, press the attack button to have Knuckles Punch Forward. The punches have a short range but can destroy most enemies or open itemboxes and obstacles. Dash Punch: When standing on the ground, press the attack button three times quickly and Knuckles with thrust forward with his fist. This has a longer range than the Punch Attack. Dig: Once Knuckles receives the Silver Knuckles Upgrade item (see section [7.2]) you will be able to perform this move. When standing on diggable ground, press both the attack and jump buttons at the same time. Knuckles will dig into the ground. If there is an item underground (such as some rings, or an emerald shard), he will pull it up with him. Light Attack: (aka: The Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack) Once Knuckles receives the Fighting Gloves Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), he will be able to perform this attack. Hold the attack button down for a few seconds and a light will appear around Knuckles. Then release the button and Knuckles will fly around, quickly destroying any and all enemies or objects nearby. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 4 Amy Rose -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: SonicCD - SegaCD/MegaCD While reminiscing about her exciting glory days of being with Sonic and complaining about her now humdrum life, Amy is treated to more excitement than she barganed for when Station Square is invaded by Dr. Eggman! She finds a small bird who has lost it's parents. Amy vows to help the bird find them. The bird from then on follows Amy where ever she goes. Later, when Amy happens to run into Sonic, she gets captured by Eggman's green, sentry robot named "ZERO". Eventually, she convinces E-102 to set her free from Eggman's prison aboard the giant Egg Carrier. From then on she and her tiny bird friend attempt to make a daring escape. Playing Amy ----------- Amy is not an aggressive 13 year old, but as they say, "when the going gets tough... ". Armed with her trusty hammer, she runs as fast as she can through each stage to reach the end. Amy's stages have a lot of interaction to them with many things to push and pull and buttons to press. Be careful though, while you're trying to figure out these puzzles to escape, Dr. Eggman's big, green sentry robot named "ZERO" will be chasing you. You can bop him on the head, but he'll always get back up and continue to try to trap you. Don't let him grab you or lock on with his lazer sight. At the end of each stage there will be a large balloon that Amy can grab on to that will lift her to safety. Interestingly, Amy is the only character besides Sonic who can visit more than one section of an action stage. Amy's moves are: Jump: Amy's jump is a little unique. Unlike Sonic, Tails & Knuckles, Amy cannot roll up into a ball so her jump doesn't count as an attack. But in exchange her jump does allow her to run at full speed from a standing start. Just jump and hold forward on the analog stick. When she lands back on the ground she'll automatically be running at full speed. This is a useful technique when used in conjunction with the Jump Attack move (see below). Hammer Attack: Press the attack button and Amy will strike with her hammer. She can destroy most enemies with it except ZERO. She can also use it to push buttons and open item-boxes and obstacles. Just where does she hide that thing anyway?! ;) Jumping Hammer Attack: Press the jump button and when still in the air press the attack button. Amy will do a summersault with her hammer that will destroy most enemies except ZERO. She can also use this move to reach high item-boxes that would typically be out of reach. Jump Attack: When ever Amy is running at full speed (noticeable because you will see her hammer dangling in her hand behind her) press the attack button and she will use the hammer to propel herself high in the air. You should familiarize yourself with this technique since many obstacles will be in Amy's way that are much too high for her to get over with her standard jump. This move will allow her to vault over such obstacles. Spin Hammer Attack: After Amy receives the Soldier's Feather Upgrade item (see section [7.2]) she can perform this move. Press and hold the attack button. While still holding the button, make a few circles with the analog stick and Amy will start spinning with her hammer. This attack will destroy most enemies that come near her except ZERO. After Amy recieves the Long Hammer Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), this attack will have a much wider reach and Super Sonics will appear in the Whack-A-Sonic mini-game (which award 300 points each). When Amy performs this attack, she will continue spinning until you let go of the attack button or she gets dizzy. If Amy does get dizzy, she will walk clumsily and not be able to jump for a few seconds. By the way, she also looks really funny when she's dizzy! I recommend trying it at least once. :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 5 Big the Cat -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: Sonic Adventure - Sega Dreamcast Big, the big blue cat, lives in the rain forest of Mystic Ruin. He's a backwoods kinda fella. Just a laid back individual who likes to take it easy and enjoy his favorite pastime; fishing. But when Big's best friend Froggy mysteriously decides to run away, Big chases after him and gets caught up in Sonic's adventure as well. Playing Big ----------- Of all the characters in the game, Big is the most out of place. He only happens to run into Sonic and the others purely by coincidence. His gameplay is equally out of place. All he does is fish. That's right.. FISH! While I must admit, fishing with Big can be a bit fun and challenging, one has to just ask... Why?! Oh well, I guess SonicTeam likes it. Big's goal in each action stage is the rescue his frog friend by catching it with his fishing pole without letting the line break. Here are the moves Big has to accomplish this: Lure Attack: When near enemies on land, press the attack button to smack bag guys with your fishing rod. This has a very short range so you need to get very close to perform this. Cast: To cast your rod, hold down the attack button and a target will appear on the ground in front of you. Keep holding attack and use the analog stick to position the target where you want (typically over a fish in a body of water). Release the attack button and Big will toss his line out. If you miss the water, you're line will automatically be drawn back in. Also, when on land you can cast your line at enemies and item boxes to open/destroy them. Reel: When you've cast your line into the water you will see a close up of your lure. You can press left and right on the analog stick to yank your line to the left and right. You can also control the lure by using the D-Pad. Press the attack button and you will reel your line in slowly. The Jump button will reel it in much faster. HIT! Catching a fish: Once you've successfully figured out how to Cast and Reel, toss your line near a fish. Once the fish gets close enough to bite, pull the analog stick any direction to get the fish snug on the hook. Big will yell "HIT!". Now reel in the fish slowly making sure not to let the meter on the right side of the screen get red enough to where your line breaks. If you line breaks, you loose a life. I find that tapping the Jump button every second and a half in succession makes it easy to reel without worrying about breaking my line. If the fish start yanking in a direction away from in front of you, you won't be able to reel it in anymore. Just press left or right on the analog stick to tug on the rod and straighten you line. Try to keep the fish in front of you and you will have little trouble reeling it in. Be patient, and you'll be successful. Recast: If you cast your line into the water and you are not pleased with the cast, you can press both the L & R buttons at the top of your controller to immediatly bring your line in and try again. Swim: Once Big receives the Lifebelt Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), he will be able to float on water. Use the analog stick to make him paddle. When you hold the jump button, Big will activate a switch on the Lifebelt causing the air to be released, making him sink. Let go of the jump button and Big will release the switch causing the lifebelt to refill with air and he will rise back to the surface. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 6 E-102 "gamma" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: Sonic Adventure - Sega Dreamcast This minion of the Eggman army is a robotisized animal just like all of the other robots under Eggman's control. He/she is an E series swatbot, the best of Eggman's soldiers. Eventually, E-102 starts to become self aware and remembers his true self. He turns on his creator Dr. Eggman, and decides to free all the animals he can and rescue the other E series swatbots. Playing E-102 ------------- E-102 is trying to free the animals that Dr. Eggman has enslaved. So basically, you want to blast everything in the stage. An interesting aspect of Gamma's stages are that instead of time running up as it typically does, E-102 only has so many minutes to complete the stage before he dies. Luckily, every time you free an animal by destroying a bad guy, you gain a second back. Target multiple enemies before firing and you get double the time back for each successive target. At the end of most of E-102's stages, you will face and have to defeat another of the E series swatbots. Here are Gamma's moves: Laser Gun/Homing Missle Launch: Mounted on E-102 right arm is his gun. Press and hold the attack button and a lazer sight will fall over his right eye. Point the light at as many enemies or obstacle as you can. The sight only remains active (red) for three seconds at which time it will turn blue and you'll have to try again. When you target enemies, a square will appear around them and a number indicating that targets number in the firing order. Release the attack button to release your shots. You do not need to be facing the direction of the targets since the rockets that fire are self guiding and will always hit their locked-on targets. Rolling Mode: This is an automatic move. Whenever E-102 gets up enough speed on flat ground, he will go into drive mode roll on his treads. This doesn't offer anything extra except that it keeps him moving quickly. Hover: This is an automatic move. Whenever E-102 goes over a shallow body of water he will go into hover mode to prevent contact with the water. He is a robot after all and wouldn't want to get wet! ;) Hovering: After E-102 receives the Jet Booster Upgrade item (see section [7.2]), he will be able to glide by performing a double jump. Just jump and jump again to slowly glide down to earth. As long as you hold the jump button you can continue gliding until you touch ground. This is required in later stages to perform jumps across long distances. Triple Shot: After E-102 recieves the Gun Upgrade Item (see section [7.2]) he will have a much larger gun that has four barrels instead of just one. This will allow him to fire multiple shots per trigger and destroy more at a much quicker rate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 . 7 Super Sonic -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sega Genesis/Megadrive Super Sonic isn't really a separate character. He's just Sonic the Hedgehog powered up with all seven of the Chaos Emeralds. Playing Super Sonic ------------------- To understand Super Sonic, you'll need to know the basics. First of all, in the classic 2D Sonic games, for Sonic the Hedgehog to become Super Sonic, he had to have two things: all seven Chaos Emeralds and 50 gold rings. When this happened, Super Sonic would be formed. As you play though Super Sonic's adventure quest, these things will automatically happen to Sonic and you'll turn into Super and fight Perfect Chaos (see section [4.7]). Attacks can't hurt Super Sonic and he moves so fast that he can actually fly over land and water! For every second Sonic is this way, he'll use up one gold ring to maintain this form. Once all 50 rings are used up, Sonic changes back to normal. The moment you unlock Super Sonic, you will have to battle Perfect Chaos and beat the game. You cannot take Super Sonic and play him in any of the action stages. He is only available to play when fighting Perfect Chaos. That's it. I know, it's kind of a bummer, but that's the way it is. When fighting Perfect Chaos, be sure to go as fast as you can since you'll need the speed to hit his brain and you'll be running out of rings all the time. You can slow down a bit during the first three hits to gain back some rings, but don't attempt it during Perfect Chaos' second strike. Now that you know the basics, here are Super Sonic's moves: Spin Attack: Press the jump button and Sonic will jump into the air, rolling up into a ball. While in the air you can maneuver slightly, destroying enemies or obstacles. Because Super Sonic is so much more powerfull than standard Sonic, this includes cars too! But the best use of this move is to do it just as Super Sonic hits a speed booster. This will cause him to roll up into a ball and he'll be zooming at breakneck speed! "Homing" Spin Attack: Press jump (A button) and then jump again while still in the air and Sonic will automatically home in on the nearest attackable object. But when Super Sonic is fighting Perfect Chaos, this move can be counter productive since Chaos cannot be hurt by it and it slows SS down a lot! It's best to avoid it. ========================================================================== 4 . 0 THE ADVENTURE QUESTS ========================================================================== Sonic Adventure could be completed by just wandering around and finding the area of the game world where the story unfolds next. If you get stuck and can't figure out where to go next, it would be a good idea to look up the walkthroughs in this section. Although, I would recommend doing this only as a last resort. By just following these walkthroughs to the letter, you'll miss out on familiarizing yourself with the game world and not experience discovering places and things unrelated to completing the game. Try to figure it out on you own first, but if you get frustrated, look it up here! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 1 Sonic's Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The story of Sonic Adventure begins with Sonic visiting the seaside city of Station Square. He notices some police cars racing to an unknown location. After he follows them, he finds a bunch of cops have a strange water creature at gunpoint. They fire, but the bullets just go into the creature who then spits them back out. As the cops start to run, Sonic steps in to help. This will begin a brief fight with Chaos 0. He is simple to beat by just running to avoid attacks and using the "Homing" spin attack (see section [3.1]) to hit him when he's near. After being defeated, Chaos finds it's way to a sewer drain and we see Dr. Eggman watching from overhead. The next day, Sonic is lounging at the Station Square Hotel's pool side when he see's Tails', in an experimental plane, crash into the beach nearby. Run towards the beach to begin Sonic's first action stage, Emerald Coast (see section [5.1]). After rescuing Tails, you will both walk back to the Station Square Hotel's pool side where Tails will present Sonic with a Chaos Emerald. Go through the hotel and out into Station Square's ocean side street. There you'll see the Station Square Train Station. Enter that building and take the train. This will take you to Mystic Ruin. After getting off the Train, head right. Up the hill near the steps to Tails' workshop you will encounter Dr. Eggman. You will have to face him in his "Egg Hornet". Just wait till the Hornet digs into the ground and attack it then. After Eggman is defeated he will grab the Emerald that Tails was holding and give it to Chaos 0 producing Chaos 1. In a flash of light, both Chaos 1 and Eggman disappear. Head up the steps to Tails' workshop and you will find the green Wind Stone next to his front door. Grab the stone (by standing close and pressing the attack button), and head down the steps and keep to the right. In the side of the cliff, just before you reach the lake, you will find a cave with a very windy vortex blowing into the air. Place the Wind Stone on the pedestal to open the vents below and cause the wind to become stronger. Jump into the vortex and you'll be whisked away to Sonic's second action stage, Windy Valley (see section [5.2]). After finishing the stage, take the train back to Station Square. Once there go to the part of town where you fought Chaos 0 and where the police car that was covering the manhole will be gone. Jump into the manhole to enter the sewer. In the sewer you will find Sonic's first Upgrade Item, the Light Speed Shoes. Now that you have this item, you can perform the Light Speed Dash (see section [3.1]). Press the button to make some rings appear and use the Light Speed Dash to exit the sewers. A new part of Station Square will now be accessible through both the hotel and train station. Go there and you'll see the entrance to the Casino locked. Press the button to make rings appear and then use the Light Speed Dash to press the big button to open the casino. This will allow you to enter Sonic's third action stage: Casinopolis (see section [5.3]). After beating Casinopolis, a blue Ice key will appear in the alley next to the casino. But before you can get far, Eggman appears! He will gas Sonic & Tails and take the Chaos Emerald. After you wake up, grab this new key and take it with you onto the train. Once you get to Mystic Ruin, you will see side of the cliff blow open revealing a new cave. Continue carrying the Ice Key into the cave. There will be another vortex of air shooting up like the entrance to Windy Valley. Ride this current up and it will lead to yet another set of caves. Half way through this second cave there will be an icy door and pedestal. Place the Ice Key on the pedestal to open the door. Head into the ice cave, and on the other side of the small lake will be a ladder leading the Sonic's fourth action stage, IceCap (see section [5.4]). After completing this stage, go back towards the lake and you will encounter Knuckles. You must fight him momentarily and then he will calm down a bit. You can't hurt him from the front, so try hitting him from the side or behind. Eventually, you'll both be knocked down and drop your Chaos Emeralds. Dr. Eggman will appear and give them to Chaos forming Chaos 4. Afterwards you will battle Chaos 4 in the nearby lake. Use the lily pads to help you jump and aim. You can jump into the water but be sure not to let yourself sink too far. Watch for his pattern and you should be able to defeat him. After the battle, Dr. Eggman's Egg Carrier will appear over head and "beam him up". Tails suggests following Eggman in Sonic's Tornado airplane. Now head up the stairs to Tails' workshop. Tails will ask you to wait. As the doors to the hanger open, a runway appears from the cliff in front of Tails' workshop. Tails will taxi out the Tornado and Sonic will jump aboard. You will then encounter the first mini-game, Sky Chase Act 1 (see section [6.1]). After the Tornado get's shot down, Sonic & Tails will be separated and Sonic will land back at the Station Square Hotel. Head towards the part of town where the casino is and Sonic will encounter Amy. She will introduce you to the bird she found. Then you head to the Ocean side part of town where the entrance to Twinkle Park is. There you will see the green sentry robot ZERO. But Amy notices the entrance to Twinkle Park and cant resist going inside. Both Sonic & ZERO chase after Amy. Thus begins Sonic's Fifth action stage, Twinkle Park (see section [5.5]). After getting through Twinkle Park, you will be in a small room. Sonic is worried the green robot will capture Amy. On your right is a door to the Twinkle Circuit mini-game. You can play that or head forward (down the screen) and there will be another door. Use it. As you exit the elevator to Twinkle Park, an employee card will appear in the patch of grass in front of the Train Station. Pick it up and take it to the garage door next to the Twinkle Park elevator. It will say, "ID Confirmed" and the door will open. Take on of the two elevators to Sonic's sixth action stage, Speed Highway (see section [5.6]). By the way, it doesn't matter which elevator you take, they both lead to the stage. Still unable to find Amy after completing Speed Highway, Sonic finds himself at the court where he fought Chaos 0 in Station Square. Go to the Casino portion of station square by going through the Hotel (the train station is closed for the moment). You will see that ZERO has captured Amy and is taking her to Mystic Ruin. Now head to the train station and go to Mystic Ruin. When you get there you see ZERO holding Amy. Just as Sonic is about to fight ZERO, the Egg Carrier appears overhead and beams ZERO and Amy aboard. You see the Egg Carrier go to the other side of the cliff. Head through the cave in front of the Mystic Ruin train station (where you went to get to the IceCap stage), but this time go all the way through the tunnel until you get to the other side. There you will see Knuckles floating island. At the entrance to the bridge going to the island is the Ancient Light Item. Get it and it will allow you to destroy the nearby Monkey (Kiki) in the cage using the Light Speed Dash. This will open the gate and Sonic's seventh action stage, Red Mountain (see section [5.7]). After freeing the animals of Red Mountain, Sonic is just a moment too late to catch the Egg Carrier. Just then, Tails streaks by in a new improved Tornado 2 airplane. He picks Sonic up and they head after the Egg Carrier and into the third mini-game, Sky Chase Act 2 (see section [6.2]). After destroying the Egg Carrier's main gun, Sonic and Tails land on the deck of the great ship. Walk around a bit and Eggman will transform the ship. Afterwards, the entrance to Sonic's Eight action stage, Sky Deck (see section [5.8]). Once you've surveyed the onslaught of Sky Deck, you'll reach the main internal room of the Egg Carrier. Take the lift pod (the large, golden UFO looking thing) to the main deck. You'll see Dr. Eggman talking to Amy. Eggman will take the Chaos Emerald that was around the bird's neck and summon E-102 to fight Sonic. You will have to hit him three times. After you severely damage E-102, Amy will stop you from hurting him any more. She convinces Sonic to let him be since E-102 released her from her cell. Sonic will agree and head up the deck some more. Once he get's here, there will be a door on his left. Go in and there will be a small room with two other doors and a button. Press the button to create some rings and use the Light Speed Dash to enter Dr. Eggman's control room. Stand on the chair and it will move forward. Jump off the chair and a button will be revealed on the floor where the chair was. Press this button to convert the ship back to it's previous state. Then go through the door. Once outside go the the center of the deck. There Sonic will encounter Chaos 6. Big and Eggman will be there as well. When you fight Chaos 6, Eggman will be dropping freeze bombs at you. Hit the bombs with your "Homing" spin attack and then pick them up. Throw them at Chaos to freeze him and then hit him. Do this four times to destroy Chaos 6. After this Knuckles will appear. Eggman get's upset that you beat Chaos and runs away. Sonic chases after Eggman off the side of the ship, falling into the Mystic Ruin rain forest. There he sees the ancient Echidna Tribe's temple shaking. Then he sees Tikal's spirit enter the temple and follows. This leads Sonic into his ninth action stage, Lost World (see section [5.9]). Upon getting to the exit, Sonic finds the spirit again and follows it. It leads him to a large stone image of "Perfect Chaos" destroying a city. Then Sonic is whisked away to the Floating Island of the past where the Master Emerald shrine is on fire. Run towards the shrine and you will see a young echidna girl (Tikal) and some dead Chao lying on the ground. The girl will get up and walk towards the Master Emerald. Sonic will then find himself back outside the echidna temple. He will see Eggman streak over head and follow. Head towards the edge of the jungle and you will see Dr. Eggman's Egg Carrier docking station. Enter the docking station via the connecting bridge. Once inside, go over to the door with the six lights around it. Jump on the lights until all six are lit up, upon when the door will open and Sonic will enter his tenth and last action stage, Final Egg (see section [5.A]). After reaching the reactor core of the Egg Carrier Docking station, Sonic will find Dr. Eggman in his Egg Viper attack pod. This is Sonic's last boss. To fight the Egg Viper, keep running to avoid the lazer fire. When the "tail" of the Egg Viper is extended towards the platform you're on and Eggman is gloating, hit the green pods on the tail of the Egg Viper using the Homing Spin Attack. Be sure to hit all three of the green pods and jump a fourth time to hit 'ol Egg-boy himself. Do this several times until Eggman positions the Egg Viper at the end of the platform and starts firing directly at you. Just dodge these shots. When Eggman does this again, he will throw spinning blades at you. Be sure you're at the other end of the platform and wait till the blade reaches you to jump on top of it. It will carry you to Eggman and then hit him with a spin attack. Do this a few times and watch for when Egg-boy starts destroying the platform. After you completely destroy the Egg Viper, Tikal's spirit will appear to warn you that the Egg Viper is about to crash into the platform. Be sure not to be on the platform section he hit's or you'll fall to your death. After Sonic gets out he see's Eggman escape into the MR rain forest. Sonic will meet up with Tails and they will run around in victory. Be sure to wait for the credits before resetting or turning off your Dreamcast. You'll earn a Sonic Emblem for finishing the game (see section [9] for more information). After the credits, all the playable characters will be available (except for Super Sonic) since you met them during the adventure. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 2 Tails' Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tails' story starts out with him happily flying along in a prototype airplane that uses a chaos emerald for a power source. But when the plane's engine conks out, he's forced to make a crash landing on the beach near the Station Square hotel. Sonic is there to help him. When they get back, Tails shows Sonic the Chaos Emerald that was powering the plane. Once he's done talking, go through the Hotel to the Station Square Train station and ride the train to MR. Head up the stairs to Tails' workshop and you will encounter Dr. Eggman in his Egg Hornet. Fight and beat him just like you did in Sonic's quest. Afterwards, Eggman will steal the Chaos Emerald Tails was carrying, summon Chaos and feed Chaos the emerald. Now head up the steps to Tails' workshop and pick up the green Wind Stone key that is just outside his door. Take the stone to the cave in the side of the cliff just before reaching the MR lake. Place the key in the pedestal and jump into the vortex to go to Tails' first action stage, Windy Valley (see section [5.2]). Now you'll want to head back to SS. Get on the train and once you get back, go through the newly opened exit to the train station that will lead you to the part of SS where the casino is. Fly up and press the big red button on the casino front to open the stage. Enter the casino to play Tails' second action stage, Casinopolis (see section [5.3]). After beating Casinopolis, a blue Ice Key will appear in the alley next to the casino. But before you can get far, Eggman appears! He will gas Tails & Sonic and take the Chaos Emerald. After you wake up, grab this new key and take it with you onto the train. Once you get to Mystic Ruin, you will see side of the cliff blow open revealing a new cave. Continue carrying the Ice Key into the cave. There will be another vortex of air shooting up like the entrance to Windy Valley. Ride this current up and it will lead to yet another set of caves. Half way through this second cave there will be an icy door and pedestal. Place the Ice Key on the pedestal to open the door. Head into the ice cave, and on the other side of the small lake will be a ladder leading the Tails' third action level, IceCap (see section [5.4]). After getting anther Chaos Emerald, leave the ice cave and head back to the MR lake. Knuckles will be there. You will have to fight him. Eventually, you'll both be knocked down and drop your Chaos Emeralds. Dr. Eggman will appear and give them to Chaos forming Chaos 4. Afterwards you will battle Chaos 4 in the nearby lake. Use the lily pads to help you jump and aim. You can jump into the water but be sure not to let yourself sink too far. Watch for his pattern and you should be able to defeat him. Once Chaos 4 is defeated, the Egg Carrier will appear overhead. It will "beam up" Dr. Eggman. Head up to Tails workshop to get into the Tornado airplane. This will begin Tails' first mini-game, Sky Chase Act 1 (see section [6.1]). After a tough battle, the Tornado get's shot down by Egg Carrier's main weapon. In the next scene, we see Tails walking through the MR rain forest. He stops to see his idol Sonic wiz by him. Tails runs after Sonic, trying desperately to keep up but Sonic is just too fast. This makes Tails sad. Then the scene fades out and we see that Tails is waking up from that dream. He has landed by the MR lake and Sonic is no-where to be found. Tails relizes he must find the chaos emeralds himself, without Sonic's help. He musteres up the courage and decides he'll do his best to save the day! Now head towards the mine cart next to the MR lake and ride it to the rain forest. Jump off the ledge and keep on the left path. Tails will see one of the Chaos Emeralds lying on the path. Then he'll see Big's pet frog hop by and eat it! Follow the frog into the cave and fly up to the ledge. Jump on the Echidna Idol to unclog the sand. Go into the now clear cave and on to Tails' second mini-game, Sand Hill (see section [6.4]). After reaching the end and capturing Big's frog, Tails see's a spirit floating about (it's Tikal's spirit). The spirit transports Tails to the ancient Echidna Village on the Floating Island. Head up the steps on your immediate left and then take a right and you'll get the Rhythm Badge Upgrade item. Then head to the front of the main temple to meet Tikal. Shortly after, you'll be transported back to the MR lake where Big will come running, desperately trying to grab his frog (who gets away anyway). At least Tails got the emerald from Froggy before it ran away with Big right behind. Now head back up to Tails workshop. Tails decides to use the red Chaos Emerald he's found to power his new jet powered Tornado 2 airplane. He climbs in the plane and opens the secret hangar doors located behind the water fall near his workshop and blasts off. He flies to Red Mountain where he sees the Egg Carrier and Sonic. Sonic jumps aboard and they both go after the EC in Tails' third mini-game, Sky Chase Act 2 (see section [6.2]). After destroying the EC's main gun, Tails and Sonic crash land on the main deck. Head up the deck and Eggman will convert the EC's form into attack mode. Keep heading up the deck to enter Tails' fourth action stage, Sky Deck (see section [5.8]). Now inside the EC, Tails suggests they split up looking for Amy. Take the lift pod (the large, golden UFO looking thing) to the main deck. You'll see Dr. Eggman talking to Amy. Eggman will take the Chaos Emerald that was around the bird's neck and summon E-102 to fight Tails. You will have to hit him three times. Once you've defeated E-102, Amy will ask you to stop since E-102 released her from her prison. Sonic asks Tails to airlift Amy to safety while he goes off to fight Dr. Eggman. Tails lifts Amy away using his tails while E-102 hovers to safety. We see the Egg Carrier crash due to Sonic's efforts. Back at station square, Tails gently lowers Amy to the ground and notices Eggman crash landing nearby. Eggman summons a rocket which takes off and lands in another part of Station Square.. failing to destroy the city. Eggman then goes to Speed Highway to fix the rocket so it explodes. Tails realizes he has to beat Eggman to the rocket before he uses it to blow up Station Square. Tails stops for a moment wishing Sonic was there to help, but then decides that he must be strong and face Dr. Eggman alone. He decides to race Eggman to the rocket and thus starts Tails' fifth and final action stage, Speed Highway (see section 5.6]). Tails will now find himself at the casino end of Station Square where Eggman and a crowd of people are gathered. Eggman decides to use the mighty Egg Walker to destroy the pesky fox and Tails accepts Eggman's challenge. When fighting Tails' last boss, watch out for flames and missiles. Then whenever one of the feet of the Walker stomp down and is glowing, hit it the glowing part using your Tail Spin attack. This will cause the Walker to loose balance, and Eggman's cockpit pod to lower. Smack Egg-boy good when he's down and repeat the process while watching for different variations in the Egg Walkers pattern. After the battle, a startled Tails realizes the he himself has actually defeated Eggman! A crowd cheers and Tails flies back to MR where he finds Sonic. Tails gives Sonic a flyby as they exchange a quick high-five celebration. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 3 Knuckles' Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Knuckles' tale begins on a stormy evening as Dr. Eggman's Egg Carrier is seen flying towards the floating island. As Knuckles watches diligently over the Master Emerald, Chaos brakes out of the Master Emerald, destroying it! Without the Master Emerald to keep the island floating, it crashes into the ocean below. Once at Station Square, take Knuckles around Station Square to where Sonic first fought Chaos 0. There will be some barriers blocking the entrance. Smash the barriers to send them flying into the doors. Go through the now open doors and on to Knuckles first action stage, Speed Highway (see section [5.6]). As with all of Knuckles action stages, you must locate the three emerald shards hidden in the stage. For more on this, see section [3.3]. After finding three emerald shards you will be back where you entered the Speed Highway stage. Go back to the hotel and through the double doors in the hotel lobby that lead to the casino part of Station Square. You'll see rings leading up the side of the movie theater there. Follow the rings up by climbing until you are on the "Chao in Space" movie poster. Then glide from the poster over to the large button that unlocks the casino. Go into the casino and on to Knuckle's second action stage, Casinopolis (see section [5.3]). Immediatly upon completing the stage, Knuckles will be transported back to the time of the ancient Echidna Village of his ancestors. Walk to the other end of the village to witness an argument between Tikal and the village elder. After this plot point, Knuckles will be transported back to the front of the casino. On your left you will see Sonic & Tails who have been gassed by their last encounter with Dr. Eggman. They are asleep and cannot be awoken. Head to the hotel. When you get there you will see Eggman going up the right elevator. He has the Chaos Emerald he had just stolen from Sonic & Tails in his hand. Head up the elevator and on to your fight with Chaos 2. Wait for his arm strike and try to use your Dash Punch to hit him from behind. After a discussion with Eggman, Knuckles heads back to MR. Go to the valley next to Tails workshop. Go in the cave there and into the first cave therein. You will see a monkey (Kiki) and a gate will lock you in pick up the Shovel Claws Upgrade item. These will allow Knuckles to perform dig into the ground (see section [3.3]). Go to the adjoining room and dig where the Eggman symbol is rising and falling. You will find a Self-Destruction Switch. Place the switch near the monkey cage to destroy the monkey inside thus opening the gate. Now take the switch and carry it to the entrance where Red Mountain stage is. (To get there, go through the newly formed cave entrance in front of the MR train station. Then go through that tunnel to the other side). The entrance to the Red Mountain stage is locked by a monkey in a cage. Use the switch to blow up this monkey to open the gate and go on to Knuckles third action stage, Red Mountain (see section [5.7]). Upon completing Red Mountain, you'll find yourself back outside next to the Floating Island. Go back through the cave to where the MR lake is. There you will encounter Sonic & Tails and have to battle Sonic. After hitting Sonic three times with your Punch Attack, Eggman will appear and take the chaos emeralds Sonic was holding and feed them to Chaos forming Chaos 4. You will now have to fight Chaos 4 in the MR lake. Defeat him just as you did with Sonic & Tails. Eggman's Egg Carrier will appear overhead afterwards and "beam" him aboard. Once this has happened, have Knuckles ride the mine cart next to the MR lake. This will take him to the MR rain forest. On the ledge once there, you will see Tikal's spirt floating. Just below her spirit will be a Golden Echidna Idol. Grab the idol and take it to the temple by jumping off the ledge and following the trails. Once there, climb the back steps up the temple and place the golden idol on the golden pedestal. Then climb back down the steps and head out towards the cliff side where the fence is. On this path, head left. Keep going until you come across a stone entrance hidden in the brush on the left. Go into this small cave until you get to the center where there is a place to dig (it has some yellow symbols going up and down). Dig there to find the Silver Echidna Idol. Take the silver idol back to the silver pedestal on the temple to open up Knuckles fourth action stage, Lost World (see section [5.9]). Afterwards, Knuckles will then see Tikal's Spirit and be transported to the past again to where the Master Emerald shrine used to be. Walk up the steps to see Tikal giving a speech. You'll also notice the Chaos Emeralds around the Master Emerald and some Chao (A-Lifes) come up to Tikal and talk to her. You'll then be transported to the Floating Island of current day. Knuckles will then take the emerald shards he's collected and use them to repair the Master Emerald, but he notices that three shards are still missing. In the Master Emerald he can see the location of the last three shards are being held on the Egg Carrier. Just then E-102 lands nearby. Knuckles decides to follow him. Now go back to the MR rain forest and glide off the ledge all the way to then edge of the cliff past the temple. Eggman's Egg Carrier will be docked there now. Knuckles will see E-102 enter the connecter bridge. Then a FMV sequence will play showing the EC taking off. On the deck, walk forward to see the EC transform. Then walk back to where you were and enter the door leading to the pool room. The pool will be drained of water and you will be able to enter the door in the deep end of the pool. Go in and you'll be in a small hidden room. On the other end is the door leading to Knuckles' fifth and final action stage, Sky Deck (see section [5.8]). After collecting the last three Master Emerald shards, Tikal's spirit will appear and send you back in time again. This time we see the Floating Island is on fire. Head up the steps towards the Master Emerald. You'll see Tikal laying on the ground and speak with her. But just as Knuckles starts to figure things out, he gets sent back to the present inside the small room behind the pool on the EC. Head back out on deck where Knuckles will see a flash of light off in the distance. Head that way. Knuckles will encounter Sonic & Eggman. Then out of nowhere, Chaos 6 will reform from where Sonic had beaten it. Use the same techniques you used with Sonic to beat Chaos 6. Once Chaos 6 is defeated, the Chaos emeralds will be laying on the deck. Then the EC will be destroyed as Knuckles safely glides away. Back at the Floating Island, Knuckles repairs the last of the Master Emerald causing the Floating Island to glide back up into the air. Knuckles returns to his post, defending the Master Emerald and the floating Angel Island, thus fulfilling his destiny. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 4 Amy's Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amy's adventure begins in Station Square. Going about her daily routine and a little bit of grocery shopping, she remembers the time Sonic rescued her from Dr. Eggman (in the SegaCD game, SonicCD) when a shadow covers the city. It's Eggman's Egg Carrier! Just then a small bird crash lands into her face, knocking her down. Then Eggman's green, sentry robot "ZERO" chases Amy (it's actually after the Chaos Emerald around the birds neck). Amy hides in the Station Square Burger Shop. After this, head to the Station Square hotel. Then go through the double doors leading to the casino part of town. There Amy will run into her "kawaii" Sonic. ;) She explains the incident with the bird to Sonic and says that Sonic must help her and the bird or she will just continue to pester him anyway. Now go back through the hotel to reach the seaside drive and the elevator to Twinkle Park where you'll catch up with Sonic. Just then ZERO will catch up with Amy, but she will be overcome with the idea of visiting Twinkle Park. She runs inside and Sonic reluctantly chases after her. This begins Amy's first action stage, Twinkle Park (see section [5.5]). Once you've successfully gotten away from ZERO, you'll be in a small room with a door to Twinkle Park and one to the Twinkle Circuit. Just walk down the screen until you reach the door to outside. This will lead Amy down the elevator back to the street. Then a large shadow looms overhead. It's ZERO! He grabs Amy and takes her into the Station Square train station. As the robot passes along the overpass, Amy sees and screams to Sonic. Then she faints. After Amy awakes, she then finds herself locked in a cell aboard Dr. Eggman's Egg Carrier. E-102 enters the room, walks over to the cell and tells Amy to give him the bird. Amy talks to E-102, causing a malfunction in his logic circuits. The bird flies out and when E-102 sees the bird up close, he decides to release Amy. Once Amy's done talking exit the room. You'll be in the game room and Amy will hear Eggman over the intercom gloating over his high score on the Whack-A-Sonic game. Jump in into the center of the room just below the high score to start Amy's exclusive mini-game, Whack-A-Sonic (see section [6.6]). Once you beat Dr. Eggman's high score, he will get upset and Tikal's spirit will appear. She will give Amy the Warrior Feather Upgrade item. This will allow Amy to perform the Spin Hammer Attack (see section [3.4]). The door on the other side of the room will now be open. Use it. Once in the central inner room of the Egg Carrier, you will be standing in front of three doors. Use your hammer to open the middle door by hitting the button on the ground in front of it. This door will take Amy to her second action stage, Hot Shelter (see section [5.B]). On her way out of Hot Shelter, Amy will encounter Tikal's spirit which will whisk her to the ancient Echidna Tribe's village in the past. Turn around and go through the tunnel behind Amy. There you will find the Master Emerald and Tikal. Tikal is talking with some Chao. Then Chaos will start to come out of the water just as the sequence ends. Amy finds herself back aboard the Egg Carrier in the pool room. Head through the door back onto the deck. Eggman will be there. So will Sonic & Tails. Eggman will grab the little bird and take the Chaos Emerald from around it's neck. Eggman will then summon E-102 to fight Sonic. After Sonic has severely damaged E-102, Amy will stop him from completely destroying it. She explains how E-102 rescued her from her prison cell. Sonic orders Tails to airlift Amy back to Station Square. Amy talks briefly with E-102 just before the EC blows up. Back at Station Square, Tails & Amy touch down. Amy waves by to Tails and then talks to the bird. She notices that the bird also has a picture of his family in the necklace around it's neck. Amy decides to go to Mystic Ruin to look for the birds family. Once at MR, ride the mine cart next to the lake to the MR rain forest. Then take the path to where Eggman's Egg Carrier's docking station is located (where the spotlights are). Once inside, go to the door with the six lights around it. Get all six lights to be on and the door will open leading Amy to her third and final action stage, Final Egg (see section [5.A]). After the stage, Amy is a little worried that ZERO is still chasing her. She is now convinced that the bird's parents must be on the Egg Carrier. Leave the EC docking station and head back to the main part of Mystic Ruin where the MR train station is. But instead of getting on the train, take the boat service located under the train station. Carefully jump onto the boat. It leads to the Egg Carrier which is now permanently crashed into the ocean. Once aboard, the bird will fly off and it will find it's parents. But before the bird can get back to Amy, it is targeted and hit by ZERO! Amy has finally had enough of this troublesome swatbot and decides to take him down for hurting her bird friend. When fighting ZERO, you will need to knock him into the electrified fence around you. This will short circuit him and literally make him loose his top. Smack the button inside his normally well armored head to damage him. Once ZERO has been destroyed, Amy runs to her downed bird friend. The bird tries to fly, but then falls. Luckily he was able to recover. The bird family happily fly away and Amy's adventure quest is complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 5 Big's Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One night while Big is asleep, his pet frog wakes up and notices something nearby. It's Chaos' tail. The next morning, Big wakes up to find that his frog friend runs away. Big heads to Station Square to look for it. Walk around the corner to find the frog at the part of Station Square where Sonic fought Chaos 0. The frog jumps into the manhole underneath an old car. Walk up to the car and move it out of the way by using the attach button. Once in the sewer, Big will be facing down. Head that direction. Eventually he will reach a box. Jump onto the box to get to the elevator on the other side (where the exit sign is). You'll then find yourself in the overpass leading to Twinkle Park. Follow the overpass all the way to the other side. Once in the small room, go to the door with the sign above it marked "Twinkle Park" to begin Big's first action stage, Twinkle Park (see section [5.5]). The goal of all of Big's action stages are to capture his pet frog. Once you've captured the frog and you exit Twinkle Park completely, the blue Ice Key will appear behind the Twinkle Park elevator on the other side of the small body of water. Pick it up and take it to train station. Board the train and go to MR. Once there, take the Ice Key through the newly formed cave in front of the MR train station and jump into the vortex. Then continue halfway through the next tunnel and place the key on the pedestal. This will open the door. Go into the ice cave and once you get to the body of water, you'll find Big's Lifebelt Upgrade item (see section [7.2]). Cross the water, go up the ladder and on to Big's second action stage, IceCap (see section [5.4]). Now leave the ice cave and you'll encounter Tails who is holding Froggy. Big makes a desperate dive to catch the frog. Tails gets startled and releases the frog who hops onto Big's head and then gets away. The frog was heading towards SS so get onto the train and go back to Station Square. On your way off the train you'll see Sonic. Outside, you'll see the frog standing in the middle of the street. Go into the hotel and out to the pool area. Then head on to Big's third action stage, Emerald Coast (see section [5.1]). After catching the frog, E-102 will come by and take it from you. Big chases after him. Then the scene cuts to the Egg Carrier taking off from it's docking station in MR. Big, now aboard the Egg Carrier, is in the center internal room. Head to the other end of the room where the three doors are and jump on switch to the middle door and enter it once it's open to go to Big's fourth and final stage, Hot Shelter (see section [5.B]). After finally holding his pet frog in his hand, Tikal's spirt appears and transports Big to the Floating Island of the past. Walk up to the Master Emerald shrine to see Tikal give a short speech. She will walk up the steps to the emerald where she will pray. Once this has happened, Big will be a bit confused and will find himself back in the Egg Carrier's main internal room. A large explosion occurs. Now take the Egg Tram Monorail to the main deck by pressing on the "call" pad on the main floor next to where Tikal's spirit is floating. Once on deck, make your way to the top center of the deck where the large green part is. You'll see Chaos 4 hovering there. Eggman will appear and will give Chaos a Chaos Emerald. Chaos will also force the Chaos Emerald out of the frogs stomach. These two emeralds combined will change Chaos 4 to Chaos 6. Chaos will then envelop Big's frog and take it's tail which it will add to itself. Now big must battle Chaos to get his pet frog back. All you need to do is aim your fishing rod at the target inside of Chaos. Once Big gets his friend back, walk to where Tails' plane the Tornado 2 landed. Big decides to try to pilot the plane back to his home in the MR rain forest. He makes it off just before the Egg Carrier is destroyed. Once back, Big and his frog celebrate to be home in their natural environment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 6 E-102 "gamma"'s Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gamma's life begins in the Egg Carrier docking station, located on the edge of the Mystic Ruins rain forest. After being robotisized, E-102's first sight is of his new master, Dr. Eggman. Eggman proceeds to introduce himself and tells Gamma his name. Gamma then takes his first looks around. Walk to the left and you will see Eggman standing by a door. He says that the door leads to the Swatbot firing range and that he will instruct E-102 on how to properly destroy Sonic & his pals. E-102 will obey and enter the door leading to his first action stage, Final Egg (see section [5.A]). Back in the main room of the docking station, head down the stairs to where Dr. Eggman is. He wants you to prove your worth. He summons one of his other Swatbots, E-101 "beta" and orders Gamma to spar with it. After the fight, E-101 shows that he doesn't trust Gamma. Eggman walks off and launches the Egg Carrier. He then gathers all of his Swatbots the the main internal room of the Egg Carrier. He then shows them that Big's frog, Froggy has Chaos tail and orders them to capture the frog and bring it to him. Now you'll find yourself in the seaside drive of Station Square. Go through the hotel to the pool area. The entrance to the beach is blocked by some barricades. Target and destroy the obstruction and go on to E-102's second action stage, Emerald Coast (see section [5.1]). After finding the frog, Tikal's sprit appears and transports Gamma to the Floating Island of the past. E-102 has no data as to where he is so he decides to investigate. Walk up to the Master Emerald shrine. There will be a group of Chao singing (possibly chanting). This causes a reaction in the water. Tikal appears and yells to you. She then apologies to Gamma and talks with him. Afterwards, Gamma awakens to find himself back on the EC's main internal room. The other E series swatbots call for him to get in formation. All the robots have captured different frogs, but none of them are the right one. Then Eggman notices that Gamma has the one true frog there were all after. He takes the frog from Gamma and punishes the other swatbots by beaming them off the ship. Dr. Eggman then orders E-102 to go to the prison area and get the Chaos Emerald from around the neck of Amy's bird friend. He then walks off. E-102 heads towards the door but accidentally steps on a spinning floorpiece that sends him into the door on the left. Inside, he sees pieces of a black swatbot on the ground. He looks up to see a new improved version of E-101 "beta" being constructed. He then leaves. Now, go into the door on the right and you'll be in the Whack-A-Sonic game room. Go to the other side and you'll find Amy locked in her prison cell. E-102 will order Amy to give the bird to him, but she will refuse. Amy will then talk with E-102, causing him to malfunction. Amy's bird friend will then fly up close to E-102 causing him to malfunction some more. E-102 then decides to free Amy from her cell and Amy runs off. Now leave the prison area go back to the EC main room. When you get there, Eggman will test his microphone and order E-102 to come to the main deck. But before you head up, go up the stairs on the far end of the room and take a right. Go along the railings until you reach a door that opens on your left. Once inside, jump down to the bottom and pick up the Jet Booster Upgrade item (see section [7.2]). Leave this room, and Eggman will yell at you some more. Now jump into the lift pod (the large, golden UFO looking thing) to the main deck. There you will be ordered by Dr. Eggman to fight Sonic. Interestingly enough, in this version of the story, Sonic is a pushover to Gamma, and just as Gamma is going to blow away Sonic for the last time, Amy steps in and convinces E-102 to spare Sonic's life. Sonic thanks Amy and runs off to face Dr. Eggman. After another brief talk with Amy, E-102 flies off the Egg Carrier as it explodes and lands in the ocean. On his way down, Gamma thinks about all the things he's seen. And then it happens, he becomes aware that his is fighting on the wrong side. He decides to take down the other E series robots to protect other innocent people from being hurt. Now in MR, head up the steps to Tails' workshop. In front of Tails' door will be the green Wind Key. Grab the key and take it to the cave in the cliff next to the MR lake. Place the key on the pedestal which will release the vents below and cause the wind to rush faster. Jump into the vortex and on to E-102's third action stage, Windy Valley (see section [5.2]). After Gamma has rescued the E-103 robot and set free the animal inside, a new cave will form in front of the MR train station. Go into the cave and jump into the vortex. Then follow the adjoining cave to the end and find the entrance to Red Mountain with the caged monkey in front of it. Target and destroy the monkey, thus unlocking the stage and you're on to E-102's fourth action stage, Red Mountain (see section [5.7]). Once you've destroyed E-104 and released the animal inside, E-102 will remember that there are still a few E series robots left. He remembers seeing E-101 "beta" being rebuilt. He decides to go to the Egg Carrier and find E-101. Head back to the EC by way of the boat service located underneath the MR train station. Once you get there E-102 will make a brief statement. Then head up deck and take the egg pod down into the main central room. Once there head to the other side of the room where the three doors are and enter the middle door. You're on your way to E-102's fifth and final action stage, Hot Shelter (see section [5.B]). Upon destroying the mammoth E-105 robot, go to the main deck and E-102 will pause to examine himself. He'll remember about E-101 beta and he'll remember his romp through the Emerald Coast. Then the new E-101 flies overhead. Follow it to the center of the large green spinning part of the deck. Once you get there it's a confrontation with E-102's final boss, E-101! E-101 is heavily shielded in the front, so only a blast to his back side will hurt him. But before E-101 is destroyed, it blasts E-102 away with one last shot. Then, the white, male bird that was inside E-101 flies up to E-102. This triggers some never before seen memories inside E-102. He remembers that he himself is just a bird. He decides to lay down and self destruct himself. The white bird looks back to find that inside of E-102 was it's lost mate, the pink bird. Both are the parents of Amy's lost, little bird friend and the story ends. On a side note, this was my favorite story of all the Adventure quests. What a plot twist! E-102's worst enemy turns out to be her own true love in disguise. Neat! It's too bad E-102 had to give up her ultra cool body armor to be normal, but at least she's free to live like a bird again. Also, through out this entire section, I often referred to E-102 as "him", since the voice sounded male. But we find out that all along, the bird that was inside E-102 was really female! (I'm guessing here since it's a "pink" bird). =) One last thing, now that you've completed all six of the main character's adventure quests, there is still one last part of the story. When you return to the main menu and select "Adventure", there will be a new selectable character, Super Sonic. Select it and you're on your way to truly completing the story of Sonic Adventure! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 . 7 Super Sonic's Adventure Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As this adventure begins, we see that one of the Chaos emeralds is still inside the improved Tornado 2 jetplane next to Big's house. We then see the Floating Island fall back into the ocean. Cut to the next scene where Eggman is escaping through the MR rain forest. He sees Chaos on the path. Now we cut to Knuckles aboard the Floating Island. He figures out why the island fell, one of the Chaos Emeralds is missing. He then sees a downed Eggman nearby. He runs to Eggman who utters the word "Chaos" and faints. Then Knuckles sees Chaos out of the corner of his eye. The next scene shows Sonic relaxing next to the Mystic Ruin lake. Tails comes running up and tells Sonic that he spotted Eggman near the Floating Island. Take the cave near the MR train station to where the Floating Island is. You should see both Knuckles and Dr. Eggman lying on the ground. Knuckles will murmer that they were attacked by Chaos who has taken all of the Chaos Emeralds. He tells Sonic that he need to recover all of the Chaos Emeralds or Chaos will become too powerful. Just then, Tikal's spirit appears and transports Sonic back to when the Master Emerald temple was on fire. Run up to the temple and you will see Tikal and some Chao trying to keep the chief of the Echidna Tribe and some of the tribe's warriors from getting close to the Master Emerald. They refuse and run her and the Chao down, killing the Chao. As they get up the steps, Chaos appears! Take Sonic and have him run up to Tikal. She gets up and runs towards the Master Emerald into danger. Have Sonic follow her. Once you both get there, you see Tikal talking to the Master Emerald. Then a flash of light envelopes the scene and Sonic is transported back. He is awoken by Tails. Tails reminds Sonic that there is still one last emerald left in his plane, the Tornado 2. Take Sonic back to the rain forest. Once there, a splash of water appears and the emerald gets taken from the airplane's front. Chaos now has ALL seven of the Chaos Emeralds! During the next FMV scene, we see Chaos destroying Station Square. Now Sonic stands before Perfect Chaos. He sees Eggman attack Perfect Chaos in the Egg Carrier, but with one quick blast, the Egg Carrier is hit and Eggman is sent flying. Then Tikal's spirit appears. Sonic finally makes the connection that the ball of light that has been assisting him throughout his adventures is really Tikal. She physically appears now and the Chaos Emeralds fly away from Perfect Chaos. Just then, each of the other five characters (including E-102 in bird form) appear. Tails explains that Sonic should use the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and defeat Perfect Chaos. Sonic takes the emeralds and becomes the unstoppable, ultra-powerfull Super Sonic! Ok.. this is it! The final battle! Get ready to fight Perfect Chaos, the most difficult Sonic Boss ever! It's important to note a few things first about Super Sonic in order to play. Be sure to read section [3.7] for complete details before attempting to win. As you begin your fight with Perfect Chaos, you will have 50 rings. Be sure to strike Perfect Chaos a quickly as possible so that you don't run out of rings. Because you are fighting over water, normal Sonic would never be able to attack Perfect Chaos and he'd quickly die. You'll have to attack Perfect Chaos twice. The first time should be fairly easy. Blast forward as fast as you can picking up rings and avoiding Chaos' attacks. Run right up into Perfect Chaos' base. This will send Super Sonic spiraling up until he hits Chaos in the brain, thus causing damage. If you're not fast enough, you won't make it all the way up. You must hit him three times. But that was just the beginning! Perfect Chaos will return to fight Super Sonic one more time except this time he has twice the firepower! Hit him three more time to defeat him. Good luck, you'll need it! Once Perfect Chaos is destroyed, he will be reverted back to his original state as Chaos 0. A group of Chao will come and herd around Chaos. Sonic, Knuckles & Tails will look from overhead. Tikal appears and takes Chaos back to the Master Emerald. Before she leaves, she thanks Sonic and his pals for all their help. Sonic notices Eggman leaving the scene also. As everyone stands speechless, Tails says a word to Sonic, but he's not there. Sonic is seen running off into the distance. The end. NOTE: This is the end of the story to Sonic Adventure. If you choose to play Super Sonic again from the character select screen, you will simply replay this quest again. There is no way to play Super Sonic in any of the other action stages, unfortunatly. ========================================================================== 5 . 0 THE ACTION STAGES ========================================================================== As you progress through each of the six main character quests, the action stages will become playable. The action stages are what classic Sonic game players will relate with the most. Yuji Naka and the rest of SonicTeam have done a truly remarkable job of taking the unique gameplay aspects of a Sonic platform game and converting them to 3D. This is what you bought the game for, and believe me, once you play them you'll know it was worth it. This section will give you insight into each of the action stages and will explain the differences in the stages that occur when using the different playable characters. When ever an action stage starts, a box will appear in the lower, center of the screen denoting what the goal of that stage is. As I describe the stages, I'll note what each characters main goal for completing the stage the first time in is. Each character has different goals, adding to the gameplay and replay value. Furthermore, the next time you play, that same stage again, there will be a slightly new goal. Each character has three goals for each of their action stages. When they complete one of these goals, a Sonic Emblem is received. For more info on the Sonic Emblems, see section [9]. If you get stuck and can't figure out where to go, just follow the direction that the camera is facing. The camera will almost always lead you in the direction you need to go. As with all Sonic games, be sure to collect rings along the way. As long as you have at least one ring, you can take a hit from any enemy or obstical and you won't die. At different parts of the stages, a glowing ball will be waiting to give you instructions and assistance. This glowing ball is really the spirit of Tikal, a young echidna girl of the ancient Echidna Tribe of Floating Island. Just touch the ball and she will tell you what you need to do next. Even though this is practically useless to non-Japanese speaking players, it is still useful on Knuckles stages since she will help lead Knuckles to the emerald shards by flying in their general direction. Also, most of the action stages are broken into several parts, each with different music. The names for these separate parts don't appear in the game, but I've used the names of the songs that accompany them that are listed on the official Sonic Adventure soundtrack and the game's sound test screens to help identify these sub-sections. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 1 Emerald Coast -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Big and E-102 Sonic's goal is to reach the end and rescue Tails. Big's goal is to catch his pet frog. E-102's goal is to capture Big's pet frog. Most Sonic games start with a Green Hill style stage, but SA instead starts with this friendly, refreshing run along the beach near the Station Square Hotel. The music is lively and upbeat. The beach is rendered in great detail, all the way down to a very realistic looking lens flair from the sunlight above. The stage has three possible areas: Azure Blue World (Type 1)- This is the first part where Sonic starts. There are a lot of beach chairs scattered about and wooden bridges to walk across. This part also features the classic loop-2-loop that made the first Sonic the Hedgehog game so famous.. now done in 3D! E-102 gets a slightly altered version of this section for his version of the Emerald Coast stage. Windy and Ripply (Type 2) - This second section is only available in Sonic's game. It features a run behind some waterfalls, a round-and-round loop and an introduction to the "numbered warp pads". Something to note is that right after this section begins, if Sonic runs up the wall on the left and stays up high, there is a shortcut through the stage in the form of a small cave. Also, when Sonic reaches one part, Tikal's spirit (the glowing ball) will be waiting to explain to him the "numbered warp pads". To use these all you have to do is stand on one and press the jump button. Continue to do so, waiting about a half a second each time you hit the next warp pad and you will make it through all five of them. You should familiarize yourself with this technique since the numbered warp pads will be featured again in later levels. Big Fishin' - This area is only available to Big. Think of it as his secret fishing spot. Big can not go outside this area and it looks a lot like the area Sonic sees just before entering the "Windy and Ripply" section. If you wander around enough with Big, you'll find a small island out in the water with an entrance on one side. If you swim through this underwater passage you'll end up inside the island's interior and there will be a secret place to fish. I haven't found anything to suggest that this spot has a special purpose other than it's just neat to visit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 2 Windy Valley -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Tails, E-102 Sonic's goal is to get a Chaos Emerald. Tails' goal is to beat Sonic to the Chaos Emerald. E-102's goal is to destroy E-103. Windy Valley continues the Sonic gameplay tradition with the windy fans that blow the characters around and across large distances. Lively music and outrageous heights that would easily give anyone other than Sonic and his pals vertigo. This stage is broken into three parts. Windy Hill - This part is accessible by both Sonic & E-102 (E-102 is limited only to this area). There will be places where you will need to be going fast enough so that you ride the currents along. Whenever you see leaves flying about, get ready to start pouring on the speed and you'll fly through the air and ride the currents to the other side. Also, you can use Sonic's "Homing" Spin Attack on the small windmills to reach shortcuts and itemboxes. Tornado - This part is only for Sonic. You'll be sucked up into a giant tornado and you must make your way out the top. You'll be walking along pieces of the land that the tornado has sucked up. To put it lightly, this section looks absolutly stunning! The Air - This section is for Sonic & Tails (this is Tails' only part). Once you get shout out the top of the tornado, you'll be making your way along pieces of the ground that are falling through the sky. Get ready for some wild angles and try to compensate your control to match. There will also be a spot shortly into the stage where you can grab an extra man. You will see a rocket pod. If you grab the rocket you will pass up the extra man. Instead use your Light Speed Dash on the line of rings just to the right of the rocket pod. Sonic savvy players will also recognize the music from this section as being the same music from the first stage of Sonic 3D Blast! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 3 Casinopolis -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles Sonic's goal is to get a Chaos Emerald. Tails' goal is to beat Sonic to the Chaos Emerald. Knuckles goal is to find three hidden Master Emerald shards. This level is very unique for Sonic. Instead of a mad dash to the end, he instead needs to collect enough rings to exit the level. Of course, it goes without saying that Sonic Adventure wouldn't be a true Sonic game without a casino level, now would it? ;) This stage has four parts. Main Hall - This section is for Sonic & Knuckles. You can hit the slot machines around and get more rings. This section is much larger, with a second floor for Knuckles and is incredibly detailed. For Sonic, there will be a room for him to drop off his rings. He needs to have collected enough so that he can climb the resulting pile to reach the exit on the other side (400 rings). Sonic Pinball - This mini-pinball game is a lot of fun and a great way to collect the rings Sonic needs to leave the level. It even has a slots machine built in ala Sonic 2! NiGHTS Pinball - That's right.. it's another pinball game and this game pays homage to SonicTeam's landmark Sega Saturn title, NiGHTS into Dreams! This game offers the most replay value and to most rings for the play. It features two levels of play and even a fly through the original NiGHTS landscape! Cool! Here's a bit of info on playing this pinball game sent to me by SA player Kurt Asbestos: "It's actually very much like the actuall Nights game. When you go to the top section, all you have to do is collect one blue chip card (the blue orb). The Ideya capture (the big floaty thing in the top center) will drop the Ideya (the sparkly orb thing contained within the center). Now you must hit Sonic to the top left side so he flies through the Twin Seeds level from Nights. You will collect one Ideya. When Sonic returns to the pinball machine, let him drop through the middle, and he will fly through the Spring Valley level from Nights. When he passes the shrine-thingie with Nights in it, he drops off the Ideya you just collected. After collecting four Ideyas (just like in Nights, you start out with the red Ideya), you win the game. As far as I can tell, all that happens when you win the game is you get 300 or so rings." Dilapidated Way - This section is only for Sonic & Tails. For Tails, it's his only part. You must race Sonic to the end. For Sonic, if he plays a pinball game and fails to collect at least 100 rings in the game, he gets dumped down in this sewer where he has to make his way back up to the Main Hall. This isn't all that bad though seeing as there are a lot of ring item boxes to collect down here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 4 IceCap -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Tails, Big Sonic's goal is to get a Chaos Emerald. Tails' goal is to beat Sonic to the Chaos Emerald. Big's goal is to catch his pet frog. IceCap is the standard Sonic ice stage, but with a bit more puzzle solving and more action towards the end. The music is soft and lazy, like a cold winter morning. That is until the avalanche starts. :) IceCap is broken into three parts. Snowy Mountain - This part is only accessible by Sonic. The goal is to reach the limestone cave at the other side. There is a short cut in the form of some numbered light pads at the bottom of the stage just as you exit the cave you start in. The first pad is a little tricky to stand on, but once you do, you'll zap to the end in no time flat. Is it just me, or does the music in this section sound like the main theme to the movie Dune?! What a weird coincindence, eh? :/ Limestone Cave - This section is accessible by Sonic & Big. Sonic's goal is the follow the path around the edge to work his way up to the numbered warp pads. The last pad will knock the giant ice cycle down from the ceiling giving Sonic a means of escape. For Big, this section offers several pools to ice fish in as well as several underwater areas to explore. Be sure to keep an eye open for the giant dinosaur skeleton. Snowboard - While less like an action stage and more like a minigame, this section is available to both Sonic & Tails. Snowboard down the mountain to outrun the avalanche. Watch for the yellow ski jumps and be sure to press the jump button to send your character flying farther. Eggman ships will come by and drop bombs, so watch out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 5 Twinkle Park -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Amy, Big Sonic's goal is reach the end (while chasing after Amy). Amy's goal is the reach the end and evade the sentry robot, ZERO. Big's goal is to catch his pet frog. Twinkle Park is a theme park located in Station Square that's been taken over by Dr. Eggman's robot minions. It features some great visuals and heart pounding music to keep you moving along. There are three areas to Twinkle Park. Twinkle Circuit - Available only to Sonic in the stage, an altered version of this section later becomes available to all the characters. Grab some rings and knock the monkeys out of the bumper cars. Then stand near one and press jump to get inside. Use the analog stick to steer and the jump button to accelerate. The attack button will make you go in reverse. Also, the L & R buttons at the top of the controller will help you make sharp turns. Try to avoid hitting other drivers and be sure to hit as many speed boosts as you can. Pleasure Castle - This section is available to Sonic, Big & Amy. This is the main portion of the theme park with giant rides surrounding the main Pleasure Castle in the center of the stage. Amy will start here and have to press five buttons to open the Castle door. Big will be able to fish here in the nearby pool. Sonic's version of Twinkle Park stage ends with this section. Mirror Rooms - This interesting section is only accessible by Amy and no-one else in the game. Amy actually goes inside the Pleasure Castle's interrer. The music reminds me of the ghost castles in Mario games. There are mirrors everywhere so be prepared for some double vision. Varying camera angles are sure to add to the difficulty and watch out for collasping floors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 6 Speed Highway -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles Sonic's goal is to reach the end. Tails' goal is to beat Dr. Eggman to the end. Knuckles goal is to find three hidden Master Emerald shards. Speed Highway is a blast to play. It was actually the first level ever shown to the public while the game was in production. Lots of varying play styles and good music. There are three sections to Speed Highway. Speed Highway - This section is available to Sonic & Tails (this is Tails only section). This is the main section and it's a pure adrenaline rush! Get ready to move faster than Sonic has ever gone before! I've had friends actually get motion sickness watching me play this area. If you ever played SonicCD and thought that it's Stardust Speedway was fast, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Try to stay on the highways and don't fly off the edges. There is a shortcut about halfway through the stage. When your character reaches the first save point, you will be sent flying up the side of a building. Keep pushing forward and to the left to go higher up the building. There will be an alternate off ramp as well as a Power Sneaker power-up item. There are more short cuts also so keep a sharp eye open. Goin' Down - This section is only for Sonic (of course). Sonic will reach a glass ledge, only to have to glass break from underneath him. But instead of falling, Sonic will run down the side of the building! Watch out for helicopter blades and barricades. Pick up some power up items and Sonic will eventually make it to ground level unharmed. At Dawn - This section is available to Sonic & Knuckles (this is Knuckles only part). It's a run through the main downtown district of Station Square. Lots of monkey driven Police Pods will be chasing after you. Also, be sure not to stand in the traffic or you'll get hit. Let the camera lead you and you'll be fine. For Knuckles, this section is a bit larger and there are a lot of items for him to destroy while looking for emerald shards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 7 Red Mountain -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Knuckles, E-102 Sonic's goal is chase after the Egg Carrier. Knuckles goal is to find three hidden Master Emerald shards. E-102's goal is to destroy E-104. Red Mountain offers a lot of red hot action, not a lot of speed. Be carefull to not get burnt. There's little new here except that Sonic will encounter some trapeze swings that were introduced in the first level of Sonic 3. There are two sections to Red Mountain. Symbol of Thrill (Type 1) - This area is for Sonic & Knuckles. Lots of flame gisers and rockets to ride. Be sure to follow the camera's path. There are also several shortcuts in this section for Sonic. For Knuckles, this stage offers him his first chance to use his new Dig attack to find emerald shards. Whenever his emerald sense meter is blazing red and there is nothing nearby, there's a good chance the emerald shard you're looking for is right below Knuckles' feet. You'll have to dig it out. Red Hot Skull (Type 2) - This second area is only for Sonic & E-102 and has slightly different exits for both. There is a lot of rising lava and at points, you'll have to jump across rocks to keep from getting burnt. There is one place where Sonic can use his Light Speed Dash towards the end, so keep you eyes open for it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 8 Sky Deck -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles Sonic's goal is to reach the end. Tails' goal is to beat Sonic to the end. Knuckles goal is to find three hidden Master Emerald shards. In my opinion, this is the hardest stage in the game! Every jump you make here increases your chances of falling into oblivion. Take your time as much as possible and check your angles. While this stage is great when it comes to camera angles and layout, it is also a real pain to survive! There are two sections to Sky Deck. Skydeck a GO! GO! (Type 1) - This section is for Sonic & Tails (this is Tails' only part). After being fired out of a cannon, you must carefully make you way across the railings underneath the Egg Carrier to reach a cannon that you can use to destroy the main gun in the center that is shooting at you. Also, Sonic gets a second sub-section after the first part. This has him running across the deck while being shot at by cannons. Listen for the warning siren. When you hear it, the Egg Carrier is about to make a dive. Grab on to one of the cannons or handrails on the ground or you'll be swept off the wings to your death. At one point, Eggman is launching many missle planes. Be sure to jump from ledge to ledge. Don't stand on a ledge if it is starting to fall or you'll literally have the floor fall out from under you. Eventually you'll get to a big cannon with several rocket pods around it. Wait till the big cannon is facing you to fire the rocket down it's barrel to blow it up and move on to the next section. General Offensive (Type 2) - This section is for Sonic & Knuckles (this is Knuckles' only part). Make you way up the tilting deck. Be sure to let the camera lead you in the right direction. At one point the entire deck will go completely vertical and Sonic will need to grab on to the ladders to make it. For Knuckles, this stage is unique in that there will be a lever when he first enters. Most of the time, an emerald shard will be behind a closed garage door. To get the door open, use the lever (by holding the Y button and pushing against the lever) to tilt the whole ship causing the doors to swing open. Making the ship tilt different directions opens different doors. The same goes for the large sliding pieces in the center of the deck. Move the ship, and the sliding pieces will slide to one direction or another revealing places underneath where you can dig for emerald shards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . 9 Lost World -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Knuckles Sonic's goal is to get to the center of the temple. Knuckles goal is to find three hidden Master Emerald shards. Lost World is considered by many players to be the finest stage in the game! For Sonic, it offers the longest play time and the most varying gameplay options. This stage is not a speed stage, but more of a puzzle stage. When SonicTeam took a trip to South America to inspire them, they used a lot of the photographs they took there as textures to be used in this stage. The music is also incredible. Lost World has three parts, although the last part isn't really part of the stage per say. Tricky Maze - This section is for Sonic only. It has Sonic running through some tunnels at the entrance to the temple. Eventually he'll reach the first savepoint and the entrance to the Anaconda Room. Once inside there will be a large stone anaconda moving in circles around the center of the room. Be careful not to fall in the water here or you'll die. Go left and there will be a round switch. Press it to raise the water. When the anaconda comes around, carefully jump on it's back and move towards it's head. Stand there for a moment, making sure to keep yourself on the snakes head and eventually the camera will shift to show a beam of light coming from the ceiling. Jump off and hit the blue, square switch. This will unlock the first lock on the exit door. Now jump up to the nearby platform and press the next round, water switch to raise the water again. Repeat this process until all three of the square switches have been pressed. The door will open and you can exit this section. Danger! Chased by Rock! - This section is for Sonic & Knuckles (the later part of this stage is Knuckles only part). Sonic will reach his next savepoint and have to run along the edge of the temple. Once he gets to some doors, it will be very dark and Sonic will run into some mirrors. Point the mirrors at the larger mirrors to reflect the light and lightup the room. Take your time so you don't fall into the water and die. I loose more lives here than at any other part of the game! Take it slow and you should be fine. Eventually you'll get to a part where there is no more place to walk and just a long row of rings. A lot of players seem to get stuck here for some reason. All you have to do is use the Light Speed Dash (see section [3.1]) to get across. Sonic will then jump into some running water and will water slide to the base of the waterfall. Hit the red bumpers to get you across the water. Now Sonic will face a giant boulder rolling after him ala Indiana Jones! Just keep pulling down on the analog stick and you should out run it. Go through the doors to enter the Temple's main chamber. As soon as you enter the giant central room, go right to where the blue button is. Press the button twice to line up the tiles on the wall. When all the tiles flash, they are now empowered and Sonic can run along them vertically! Climb them and go right. There will be a small spot at the top right of the tiles where you can stand on top of the tiles. Once there, jump on top of the dropping spikes and then into the room above them. Once the camera adjusts, turn around and you'll see a red button. Press it and a row of rings will stretch across the room. Use the Light Speed Dash again to get across and to the next section. Leading Lights - This section is only for Sonic and it only houses the animal storage device that Sonic must jump on to exit the level. When Sonic gets here the first time, a cinema will play out here. There is also a really cool mural of Perfect Chaos shown destroying a city. Be sure to use the D-Pad to take a look at it. =) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . A Final Egg -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Sonic, Amy, E-102 Sonic's goal is to reach the Egg Carrier reactor core. Amy's goal is the reach the end and evade the sentry robot, ZERO. E-102's goal is to find and destroy the Sonic target plush doll. Final Egg is a typical Sonic final stage. It has Sonic running through the bowles of the Egg Carrier in search of Dr. Eggman. For Amy, it's a path she must take to escape. For E-102 it houses the swatbot target range. There are two parts to this stage. Mechanical Resonance (Type 1) - This part is for Sonic & Amy. Avoid the lazer beams and the Egg Keeper robots. At one point, Sonic will reach a series of spinning tubes. When you reach the second series of tubes, there will be some speed boosts in the center. Be sure to hit the left most speed boosts, as the center and right ones often send Sonic flying off to his death. There is a special sub-section of this area that only Sonic has. It features lots of moving platforms for Sonic to jump across. You may need to go through the level several times to get used to the jumps that need to be performed here. Take you time and jump with causion. Crank the Heat Up!! (Type 2) - Sonic, Amy and E-102 all share this section. Once Sonic or Amy reaches the crab elevator, they will get different sub versions of this section. In a later part of Sonic's version is the part where E-102 does his shooting practice on the plush Sonic, Tails and Knuckles dolls. There are way too many things to do here than I willing to cover. Just be ready for some wild stuff on Sonic's version and also, be ready to use your Light Speed Dash just before the end to reach the animal storage device that Sonic must jump on to end the stage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 . B Hot Shelter -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playable by: Amy, Big, E-102 Amy's goal is the reach the end and evade the sentry robot, ZERO. Big's goal is to catch his pet frog. E-102's goal is to destroy E-105. Hot Shelter is the only stage that Sonic, Knuckles or Tails never visit during their adventures. It's mainly for Amy and E-102 although Big gets just the first part of the first section to do some fishing. There are two sections here. Bad Taste Aquarium - Amy and Big must make it through this section. For Amy there are lots of tanks of water and ladders to climb. There is also some spinning handles she needs to turn to manually open the watertight doors. Red Barrage Area - This section is for Amy & E-102. Interestingly enough, it starts in the Egg Carrier's bathrooms! Head out and eventually you fall through a shaft and be in one of the main engine rooms. Ride the cogs around to get to the door. There will be a long platform on the other side. The camera will zoom waaaay out. Be sure to use the D-PAD to line yourself up with the connecting rod if you choose to walk over or use the Hammer Flip attack (see section [3.4]) to jump across. For E-102, all you have to do is target and shoot the button to activate it. This will spin the platform and lead you on. From here Amy will have to place jewels into the correct holes to open the doors. She will have to do this twice. The second time, one of the jewels will be high up on the support beams. Just hit the nearby bumper spring to get up there. Also if you knock ZERO off this part's ledge, he will leave you alone until you are done placing the jewels into their slots. For E-102, instead of the jewel slots, he will have to ride the lower level trains to the battle with E-105. Be carefull and jump from car to car. When there is no more cars to jump to, switch trains. Eventually, you will reach the engine of the right train. Press the button to stop the train and get off. When you hit the savepoint just before fighting E-105, be sure to aim up above you and grab the invincibility. It will make fighting E-105 much easier. ========================================================================== 6 . 0 THE BONUS GAMES ========================================================================== There are six bonus games inside of Sonic Adventure. The characters unlock these bonus games during their adventures just like with the action stages. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 . 1 Sky Chase Act 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This has Sonic & Tails attacking the Egg Carrier in the Tornado airplane. Players of Sonic 2 on the Genesis/Megadrive will remember this mini-game well. =) Use the analog stick to dodge and either the attack button or the jump button to fire a short burst of bullets. Hold down either of these two buttons and move the crosshairs over a target to lock on. Release the button to fire. The more targets you destroy, the better your percentage rating at the end. You'll fly around the EC a couple of times before the EC's main gun shoots you down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 . 2 Sky Chase Act 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is just like the first act except that this time, Tails flys the new Tornado 2 that it can convert into a rocket jet! This act has more stuff to shoot and and much more to be hit by. Use the analog stick to dodge and either the attack button or the jump button to fire a short burst of bullets. Hold down either of these two buttons and move the crosshairs over a target to lock on. Release the button to fire. The more targets you destroy, the better your percentage rating at the end. At the end you will have to destroy the EC's main gun by shooting at it when it's blast shield is open and it's not firing at you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 . 3 IceCap (Snow boarding) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both Sonic and Tails can access a special version of the IceCap snowboarding stage where you have to go through hurdles to gain points. Other than this, it's exactly the same. For every hurdle you pass through, you get a "x 1". If it takes you more than three seconds to get to the next hurdle you have to start over at "x 1". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 . 4 Sand Hill (Sand boarding) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both Sonic and Tails can access a special sandboarding bonus game. You have to go through hurdles to gain points. For every hurdle you pass through, you get a "x 1". If it takes you more than three seconds to get to the next hurdle you have to start over at "x 1". This is much more difficult than the snowboarding since the landscape is much bumpier and there are more obstacles. Note: This bonus game IS available in both Sonic's and Tails' quests. it can be easily overlooked though. The entrance is in the MR Rain forest. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 . 5 Twinkle Circuit -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This special version of the first part of Sonic's Twinkle Park stage is playable by any of the main six characters. Be sure to hit the speed boosts and watch out for those 90 degree turns! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 . 6 Whack-A-Sonic (Hedgehog Hammer) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This game is only available to Amy. Since this mini-game was designed for Dr. Eggman, the idea is to hit the Sonic & Tails heads that pop up. Avoid the Dr. Eggman heads or you'll loose points. Super Sonic heads that pop up are worth 500 points. ========================================================================== 7 . 0 UPGRADE ITEMS ========================================================================== There are two ways to upgrade your characters. There are the temporary upgrade items such as the action stage item boxes and the permanent character upgrades found in the adventure fields. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 . 1 List of action stage item boxes -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When in action stages, you'll find the following item boxes: Rings = Item boxes containing rings can hold five, ten or a random number of rings (possible 1,5,10,15,20 & 40). Speed Shoes = Not to be confused with Sonic's Light Sneakers Upgrade item, the Speed Shoes will speed up any character for ten seconds Invincibility = This will make any character invulnerable to attack for fifteen seconds. Shield = Will allow a character to receive one hit without the character dropping their rings. Mag. Shield = The magnetic shield will also protect characters for one hit, but it will also gravitate nearby rings towards the character. Extra Life = This item will give the character an extra life. Also, the image in each box will be different for whatever character you are currently playing. Smart Bomb = This item when hit, will destroy every enemy on the screen at that time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 . 2 List of character upgrades -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Characters themselves each have a number of personal upgrade items that will help them with their quests. Once you receive an upgrade item, you have it perminatly. Sonic's Upgrade Items: +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Item | Where | Purpose | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Light Speed Shoes| Station Square sewer | Gives Light Speed Dash | | | (though manhole) | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Ancient Light | Near Floating Island | Gives Light Speed Attack | | | (sitting on a rock) | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Crystal Ring | In SS Hotel Lobby, | Light Speed Dash will | | | second floor. Use the | take only 2 seconds to | | | Light Speed Dash | charge up instead of 4 | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ Tails' Upgrade Items: +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Item | Where | Purpose | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Rhythm Badge | Echidna Tribe in Past | Improves Tails Attack | | | | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Jet Anklet | Sewer behind Twinkle | Makes Tails fly faster | | | Park Entrance | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ Knuckles' Upgrade Items: +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Item | Where | Purpose | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Shovel Claws | Cave near Tails' | Gives Digging ability | | | workshop | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Gold Gloves | On cliff above Big's | Gives Light Attack | | | house in rain forest | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ Amy's Upgrade Items: +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Item | Where | Purpose | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Warrior Feather | When you beat Whack- | Gives Spin Hammer Attack | | | A-Sonic first time | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Long Hammer | Beat Whack-A-Sonic | Gives Spin Hammer Attack | | | by 3000 points | more range | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ Big's Upgrade Items: +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Item | Where | Purpose | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Lifebelt | Ice Cave | Gives floating ability | | | | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Power Fishingrod | Under Big's bed at his | Helps get Sonic Emblems | | | house in rain forest | due to longer casts | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Fishing Lure | In sewer behind | Helps get Sonic Emblem* | | | Twinkle Park Entrance | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Fishing Lure | 3rd rain forest cave | Helps get Sonic Emblem* | | | (see section [9.5]) | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Fishing Lure | In IceCap action stage | Helps get Sonic Emblem* | | | near dinosaur skull | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Fishing Lure | In prison cell aboard | Helps get Sonic Emblem* | | | Egg Carrier | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ * Typically 2000g+ fish won't appear in action stages until the special lures are collected. (All may or may not be needed, though). E-102's Upgrade Items: +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Item | Where | Purpose | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Jet Booster | In room on upper level | Gives Hovering | | | of inner room of EC | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ | Gun Upgrade Item | In room opposite of | Makes gun fire more | | | room where booster was | rockets per shot | | | only after EC crashes | | | | | | +------------------+------------------------+--------------------------+ ========================================================================== 8 . 0 SONIC ADVENTURE A-LIFE FAQ 2.1 ========================================================================== This section will tell you everything you need to know about raising A-Lifes (Chao). This is a sort of game inside of the main Sonic Adventure game. But this is no mini-game. Raising A-Lifes is a very detailed and fun thing to do and it is sure to bring you endless extra hours of replay value to Sonic Adventure. This section is based on Mike White's (mikewh@hfx.andara.com) wonderful A-Life FAQ 2.0 (and yes, I got his permission to use it). I've taken the liberty of updating some of the sections of this FAQ with information I've discovered while playing the game. Over the years since this FAQ originally was distributed, there have been many advances in understanding and raising of the Chao. Eventually, George Ettinger (AndvariAR@aol.com) offered to append to my FAQ the information what he had discovered. A chao master in his own right, AndvariAR has written his own SA CHAO FAQ that is available at http://www.gamefaqs.com. It makes a great companion to this following section. He's asked me to let readers know that when they have CHAO related questions, he can be reached at TheChaoDoctor@aol.com for answers when his time permits. In the following sections, you will sometimes find parts that are marked as "[AndvariAR's coments]". These denote the bits added by George to the original FAQ written by Mike White. The entire sections on Advanced A-Life Raising [8.7] and Chao on the SA Website [8.A] were written by George. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 1 What is an A-Life? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The A-Life concept was first introduced in SonicTeam's other landmark character game, NiGHTS, for the Sega Saturn. In that game, the main points of interaction were hatching them, herding them together to mate, and not accidentally killing them. The concept has since evolved tremendously, presenting us with what is essentially a virtual pet in Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast. However, with the quest modes and ability to interact with your A-Life in the colorfull Sonic Adventure main game, as well as the portable VMU, the A-Life is much more enthralling than any other virtual pet available. This section will aid you in finding and raising these little guys, to help overcome the language barrier of the Japanese version. An A-Life in Sonic Adventure are alternately known as a "Chao", though in order not to confuse them with the Emeralds, or the character Chaos, A-Life will be used throughout this section. [AndvariAR's Comments] A Chao is the little blue-green artificial lifeform created to extend Sonic Adventure's replay value. Raising Chao (Chao is also the plural form) is also necessary if you want all 130 emblems. Chao are creatures that respond to how you treat them, what you give them, and what Characters care for them best. When you start out, you must be prepared. I suggest using SONIC, TAILS, or AMY, as their collision detection and controls seem to be tighter than other characters. Only use one character. Switching between them can confuse your chao. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 2 Where do I find them? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-Lifes start out as eggs roughly 2/3rds as tall as Sonic or any other character, save for Big or E-102. Ordinary eggs look like Easter eggs, white with blue dots and a red bottom. Silver, gold, and black eggs represent special A-Lifes. Here's how to find all the ones available at the start of the game. Station Square -------------- Two eggs are available in the main Chao Garden (explanation of Chao Gardens to come later). You can find this by entering the hotel (large building with sliding doors) and going up the elevator. A third, golden egg is available in a shop in the section of town you emerge in after Speed Highway with Sonic. There is a building with a large courtyard in this section. In this courtyard, in the grass next to a brick wall, is an egg-shaped rock. Retrieve the rock and enter the antiques shop (Not the Burger Shop). Set the rock down. Retrieve the egg on the podium. Place the rock on the podium to deactivate the security doors, a la Indiana Jones. Pick the egg up again and leave. Mystic Ruin ----------- Eggs are available again the Mystic Ruin Chao Garden. Run up on the ground in the valley next to Tails' workshop. Head into the cave and jump into the mine cart. More eggs, these ones silver, are available through an egg dispenser located behind the waterfall. Push in a large block on the side of the lake and an egg with pop out. Wait till it drifts to shore to retrieve it. Egg Carrier ----------- When playing as Amy, during the sequence where E-102 frees you, go out and win the Whack-A-Sonic game to open the door. Then return to the cells and open the second one. Retrieve the black egg. [AndvariAR's Comments] In each garden there are Two normal eggs. Each contains a normal, green-tipped blue Chao. It is impossible to get one of those Yellow-Tipped Chao you see in pics all over. If you mate one of these three colored chao with a different one of the other two in the VMU, you might get a brand new color. Gold+Black : Bronze Silver+Black : Shining Black Silver+gold : Golden Platinum -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 3 Where do I take them? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eggs must be taken to Chao Gardens to hatch. Chao Gardens are safe havens where nothing can hurt them. Upon entering a Chao Garden, all the animals you've rescued during the action stages will fly off you, so you can combine them to A-Lifes, as described later. Each Chao Garden can hold a maximum of 8 A-Lifes at power down. If a Garden has 8 A-Lifes in it, you cannot pull an A-Life out of a VMU into it (see below for details on how to do that). You can bring A-Lifes from other Gardens through teleporters (see below) or hatch a new A-Life (see below), but the next time you play, the number of random A-Lifes over 8 will have moved to a different Garden. Station Square -------------- Enter the hotel, and take the elevator up. Mystic Ruin ----------- Run up on the ground in the valley next to Tails' workshop. Head into the cave and jump into the mine cart. This is my least favorite Garden. It's too cluttered. Be careful you don't fly off the edge! Egg Carrier ----------- To get to the Carrier after beating the game, head to the train station in Mystic Ruins. Enter the lower door with the arrow pointing down. Jump on the raft. Alternately, just outside the hotel in Station Square, on the small dock extending into the water, there is a small boat. Jump into it. On the forward section of the Carrier, jump on one of two switches mounted side by side on the side of the lower deck to call a tram. This will only work if the switches are lit, which I don't think they are during the actual game. If you are on the aft section, take the circular platform elevator on the deck down. You will wind up inside the Carrier, as you will with all characters at some point during the normal game. At one end are three doors. At the other, atop a series of staircases, is a closed door with six lettered buttons on the floor. Jump on the buttons to spell out E-G-G-M-A-N, in order. The door will open. Jump on the teleporter in the center of the room past it. Incidentally, this is my favorite Garden. However, animals brought to it tend to disappear on their own too quickly. Hatching them ------------- To hatch the eggs, which can only be done in the Chao Gardens, pick them up with the Y button and then press and hold the button down. You will begin to caress the egg. Then set the egg back down and it will pop open. You can also attack the egg or throw it to make it hatch, but this will make the A-Life upset with you. You'll have a much happier A-Life if you gently hatch the egg. Note that any A-Lifes that have been handled poorly in their egg (ie. you throw their egg before it hatches) will typically have a weird demonic smile that some of us find rather cool looking. [AndvariAR's Comments] Each newborn Chao has its own facial expression that does not reflect its present mood. Some are happy, some are sad, some are sleepy, and some are downright EVIL looking. I think I may be the first, but I have finally discovered the secret of the Chao Faces! A Chao's facial expression is a reflection of where it was hatched. Station Square creates a combination from happy eyes, sleepy eyes, wide-open eyes, blank mouth or happy mouth. Mystic Ruin often creates sad eyes, angry eyes, a triangular frown or a grumbly squiggle. Egg Carrier has the reputation of wide-open eyes and a toothy, evil grin. Odd things happen. I've gotten a few grins in SS. My fav Chao, Fei-San, was born normal in SS, but reverted in EC and got the grin. Getting from Garden to Garden ----------------------------- Holograms saying 'SS', 'MR', or 'EC' will appear over active teleporters, indicating their destinations as the Station Square Chaos Garden, Mystic Ruin Chaos Garden, or the Egg Carrier Chaos Garden, respectively. This will save a lot of walking. If you pick up an item or A-Life and carry it into the teleporter, it will be brought with you to the destination Garden. Note that you can teleport to any garden you've discovered, but only if there is another way to get there. For example, during the strike at the SS train station, the teleporter from SS to MR and vice-versa is disabled. Saving their Progress --------------------- Make sure your VMU is inserted in your controller. If you don't have a VMU, get one! There's no point to this section without one. The characteristics of all your A-Lifes are saved automatically as they progress. You can pull an A-Life out of a VMU into the game (details on this later) and power down the system, and it will retain all its statistics when next you visit that Garden. To save the results of all that occurred in the Garden, simply leave it, or reset the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 4 How do I take care of my A-Lifes outside the VMU? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to pick them up ------------------- Always pick up your A-Life with the Y button. Picking up items and A-Lifes is the only function of this button, so you don't have to worry about hurting them. Petting them ------------ Hold the button you are picking them up with (ideally Y) and press a direction on the analog stick. Your character will nuzzle the A-Life, making it happier. If your A-Life is standing in front of you waving its arms, this is what it wants. Combining with animals ---------------------- You rescue animals by destroying Eggman's robots, and touching the animal that is released. Upon entering the Chao Garden, all rescued animals will fly off you. These animals will disappear, though, if you leave the Chao Garden. To combine an animal with an A-Life, pick the animal up (Y button) and simply hold it in front of the A-Life. The A-Life will then merge with it. The animal will fly off and eventually vanish, and you cannot pick it up again. The A-Life will take on some of the physical characteristics of the animal. For more information about the effects of animal combining, see section [8.7] as well as the tricks section [11.5]. [AndvariAR's Comments] There is also a technique or removing animal features without replacing them with those of a different animal. I call it "feature removal", but it has come to be know as "parts cancel". The whole goal is that you can remove a feature of one kind by giving animals that do not have that kind. Example: You have a chao with parrot wings, tail, and feet, and you want to ditch the wings without new ones (so that you have the natural little chao-wings). Give it a batch of animals that have no wings (ie: anything but birds). If you wanted to remove the tail, give it a batch of gorillas, as gorillas have no tails to give chao. If you want to remove the feet, give it seals, as seals have no feet. A quick guide- To Remove: - Wings : Use anything but birds - Tail : Use Gorillas - Feet : Use Seals - Arms : Use birds Mating A-Lifes -------------- Once you have taken care of your A-Life long enough, it will evolve into an adult. It will transform into an egg and then reappear with its animal characteristics more pronounced. If you are afraid your A-Life is dying, remove your VMU until the sequence is complete. It seems immediately thereafter, your A-Life will sit down, and a field of flowers will sprout up around it! Pick up the A-Life you want to mate with it, and put it down in the flowers and touch them together. A new egg will appear! This new egg will have different stats depends on its parents. I've had one start out with nearly a hundred in all areas. They will also possess some combination of their parent's animal characteristic. I've also noted that some A-Lifes get quite upset if you mate them with the A-Lifes you rescued from the Egg Carrier (denoted by their insane-looking jagged-tooth smile). This has caused a few inappropriate for print but highly amusing comments, but for here I'll just say you can make the unhappy A-Life happy again with coconuts. Lastly, if your favorite A-Lift starts to mate (grows flowers around it) but you want to save it's matting instincts for later, you can quickly put it into a VMU. Then, whenever you're ready for it to mate, take it out of the VMU and it will walk for a moment and immediatly start to mate again. Feeding A-Lifes --------------- There are trees in all 3 Chao Gardens. If you look at them, they all have nuts growing on them. Wait long enough (10-20 seconds), and these will grow into brown coconuts. Walk to the tree and press Y. Your character should brace against the tree. If not, reposition yourself and keep trying. Hold down Y and move the analog stick around. The tree will shake, and soon the ripe coconuts will fall. Press Jump to get off the tree and pick up the coconuts. Walk into an A-Life while holding the coconut for it to eat it. This is the first thing you should do upon hatching it. Be careful! Coconuts falling on an A-Life will damage it! It will also make it very unhappy. The ideal solution in this situation is to feed the damaged A-Life the coconut that whacked it. Come on. It's the least you can do. Food will also come out of your VMU if you remove an A-Life from it and it has a stock of uneaten nuts (details of this later). Consult the chart on VMU items in section [8.5]. As for what the effects of feeding these to your A-Life will be. The random event item, though, will make it very unhappy. I recommend throwing it somewhere they can't get to, like deep water. Everything else will have its normal effect. All food vanishes upon leaving the Chao Garden. Coconuts regrow indefinitely. An A-Life will eat any food if it wanders into it. Killing A-Lifes --------------- This is why you use Y to pick up an A-Life. If you attack an A-Life by jumping on it with a spin attack or something similar, it takes damage, which you can see on the Status Screen if you load the injured A-Life into your VMU (again, details later). You can heal your A-Life with coconuts if this happens. Damage the A-Life enough, and it will reach 0 hit points, form into an egg, and fade away. If this starts to happen, remove your VMU and restart your system. You will preserve all your A-Lifes stats, though nothing of what happened in all the time you were in the Garden. You cannot drown an A-Life by holding it underwater till you die. Incidentally, have you ever noticed Amy drowns *exactly* like Lara Croft? If you dig up an invincibility with Knuckles, don't touch any A-Lifes! It will hurt them. I use Amy when fiddling with my A-Life's, since her jump doesn't constitute an attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 5 The A-Lifes gestures and actions -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your A-Life won't just sit around inertly when you're not attending it. Part of their magic is the wild and varied things they will do, prancing about, having the time of their lives. Here's how to understand them Facial expressions and thought icons ------------------------------------ An A-Life with its eyes wide open is not especially happy or sad. It's just content. If an A-Life has X's in its eyes, it is very upset. Comfort this poor creature by feeding it coconuts. An A-Life with a thin horizontal line across its eyes is very happy, actually. Good job! When an A-Life has its eyes half-closed, it is tired. Feed it coconuts to try and get it to sleep and regain energy. Tired A-Lifes tend to fall asleep more often during races. (Note some breeds of A-Life seem to be this way permanently) An A-Life with a dot over its head isn't thinking anything in particular. An A-Life with a question mark over its head is trying to decide how to act or react next. Just watch and wait till it decides. If an A-Life has an exclamation mark over its head, it's been surprised by something. It may react very positively, or very negatively to this, or sometimes not at all. If you see a heart over your A-Life's head, then it's quite happy with your most recent action. If you see it with a heart over its head for no apparent reason, it's very happy with you. An A-Life with a funnel-like swirl over its head is very disgruntled about something. Perhaps you just walloped it over they head with Amy's mallet. I'd suggest a heaping helping of coconuts. An A-Life thrashing on the ground crying is throwing a tantrum. Feed it coconuts to calm it. Alternatively, if an A-Life thrashing around in deep water can't swim properly yet! Get it out of there! If an A-Life is just sitting quietly, it may be tired, or just uninterested in doing anything. Maybe feed it or pick it up, or better yet, play with it in your VMU. An A-Life waving its arms directly in front of you wants to be petted. See section [8.4] on how to pet your A-Lifes. Young A-Lifes with low run skill will crawl around. They may try to walk, but they will trip, emitting a small 'pchick' sound. Train them in the VMU so they can walk. Trained A-Lifes will walk around freely, swim in deep water effortlessly, and even fly around in the sky! Scores of trained A-Lifes are a veritable flurry of activity, scurrying about happily. [AndvariAR's Comments] Important Body Language ----------------------- Dashing towards you waving arms: The little guy wants a hug. Pick him up and nuzzle him. Throwing a tantrum on the ground: The guy is hungry. You must have neglected to feed him, so do it now. Petting him does not satisfy him, only food. Standing, grumbling, while rubbing paws together: The chao is ashamed or depressed. This happens when a chao is injured and you do not comfort him enough. Sitting or lying down with eyes closed: It's asleep. Wait about three minutes to make sure your chao recieves its full rest. Many people worry about a chao they have that is lurching and stomping as it walks leaning foreward. This means a chao is old, ill, or on the verge of death. This is only cured by a steady diet of LOTS of coconuts and possible a few chaonuts as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 6 How do I raise my A-Life in the VMU? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The VMU is an integral part of raising your A-Life. It's also fun! Note that in order to do this, you WILL need working batteries in your VMU. You cannot raise a healthy A-Life exclusively in Sonic, or exclusively in the VMU. You must use both. Putting it into the VMU ----------------------- Pick up the A-Life you wish to deposit into the VMU. Walk to the controller platform with the red button and VMU. Jump on the red button. Press Y. Select an empty VMU and press A. Your VMU will suck the A-Life into itself, assuming there is enough memory. This will take much longer if it is the first time you are putting one in. If you are using a Godzilla VMU, you must delete the Godzilla game first via the file manager screen in your Dreamcast. You cannot recover this game unless you own Godzilla Generations, but since both games are fairly monotonous in my opinion, it's no major loss. The VMU can only hold 1 game at a time. To access the file manager screen, start the Dreamcast without a CD (GD) in the drive. First select the Clock, the the Lips, and choose 'English'. Highlight 'Back' and return to the main screen. Select the VMU and delete the Godzilla game. Removing it from the VMU ------------------------ Jump on the red button again. Select the A-Life you wish to remove. Press A. It will come flying out, along with any uneaten items. Swapping it in the VMU for one in the game ------------------------------------------ You must remove the A-Life in the VMU before inserting a new one. There is no method to swap that I know of. Transferring it to another VMU ------------------------------ Remove the A-Life from the VMU, then put it into the VMU you wish it to reside in. Starting off your quest ----------------------- Remove the VMU from the controller, replacing the plastic top. If the screen is blank, press 'sleep'. If nothing happens then, check your batteries. Look at the icon on the bottom of the screen. If it is a notepad or clock, press 'mode' until it is a deck of cards with a spade on it. Press A. After the Sega logos you come to a title screen. At the bottom right it says A+B. Press A and B together at the same time, and you're off on your adventure! The first thing that will happen is a question will scroll by the bottom. Choose the first option, "OK!", and you're on your way. Now just leave the A-Life to walk on his own, and he'll beep when something occurs. Each quest encompasses 5 stages out of a possible 15. Menu and Submenu translations ----------------------------- Pressing A while your A-Life is just walking along uneventfully will bring up the menu screen. Don't be intimidated! Here is a translation of all the choices, in order, from top to bottom. Elaboration will follow below. Japanese romanji is in [brackets]. - Status [Sute-tasu] - Item [Aitemu] - Game [Gamu] - Mate [Omiai] - Battle [Taisen] - Owner [Mochinushi] - Friends [Otomodachi] - Map [Mapu] - Settings [Setsuteto] - Chao Name [Chao no Namae] - Status: The first screen shows your A-Life's name, his attitude (which I may translate at a future date), and current / max hit points. The second screen (press A) shows your stats. The maximum for each stat is 999. They break down in this order: - Swimming [Oyogi] - Flying [Hikou] - Running [Hashiri] - Strength / Power [Chikara] - Item: This gives you a list of all the items you've gathered from chests, or the match game. See below for a translation. Press A to eat the selected item. The list can scroll off the screen, but no down arrow is present to indicate this. You can hold a maximum of 7 items. Any items earned when your item list is full will be lost. - Game: It's Concentration! Or close enough. You're given a quick peek of the nutss, then they are hidden on you. You have to match them all up to win. You can make 3 mistakes before you lose the game. Winning gives you items to eat and improve stats. Perfects give you better items, usually. - Mate: Connect 2 VMU's to mate. See section [8.9]. - Battle: Connect 2 VMU's to battle. See section [8.9] - Owner: Displays information about you, the A-Life's owner. Name Birthdate Telephone Number Favorite Thing A Secret of yours Fastest time through VMU Adventure - Friends: This is where you see another owner's information during a link-up - Map: This shows your current location, how far you are on your quest, and how many meters your A-Life has walked. Each quest seems to be roughly 18000M in length. The bar on the first screen shows how far you are towards completing the level you're on. The second screen shows the path you are taking, a la Outrun. See below for a full map of the course. - Settings: You can alter your current settings here. Note that in text entry fields, if you scroll down far enough through the Japanese characters, you will reach numbers and the alphabet. Sound: On / Off User Data: Do exchange / don't exchange (Blocks the display of your Owner data during a linkup) Data Entry: Change your Owner data. Name Sex: Male / Female Color: Red, Yello, Purple, Blue (In Japanese version: Blood Type (A, B, O, AB}) Birthdate (YY/MM/DD) Telephone Number Favorite Thing A Secret of yours - Chao Name: Rename your A-Life. Again, scroll down past the Japanese characters for the western alphabet. Playing the matching game ------------------------- A recap of the matching game: You're given a quick peek of the nutss, then they are hidden on you. You have to match them all up to win. You can make 3 mistakes before you lose the game. Winning gives you items to eat and improve stats. Perfects give you better items, usually. After extended play, I have noticed vague patterns in the puzzles, but they are too subtle to accurately write out. Basically I try and remember at least 3 or 4 pairs, so as to essentially guarantee a win. Sometimes I will intentionally miss a guess, so as not to be stuck with the prizes of a perfect, of which only one, the Chao Nuts, is of any real stats-building use. [AndvariAR's Comments] There are no real strategies besides Practice, practice, practice. I have found it is easier if you memorize the two dark cards (cherry and carrot, or something) first, so you have them down. The whole problem is that, once you get good enough to beat it perfectly each time, you will get mostly hastnuts and starnuts, and rarely a chaonut. If you need to raise stats, its often best to let yourself miss one so you are guaranteed a stat-raising fruit. Fighting quest enemies ---------------------- Sometimes on a quest, your VMU will beep, and a big '!?' will appear on the screen. It's fight time! Press a button. On the bottom are six dots. Press the button so the highlighter stops on an empty one, and you attack! Damage inflicted depends on your power rating. Also, you gain an extra attack per 200 Strength. If you have a 200 strength, for instance, two dots will be white during the first attack. Succeed in hitting one, and the highlighter will keep going for you to get the second. If you miss the first time, you forfeits all remaining attacks. Winning gets you an item! Choose one of the three dots next to the treasure chest to open it. AFter that, your A-Life will give you a message about the battle; scroll past to continue your quest. It's a good idea to eat something to heal up if you're damaged, especially in the first quest or two. Play the match game to get nuts to eat. Losing does not seem to kill you immediately, but can have fatal long-term effects. Choosing your path ------------------ At the end of a level, your A-Life will come across a signpost. Hold down A to speed the text. He'll ask you a question. The third option is to let the A-Life decide for itself which path to take. The first two choices are destinations. Consult the map below to understand this choice. You start out at the far right, and move left. When asked which direction to take next, choosing the top option moves you left and up, while the second option moves you left and down. ___________ |Skyscraper| |(Climb) |\ |----------| \ __________ \E102/ \|City | ___________ /|(Fly) |\ |Ocean | / |--------| \ __________ |(Swim) |< \|Ocean | |----------| \ __________ /|(Swim) |\ <--- \|Desert | / |--------| \ _________ ___________ /|(Walk) |< \Big/ \|Beach | |Crystal R.| / |--------| \ __________ /|(Walk) |\ START |(Walk) |< \|Cliff | / |-------| \ ________ |----------| \ __________ /|(Climb) |< \|Plain | \Knuckles/ \|Tree | / |--------| \ _________ /|(Walk) | ___________ /|(Climb) |< \Tails/ \|Forest | / |-------| |Swamp | / |--------| \ __________ /|(Walk) |/ |(Swim) |< \|Desert | / |-------| START |----------| \ __________ /|(Fly) |/ \|Jungle | / |--------| <--- ___________ /|(Walk) |/ \Sonic/ |Cave | / |--------| |(Fly) |/ |----------| \Amy/ In brackets below the location name is the type of action your A-Life performs in that location. The tab below some areas lists the characters you encounter in that area (this last information provided by Gogeta). [AndvariAR's Comments] Characters you meet give special attributes to your chao. Big - +10 Swim Tails - +10 Fly Sonic - +10 Run E-102 - 2x Speed (In tower only) Knuckles - +10 Pow Amy - HP Restore When raising a Chao, I tend to follow this, the most effective pattern: FIELD -> BEACH -> OCEAN -> DESERT -> SHRINE This gives 10 Swim and 10 Pow. Once you reach your third stage, go straight to the shrine. E-102 and Amy are useless and the 10 Pow is very worth it. When the A-Life asks you a question ----------------------------------- A little envelope will appear in the lower left when your A-Life has something to say. Hold A down to speed the text. It's usually asking you your personal information if it requires a response. Enter anything, since you can edit it later. Messages not requiring a response are safe to ignore. Other random events ------------------- Sometimes you'll come across a treasure chest. Choose one of the three buttons to get an item (or not). This is the only situation in which you may get the lousy random event nut (aside from a post-battle chest). Your Chao may also get into trouble through tripping, slipping, drowning, or falling asleep; press A to get it on its way. It can also encounter dolphins, birds, or bounce on a (seemingly) big ball depending on the environment. Again, press A to get it on its way (I think these make it happier, though). You may also run into Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big, or E-102. Press A and he flashes a peace sign, and off you go. Item translations and effects ----------------------------- Below is a listing of items, where they are found, what they do, and a vague guide to recognizing them. Basically, though, it's OK to eat anything, except you may wish to conserve the last two (the latter to throw in the ocean and dispose of in a Chao Garden). These will heal a little HP too. Outside the VMU, they look like generic round nuts of the colour indicated, with a stem sticking out the top. Found in chests, or from non perfects in the match game: +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lemon: [Kiiroi Mi] Swimming +4 Color: Yellow | | Japanese: The only word with a box it it, in the middle, 5 chars. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Plum: [Murasaki No Mi] Flying +4 Color: Purple | | Japanese: Starts with what looks vaguely like a G, 6 chars. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Grape: [Aoi Mi] Running +4 Color: Blue | | Japanese: First char. it like a T, second char. it a t with a | | stroke at 7 o'clock, 4 chars. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Cherry: [Akai Mi] Strength/Power +4 Color: Red | | Japanese: First char. is like a T, second char. resembles an | | upside down 4, 4 chars. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Found in chests, or from perfects in the match game: +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ChaoNut: [Chao No Mi] All Stats +4 : Will also heal some HP | | Japanese: First char. is like an extended F, second char, is a | | very small one, 5 chars. (Looks like blue A-Life head) | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | StarNut: [Hoshi No Mi] Punch Power x2 : I don't notice any | | difference. It may only | | last a single level. | | Japanese: First char. it like a t with a nub at the bottom and a | | tiny stroke beside it, 4 chars. (Looks like a carrot) | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Haste Nut: [Sekkachi No Mi] Speed x2 : Speeds up how fast your | | walks (or swims or climbs) | | in an area | | Japanese: First char. it like a stretched t, scond char. is a | | small arc with " above it, 6 chars. (Looks like a pepper)| +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | LifeNut: [Haato No Mi] Recover All HP : Don't eat them immediately | | Save them for later | | Japanese: First char. resembles / \ , second char. is a dash, 5 | | chars. (Looks like a heart-shaped apple outside the VMU) | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ You get this sometimes from a chest, and your A-Life isn't happy about it: Random (lazy?) Nut: [Yarukinashi No Mi] - Causes your A-Life to suffer a good or bad random event in the VMU; makes it very unhappy if eaten outside the VMU. It's the only 7 char. word. (Also looks like a carrot) Hear's a little trick sent in to me by SA player Scott Carter: "If you look at the "Owner" menu you'll notice that it keeps track of your best time through the adventure. If you want to get a really good time, you can take advantage of the fact that fruit is carried over from one adventure to the next. So, play through the adventure once accumulating 8 HasteNuts (the max you can carry). Then start the next game and immediately eat 2 of the HasteNuts. Every time you enter a new area, eat 2 more HasteNuts. Your 8 from the beginning will last you through the first 4 areas. Hopefully during your trek through those 4 areas you can accumulate more HasteNuts to use in the fifth area. This allows you to complete each area in a couple minutes (depending on how many battles and random events you encounter). Using this technique my best Chao Adventure time is 11 minutes 34 seconds." Also, SA player Miguel Perez writes that: "Each animation frame represents one metre. But if you eat one Haste Fruit, the A-Life will advance 2 metres in each animation frame. The effects fade at the end of the level." [AndvariAR's Comments] There are 10 fruits in the game. Coconuts are garden-only, and simply restore minor HP and cause moderate sleepiness. They are moderately filling. All the other fruits can only be found in the VMU, but can be saved and brought to garden with a chao. I will make TWO lists, one of VMU effects and one of effects in the garden. A note on lazynuts; they can only be found in chests in VMU levels. They do nothing in VMU, but have negative effects in garden, so if you find one, eat it in the VMU right away! VMU Effects ----------- Grape - +4 Run, Refills 2 HP Lemon - +4 Swim, Refills 2 HP Plum - +4 Fly, Refills 2 HP Cherry - +4 Pow, Refills 2 HP Lifenut - Refills ALL HP Chaonut - +4 All Stats, Refills All HP Hastnut - Double speed for One VMU level Starnut - Double Punch damage for one VMU battle Lazynut - Chao stops to play Garden Effects -------------- NOTE: I will not list Stat-effects on garden fruit, but be warned that, in garden, they add 2 stat points to their respective stat instead of 4. Grape, Cherry, Lemon, Plum: All restore moderate HP, cause light sleepiness, not very filling Lifenut: Refills ALL HP, Causes urge to Garden-mate, lightly filling, low sleepiness Chaonut: Refills All HP, Very filling, Moderate sleepiness, boosts affection Hastnut, Starnut: Restores no HP, light filling, high sleepiness. Lazynut: Causes heavy sleepiness and depression. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 7 Advanced A-Life Raising -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evolving -------- Evolution is when your A-Life sits down, forms into an egg larger than the one it hatched in with a pointed tip (disturbingly identical to the one it forms into when it dies!) and re-hatches with its animal features more pronounced. Evolution seems to be triggered simply by taking care of an A-Life in the Chao Garden for a time. The A-Life does not have to be trained in the VMU or combined with an animal for this to occur. The exact triggers and benefits to this are unknown to me at this time. Gaining Hit Points ------------------ Hit points too are a rather cloudy issue, and seem to be gained simply by tending to your A-Life in the Chao Garden. I've also seen them gain hit points from racing. After playing with a single A-Life in an otherwise empty Garden for a time, pulling it out and inserting it into the VMU regularly to check its progress, I believe I can safely say that the criteria for gaining hit points are rather random. In other words, you can't perform specific actions to make them gain hit points, just take care of them. When Playing Sonic Adventure ---------------------------- While playing Sonic Adventure, if you have an A-Life in your VMU, it will be mimicking your actions on the VMU screen! If you jump, it will fly, if you climb a wall with Knuckles, it will climb, if you attack, it will start punching. I think this has something to do with their development, but I'm not sure what. The God-Chao? ------------- I (Mike White) recently got my A-Life, LAUCHAO, up to level 999 in all his stats. I had raced him once when they were all hovering around 900, and he seemed pretty speedy. However, when I maxed him out, he suddenly grew insanely fast in all areas. I'd say he's about as fast as Sonic at top speed. He climbs like a maniac, flies like a demon, and swims like a dolphin on an overdose of adrenaline. This was, to say the least, startling, and quite fun to watch. Mind you, it takes a rather obsessive person to GET an A-Life to 999. :) Also, once you beat all of the chao races (including the emerald race) there will be a black god chao in position one everytime you race the emerald race. His is funny to watch because he will give all the other chao a huge head start by just laying on his side after the race begins. Then when he feels ready, he gets up and makes it to the end before anyone else and lays back down on his side. [AndvariAR's Comments] The Animal Systems ------------------ You need to have extensive knowledge of the animals in the game to master evolution. There are a total of 15 animals in the game, separated into 5 color-coded groups based on stat. The five Color-Stat group, their animals, and the abilities the animals give to your chao are: RED: POWER Lion - Paw Pruning Gorilla - Drumming Elephant - Wrestling* GREEN: RUNNING Rabbit - Jumping Backflips Kangaroo - Shadow Boxing Deer - Floor Skating YELLOW: SWIMMING Penguin - Bowing** Seal - Dancing* Otter - Backstroke (while swimming) PURPLE: FLYING Peacock - Conceited Posing Parrot - Singing Bluebird - Toe Touches BLUE: RANDOM / NONE Skunk - Character Painting*** Mole - Playing with a shovel Koala - Trumpeting * - These two motions seem alike. I am unsure if one is incorrect. ** - The connection here is unconfirmed, but likely. *** - This talent allows you to see your chao's favorite character! You can find specific animals in the following areas: All 3 Red Animals: Red Mountain All 3 Yellow Animals: Emerald Coast All 3 Purple Animals: Sky Deck All 3 Speed Animals: Speed Highway ...the blue animals are not all in one place- Skunk: Sky Deck Mole : Red Mountain Koala: Speed Highway The Four Basic Evolutions ------------------------- Give a baby chao between 15-20 animals of the same system before it evolves into an adult. It will have become a new form to suit its highest stat factor. This does not work with the blue system, as blue is totally random. You can get: RUN CHAO Body Color: Green Descrip: Green chao with three spikes on its head in a triangular pattern. It will actually turn a pastel blue as it ages. SWIM CHAO Body Color: Yellow and Green Descrip: A chao with a long, narrow, downward-curving single-spiked head. Looks very lizardlike. POWER CHAO Body Color: Orange Descrip: An orange chao with a yellow-orange squiggle pattern on its two vertically aligned spikes. FLYING CHAO Color: Pink Descrip: A pink chao with purple stripes down its two horizontal head spikes. As it ages, its spikes become straighter, longer, and pointier. Second Evolution Combinations ----------------------------- Once you have a 1st Evo, you can give it between 60 and 80 animals of one of the four types to created an exponential and dramatic change. Unlike 1st Evo, the Chao won't form a coccoon. It will instead change gradually as it recieves more animals. I will list the sixteen combinations in a formula way. For example, a speed Chao that continues to receive green animals is a GG, for Green+Green. Giving a Flying Chao Red animals would give a PR, for Purple+Red. Here are the combinations and their unofficial, yet generally accepted titles. GG - Sonic Chao The speed chao will take on a DARK blue tint, and his spikes will curl down to create a Chibi-fied, miniature Sonic! Very cool. GY - Dolphin Chao The speed chao will turn light aqua, and the head and torso will extend and become very elongated and streamlined. GR - Boxing Chao The speed chao will turn purple, and the spikes will arch upward. The (natural) arms will end in VERY large fists. GP - Elf Chao The speed chao will turn blue-purple, and the spikes will CURL (not arch) up and around. The (natural) feet will have a curl similar to elf-boots. YY - Frog Chao The swim chao will become a very light green, the "snout" on the head will round off, creating a very spherical cranium. The (natural) ears are long and streamlined. Give this chao a natural tail and ears, and it becomes a hardcore swimming machine. YG - Dino Chao The swim chao will turn a medium-green, and the head spike will chorten and form a blunt end. YR - Sumo Chao The swim chao's torso will expand exponentially, and it will become a hideous, massive, very non-cute obese "Jerry Springer" reject. YP - Monster Chao The swim chao's head will curl upward, similar to a regular chao, but it will turn dark green and pink. Very odd looking. RR - Flame Chao The power chao will not change shape, but turn a dark, DARK red. Neat. RP - Devil Chao The power chao's two spikes will elongate HEAVILY, and the upper spike will point straight up. The (natural) arms have HUGE fists with pointed spike-knuckles. This is the most demonic chao in the game. RY - Rocket Chao The power chao's whole head will elongate, creating the rocketlike shape. RG - Dash Chao The power chao's spikes will curl downward, similar to a GG (Sonic) Chao. PP - NiGHTS Chao The flying chao will turn a dark purple, with the two spikes elongating into a very jesterly head shape, (intentionally) just like NiGHTS, from Sonic Team's classic Saturn game! The chao actually floats off the ground as it walks, and its (natural) wings are HUGE golden blades! PR - Hook Chao The flying chao's spikes will curl upward in a hook shape, and it will turn a dark purple-red. PY - Torpedo Chao The flying chao's head will take on a distinctive bullet-shaped head, with LONG, flat head spikes. The (natural) wings are long and thin. This thing is disturbingly cool. PG - Ram Chao The flying chao will turn and orange-pink and the spikes will curl toward the neck, forming an odd, ramlike appearance. Third and Fourth Evolution? --------------------------- Third evolution is a subtle, yet existant change that I have found in a few 2nd evo chao I have. It is very odd, but it is clearly the next level of chao evo. I also have reason to believe there is a 4th evo, but the combinations would become so endless, you'll just have to experiment for yourself. The Infamous Light Chaos Chao ----------------------------- Everybody knows about it by now. It's officially called the "Chaos Chao". It is the rarest of difficult evo, and creates a small, white, miniature version of Chaos zero (Chaos0), the first boss of the game. The Light Chao (as I call it; "Chaos Chao" can sound confusing) is immortal. It does not die naturally, unless you kill it. It does not show its race medals or animal features. It is a complex formula, so here you are. I only recommend trying it once you find yourself very knowledgeable and competent with your chao. Remember, any of the special color chao eggs can be used as well. FORMULA Take one, BRAND NEW, baby chao egg. Hatch it, and let it live without any animal of VMU training until it has devolved TWICE. (Note: To ensure the it survives devolving, put a coconut by the egg so that the chao will eat as soon as it hatches) After it has devolved twice, while it is living it's 3rd infancy, give it one of EVERY animal. That's all fifteen! I use Sonic in my garden all the time, as he is best for gathering animals. Here's the lowdown- 1. Go to EMERALD COAST for SEAL, PENGUIN, OTTER, and KOALA 2. Go to SPEED HIGHWAY for RABBIT, DEER, and KANGAROO 3. Return the animals to garden and give to baby chao 4. Go to RED MOUNTAIN for LION, ELEPHANT, GORILLA, and MOLE 5. Go to SKY DECK* for PARROT, PEACOCK, BLUEBIRD, and SKUNK 6. Return to garden, give to chao. When the chao evolves, sparkles with float from the coccoon if you did the process correctly. * Getting to sky deck is tricky. Go to egg carrier, and when you first arrive, the wings will be DOWN. Go to the control room and hit the wing switch. There will be no movie sequence, but the wings will now be UP. Ride the spin-pod down to the main room and hit the floor switch to summon the Monorail car. Go inside, and ride it to the front of the ship. You can now use the original entrance you used when Sonic and Tails first reached the egg carrier. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 8 How do I race my Chao? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the fun (and required) aspects of raising an A-Life is to pit them in a cute race to the dea... er... well, the finish, anyway. Here's how to go about it. Where to go ----------- Head to the Station Square Chao Garden (see [3.1]), and enter the large double doors near the VMU. Jump on the big red ENTRY button to open the menu screen. Race selection -------------- There are three possible selections, in this order, from top to bottom: Chao Race Practice Race Multiple Entry The first is the race that counts, the second is race against A-Lifes equivalent to your own, and the third is to enter more than one user A-Life into a single race. Press A on your selection to move to the A-Life selection. Press B to cancel. There are now 4 gems that appear, each corresponding to a different course. From left to right, here are the races, and the skills tested in each. Pearl: Ball Pushing Race. Strength, then Running. Amethyst: Basic Foot Race. Running. Swimming and brief Flying if your A-Life opts for the alternate path. Sapphire: Super Foot Race. Running, Swimming, brief Flying, Strength (climbing) Ruby: Swimming Race: Swimming, brief Running Win all 4 of these in the Chao Race mode, and a fifth gem will appear. Emerald: All-Inclusive Race: Very long, testing all abilities. Mostly Running. A-Life selection ---------------- You don't have to have an A-Life loaded into the VMU to race it. Simply select the VMU, or the Chao Garden the A-Life is in to open up the selection screen for that area. Choose the A-Life you want to race out of the ones available. If you wish to cycle to a different area, just press the L or R top triggers. Press A to enter an A-Life, then down to select the red button, and press A to start the race. Press B, or select the blue button to cancel. If you've chosen a Multiple Entry race, you can enter up to 8 A-Lifes from any combination of VMU's and area. Camera control -------------- During the race, use the digital D-Pad to manipulate the camera. Press left or right to cycle through the A-Lifes. Press Up for the higher course view, press Down for the behind-the-A-Life view. Urging your A-Life on --------------------- Occasionally through the race, a white sparkle will appear around a random (usually trailing) A-Life, and the camera will switch to follow that one. Press any button to give that A-Life a boost of speed. Make sure you don't press the button unless the sparkle is on an A-Life you want to do good! Don't do it for computer A-Lifes! [AndvariAR's Comments] Your chao is mostly self-driven in races, but there are a few things you can do. A) Let your chao take a FULL nap before racing, so it won't doze off while competing. B) Make yoru Chao VERY happy so it isn't distracted by sideline objects. C) Occasionally, a sparkle appears around a racer. If it is your chao, press A to give it a short speed boost. Prizes for winning ------------------ Winning each of the Chao Races gives you a Sonic Emblem, for a total of 5, including the secret race. Your A-Life will also gain a gem on its chest identical to the one representing the highest-level race it has won. Children of that A-Life will also carry the same symbol. Stats required for winning -------------------------- In order to safely win all 5 races, your stats in all areas must be over 300. Any victories slightly below this level seem to be based more on luck. [AndvariAR's Comments] Chaclon is a black chao that appears in beginner and multi-entry races after you beat the emerald course. The SA Website dubs him "The Chaku Ron". He will lie on his side until all the other racers are halfway through, then he will take off at blinding speed to the finish. His exponentially boosted skills are an example of what maxing out does to your chao. An All 999 chao is LITERALLY twice as fast as an all 998 chao. The final point makes a huge difference. Chaclon is VERY easily beatable. Put him against any maxed-out chao and he will wait at the start so long he'll have no chance. Plus- Put an all 900-998 chao in a beginner race, and he will face a squad of identical silver chao, all with max stats and female names. The only way your chao can win is by exploiting their weakness. They ALL fall asleep as soon as the race starts. But put an all 999 Chao in the beginner race, and you face the Gold Army. With ominous, elite names like Pharaoh, Lord, Shogun and King, they are not nearly as narcolyptic as their sliver counterparts. These gold guys are TOUGH. They're weakness, however, is that of all maxed-out adult chao. They won't ALWAYS run at full steam. While my chao Fei-San often beats them just because he never falls asleep or plays, there is ONE foolproof way to defeat the Gold Army, and ANY other opponent. At one point, I maxed out Fei-San before his 1st Evo. As you may know, a baby, pre-Evo chao will CRAWL in races, no matter its stats. Put it up against a beginner race, and all the other chao are baby too. But a Maxed out baby faces the adult gold army. Here's the amazing part. Baby Chao, to compensate for their size, and assumed lack of skill, run at their maximum possible speed NONSTOP! Baby Fei-San beat the gold army in every race, and beat all his own race records! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . 9 How do I interact my A-Life VMU with another A-Life VMU? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When connecting to another VMU to perform either mating or battling, it seems necessary that both A-Lifes must have evolved at least once. Otherwise you get an error message of some sort. Mating ------ Connect two VMU and select the Mate option from the main menu of both VMU. Some hearts will start to appear on the screen. It takes a minute or so for the process to be complete. Eventually you'll get a message to disconnect the VMU. Then you'll see both Chao on the screen. Just pres any button. Now you have new eggs in both VMU along with the Chao. You can verify this by going to the Status screen (first option on the main menu) and you'll see an egg there. The eggs seem to mix the A-Lifes a bit, but for the most part it's just about as random as when you mate in the Chao Gardens. To get the egg out, go to the controller in a Chao Garden and press the red button. You'll now be able to select to remove just the egg if you like. [AndvariAR's Comments] Linkup mating is "true" mating, because unlike garden mating, the baby chao are combined forms of both Parents. When link-mating, remember: - Each VMU will get One egg, stored under the Chao to be hatched in garden - The Baby will have 10%-15% of both parents' stats averaged together - The Baby will have roughly 50% both parents HP averaged together - If both parents are the same Special color, one egg will be plain, the other will be special color - If both parents are different special colors, there is a CHANCE that there will be one plain and the other will be a combination special color Battling -------- First of all, connect the two VMU and select battle from the main menu. Each Chao will be temporarily downloaded into the other VMU. Once the transfer is complete disconnect the two VMU. Then your Chao will be able to battle your friends where as your friends will be controlled by the computer. Defeat your friends Chao and win a prize! Since the transfer is only temporary, if you defeat your friends Chao, it doesn't really affect his/her Chao. It's kinda like you just fought a "representation" of the other person's Chao. [AndvariAR's Comments] In linkup battling, you will download a representation of the other person's chao to fight. You can use starnuts, but if THEY use one, you'll notice it yourself. As in any battle, each punch does 1 HP of damage, with starnuts it becomes 2. If you win, you reach a treasure chest. You lose, it's just like any other battle. Your chao mumbles something but keeps going. This is handy to settle a score with someone if your chao is far superior, but in most cases, the computer AI makes the other chao so retarded that you can't lose. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . A Chao on the SA Website -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [AndvariAR's Comments] NOTE: As this is being written, the ENTIRE SA website's CGI-script is DEAD. None of these features that involve uploads or downloads work anymore. Except for the Black Market, which NEVER worked in the first place. Sega states that they have no plans to address this problem. Evaluation ---------- After visiting the website, you unlock the ability to hold down Y+A while putting a Chao in the VMU and make an uploadable evaluation file. Evaluation tells you everything you already knew but affection, which is its only redeeming ability. Over 100% is all you need to keep a Chao healthy. Fei-San, last I checked, was 489% and rising. Black Market ------------ The Black Market was supposed to let you upload a modified SA save file and use earned emblems to download unattainable metallic chao eggs. It didn't work, as they seem to have mixed the underlying CGI-script with the World Contest Rankings script. If you want Metallic purple, green, red, or blue, check out Tyro's Chao Editor (see section [11.D]). Daycare Center -------------- I often refer to the Daycare Center as "The Chao Exchange". Though it is offline, it allows you to post a chao-duplicate for others to download. I put Fei-San up once every two months or so. You can put in a description of your chao, and password protect the download so only your friends can get it. Chao Doctor ----------- It's helpful to read the Chao Doctor's previous posts, but overall, he has nothing you won't find in here. That, and he ceased updating and answering questions a year ago. This section is totally useless. World Rankings -------------- Put an upload file onto this collection to have your race records displayed around the world! I love this feature, as it really lets you quantify your Chao's greatness. Before bragging to friends about your record, note that at least the top 3 in ALL RACES are hacked records. Because Chao records aren't worth prizes, they aren't patrolled for cheaters. Last I checked, my little Fei-San was in 30th. That's 27th if you remove the cheaters. It doesn't really matter, since I have beaten Fei's previous record already! ========================================================================== 9 . 0 THE SONIC EMBLEMS ========================================================================== Like the A-Life mini-game, the Sonic Emblems offer a whole extra level of replay value to Sonic Adventure. If you can get all 130 of the Sonic Emblems, you will have truly mastered the action stages of this game. Use the "Emblem" option on the main menu (the second option), to replay the action and bonus stages too collect all of the emblems at any time and to view which emblems you currently have. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . 1 Different characters, different goals -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When replaying the action levels the second and third times, the goals will be different. Here is a list of what the goals for the action stages are for each character. Sonic the Hedgehog ------------------ Emblem C - Make it to the end of the stage Emblem B - Make it to the end of the stage with at least 50 rings Emblem A - Make it to the end of the stage under a certain amount of time Miles "Tails" Prower -------------------- Emblem C - Beat another character to the end of the stage Emblem B - Beat another character to the end of the level with at least 50 rings Emblem A - Beat an even FASTER character to the end of the stage Knuckles the Echidna -------------------- Emblem C - Find three Master Emerald shards Emblem B - Find three Master Emerald shards without using hint balls Emblem A - Find three Master Emerald shards within one minute (A trick to doing this is to take your time finding the three shards. Then pause the game and select restart. The shards will still be in the same place.) Amy Rose -------- Emblem C - Make it to the end of the stage. Emblem B - Make it to the end of the stage with at least 50 rings Emblem A - Make it to the end of the stage under a certain amount of time Big the Cat ----------- Emblem C - Catch his pet frog Emblem B - Catch a fish larger than 1000g and then catch his frog Emblem A - Catch a fish larger than 2000g and then catch his frog E-102 "gamma" ------------- Emblem C - Make it to the end of the stage Emblem B - Make it to the end of the stage with at least 50 rings Emblem A - Make it to the end of the stage under a certain amount of time. (Sometimes less that what you start with) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . 2 Total number and locations of the emblems -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emblems A,B,and C for each level with each character -------------- 96 Four emblems found at each adventure field ------------------------ 12 Emblems earned in Minigames --------------------------------------- 10 One emblem for each character's ending----------------------------- 7 Chao race emblems ------------------------------------------------- 5 Total Emblems --- 130 It should be noted that many characters share the mini-game emblems. For example, if you get both the emblems for Sand Hill using just Tails, the two emblems will also show up on Sonic's mini-game menu screen although only two emblems were received (instead of four). There are 12 emblems hidden around the three adventure fields. Some can only be reached by certain characters. Station Square -------------- Inside the Station Square Burger Shop near when you fought Chaos 0. On a ledge across from the train in the station. High in the air in the alley near the Casino. Cut the grass with Tails in front of the Town Hall (the first area where you fought Chaos 0). Mystic Ruin ----------- On the cliff near Tails' workshop. Under a fallen tree on the path to Big's house in the rain forest. Inside the tree of Big's house. Use Knuckles to jump off the bridge to the Floating Island and fly to the left. Egg Carrier ----------- On the diving board in the pool room. Inside Eggman's bedroom. Step on switch to make bed open down.* On top of the large spinning radar dish. Very high up.** Inside one of the boxes on the main deck.*** * To access Eggman's bedroom, the ship must have it's wings out. To change the ship's configuration, goto the cockpit by way of the door behind it on the main deck. Then press on the button under the steam powered chair (you can move the chair by standing in it). Once you leave, the ship will now have it's wings out and when you fall back onto the deck, a new door will be available that you can enter that leads to Eggman's bedroom. ** The best way to get this emblem is to make sure the ship has it's wings out (explained in the first bullet point above) and use Tails to fly up to get it. *** Make sure the ship has it's wings out (by using the technique in the first bullet point above). Then goto the front of the ship by first riding the golden UFO down into the inside of the ship and then riding the monorail. Once outside on the main deck, get up onto the top of the large, round, green center thing and you'll see cannons all around it with boxes in front of those cannons. Just jump into the cannons and they will propel you into the boxes and break them open. One of them has the emblem inside. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . 3 General Advice on obtaining emblems -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the hardest emblems to collect will be the ones that require that you complete a stage under a certain amount of time. For Sonic, using the Spin Dash Attack a lot can really help. Even more help is knowing the shortcuts through the stages. Also, collect all of the characters power up items before trying to collect all of the emblems. This will make it a lot easier. For more tips on collecting emblems, I'd recommend checking out Eric Bickle's great Sonic Emblem FAQ available at http://www.gamefaqs.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . 4 How to Catch Big's Twinkle Park Fish -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catching Big's Twinkle Park 2000g fish is the single hardest thing you will have to do in the game (next to maybe getting both emblems in that dang Sand Hill special stage). I haven't met a single person who didn't have trouble catching that fish. Even I had trouble, and no two people say they catch it the same way. But here is what I know... 1) You need to make sure you have the lures.. all of them. Strange thing happend to me though.. apparently I collected the lures in the wrong order and some of them I never collected, yet it STILL WORKED! Weird. 2) You'll know you've got the lures you need when you see mechanical fish in the Twinkle Park pool. Only these robot fish will weigh 2000g or greater. If you don't see any robot fish, you're waisting your time and you need to get a lure or something. 3) Once you see robot fish in the TP pool, just start fishing them, trying to find the biggest you can. It took me three or four catches before I landed a 2005g one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . 5 Where is the third cave in the rain forest? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of Big's fishing lure power-ups that allow him to catch bigger fish in order to get his emblems is located in the third cave in the MR rain forest. I've had many people write me wanting to know where this cave was. Here is the best way to find the third cave quickly. Playing Big, goto his treehouse and stand inside. Then walk down the small wooden bridge and you will be faceing two paths. Take the path on the right. You'll know if you chose the right path because there will be two trees that almost cross like an "X" a few feet inside. Follow this path until you get to a stream. Stop here and look across the stream and you should see a green, rectangular marker on the path marking the entrance to the cave. Just jump across the stream and look for the opening to the cave next to this marker. The lure is inside. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . 6 What do you get when all emblems are collected? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- So what's all this effort for? Well, for one, you get the satisfaction of completely mastering the game. Unfortunatly, the emblems don't unlock any new things in the game whatsoever. In fact, it almost seems like a rip-off. But Sega plans to let you trade in your emblems online though the Sonic Adventure website for new and interesting chao. It's called the Chao Black Market. I've not had a chance to try this as of yet, but I'll try to post an update if I find out anything significant. ========================================================================== 10 . 0 VMU DOWNLOADS AND ADDONS ========================================================================== One of the really neat aspects of Sonic Adventure is that the game has an open architecture. SonicTeam programmed the game so that special downloadable files could be put into your VMU that can actually alter the game itself! The following VMU downloads for Sonic Adventure are only available by using your Dreamcast to dial-up to the internet. To find out how you can download any of the following VMU addons and even some not listed, see section [10.6] below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . 1 The christmas/newyears download -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This was availble for the Japanese version only. This download changed the trees around the entrance to the Station Square hotel (among others) into singing trees that would play music when you got near. A message would also appear in the lower part of the screen that said "Happy Holidays from SonicTeam!". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . 2 The QUO mini-game download -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This was for the Japanese version only. This is a downloadable mini-game that adds a "find the flag" style game to Sonic Adventure's adventure fields. While not a fantastic game in its own right, it is a fine example of how the main SA game can be modified to unlock new play options. For example, in the small 34 block file that is downloaded to your VMU, it contains the game data, a digitized photo of Yukawa San (his image is what your looking for), and a sound sample of Yukawa yelling "Yosh!". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . 3 The menu voices downloads -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This was for the Japanese version only. These downloads are of particular interest for several reasons. First, they introduce the technique of how to upload your Sonic Game Data to the SA website. Simply go to the File selection screen in SA (via the options menu) and when you have your save file highlighted, press both the Y and A buttons at the same time. The music will pause for a moment and then you'll hear a jingle sound. Your game data has now been packaged into a small file on your VMU for upload to the website. There are two voices available for download. They replace Tikal's voice that speaks every time you enter a game menu. The first voice is of Dr. Eggman. The second voice is of Sonic. Furthermore, Sonic says most all of his quotes in English! So instead of hearing Tikal say "Memori ka-do erande kudasi", you hear Sonic say "Select your Memory Card". There is a different sound for each menu and all these sounds together only take 3 blocks on your VMU. Kinda neat! =) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . 4 Dreamcast launch party download -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortly after the Dreamcast was released on 9/9/99 here in the states, Sega released the first US VMU download/addon for the game. It's a file that changes Station Square into a Dreamcast Launch Party with balloons and banners everywhere. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . 5 Tremble Park -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Halloween 1999, Sonic Team released a download that gives some of the graphics in the Twinkle Park action stage a very goulish feel. The file is still available for download if you want to check it out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . 6 Much, Much More... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be sure to check out the following website: http://www.hpalace.com/ This site contains an archive of all of the above VMU downloads as well as some others I missed and even more that came out long after I stopped updating this FAQ! Download and enjoy! ========================================================================== 11 . 0 TRICKS AND SECRETS ========================================================================== Sonic Adventure wouldn't be a Sonic game without tricks and secrets. Codes and hidden stuff are a staple of every SonicTeam game. I'll be updating this section whenever a new hidden feature to this game is discovered. NOTE: If you want to print or redistribute codes that you find here first, please at least reference me (Chris Kohler) and this FAQ. I give all credit when possible and so should you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 1 The PC desktop wallpaper -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY If you insert your Sonic Adventure game disc into a PC CDROM drive, you will have access to a directory called "extras". Inside you'll find a number of Sonic Adventure desktop wallpapers you can decorate your PC's desktop with. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 2 Twinkle Circuit Tricks -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY When playing the Twinkle Circuit mini-game, wait till the exact moment when the start signal says "GO!" and press the jump button. This will give you a speed boost and cut a few seconds off your time. Also, you can control the camera placement by pressing up on the D-Pad. You can choose between a cockpit view, a trailing view and an overhead view. This camera control also works when playing the begining of the Twinkle Park action stage with Sonic. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 3 One and a half play -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY When a player is playing Sonic's action stages and Tails is on the screen, a second player can control Tails with a second controller. Any thing Tails collects will be added to Sonic (rings, sheilds, etc.). This feature may seem trivial to most people, but you'd be surprised how much fun it can be trying to outrun player one (who's playing Sonic) when you're controlling Tails. ;) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 4 The secret Chao puzzle game -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY After you start up the Sonic Adventure game, place a controller into the D port on your Dreamcast and have a VMU in the controller. A hidden Chao Puzzle game will appear on the VMU screen. It is a tile based puzzle game where you have to use the Dreamcast's controller to move the pieces of a moving picture around to win. After every five puzzles you solve, a little animation will play on the VMU screen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 5 Getting the Special/Colored Chao -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: MEDIUM When you hatch a newborn, blue Chao, feed it only animals from the same color group (at least 20) before it forms an egg to become an adult. You must give it all three of the animals in the color system you select. See section [8.7] for more information on the animal color systems. Here is a listing of what each color system produces. Also, once you've mutated your chao once, you can continue to mutate it a second time by giving it upwards of 50 animals. The second mutation is much more dramatic. Yellow system = Alien Chao -------------------------- Color: Green and yellow two-tone. Give your Chao a mixture of at least 20 of the yellow system animals before it becomes an adult and your Chao's head will grow long and will resemble the alien from the famous "Alien" movies (the ones with Sigourney Weaver)! If at all possible, use a Chao that has the evil grin smile on his face (black chao typically do)... it looks cool! Purple system = NiGHTS Chao ---------------------------- Color: Purple. Give your Chao a mixture of at least 20 of the purple system animals before it becomes an adult and your Chao will resemble the main character from the Sega Saturn/SonicTeam game, NiGHTS! Green system = Sonic Chao -------------------------- Color: Green at first and gradually becomes blue. Give your Chao a mixture of at least 20 of the green system animals before it becomes an adult and your Chao will start to resemble Sonic the Hedgehog! Red system = Dragon Chao --------------------------- Color: Red. Give your Chao a mixture of at least 20 of the red system animals before it becomes an adult and your Chao will get spikes on the top and back of its head resembling Dragon spines. The second evolution of this Chao causes the face to get flat, the body turn bright red and your Chao will get a barrel chest. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 6 Button Tricks -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY Whenever you pause the game, the pause menu will be in the center of the screen. If you want to see the paused screen without having the pause menu, press and hold both the X and Y buttons at the same time. This is great if you want to take screenshots. Also, if you ever get stuck and want to get back to the main menu of the game in a hurry, press and hold all four buttons (X,Y,A,B) as well as the START button at the same time. This will immediatly take you back to the main menu without having to reboot your Dreamcast. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 7 Easy extra lives -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY With Knuckles, goto the beachfront in Station Square (in front of the Hotel and Train Station entrances). Dig into the small patch of grass until you get an electric sheild. This may take several tries. If you cannot get a sheild from digging in the grass, try the nearby beach sand. Just move a little every time you finish digging. Once you have an electric sheild, go into the lobby of the hotel and walk up the stairs and stand on the first red button. This will form a line of rings, of which the first three will automatically gravitate towards you. Since you are standing on the button, they will continue to re-spawn and in no time flat you will have 999 rings and an additional nine lives! Easy 'eh? Also, an easy way to get extra lives with Sonic, is to replay the first section of the Red Mountain action stage (see secion [5.7]). If you are a skilled player you should be able to get through this section with little effort and there are tons of extra life item boxes scattered around this stage, more than anywhere else in the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 8 Amy in Casinopolis (bug) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: HARD NOTE: This bug apparently only works in the Japanese version. If you take Amy to the Hamburger restraunt you will find a dummy holding his hands out in front. You can take this lifesize dummy and carry it over to the entrance to Casinopolis. Place the dummy a generous distance from the highlighted target in which you use to open it with the other characters. Now, here is the tricky part: After getting a good running start (Amy at her top speed), jump onto the dummy's arms. Now as quickly as possible, do her Catapult jump (X). If you placed the dummy in the correct spot, and you are able to reach it, hit the Target with Amy's hammer. This will open Casinopolis. You can play it just like Sonic; however the pinball games will change, in that she will walk on the surface instead of roll into a ball! If you lost the pinball and fall down to the sewers, you will see how fast Amy can really run! Beware that if you beat the stage your game will lock up! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . 9 Twinkle Park Pass Card -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: EASY Whenever you beat the game with all the characters, you will find a card in the grass in front of the SS Train Station. Take this card to Twinkle Park and it will let characters who normally cannot enter go in. There they can go into the Twinkle Park Raceway and race in the bumper cars. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . A Change Sonic's snowboard color -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: MEDIUM Just before entering the snowboarding part of the ice stage (in the short cave), press and hold X to get Sonic's blue snowboard (previously seen in Sonic 3 and Sonic Triple Trouble) instead of his blue and yellow snowboard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . B Bottomless Windy Valley -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difficulty: HARD As Tails, start the Windy Valley action stage but instead of running after sonic at the beginning, jump off the left side fly next to the path. Be sure to let go of the A buttom before you run out of energy. Now about half way through you should see new path appear. Fly next to it try follow it. Eventually, you should reach the vertical running path that the characters typically run down. Follow it by gliding down and you will see one of those fan things. Keep flying straight you should land on the island with the path in the middle. If all goes well, you will have competed the Windy Valley action stage without ever touching ground! (excluding the beginning and end) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . C Tails in "Going Down" & "At Dawn" (bug) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using Tails, begin playing the Speed Highway action stagge. When you reach the part of the level where Sonic hangs from the helicopter, fly through the green rings to the left. As you pass though a save point, take a moment to stope and look forward and you'll see a piece of the highway curving up just in front of you. That is the end of the corkskrew road Sonic runs on. You need to get onto that road. To do it, land on the ledge just to your lower left and then fly though the green boster. The moment you pass though the booster, press A and fly back and up just a bit to the right and you should end up on the highway. Now, walk forward and hit the bootsters and you'll be sent high into the air. When you reach the maximum height, start holding A to fly and immediatly head to the right. Fly straight towards the largest skyscraper with the two large signs on the front. Just keep flying straight for the center of it and you should pass right though it. Inside, you'll see a long white tunnel. Just touch Tails to the tunnel and you've done it! Tails will immediatly be taken to the "Going Down" portion of Speed Highway that is reserved for Sonic. But instead of running down the side of the building, Tails will be falling. You'll notice that your's and Eggman's position in the race is still shown on the screen. If you pause the game and select "Restart", you'll begin falling again except the race status meter will be gone. This will keep Eggman from winning the race and you can take your time! Be sure to avoid the helicoptor blades. Sometimes you can hold down "X" to speed up your decent. Also keep in mind, that since this is a bug, it's possible for you to pass though the walls and get lost so fly carefully. Eventually, you'll crash though the glass and can enter the "At Dawn" section. Here you'll be able to explore as much as you like. You can also jump onto the animal item box, but it'll just say "You Lose" if you do. This bug is very fun once you pull it off. =) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . D Chao Editor -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Chao Editor is a program writen by a SA player that you can download onto your VMU and edit your Chao's stats directly. This is clearly cheating, but it's also extreaming cool to tinker with. You can download the editor at: http://www.franken.de/users/deco/myfiles/editor.html There are full instructions on how to install and use the editor on the website. ========================================================================== 12 . 0 INTERESTING FACTS & UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENON ========================================================================== With all the things I've covered in this FAQ, you'd think I'd know everything there is to know about the game. Far from it! There are still some many things that are unexplained. This section covers those things as well as some facts about the game you might find interesting. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 1 Minor camera and collision detection glitches -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hate to say it, but this game isn't perfect. Sonic Adventure suffers from one of the biggest problems affecting 3D action/platform games, camera problems. Sometimes the camera will get stuck in a wall or be facing the wrong way. Don't blame SonicTeam though. It's a problem facing most free-roaming games of this type, including Tomb Raider and Mario64. Whenever you get the camera stuck, I usually find tapping the D-Pad will get the camera unstuck. If that doesn't work, try using the L & R buttons at the top of the controller to move the camera away from the obstruction. The other problem in Sonic Adventure concerns some poor collision detection in parts of the game. There may be times (albeit rare) when you stand at just the wrong spot and you'll fall through the scene to your death for no reason. Again, these incidents are rare, but they do happen none the less. Both of these problems (especially the second) were due to the rushed and pressured schedule SonicTeam was placed under to get the game out by Christmas 1998. While SonicTeam has made great efforts to correct almost all of these problems in the US domestic release, a few rare instances may still linger. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 2 Often unnoticed graphic details -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When in "The Air" section of the Windy Valley action stage, be sure to stop to enjoy the dandelions. They actually give off seeds and will give off more if you touch them. When in the Echidna Village of the past, take a close look at the smoke coming out of the fire. No matter how close you get, it still looks like real smoke. Amazing! On areas where there is a lot of wind (both action stages and adventure areas), if the wind is strong enough it will make Sonic's spines move around. On the IceCap stage, the red spring bumpers, save points and even Sonic's spines are all covered with ice. Also, you can actually see the character's frosty breath if you look close enough. When playing in Casinopolis as Sonic, be sure to go into the public showers room and stand in the showers. Sonic will actually take a moment to freshen up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 3 Unused music tracks and recycled Sonic tunes -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you go into the sound test menu located under the Options section, you'll find a complete listing of all the music and sound effects in the game. If you go through all the songs you'll notice a few tracks that don't appear in the game. If anyone out there knows where any of the following tracks do appear in the game, please let me know. Extend ------ I've only had to continue once since I've owned this game, but when I did, I didn't hear this jingle play. Is it for something else or does it appear somewhere in the US version? Title: Station Square Title: Mystic Ruin Title: M. Ruin -the Past- Title: Egg Carrier ------------------------- The only one of these I have heard in the game was the "TITLE: Egg Carrier" one that played when the EC was transforming, but I don't think that was the intended purpose. More likely, these tracks were supposed to play when the "loading" screens were being shown for each area since they last just about the same amount of time. SonicTeam probably just decided to not use them so the adventure fields would load faster. Jingle # C ---------- This jingle is missing the guitar solo avaliable in Jingle B and does not seem to appear anywhere in the game. Jingle # E ---------- This jingle never appears in the game. It sounds a heck of a lot like the kind of music that plays at a "Level Select" type screen (think Sonic 2). Could this music be for some yet unseen menu in the game? Note: This music did play in the Limited Edition version of Sonic Adventure (the one rentable at Hollywood Video only). It played when you tried to select the unavailable "Internet" option. Recycled Sonic Tunes -------------------- Six songs in the game use previous Sonic songs: The Air section of Windy Valley uses Sonic 3D Blast's Green Grove theme (Genesis version). The start of Sonic's version of Twinkle Park (with the alternate version of Twinkle Circuit) uses Sonic 3D Blast's Panic Puppet theme (Genesis version). Red Mountain's type 1 uses a piece from Sonic 2 (Genesis) Mystic Cave 2 Player. It's the piano part at one point. The Stage finished music is obviously a remix of the Act Finished music in Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles .(Genesis). The High-Speed Shoes theme, as well as the Invincibility theme, use pieces of the title screen of Sonic Mega CD (the import Sonic CD, Sega CD). High-Speed Shoes uses a sound effect from the song twice (that funky sfx which I can't explain right now). Invincibility uses an actual part of the song in the vibraphone part. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 4 Fake Doors -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you visit the Egg Carrier's Chao Garden there will be a small building at the top of the hill with a door on it and a large radar dish spinning at the top. I've had several people wonder what that door was for. The truth is that it's just a fake door. The same goes for door on the second floor of Tails' workshop. It's easy to see that these doors are fake because there is no seam or separation along the edges. Also, Knuckles can climb on these doors (something he cannot do with a real door). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 5 Metal and Mecha Sonics -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you visit the Egg Carrier docking station on the edge of the MR rain forest, you'll notice two robotic looking Sonics floating in some liquid containers. The black one with the wheels on his heels was Metal Sonic from Sonic 2 (on the Genesis/Mega Drive). He was the second to last boss in that game. The other dark blue and silver one was Mecha Sonic from the SegaCD game, SonicCD. Both are rendered perfectly with pose-able arms legs and even fingers. There seems to be a lot of confusion in the Sonic Fan community towards the correct names of these two bots. I've received many emails from people telling me I've got the names backwards or that one of them is supposed to be called "Silver Sonic". I've done some research and there doesn't seem to be any way to clarify the names since they get mixed up all of the time. I do know for a fact that "Mecha Sonic" was the name used for the dark blue and silver one when he appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog Anime. None the less, we could argue about the names until the end of time but it's not really that important. Ever since I released this FAQ I've seen several "codes" to unlock these two.. alas none of them have worked. For a while I had hoped that they would somehow be playable. But let me end the confusion now by saying: THE METAL & MECHA SONIC's ARE NOT PLAYABLE. I've tried everying humanly possible.. played for hours upon hours trying and have decided that it just isn't to be. Please stop flooding my email box with bogus codes and questions as to how it can be done. I've decided it cannot. (See section [12.9]) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 6 The Hamburger Shop Statue -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Standing outside the Hamburger shop in Station Square is a man with his hands held out. Upon closer inspection, you can see that this man isn't even alive, he's a statue. Even more, you can pick this statue up and move it around. The purpose of this statue has been and remains a mystery ever since the game's release. One use found for the statue was to help Tails' to reach the Jet Anklet Upgrade (See section [7.2]) easier by standing on it in the sewer. But in truth, this isn't really needed. Another strange use could be in the Amy in the Casinopolis Trick (See section [11.8]). One interesting thing to note is that there is a little girl walking in the same part of Station Square as the statue. If you talk to her, she will often speak of the statue. The most interesting thing she says is when you talk to her with Big. She says, "Don't even think about throwing the statue into the river." Nate Fairbanks writes: "In Japan one year, a crappy baseball team called the Hanshin Tigers won the national tournament. The local people were so ecstatic, and there was much drinking and reveling. Well into the night, a group of overzealous fans had gathered near some river and started to call off the names of each member of the winning Hanshin team. Each time a name was called, a fan woul jump into the river to show their appreciation. Well, finally they got to Randy Bass. He was an American player who did a lot for the team that year, but there where no Americans there to represent him and jump into the river. So they opted for the next best thing. They noticed a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken, (they are everywhere here!!) complete with a life size Colonel Sanders statue standing outside... Well, as I am sure you guessed, they grabbed the Colonel, took him down to the river, shouted out Randy Bass's name, and tossed his Kentucky fried butt into the water." This could mean that the statue was a Japanese culture inside joke. It seems that this might actually be the case once I got the following email... Matt Howlett writes: "I found out that you can thow it into the water by the dock at station square. Pick him up with Sonic and take him to the dock that has the motorboat that takes you to Egg Carrier. There, instead of taking the boat, throw him into the water. If you do this correctly, it will sink all the way to the bottom of the sea." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 7 The Moving Enchidna Statue -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you are in the Mystic Ruin Rain Forest and standing near the entrance to the temple.. just as your turn to look at it.. you will usually see the temple statue of the Enchidna move. It's head will turn. If you use Knuckles and fly directly towards it, you'll see that the statue's head not only turns, but the it TRANSFORMS. It starts off as a round rock, like the one on the right side of the stairs, then spilts in half. The top half moves up then splits in 3. the 2 end parts move away from each other to form its arms and the middle part continues up the turns 180 degrees to form the head. What purpose this serves is unknown, but most think that it just does that for effect to grab your attention to the steps. Strange. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 8 Changes in US & Internation Versions -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When SonicTeam came to America to tweak and fix the US version of SA, they also made several minor changes. Here is a brief list of some of the more noticable changes. 1) Most all major camera problems corrected. 2) Most all major collision detection problems corrected. 3) Amy's Attact Mode: Amy goes farther.. to the second door. 4) The train stations now have annoucements over intercom. 5) Emblem List screen added to Emblem Main Menu Option. 6) Multiple Language options added. 7) Sonic's footprints are made in the sand on first stage even when Tails is following him. 7) Tails can now pick up all items durring one-and-a-half play and they will get added to Sonic (shields, one-ups, etc.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . 9 Hoaxes and False/Unconfirmed Codes -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For some reason, several people think it's funny to post false codes on the internet and see them get propogated. Normally, I would care less about such things.. that is until I start getting tons of emails from players asking why such-and-such code doesn't work. So to help every one out (including myself), I've compiled a list of codes that either are just hoaxes or just plain don't work for some reason. If you see any of the following codes on the net, you might want to tell the person distributing them that they are probably bogus and to remove it. --------------------------------------------- Mega Team Type: Confirmed Hoax Found: GameSages.com Details: Win the game with all the characters. Super Sonic will then become avalible, win the game with him and all the crystals. Return to the character select screen and any character you pick will be Mega and go 4x his/her original speed. Why False: "..all the crystals..?" Whatever. I've beet the game multiple times and never noticed an increase in the characters' speed. --------------------------------------------- Play as Metal Sonics Code One Type: Confirmed Hoax Found: GameSages.com Details: After highlighting Sonic on the character select screen press A+X+Y+L+R+Left (not analog). Now just press Start. Why False: Several of the buttons are selection and cancle buttons so pressing them automatically causes the screen to change, thus making this code impossible to perform. --------------------------------------------- Play as Metal Sonics Code Two Type: Unconfirmed Hoax Found: Usenet Details: A secret "second keycard" can be obtained somewhere in the game by Sonic after all 130 emblems are collected. Taken to the Egg Carrier Docking station and placed against a computer, it will unlock the robots. You proceed to fight the robots until you beat them and then they become selectable Why Unconfirmed: Key's existance cannot be confirmed and source was less than credable when asked for said key's location. --------------------------------------------- Super Knuckles Type: Unconfirmed Hoax Found: GameSages.com Details: Complete the game with all six characters, then complete it again as Knuckles. Then quickly hold X + B at the character selection screen. Knuckles will give a thumbs up pose to confirm correct code entry. Why False: Unable to test. Others have tried and failed. --------------------------------------------- Play as Robotnic Type: Unconfirmed Hoax Found: GameSages.com Details: Beat the game with all six players. Then Beat it again as Super Sonic. While the cedits are running press B+A+X+X+Y+START. When you play the game again you will be able to play the game as robotnic in a new adventure. Why False: Unable to test but sounds too much like the fake 'play as metal sonics' code or 'play as Chaos0' code. --------------------------------------------- Play as Chaos 0 Type: Hoax Found: Sent via email Details: Finish the game with Super Sonic. You must have at least one Chao raised and saved to your memory card. Now go to the Egg Carrier and activate the Egg Bus (the bus that enables you to renter the level on the Egg Carrier) and before you're able to enter the level you'll be stopped by a smoking Dr. Eggman in the Egg Scorpion. He'll shoot down a ray of light and transport you to a fight with "Perfect Chaos". Beat "Perfect Chaos" and you'll have finished the game with "Super Sonic". Once the credits roll you'll be back at the main screen. Choose the first option and you'll be able to choose "Chaos 0". Why False: First of all.. there is no such thing as the "Egg Scorpion". Secondly, why would you have to fight Perfect Chaos AFTER he's been safely returned to the master emblem by Tikal. It doesn't even fit in with the story. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . A The mysterious Lone Ring -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you visit the Egg Carrier chao garden, you can see an errant ring way off under the ocean. Simply walk from the beach umbrella directly into the ocean. Walk as deep as the game will let you and if you look straight out into the water you'll see a single ring far beyond your reach. Is this ring just a fluke in the game? My gut says yes, but it's still interesting none the less. Damian W. writes: "With Big, you can hit the ring when casting with his fishing line. Simply go as far into the water as possible, then hold B and move the cursor to the edge of the water (some black dots border the water near the horizon this is where to move it to). The cursor should change directions from flat to crooked. You can now move it under water. Move it untill the left of the rectangle is closest to the ring but leaving the ring still inside it and cast away. You will receive 5 rings." ========================================================================== 13 . 0 HISTORY/REVISIONS ========================================================================== Version 1.00 - 03-02-99 The Ultimate Sonic Adventure FAQ released! Version 1.01 - 03-02-99 Twinkle Circuit camera control trick added. Version 1.02 - 03-03-99 Many grammer fixes. Added purposes of Gold Gloves (was Gold Knuckles), Long Hammer & Gun Upgrade upgrade items. Many other minor text changes. Version 1.03 - 04-12-99 Added info about Metal Sonic from Sonic 2 Added extra lives tricks for Sonic and Knuckles Added a bit more info about the "MISS" sound test item. Added what the Pink Elephants make your Chao do. Corrected the number of total Chaos Emeralds (whoops!). Other minor wording changes and formatting fixes. Version 2.00 - 09-09-99 Changed VMS to VMU Changed Big's frog to his name "Froggy" Changed Adventure Area to Adventure Field Changed Green Crystal Key to Wind Stone Changed Blue Crystal Key to Ice Stone Changed Tails' Rythum Broach to Rythum Badge Changed Silver Knukcles to Shovel Claws Changed Bomb to Self-Destruction Switch (destroys monkies) Changed Floating Island to Angel Island Changed Amy's Solder Feather to Warrior Feather Changed Gamma's JetPak to Jet Booster Changed Tails' Ankle Bracelet to Jet Anklet Changed Sonic's Light upgrade to Mystic Light Revised Basic Plot and many canges to Adventure Quest info. Fixed explanation about different Tornado planes. Added how to catch Big's Twinkle Park 2000g fish Changed VMS to VMU and added more info about game save data. Added info on new Emblems Menu option. Added Amy in Casinopolis Trick/Bug Added Twinkle Park Pass card Trick Redid info about Metal Mecha Sonics. Added Various changed between versions sections. Added Hoaxes section. Version 2.10 - 10-04-99 Updated Stage Emblem lists for several characters Updated Unused Music tracks and added "recycled songs" info Revised the Easy Extra Lives trick Renamed the Chao fruit to their Chao nut names Added Dreamcast Launch Parth VMU Download Moved the Alternate Snowboard hoax to the actual Tricks section Added Play as Robotnic Hoax Added info abou how to enter Sand Hill from Adventure Field Added info about Moving Echidna statue in front of temple Added info on how to beat NiGHTS Pinball Changed Tails Tail Whip to Tails Attack Changed Tails Flight to Propeller Flight Changed Knuckles Fireball to Punch Attack Changed Knuckles Thrust Attack to Dash Punch Changed Amy's Hammer Flip to Jump Attack Changed Amy's Hammer Spin to Spin Hammer Attack Changed Big's Fishing Rod Attack to Lure Attack Changed E-102's Rocket Gun Attack to Laser Gun/Homing Missle Launch Changed E-102's Roll to Rolling Mode Changed Sonic's Light Shoes to Light Speed Shoes Changed Sonic's Light Upgrade to Ancient Light Changed Sonic's Light Bracelet to Crystal Ring Changed Knuckles Gold Gloves to Fighting Gloves Changed E-102's JetPak Booster to Jet Booster Changed Electric Shield to Magnetic Shield Changed One Up to Extra Life Changed Speed Shoes to High-Speed Shoes Fixed typo in Tails Adventure Quest Fixed number of rings required in Casinopolis Changed Africa to South America in Lost World stage description Changed Hedgehog Hammer to Whack-A-Sonic Version 3.00 - 1-20-2000 Updated "How to Submit" section. Added size of the VMU files to the starting up section. Updated the Menu selections (with corrections). Fixed several typo's thoughout the FAQ. Noted the Blood Type option has been changed to "color" in VMU game. Added "keep chao ready to mate" trick to chao section of FAQ. Corrected that a chao can only hold up to 7 items. Added Tremble Park download info. Added "Be Chaos O" hoax info. Corrected that it takes 3000 points to get Long Hammer. Added that HasteNut speeds up chao's walking in VMU game. Added info about frames of animation in chao's walking VMU game. Added "Bottomless Windy Valley" trick. Added "Tails in 'Going Down' & 'At Dawn'" trick. Added Smart Bomb temporary upgrade item. Corrected that Big's B Emblems require a 1000g fish, not 1500g. Corrected "Amy Rose in Casinopolis" trick (doesn't work in US) Corrected that Super Sonic is always in the Hedgehog Hammer game. Added that in One-and-a-Half Play, Tails can now obtain items. Corrected that Power Fishing-Rod gives longer casts. Corrected that Big DOES catch a fish in Attract Mode. Corrected that Knuckles' Dig move no-longer says "Orra, orra, orra!". Added that Knuckles' Light Attack is called Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack. Corrected that demonic smiles on chao's are personality problems. Added that little girl in SS talks about the statue. Added info on "Lone Ring". Corrected that not only the head moves on the Enchida statue. Corrected that Random Rings items sometimes give only 1 ring. Corrected info on how the chao garden teleporters really work. Added info on how to find Big's lure in the Mystic Ruin rain forest Corrected that the new plane is called the "Tornado 2". Added/corrected "Fake Doors" info. Added additional info on how to obtain the EC emblems. Corrected "Tails' house" to "Tails' workshop". Cleared up a few things concerning Super Sonic. Version 3.10 - 7-20-2001 (Possible Final Release) Extensive additions and reworking of the Chao Sections Submitting Info (Dispanded) statment added. Added clarification on Mecha/Metal/Silver Sonic names. Added Big and Lone Ring info. Added possible explanation of Hamburger Shop Statue. Added Chao Editor Trick. ========================================================================== 14 . 0 CREDITS ========================================================================== This is a list of those involved with the creation of this FAQ. Sometimes, I'll have two or more people write me with the same info. When this happens, I will credit the first person who wrote me. Chris Kohler (ckohler@evansville.net) - Hey, it's me! =) I'm the guy who wrote most of this 200k monster. As stated in section [3.1], please don't bother emailing me unless you just want to thank me for writing this FAQ. I'm no longer willing to offer help playing SA nor am I accepting any new info for the FAQ. Mike White (mikewh@hfx.andara.com) - Mike is the guy who wrote the A-Life FAQ that I've included inside this FAQ. When I was just starting to play with the Chao, I found his FAQ to be invaluable. Thanks for letting me use the info, Mike! George Ettinger (AndvariAR@aol.com) - This chao master and fellow FAQ writer stepped up to the plate and offered to help update the aging Chao section of my FAQ one last time. I really appreciate his efforts in helping me wrap up this final edition of my FAQ. Oh, and he was also the first person to write about the "fake doors" tip and gave me links to more VMU downloads. He's written a SA Chao FAQ of his own I recommend you checking out and is currently writing a new one for SA2. If you have chao questions, he says they can be sent to the following address: TheChaoDoctor@aol.com. Thanks a ton, George. Kirk Bender (kbender@znet.com) - Kirk has been on top of all things VMU related since the Dreamcast was released. I saw a few of his posts on USENET about translations he's done, and when I found his page I was really impressed. Thanks for all the great info Kirk! Scott Smith (sigma666@bellatlantic.net) - I was able to find all the emblems except for a few missing in the adventure fields. It was Scott who tiped me off to where to find them. I think he may have been one of the first persons to find them all. Way to go Scott! Brent Erk & Jeff Rumble - Thanks to these guys for staying late at my apartment to help me figure out how to raise A-Lifes and collect E-102's emblems. They saved me alot of work. Thanks Omar Sharar - Omar submitted information to GameSages (http://sages.ign.com/) about how you can use the D-Pad to change the camera positions when racing on the Twinkle Circuit. Thanks Omar for sharing! "Tails" - No.. not THE Tails. This is the webmaster of Sega2000.com. He gave me some great info about the game and also hosts this FAQ on his website. Nick Bennett (esvei@csv.warwick.ac.uk) - Nick helped clue me in on what E-102's gun upgrade does and that to get Knuckles' A emblems you have to get them in a certain order. He also clued me in on who the black Metal Sonic was. Once he told me, I felt stupid for not remembering. :) Thanks Nick! ElectricPhase - One of my fellow posters on the Sega Dreamcast Tech Pages Message Board (http://www.canadawired.com/~gvink/Sega/index.html) first pointed out to me the purpose of Knuckles' Gold Gloves. You da' man ElectricPhase! Dark Viper (DrkViper98@aol.com) - Dark was the guy who told me he's gotten the "MISS" to come up when fishing with Big. Unfortunatly, I still can get that to happen. Thanks anyway Dark Viper! Dragon Lord (lord___dragon@hotmail.com) - This guy has been a bounty of info. =) There has been so much stuff he's sent me (corrections, codes, insights) that listing it all would litterally take forvever. Thanks so much for helping me out, Dragon! Prowler (tails@crosswinds.net) - Prowler was the first to find this bug that allowed Amy to enter Casinopolis. Neat one Prowler! He also helped me check on various hoaxes. Foxphoenix - Fox sent me updates to the stage emblem lists for some of the characters as well as some updated "unused music" info. Thanks. Sonique the Hedgehog - Sinique (cute name btw) also sent me updated stage emblem lists making it easy for me to confirm them. Thanks. Jon Nichols - This person sent me info about the strangly moving satue in front of the Mystic Ruin Rain Forest temple. I had actually known about this before, but had forgotten to mention it in the FAQ. Thanks Jon. Kurt Asbestos - Kurt sent me a really detailed explanation on how to play and BEAT the NiGHTS Pinball game in Casinopolis. He even let me quote his writing in my FAQ. Thanks Kurt! All that playing wasn't for nothing! =) Jarel Jones (ArrowFox@mailandnews.com) - This great guy sent me literally TONS of info and corrections to my FAQ. Infact, almost half of all the corrections/additions made in the 2.10 update were from him! Way to go Jarel. You're awesome! Scott Carter (scartier@vmlabs.com) - This fellow sent me a correction on winning the Long Hammer. He also supplied me with some updated info on the HasteNut and how it can be used in the VMU game. Thanks. Luis Sabogal (Luisjrsf@aol.com) - Luis sent me the interesting trick on how to use Tails to fly though the Windy Valley action stage without ever touching the ground. It was a fun little trick. Thanks, Luis. Jetrex (jetrex12@aol.com) - This person sent me the really cool trick that lets you play Tails in the "Going Down" and "At Dawn" sections of Speed Highway! Super cool trick, Jetrex! I believe you can claim fame to that one. =) Nathan "Segaholic2" Tsui (segaholic2@yahoo.com) - Segaholic sent me a lot of great corrections for the FAQ. For example, he told me to add the "Smart Bomb" temporary upgrad item, Big's B Emblems require a 1000g fish, Super Sonic is always in the Hedgehog Hammer game, Tails can obtain items in the US and international versions of one-and-a-half play, etc. etc. Thanks for all the help Nathan! DeadBirdy (deadbirdy5@aol.com) - This person was kind enough to let me know about the little girl in Station Square that talks about the mysterious statue. Thanks. Matt Dostal (madost01@willy.wsc.edu) - Matt wrote me an email and was the first to tell me about the strange lone ring that is under the ocean at the Egg Carrier chao garden. It was certainly a strange thing to see. Ahmad Ali (hyperdude_450@hotmail.com) - Ahmad was the first to write me and tell me that not only does the head move on the echidna statue in the rain forest, but it actually transforms. Thanks. =) Miguel Perez (wiseman@emux.net) Sent me a few corrections (such as that the Random Rings item sometimes give only 1 ring). He also wrote me about how the chao garden teleporters really work and the trick on using the haste nuts to make it though the VMU game quicker. Thanks a lot, Miguel! Matt Howlett Matt sent me an email saying how you could throw the statue into the ocean and it will sink to the bottom. This goes along with the story sent in by Nate Fairbanks. Nate Fairbanks This guy sent me what I think is the most plausable explanation for the strange Statue in the game. Be sure to read [12.6] for a very interesting and possible explanation. Thanks Nate! Damian W. (y9e@hotmail.com) This fellow sent in a bit of info on how to get the gold ring while using Big's fishing line. I've not bothered to check this myself, but Damian sounded honest in his email. Give it a try! http://www.hpalace.com/ I want to thank this website for hosting all of these old SA downloads. I think it's neat that someone took the time to archive these SA addons for future use. -------------------------------------- end of file.