Sonic Pocket Adventure review by Dockaych

SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color has been available in the UK and US for a while, and has already established something of a niche in the handheld market dominated by Nintendo's Gameboy. However, the colour portable machine needs a few tricks up its sleeve in order to compete, enter Sonic the Hedgehog in Sonic Pocket Adventure.

Now, Sonic Pocket Adventure (SPA from now on) is misleading, as titles go. The connections and similarities between this and Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast are few and far between, going no deeper than the drawings used for the menu screens and packaging (although Eggman is drawn in his new outfit from the Dreamcast game). It's certainly not 3D, it's by no means an adventure, and there's not a Chao in sight (sadly). SPA is best described as a remixed version of Sonic 2 from the Megadrive, with small elements of Sonic 3 and the occasional nod towards the original Sonic, Sonic CD and even Sonic JAM. 10 out of 10 to SNK for cashing in on the Sonic Adventure name though, shrewd marketing if ever I saw it.

Graphics-wise, the game is impressive - especially for a handheld game! While the visuals fall a little short of the Megadrive based inspirations, they're better than the Sonic games on the GameGear, and capture the feel of the series wonderfully. Sonic himself is animated slickly, Scrolling is crystal clear, not a hint of blur - which makes you almost forgive the lack of parallax scrolling. The graphics are fast, smooth, and slowdown is rare (no more than the megadrive version). Sound is a mixed bag in SPA, literally! While the level design is almost all based on Sonic 2 levels, the soundtracks are taken from Sonic 3. It's initially disconcerting for the hardened Sonic veteran to be playing what you know as Chemical Plant Zone with the music playing from Angel Island Zone Act 1. Creepy indeed, but you get used to it. The music and sound quality is great though, wonderfully recreated.

Sonic Pocket Adventure plays just like a true Sonic game. This is probably because this is the first time Sonic Team have had a hand in development of any of the handheld Sonic games of years gone by. Yes, you read correctly, Yuji Naka himself in fact was a co-producer of the game, and some Sonic Team members worked as advisors for the Neo Geo Pocket game. Control is great, you'd swear you were playing the Megadrive version as our little blue friend jumps, spins and runs in exactly the way you remember him doing (all those years spent playing sonic will finally come to use again!) Special stages are a 3D tunnel type effort, first seen in Sonic 2 in 1992 (and revisited in Sonic 3D on the Saturn). These sections look brilliant, and play exactly like the originals - except these seem harder! Getting Chaos Emeralds is actually tougher in SPA than any other 2D Sonic, as there's only 7 special stages (one per zone). Thank goodness for the fact Sonic saves your game.

The save game feature on SPA is it's greatest asset, and the biggest reason why you're not likely to ever let the cartridge become dusty after you first complete it. Your progress is stored on the cartridge, along with your best times for each zone in the 'time-attack' option. If you don't collect all 7 Chaos emeralds in one go you can jump back into the game at any Act you wish, and try again. There's also 72 golden 'puzzle pieces' scattered throughout the game, which are saved as you find each one. These go to make up drawings of Sonic characters, and add a great incentive to search every inch of every act, adding much replay value to the game. The greatest replay feature though has to be the link-up option! With a link cable and a friend (with their own Neo Geo and copy of the game, naturally) you can race each other to the finish of any act, compete on the special stage and even share your best times from each zone.

In conclusion, Sonic Pocket Adventure is undoubtedly one of the finest Neo Geo Pocket games available. If 2D Sonic games never were your thing, then you won't find anything to change your mind here, but for most people this game will provide hours of high speed thrills in pure hardcore Sonic Team style. The game isn't perfect, there's only 8 zones here and unlike Sonic 3 & Knuckles you can only play as Sonic himself this time around. The graphics lack parallax scrolling and some of the curves aren't quite as smoothly drawn as the Megadrive, but it's forgivable. This is a near essential purchase if you already own a Neo Geo Pocket - there's no other platform game that can come near it. If you don't already own a NGPC then SPA on it's own might not really justify the purchase, but if you're a fan of Sonic, Sega, or just good platform games you'll love Sonic Pocket Adventure.

8/10.