The way this video is written is striking. You describe the levels/situations with a certain flavor & vibe that reminds me of corny 90's magazines, manuals and strategy guides. And I mean that positively, it's a very fun way to look at a game. I do own a copy of Chaotix, played it until my ailing 32X couldn't take it anymore. It's a very interesting game to analyze. Really the challenge of Chaotix is getting lots of rings. You won't often be in danger of dying outright unless facing a boss, but taking damage is another story. That's why several mechanics exist to reward you for holding onto large numbers of them, or help you keep them easier. If the tether is one core mechanic of Chaotix, rings are the other core mechanic. The tether itself is also very fun to use in my opinion. Tough to master and can be irritating to deal with at first, but given enough time you can start really zooming around and making huge jumps. The tricky but fun movement is what keeps me coming back, and is why Charmy is my least favorite character to use, as his attributes don't really allow for as much creative use of the tether. All that being said, the level design is the weak link that kinda brings it all down. The level gimmicks are cute but often feel underdeveloped and don't add much to the game, and the tether mechanic itself doesn't get truly put to the test very often. It can make the game feel kind of empty, despite its striking visuals and excellent music. This can be explained by the rather messy but interesting development history, which was spent fighting with the hardware and constantly experimenting with game elements up to the 11th hour. Regardless of any flaws, I do very much like Chaotix and I'd like to see Sega give the game its dues one day, even if it's just a re-release of the rom. I'm still mad that Newtrogic High wasn't in the Sonic Origins menu screen, even though the Veg-O-Fortress was.
🙏 you are the first person to truly get my writing style and humor with these. I grew up on 90s marketing and loved the light hearted way many early reviewers would critique games in magazines and so fourth. One of my absolute favorites being the EGM editors corner and that’s kind of my pitch. There’s so many in depth reviewers out there that do a fantastic job covering hardware and mechanics and I’m trying to just have my own unique style. Much of that early 90s humor is what bleeds through with my stuff. I tend to also throw in little mis pronunciation just to mess around. Bc even back then many times we didn’t know how to pronounce many new releases. I also 100 percent agree with your major points right down to the tether itself. I think for me I didn’t truly appreciate until this time around by trying different set ups. I almost feel as if the stage design suffers do to the tether and taking that into account there wasn’t much they could do as far as intricate set pieces. Especially learning that many of the sonic cd members worked on this which alone had some beautiful layouts. What’s funny is just about every major classic release suffered to some sort due to ad campaigns or rushed production to meet deadlines and by the Saturn it truly showed
@RockinKatReviews I get what you mean regarding the level design. An interesting example, the developers originally intended to have loop-de-loops in Speed Slider, as can be seen in certain prototype builds. But the tether seemingly made programming the layer switch a nightmare, as what usually happens is the leader makes it through just fine, but the partner gets stuck inside the loop. Little Sonic staples like that couldn't be done.
@@robertanderson9447 that would have been great. After researching some of these games more in depth I’d like to dip into some of the Sonic beta games now. Speed sliders is a blast to run through.. what was your thoughts on the Metal Sonic fight and I know Sega acknowledges Chaotix in the canonical timeline but do you think they had the intentions to release chaotix with the origins collection. I guess signs sorta point to yes but I wonder if it’s an issue trying to remaster it along with the others
@@RockinKatReviews Admittedly the inclusion of Chaotix in the music collection is pretty suspicious. But even so, I feel like Sega is not likely to release Chaotix again because they don't want to dedicate the time and resources to developing a 32X emulator for one game that's not very popular. Other unpopular games like Sonic Labyrinth were much easier to include as they already had a Game Gear emulator ready. My thoughts on the Metal Sonic boss? The first phase is great. Stopping the roulette is purely a timing challenge, not random. So if you miss the mark and get counter-attacked it's your own error. The lack of rings makes his attacks the most vicious in the game, but as long as you don't get hit twice in one pass, you're fine. It's a good difficulty balance. And I love Metal Sonic's pose in the machine, staring the player down with a piercing gaze that says "I'm in control now." The second phase looks really cool. Metal Sonic retains recognizable features like his hands, ears and central cortex, but his eyes are completely different and he gains a monstrous, almost demon-like mouth. The red color combined with the shading brings fire to mind, which is certainly fitting considering what happens in the bad ending. The arena has been reduced to abstract shapes. It's no longer clear where you even are, perhaps the central nervous system of Newtrogic High. I enjoy how you're encouraged to just throw yourself at him, hitting madly in a brutal and raw struggle. But I also wish Metal _did_ more. He only has three moves and none of them are that impressive to me. That being said, I realize designing fair and un-frustrating boss attacks in a game like this is not easy, so it's understandable. I like to do the laser phase by Holding and launching the leader into Metal's torso. You can do it twice in a row if you time it right.
to this day, I would still love to see someone develop a mod for this that uses this engine to turn it into a traditional Sonic game. I wish I had any of the knowledge [or time] to do this myself. I would pay for that ROM on my flashcart
Yeah had this back in the day, since I was one of five people in the UK who had a 32X. It was my Sonic 4 at the time, and looking back it always seems like a glimpse at a road not travelled. It’s an okay game from what I remember. I did finish it but something happened to the save feature so I’d always tire out whenever I tried finishing it again
💯 percent agree with you on that Sonic 4 feeling. As a kid I almost sorta just assumed it was. On topic of saves I always had issues with any save features on my Sega consoles especially the Saturn and I couldn’t find a back up cart for the life of me. Meanwhile everyone had memory cards for there PS1s just about everywhere to purchase
Def more Sonic on the way! I have a few mini series i wanted to get out of the way and then I will be doing the gamegear releases and adventure series next. I was thinking about even doing a poll to see what everyone would like to see for the next go around... Had a few in mind but def open to ideas too
I think if I call recall correctly since I bought it on clearance I didn’t have the manual or correct cable…they made different version of the patch cable..Model 1 and Model 2 Genesis have different av cables so I believe there was a different patch cable depending on the model you owned to hook into the 32x. I was really young at the time so I couldn’t look up online instructions I just assumed it was faulty bc I could hear the music and see a slight image… if only
@@therollingcreeper1 yeah it was a huge bummer I was really looking forward to it. I honestly think I was gonna buy another and give it another shot but I think I just gave up… I don’t know what I would have done if I purchased it again and it did the same thing 😆
They used knuckles as a damn test subject
Tragic 😆
Ah,clackers...
...the fidget toy of the 90s, haha!
Never had a way to play this game
Not sure if it will be brought back :/
I emulated it
Charmy was broken AF
Hopefully, this game gets the Remastered treatment one day.
They def need to at some point. I don’t believe we have it on any collections or services at all to play… 🤔
🔥 Excellent work on this. Never had a 32X but was always interested in Chaotix Sega just won’t release it sadly :/
I assumed it was going to be released at some point on the origins coll but never happened
@@RockinKatReviews they could still update the game again
The way this video is written is striking. You describe the levels/situations with a certain flavor & vibe that reminds me of corny 90's magazines, manuals and strategy guides. And I mean that positively, it's a very fun way to look at a game.
I do own a copy of Chaotix, played it until my ailing 32X couldn't take it anymore. It's a very interesting game to analyze. Really the challenge of Chaotix is getting lots of rings. You won't often be in danger of dying outright unless facing a boss, but taking damage is another story. That's why several mechanics exist to reward you for holding onto large numbers of them, or help you keep them easier. If the tether is one core mechanic of Chaotix, rings are the other core mechanic.
The tether itself is also very fun to use in my opinion. Tough to master and can be irritating to deal with at first, but given enough time you can start really zooming around and making huge jumps. The tricky but fun movement is what keeps me coming back, and is why Charmy is my least favorite character to use, as his attributes don't really allow for as much creative use of the tether.
All that being said, the level design is the weak link that kinda brings it all down. The level gimmicks are cute but often feel underdeveloped and don't add much to the game, and the tether mechanic itself doesn't get truly put to the test very often. It can make the game feel kind of empty, despite its striking visuals and excellent music. This can be explained by the rather messy but interesting development history, which was spent fighting with the hardware and constantly experimenting with game elements up to the 11th hour.
Regardless of any flaws, I do very much like Chaotix and I'd like to see Sega give the game its dues one day, even if it's just a re-release of the rom. I'm still mad that Newtrogic High wasn't in the Sonic Origins menu screen, even though the Veg-O-Fortress was.
🙏 you are the first person to truly get my writing style and humor with these. I grew up on 90s marketing and loved the light hearted way many early reviewers would critique games in magazines and so fourth. One of my absolute favorites being the EGM editors corner and that’s kind of my pitch. There’s so many in depth reviewers out there that do a fantastic job covering hardware and mechanics and I’m trying to just have my own unique style. Much of that early 90s humor is what bleeds through with my stuff. I tend to also throw in little mis pronunciation just to mess around. Bc even back then many times we didn’t know how to pronounce many new releases. I also 100 percent agree with your major points right down to the tether itself. I think for me I didn’t truly appreciate until this time around by trying different set ups. I almost feel as if the stage design suffers do to the tether and taking that into account there wasn’t much they could do as far as intricate set pieces. Especially learning that many of the sonic cd members worked on this which alone had some beautiful layouts. What’s funny is just about every major classic release suffered to some sort due to ad campaigns or rushed production to meet deadlines and by the Saturn it truly showed
@RockinKatReviews I get what you mean regarding the level design. An interesting example, the developers originally intended to have loop-de-loops in Speed Slider, as can be seen in certain prototype builds. But the tether seemingly made programming the layer switch a nightmare, as what usually happens is the leader makes it through just fine, but the partner gets stuck inside the loop. Little Sonic staples like that couldn't be done.
@@robertanderson9447 that would have been great. After researching some of these games more in depth I’d like to dip into some of the Sonic beta games now. Speed sliders is a blast to run through.. what was your thoughts on the Metal Sonic fight and I know Sega acknowledges Chaotix in the canonical timeline but do you think they had the intentions to release chaotix with the origins collection. I guess signs sorta point to yes but I wonder if it’s an issue trying to remaster it along with the others
@@RockinKatReviews Admittedly the inclusion of Chaotix in the music collection is pretty suspicious. But even so, I feel like Sega is not likely to release Chaotix again because they don't want to dedicate the time and resources to developing a 32X emulator for one game that's not very popular. Other unpopular games like Sonic Labyrinth were much easier to include as they already had a Game Gear emulator ready.
My thoughts on the Metal Sonic boss? The first phase is great. Stopping the roulette is purely a timing challenge, not random. So if you miss the mark and get counter-attacked it's your own error. The lack of rings makes his attacks the most vicious in the game, but as long as you don't get hit twice in one pass, you're fine. It's a good difficulty balance. And I love Metal Sonic's pose in the machine, staring the player down with a piercing gaze that says "I'm in control now."
The second phase looks really cool. Metal Sonic retains recognizable features like his hands, ears and central cortex, but his eyes are completely different and he gains a monstrous, almost demon-like mouth. The red color combined with the shading brings fire to mind, which is certainly fitting considering what happens in the bad ending. The arena has been reduced to abstract shapes. It's no longer clear where you even are, perhaps the central nervous system of Newtrogic High.
I enjoy how you're encouraged to just throw yourself at him, hitting madly in a brutal and raw struggle. But I also wish Metal _did_ more. He only has three moves and none of them are that impressive to me. That being said, I realize designing fair and un-frustrating boss attacks in a game like this is not easy, so it's understandable. I like to do the laser phase by Holding and launching the leader into Metal's torso. You can do it twice in a row if you time it right.
I remember my dumb ass rented this game, not knowing I needed the 32x😅. I was just so excited to see it in person.... man, what a let down lol
I would have been so angry 😆 my issues was the setup i don’t think I had the cable in the box or it was misplaced when I hooked it up 😭
@@RockinKatReviews sonic endings always stuck too😒
@@robertosebastian5353 That Metal Sonic Kai reminds me of second form freeza 😆
@@PikaChu-ui8bp i can see that in a way
@@robertosebastian5353 didn’t ever get a chance to play it
This game is underrated, but I kinda like how hard it is to play officially.
That’s exactly how I feel I really enjoy experimenting with the different set ups and if u get frustrated just pick charmy 😆
to this day, I would still love to see someone develop a mod for this that uses this engine to turn it into a traditional Sonic game. I wish I had any of the knowledge [or time] to do this myself. I would pay for that ROM on my flashcart
Tethering was a good idea just needed more time to master it
They gave it a shot 😅
🔥🔥‼️‼️NICELY DONE‼️‼️🔥
🙏
super cool!
🙏 thanks so much
door into summer might be the best track the genesis/32x hardware ever put out
💯I second this!
Yeah had this back in the day, since I was one of five people in the UK who had a 32X. It was my Sonic 4 at the time, and looking back it always seems like a glimpse at a road not travelled.
It’s an okay game from what I remember. I did finish it but something happened to the save feature so I’d always tire out whenever I tried finishing it again
💯 percent agree with you on that Sonic 4 feeling. As a kid I almost sorta just assumed it was. On topic of saves I always had issues with any save features on my Sega consoles especially the Saturn and I couldn’t find a back up cart for the life of me. Meanwhile everyone had memory cards for there PS1s just about everywhere to purchase
Sega hates us give us Chaotix 😢
They def do 🤣
This is easily the best review of Knuckles Chaotix on youtube, it is such a unique and interesting game.
🙏 This is one I’d absolutely love to see you tackle one day. I think you would def experiment with the set ups
Great game with good music
I didn t find out about this game until I was much older.
Also no more Sonic? D:
Def more Sonic on the way! I have a few mini series i wanted to get out of the way and then I will be doing the gamegear releases and adventure series next. I was thinking about even doing a poll to see what everyone would like to see for the next go around... Had a few in mind but def open to ideas too
@ cool can’t wait!
Still annoyed Sega just lets this game rot rather than put it on Switch or something.
The series can rest like Sega is resting. On to a real series castlevania 🔥
What is a man? 🦇
Thriller came out in 1983 🤔
I think it was more so a reference to Jackson’s involvement with Sonic in the 90s
The game looks nice but seems kinda annoying having to pull your partner lol
At times we all need a little tethering through the hardships
You keep pronouncing Chaotix wrong. There's no C before the T, it's just "Kay-aw-ticks", not "Kay-ock-ticks".
I’m just gonna say knuckems Chaos
2:21 you didnt read the manual?
I think if I call recall correctly since I bought it on clearance I didn’t have the manual or correct cable…they made different version of the patch cable..Model 1 and Model 2 Genesis have different av cables so I believe there was a different patch cable depending on the model you owned to hook into the 32x. I was really young at the time so I couldn’t look up online instructions I just assumed it was faulty bc I could hear the music and see a slight image… if only
@@RockinKatReviews I guess that makes sense, there are a lot of people who thought their systems were broken for the same reason.
@@therollingcreeper1 yeah it was a huge bummer I was really looking forward to it. I honestly think I was gonna buy another and give it another shot but I think I just gave up… I don’t know what I would have done if I purchased it again and it did the same thing 😆