While Sonic was making more and more graphical prowess on the Sega Genesis, his Game Gear/ Sega Master System counterpart always seemed to stay at the same level, with very hard-to-find emeralds and downright impossible bosses like in Sonic 2. That all changed with Sonic Chaos, his best adventure on the little console (I have not played Sonic Triple Trouble so I can not compare).

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics are quite decent for a Game Gear game. They are much better-defined than Sonic 1; Sonic himself almost looks like his 16 bits self. And he can finally spin dash! This is a most welcomed addition; Sonic 1 and 2 were so difficult without this simple feature. In fact, it is such an essential part of the game that you must use it to defeat the boss of Turquoise Hills. At times he will even get rocket shoes, which make him fly for a few seconds. That way you can reach higher places, usually containing rings. You can also control Tails, who can fly for a little amount of time. His is well-drawn, but I found his "hurt" animation to be inferior to Sonic's; he does not look like he is suffering that much. However his running speed/ jumping abilities look equal to Sonic's, so the only thing you will lose by choosing him is to go into the special stages.

Speaking of which, the chaos emeralds are now all in special stage. Granted, you will not get them by accumulating enough rings. Nevertheless, they will be easier to find since they are within a relatively small area, whose size does expand as you accumulate the emeralds. You can access them whenever Sonic gets 100 rings - no need to finish the zone.

The graphics overall are also richer and more detailed than previous adventures. There are twisted loops like the ones in Emerald Hill in the Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the various platforms and hills look better-defined and there is even perspective. In Gigapolis for example, there are some (harmless) laser barriers behind which you can get; I do not remember Genesis Sonics having this.

The levels are varied, all with different (and more numerous) enemies and traps. Gigapolis (with its "wintry" night background) and Sleeping Egg (with its Robotnik drawings) were the most visually appealing.

Of course, because of graphical limitations you will only see one of two rings flying around when you get hurt. There are also occasional lags when you move, but I found them less of a hassle than the two-player mode in Sonic 2. You also can not accumulate more than 100 rings; either you start back to 0 (Tails) or you get into a Special Stage (Sonic, although THERE you can gain lives if you find more than 100 rings).

Music: 9/10

Wow! Who could have thought that 8-bits music could be so good, almost at par with its 16-bits brother?

Like so many other games before, the music is one of the main reasons why I kept playing this game. All the zones have relatively elaborate soundtracks, looping after 45 seconds or more. I found them more enjoyable than Sonic 2, even if there are fewer tracks. Even the invincibility track is good, much better than the one from Donkey Kong Country 2, where the composer simply slept on his synth and recorded the result. The rocket shoes also have their own theme; it is short (only the duration of your flight) but sound appropriate. Finally the Special Stage, while not as epic or racy and Sonic 2 or 3, is good enough to be enjoyed on a play list. 

Slight caveat though: Electric Egg (the final zone) does not sound dramatic enough (like the various Death Egg or Final zones) or intriguing (like Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3) for an ultimate zone. Because of all the neons around it sounds more like a casino zone.

The sound effects are OK. There are the standard jumping, dash, ring at ring-losing sounds. The block-destroying sound is done well, the spring sound is fine and the rising spikes sound good. Finally, Tails' flying sound, probably because of technological limitations, sounded like an engine that has a hard time starting up.

Addictiveness: 7/10

Other than the music the game can get you hooked up. With the possibility of using two different characters with different abilities (as stated above), this game has a lot to offer. I personally prefer Sonic, but Tails is good too; the flying helps reaching hard-to-attain spots with lots of rings.

The Special Stage, while more difficult than on the Genesis, will still hook you up. Most of them require good reflexes and thinking so you either take the right tube or avoid the right spring so you can move forward.

Finally, the lesser level of difficulty will rejoice people whose dexterity is not too great like me. You finally have rings in boss zones! Sonic 2 for Game Gear did not have any, and I have never been able to get past the first zone because of it.

Story: N/A

Like most Sonic games, the story line is slim, if existent at all. You simply go through the zones to finish them quickly and kill the boss at the end of act 3. You do not even free robotized enemies is the machine at the end of that act.

Depth: 5/10

It is a Game Gear game, so do not expect zones that will take you all the way to your 10-minute time limit.

The zones are rather simple, with only two of the 3 acts that have exploring to do. If you only aim at finishing quickly, then you can easily finish the zones in less than 30 seconds. But if you like exploring and getting rings to have more lives/ enter the Special Stage, then it will require some exploring as getting 100 is not easy. Ring boxes are usually scattered (except starting at Mecha Green Hill) and you will often get surprised by enemies/ hiding spikes. If you watch the few videos published on Vizzed, you will see that enemies to tend to come out of nowhere.

Difficulty: 6/10

This can therefore become frustrating when you try to accumulate rings for whatever purpose. They do not continue their road; they pop up at exactly the same place if you do not kill them, making springing out of a pit challenging.

Also, starting at Sleeping Egg there are a lot of bottomless pits, many of which are hard to avoid since your jumping destroys blocks keeping you from falling. In Mecha Green Hill many of this holes can be found when you run from "the sides", on those ledges that make you fall if you momentum is too low (you find them in Gigapolis too).

Fortunately, Sonic Chaos includes modern features that decrease the difficulty level. There is the spin dash, as I mentioned above. Old Sonic fans will remember the frustrating of not having enough momentum to go around a loop-the-loop, making you run back far from the left to get around. The spin dash solves that problem; it also helps defeating enemies on the ground rather than jump on them. In fact it's sometimes impossible because they have a spring on their back.

Furthermore, you can finally have rings (if you take the right route like in Turquoise Hills) in boss zones! Sonic 2 Game Gear was downright impossible to complete since the boss zone yielded no right. And with the size of the screen, I couldn't not even see that the boss was self-destructing with the rock coming at it that were always hitting me.

In short, I recommend this mighty fine game. It is visually appealing, has a very addicting soundtrack, offers two different characters and has a reasonable difficulty level. The chaos emeralds are still hard to find, but at least now they are confined within a smaller space.

Sonic has is one of the best Sonic games I think, though admittedly I'm not a fan of the series, so fans may disagree. Anyway, I have to agree with your points here. Well said.