Sonic Pocket Adventure

(also known as ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'') is a platform game developed by SNK and released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color in 1999. The game is based on ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' (1992) for the Sega Genesis, borrowing much of the stage themes and gameplay elements, but featuring unique stage layouts, elements from other Genesis ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games, and extra game modes. Sega's Yuji Naka and the rest of Sonic Team supervised over production.

The game was released in December 1999 to positive reviews. Critics felt ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' was a faithful adaptation of the traditional ''Sonic'' game formula, most importantly not making any sacrifices to the game's speed. Reviewers praised the game as one of the best among the Neo Geo Pocket Color's library and commended the quality of SNK's hardware. Several members of the SNK development team later formed Dimps which went on to develop several more ''Sonic'' games for handheld devices.

Gameplay

''Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure'' is a platform game in the style of the classic ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games for the Sega Genesis. The game is heavily based on ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' (1992) for the Genesis, while also using concepts from ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1991) and ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' (1994). ''Sonic 2s stage themes are featured throughout, but the stage layouts are unique to the game. The bonus stages are also borrowed from ''Sonic 2''. ''AllGame'' called the game "a slightly dumbed down port" of ''Sonic 2'' and ''Official Dreamcast Magazine'' called it "essentially an adaptation of ''Sonic 2.''"

Unlike ''Sonic 2'', ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' features some exclusive modes. The game includes a save feature so the player can replay any level they have previously completed. There is also a time trial mode which ranks the player based on how quickly they finish each level. Another time trial mode requires the player to finish with 50 or more rings for the time to count. ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' also supports two competitive two-player modes with the use of a Neo Geo Pocket link cable. One mode has the players racing each other to finish the stage first, while the other is a race to collect a target amount of rings. The second player controls Tails. There is also a puzzle mode where the player assembles portraits of Sonic characters using hidden puzzle pieces found within the levels. Completing the puzzles unlocks a sound test mode.

Development and release

In August 1999, SNK announced that they were collaborating with Sega to develop a ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game for their Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld system. The game was developed by SNK, with supervision from Yuji Naka and Sonic Team at Sega. This marked the first time Sega was directly involved in the development of a ''Sonic'' game for a non-Sega platform. The team planned for ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' to be a return to the classic 2D gameplay style found in the ''Sonic'' games on the Sega Genesis. In particular, many game design and visual elements are borrowed from ''Sonic 2''. The game's background music tracks are also 8-bit renditions of music from ''Sonic 3'' and ''Sonic & Knuckles''. ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' was released first in North America on December 4, 1999. SNK released a system bundle with the game included for the holiday season. The game was released in Europe in February 2000, and in Japan on May 25, 2000.

Several of the SNK staff members who developed ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' went on to form Dimps in 2000—a new team funded by Sega, Sony, and Bandai. The new company went on to develop ''Sonic Advance'' (2001) for the Game Boy Advance and several more ''Sonic'' games for handheld systems in the following years.

Reception

''Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure'' received critical acclaim. Critics generally believed that despite being on a handheld system, the game successfully captured the same high speed thrills and sharp graphics as in the original Genesis games. The most common complaints were occasional frame rate slowdown and the lack of parallax scrolling, but most agreed these problems were not intrusive enough to detract from the otherwise great quality of the game.

Some critics highlighted how well the system's hardware performed in their reviews. ''Official Dreamcast Magazine'' praised the joystick on the handheld as controlling better than the Genesis controllers. ''Daily Radar'' thanked SNK for developing a good enough screen to prevent any unwanted motion blur. ''IGN'' believed the game was a killer app for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, giving the game a 10, and that it filled the platform game role the system's library was so desperately missing. ''Official Dreamcast Magazine'' called it SNK's ''raison d'être'' for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. ''AllGame'' disagreed that it was a killer app, but felt it showcased the system's processing prowess well.

In retrospect, ''IGN'' called ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' a system seller and a proving ground for the development team, as many members of the staff would go on to develop several more ''Sonic'' games for handheld systems as Dimps. ''IGN'' included ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' on their wishlist of games for the Virtual Console on the Nintendo DSi. Although the Neo Geo Pocket Color was not commercially successful, ''Retro Gamer'' still called it a "fantastically playable" machine with ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' being one of the best games in the system's library and the ''Sonic'' catalog. ''GamesRadar'' listed the game at number six among their list of top 25 ''Sonic'' games of all time. In 2023, ''Time Extension'' identified ''Sonic Pocket Adventure'' as one of the best games for the NGPC.

Notes

References

External links

* (English, archived)
* (Japanese, archived)

{{Portal bar, Video games, 1990s

1999 video games
Neo Geo Pocket Color games
Sega video games
Side-scrolling video games
Sonic the Hedgehog video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
SNK games
Video games developed in Japan