Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)
Chao/A-Life Complete Guide
By George Ettinger -
[email protected]
Version 1.5 (FINAL)
No Further Updates to be made.
Disclaimer: Sonic Adeventure, Chao, and related Characters are property of Sega
<----------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Your screen be at least this wide (79 characters)
Contents
1. Notes, revisions, etc.
A. Introduction/Revisions/Credits
B. What's a Chao?
C. What's the point?
D. Terminology
E. Controls
2. Starting out
A. The Gardens
B. Eggs / Secret Eggs / New Color Eggs
C. Hatching
3. Basic Care
A. Feeding & Petting
B. Head Symbols & Emotions
C. Giving it animals
D. Evolution / Devolution / Death
E. Mating
F. Gaining more Total HP
4. Special Evolution
A. Animal Systems
B. Four main evolutions
C. Sixteen Second Evolutions
D. FOURTH Evolution...?
E. The Light Chao!
5. The VMU Games/Chao Adventure
A. Completing the Adventure
B. The Menu
C. Card Game
D. Raising Stats
E. Fruits
F. Linkup Mating-Battling
6. Racing
A. The Courses
B. Helping your Chao win
C. Chaclon, the "Chaku Ron" Super Chao
D. The Gold and Silver SuperRacers
7. The SA Website
A. Evaluation
B. Black Market
C. Daycare Center
D. Chao Doctor
E. World Rankings
8. Myself and My Garden
A. My Chao Gardens and Their Inhabitants
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 - NOTES, REVISIONS, ETC.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1A. Introduction/Revisions
When I first got Sonic Adventure IE, I played it for hours and beat the game in
three days. And then in about a month, I had over 100 emblems. The game
seemed to lose its challenge.
But then, I finally ventured into the Station Square Chao Garden. Two small
white eggs were sitting in opposite corners of the garden. I gently picked one
up, hatched it, and the obsession began. FEI-SAN, my first, strongest, and
favorite Chao, was born.
In a few months, I have gathered more information about the Chao A-Life system
than any other FAQ on the web listed, so I decided to make my own. Here are
all the tips and tricks and nuances of keeping your Chao happy, spiffy-looking
and ALL-POWERFUL! Bwahahaha! If you want to be a master Chao trainer (no
Pokemon reference intentional), read on.
IMPORTANT: I RECOMMEND STRONGLY THAT YOU ONLY RAISE CHAO AFTER
YOU HAVE BEATEN ALL CHARACTER'S QUESTS. BE SURE TO CHOOSE A SINGLE
CHARACTER TO PERMANENTLY USE ON YOUR CHAO.
-Version 1.1- Chao face info
-Version 1.2- Corrected a few errors and info about my own Chao, and email
addresses.
-Version 1.5- All-around organization updates, address info, general cleanup.
NO MORE UPDATES TO FOLLOW.
-------
1B. What's a Chao?
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 respond to how you treat them, what you give them, and what Character's
care for them best. 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.
SONIC can access all levels and his controls are simple. Therefore, you can
use him to seek out any animals you want to give your chao. TAILS controls
similarly and can access almost as many levels.
AMY cannot access as many levels, but she controls well, plus her regular
jump is not an attack, so you can run and hop freely without injuring your
chao.
KNUCKLES seems prone to inexplicable accidents, often injuring chao. GAMMA's
attack can auto-target chao with absurd ease, and BIG is simply too unwieldy
to properly pick up a chao.
-------
1C. What's the point?
As I just said, Chao are vital for emblem completion. They are also just plain
fun. It's pleasantly rewarding to raise a monstrous chao that can win all the
races and triumph over your friends/enemies.
-------
1D. Terminology
Chao- The A-life. Duh.
SA- Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast. the game you are playing, right?
SS- Station Square area or garden
MR- Mystic Ruins area or garden
EC- Egg Carrier area or garden
Evo- Evolution: your chao's particular forms after becoming adult.
-------
1E. Controls
The Controls are like that of the game, except these-
(Y) Pick Up - Set Down
(X)-(B) Attack! DO NOT USE THESE BUTTONS IN GARDEN!
(A) Jump
D-Pad Up/Down: Zoom In/Out
Note that Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles have spinning attack-jumps. These can
hurt your Chao if hit. If using one of these three characters, press B at the
top of your jump to stop spinning and land safely.
-------
2 - STARTING OUT
-------
2A. The Gardens
There are three gardens. Each can hold 8 Chao. There are transporters in each
that allow you to move from one garden to another instantly, taking with you
any Chao or eggs you're holding. NOTE: The transporters are offline until you
actually discover the garden. Each also has a VMU Machine for putting your
Chao into Chao adventure.
Station Square: The left elevator in the Hotel. This garden also contains the
door to the Chao Race center. On a side note, this is my favorite garden.
It's great for beginner Chao with its smaller pool and wide open walking space.
Mystic Ruin: The cave behind Tails' workshop (where you got Knux's ShovelClaw)
has a minecart that leads to this garden. This Garden is a bit cluttered, but
otherwise good. It's best for flying and swimming Chao.
Egg Carrier: In the main room there are a gathering of lettered tiles behind
the lift pod. Spell out E-G-G-M-A-N one letter at a time and the door will
unlock. This garden is best ONLY for high-level chao, because it's pool is so
large and deep. Be careful, because swimmers who are TOO fast can sometimes
swim past the invisible barrier at the edge. If this happens, just leave and
come back.
While time in Gardens doesn't pass as you are in Stages and Adventure Areas,
being in One garden allows time to pass in the other two, so don't take too
much time in one place!
-------
2B. Eggs / Secret Eggs / New Color Eggs
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, so STOP ASKING!
There are also three special-colored chao, one in each adventure area.
Station Square: There is a gold egg in the antique shop. Picking it up will
lock the doors, so go back to where you fought Chaos0 and pick up the large
rock in the corner. Take it into the shop, put it down, pick up the egg, and
put the rock on the egg pedestal. The rock looks like an egg, but it will NOT
hatch.
Mystic Ruin: Jump down into the pond (where you fought Chaos4) and look for a
large blue-grey stone sticking out of a nearby wall. Run up to it and push it
into the wall. A silver egg will fall out of the waterfall. Wait until it
reaches shore and pick it up.
Egg Carrier: (Amy/E102 Only) Go back to the prison and press the switch to
open the middle cell. Inside is a black egg.
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
-------
2C. Hatching
You can either hatch them by nuzzling them (Hold Y to pick up, then hold
analog up for a few moments), throwing them (Tap Y to pick up, jump, tap Y to
throw), or just waiting forever for them to hatch naturally. Waiting will give
you a moderately happy newborn Chao, nuzzling will give you a very happy Chao,
and throwing will give you a Chao that is severely pissed off at you for
hatching it in such an unpleasant way. It can upset the newborn if you jump
while holding an egg.
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. Most faces are inherited from parents, but the faces on
your first Chao are downright random.
-----APPEND: 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.
-------
3 - BASIC CARE
-------
3A. Feeding & Petting
(Note that this section refers only to garden feeding.)
Each garden has 5 coconut trees, that grow up to two coconuts at once
each. When you first enter a garden, all the nuts will be small and green.
After about one minute, all the coconuts will have grown and turned
brown-orange. Brown-orange coconuts are ripe, and they can be shaken down
from trees to feed to a chao.
Walk up to a tree with one or two ripe coconuts and press and hold Y.
Then hold the analog pad in any direction so that your character will shake
the tree. Continue until the coconut(s) fall. Pick up the nut with the Y
button, and push it into the chao you want to feed. The chao will take it and
eat it. Enough food, and a chao will fall asleep.
Do not pick up a chao that is eating. It will drop its food and become
sad. It also hurts affection to dangle food near a chao so that it holds out
its arms, but not feed it. Be careful that no Chao are under the tree you
shake. A Chao may be hit by a falling nut and injured.
Food that is found in the VMU game can be fed in the garden, too. Check
section 5-E for more info on VMU Fruit.
A Chao needs a hug now and then. In the same method you shake a tree,
pick up a Chao with Y and hold one analog direction to nuzzle him. This is
good for raising current affection.
-------
3B. Head Symbols & Emotions
A Chao has a floating sphere over its head known as a "Chao Heart". It
changes shapes based on current feelings.
--A heart: Means a sudden burst of happiness. You did something that the
Chao liked!
--An Exclamation Point!: Your chao saw something unexpected. Not
necessarily good or bad.
--A Question Mark?: Your chao is contemplating yours or its own next
actions, or trying to understand something.
--A Swirl@: Your chao is injured and thoroughly PO'ed at you for some
careless act. Feed it around 4 coconuts or other fruits to
get back on good terms.
Body Language is also important!
--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.
--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, doofus. Wait about
three minutes to make sure your chao recieves its full rest.
...and 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 chaonuts
in the garden and plenty of rest. Note that this can extend lifespan, but
it only helps the symptoms. This is not a cure, just a treatment.
-------
3C. Giving Animals
When you destroy a robot in an action stage, you will receive a small
animal. You can carry up to Ten at once. Taking these animals into a garden
will release them, and they will stay in the garden until you leave.
When released, animals will hop around, leaving a light sparkle. Pick
up an animal and give it to a chao like a coconut, and the Chao will scan it
an duplicate a few of its features on itself. The animal will then lose its
sparkle, and disappear after a few minutes.
Giving your Chao animals will enhance its affection, provides a new way
to customize your own chao, and ultimately affects all stages of Chao
Evolution. More on that in Section 4.
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, (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
-------
3D. Evolution / Devolution / Death
After a certain amount of garden care, and lots of food, a baby chao will
form a white coccoon with a pointed top around itself. After the coccoon
becomes Opaque, it will fade to reveal an adult chao. The animal features will
be more pronounced, and your chao may take on one of the first four evolutions,
based on its stats and animals. For evolution, check Section 4.
An aged adult chao might form a second coccoon, but that wouldn't be good.
It means your chao is devolving. Once the coccoon fades, you will have a baby
chao egg. Before you hatch the egg, reflect on how you treated your little
chao. Once you hatch it, if its affection was under 100%, it will form a final
coccoon instantly, and fade away with it. If it loves you more than anything,
it will hatch and be perfectly reborn as its own younger self.
-------
3E. Mating
In the garden, a chao will occasionally (rarely, really) sit down, and
sprout a batch of flowers around itself. Push another chao into this one, and
if the matable chao likes what it sees, and egg (or sometimes twins) will
appear. A Chao that wants to garden-mate but never does often gets depressed,
and one that is over-mated will be forced to devolve. Nonetheless, the Chao in
the flowers will have a significant affection boost. The baby will take almost
completely after the flowering parent, and will have 10-20% of its stats.
VMU mating is also effective. Check Section 5F for more.
-------
3F. Gaining More Max-HP
A chao in the VMU has a certain number of hitpoints displayed that allow
it to take damage in chao battles and in the garden (it loses HP if you hurt
it). I have found that every two and a half fruits it recieves in the garden
will boost it's maximum-HP by one. It can reach a total of 99. It also makes
it easy to defeat chump bullies who have 10 or less HP ;)
-------
4 - ALL ABOUT EVOLUTION
-------
4A. Animal Systems
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 SA character! Try it
on all of your chao!
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
..but the blue animals are not all in one place-
Skunk: Sky Deck
Mole: Red Mountain
Koala: Speed Highway
-------
4B. 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 influence. 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.
Once you have a 1st Evo (First Evolution) chao, you can proceed to second
evolution.
-------
4C. 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 be 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. This thing is ugly.
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 bizarre-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-looking chao you can create.
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.
-------
4D. 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.
-------
4E. 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 (Chaos 0), 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 animals 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
will 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.
-------
5 - VMU AND CHAO ADVENTURE
-------
5A. Playing and Completing the Adventure
In the garden, locate the large chao transfer machine, and while holding
a chao, stand on the red button and set it down. This will bring up a menu
allowing you to choose a VMU to insert the chao into. If there are 128 free
blocks, the chao will slide in, wait through a moderate loading procedure, and
you will be able to play Chao Adventure. If there already is a Chao in the
VMU, just stand on the button alone and choose it to come back to garden.
In Chao Adventure, you let your chao walk on its own and help it as
events arise. The Events that occur are-
-Tripping, Falling, Struggling. Press A to continue
-Stopping, Playing (Half-way point). Press A to continue
-Treasure Chests. Choose one of the three locks, and press A to open.
-Battles. You will see a large "?!". Press A to start the roullette.
Stop the marker with A. It will stop instantly. Hitting a WHITE dot
hits the enemy. BLACK makes you miss. Winning sends you straight to a
treasure chest. Note that, every time your Chao's POW rises by 200, you
aquire another white dot. Get POW to 800, and 5 out of 6 dots will be
white! It will also allow you to chain 5-hit combos.
-Level completions. Your chao reaches a signpost, and asks where to go.
Tell him, or choose "either" for the chao to decide himself.
-Meaningless messages. Every hour, on the hour (so long as the VMU is
on at the time), your chao will make a smart comment or ask a question.
If it is a question, answer honestly. If it is just a comment, don't
worry. Even angry comments, like "you were mean to me today" are really
meaningless.
-You can occasionally run into the main SA characters, who give your chao
a moderate boost in certain stats.
FIELD
/ \
BEACH FOREST
/ \ / \
OCEAN CLIFF WASTELAND
(Big) (Tails) (Sonic)
/ \ / \ / \
CITY DESERT BIGTREE JUNGLE
/ \ / \ / \ / \
TOWER OASIS SHRINE RIVER CAVE
(E-102) (Knuckles) (Amy)
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 give 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.
You may also notice that every chao looks different in the VMU. There is
a set of animations for each 1st Evo, plus the Light Chao. It's odd to note
that the animations for Power and Speed chao seem mixed up, and that the Light
Chaos Chao animation is all garbled (unless set on Japanese text).
-------
5B. The Chao Adventure Menu
When your Chao is not doing anything important, you can press A and reach
the menu. Scroll down and there is:
STATUS - Chao Name, HP, Condition, and Stats
ITEMS - Current inventory. Can hold eight items at Max
GAME - Play the card minigame. See Section 5C.
MATING - Link up with another VMU to mate, and one egg will appear in
each VMU.
BATTLE - Link up to load a "copy" of somelse else's chao to battle
OWNER - Displays owner data, which you enter as your chao asks
FRIEND - Owner data of people you linked up with
MAP - Current distance. Press A again for full-level map
SETTING - Lets you toggle sound, "change data" (does nothing), and rewrite
owner data
NAME - Lets you assign a name to the chao in the VMU.
-------
5C. The Card Matching Game
Choose GAME, and you will be shown a 3x4 arrangement of pictured cards.
Once they turn over, use the D-Pad and button A to choose sets of two cards.
Miss three sets and lose. Complete it without missing and win a Hastnut,
Starnut, Lifenut, or Chaonut. Miss, but complete and you will get either a
Cherry, Plum, Lemon, or Grape.
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.
-------
5D. Raising Stats
Stats are most important in Races (see Section 6), but also make the
difference of whether you complete a Chao Adventure or not. The stats are:
RUN - Foot speed
FLY - Wing Strength
POW - Arm Strength
SWIM - Water speed
The higher the stats, the faster a chao performs in these ways, both in
races and in VMU levels. A walking level moves faster with high RUN. A
climbing level relies on POW. SWIM and FLY are self-explanatory. As mentioned
earlier, POW also increases number of white roullette dots in VMU battles.
The VMU is a stat-raising machine. It allows you to get all fruits, and
lets you meet characters that power-up your chao. The five fruits that
actually raise stats are Chaonut, Grape, Cherry, Plum, and Lemon. More on
fruits in Section 5E.
Stats are also raised by giving a chao animals in garden. The change
from a single animal is minuscule, but many animals over a long time cause a
dramatic increase.
-------
5E. Fruits
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.
-------
5F. Linkup Mating-Battling
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 that 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.
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 the effect. 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.
-------
6 - RACING
-------
6A. Racing and the Courses
In the SS garden, there are brown double doors that lead to the large
Chao Coliseum, where all races are held. Jump on the "Entry Button" to get
the menu, where you can choose:
JEWEL RACE - The real thing. Race against preset CPU opponents to win Emblems
BEGINNER - Race against CPU Chao equal to your own
MULTI-ENTRY - Race up to eight of your own chao. If less than eight, the
remaining CPU Chao will be equal to that of the strongest Chao
you entered.
There are Four jewel races:
-PEARL - Power Race
-AMETHYST - Running Race
-SAPPHIRE - Run, Climb, Fly, Swim Race
-RUBY - Swim Race
All 4 can be beaten by a chao with stats over 500. A good chao with
only 400 could also win. For each race it beats, a jewel appears on it's
chest like that of the race. Harder race jewels go over the others, however.
Beat all 4 and you will only see a red ruby on the chao's chest.
Beating all four races opens the fifth race, the all-skill-inclusive
EMERALD race. It is not too difficult, but beating it earns you the last Chao
Emblem, plus a green jewel for your chao to wear. Each Jewel Race renders an
emblem after your first win.
-------
6B. Helping your Chao win
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 your 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.
-------
6C. Chaclon, "Chaku Ron"
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"
(an oddity in the translation, perhaps?). 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.
-------
6D. The Gold and Silver Super Chao
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.
TRICK FOR SUCCESS!
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!
-------
7 - THE SA WEBSITE
-------
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.
-------
7A. 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 511% and rising ;)
-------
7B. 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.
-------
7C. Daycare Center
I often refer to the Daycare Center as "The Chao Exchange". Though it
is offline, it allowed 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.
-------
7D. 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 years ago. This section is totally useless.
-------
7E. 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, Fei-San was in 30th. That's 27th if you remove the
cheaters. But it doesn't really matter, since Fei has beaten his own
previous record already!
-------
8 - My Garden
-------
8A. Me and my Chao
Well, after several years, I still have a chao garden full of super-fast
little blighters. I just recently started raising a new garden just for fun.
Fei-san is stil around, kicking ass and taking names, and in the meantime I've
put fresh batteries in my six-year-old VMU and am raising little baby Boss.
FEI-SAN
My first and oldest chao. Still around, still kicking, still holds all but
one record in the jewel races. He's beaten the gold army mutliple times, and
has been reborn at least five times. I've always raised him back up as he was
before: a fully-evolved GG chao with nothing but sparrow feet-wings and those
crazy penguin eyebrows. He's hardcore. To the max.
BOSS
My first new chao in three years. Born from Rodimus (a bronze light chao)
and Id-san (memory-glitch 'clone' of Fei), he's essentially Fei's nephew.
He's a tiny black chao that has been showing signs of a running first evo
since he was hatched. He's still running through the VMU and growing his
stats. I'm looking at making him a GR or RR chao.
-----------------------
- By now, you should know everything I know. Use it well!
I am still available to email if you see if fit, but this guide is done.
This game is a fine bit of nostalgia for me, and this last update serves to
clean up the guide for a bit more ease of use. This is the last update,
and I will not be amending this guide again.
------
END
------
