Sonic Adventure Beginner's Guide v0.2



Ok, this is a very preliminary document geared as a first aid kit for non-
japanese players.


Here is the summary :


       1 Story
       2 Characters
       3 Playing
       4 Extras
       5 Chao ! :)
       6 FAQ
       7 Credits




***********
*  Story  *
***********


In the world of Sonic, the evil Dr. Eggman (aka Dr. Robotnik) is about to strike
again.
His goal is to use a demonic creature, Chaos, born from the Master Emerald, to
dominate
the world and create Eggmanland. Beware, for Chaos is in fact a monster from the
past, and
has the ability to feed on the seven "Chaos Emeralds" to mutate to his true
form...




**************
* Characters *
**************


In this game, you play as one of the six available characters, plus one hidden.

They are :

       Sonic the Hedgehog
       Tails 'Miles' Prower (Power ?)
       Knuckles the Echidna
       Amy Rose (Sonic's girlfriend)
       E-102 "Gamma"
       Big the cat
       Super Sonic (Yellow / Super-saiya Sonic from Sonic 2 & 3)


They will all travel through the same world and levels, but their stories and
goals will all be very different.


Sonic's scenario : to counter Dr Eggman's plan, and to save Amy.
 His ability os to jump very high, with later bonuses he will be able to travel
on trails
 of rings.

Tails' : to beat Sonic at each course. ^^;
 He can fly for a limited time by rotating his two tails.

Knuckles' : to retrieve each shard of the Master Emerald.
 One of the greatest characters, has the ability to "float" and to climb to
walls.
 Note that his adventure implies a "find the 3 shards per level" game, using
the included
 shard radar that goes mad near its targets.

Amy's : to escape Dr. Eggman's robot, "Zero".
 Amy can use a mallet, and when running can mallet-jump.

E-102's : our friend Gamma is primarily a machine from Dr. Eggman, but after
shooting down
some dolls of our hero characters at his proving ground and retrieving Big's
frog for Eggman, Amy teaches him humanity and he begins his own quest.
 He uses laser guided weapons ! Hold, lock on and release.

Big's : to retrieve his friend the frog.
 Big has only access to his fishing pole.

Super Sonic's : to fight the Ultimate Chaos. :)




***********
* Playing *
***********


After choosing a memory card, the main menu consists in :

       Adventure
       Trial
       Options
       Internet


Trial offers the possibility to replay the levels and minigames you've already
seen.

Please note that Sonic is the only available character at first. As soon as you
see another
character in your game with Sonic, you will have the possibility of playing this
character's quest.


You control your character very much a la Mario in Mario 64. The trigger buttons
move
the camera, and may help you when there are camera problems (and there are ! :).
You can jump using A, and X and B are referred as "Action buttons". Using Sonic,
for
example, pressing A will make you jump, pressing A having jumped will make you
strike at an
ennemy, and pressing B will make you charge at ground (hold on to charge to
super power).

You move your character using the analog stick, and you shouldn't have too much
problems as
the controls are very intuitive. Be careful, though, not to get stuck in tricky
places, as
the game isn't very polished regarding this point.


Often will you have the impression of loosing control of your character when in
a speeding
part. Don't worry, the game is semi-automatic for short seconds at those times.

Don't forget that amassing 100 rings will get you an extra life !

After having finished a level for the first time you will have accomplished
"Mission C" for
this level. Taking the example of Sonic for the first level, Mission C consists
in
retrieving Tails. But you can replay the same level with the same character to
complete
Mission B and A. Mission B will generally be to finish the level with 50 rings
or more,
while Mission A will make you try to finish the level under a time limit (2
minutes for
Sonic's first level).

Special conditions :
       - Knuckles has to find the shards in the correct order for Mission B
       - E-102 has to finish with a time reserve up to the limit (ex : 3 min) for
Mission A

Each time you finish a mission, or a minigame, you are awarded an "Emblem". You
may consider
them as the stars in Mario 64. Please note that some of them are hidden in some
parts of
the game, such as Big's Rainforest.

Counting approx 10 levels per characters x3 missions + the minigames' and hidden
ones, there
would be around 200 emblems in the game.




**********
* Extras *
**********


Each character's quest will have its share of minigames. Sonic's, for example,
include a
snow-boarding escape sequence, two "Sky chase" and some more (Big has a fishing
minigame !).

Super Sonic : he is available when you have finished the game with all the other
characters (you have 100% with each). Note that Perfect Chaos is the "whale"
from the opening sequence.

Casinopolis : this level is a bit peculiar. You access it from the town, via the
station or
the hotel. Inside you have access to two flippers, themed upon Sonic and
Nights, and to
coin machines. Your quest, for Sonic, is to amass 400 rings and bring them to
the, errm,
"chest" (the place where they keep your money). Some mechanical arms will shake
your rings
out of your characters, creating a staircase of gold to the exit. ;)




**********
* Chao ! *
**********


Ever wandered in the hotel using the lift ? Then you've found the first of the
Chao Gardens.

On your adventure you may find eggs : they are Chao eggs and their place is in
one of the gardens.

Chaos are little creatures that you raise as tamagotchis, but in a more complex
manner.

First look in the game for all three of the Chao Gardens : they will allow you
to travel
from garden to gardens using teleporters.

Next, go in one of them with eggs and wait for a Chao's birthday. Time only
passes in the
Gardens when you are in, so leaving one will have no noticeable effect on your
Chaos.

When one is born, you may want to feed him : go shake a tree to get some nuts, a
bring one
to him. It will soon begin to like you.

You will then want to bring it to the memory card emplacement in the Garden,
dropping him
when staying on the red button : this will transfer the Chao to the VMS.


In the VMS, the first option ("notepad") icon checks for savegames, the second
is the game
access and the third the hour and the fourth is used when transferring from DC
to VMS.

There are plenty of options for him in there, such as naming him for example.


Now the fun part is the VMS game, "Chao's ballad". Your Chao will walk,
encountering
ennemies, finding power-up fruits. You may win fruits for him with the internal
"pairing"
minigame. He will soon be ready to face the Chao Race... :)

Chao race consist in four circuits, each testing an ability of your Chao (I
assume), such as
swimming, running or strength.

Your are able to compete with your friends' Chao connecting their VMS to the
console !




*******
* FAQ *
*******


Q : I am stuck with Sonic after fighting Eggman at Tail's house. What do I do
now ?
A : You need to bring the green keystone (available at the falls by pushing a
rock I think)
to the break in the rock opposite to the house, to the green altar. It will
unlock the
tornado.

Q : I am stuck with Sonic again. There's a dead end, an orange mark with the
number "1".
A : What the helping light says is that you have to step on it, and push jump.
It catapults
you on mark "2", where you have to push jump again, 'til mark "5" to advance in
the game at
this point.

Q : I have to find Amy with Sonic and she has disappeared...
A : Go either to the Casinopolis area, or to the Twinkle Park area.

Q : I can't "lock" ennemies in Sonic's "Sky Chase" !
A : You have to maintain the button to lock, and then release to fire (recalls
Afterburner !
:)

Q : I am lost in the jungle after the Inca Pyramid, with Sonic.
A : Search for a hi-tech "tube" that leads you back in a Dr. Eggman's facility.

Q : Can I play as / vs Metal Sonic I saw in this facility ?
A : It seems you can't. :(

Q : I am stuck with Knuckles, right after having found the claw power-up.
A : You can know dig in the ground, by pushing A+X / A+B. Dig in the soil with
the little
yellow animation to find a switch, and drop it behind the monkey in the cage :
it will blow
it off. Now, go back to the soil and get a second switch... Bring it to the
other end of
Mystic Ruins, near the Master Emerald : there's also a monkey in a cage here
that you can
blow. Please note that some shard will be hidden in the ground now... ^^;

Q : How do I fish with Big ?
A : First, you throw in the desired area. When a fish or the frog is interested
in your
bait, use the button and the analog sitck to hook it. Depending on the button
you press
you will "retrieve" (?) more or less quickly. The gauge is the tension of your
line,
be careful not to reach the top or it will blow ! You can use the analog stick
to shake
your line.




***********
* Credits *
***********


First of all, this mini-guide is located at
http://services.worldnet.net/ruchet/sonica.shtml

Will it be updated ? I don't know. ^^;

The author is Sebastien Ruchet, [email protected] (if you write about Sonic,
please
include the word "Sonic" in your subject). He has previously written an
extensive (? ;)
walkthrough for the game Grandia, available at
http://services.worldnet.net/ruchet/grandia.shtml.

Thanks go to Alex for the DC, Kamui, a friend who's much farther in the game
than me and who
provided information about Super Sonic, and to Feena for the proofreading.
Don't forget
that I am french, and so please excuse my english. ~_~;

Sonic Adventure and of all its material are copyrighted by Sega and the Sonic
Team.