Eventually Sega opted to let their mascot sit this round out, and put their new kid, Knuckles, in the spotlight. They also decided to move the project to their new 32-bit add-on, the 32X. If all went well, this could be the flagship game to skyrocket their new platform to success.
We all know how this story ends. Knuckles Chaotix and the 32X platform were both flops, and Sonic's series of flagship side-scrollers officially ended. But Chaotix wasn't all bad. In fact, it was an interesting attempt to breathe life into a series that was running out of steam.
One of the weakest aspects of Sonic's later 16-bit sequels was the lopsided multiplayer that cast the second player in role of wingman, occasionally landing some useful hits during boss fights, but mostly struggling to keep up while Player 1 whipped through loops and corkscrews. Chaotix would be the first in the series to offer completely equal cooperative play. It accomplished this not by offering the usual split-screen gimmicks, but by tethering two characters together with a magic rubber band.
This rubber band mechanic not only kept the players glued together, but gave them some new physics to play with. If both players ran in opposite directions and one let go, he would snap back and send the pair rocketing forward. If one was dangling below a platform, he could pull down and bounce back up. Skilled players with good teamwork could hurtle through the air at tremendous speeds, and the result truly was the fastest Sonic yet, with the biggest aerial game. Unfortunately, this also meant that if you were playing with someone who didn't know the game as well, you were in for a frustrating experience and probably better off playing solo, where you could command your partner with a simple button press.
The rubber band gameplay was different, controversial, and took some time to master, but it really wasn't bad. It actually added a new layer of depth. Chaotix also introduced a large cast of new characters, each with their own aerial maneuvers like the ability to run up walls, dash in mid-air, or even fly. Fans have grown weary of the parade of new characters in recent Sonics, but at the time, the Chaotix crew was a hoot.
So where did it all go wrong? Unfortunately, it's all in the details, and Chaotix was sorely lacking in spit and polish. The level design isn't just bad, it's shockingly bland, almost unfinished. It's not uncommon to whip through an entire level and never even see a single enemy. These stages are also extremely repetitious, with pieces of level recycled over and over again ad nauseum. Instead of the usual two acts per zone and a boss, each zone now packs five incredibly similar levels to further exacerbate this issue. You'll play these stages in random order, which helps to break up the monotony a bit, but with each level as bad as the next, it isn't enough.
There's also precious little to really indicate that this is a 32-bit game. Apart from the occasional sprite scaling or flashy boss, this still looks and sounds like a Genesis game. The exceptions to this are the marvelous Special Stages, arguably the best in the series. These start out as a sort of mix between the half-pipe of Sonic 2 and the orb-collecting of Sonic 3, but eventually evolve into a forward scrolling platformer, like a primitive foreshadowing of Sonic and the Secret Rings.
