Format: 32X
Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega

Among other things, Knuckles' island evidently contains a theme park, and the base hardware-drawn, garishly adorned surroundings-- lush forests, a sea-side beach resort, and the interior of a clock tower-- are easy on the eye, if not a tad generic at times. The player characters and enemies are drawn by the 32X, and scarcely a second passes without some kind of fancy scaling or rotation happening. The end-stage bonus rounds are impressively polygonal, and quite mind-bending, as is the gargantuan final boss. Its aesthetics let it down in spots, but Knuckles' Chaotix is still one impressive platforming effort to behold.

Junko Shiratsu and Mariko Nanba pair up to deliver an upbeat, psychedelic, rhythmically-dissonant score that is faithful to the series' motifs, yet which also are a tastefully done, content-appropriate departure. If any doubt remains whether the music makes full use of the hardware, the options screen's "BGM test" displays a giant mixer, showing every last one of the omnium gatherum of available channels, lit up like Macy's at Christmas. The sound effects are a bit of a let-down, in the sense that there isn't anything along the lines of fancy digital voice samples.

In Knuckles' Chaotix, the player is not only followed-- Tails-style-- by an AI character, but is in fact tethered to this inescapable companion! Holding "B" causes the player's compatriot-- who is also playable by another human via a second controller-- to dig in their heels, whereupon a release of the button causes both players zip away at high speed. It takes some getting used to, but once mastered it lends enviable quantities of variety and depth. Which is a good thing, because the level designs aren't memorable in and of themselves, serving more as exploration-oriented playgrounds.

It's difficult for this reviewer to comprehend Chaotix's middling reputation: yes, the game's stages aren't brilliantly designed-- granted. But then, the game is sumptuously decorated, has a phenomenal soundtrack, makes outstanding use of the 32X hardware, has a water-tight core loop involving collecting enough rings in the stages to survive the blue orb bonus stages, has an excellent variety of playable characters and stages, yet-- unlike its inferior "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" cousin-- can be easily completed in a couple of hours, and thus doesn't outstay its welcome.