N-Philes

Composed entirely of water, Chaos is unlike any foe that Sonic has ever faced before. Previous battles with the villainous Doctor Robotnik have pitted the fearless hedgehog against legions of robotic soldiers, traps and even space stations, but Chaos is no mere badnik. He's the ancient guardian of the Master Emerald, and having been trapped inside said emerald for a few thousand years now, he's not terribly happy.

Robotnik as usual got more than he bargained for by freeing such a powerful being, and Chaos turns against the evil genius, making a grab for the Chaos Emeralds. With the magical gemstones missing, Knuckles' homeland, Angel Island, plummets from the sky and lands in the ocean, creating a huge tidal wave that engulfs the nearby city. Chaos, made bigger - and stronger - by the power of the Emeralds, materializes in the drenched ruins as what can only be described as a serpent-like form and issues a challenge to any bipedal animals that think they've got what it takes to bring him down. Sonic and his buddies arrive, and after realising that Chaos' rage and anger is being fueled by the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic, doing his best William Shatner impression, theorizes that their untouched positive energy can neutralize him. The blue fuzzball uses the remaining power in the chaos emeralds to transform into Super Sonic, the er, golden fuzzball, and the fight is on.

Fortunately the battle's difficulty isn't as high as you'd expect. Chaos might look like a fearsome beast, but he's just a cuddly bunny when you get right down to it. Being pretty much invincible, the biggest threat to Sonic is his depleting ring supply. While in his super form, Sonic's ring collection depletes at a rate of one per second, and when he runs out, it's game over. So it becomes an issue of not only attacking Chaos and dodging its attacks, but making sure you don't find yourself running out of rings.

With the game's main theme blaring, the battle involves Chaos materializing at different areas in the sunken city. Sonic's objective is to charge through the flooded streets, gain enough speed, and smash his way right through Chaos and out through his head. If you're not going fast enough when you hit Chaos, Sonic doesn't have enough momentum to climb up and and hit his head, so keeping your speed up is imperative. Fortunately, in his Super form, Sonic is naturally very, very fast, and he's also helped by speed boosters laying on the broken chunks of road protruding from the water. Unfortunately, Chaos is perfectly aware of this, and has quite a few attacks that prove effective in knocking the speedster back. The beginning of the battle has Chaos unleashing huge blue energy beams and creating small tornadoes to block Sonic's path, but most gamers won't have much difficulty in avoiding them. After a few rounds, Chaos gets a little frustrated and phase two of the battle begins.

...Which, um, isn't terribly different to phase one. The music changed, and Chaos' attacks have increased in intensity, but nothing we haven't seen before. The battle mechanics remain the same. Sonic continues cruising down the streets at high speed to attack Chaos, launching attack after attack at the creature's head. After a few hits, the creature's rage is neutralized and it returns to its smaller humanoid form. Congratulations, the world is saved. The city could use some cleaning up though. Perhaps in Sonic Adventure Sunshine?

With Chaos' soul at peace, Robotnik's plans foiled and the Chaos Emeralds safely back at their rightful resting place, it looks like our heroes can take a well deserved vacation on Emerald Coast. Or maybe not. Sonic notices Dr. Robotnik making a quick getaway in that ever-annoying escape pod of his and gives chase. No rest for the wicked. Or the speedy.