Knuckles' Chaotix

Knuckles' Chaotix is a 1995 side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Sega for the 32X. A spin-off to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game features Knuckles the Echidna and a collective of characters known as the Chaotix. The story follows the team in their efforts to prevent series antagonist Dr. Robotnik and his henchman Metal Sonic from obtaining the six Chaos Rings. The gameplay is similar to previous series installments; however, Knuckles' Chaotix introduces a partner system in which the player's character is tethered to another via Bound Rings with "rubber band" physics. The gameplay is based on using this mechanic to maneuver the characters through a series of levels.

Plot
Dr. Robotnik takes control of the island Newtrogic High Zone, and it's up to Knuckles the Echidna and a group of individuals (Espio, Vector, Charmy, and Mighty) to stop him before his plans are fulfilled!

Why It's A Blast from the Past

 * 1) Colorful graphics that look impressive for 1995.
 * 2) This is one of the few Sega 32X games that’s actually good. This means that the Sega 32X was safe from getting only bad games. Knuckles' Chaotix is basically an example how a good Sega 32X game can be like, thanks to how good the game was designed and programmed.
 * 3) Introduced the Chaotix (Vector, Espio and Charmy), who would later go on to appear in other games in the franchise. It also introduced two helper robots, Heavy and Bomb, who would fall into obscurity.
 * 4) Mighty The Armadillo makes his return from the arcade SegaSonic the Hedgehog.
 * 5) We get to see Metal Sonic fighting other heroes aside from Sonic, which is an interesting touch.
 * 6) A unique concept of having the characters tethered with the Bound Rings, allowing for some more speed and fun physics to mess around with.
 * 7) Amazing soundtrack. Door into Summer is considered the best song of the bunch and got a remix for Sonic Generations.
 * 8) The special stages show what the 32X can do, and they are pretty fun.
 * 9) Some of the boss fights have unique concepts.
 * 10) Each boss fight opens with a cutscene, and each of these introduction cutscenes are nice to look at.
 * 11) Sonic and Tails make a cameo during the good ending.
 * 12) Each character has their own abilities, and some character combos actually enhance the game.
 * 13) * Knuckles can glide and climb walls, as expected.
 * 14) *Espio can cling and walk on walls and ceilings.
 * 15) *Vector can air dash in 8 directions climb walls like Knuckles.
 * 16) *Mighty can jump from walls.
 * 17) *Charmy can fly and air dash indefinitely
 * 18) Special moves can be performed with the Bound Rings.
 * 19) Interesting power-ups, such as a power-up that makes the player smaller or larger.
 * 20) Like Sonic 2, CD and 3&K, this game uses some 3D (such as in the Special Stages and the Final Battle), which is pretty incredible for the 32X.
 * 21) The controls are rather responsive and tight for most of the game, as the characters move at a solid pace and make great use of the rubber banding mechanic implemented in this game.
 * 22) The gameplay is actually quite fun and enjoyable as it's about trying to get through a series of levels that have Knuckles, Mighty and the Chaotix that feature unique obstacles and gimmicks, and you have to do this while staying together with a rubber band, as while it can get annoying at times, once players have mastered it, the game can be rather challenging for most players and quite the fun ride.
 * 23) While not 100% great, the level design is pretty good for the most part and features some of the traditional hall marks that Sonic games are known for such as roundabouts and loopy-loops which are known to be staple of the series to this very day.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) False Advertising: The game's Western box art shows the Bound Rings with a rubber band, while in-game the Rings are attached with a magic force known as Ring Power.
 * 2) * For some reason, the PAL box art shows Metal Sonic in line with the heroes, even though he's an antagonist.
 * 3) The instruction booklet in the North American version comes off as bland and uninteresting compared to its Japanese counterpart.
 * 4) * As for the Japanese manual, Mighty's name is misspelled as Mighity.
 * 5) Depending on your view, the game uses the jump sound from Sonic CD as opposed to the usual sound from the mainline trilogy.
 * 6) The Chaos Rings are nothing more than pale imitations of the Chaos Emeralds that you would normally find in a regular Sonic game.
 * 7) The mechanics are rather clunky and get some time getting used to them especially the rubber banding which many people despise due to being hard to really master since it's very loose and tends to suffer from poor coding at times but overall isn't too bad since it's a bit easy to tolerate and can at least be accepted by most critics alike.
 * 8) * For starters, you also have to control the computer player next to you in order to jump through hard-to-reach platforms with the use of the Bound Ring, as it implies in the entire game.
 * 9) The bad ending is very harsh, while the good ending is underwhelming.
 * 10) * Speaking of the good ending, Sonic's legs are oddly colored Peach instead of Blue.
 * 11) Simple bosses.
 * 12) Heavy and Bomb are annoying to play as and true to their names. Heavy is super slow and Bomb can explode when hit. Also, said explosion can damage you.
 * 13) The levels have a shallow amount of enemies and secrets, and they can drag on for too long.