The NeoGeo Pocket Color may not be enjoying the incredible success the Game Boy Color is having ¿ but despite the much lower sales of the handheld, the NeoGeo Pocket Color still manages to wow us with a library of quality titles. What's more, SNK seems adamant about bringing titles you can only get on the NeoGeo Pocket Color ¿ they've struck deals with Namco, Capcom, and Sega, and one of the biggest deals was snagging Sega's own mascot for his first color portable adventure since the Game Gear.continues SNK's tradition of quality over quantity, and in this case it's one of the best titles you can pick up for the system. Just as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is the top of the line action platformer for the Game Boy Color, Sonic Pocket Adventure is the perfect action platformer for the NeoGeo Pocket Color.

Features

Six zones, 12 levels and bonus round

Normal and time-trial modes

Battery back-up

Link cable support for two players

Only for NeoGeo Pocket Color

Right when you turn on the system you're in for a true Sonic adventure ¿ the splashscreen that kicked off Sonic's life on the Genesis, the "Sega" logo with the digitized "Say-Gah!" choir, chimes in upon power-up. Sonic Pocket Adventure is a return to the original Sega Genesis game design, but also adds elements from Sonic 2 as well. But let me make this absolutely clear: this is an original Sonic adventure, not a conversion of existing Sonic games. The levels in Sonic Pocket Adventure are based in style around past Sonic games, but they're laid-out exclusively for the NeoGeo Pocket Color game.

Each zone is broken into two levels, and in each level, you're treated to all the Sonic elements that made this hedgehog special ¿ loops, corkscrews, jumps, springboards, halfpipes, and tunnels. The idea is simply to get from the start of the level to the end, all the while spin-attacking enemies and collecting rings for bonus points, lives, and levels. The rings also keep Sonic alive ¿ as long as he's holding at least one ring, he can survive an enemy hit. Sonic also has a Spin-Dash maneuver that gives him the ability to accelerate from 0-60 in zero flat. This dash will help him get up hills he doesn't have enough running momentum for, as well as to bash through secret tunnels. This is the real deal, folks. There's even a few platform elements created specifically for this portable game -- like the platform viewed top-down in the first level.

Sonic has always been about speed, and he doesn't disappoint on the NeoGeo Pocket Color system. He'll zip down, up, around certain parts of levels so fast it'll make your head spin. The little graphic details are stunning ¿ the animators even put in the flapping ears when Sonic's cruising across the level. The only things really missing here are the multi-level scrolling backgrounds of the Genesis version. But to be quite honest, this technical omission so minor that you won't miss this element or even care that it's not here. It has to be mentioned, though, that some portions do slow down ¿ especially during later levels when you have to do more platform hopping than running. It seems that moving objects like the platforms wreak a little havoc on the game engine ¿ but don't think that it distracts that much from the enjoyment of the game...because it doesn't.

If you hold fifty rings at the end of a level, you'll be awarded the opportunity to score the coveted Chaos emeralds in the game's graphically impressive bonus level. Here, you'll run through a pseudo-3D halfpipe, grabbing rings and avoiding obstacles to earn enough rings to snag one of the gems. What happens when you score all seven? Hmm...

The new puzzle elements really make this game shine. Hidden within each level are diamond pieces that you have to find and collect. Once you've collected that specific piece, it's yours until you wipe the battery backup clean. Every diamond piece you collect is a piece of a puzzle that can be accessed in the "Puzzle Mode" option at the main menu ¿ each piece of the puzzle is a section of a 4x4 grid of a Sonic-related picture, which you'll have to put together by plopping them down on the grid in the right order. What happens when you've completed a picture? Actually, I couldn't tell you ¿ the first level has two pieces that I can see but cannot get to, which prevents me from completing the first picture. It's frustrating, but there's gotta be a way...

The puzzle elements turn the 2D Sonic from its original "get from start to finish as fast as you can" style game into a game of exploration. You have to backtrack a lot to uncover the hidden collectibles, and in some cases you'll find yourself trying to stop Sonic from blowing past certain portions of the level just so you can search out the little platforms to find them. The puzzle pieces may seem minor, but they add so much to the replay value, and add something the original 2D Sonic games never had ¿ exploration.

Like most NeoGeo Pocket Color titles, Sonic Pocket Adventure even supports the link cable, adding two player modes as long as you've got two systems and two copies of the game. These two modes are excellent ¿ one player plays as Sonic, the other Tails the Fox (the one who started the link mode always plays as Sonic). In "Sonic Rush", you'll have to race your opponent from the beginning to the end of a game's level ¿ here, you'll see a fuzzy silhouette of the other player, but you cannot interact with him. If he gets off-screen, an arrow points to where he is in relation to where you are. The first person to the end of the level wins. The other mode, "Get the Rings", puts you both on different versions of the same level ¿ at the beginning of the game, a random counter tells you how many rings you must get to win the game. You can't see the other person in "Get the Rings", which is handy since you're both working on independent levels and you're not stealing rings from each other.

To keep the game fair in these link-up modes, if one cartridge hasn't reached the higher levels that the other cartridge has, only the lower levels that both players have seen are playable in two-player mode. The slowdown that happens in certain one-player levels really shows up in link-up mode, but it's nothing to complain about, really. Each system needs to constantly sync up with each other ¿ and for a game as fast as Sonic Pocket Adventure, the slowdown is totally forgivable.