Tails Adventure

Tails Adventure (テイルスアドベンチャー, Teirusu Adobencha^?), also known as Tails Adventures, is a platfomer video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, released for the Sega Game Gear in 1995. Developed by Aspect and published by Sega, it is one of the two spin-off titles in the Game Gear to star Miles "Tails" Prower in a solo role, alongside Tails' Skypatrol.

The game occurs some time before the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.^{[note 1]} In the story, Cocoa Island, where Tails lives, has been invaded by the Battle Kukku Empire, led by the Great Battle Kukku, who seek the Chaos Emeralds to conquer the world. The gameplay in Tails Adventure is slower-paced than most Sonic titles, centering around the player exploring levels to find various gadgets to uncover secrets and access previously unreachable areas.

At launch, Tails Adventure received mixed reactions, with many finding it too similar to other platformers and weaker than most Sonic games due to its slower pace. Retrospective reviews commended the game for trying to stand out from other titles in the series, but felt it was too repetitive. The game has been included in multiple compilations since its release, including Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003), Sonic Gems Collection (2005), and Sonic Origins Plus (2023).

Plot

Miles "Tails" Prower lives on Cocoa Island, a small island in the south of Earth. According to legend, this island is the resting site of the Chaos Emeralds. One day, while Tails naps in a forest near his house, Cocoa Island is invaded by the Battle Kukku Empire; its leader, the Great Battle Kukku, wants the Chaos Emeralds to conquer the world, and sends a mining army to find them. Tails sets off to stop the army.^[5]

Tails makes his way across Cocoa Island, fighting the armies of the empire and collecting the Chaos Emeralds. He eventually infilitrates the regime's base, the Battle Fortress, and defeats the Great Battle Kukku, causing the ship to sink in the sea. During the credits, Tails celebrates his victory by building a large Remote Robot, but the robot explodes after it is completed.

Characters

Gameplay

Tails Adventure is a 2D side-scrolling action game based around puzzle-solving and exploration. The game branches off from the traditional high-speed gameplay of the Sonic games and focuses on collecting items and backtracking in Stages. Tails is the playable character of this game; he can walk around at medium speed and jump short distances. The height of the jump is proportional to how long the player holds the Jump button down. He can look up to make screen pan upwards to the overhead area and crouch to avoid enemy attacks and pan the screen downwards to the area below. Tails can also slowly push rocks and Springs and walk up low walls by pulling himself up from ledges.

Tails can perform his trademark Heli-Tails to move through midair. His flight is limited to the Flight Gauge on the left side of the screen (which appears only when using Heli-Tails) which drains while in flight. When the gauge empties, Tails falls down and the Flight Gauge refills itself afterwards. At the beginning of the game, the Flight Gauge only lasts for three seconds, but it can be extended by collecting Chaos Emeralds to last a maximum of fifteen seconds.

Tails can defend himself with a range of different items while on the ground on in midair, and can be equipped with up to four items, although only one can be used at the time. These items include a Hammer, various types of bombs, and character medallions, which allow him to perform additional actions, such as Spin Dashing or punching. During gameplay, the player can switch items while pausing the game.

Tails' health is measured numerically by the monitor-based health meter in the top left corner of the screen. Getting hit by enemies or hazards decreases the health meter while collecting Rings replenishes it. Should the health meter hit zero, the player receives a Game Over and is sent back to the title screen to start the game over. At the beginning of the game, the health meter has only ten points. However, it can be extended by collecting Chaos Emeralds to a maximum of ninety-nine. If Tails falls off-screen, the player gets send back to the overworld map.

Controls

Tails

Remote Robot

Sea Fox

Objects

Items

• Rings: Small Rings pop out randomly after breaking stone barriers or defeating enemies. Rings refill the health meter, but if the player do not touch them, they eventually disappear. Occasionally, they can be found lying around in hidden sections.

• Chaos Emeralds: Six differently-colored Chaos Emeralds are hidden throughout the game: red, green, purple, white, blue, and yellow. Collecting an Emerald extends Tails' health meter by ten points and his Flight Gauge by a few seconds. Getting five Emeralds prior to the sixth increases the health meter to its maximum of ninety-nine. Chaos Emeralds cannot be equipped, as they are always active.

Equipable items

Tails Adventure has twenty-six items to collect, each serving a different purpose. They are found in the Stages and picking them up saves them in the game. It can afterwards be equipped in Tails' House. Most items are necessary to proceed with the game, while others are only optional.

Remote Robot

Main article: Remote Robot

One of the central tools in Tails Adventure is the Remote Robot, a small robotic fox created by Tails. The Remote Robot can squeeze through narrow tunnels or exclusive sections that Tails cannot to collect items, activate switches or other tasks. The Remote Robot is also an equipable item that the player can choose.

The player activates the Remote Robot by pressing . Tails then becomes invulnerable to harm while the player takes control of the Remote Robot. To take control of Tails again, the player must call the Remote Robot back by pressing . On its own, the Remote Robot can push small rocks around and fly around without time limit (unlike Tails). However, the Remote Robot does not have any offensive abilities and will go back to Tails instantly should it take damage.

Sea Fox

Main article: Sea Fox

The Sea Fox is a mini-submarine previously seen in Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble. In this game, the Remote Robot can transform into the Sea Fox when the player enters underwater or flight-themed Stages. In gameplay, the player can control the Sea Fox in all eight directions and uses weapons. It also uses the same health meter system as Tails.

When controlling the Sea Fox for the first time, the player has Vulcan Gun equipped. Alongside Vulcan Gun, there are eight collectable items that can be equipped to the Sea Fox in the separated Dock room of Tails' House.

Equippable items

Gimmicks and obstacles

Conveyor Belt Electrical emitter Fire ball

Laser cannon Sea mine Spikes

Spring Switch

Characters

Playable characters

• Miles "Tails" Prower

Non-playable characters

• Flicky
• Battle Kukku Empire
  • Battle Kukku XVI (a.k.a. "Speedy")
  • Dr. Fukurokov
  • Great Battle Kukku

Enemies

Bat Robot (first appearance) Beehive (first appearance) Bomb Throwing Combatant (first appearance) Cannon Launcher (first appearance) Combat Hover Pod (first appearance) Combat Mini-Sub (first appearance) Combat Walker (first appearance) Drill Mole (first appearance)

Flying Bomber (first appearance) Jumping Combatant (first appearance) Little Kukku (first appearance) Nezu (first appearance) Pilot Combatant (first appearance) Robo Kukku (first appearance) Rock Throwing Combatant (first appearance) Sniper Kukku (first appearance)

Bosses

• Bird Walker
• Battle Kukku XVI (Polly Mountain 1)
• Mecha Golem (5-gou) (Cavern Island)
• Kukku Cruiser
• Mecha Golem (Volcanic Tunnel)
• Dr. Fukurokov (Coco Island)
• Battle Kukku XVI (Battle Fortress 2)
• Great Battle Kukku (Battle Fortress 2)

Stages

Tails Adventure has a total of twelve Stages, all set around Cocoa Island. Each Stage is a non-linear area separate into different sections, with several of them having multiple exits leading to other sections or the next Stage. The player's destination is decided from an overhead map screen, where a flashing point shows an accessible Stage. From the start (aside from Tails' House), the player can only enter Poloy Forest. However, multiple Stages later become available after clearing more Stages.

Certain Stages are not available on the map, and pathways leading to them are usually blocked by obstacles insurmountable until the required item to break them has been obtained (this usually leads to necessary backtracking). Several Stages have boss battles which declare themselves cleared once their boss is defeated. All the Stages in order are:

1. Poloy Forest
2. Volcanic Tunnel
3. Polly Mountain 1
4. Lake Rocky
5. Cavern Island
6. Green Island
7. Caron Forest
8. Lake Crystal
9. Polly Mountain 2
10. Coco Island
11. Battle Fortress (1 & 2)

Tails' House

Located on the south shore of Cocoa Island is Tails' House, a sub area for the player to equip collected items among other things. Here, there are four options to choose from on the top screen:

• EQUIP: The player progresses into the list of items picked up by Tails. Each item can be selected with the and picked up with . The player can only carry four items at the time which are shown on the bottom of the screen. Items which are not collected yet are listed as names without icons but cannot be chosen. The player can return to the main hub menu by pressing .
• DOCK: The separate menu for equipping items to the Sea Fox. Choosing EQUIP here leads to the separate list of items collected for the Sea Fox. Like in the previous section, only four items can be equipped. To return to this section, the player has to press . Should the player choose READY, the Remote Robot transforms into the Sea Fox and the player can enter Lake Rocky or the Battle Fortress. This option is not available if the player does not have the Remote Robot. By choosing EXIT, the player returns to the main menu.
• CONT: Tails Adventure supports the password system to resume a game. After progressing with the game, the player can enter this menu to see the password screen which displays sixteen characters in different formations. Write them down. To resume a game, select CONTINUE from the title screen. On the Password screen, highlight a character space with and press repeatedly until the desired character appears. The player can also can press repeatedly to cycle backwards. Repeat this process until the password is entered, then press Start to return to Tails' House.
• EXIT: Returns to the map screen.

Reception

Tails Adventure received generally positive reviews after its release. Electronic Gaming Monthly described it as "a solid adventure game", complimenting it for its colorful and sharp graphics, massive length, numerous secret areas, and similarity to the Super Mario series.^[10] GamePro gave it a positive review, praising the detailed and colorful graphics, the controls, and the music. However, the magazine also gave it an overall negative assessment due to the lack of speed in comparison to most Sonic games, commenting that "Snails' adventures would be more like it."^[11] The December 1995 issue of Sega Power rated the game as a 74% out of 10,^[13] while Sega Pro gave a score of 85% in November 1995.^[14]

Critics felt Tails Adventure was too similar to other platform games, and its slow pace made it weaker than other Sonic offerings. Famitsu felt it lacked any surprising elements and was disappointed it was much more standard than other Sonic games.^[16] Mean Machines Sega agreed, calling it "decidedly unoriginal," but believed secret areas and a steep learning curve made it interesting enough to continue playing.^[17] Mean Machines Sega felt some of the background textures repeated too much and Famitsu criticized the screen's narrow field of vision.^[17][16] 1UP called Tails Adventure and Tails' Skypatrol "the bottom of the barrel" and "nigh-unplayable portable titles from an era best forgotten."^[18]

In later compilation titles and re-releases, the game received mixed reviews. Morgan Sleeper of Nintendo Life gave a positive review for its Nintendo 3DS re-release, stating it being an "odd game out in the Game Gear's Sonic lineup, but it makes a sound case for its unique identity."^[19] Neal Ronaghan of Nintendo World Report criticized the game for being woefully hampered by the system’s limitations and uninspired design,^[12] while Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer described it as "intolerable" for all but a few moments, noting in particular that the health bar could be obscured by walls.^[20] Ryan Davis of GameSpot described Tails Adventure as a "generic and vaguely European 2D side-scroller that severely slows down Miles Prower's gait and arms him with bombs that he throws at enemies."^[21]

In March 2014, GamesRadar nominated Tails Adventure as the 21st best Sega Game Gear game of all time, describing it as a "slower, more puzzle-oriented side-scroller than the games he usually co-starred in."^[22]

Re-releases

Tails Adventure was featured as an unlockable game in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, and was later also included in Sonic Gems Collection. Along with many Game Gear titles, Sega re-released Tails Adventure for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013.^[23]

Tails Adventure & all the other Sonic Game Gear titles were re-released on Sonic Origins Plus, which came out on June 23, 2023 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch, & PC.

Adaptations

Main articles: Archie Sonic Universe Issue 17, Archie Sonic Universe Issue 18, Archie Sonic Universe Issue 19, and Archie Sonic Universe Issue 20

In June 2010, the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comics spin-off series, Sonic Universe, had a four issue adaption based on Tails Adventure which went by the title "The Tails Adventure". The comic's storyline involves Tails taking Antoine D'Coolette and Bunnie D'Coolette to the Cocoa Island on their honeymoon after their wedding.

The story arc loosely follows the video game. The storyline also marked the first appearance of the Battle Bird Armada, who had only been mentioned briefly by certain characters in the comic series.

Cheat codes

• Final password: By inserting the code "ADE6-AA2A-51A6-6D13", the player unlocks every Stage and item with all the bosses defeated, except for the final boss.

Staff

• Producer: Katsuhiro Hasegawa (K. Hasegawa)
• Director: Katsuhiro Hasegawa (K. Hasegawa)
• Game Designers: M. Simamura, O. Kodera
• Artists: Nobuhiko Honda (N. Honda), Shinichi Higashi (S. Higashi)
• Programmers: Kazuyuki Oikawa (K. Oikawa), Hiroyuki Saigusa (H. Saigusa), Yoshiaki Makishima (Y. Makishima)
• Sound Composer: Kojiro Mikusa (K. Mixa)
• Special Thanks to: Tadashi Ihoroi (T. Ihoroi), P. Tezuka, Hisayoshi Yoshida (H. Yoshida), R. Fujimura, Ryoichi Hasegawa (R. Hasegawa), Osamu Nakazato (O. Nakazato), Takeya Kojima (T. Kojima)
• Presented by: Sega

Trivia

• Tails Adventure holds the distinction of being one of a few games in the Sonic franchise where Sonic does not appear in-person (other more popular examples are Tails Skypatrol and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine), though his likeness makes a cameo as an item. It is also one of a few games in the series where Dr. Eggman does not appear at all (similarly to, for example, Sonic Eraser, Tails Skypatrol and Sonic and the Black Knight).
• The game is one of the few 90's Sonic games to share identical boxart between regions.
• Although Tails Adventure is the second Sonic game to feature Tails as the main character in western territories, Tails Skypatrol predates Tails Adventure by almost half a year, but was not originally released outside the Japan on its original platform. Tails and the Music Maker, the first game to star Tails as a title character, was released September 1994.
• Both the Japanese and international version of Tails Adventure are mostly the same. The Japanese title for the game (Tails Adventures) on the title screen is left intact instead of being changed to the western title. The only exceptions are the translation of the game's items and locations, which are named differently in the western release and the music on the password screen.
• Included amongst the various items, the Hammer bearing a surprising resemblance to the Piko Piko Hammer. Curiously, Tails Adventure was released half a year before Sonic the Fighters where the Piko Piko Hammer made its debut.
• In the game listing in Sonic Generations, the game is referred to as Tails' Adventure.

Notes

References

External links

• Tails Adventure at the Sonic Gems Collection website (Japanese)
• Tails Adventure at Sega's Virtual Console mini-site (Japanese)
• Tails Adventure at Nintendo's Virtual Console mini-site (English)
• Tails Adventure at Nintendo's Virtual Console mini-site (Japanese)