Sonic Pocket Adventure Best Ending FAQ

      Sonic Pocket Adventure Best Ending FAQ

Q: What...is this game?
A: Pocket Adventure is one of the least talked about Sonic games, as a result of it being on the NGPC. But it's actually quite good! A lot of people mention the mishmash of other games (Sonic 2 level design, S3K music, Advance-like visuals), but it actually holds it's own as a really fun game imo. For a handheld game from the 90s, it holds up quite nicely.

Q: What are you playing on, it is emulator?
A: Yes. Given this game was only released on the Neo Geo Pocket Colour, playing on emulator is by far the most preferred method when it comes to recording.

Q: What is Best Ending?
A: It just means getting the good ending in the game. You could also call it All Chaos Emeralds, as that's what triggers the ending (though it's slightly less accurate, since you technically don't need to beat Chaotic Space to get all the chaos emeralds, and this run does.)

Q: How do you get Chaos Emeralds in this game?
A: By finishing an Act 1 stage with 50 rings, a large ring at the end spawns to take you to a special stage (like Sonic 1). The Special Stage is pretty much exactly like they are in Sonic 2 (though with different layouts). Keep in mind you can only do this in Act 1 stages, not Act 2, and you have to do it for EVERY act 1 stage, as you need all 6.
Then, going into Last Utopia, Eggman has the last Chaos Emerald attached to the boss. You have to hit it multiple times to dislodge it, and pickup the final Chaos Emerald. Note if you defeat the boss accidently before doing this, you will not get the emerald, and the run is over.

Q: What is the flower thing in the Special Stages?
A: That's an extra continue. I always dodge these on purpose, because if you pick one up the continue jingle plays after the special stages, which wastes a couple of seconds.

Q: What is the World Record?
A: See: Splits | https://www.speedrun.com/sonicpocketadventure#Best_Ending
(No one has done a run, so whatever I have is "WR")

Q: What's goal time?
A: I think a 31:3x.

Q: Are there tricks in this run?
A: There is only one useful glitch. In Secret Plant 2, there is a skip that involves jumping over a path swapper, which makes it look like I jump through a few walls to get to last in the level much faster.

In regards to general tricks, 'tippy jumps' are an often critical part of this run. A tippy jump is one a jump that is done right on the point of a slope, such that you get the best of both slopes in height and velocity forwards. Tippy jumps are in most 2D Sonic games, but they are much more critical in this game than others because of the differences in aerial speed and deceleration compared to others.

(Note that I don't have split icons up yet since I don't have splits yet)
Q: What is with those split icons? What does A and C mean?
A: (Idea totally stolen from Kinghippo, who got idea from MCR)
This is a grading system for all of my splits. I'm sure you are familiar with grades, A+ being the best then going down from there. So the idea is, if the split has an A+ next to it, my time there was really good and would be very difficult to beat. If it's a C though for example, it was quite poor, and I should be able to save time there pretty easily.

This way, everyone watching has more accurate information on where I can save time, and where I should be making up time. Also that all time loss is not equal, as losing time vs an A+ split isn't really that bad, whereas losing time vs a C split is really bad. This is a fairly new idea for me, but I really like it, and want to use it on occasion for some of my games (particularly when I can make it pretty accurate). It'll probably take a while for a lot of people watching to pick up the meaning so I will appreciate everyone who explains how this works (correctly) in chat to new people. I hope you guys like it too.