In his latest attempt to slow
Sonic the Hedgehog down,
Dr. Robotnik created a pair of harmless-looking boots that would slow the running speed of anyone who wore them. One day one of
Dr. Robotnik's Badniks swapped
Sonic's normal sneakers with the slow boots. Poor
Sonic put on the special boots without noticing anything unusual... until he tried to dash off. It was as if his feet were glued to the ground; he could barely move!
Dr. Robotnik informed him that the only way to take the sneakers off was to use
Chaos Emerald power, and the
Chaos Emeralds were in
Dr. Robotnik's mysterious Super
Labyrinth. Armed with nothing but his
Spin Dash,
Sonic headed into the Super
Labyrinth to get the
Chaos Emeralds and restore his speed, knowing full well he was walking into a trap.
Released in 1995 by Sega, this is probably the most unusual, clunkiest Sonic the Hedgehog game of them all. Sonic Labyrinth isn't really a Sonic game at all even though it does possess small elements of one. It's an involving skill game with enchanting music (probably the best ever on Game Gear), loads of secrets, and lots of Sonic goodies! Basically, it's like Marble Madness with a bit more control and a lot more depth. You can walk (but not run) and since your biggest enemy is the time limit, you're usually forced to Spin Dash all over the place. However, the trick is that spin dashing too quick can put you off worse than you were.
The idea is to collect the three keys in each level. There are four levels per zone and four zones in the game: Labyrinth of the Sky, Sea, Factory, and Castle. Each zone has a style that reflects its name. For example. the Sea levels have patches of water to traverse. Collect all three keys from a level and reach the goal before time runs out to move on.
As stated above, this isn't a traditional Sonic the Hedgehog game. It's slow, Sonic cannot jump, and the camera is aimed in an isometric viewpoint as in Sonic 3D Blast. It's worth a try just to say you've played it, but I wouldn't recommend scouring the ocean of Game Gear cartridges in search of this game. Instead try out Sonic Adventure DX for Nintendo GameCube which includes the game as a hidden bonus.