Story: Carnival Island (an amusement resort) is about to open, so guardian Knuckles needs to make sure that everything goes as planned. Dr. Robotnik wants the Power Emerald that supplies the energy to the island, so he brings a new invention to capture Knuckles and his friends: the Combi Confiner. Knuckles finds his friends imprisoned, and learns that he can free only one of his friends by using Ring Power. This power will keep him together with a friend like a rubber band. With teamwork, the Chaotix will put a stop to Robotnik or Carnival Island will be destroyed.

Levels: Unlike most Sonic games, Knuckles' Chaotix features non-linear stage progression. In other words, you don't play the stages in order. There are a total of five stages in Knuckles Chaotix:

~ Botanic Base - This is the easiest stage in the game. The levels are filled with lots of plants, so the area is mainly green.
~ Speed Slider - You can speed through this stage (no pun intended). The levels tend to go by quickly since there are a lot of springs and slopes.
~ Amazing Arena - Unlike the other stages, you actually have a mission to complete before finishing the level. Every so often an icon will appear in the upper right hand corner with the picture of the clock. Follow the direction of the arrow, and hit the button that lies near the clock. You can finish the stage without activating the clock, but you will have to repeat the stage again.
~ Marina Madness - just as the name suggests, this stage takes place on a boat. Every so often there will be a button on the ground. If you activate this, the boats will move around and take you to a different part of the stage.
~ Techno Tower - in order to finish this stage, you must make your way to the top of the tower. It's really easy to get to the top, but you can miss a lot of things along the way if you aren't careful.

Each individual stage has 5 levels. This means that at one time you could be on Botanic Base level 3, Speed Slider level 5, Amazing Arena level 1, and so on. You won't necessarily be on the same level on every stage.

Chaos Emeralds: There are no Chaos Emeralds in this game. Instead of Chaos Emeralds, there are six Chaos Rings to collect in special stages. Like most Sonic games, if you collect all of the Chaos Rings, you will get the good ending (otherwise you'll get the bad ending).

To get a Chaos Ring, you must first finish a level with 50 or more rings. A large ring will appear over the goal; hop inside the ring to enter the special stage. Just like Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, your goal is to collect blue spheres. However, you are in a world where you can walk on walls and ceilings, so that you don't know which way is up. I would describe it as a six-sided pipe (except for the fact that sometimes you actually have flat ground to walk on). There are also obstacles and spheres in the stage.

There are two major types of obstacles that you need to avoid: mines and buzz saws. Mines are scattered across the playing area, but they are stationary. Buzz saws will move in a straight line, making it harder to avoid.

There are also spheres that can help you. Spheres that have stars on them will bounce you backwards. A sphere with an "X" on it warns you of a hole. If you hit the sphere, it will bounce you backwards and it will then disappear. The other two types of spheres are green and yellow. Green spheres will bounce you upward, while yellow spheres will bounce you forward.

For the first Chaos Ring, you must collect 4 spheres. The total number of spheres to collect increases by two with each new stage, so for the sixth stage (i.e. the sixth Chaos Ring) you have to collect 14 blue spheres. It is also interesting to note that the number of rings that you have when you finish the level is used as your time limit. So if you have 100 rings, you have 100 seconds to collect the blue spheres. There are also rings scattered throughout the stage, which allows you to add to your time.

The special stages are divided into two parts, which I will refer to as "a" and "b." At the beginning of each part, the number of blue spheres that you have to collect will appear. The number stays the same for the level (so you have to collect 4 spheres for stage 1a and 1b). There are more blue spheres in the stage than the number you need to collect, but don't bother gathering more than what you need. The spheres do not carry over from stage a to b.

Miscellaneous: There are 7 playable characters in Knuckles' Chaotix, but you will only be able to control one character at a time. When you first start the game, you get to pick a Chaotix character (Knuckles, Mighty, Espio, Charmy, or Vector). Once you select your character, you go to the Combi Catcher. You control a crane machine to select one of the other Chaotix members or one of two robots (Heavy or Bomb).

Character Information:
~ Knuckles the Echidna: If you've played Knuckles in one of the previous games, then you're already familiar with his moves: glide and climb. Knuckles can glide if you jump, then press the button again. To climb, make Knuckles jump against the wall and press the button again.
~ Vector the Crocodile: Vector loves to run and listen to music (which is why he has a headset on his head). He has two special moves: power boost and climb. To perform a power boost, jump and then press the button again. Vector can also climb by using the same techniques as Knuckles.
~ Mighty the Armadillo: Mighty's first appearance was in the SegaSonic the Hedgehog coin-op game. As his name suggests, he is strong--but he's also smart and confident. The special moves for Mighty are kicking off of walls and jumping up walls. To make Mighty kick off a wall, you have to jump against the wall and press the button again. (This move takes some practice.) Mighty can jump off of walls by jumping against a wall, pressing the button again, holding the directional pad up, and pressing the button again.
~ Charmy Bee: Charmy just came here to look for flowers, but now he's helping the Chaotix. Unlike the other characters, Charmy's special moves are flying and hovering. Charmy flies by pressing the C button as you press the pad in any direction. In order to make Charmy hover, just press the directional pad up and press the C button.
~ Espio the Chameleon: Espio has a temper, but he is strong. Espio's two main moves are his ability to run up walls and run along ceilings. To run up a wall, jump against the wall, press the C button, and press up on the controller. In order to run along the ceiling, do the same technique to run up a wall and hold the C button when Espio meets the ceiling.

There are also two other characters that you won't be able to control (unless you hit a swap box, which temporarily makes you control the character):
~ Heavy: a robot that is heavy and slow.
~ Bomb: a robot that is not quick or strong and tends to blow up when in a bad situation (which can hurt your other character).

If you happen to have 20 rings, entrances to the bonus stage will appear in the shape of large rings. In the bonus stage you fall down a hole, and icons will float toward you. Some icons are good: they will give you rings, points, or slow down the speed of the Combi Catcher and the stage selection method. Other icons are bad: they will make you lose rings. As you fall, the number of rings you have decreases, counting down the time you have left in the bonus stage. Since it takes away rings, the bonus stage may be something to skip if you're trying to save rings for the special stage.

The final stage involves a fight with the fusion of Metal Sonic and Robotnik. (Basically, you fight a large Metal Sonic.) If you get the bad ending, you see the flames of destruction. The large Metal Sonic floats in the background and creepy music called "Destructive Power" plays in the background. If you collected the six Chaos Rings, then you get the good ending. The six Chaos Rings appear with the message "Cooool." The Chaotix appear in their positions (from the title screen) and Sonic and Tails hover in the Tornado. In the background stands Carnival Island, safe and sound. There is a medley of music from the entire game called "Just Another Day."

Unlike other Sonic games, you can repeat the special stage once you have finished all six stages. But this is not an easy task--the colorful floors, walls, and ceilings have been removed so that all you see is the wire frame. This makes it difficult because you cannot see if you're near a hole. It is possible to navigate your way through the stage and collect the blue spheres. If you are able to get to the Chaos Ring (again), you get 50,000 points! So it's worth a try to complete this difficult stage.

Knuckles' Chaotix is also playable with two players. Just select the two-player mode when you start the game. Is it harder to play with two players? Yes, but it can make the game more fun. Selecting two players works well if it is the first time you have played the game (but if you want to explore, play by yourself). You also get a better sense of teamwork by playing the two-player game. In order to do a lot of moves, you actually have to talk to your partner instead of relying on the "hold" function that appears in the one-player version.

General Tips for Playing Special Stages:
~ Try to get as many rings as possible before you enter the special stage. The more rings you have, the more time you have.
~ If you want to get all of the Chaos Rings, be aware of what save method you should use. Manual will let you save when you want, so you can reset if you fail the special stage. If you choose Auto save, pause the game when it looks like you're going to lose, then reset the game. It's easier to get rings in the earlier levels, so you may want to reset if you don't get 50 rings in a level.
~ When you hit a sphere that sends you backward, remember that it may not always send you backward to solid ground--especially if you move.


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