The Sonic Adventure series is fondly remembered for successfully transitioning the blue blur into 3D, as well as its music and varied gameplay. However, another point of praise often referred to is the Chao Garden. Sadly, we haven’t seen a new iteration of it in over 20 years.
Given its successful integration into previous Sonic games, the advances in technology since the GameCube, and its potential as a standalone game, there’s never been a better time to bring the Chao Garden back.
What Is the Chao Garden?
Debuting in the 1999 hit Sonic Adventure, the Chao Garden became a recurring location for Chao, mystical creatures that inhabit Sonic’s universe.
Chao hatch from eggs that naturally spawn in these gardens or from special eggs you can buy in-game. By giving them fruit, animals you collect from stages, and Chaos Drives, you can raise their attributes. These stats are mainly used when competing in different Chao events, such as races or karate.
The attributes are:
|
Swim |
How quickly your Chao can swim, if at all. |
|---|---|
|
Fly |
How quickly your Chao can fly, if at all. |
|
Run |
How quickly your Chao can walk or run, if at all. |
|
Power |
Determines your Chao’s strength, which is used to climb cliffs or shake trees. |
|
Stamina |
Your Chao’s constitution, which determines the size of its stamina bar in races and karate. |
|
Luck |
Hidden stat determining how often a Chao trips or if it chooses the correct lane in races. |
|
Intelligence |
Hidden stat responsible for solving puzzles quickly. |
As fun as the events are, arguably the biggest allure comes from simply raising the Chao. There is a huge amount of customization regarding them since their appearances change depending on what stats are the highest.
This variability isn’t just dependent on one stat, either. Because Chao have both child and adult life stages, their appearance will change two separate times. Chao also have alignments and can be neutral, Hero, or Dark, depending on who raises them and how kind that character is to them.
They’re a Perfect Reprieve From the Fast-Paced Action Stages
The neutral Chao Garden in Sonic Adventure 2.
Sonic games have become even more adrenaline-inducing than they were years ago, thanks to an increased emphasis on speed and platforming. It’s thrilling, but sometimes overwhelming; the Chao Garden would offer a peaceful break.
Finding the Chao Key in each stage of Sonic Adventure 2 rewards players with a trip to the Chao Garden, where they can visit Chao and drop off any Chao-related items they collected. This would be great for current Sonic games because it gives players a reason to explore stages more thoroughly (to find the Chao Key) and it encourages replayability.
Newer Sonic games include missions or time trial goals to incentivize revisiting stages, but Chao could add yet another layer. For example, certain animals are only available in particular stages in Sonic Adventure 2, making it necessary to replay them if you are looking for something specific.
This also culminates in a satisfying, cyclical gameplay loop, since the action stages and the Chao Garden are intertwined. No matter where you are in-game, you’ll always feel like you’re working toward a new goal. And the best part is that the Chao Garden can be completely optional, so those who don’t want anything to do with them don’t have to worry about it.
Technological Advances Would Make it Better Than Ever
Sonic mentions a Chao Garden in Sonic Frontiers.
The previous Chao Gardens were constrained by the technical limitations of the Dreamcast, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance, yet are still praised for their depth to this day. Considering that was many console generations ago, there is a lot of untapped potential.
In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, you only have three different gardens that can hold a maximum of eight Chao each, not to mention the hubs themselves are small. The Chao Kindergarten is also quite basic, including only a few rooms for you to visit when bringing a Chao.
New iterations of the Chao Garden could be significantly bigger, house more Chao, and contain more activities for them to autonomously do while you visit. Events such as races and karate could be more fleshed out, in addition to brand-new activities. Beauty contests like those in the Pokémon games could take place, with players equipping Chao with different clothing, accessories, and even animal parts.
The internet being so accessible paves the way for other features, too. There could be real-time races and tournaments, Chao Garden lobbies where people can interact with one another, players trading eggs with one another, and a “Chao Bank” to store and sort your Chao.
At the very least, if the Chao Garden isn’t included in a game, it would be interesting to see how it would appear in one of the fantastic Sonic the Hedgehog video game movies.
It Would Make a Great Mobile Game
A loafing Chao before a race in Sonic Adventure.
In an interview with Video Games Chronicle last year, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka told the outlet that despite it being the top request his team receives, the Chao Garden is part of the Sonic Adventure series and can’t be its own game. While that’s a disheartening response, I do think the nature of the Chao Garden and raising Chao would actually make an amazing mobile game.
Many mobile games possess time-gated mechanics, which you could use to acquire stat-boosting items for the Chao in your garden. Sonic Adventure 2 has a kindergarten, which serves several purposes. A Chao game could have something like that, where you leave your Chao there and certain stats will get higher as time passes.
The Amy, Tails, and Knuckles Chaos in Sonic Adventure 2.
Special events could debut unique eggs, such as jewel eggs from the Sonic Advance series. SEGA could even reintroduce some of the special character Chao, like Tails, who could only be acquired internationally if you played Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2. They could even create Chao based off of other notable SEGA franchises like Super Monkey Ball, Shenmue, and Persona.
Similar to the Animal Crossing games, players could customize their Chao Gardens and have friends come visit and gift them supplies. Sonic Adventure 2 has neutral, Hero, and Dark Chao Gardens, which could serve as the framework for players to really personalize the gardens. And instead of Sonic characters being the only ones who can raise Chao, certain SEGA characters could do it as well.
Upcoming Games Could Include Chao Garden Features
A promotional image from the Sonic x Shadow Generations x Chao manga.
Something else the Chao Garden does wonderfully is function as a link to other games. Besides the Sonic Adventure series, it makes a couple of appearances in Sonic Advance 1, Sonic Advance 2, and Sonic Pinball Party as the Tiny Chao Garden.
This simplified Chao Garden has exclusive eggs you can buy and transfer to the Sonic Adventure games, providing an incentive to buy the portable games and replay the levels. Minigames are often my favorite part of AAA games, and that’s due in large part to the Chao Garden. I literally bought the Sonic Advance games solely to raise Chao and I would do it again.
On that note, SEGA possesses a diverse portfolio of brands, and upcoming games could include bonuses to add to someone’s Chao Garden. For instance, the impending Jet Set Radio reboot could have exclusive Chao and accessories you can acquire in the mobile Chao Garden when you buy the game.
Though a seemingly small addition to the Sonic Adventure series, the Chao Garden defined many players’ experiences with the games. The lovable nature of the Chao, their vast degree of customization, and the activities associated with them provided dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of enjoyment.
I know I’m not alone when I say a new Chao Garden, whether it’s a standalone feature or part of an upcoming Sonic game, would make a lot of people happy.
