Just do it in an app
Back in my day, our 3DSonicgames had Chao Gardens. OK, so maybe it was only really forSonic Adventure 2, and anyone who was caught in that web at the time just eternally associates Chaos with Sonic (ha). To be fair, they have appeared in various games as mascots of sorts, and as several higher-ups in Sega have pointed out: they are present in spinoffs likeTeam Sonic Racing. Sadly,Sonic Frontierscontinues the trend ofnot having an in-game Chao Garden. But I think it’s time to change that.
I know some of you are probably sighing at the idea of digging up an old 3D Sonic trend, but there’s so much potential here. Most people liked the Chao Adventure gimmick with the VMU, right? While not quite a “garden” per se, the idea of getting a whole extra gamewithin a gamewas mind blowing at the time. I mean, the VMU was way ahead of its time too, but learning that you just boughtSonic Adventureand got a free digital Tamagotchi pet was insane:and part of the reason why the Dreamcast earned its reputationas a quirky and enduring console. All of that can be done within an app now, which can interact with any given futureSonicentry.
Funnily enough, producer forSonic Frontiers, Takashi Iizuka, laughed when asked about Chaos earlier this year. Game Informer spoke to him with a “rapid fire” question format, and asked “is there a Chao Garden in the game,” he replied firmly with a “no.” The next rapid fire question was “are Chaos just extinct at this point?” which he also replied with “no,” while laughing.You can find that segment here at this timestamp (4:50).
