This is when you really need to be a diehard Sonic the Hedgehog fan so you’ll know just what a Chao is and why the animated short, Chao in Space, makes any sense. Personally my interest in Sonic started to wane after the second game since things started getting a little too kooky and the characters they were introducing didn’t feel all that different from the main character after a while. But all in all this idea has managed to flourish throughout the years since it’s been around for a while at this point and has endured a few slips and trips throughout the history of the character, but have remained popular enough to stick around. If you’re wondering what the Chao are, they’re kind of like little digital pets that showed up in 1998 in the Sonic Adventure game that was so popular back in the day. Apparently they were cute enough that they managed to stick around and people actually took to them, and as a result here we are. But given that Sonic the Hedgehog live action movie is going to be coming out eventually it’s not too hard to think that we’re going to be seeing more and more of the blue-furred speedster since drumming up new ideas on how to bring the fans the information they want about the character and the world he inhabits is bound to be a good idea to get them excited for the upcoming movie.
The Chao do seem like kind of an odd idea though to place in the world of Sonic even with everything that’s been added throughout the years since they’re kind of an extra that doesn’t make complete sense as an addition but they are kind of a nice side attraction that players can mess around with. Overall the idea of Sonic has evolved and changed a bit, but obviously someone felt the need to involve the Chao a bit more and make a short film that allowed them to be more prominent as their childlike ways are kind of interesting and make them pretty endearing to the fans. That being said though it’s still an odd addition to Sonic since from the start this game and the character have been more or less entertaining largely because his main goal was to collect rings and defeat Dr. Robotnik/Eggman, which is of course the big goal by the end of the first game, along with finding and retrieving the many gems that are stuck in the midst of those annoying but important bonus levels that a player has to earn at the end of each level. How many of us spent a great deal of time trying to make sure we earned the bonus round and then shouted at the TV when we hit the wrong bumper and were unable to finish the round? I doubt it’s just me but I’m also betting that a lot of people don’t remember just how tough it was to make it happen. Mike Fahey of Kotaku could probably give you more on this.
I’m still sitting here trying to make sense of the Chao’s and in all seriousness they just seem to be little blobs that are meant to distract people with their cuteness and not do much else. The whole idea of one of them sleepwalking is kind of funny since sleepwalking is something that a lot of people can relate to and can state that they might have had some experience with. Having gone through it myself the one thing that anyone might tell you is to never try and wake up the sleepwalker for several different reasons. I wonder if that works the same with Chao? The funny thing about it is that the little guy is having one heck of a dream that goes up and down in intensity as first he’s fighting in a starfighter that gets hit and possibly temporarily disabled as his emotions seem to go up and down as he’s winning then losing then ready to fight again then losing since his starfighter gets obliterated. Just keeping up with the clip was easy enough but trying to really get into the idea of the Chao was, well, kind of tough since not having been around the little critters in the past kind of makes it a bit difficult to get a read on them since they’re basically little blobs that like to have fun and possibly antagonize each other. The sleepwalking bit was amusing, but poor Sonic at the end had to deal with his nose being tweaked and pulled at like a champagne cork and considering the cork was finally pulled in the dream you have to wonder just what happened the real world and how badly it hurt.
It’s an amusing little clip really, especially if you happen to know anything about the Chao.
Follow Us
