I think there are small animals in Sonic 4.

Just FYI, it's Flickies.

Don't get me started on the green ones.

Don't get me started on the green ones.

you can't resist the succulence

Ooh, I can take those green ones.

Lord knows I wanted to that to them in game.

Yeah, the Flickies are returning in Sonic 4. I've even seen Pocky (USA: Johnny Lightfoot) in one screenshot.

Don't forget, all the original Animal Friends (as they tend to be known) appear in the "Mario & Sonic at the..." games.

But forget Flicky. Pecky is forever my favourite.

The Flickies were replaced by the Babylon Rogues hehehehe...

i liked the babylon rogues acutally, and the city .. it looked like finally they made a city for humanoid animals like sonic.

but that's good news about the flickies (thanks for the name correction kayla) being in sonic 4
oh btw this is the same flicky from sonic right?

that game was so much fun, why dont they put sidequest levels like that in sonic?
why did sonic abondon his friends!

why dont they put sidequest levels like that in sonic?

They did!

Not to mention, IIRC, in both Adventure games, you could get bonus points for gathering every small animal in the level.

the adventure games hmmm......  i dont remember that, sonic 3D blast was fun but making a whole game of it again will be boring in my opinion.
i'd like to see the flickies not just any animals -.- besides i miss the old idea of sonic saving animals it would be a good cause for him instead of leaning on other characters for storylines.

and let's face it sonic needs more cuteness in it.

*coughcoughchaocoughcoughchipcoughcough*

Not that there's anything wrong with Chao.

Sonic Retro has a full list of Sonic Animal Friend's, along with sprites and zone locations: http://info.sonicretro.org/Animals

The species of each animal should be easy to figure out, although Wocky is a bit of a mystery - He looks like a mokey in the sprite, but I swear he's a beaver...

EDIT: No. Aparantly Wocky was a monkey.

The Flickies and other Animal Friends got mad for not having screentime and decided to attack Sonic instead.
 
Here is a reporter's photo of the terrible scene as it took place.

The traitorous little turncoat.

"The species of each animal should be easy to figure out, although Wocky is a bit of a mystery - He looks like a mokey in the sprite, but I swear he's a beaver..."

i have no idea how you could've mistaken that <pat's blue's shoulder>

in SA they didnt give them names which doesnt make them sonic's friends. actually if i remember correctly werent they knuckles's friends too? i think in S3's intro he was saving them from eggman right?  the flickies and friends had a role to play in the story... and for eggman's robots to work.

and for eggman's robots to work.

Err, Eggman's bots in SAdv 1 and 2 also had animals. They just weren't the same ones from the 16-bit games.

Seriously, I dont understand your hangup on Flickies. They were just... there. A small little sprite people can barely make out, hopping out of that dead robot under your feet. I mean, they were never a big part of the story, other than SA. That's ONE exception. But... it was still lame. Seriously, I dont understand.

Well, it's implied that the animal dies if the shark jets in Hydrocity hit you.

Seriously! When one of the jets injure you, no animal pops out!

Gonna side with Epi here, given they had a mini-mythos with Flickies Island and Gamma and Beta were pretty well developed little characters for flappy little birds who just looked cute, they have had way more exposure than they really should have. You can't really argue that we haven't seen enough of the small birds that escape from Buzzbombers, when Fang/Nack has less plot significance than they have had over the years.

Let's move on. The robot designs have changed, we have GUN stuff now, chaos drives. The new era is very far removed from the Genesis era stuff, and though we're getting a throwback with Sonic 4, the main games will never go back to the organic battery "Must save South Island" adventures.

Probably for the better, too. As convoluted and terrible as the Sonic plots can be at times, they have a habit of getting us talking

um... kayla the chao arent cute, i would never cuddle one if i saw it floating or whatever they do... they're so weird and emotionless looking aliens. >_<  Cream makes a better pet.

"Let's move on. The robot designs have changed, we have GUN stuff now, chaos drives. The new era is very far removed from the Genesis era stuff, and though we're getting a throwback with Sonic 4, the main games will never go back to the organic battery "Must save South Island" adventures"

i liked sonic cause it was colorful and cute, the only reason i still play it is cause of the charcter being so brightly colored and fun to look at. but the game did change a lot -.- its not cute like before, the old games were cute all around even the bad robots were cute. now everything is grey and depressing. even tails isnt as cute as he used to be.
so maybe if the cute animals are back sonic will get some element of cutness back.

and the flickies are my favorite ones, if even just them make a return to the games it will be such an improvment like putting a window in a closed dark room. i'm sorry if i dont make much sense its just the way i see it. a game of furries should be cute at some level.

um... kayla the chao arent cute, i would never cuddle one if i saw it floating or whatever they do... they're so weird and emotionless looking aliens

*sad music*

um... kayla the chao arent cute, i would never cuddle one if i saw it floating or whatever they do... they're so weird and emotionless looking aliens. >_< Cream makes a better pet.

I don't know you anymore.

*Hugs my Angel Chao plushie and ignores any mean words said to the adorable waterdrop baby creatures* Shhh, shh, it's okay. If anyone tries to hurt you, big daddy Chaos will eat the seven emeralds and crush them.

eh psx that pic only makes me find chao less lovable >_<  sorry you guys but i just cant see how you think THAT is cute? ... waterdrop? is that what it is? i thought it was an alien all this time.
shadow is an alien (unless i misunderstood his game) so it wasn't far fetched of an idea.

Shadow is, IIRC, half alien, half genetically-engineered ultimate life-form. Also he's one-eighth Cherokee. The game in which Chao were introduced suggested they were related to whatever Chaos was (Elemental god? Anthropomorphic amoeba? PMSing maid?). Also Mada, if you can honestly watch a chao pull a trumpet out out of hammerspace and toot a happy little tune without being immobilized but the sheer "AWWWWWWWWWW" of that image, you have no soul.

Shadow is, IIRC, half alien, half genetically-engineered ultimate life-form. Also he's one-eighth Cherokee. The game in which Chao were introduced suggested they were related to whatever Chaos was (Elemental god? Anthropomorphic amoeba? PMSing maid?). Also Mada, if you can honestly watch a chao pull a trumpet out out of hammerspace and toot a happy little tune without being immobilized but the sheer "AWWWWWWWWWW" of that image, you have no soul.

So is it the "alien" part or the "genetically-engineered" part that was one-quarter cherokee? 

Cuteness is subjective though, which sort of addresses both the "how can you call it cute" and "how can you not call it cute" reactions. For what it's worth I consider them cute as well, but they are kind of strange... not quite emotionless-looking though, I'm not sure how much of the chao garden you've played if you look at them that way. If anything, they can be alternating-mood. Like how if a chao who is hatched with a smile but is pissed off at one of the characters gets picked up by said character, it will alternate between "now I'm angry!" and "now I'm happy!"

Haven't been following the overall topic though.

The strange part is that Shadow is one-eighth Cherokee on his alien side - making Black Doom 1/4 Cherokee...

I always thought Birdie, Gamma, and Beta were Flickies, and that the other small animals from the Adventure series were the 3-D upgrades of the Genesis -cky animals.

Anyways, I find Chao cute, in a weird sort of way. My biggest disappointment with the Sonic series post-SADX is that Sonic Team not only never gave us a proper handheld version of the Dreamcast/Gamecube Chao Gardens, but completely abandoned the concept.

I feel like firing up my Wii for some Chao raising.

I'd kill for a stand alone Chao raising game in the vein of Monster Rancher or Pokemon.

I mean with three alignments, four different attributes, and the fact that Chao take on characteristics of pretty much anything they come in contact with and can breed, it's a wonder the concept hasn't been jumped on yet.

Also Mada, if you can honestly watch a chao pull a trumpet out out of hammerspace and toot a happy little tune without being immobilized but the sheer "AWWWWWWWWWW" of that image, you have no soul.

Even better is after you've spent hours caring for the adorable little critters, they repay that love by skipping along behind and rubbing up against you like a kitten. I squeed the first time my Chao did that.

I'm absolutely shocked that someone can honestly not call chao cute but emotionless as well. I dare you to call these and him emotionless.

I'd kill for a stand alone Chao raising game in the vein of Monster Rancher or Pokemon.

I mean with three alignments, four different attributes, and the fact that Chao take on characteristics of pretty much anything they come in contact with and can breed, it's a wonder the concept hasn't been jumped on yet.

Not to mention all the possibilities for expanding the Chao's World such as more small animals, new base colors, larger and more diverse Gardens. Of course, even if it was nothing but a cheap DS/PSP port of the SA2B/SADX Chao Engine and their Chao gardens with no improvements whatsoever, I would try to buy it on release day.

Also, anyone know where I could get images of Chao who have a full set of parts from each animal?

I don't know about images, but there should be some Chao FAQs at GameFAQs that detail what animal gives what part. I might sit down this summer and make such a list.

Chao Island has images of the different types though, including the all three Chaos Chao alignments.

I know that dragons give horns, antenna, arms, legs, tail and wings. Not to mention it lets them breathe fire. I have a Hero Running Chao with those parts.

I love the bats and half-fish though. One of my favorite Chao that I raised is a Dark Running Chao (I can't remember if he was a Shadow Chao or not). He has an itty bitty flame instead of the typical spike ball and he's legless.

Yes, I understand that a Running Chao with no legs is paradoxical.

I'm gonna have to back up Sonicsfan on this one guys. Chao are ugly, infuriating, and somehow sickening in their appearance...not sickeningly cute, just sickening. I never got the point of them, and truth be told they're one of the main reasons I haven't to date bothered to buy myself a Dreamcast and check out some of the Sonic games I missed on that platform. If they hadn't been in the games, I might just have done so.

Flickies, on the other hand, ARE cute. Very cute indeed. And what's more, one could imagine them actually being a plausible, believable character that wouldn't insult my intelligence every time they put in an apearance (as Chao do). While I'm not voting for the Sonic games to 'grow up' as I know very well they were and still are aimed at a younger audience, I do think that Chao can only really appeal to preschoolers and toddlers, whereas I could forsee a Flicky actually being a workable character in a Sonic story that would work for older gamers as well. Indeed, a Flicky is one of the major characters in a little Sonic fan project I'm working on myself at the moment, and is contributing to said project in all kinds of ways simply by his presence and character potential.

Chao are not cute imo, neither in appearance, nor in their babyish mannerisms, and they do not contribute in any way to the Sonic universe. Flickies, on the other hand, are both awesome and cool, and we really, really need to see more of them.

NO. NO. NO. Mada, if the only thing you ever liked about Sonic was the color and brightness and cutoscity (thar I go makin up ma own werds) then you can like pack your bags and leave the franchise or something because that doesn't exist anymore. Actually, it does still exist, you just for some reason cant find it cute. You havent just forced Craig into it, but me, and probably others too, went and just hugged my Chao plushie with the only thought in my head being "HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT"

Honestly, I dont even think flickies are cute at all. They're just there, in fact, THEY never show any emotion. Its like the more you post about this it makes me want to slam my face into a desk repeatedly. Chao show plenty of emotion. I DONT UNDERSTAND THIS

dude chill

Chao are not cute imo, neither in appearance, nor in their babyish mannerisms, and they do not contribute in any way to the Sonic universe.

Have you forgotten that it was the Chao that set the events of Sonic Adventure in motion?

If Pachamac and his tribe hadn't massacred the Chao at the Master Emerald altar, Chaos would've never gone insane with anger. If Chaos had never gone insane, he wouldn't have been sealed in the ME. If he hadn't be sealed away, Eggman wouldn't have needed to smash the ME to release him. Had Chaos not been released, there'd be no Sonic Adventure. Everything that happened in SA1 can be directly traced back to the Chao.

Also, Cream would be useless without Cheese. Without the little blue cannonball, she practically has no offensive abilities whatsoever.

Flickies, on the other hand, are both awesome and cool, and we really, really need to see more of them.

Oh really? What have the Flickies done aside from being living batteries for Eggman's bots? What have they contributed to the franchise as a whole, aside from being tiny feathered, damsels in distress? Nothing. They were nothing but a pain in Sonic 3D Blast especially the bouncy red ones and the fragging dumb green ones.

It's a good thing Kaze's not around right now.

Have you forgotten that it was the Chao that set the events of Sonic Adventure in motion?

If Pachamac and his tribe hadn't massacred the Chao at the Master Emerald altar, Chaos would've never gone insane with anger. If Chaos had never gone insane, he wouldn't have been sealed in the ME. If he hadn't be sealed away, Eggman wouldn't have needed to smash the ME to release him. Had Chaos not been released, there'd be no Sonic Adventure. Everything that happened in SA1 can be directly traced back to the Chao.

I don't know, I've never played the SA games. And as I
said in my previous post, one of the main reasons for that is because
of the Chao. From that description, however, it strikes me that they
facillitated the plot of the game simply by their existance, an element
which could have been acchived quite well enough by another creature
(like, for instance, a Flicky) which would have been far more cute and
adorable. What I have seen of the way they act (in games like SH and
videos on the net) leads me to believe that they contribute nothing in
themselves, nothing that could not be offered more effectivley and with
far more finesse by another creature that wasn't so ugly and infuriating.

Also,
Cream would be useless without Cheese. Without the little blue
cannonball, she practically has no offensive abilities whatsoever.

Cream is useless anyway She's another character that's irritating, although fortunately not quite as irritating as the Chao themselves.

Oh
really? What have the Flickies done aside from being living batteries
for Eggman's bots? What have they contributed to the franchise as a
whole, aside from being tiny feathered, damsels in distress? Nothing.
They were nothing but a pain in Sonic 3D Blast especially the bouncy
red ones and the fragging dumb green ones.

I respectfully disagree. Think about the potential
Flickies have with their abillity to generate warp rings and traven
through dimentions. Warp rings in themselves are a major plot device of
the Sonic series, so to have characters that can control and adjust
them is a big element that opens up a whole lot of potential for game
elements and stories. Think of Sonic warping into the other dimention
in The Final Fight level in Sonic 3D for example, a journey which
wouldn't have been possible without the chaos emeralds and the help of
the Flickies.

Some seem to be thinking of Flickies as nothing more than unintelligent
animals, but remember that in the ending of Sonic 2, it was a Flicky
that told Tails Sonic survived the explosion of the Death Egg - you can
see it in the cutscenes. And the fact that Flickies surround Tails in
his super form are a further testament to both those facts, that they
are more intelligent than they appear and that they have an affinity
and control of chaos energy. These elements have hardly yet been
explored, but I'm sure you'll agree that they're very intriguing and
offer a whole lot of storytelling potential that could be expanded upon
in the games.

Flickies have not been a serious part of the game scene so far only
because they have not been used, not because they lack the potential.
Whereas Chao appear to me to be nothing more than a plot device, a
means to an end rather than an end in themselves, and an ugly and
irritating one at that.

Think about the potential Flickies have with their abillity to generate warp rings and traven through dimentions.

Except we've had warp rings long before 3D Blast. I refuse to believe that the Flickies had anything to do with them.

Besides, why should Flicky get all the attention? What about Becky, Cucky, Locky, Pecky, Picky, Pocky, Ricky, Rocky, Tocky, and Wocky? What about them? What makes the bird so special? Are the other -cky animals not special enough? Pocky and Cucky are so much cuter than Flicky.

The sense of fail in this thread is overwhelming...O.o;

Wraith, I don´t understand your aversion to the SA games basing on your dislike of Chao.

The Chao Gardens were an optional game element, you never need to visit them in order to complete the story. The only moment you ever needed to care about their existance was if you were going for all emblems.

It would be like... refusing to play Sonic 2 because you don´t like the slot machines in Casino Night Zone.

NiGHTS Chao, Sonic Chao, and Shadow Chao would beg to differ.

Wraith, I don´t understand your aversion to the SA games basing on your dislike of Chao.

The Chao Gardens were an optional game element, you never need to visit them in order to complete the story. The only moment you ever needed to care about their existance was if you were going for all emblems.

It would be like... refusing to play Sonic 2 because you don´t like the slot machines in Casino Night Zone.

The issue here was that I didn't know that detail Erika. I didn't have a Dreamcast, never bought one as a matter of course since I only had a limited ammount of cash and wanted to spend it on a Playstation. However I would have saved up the extra capital to go out and get one if the games on it had looked promising. The trouble is, I looked at SA, saw Chao in the advertisements, and immediately was put off. I didn't know they were only a small feature at the time, had I known that I might have gone ahead and got one anyway, but at the time I was under the impression they were a major part of the game.

They weren't the exclusive reason I didn't get the console and games, there were other reasons too. Had I been offered the chance to get them for a decent (cheap) price I would probably have picked them up even with the Chao in them. However the Chao were one of the main reasons that I didn't make a concerted effort and go out of my way to get them, which I otherwise would have done (and in fact did do with the old Genisis/Megadrive games).

Except we've had warp rings long before 3D Blast. I refuse to believe that the Flickies had anything to do with them.

Besides, why should Flicky get all the attention? What about Becky,
Cucky, Locky, Pecky, Picky, Pocky, Ricky, Rocky, Tocky, and Wocky? What
about them? What makes the bird so special? Are the other -cky animals
not special enough? Pocky and Cucky are so much cuter than Flicky.

I
never suggested they did have anything to do with them. Yes, warp rings
can occur for other reasons. Like the ones on the Angel Island - the
Echidna race were very technologically advanced (enough to make an
entire island float in the sky) so it stands to reason they'd have
developed technology to open warp rings. But that still doesn't detract
from the fact that Flickies are (apparently) the only creature on
Mobius with this capabillity naturally built into their makeup, and
therefore gives them great story and gameplay potential.

And yeah, I wouldn't be averse to the other characters getting more
screentime either, but I specifically single out the Flickies because
of this abillity they have. The others, so far as we can tell, don't
have this power, so would have much less story/gameplay potential. But
the Flickies have already proved good enough characters to inspire one
entire game...why not include them in a few more?

I respect that some dislike the Chao, and honestly, I would be quite fine with them being purged from future installments of the Sonic series.

That said, I enjoyed raising Chao and wish there was a more convenient way of raising them. Give me a stand-alone Chao game for the DS or PSP and I will be happy even if it is treated as a completely separate franchise from Sonic. Hell, I would settle for a handheld ports of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 with an easy way of transferring Chao between them.

I need to try and breed a translucent and an invisible Chao this summer.

I need to try and breed a translucent and an invisible Chao this summer.

i might just like that invisible chao 
but seriously that shadow chao is creepy and i dont like how i didnt see morphed chao anywhere but in the garden, if they were like pokemon all around the sonic world it would've been nice passing a dragon chao somewhere in the game. but like it was said they arent part of the story.
even if you say they were important in SA1's story i dont see them having use in the future, but flickies are adorable and should be part of sonic's story.

and didnt anyone else think amy was fun in SA1 cause she had that flickie's story? i liked it that way a lot.... and now that i think about it, cream and chao's story is kinda ripped off of that.

What, the one that just fluttered around and did absolutely nothing aside from getting knocked silly in Amy's final fight? At least Cheese can put up a fight.

Again, the Chao were directly responsible for that Flicky's part in the game. The only reason Eggman needed the Flicky was because it had a Chaos Emerald. Why did he need the Chaos Emerald? To feed Chaos and make him for powerful. Se my point earlier about the Chao murders being the reason Chaos was sealed to begin with.

Can we just agree to disagree and leave it at that?

A couple of my Chao actually raced Chacron a few times and beat him.