[Let’s Play] Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebook 1: Metal City Mayhem

[deaddmwalking]

3/4 vote for luring the one by the gate over here and getting them to destroy each other.

I suspect getting shots off at both the gold robots might be difficult, so I like killing two robots at the same time.

[JourneymanN00b]

Dashing off towards the gates.

113
Sonic sprints towards the city gates. As he gets close, he notices huge tracks in the ground, like the ones left by the gold robot he’s just seen, and he slows down in case the second gold robot spots him. He doesn’t see any other signs of the gold robot, no bullet-damaged buildings, smashed machines or squashed bots, until he turns a corner and sees the familiar sight of the gates, with a familiar big gold shape parked in front of them. The two gold robots are identical, except that this one isn’t moving at all, apart from the occasional twitch of a gun-barrel. It reminds Sonic of a lion lazing in the sun – peaceful but still very dangerous. He approaches the robot cautiously, fixing his whole attention on it and not taking any chances in case it should suddenly attack him. It doesn’t move. Sonic creeps closer.

‘HALT, TARGET!’ a grating electronic voice bellows behind him, and Sonic almost jumps out of his spikes. Three silver robots stand poised to attack – they must have crept up on him while he was in turn creeping up on the gold robot. Does Sonic attack them (turn to 152), run away (turn to 253), or try to lure them in front of the gold robot to attract its attention (turn to 104)?



Please make your votes by 9:00 AM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for luring in front of gold robot, though wonder if that will prevent luring other gold robot later.

[deaddmwalking]

I want to lure them into the kill zone. Let's see what ED-209 does when they do not comply.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; luring them in front of the gold robot to attract its attention.

104
Sonic runs and the robots give chase. He leads them straight in front of the gold robot’s front sensors. It works! The massive machine revs its motor and sets off after him and his pursuers, slowly at first and then faster and faster, so fast that it runs over the three silver bots and leaves them flattened behind it – so fast that it’s almost catching up to Sonic! Roll on Sonic’s Speed, to beat a 6. If he makes it, turn to 237. If he fails, remember how many points he failed by and turn to 278.

Because Sonic’s Speed is 5, the total will be at least 6 no matter what I roll, so he makes it.



237
The race is on! Sonic knows he must stay close enough to the robot to keep it following him, but not so close that it can shoot accurately. He sprints ahead, zig-zagging around obstacles and leaping over anything in his way, and the huge gold robot roars after him, running over small buildings and slower robots, and firing at anything that might be a target. The noise is incredible.

Finally Sonic sees the star-shaped building ahead, and can hear the other gold robot’s engine. He keeps running until he can see both robots – then dives around the corner into a side-street and keeps running in case one of the robots follows him. He needn’t have worried. The moment the two see each other, it’s hate at first sight. Death-rays crackle, grenades thump, machine guns rattle and lasers light up the sky. The smell of burning metal fills the air. It’s hard to tell which one is winning because of the smoke and noise. Finally the sound dies away, the smoke clears and both robots lie there, piles of scrap metal. It worked! Unfortunately the scrap metal completely blocks the main entrance to the building. If sonic wants to search the robots, turn to 79. If he wants to enter the star-shaped building, turn to 251.

Please make your votes by 7:00 PM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

That worked about as well as could be hoped. 3/4 vote for searching the wreckage.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, search the wreckage.

(And, yeah, that was a nicely resolved problem)

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes recognized; searching the robots.

79
Sonic hunts through the wreckage, and finds six gold rings and a length of gold cable – it might be useful, so he takes it with him (make a note on his Vital Statistics). Turn to 251.



251
Sonic stands on the robot wreckage, celebrating. ‘Hey, Boombox!’ he shouts. ‘Me Sonic – mighty destroyer of robots! Pretty stupid machines, eh?’

Boombox appears from where’s he’s been hiding behind a huge valve and surveys the damage. ‘Well, someone’s pretty stupid,’ he says. ‘This mess is completely blocking the doors. You’ll never get through. It’s a good thing that there’s another way in, or you’d be stuck.’

Sonic gets off the pile of broken robot bits, and he and Boombox walk around the building. On the other side is a pipe with a grille over it. Boombox starts pulling the grille off.

‘Is this it?’ asks Sonic. He turns to look at you, ‘Hey! Hedgehogs aren’t meant to go down pipes – that’s a job for plumbers, and if you want to play around with plumbers then you’re reading the wrong gamebook!’

‘Who are you talking to?’ asks Boombox.

‘Nobody you’d know,’ says Sonic. Together they prise the grille off the pipe. Sonic looks into its dark depths. He’s not happy about going in but he knows that duty calls.

‘Well,’ says Boombox, ‘I’ve got to check Dancer’s okay. Do well, man, and take this for luck.’ He gives Sonic a gold ring (write it down), and watches as the hedgehog crawls into the pipe.

The pipe stays flat for a few metres, then slopes downwards. It gets steeper and steeper, until Sonic decides to roll into a ball. He rolls faster and faster, reaching incredible speeds, so fast that he hardly notices as the slope levels off. WHAAM! He ploughs through another grille stretched across the pipe, and is spinning in free-fall. He unwinds and looks around. He’s in an enormous room, floating in the air between walls which are hundreds of feet away. Little fluffy clouds float between the walls, and a couple of aero-bots are flying around. In the far distance, on the opposite wall, he can just see a door. Sonic can drift for a while (turn to 283), he can try to swim through the air towards the door (turn to 114) or he can look around for anything interesting (turn to 162).

Please make your votes by 9:00 AM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

SONIC’S VITAL STATISTICS
SPEED: 5
STRENGTH: 2
AGILITY: 2
COOLNESS: 5
QUICK WITS: 3
COOL LOOKS: 3
LIVES LEFT: 4
RINGS: 25
EGG-O-MATIC HITS: 0
SONIC’S STUFF
(Equipment, gadgets and stuff that Sonic will collect in his adventures)
Red trainers
Sega Game Gear
Eggs-terminate cartridge
Armor (enemies must roll above 12 to hit Sonic)
Comb (+1 Coolness and Cool Looks)
Ren-egg-ade cartridge
Eggs-ecute cartridge
Eggs-ercise cartridge
Gold Cable

[Thaluikhain]

Look for interesting things.

[deaddmwalking]

Might as well.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes acknowledged; looking around for anything interesting.

162
Did Sonic get the telescopic sight from the Zap Cannon? If so, turn to 57. If not, he can’t see anything else in the room. Does he drift in the air currents (turn to 283), set off for the door on the other side of the room (turn to 114), or head for a wall and crawl along it to the door (turn to 11)?

Sonic did not get the telescopic sight from the Zap Cannon. Please make your votes by 7:00 PM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

Okay, of the remaining options, I like drift in the air currents best. 3/4 vote for that.

[JourneymanN00b]

Drifting in the air currents.

283
Drifting in the air is very relaxing. Air currents blow Sonic this way and that. He knows that eventually he’ll reach a wall and explore from there, but there doesn’t seem to be any hurry. He’s wondering about how Robotnik built a room with no gravity in it when something brushes against the back of his head. Sonic turns slowly – to see a large mine, covered in pressure-sensitive spikes! If he moves too fast, it’ll go off! Roll against Sonic’s Coolness, to beat a 5. If he makes the roll, turn to 156. If not, turn to 267.

Because Sonic’s Coolness is 5, the total will be over 5 no matter what I roll, so he makes it.

156
Quickly Sonic moves away from the deadly object, and looks around. In the distance are other dark shapes that must be mines as well. He’s going to have to be very careful. If he wants to swim through the air towards the door, turn to 230. If he wants to head for one of the walls and crawl along it to the door, turn to 11.

Please make your votes by 9:00 AM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for crawling on wall.

[deaddmwalking]

I'm guessing if we continue swimming we'll hit more mines, and if we go to the wall and crawl along it we won't. But we might run into something else. If mines are all coolness 5, we're golden. Still, I'd like to see something different. Another vote for crawling along the wall.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; heading for one of the walls and crawling along it to the door.

11
The walls are studded with big rivet heads and bolts, so once Sonic has swum through the air to one of them, he finds it easy to climb along it towards the door – much easier than climbing buildings, and he can move fairly fast. As he’s crawling along from rivet to rivet, Sonic notices a large lever on one of the other walls. There’s no hint about what it might do, but it’s not too far out of his way. Does he head towards it and pull it (turn to 48) or swim through the air towards the door (turn to 230)?

Please make your votes by 7:00 PM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

Randomly pull strange lever? Don't mind if I do! 3/4 vote for pulling levers and seeing what happens.

[Thaluikhain]

Always pull random levers.

(Even if the room is known to be booby trapped, because levers don't count.)

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes recognized; heading towards the lever and pulling it.

48
The lever sticks out of the wall: a big chrome pole with a red ball on one end. Sonic grasps it firmly with both hands and pulls. For a second nothing happens, then there is a whooshing sound and Sonic is pulled towards one of the walls. He dangles from the lever, and watches as the mines and aerobots fall out of the air and crash and explode against the wall – which is now the floor, now that the gravity’s been switched back on. The clouds turn into water and rain down, putting out the fires started by the exploding machines.

Sonic lets go of the lever and drops to the floor. He jogs over to the nearest crashed aerobot and looks at it. It’s got a Pter-egg-dactyl cartridge, which Sonic quickly pockets (make a note of this), and it’s holding a card in one of the hands at the end of the wings. Sonic takes the card and walks over to the doorway. There’s a slot beside it, and sure enough the card fits perfectly, disappearing as the door slides open. Turn to 131.

131
The gravity is on in the tunnel beyond the doorway, and it’s a relief to feel solid metal under his feet. Sonic jogs along until he comes to a door like the one in the last room. This one opens automatically for him, and after he steps through it slams shut. Sonic is in a large room full of computer equipment, with humming disk drives and computer terminals, worked by bronze worker robots which ignore the inquisitive hedgehog. On one wall is a huge screen, with a large keyboard attached to it. In the far wall is another doorway, with a slot beside it for some kind of key. Does Sonic look at the door (turn to 232), the robots (turn to 9) or the large screen (turn to 139)?



Please make your votes by 9:00 AM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

SONIC’S VITAL STATISTICS
SPEED: 5
STRENGTH: 2
AGILITY: 2
COOLNESS: 5
QUICK WITS: 3
COOL LOOKS: 3
LIVES LEFT: 4
RINGS: 25
EGG-O-MATIC HITS: 0
SONIC’S STUFF
(Equipment, gadgets and stuff that Sonic will collect in his adventures)
Red trainers
Sega Game Gear
Eggs-terminate cartridge
Armor (enemies must roll above 12 to hit Sonic)
Comb (+1 Coolness and Cool Looks)
Ren-egg-ade cartridge
Eggs-ecute cartridge
Eggs-ercise cartridge
Gold Cable
Pter-egg-dactyl cartridge

[Thaluikhain]

Look at screen, I guess.

[deaddmwalking]

Yeah, no one is limiting Sonic's screen time. Gotta look at the screen first.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes acknowledged; looking at the large screen.

139
The big screen is switched on, but it’s blank apart from the words ‘ENTER PASSWORD FOR KEYCARD’ displayed in inch-high letters on it. This is the only way Sonic can see to get a key for the door. Think of the password that Sonic is going to type in, then turn to 179.



179
Sonic bends over the keyboard and pokes the first letter of his password. Above him, the screen fills with a weird spinning pattern of lights and colours, like some kind of whirlpool or tornado. It’s pulling him into the screen! Sonic grabs the keyboard to stop himself being sucked in. It holds him back for a moment, and then it snaps in the middle and Sonic slides into the screen! For a moment everything is pitch black. Then there is a burst of static, and Sonic’s vision clears…

He's in a small biplane, flying through a bright blue sky with patchy clouds in the distance. Something’s not quite right. There’s no wind in his face, all the colours are really bright, the clouds look the same and everything except him has bitty, jagged edges as if it was drawn on graph paper or –

‘Or a cheap computer! I’m in Robotnik’s computer!’ exclaims Sonic. ‘Trust him to go for something with bad graphics. And –’ he wiggles the controls of the biplane – ‘awful controls. My Game Gear can do better than this!’

Suddenly three objects drop down out of the clouds and swoop towards the plane. They’re not biplanes; they’re sleek, impressive spaceships, armed with laser cannons and missile launchers. They open fire with large, bright bullets that drift slowly through the air. Sonic can shoot down the alien ships (turn to 40), try to land the plane (turn to 223), or avoid the bullets and fly past the invaders (turn to 299).

Please make your votes by 7:00 PM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

Shoot the alien ships.




It takes me back

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, shoot at aliens.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; shooting down the alien ships.

40
The biplane flips over to aim at the spaceships. Sonic presses the trigger on the machine-guns, letting of a long burst. The ships explode with brief flashes of light, and disappear. With a burst of sinister but tinny background music, a much larger alien ship appears on the horizon. Each of its four guns is as large as the spaceships which Sonic just destroyed, and it fires huge bolts of sizzling blue energy. Roll on Sonic’s Agility to beat the mothership’s difficulty of 6. If he makes the roll, turn to 188. If not, turn to 129.



Rolling the die and adding Sonic’s Agility yielded a total of 7, so he makes the roll.

188
Sonic weaves in and out of the energy beams, firing the machine guns every time he gets a clear shot. One by one he takes out the four guns, then watches as the ship blows up and sinks out of sight…

There is a burst of static, and suddenly Sonic is facing a tough-looking guy in a karate outfit. Once again, he’s bitty around the edges and there’s no detail to the way he looks. He grunts, and aims a kick for Sonic’s head. Does Sonic ignore it and go straight for an attack (turn to 84), or does he parry and wait for an opening (turn to 53)?

Please make your votes by 9:00 AM PDT or a choice reaches 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.