Sonic Shuffle

"Join Sonic and friends in the ultimate party game."

- Tagline

Sonic Shuffle (ソニックシャッフル) is a video game for the Dreamcast. The game was co-developed by Hudson Software.

Story
The story involves Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy getting caught up in a mess in a world called Maginary World, which they inadvertently stumble upon one day when Lumina sends a vortex to take them inside the dream world. A villain named Void has shattered the Master Precioustone into many pieces, resulting in chaos in every part of the world. Lumina Flowlight and the rest of Maginary World are counting on Sonic to restore it and bring Illumina back, who mysteriously disappeared along with the Precioustone.

The game progresses in multiple story lines and playing as each different character will allow the mystery of Void to finally be realized. After each world is successfully restored the chosen character will confront Void with Lumina. As they interrogate him the chosen character is able to finally realize the true meaning of what Void is trying to say. Each Character has a different story and will realize that Void is the emptiness that allows Dreams to be created in the first place.

Overview
In Sonic Shuffle, the player can select one of the main characters of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The game supports up to 1 player in Story Mode and up to 4 players simultaneously in Versus Mode and the Sonic Room. Further to the simultaneous play, the game allows for players to play in teams and play against one another on a giant game board, going around and playing mini games to collect Emblems. Whoever has the most emblems at the end of each board wins. The overall goal of each board is to collect the most Precioustones, out of a total of seven. There are five boards in total:
 * Emerald Coast
 * Fire Bird
 * Nature Zone
 * Riot Train
 * Fourth Dimension Space

The game also featured 8 playable characters, each with their own unique abilities, and 4 of which needed to be unlocked. The available characters are: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Super Sonic, Big the Cat, Gamma, and Chao.

The game featured around 50 mini games and around 30 mini events. Mini games ranged in variety and challenge and they were divided by teams of two, teams of three versus a Single Player and a Free-For-All. The mini events generally involved a little story, or event, and usually a choice given at the end to determine your prize or punishment. As well as having a single-player Story Mode and a two- to four-player Versus Mode, the game had a "Sonic Room" where you could play your favorite mini-games, after unlocking them, with your friends without starting a full game in a place called the "Toy Box", as well as a stereo to play your favorite soundtracks. Both of these must be unlocked by buying Photos from the Photo Album.

Gameplay
The game play involves playing randomly given cards. The deck of cards has four of every card numbering 1-6 and four wild cards. Three of the wild cards have an “S” and the remaining card is the “EGGMAN” card. Each hand given to the four players contains seven cards, one of which is always a wild and two are always 4 or higher, the remaining four cards range from the normal 1-6. Playing the cards would dictate the distance your player would move on the board. The S cards could be played as a seven if you had decent timing as the card changed from 1 to S, it could also be used to swap your deck of cards for another players deck. The "EGGMAN" card was bad fortune for one or all of the characters and would generally cause trouble for the players in myriad ways. A full game could take anywhere from twenty minutes to two and a half hours, depending on how many Precioustones you decided to be available to you at the beginning.

The Card System
The special format and layout of the card distributing system prevents the player and computer from receiving the same deck twice, as there are over 33,145,523,100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible combinations. Additionally, some restrictions are placed on which card a character gets. For example, the player will receive no more than three of the same number, since there are only four of each, and if the player receives three 4's, 5's or 6's, they will most likely not receive the S card and get the Eggman Card instead. On rare occasions, excellent hands are dealt to the player or the computer (e.g. one 4, two 5's, three 6's and an S card), but terrible hands may also be given out, such as three 1's, one 2, two 4's and the Eggman Card. This causes a great equilibrium in both the game and the player's strategy.

In Story Mode, the card distributing system is a little more gracious with its distribution of cards, and will usually equalize the chances of both good and bad cards for all players. In Versus Mode, however, the system is much less gracious. It will sometimes equalize the chances of a good-to-bad card ratio, but other times, it will deal great hands to some players and terrible hands to others. This is designed to cause tension on the game board and get more strategy involved when playing with friends.

Computer Artificial Intelligence
The computer artificial intelligence of the game has been regarded as too advanced for the settings it pertains to. If a Computer character were to be set on Easy difficulty, they would still perform at a Hard difficulty setting. For example, the computer will steal good cards from players, outperform in mini-games, and always get the selected card number in battle.

Many fans say that the computer's artificial intelligence makes the game more fun, as there is a challenge not present in other games.

Some fans say they don't mind the difficulty at all, while other fans say that the difficulty was so challenging that they couldn't complete or enjoy playing the game.

Easy Mode

 * The Computers know where every single card is and what number they are, they however can not see the wild cards, S and Eggman, for what they truly are.
 * When the computer runs out of any numbered card 4 or above, they will steal a card from another player who still has a card that is 4 or above. After all these cards are gone they will resume using their own again.
 * The Computer character does not know if a wild card is an S or Eggman card, and will randomly use or steal any wild card even if they still have their own. Since they can't see them, they will even pick the Eggman card when they could have picked a 5. There is about a 1 to 7 chance they will use or try to use a Wild Card on any given turn or battle.
 * Since the computer will randomly use a Wild Card in battle, they might use an Eggman Card and lose right off the bat.
 * The Computer Players constantly shuffle their cards around, so you can never assume you will get a good card as one moment it will be good and another it will possibly be bad.
 * In Battle, the computers will try to get critical hits against the enemy and will typically use the number displayed for the monster's hit points.
 * In mini-games the Computer Players can typically understand what is going on and will excel quite well.

Normal Mode
The Computer Players perform exactly like they do in Easy Mode but are much more on point, and can anticipate card usage and understand the Wild Cards better.
 * In Mini-games they excel much better than they had in Easy Mode, essentially making them very difficult.
 * The Computer Players no longer take chances in Battle, that is, they will utilize a higher card to fight the monster. For example, if the Monster had 2 hit points the computer may use a 4 card to fight it.

Hard Mode
The Computer Players perform at an extremely difficult and intellectual level. They know everything now and can anticipate future events like where Void will appear after a Precioustone is collected.
 * In Mini-games, they easily perform at their highest level without breaking a sweat.
 * To compensate for the extreme difficulty, the game will sometimes make the computers make bad mistakes in Battle, like going too early to fight a Precioustone when they don't have the right cards, use a really good card like a 5 on a monster with 2 hit points, or by accidentally picking an Eggman Card.

Counteracting the Computers
Several features in the game allow the player to manipulate both the computer characters and their friends.

Shuffling
When you are not moving across the board and someone else is picking cards, pressing the X button will shuffle your cards around inside your hand which makes it harder for a computer, who knows where your cards are, to pick a good card from you.

This can also confuse friends in Versus Mode if everyone can see your cards, depending on if you have enough memory cards.

Forcejewels
Using Forcejewels to your advantage can be especially helpful when computers or friends are approaching a Precioustone or Quest Space. Some Forcejewels can be used to destroy cards, force a player to move against their will, warp them to somewhere else and so on.

Game Board Spaces
Every game board in the game is vastly different from one another, but the basic mechanics of the board are relatively the same. Each game board has special features that are activated by landing on various spaces on the board. Some spaces are Specific Character spaces that only Tails, Amy, and Knuckles can use.

Rings Spaces
Two Rings spaces, Blue and Red Rings Spaces, allow the player to receive or lose rings.

Plus Ring Space
The Blue Ring Space is arguably the best space on the board. Going on a Blue Ring Space will allow the character to receive between 1 to 50 rings. This depends on the effect placed on the Rings Spaces.

Minus Ring Space
The Red Ring Space is the worst space on the board. Going on a Red Ring Space will make the character to lose between 1 to 50 rings at a time. This depends on the effect placed on the Ring Spaces.

Combo Multiplier
Going on Blue Ring Spaces and/or Red Ring Spaces multiple times in a row allows for a combo to be built; the number of times in a row amounts to the combo, which in turn changes the multiplier of how many rings you receive. The Combo Multiplier maxes out at 5.

Blue Ring Spaces
After a combination of all the characters landing on the Blue Ring Spaces amounts to 15 times, Eggman will appear to shrink them as punishment. With the Blue Ring Spaces shrunk the character will only receive between 1 to 5 rings when they land on them under normal conditions.

Red Ring Spaces
After a combination of all the characters landing on the Red Ring Spaces amounts to 10 times, Eggman will appear to make them bigger as an extra punishment, he however makes a mistake and shrinks them instead. With the Red Ring Spaces shrunk the character will only lose between 1 to 5 rings.

The Last Precioustone Bonus
When the last Precioustone is on the board it doubles the amount of rings received or lost on all Rings Spaces, no matter what effect is active. This creates a new range of 2 to 50 rings instead of the original 1 to 25 range.

Battle Spaces
The Battle Spaces are purple spaces with angry eyes on them. When these spaces are landed on, the character will initiate a battle with a monster that is specific to the board that they are currently on. The monsters have no effect on the outcome of the battle. The monster has a card of its own, which is used for its health and attack power. The player must pick a card that is either equal or higher than the number of the monster's to defeat it. Once a card is selected it will spin rapidly from 1 to the number. For example, a 4 will spin from 1, 2, 3, 4, then repeat, until the character presses the A button to select the number.


 * If the character gets the number that matches the monster's card, then it will be a Critical Hit. In Story Mode this means you will receive two Forcejewels instead of one. In Versus Mode, it will double the amount of rings you can steal from an opponent.
 * If the character selects a higher number, they will defeat the monster but will only get one Forcejewel in Story Mode, and will only be able to steal the normal amount of rings in Versus Mode.
 * Choosing a number lower than the monster's Card will result in defeat and the monster will attack. The character loses the amount of rings equal to the monster's card multiplied by 10. For example, if the Monster has a 3 on its card the character loses 30 rings.
 * Losing a battle when the character had no rings will result in the character having to rest the next turn. If the character had at least one ring before the battle they will be safe but will have no rings afterward.
 * Choosing the Eggman Card results in the character's immediate defeat.
 * Choosing the Special Card activates the special ability of the character who uses the card. Sonic can attack from 1 to 7, Tails and Knuckles pick two cards to use together for combined power, and Amy automatically does 5 damage no matter what. The four bonus unlockable characters also have special abilities as well.

Event Spaces
The Event Spaces are green with an exclamation point on them. When these spaces are landed on by a character, it either triggers a Mini-Game or a Mini-Event.

Mini-Games
When a Mini-game is activated, a type of Mini-Game is selected randomly by the system. The types are: Vs. 4 mode, a battle royale style where each character plays for themselves; 2 Vs. 2 mode, which has the characters split into teams of two; and 1 Vs. 3 mode, which pits character who landed on the Event Space against the other three.
 * Performance in the Mini-Game affects the Result, displayed at the end.
 * Any rings lost or gained will be deducted or added at the Result Screen.
 * In some Mini-Games, the amount of rings won affects what character wins the Mini-Game.
 * Getting first place results in the biggest after-win bonus, which ranges from 20 to 50 rings for some Mini-games.
 * In some Mini-Games getting second or third will result in less rings won. It is usually 10 and 5 rings, respectively.
 * Losing badly in some Mini-Games causes the character to lose even more rings at the Result Screen.

Mini-Events
When a Mini-Event is activated, the character is taken to a screen where they are shown pictures and text depicting a situation. Some Mini-Events involve challenges, others guessing games, and the rest completely based on luck.


 * All Mini-Events usually have around 3 to 5 different variations in themselves, some go as high to have a near infinite amount, such as the Quiz Mini-Events. Each variation of the Mini-Event has a different outcome.
 * These outcomes cause the character to sometimes win or lose rings, win or lose Forcejewels, get sent to a different space, or rest for 1 turn.
 * Some Mini-Events are ironically hosted by Eggman, in which he helps the player out by giving them prizes. If the player loses or picks wrong he will sometimes but not always ask for something in return.
 * Some of Eggman's disguises are that of a magician, a wealthy merchant, a strange man in a trenchcoat, a quiz host, and a mysterious musician on a cliff.
 * Some Mini-Events prompt the character for input. For example, one Mini-Event involves Eggman leading a magic show. The "magician" will ask where the player thinks he has hidden a prize, either in his hat, mustache, or pocket. At this point the character must choose which one they think it is. Two out of the three will reward the player a prize, usually a Forcejewel, while the other one leaves them empty-handed.
 * Some of these input Mini-Events will have bad effects depending on what the character chose to do.
 * In one Mini-Event, if the characters threw their rings into the Lake the wrong way, they will not win any rings or a Forcejewel and instead will have lost those 10 rings.
 * In one Mini-Event, if the character causes the slot machine to break by pushing the wrong button, it will fall on top of them and they will either have to rest for 1 turn or lose 50 rings.
 * Some Mini-Events cause horrible things to happen to the character like resting for 1 turn. Sometimes these bad effects can be counteracted but most times they are inevitable.
 * One bad event that can be counteracted is if the character has a Forcejewel with them. For example, the Mini-Event with a Medusa-like monster requires at least 2 Forcejewels in order to completely escape unharmed. The reward is a Forcejewel for successfully scaring away this monster.
 * Sometimes if the Character goes into a Mini-Event that usually has very good fortune, they will think of it as "to good to be true" or "fishy" and decide to just keep on going, ending the Mini-Event.
 * Other times they think of it as, "Well we can't lose, so why not try it?".
 * Some Mini-Events are also hosted by Void, seen wearing a cloak, but these Mini-Events fall into the same category with Eggman's Mini-Events which can either reward or punish the player.
 * Void's Mini-Events have a very high probability of something bad happening afterward such as sending the character back in the other direction or sending them to a space far away from the Precioustone.
 * On the small chance that something good happens it is extremely helpful, like a reward of 100 rings or being sent to a space around 4 spaces away from the Precioustone.

Character Specific Spaces
The Character Specific Spaces are Special Spaces that only Tails, Knuckles, or Amy can cross over.

Propeller Tails Spaces
These spaces are distinguished with their light blue green color with a symbol of Tails' tail on them. Only Tails can cross over these spaces and when he does, he will fly over them or if he lands on one, keep flying until he moves off of them.

When going up Ladders, Tails will fly up them instead of climbing up them.

Climbing Knuckles Spaces
These spaces are distinguished by a brick wall pattern with Knuckles' upper torso climbing up the wall. When Knuckles crosses over this space he climbs up or down the wall that it was connected to. If he lands on this space he stays on the space and continues to make the motions of climbing.

Hammer Jump Amy Space
These spaces are distinguished by a sky blue color with a symbol of Amy's Piko Piko Hammer on them. When Amy crosses over them she will swing her Hammer onto the ground and catapult herself upward in the air to cross the gap to the other Hammer Jump Amy Space.

This is the only Character Specific Space that any character can land on, despite them not being able to use it.

When going up Ladders, Amy will Hammer Jump up them instead of climbing, no matter how small they are.

Precioustone Space
The Precioustone Space is the host of both Precioustone pieces and Void's Black Warp Hole. This space is a purple, circular with a rainbow triangle symbol in the middle. The space has no effect unless it is hosting a Precioustone piece or Void's Black Warp Hole.

The Precioustone Piece
When a character lands on an active Precioustone piece a battle will start with the Precioustone monster. Each piece has its own card which does not change from board to board. The first six pieces contain the same Precioustone monster on each board, but the final seventh piece has a unique monster to the specific board.
 * Precioustone Pearl: the first piece of the Precioustone, with a 2 card.
 * Precioustone Crystal: the second piece of the Precioustone, with a 3 card.
 * Precioustone Garnet: the third piece of the Precioustone, with a 3 card.
 * Precioustone Sapphire: the fourth piece of the Precioustone, with a 4 card.
 * Precioustone Amethyst: the fifth piece of the Precioustone, with a 5 card.
 * Precioustone Diamond: the sixth piece of the Precioustone, with a 5 card.
 * Full Precioustone: appears after collecting the other pieces. The monster inside this Precioustone is unique to each board.

Void's Space
After the second Precioustone piece is collected, there is a chance that Void's Black Warp Hole will materialize at any of the unoccupied Precioustone Spaces. When a character lands on this space Void will suck them up into the black hole. He will then come out of a vortex and ask if the character would like to steal a Precioustone piece from another character for 50 rings. If they respond yes, Void will call a roulette wheel.
 * If they select a player with a Precioustone piece, they will successfully steal it from them, then is randomly sent to any space on the board.
 * This even includes the space next to Void's Space or the next Precioustone Piece.
 * If they do not select a character with a Precioustone, Void will leave and the character will not be teleported anywhere.

Board Specific Spaces
Every board has its own specific spaces. While these spaces perform basically the same function, they have different effects to which they are performed.

Emerald Coast

 * The Dolphin Space, when landed on, summons a flying dolphin which will take a character to another section of the board, whether it be just a few spaces or not.
 * The Air Bubble Space, when landed on, grants the character more air to breathe underwater. It resets the amount of turns allowed underwater back to 5, and as long as a character stays on it, the count will remain at 5 turns.

Fire Bird

 * The Cargo Lift Space, when landed on, summons the vehicle that will take the character to a space on a wing of the plane or to a space on the main body of the plane.
 * Ladders, although not counted as spaces, are used to get any characters up to raised platforms.

Nature Zone

 * The Trolley Space, when landed on, summons a flying trolley will come to pick up a character and take them to another space on the board.

Riot Train

 * The Spinning Space, when passed will randomly either allows the player to safely cross over it or sends the player back in the direction they came from. If it is landed on, no effect will take place.
 * The Helicopter Space, when landed on, will take the player to a space on any of the train cars that is passes over.
 * Ladders, although not counted as spaces, are used to get any characters up to raised platforms.

Fourth Dimension

 * The Rainbow Space, when landed on, a giant beam of rainbow colored light will engulf the character and will transport them to another space on the board.

Quest Spaces
There are Quest Spaces on every board. These Side-Quests are optional, but reward the character who completed them an extra Emblem at the end of the board. Some boards give the opportunity for all players to complete the Quest, while others only give one character the chance to complete it. On some boards, there is a limit on the amount of turns that a Quest can be completed within, before it completes itself without the character's help.

1 Character Only

 * Emerald Coast is the only board where the Quest must be participated in by one character alone (and only that character).

All Get a Chance

 * Once initiated, Fire Bird, Nature Zone and Riot Train open up the Quest to all players on the board. However, only one character can complete the Quest.

4 Quests in One Board

 * Fourth Dimension is the only board where each character can get their own individual Quest. This Quest is given completely at random and will not always be given to all of the characters.

Dueling
Duels only appear in Versus Mode. If two characters land on the same space while in this mode, they will have to Duel each other depending on which space they landed on. Blue Ring Spaces, Red Ring Spaces and Battle Spaces will initiate a Duel instead of the normal effect. Event Spaces, Precioustone Spaces, Quest Spaces, Jewel Shops and Board Specific Spaces will not initiate a Duel and the normal effect will take place instead.

When the Duel starts, the player is asked to choose "The Highest Total" or "The Lowest Total". This means the amount of cards that you collected will affect who wins the Duel.
 * The character who wins the Duel also wins the amount of rings equal to the difference between their total and their opponent's total. For example, a total of 58 to 24 rewards 34 rings.
 * The character who loses the Duel will lose the amount of rings equal to the difference between their opponent's total and their total. They must also rest for one turn.

Character Specials
Each Character has two Specials, with the exception of Chao who only has one. One Special is used for the board, and the other Special is for in Battle.

Board Specials
The Board Specials are Special actions that Characters can use under certain conditions or they can move across Spaces that only they can use.

Sonic
When Sonic selects the same Card two times in a row, on the second turn he will move Double the Spaces of the number on the Card. Sonic performs the Spin Dash for this Special.

Tails
Tails can move across Propellar Tails Spaces. These Spaces allow him to skip over certain areas with Bad Spaces, or obstacles that would normally be a hindrance to his progress.

Knuckles
Knuckles can climb up Climbing Knuckles Spaces. These Spaces allow Knuckles to climb up walls that allow shortcuts to an area that would normally have to be gotten to by normal means.

Amy
Amy can cross over Hammer Jump Amy Spaces. These Spaces allow Amy to Hammer Jump over large gaps or get herself up raised Platforms which allows shortcuts to areas that would normally have to be gotten to by normal means.

E-102 Gamma
When Gamma selects a 4, 5, or 6 card he will go into Hover Mode. He activates his Hover Booster and will float over to the Space that was selected, if this Space was a Minus Ring Space he will not lose rings.

Hover Mode does not activate if Gamma were to get an S on the Special card. It also does not activate if Gamma selects a 4, 5, or 6 card or moves 4, 5, or 6 Spaces when using a Speederald ForceJewel.

When going up Ladders, Gamma activates Hover Mode to float up Ladders instead of climbing them.

Big
If Big selects a 6, he can select any Space between those 6 Spaces. Example, the Precioustone is 5 Spaces away and your only cards are a 4 and a 6, with the 6 you can select to only move 5 Spaces instead of having to move the full 6. When the 6 is selected Froggy will escape from Big, who proceeds to try and catch him. Froggy will stop on the Space that the player had selected and when Big catches up he will jump to catch him again.

Super Sonic
Like Sonic, Super Sonic will move Double the Spaces if the Same Card is selected again. Super Sonic, however will move Double the Spaces for a second and third time in a row instead of just once like Sonic, if that Same Card is selected for a Third and Fourth time in a row. Super Sonic performs the Light Speed Dash for this Special.

Battle Specials
Unlike the Board Special which does not involve the Special Card, the Battle Special is initiated by using the Special Card during a Battle.

Sonic
Sonic's in Battle Special is the Light Speed Attack. When initiated the Card spins from 1-S for 1-7 attack power. When the selected card number is picked Sonic will charge up the Light Speed Attack like in Sonic Adventure and will then zoom straight at the Monster.

Tails
Tails' in Battle Special is the Rapid Tails Attack. When initiated, Tails will select two more Cards to use against the Monster for an increased attack power. His attack power now has a range of 2-12. When the cards are selected, Tails will start spinning rapidly with his tails ripping through the air, he will then approach the Monster and start lashing away.

Tails' Special and Knuckles' Special are the strongest in the game as they can have an attack power of 12.

Knuckles
Knuckles' in Battle Special is the Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack. When initiated, Knuckles will select two more Cards to use against the Monster for an increased attack power. His attack power now has a range of 2-12. When the cards are selected, Knuckles will do a right jab which sends an energy ball, then a left jab which also sends an energy ball, then Knuckles rushes forward with his right fist forward with a huge, fire red energy field surrounding him.

Although the Special is the Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack, it is performed differently than it was in Sonic Adventure, it is actually performed exactly like Knuckles' standard Punch Attack Combo from Sonic Adventure.

Amy
Amy's in Battle Special is the Spin Hammer Attack. When initiated, Amy automatically has a set 5 card for damage, which will only spin 5,5,5,5,5,5,5 forever until the A button is pressed. Amy will run up and whack her Hammer onto the Monster, then she will spin around whacking the Monster with her Hammer four more times.

This Special is the most unique as Amy will always do 5 damage no matter what. This is not a problem and in fact is incredibly useful, until the Battle against the Last Precioustone. Since this Monster has a 6 Card, Amy will always lose against it unless it has already been attacked or a LowMoonstone ForecJewel was used to weaken the Precioustone and Monsters by 1 card number.

E-102 Gamma
Gamma's in Battle Special is Laser Blaster. When initiated, two Cards will appear, these Cards both spin from 1-3, making a maximum attack power of 6. When the Cards are selected, Gamma will lockon to the Enemy in three key locations to find its weak spot. After he has successfully locked on, he will shoot three Homing Missiles at the Monster.

Gamma shoots three Missiles despite only having two Cards because if he were to have three cards of 2, it would be much more difficult to successfully get a 6 from the combined number.

Big
Big's in Battle Special is Power Rod. When initiated, Big must select another card. When he has selected another Card, it will spin like normal, but when the Number is selected its attack power will be raised by 1. Big will now throw a more powerful fishing line at the Monster.

Chao
Chao's one and only Special is his Battle Special, Lullaby. When initiated, Chao must select another card. When he has selected another Card, it will spin like normal. No other effect takes place after this unless Chao loses the Battle. In the case that Chao does lose the Battle, he will not be attacked by the Monster because it is "asleep" from his singing.

Super Sonic
Super Sonic's in Battle Special is Super Sonic Rumble. When initiated, a Card will appear, this Card spins from 4-6 only. When a Card Number is selected, Super Sonic will float up to the Monster and turn transparent, he will then instantaneously disappears in a big cloud of smoke and light, he then materializes back to his starting position.

Super Sonic's Special has a lower Maximum Attack Power than Sonic's Special, 6 compared to 7. But Super Sonic will never lose to a Monster who has a Card of 4 or below, where Sonic can as his lowest Number is a 1 compared to Super Sonic's 4.

Tails and Knuckles' Special Attack have double the attack power, 12 compared to Super Sonic's 6.

Character Specials-Trivia
All of the characters use an ability that they obtained from an Upgrade, that they had received in Sonic Adventure, for their Specials. The only two Characters to visibly have the Upgrades they use are Super Sonic (Light Speed Shoes) and Gamma, who has the Jet Booster which is one of the two Upgrades that he uses, all the other characters use their abilities without having the Upgrade that awarded them the ability in the first place.
 * Sonic can perform the Light Speed Attack despite that he is not wearing the Light Speed Shoes which were required to charge up the attack. It is however understandable that he could have the Ancient Light, as it is invisible.
 * Tails can perform the Rapid Tails Attack despite that he is no longer wearing the Rhythm Badge.
 * Knuckles can perform the Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack despite that he is no longer wearing the Fighting Gloves.
 * Amy can perform the Spin Hammer Attack despite that she is no longer wearing the Warrior Feather.
 * Gamma can shoot Homing Missiles like the Laser Blaster despite not having the Laser Blaster. He however has the Hover Booster which he continually uses throughout the Board.
 * Big can use Power Rod despite not having the actual Power Rod with him.
 * Chao can sing a Lullaby despite in Sonic Adventure, Chao would have to be given many Parrots to learn how to do this.

Comparsion to Mario Party
While based around the same concept, both games are completely different from each other. Some fans are mixed on the fact that it makes it better or worse for this reason.

Advantages

 * The player is able to move around the board freely as they please. As long as they have the right number card, the player can choose to play a minigame, battle a monster for a Forcejewel, collect rings from a Blue Ring Space, or go after the Precioustone.
 * Going on Ring Spaces multiple times in a row creates combos. Going on a Blue Ring Space or Red Ring Space (or a combination of both) adds together a multiplier of up to 5 times the normal amount of rings.
 * If the Ring Spaces are all normal size, the amount of rings received/lost are 3 times the multiplier.
 * If the Ring Spaces are larger, the amount of rings received/lost are 5 times the multiplier.
 * If the Ring Spaces are smaller, the amount of rings received/lost is 1 times the multiplier.
 * Anyone can get the Precioustone, which is the main objective of the board, no matter how many rings or Forcejewels they have. In Mario Party, if a player does not have 20 coins, they cannot receive a star.
 * If an opponent were to try and steal a Precioustone, there is a chance that they will not get it, since Void must set up a roulette wheel to select a player. In Mario Party, a player simply selects who to steal a star from and receive it afterwards.

Playable Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose

Unlockable Characters
 * Big the Cat
 * Chao
 * E-102 Gamma
 * Super Sonic

Each character had their own unique ability. With the exception of Chao, who only had one ability, each character has an ability for the Board and an ability for Battles.

Mini Games
There was a wide variety of mini-games found within Sonic Shuffle. In some mini games, the players all play against each other, while in other mini games the players are split into 2 teams of two and 1 vs. 3.

Reception
Sonic Shuffle generally had poor reviews. Ratings from online gaming sites include:


 * Planet Dreamcast: 5.5/10
 * IGN: 4.7/10
 * Gamespot: 4.5/10
 * GamePro: 4/5
 * Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK): 55%
 * Gaming Age: C
 * Game Revolution: B-
 * Electronic Gaming Monthly: 5.5/4.0/6.0

Criticisms
Sonic Shuffle sold very well but was not as successful as its competitors, Mario Party and Crash Bash. Some positives about the game were its graphics and concept. However, some viewed Sonic Shuffle in a negative light which resulted in some bad reviews and opinions, including the following:
 * Many of the available mini-games were confusing and/or frustrating.
 * The loading times between the mini-games and the boards were very long.
 * The music was annoying, even "horrendous", for some.
 * The game's manual was not as helpful as it should have been.
 * The game's tutorial system was not as explanatory/detailed as it should have been.
 * The artificial intelligence of the computer-controlled players was not as "accurate" or fair as that of those in many other party games. Even if they were set on easy, they would "cheat" in many ways such as stealing the best cards from opponents, therefore not resulting in an "easy" opponent.

Trivia

 * The computer's AI is considered too intellectual no matter what difficulty. This is because of how computer players see cards. The computers will use their cards until all their cards are 3 or below, they will then steal the highest card from an opponent, most likely the player. If the computer were to have six cards left and they had one 5 and two 4s, once they were gone they would steal someone else's who had 4 or above. The CPUs know exactly where each players' cards are, however they do not see the Special Cards as the S or E. They will randomly steal another player's special card even if they still have their own, this could be an advantage if the player is unlucky enough to have an E (Eggman) Card. It is wise to use the S Card if the player has one because a computer may steal it when the player need it.
 * This is one of the few games not to be developed by Sonic Team, but on a Sega system.
 * Sonic Shuffle is the only Dreamcast game not to be re-released on the GameCube.
 * If the Dreamcast internal clock is set to December 24th of any year, NiGHTS will replace Lumina in Vs. Mode. Also if it is set to April 1st, Reala will replace Lumina in Vs. Mode.
 * This is the only Sonic game where Amy has a different Japanese voice actress.
 * This is the second game where Super Sonic is considered a different character from Sonic, and the two can be played simultaneously. The first was Sonic R.
 * Amy is the only playable female character.
 * Despite Super Sonic getting his own sprite image for his mug shot, during the dart game his dart will have Sonic's mugshot sprite image that's colored yellow instead of the one he gets throughout the game.
 * This is the only Sonic game where Sonic and Knuckles are voiced by the same voice actor.
 * This is the first time Chao have appaered as a playable character they would appear playable again a year later in Sonic Adventure 2.