Sonnawood Scavenger Hunt

Sonnawood Scavenger Hunt (original title: ソナウッド:キースとオリバーの大冒険, lit: Sonnawood: Keith & Oliver's Great Adventure) is an action-adventure/platform game developed by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_Co.,_Ltd. Aspect Co.] and published by Sega for the Game Gear in 1993, and was also made available on the system in the US in 1994 and for the Master System in Brazil in 1995. It is the first video game based on the Sonnawood anime.

Story
Wisteria falls ill after successfully protecting Baldwin, Lucy and Oliver from the sting of the evil Rocky Wasp (originally named "Suzume Dusan" in Japanese, a play on "suzumebachi", the Japanese word for wasp and Medusa), which threatens to progressively rob her of immobility and eventually turn her into stone. To make matters worse, Felix and Diana lack many ingredients (including the Vita Flower, a colorful flower that is easy to reproduce but hard to obtain) to make a cure for Wisteria.

Forrester and Oliver then decide to traverse different areas across day and night in order to gather all the antidote ingredients, all within 48 hours. Along the way, the fox and ocelot eventually find out Rocky Wasp is a despotic queen who was turned into a wasp and magically sealed away someplace as punishment for invading peaceful lands. Unfortunately, as her resentment and anger grew more intense, she got even more powerful, taking advantage of a magic fluke which accidentally set her free to escape and seek revenge on Wisteria.

Gameplay
In this game, the player chooses either Forrester or Oliver at the beginning of every level and has to complete six areas with three levels each, counting the final area with Rocky Wasp's lair. As with the Sonic the Hedgehog games of the time (especially those on the Game Gear), every third level of the worlds contains a boss fight, the defeat of which results in the player earning an antidote ingredient.

The game is designed as a platformer, with environments ranging from wooded areas to bodies of water and rock caves. The locations are designed with varying day and night settings to reflect the passage of time, as well as the need to find the antidote within two days' time. Hazards to the player primarily include wasps (stated in the manual to be Rocky Wasp's army of minions) which attack the player on sight but can be defeated. Every third level, a higher minion of Rocky Wasp will sting the player and infect them with a temporary effect reversible only when the wasp is vanquished and the ingredient has been acquired.

Regarding capabilities of who the player chooses, Forrester has the ability to move stealthily without triggering foes whereas Oliver is able to climb trees. Given that levels can only be played through once, these separate character abilities result in the option to find exclusive items which alter the ending and thus provide replay value.

Yellow flower petals scattered throughout levels act as components of a health meter, with five petals being necessary for replenishment and red whole flowers grant the player additional lives/continues. Berries, fish bones and leaves can also be collected to combine into power-ups, particularly temporarily invincibility.

Development
With Sonnawood receiving funding both through its local production committee and foreign investors, video games were one of different types of products deemed ideal for the budding franchise. Since Studio Axel owned the property, negotiations had to be made with game development studios and publishers not to own complete control of rights to the adaptations. After many of these talks, Sega, Capcom and Tomy were lined up to publish the first few licensed games of the anime in 1993.

Aspect was soon assigned the task of developing the game for Game Gear, with direct input from Studio Axel regarding the story ideas and artwork. Another point of interest during the development phase was the story, which was deemed "epic" by Axel staff, also prompting the studio to make arrangements with Sega regarding "supplementary material".

Release
The game was first sold by Sega on July 23, 1993 in Japan. Sega also published the game on September 20, 1994 in North America (under the Sega Club line) in conjunction with Playfair Interactive (who created the English translation) and in 1995, Tec Toy published a conversion of the game to the Master System in Brazil.

Marketing
To promote the game's release in Japan, two VHS tapes were released; The Wrath of Suzume Dusan (ソナウッド:スズメドゥサンの怒り) and Doki Doki Suzumebachi! (ソナウッド: ドキドキスズメバチ!). The former is an OVA retelling of the game's plotline with some differences while the latter is a comedic alternate take with Rocky Wasp challenging Forrester and Oliver to various bizarre things in a reference to Japanese variety shows. Both were released by Sega in the country on July 20, 1993, initially to rent only (given they were for promotional purposes) but soon also had retail versions.

While The Wrath of Suzume Dusan was later dubbed in English and aired in North America as a TV special, Doki Doki Suzumebachi! had a dub recorded but its release back then was canceled (because the more absurdist Japanese variety show-influence format was deemed too confusing for Westerners). However, because it had roused the interest of fans, it was eventually released to the English-speaking world in 2012 as part of the anime's 20th anniversary.

Reception
In both Japan and North America, the game experienced average sales and (especially in the latter case) garnered mixed to positive reception. Electronic Gaming Monthly opined the game was derivative of Sonic Chaos (despite Scavenger Hunt originally being released in Japan before then) but recommended it to young players, aside from the "rather dark story" it has. GamePro and MegaZone, on the other hand, both praised the game for its overall presentation, with the former also noting the usage of "wasp minions" to "nearly render the player helpless" and "force them to use their wits" for boss fights was "a clever idea".

Contemporary response has been somewhat better, with Sonnawood fans considering it one of the series' best licensed games and even praising its story for being among the darkest the franchise has to offer.