Sonic Adventure 2’s Chao garden is alive and well thanks to modders

Fans have lamented about the lack of Chao in Sonic x Shadow Generations, but all is not lost. Thanks to the work of one modder, fans can raise their Chaos once again — and play a mod that adds an entirely new custom location to Sonic Adventure 2.

The Chao, big-eyed creatures with tear-drop-shaped heads, are little pets you can take care of in the Sonic Adventure games. Fans of the original Sonic Adventure 2 know that players can unlock several locations to raise their Chaos. Specific Chao could go live in certain gardens; so if you raised an evil devil-like Chao, it could go live in the spooky Dark Garden, whereas the angelic Chao got to go live in the Heaven-like world of the Hero Garden. In a mod released by Jaildiku on Sunday, players can now add an additional “Dry Lagoon Garden” location based on the treasure hunting stage from the main game.

The mod is filled with all sorts of adorable flourishes. It has rich, saturated textures, custom decorations like a boat and pool, many plants, and even hidden emerald shards. It uses the same buildings and flora that ornament the scenery in the Dry Lagoon level from the main game, too.

Last fall, long-time Sonic producer Takashi Iizuka said that Sega didn’t have plans to create a standalone Chao game — but Sonic players are helping keep this piece of the game alive. In the past week, creators have published mods that add a new Green Hill Zone-inspired garden to the game and one that adds a fluffy fur to a Chao. And while people are still making mods to this day, the work goes back years. One particularly astounding mod, called Chao World Extended, adds loads of new features to the base Chao game, such as new items, interactions, and Chao designs.

And honestly, I appreciate it. The original Chao garden was a shockingly rich and complex gameplay mode for something that wasn’t technically the main point of the game. You had different stats for Chaos, loads of designs, the cute little school, and so many adorable ways to interact with them. It was already such a cool and surprising element to add to a game — and now, years later, we get to see people expand on that world even more.