The blue hedgehog synonymous with coolness returns for his third and last outing on the Dreamcast. And it is some outing with blistering fast sixty FPS (Frames Per Second) action without the binding adventure parts of the original Sonic Adventure. Even though Amy, our favorite pink hedgehog and Big, the loveable fat purple cat aren’t playable in single player, they make cameos. Incidentally, the game was released to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Sonic franchise, and on June 23rd, the whole world received a simultaneous release of the biggest Sonic game to hit yet.
Sonic Adventure 2 is set up somewhat like its predecessor. While in Sonic Adventure, you could unlock five other characters through Sonic’s adventure and choose which character you wanted. In the sequel, you get a choice of the Hero side and the Dark side. The Hero side consists of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, while Dark has Dr. Robotnik (Yay!) and newcomers Shadow, the evil Sonic look-a-like and Rouge, the treasure hunter bat. Sonic and Shadow have the traditional high speed thrills through amazing levels most commonly associated with past Sonic games. Robotnik and Tails control giant mechs for some great shooting fun through slower pace levels. Perhaps, the most annoying levels of all, Rogue and Knuckles’ treasure hunting ones. While Sonic and Shadow provide great fun by default and though that Robotnik and Tails’ levels sway from typical Sonic game fare, the treasure hunting levels completely lose Sonic charm. Though they may seem inviting, and fun to explore huge levels, you’ll find out it’s a double edged sword. The radar, which is color coded and sound coded, just doesn’t offer enough sound variances to pinpoint the Emerald shard, or key, or whatever you’re trying to track down. Something just doesn’t feel right blazing through Sonic’s levels while a level for Knuckles could take up to thirty minutes.
Control is easy for anyone of nearly any age or experience and only a short time is needed until you learn the controls. The controls are fluid and especially show when you’re controlling Sonic or Shadow, though turns may not be simple for beginners mainly because of the sheer speed and camera styles. As always in the Sonic series, the number of buttons used for controls are down to minimal– only a few buttons are actually used in the game.
Sonic Adventure 2 is chock full of options including a slightly strained cart racing mode and a nifty multiplayer mode where you can, when enough Emblems are collected, be as many different characters, such as Metal Sonic. You can also go to the game’s homepage where you can download a new cart and course and character voice themes for the main menu. Earn all 180 Emblems you’ll get a surprise… (Think a great vintage Sonic level) Not to
be outdone, Sonic Adventure 2 looks stunning graphic wise and could easily be called, if not the game with the best graphics for the Dreamcast, one of the games. Textures are done extremely well and every level is expansive and huge with amazing level design with zips and twirls to make you dizzy. Even throughout the high resolution graphics, the game maintains at least 60 FPS nearly every time in the one player mode. The game is truly pushing the Dreamcast to its breaking graphical limits. The only problem is the amazingly unresponsive camera, which hasn’t received much improvement from the original Sonic Adventure. In most cases, it works well, but sometimes it will get stuck in the most unwanted places. The L and R buttons don’t allow you the control of the camera, but the ability to look around. Then, it’s back to the automatic camera programmed for the express purpose of “going forward”.
Music is typically the kind associated with Sonic games and is sure to please most of everyone. Sonic still has his pseudo 80’s pop music playing throughout his levels, which still work amazingly well. Likewise, all the other characters kept their recognizeable music. Some people may question Knuckle’s odd rap music, but they were shooting to make Knuckles sound ultra. You can always turn off the lyrics and listen to the great background music, which in nearly every case fit the level great. Sound effects from yesteryear Sonic games come back to lovingly haunt us, such as the power-up box bursting open, the collection of rings, the spin dash, and a few other small sound bytes.
SCORE:
Gameplay – 8
Graphics – 10
Sound – 10
Entertainment – 10
Overall: 9.5/10
What is wrong with this game? The slighlty messed up camera and a few sour apples of levels? All trivial, trust me, this game is one of the best Sonic games and one of the great last Dreamcast games.
