Which Side Are You On?
Name: Sonic Adventure 2 - All nations
Other Names (Nicknames): SA2, Adventure 2, The Last Good Sonic Game
Release Dates:
June 19th, 2001 - USA
June 23rd, 2001 - Japan
June 23rd, 2001 - Europe
Quality: 128-Bit, 3D Platformer
Game System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Also released on:
(1). Nintendo GameCube - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (a ported version of Sonic Adventure 2, with slightly enhanced graphics, bonus features in multiplayer mode, and a slightly expanded Chao World)
(2). PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade/PC (Steam) – Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle elements released as DLC)
Developer(s): Sonic Team USA
Publisher(s): Sega Corporation
Credits: See Sonic News Network.
Character Introductions: Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, Gerald Robotnik, Maria Robotnik and the President of the United Federation.
Region Game Takes Place On: Random locations on Earth.
Concept Introductions: This would be Sonic Team’s first attempt at blatantly addressing consumer feedback. Everyone and their grandma fussed about the pursuit and fishing gameplay modes that Amy and Big had from the first game, so, those are gone. Tails’ racing levels are gone, too. So, that leaves us with Shooting, Hunting and, of course, Action Platforming.
Sonic’s zones are the same as before, but a little more linear and closed in so as to keep you moving forward. The hedgehog can also grind rails; this adds an element of skill and kickass coolness that he’s just gotta have. Knuckles’ zones are a big bigger, and more layered. Unfortunately, the radar has been nerfed; instead of being able to detect multiple pieces of treasure at once within a general area, now Rad Red’s range is smaller, and limited to one piece at a time, resulting in a heck of a lot more guesswork. This can be a royal pain in the butt if you’re going for that perfect run. Dr. Robotnik’s Egg Walker from Adventure 1 has been downsized and fitted to his Egg Mobile, allowing him to make a playable appearance here. His offensive and targeting capabilities are superior to E-102 Gamma’s, though at the cost of speed. Moreover, Eggman’s not running on a timer, thereby taking less pressure from the player to complete his zones.
Newcomers Shadow and Rouge play nearly identically to their respective counterparts, as does Tails to his, with slight differences being that some characters get access to Level-Up Items that others don’t.
Concept Deductions: World aesthetic is more grounded in reality here, which reflected Sonic Team USA’s San Fran influences at the time. Sometimes it fits and meshes well, sometimes it doesn’t. Everything is more linear and straight-lined, which better reflects the Classic Era in terms of progression, whilst still allowing for exploration. To further this point, hub worlds are gone…sadly.
Storyline:
Chaos didn’t fare well. But, that little setback hasn’t stopped ol’ Eggman from scheming. No, he’s now thinking bigger. If he couldn’t have Station Square, he’d take the globe! A big scheme needs a big weapon, though. So, whilst racking his weighty brain for an angle, he came across the private diary of his renowned grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Ivo always looked up to him and the magnificent accomplishments he’d made in the world of science. His admiration of his hero increased once the diary was found.
What got Eggman’s attention, however, was one of the final entries:
“Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project, Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure. I will leave everything to him. If you wish, release and awaken it to the world…if you wish to fill the world with destruction…”
What else could a mad scientist like Eggman do after reading something like that?
Why, mess with crap he shouldn’t, of course! Shadow the Hedgehog would demonstrate this lesson brutally, and the world would be caught in the crossfire.
Personal Criticism/Opinion (by Ryan the Game Master):
Boy, howdy… This game was polarizing when it came out. On the one hand, it continued the steady streak Sonic started the Dreamcast Era with. On the other, it wasn’t enough to keep SEGA first-party. Heck, to many, this game signaled the beginning of the company’s slide into perceived irrelevancy, and the ports didn’t help.
To me, Sonic Adventure 2, was a testament of what can happen when you want to keep the spirit of the old alive while making damn sure there’s enough new in there to keep pushing the envelope farther. After the great Adventure 1, things were just better here, in many ways.
But, there’s plenty that’s missing. There’s no hub worlds, the animations of the cast can be kinda janky at times, and the audio quality tends to dip depending on what’s going on at the time. Many characters tend to talk over one another since they did a poor job matching the dialogue with the spoken animations. Adventure 1 did this rather well, so I don’t see what went wrong here. Also, it would’ve been good to have a few more gameplay modes available.
For what it is, Sonic Adventure 2 is a great title that demonstrated Sonic Team’s creativity within the old SEGA spirit. From here on in, they would face uncertain territory…
Let's see some GAMER'S PERSPECTIVE:
Replay value? There’s a crapton to do here. The story, the emblems, the multiplayer, the expanded Chao Garden… Oy.
Graphics? Grounded in realism whilst being distinctly “Sonic”. I just wish Sonic and the others still had proper spinball forms. Covering a character in a color while they jump isn’t good enough. And on that note…why is Shadow’s aura/blur yellow?!? That has never made any sense to me, and it still doesn’t.
Music & Sound Effects? The music is as stellar as ever, and the sound is still familiar and crisp as you remember. On the voiceover front, everyone does a great job, despite the cheese that was beginning to be shown.
Storyline? One of the best for the series. Humor, intrigue, high stakes, epic scale… That’s the minimum of what I want in a Sonic story, and it’s all here.
OVERALL RANK? I give Sonic Adventure 2 an
Other Names (Nicknames): SA2, Adventure 2, The Last Good Sonic Game
Release Dates:
June 19th, 2001 - USA
June 23rd, 2001 - Japan
June 23rd, 2001 - Europe
Quality: 128-Bit, 3D Platformer
Game System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Also released on:
(1). Nintendo GameCube - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (a ported version of Sonic Adventure 2, with slightly enhanced graphics, bonus features in multiplayer mode, and a slightly expanded Chao World)
(2). PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade/PC (Steam) – Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle elements released as DLC)
Developer(s): Sonic Team USA
Publisher(s): Sega Corporation
Credits: See Sonic News Network.
Character Introductions: Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, Gerald Robotnik, Maria Robotnik and the President of the United Federation.
Region Game Takes Place On: Random locations on Earth.
Concept Introductions: This would be Sonic Team’s first attempt at blatantly addressing consumer feedback. Everyone and their grandma fussed about the pursuit and fishing gameplay modes that Amy and Big had from the first game, so, those are gone. Tails’ racing levels are gone, too. So, that leaves us with Shooting, Hunting and, of course, Action Platforming.
Sonic’s zones are the same as before, but a little more linear and closed in so as to keep you moving forward. The hedgehog can also grind rails; this adds an element of skill and kickass coolness that he’s just gotta have. Knuckles’ zones are a big bigger, and more layered. Unfortunately, the radar has been nerfed; instead of being able to detect multiple pieces of treasure at once within a general area, now Rad Red’s range is smaller, and limited to one piece at a time, resulting in a heck of a lot more guesswork. This can be a royal pain in the butt if you’re going for that perfect run. Dr. Robotnik’s Egg Walker from Adventure 1 has been downsized and fitted to his Egg Mobile, allowing him to make a playable appearance here. His offensive and targeting capabilities are superior to E-102 Gamma’s, though at the cost of speed. Moreover, Eggman’s not running on a timer, thereby taking less pressure from the player to complete his zones.
Newcomers Shadow and Rouge play nearly identically to their respective counterparts, as does Tails to his, with slight differences being that some characters get access to Level-Up Items that others don’t.
Concept Deductions: World aesthetic is more grounded in reality here, which reflected Sonic Team USA’s San Fran influences at the time. Sometimes it fits and meshes well, sometimes it doesn’t. Everything is more linear and straight-lined, which better reflects the Classic Era in terms of progression, whilst still allowing for exploration. To further this point, hub worlds are gone…sadly.
Storyline:
Chaos didn’t fare well. But, that little setback hasn’t stopped ol’ Eggman from scheming. No, he’s now thinking bigger. If he couldn’t have Station Square, he’d take the globe! A big scheme needs a big weapon, though. So, whilst racking his weighty brain for an angle, he came across the private diary of his renowned grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Ivo always looked up to him and the magnificent accomplishments he’d made in the world of science. His admiration of his hero increased once the diary was found.
What got Eggman’s attention, however, was one of the final entries:
“Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project, Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure. I will leave everything to him. If you wish, release and awaken it to the world…if you wish to fill the world with destruction…”
What else could a mad scientist like Eggman do after reading something like that?
Why, mess with crap he shouldn’t, of course! Shadow the Hedgehog would demonstrate this lesson brutally, and the world would be caught in the crossfire.
Personal Criticism/Opinion (by Ryan the Game Master):
Boy, howdy… This game was polarizing when it came out. On the one hand, it continued the steady streak Sonic started the Dreamcast Era with. On the other, it wasn’t enough to keep SEGA first-party. Heck, to many, this game signaled the beginning of the company’s slide into perceived irrelevancy, and the ports didn’t help.
To me, Sonic Adventure 2, was a testament of what can happen when you want to keep the spirit of the old alive while making damn sure there’s enough new in there to keep pushing the envelope farther. After the great Adventure 1, things were just better here, in many ways.
But, there’s plenty that’s missing. There’s no hub worlds, the animations of the cast can be kinda janky at times, and the audio quality tends to dip depending on what’s going on at the time. Many characters tend to talk over one another since they did a poor job matching the dialogue with the spoken animations. Adventure 1 did this rather well, so I don’t see what went wrong here. Also, it would’ve been good to have a few more gameplay modes available.
For what it is, Sonic Adventure 2 is a great title that demonstrated Sonic Team’s creativity within the old SEGA spirit. From here on in, they would face uncertain territory…
Let's see some GAMER'S PERSPECTIVE:
Replay value? There’s a crapton to do here. The story, the emblems, the multiplayer, the expanded Chao Garden… Oy.
Graphics? Grounded in realism whilst being distinctly “Sonic”. I just wish Sonic and the others still had proper spinball forms. Covering a character in a color while they jump isn’t good enough. And on that note…why is Shadow’s aura/blur yellow?!? That has never made any sense to me, and it still doesn’t.
Music & Sound Effects? The music is as stellar as ever, and the sound is still familiar and crisp as you remember. On the voiceover front, everyone does a great job, despite the cheese that was beginning to be shown.
Storyline? One of the best for the series. Humor, intrigue, high stakes, epic scale… That’s the minimum of what I want in a Sonic story, and it’s all here.
OVERALL RANK? I give Sonic Adventure 2 an