Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24012316-20140928063229

             Wow, Sonic Adventure? Contender to being the best Sonic game out there. I really think it has so many good things, and all the little things that annoy me at most really don’t get in the way of my overall enjoyment. It was an innovator, scouting to new terrain for Sonic, all the while keeping old time fans in check. This is one of the highest recommendations for people just getting into Sonic, or just someone looking for a good platformer/adventure game. With that said, Sega knew they hit something. Seriously, 2.5 million units sold worldwide, not only the best selling Dreamcast title, the best selling 3D Sonic game of all time.

             Of course, Sega knew they had to capitalize this success. Sonic Shuffle, a mediocre party game, took many art styles from Sonic Adventure, and many gameplay aspects returned. But no one liked that game. With that said however, Sega released the game’s TRUE successor, Sonic Adventure 2. And boy oh boy, this one sure as hell got a lot of praise. For its time, it was revolutionary, with a more polished and focused take on the beloved Sonic Adventure, and too many, was a step up on many accounts. However, over the years, the reviews have gotten worse, and worse. I noticed they were all on ports…

             Well, I really thought Sonic Adventure was a good game, and an ambitious jump that paid off. So then, how does Sonic Adventure 2 follow that up? Were any of the problems I had with the first game fixed, or at best, removed? Well, time to find out. This is my look at

 SONIC ADVENTURE 2;

 STORY CITY

             You know what? I’ll just go let SomecallmeJohnny sum up the story. His thoughts amount to mine, so go ahead. Let’s just say I DID enjoy the story though, especially it’s well written encounters. I thought the emotional parts were, emotional, and overall, I think it’s a pretty damn good story.

 Presentation Harbor

             Sonic Adventure 2 is without a doubt a more polished game. Sonic and friend’s models are refined, cleaner, smoother, and overall, more updated. They are even leaner, and the animations are fitting for each character. However, I actually Sonic Adventure, aesthetically, holds up very well. Don’t ask why, but it’s unique art-style and charm really sets off a good mood, and it’s not like the game doesn’t look fantastic. Overall, not much of a step up, but never will it be a step down, oh no.

             The music is spectacular, I love the head-banging rock songs quite a lot, as they get you ready to take on any challenge you will face, and when it’s not rock, it’s still great. Rouge has some very smooth jazz themes that, while I won’t go out of my way to listen to, are still nice to bob to. Knuckles is filled to the brim with cheesy rap and… let’s just say they’re some guilty pleasures. The themes for the Heroes are remixes, and while Knuckles is a step down, Tails is not better, but good, and Sonic actually might overthrow his previous theme. However, the dark side is certainly more diverse. While Shadow’s theme is garbage, and I’ve never even attempted to finish Rouge’s theme, Eggman’s is just OVER THE TOP! That, and Live and Learn, the game’s main theme, make this an awesome soundtrack. I don’t know about letting Adventure hog all the stage light, this is some seriously awesome stuff.

 Gameplay Highway

             Sonic Adventure 2 from the start aimed to be a more refined, polished, and focused take on the formula Sonic Adventure left behind. In that regard, does it succeed? Yeah. It does. There are two stories, Hero and Dark, and once again, there are six characters. However, unlike Sonic Adventure, each character has a certain rival, hence the added “Battle” to future releases. Each character has a specific enemy, and they will clash every now and then to advance the plot. Sonic Adventure, had six different play styles. Sonic Adventure, only has three. Okay, we’re off to a good start. The hub worlds have been done away with; instead, we have the traditional stage to stage formula. While I certainly loved the hub worlds for the first game, this is certainly much more efficient, and while I believe a hub world for this game would be amazing, I guess this works. And if I ever want to revisit a stage I particularly like, I just use the map.

             The three returning styles were the ones I generally liked. Sonic’s style returns, shared with Sonic and Shadow, as it was the most positively received of the styles from the first game. The treasure hunting stages return for Knuckles and Rouge, and here, I feel like the formula certainly was more refined and focused. Finally, the third person shooter formula returns, this time bestowed upon Dr. Eggman and… Tails. Yeah, he doesn’t have any of the unique things he had in Sonic Adventure sadly. I certainly would’ve preferred that the third formula be contrasting and unique, as Tails seriously could’ve done with his flight and superior control for certain stages. In Sonic Adventure, each character shared stages. In this game, characters now have stages catered to them specifically. With that said, however, each stage is locked to a certain region though. There are five regions, Central City, Angel Island, Prison Island, the Desert, and the Space Colony ARK.

 The first half of the game takes place on Earth, where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles fight their way through the government security as they must hunt down Eggman, Rouge, and Shadow, all the while fighting for the Chaos Emeralds. However, the next half begins in the desert area, where both teams begin their preparations to depart Earth. Of course, the final part is aboard the Space Colony ARK, where they all fight one last time, before teaming up to stop Doctor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman’s grandfather.

 Ok, down to the actual gameplay styles. Sonic and Shadow behave almost identically the same as Sonic from Sonic Adventure, and they still control beautifully. No complaint. With that said, specifically targeted levels are now at foot, and this certainly changes some things. Sonic and Shadow’s stages are now much more oriented around action, completing a large amount of unscripted sequences in do-or-die situations; beetle chains over bottomless pits, combat with enemies, and overall, are more centered around action. This is a take I actually welcome whole-heartedly. Sonic Adventure certainly had the more expansive and balanced design, but these levels always feel fresh, blood-pumping, and energetic.

 With that said, I feel these are great levels, worthy of succeeding those of Sonic Adventure. However, they are not without faults. One, enemy placements are half of the time cheap, and I normally am either blindsided by enemies, or simply taken out before I even get a chance. This is especially evident in the later half, though I think we all know. I also believe that the enemies are pretty damn cheap themselves. I’m up for a challenge, but when each enemy is more than capable of putting our hedgehogs down, especially considering they almost always appear in groups. With that said though, this makes combat almost electric, and you are forced to learn their strategies, timing, and patterns. However, I still believe they can be quite cheap, and when they aren’t, they’re stepping stones to get to the other side. I normally am ok with stepping stone enemies, but when everyone else is flat out cheap, this is just a glaring contrast.

 Knuckles and Rouge are all about the scavenger hunt, and I have to say, they did it pretty darn well here. The levels now are intricate, wide open spaces, and are developed strictly for exploration. However, with that’s said, a gimped radar can only be hidden so far. I can only detect emerald shards when the game WANTS me to. THIS kills a lot of the levels. Some of these levels are HUGE, and because of that, it’s sad to say having fun in half of the stages are damn near luck based. Rouge, however, gets the worst side of the stick. Rouge’s levels are just poorly designed, and I think anyone can attest to that. Overall, if it wasn’t for awful radar handling, I would probably like these stages.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Finally, Tails and Eggman adopted the style of Gamma. I understand Eggman, and I’ll try to ignore the fact Tails is the pilot. Overall, I feel the level design is overall, much better than that of Gamma’s, as they built them specifically around the shooters. I actually would love the shooters quite a lot if it wasn’t for two things; camera, and control. Let’s start with the control. Tails and Eggman move forward, and nothing but. Turning is a COMPLETE struggle, and I honestly think they are the worst aspect of the shooters. Lots of these stages are filled in the brim with enemies that know how to return fire perfectly fine, and with such poor mobility, I end up taking a bunch of potshots due to that. The camera normally gets stuck in places I don’t want it to, so yeah. Overall, good style, but without a doubt still needed some improvement.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Overall, Sonic Adventure is certainly the much more focused and polished take on the Adventure formula. But that doesn’t mean a thing when two thirds of the game ranges from ok to ABSOLUTE B.S. I love Sonic and Shadow, I can tolerate Tails and Eggman, and I’m mixed to negative about Knuckles and Rouge. The percentage isn’t much higher than Sonic Adventure.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t have loads of fun with Sonic Adventure 2. As a tenth anniversary title, this is without a doubt a worthy fit, and I say it’s still a very good game, great even. If you liked Sonic Adventure, I IMPLORE you to play Sonic Adventure 2. If it wasn’t for the fundamental flaws the game had, I would say it’s the best 3D Sonic game in existence.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> I have one last marathon before ending this whole fiasco though. I left out Sonic the Hedgehog CD, as well as some of the other spin-offs. Next time we meet, we shall discuss the spinoff titles of our blue blur. Until next time, buddies.

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