Oh, Sonic Adventure 2...
At first, the shift from hub worlds to linear storytelling was a change I had to get used to - the pace of doing levels back to back feels way different from walking around Station Squareaimlessly to get to the next stage and I didn't like how it felt here. However, my stance changed about halfway through the HERO story (which I played first), and I began to appreciate the storytelling of the sequel over SA1, because you get the story (on your side atleast) told in chronological order without having to puzzle it together and you constantly switch characters, so it doesn't get boring. So on the HERO side you're already getting a full story about Sonic and his friends alone, but the villains are contextualized in the DARK story. Personally, I preferred the DARK story, it just felt like the more complete package overall and the cast is more interesting.
As for the gameplay, Adventure 2 brought some noticeable changes to the Treasure Hunt stages, put an extended focus on mech levels (which play similar to Gamma from SA1) and also changes the physics and controls a bit from the first game - nothing worse than no longer being able to overly rely on Sonic's spindash, as it's not overpowered anymore. You get used to it fast, but that was a death sentence in the first hours of playing! Concerning the Treasure Hunt stages... I'm not a fan of what they did to the radar, the beeping noise is even more obnoxious (and louder) than before and only having the shards show up in a set order is frustrating. However, sometime during Knuckles' final level it came to me that I've developed stockholm syndrome towards the Treasure Hunt gameplay and after reflecting and replaying the Knuckles stages again, I had a lot more fun with them than before. They're an acquired taste, a guilty pleasure.
You know what else is guilty of being TOO LOUD? The mech levels - just hold down the lock-on button and you'll get a free trial of tinnitus, all while you've got a full Michael Bay movie with thirteen different kinds of explosions going down in the background. Weapons Bed might actually be one of the loudest levels I have ever played in ANY game. It's not like the audio mixing was good to begin with, the volume of sound effects during regular gameplay is so comically overtuned and you might as well believe the conversations in cutscenes were recorded during a rave by how often the voices get drowned out by the music. But generally, the soundtrack of Adventure 2 really delivers. Favorite songs are Escape from the City, Live & Learn and E.G.G.M.A.N.
Not much more to say, except that I missed out on the Chao Garden in this playthrough entirely, just because I had no clue how to hatch the eggs. A shame, cause that's apparently a big aspect of the game - so I'll be sure to check it out sometime. What else, Shadow and Rogue are awesome and this game is a blast to play despite the issues. I'm considering bumping it up to five stars if the Chao part of the game turns out to be good. It's just chaotic and fun.
In which other game can you experience Tails using his special move of crashing the game twice after telling Eggman how powerful he is? I can't think of one.
At first, the shift from hub worlds to linear storytelling was a change I had to get used to - the pace of doing levels back to back feels way different from walking around Station Square
As for the gameplay, Adventure 2 brought some noticeable changes to the Treasure Hunt stages, put an extended focus on mech levels (which play similar to Gamma from SA1) and also changes the physics and controls a bit from the first game - nothing worse than no longer being able to overly rely on Sonic's spindash, as it's not overpowered anymore. You get used to it fast, but that was a death sentence in the first hours of playing! Concerning the Treasure Hunt stages... I'm not a fan of what they did to the radar, the beeping noise is even more obnoxious (and louder) than before and only having the shards show up in a set order is frustrating. However, sometime during Knuckles' final level it came to me that I've developed stockholm syndrome towards the Treasure Hunt gameplay and after reflecting and replaying the Knuckles stages again, I had a lot more fun with them than before. They're an acquired taste, a guilty pleasure.
You know what else is guilty of being TOO LOUD? The mech levels - just hold down the lock-on button and you'll get a free trial of tinnitus, all while you've got a full Michael Bay movie with thirteen different kinds of explosions going down in the background. Weapons Bed might actually be one of the loudest levels I have ever played in ANY game. It's not like the audio mixing was good to begin with, the volume of sound effects during regular gameplay is so comically overtuned and you might as well believe the conversations in cutscenes were recorded during a rave by how often the voices get drowned out by the music. But generally, the soundtrack of Adventure 2 really delivers. Favorite songs are Escape from the City, Live & Learn and E.G.G.M.A.N.
Not much more to say, except that I missed out on the Chao Garden in this playthrough entirely, just because I had no clue how to hatch the eggs. A shame, cause that's apparently a big aspect of the game - so I'll be sure to check it out sometime. What else, Shadow and Rogue are awesome and this game is a blast to play despite the issues. I'm considering bumping it up to five stars if the Chao part of the game turns out to be good. It's just chaotic and fun.
In which other game can you experience Tails using his special move of crashing the game twice after telling Eggman how powerful he is? I can't think of one.
This is almost unplayable to me.
They made those shitty extra characters and the chao garden mandatory. Tails is now a robot cause we've had so much fun with the robot the first time around, and his missions are accompanied by constant beeping. Knuckles' emerald scanner now can only detect the emeralds in the order that the game dictates it, meaning you could be running around one of the emeralds and never see it because you first gotta find the other one. Sonic can no longer spin-dash while running, gotta stop in tracks. The light dash now only works when there are rings around, so that you have even less freedom of movement. Boss battles are still as braindead. There are no hub areas anymore. Enemies sometimes spawn right before you as you're running. Levels are much poorer designed. The sensitivity on steering while running at high speed is insane. I could go on really, they've just ruined everything that made the first game fun.
And the presentation is somehow much worse too. I dunno why they sucked all the color out of it. The first game was so vibrant, and this one is just bland. Some weird musical choices too. Knuckles now has rap songs, apparently written by him, since they speak about him in first person.
While this is clearly worse than the first game, I think I could've played through the Sonic levels and it still would've been a decent game. But because they're now sandwiched between Robot-Tails and Knuckles levels, I can't. It is torture to play those two.
They made those shitty extra characters and the chao garden mandatory. Tails is now a robot cause we've had so much fun with the robot the first time around, and his missions are accompanied by constant beeping. Knuckles' emerald scanner now can only detect the emeralds in the order that the game dictates it, meaning you could be running around one of the emeralds and never see it because you first gotta find the other one. Sonic can no longer spin-dash while running, gotta stop in tracks. The light dash now only works when there are rings around, so that you have even less freedom of movement. Boss battles are still as braindead. There are no hub areas anymore. Enemies sometimes spawn right before you as you're running. Levels are much poorer designed. The sensitivity on steering while running at high speed is insane. I could go on really, they've just ruined everything that made the first game fun.
And the presentation is somehow much worse too. I dunno why they sucked all the color out of it. The first game was so vibrant, and this one is just bland. Some weird musical choices too. Knuckles now has rap songs, apparently written by him, since they speak about him in first person.
While this is clearly worse than the first game, I think I could've played through the Sonic levels and it still would've been a decent game. But because they're now sandwiched between Robot-Tails and Knuckles levels, I can't. It is torture to play those two.
many historians have asked me to extrapolate on my comments in my original sonic adventure 2 review on this site, most notably the part where i say "i am not capable of speaking about this game in an unbiased way". after sitting down and replaying this game and doing another 100% run for the fuck of it, allow me the indulgence of being biased.
i think sonic adventure 2 is as good as 3D platforming will ever get for a very long time. maybe not forever, and maybe there's a better 3D platformer that exists that i've yet to play. but, based on the evidence i have now, and my own lived experiences, this is the best i think we've got. the level design in this game is just smooth as butter and every level feels like it's actualized from concept in a near flawless way. part of my bias comes from the fact that i've arguably committed so much of this game to muscle memory that i think there's a fairly generous chance i could play it blindfolded. but it's also worth stating that this game's design document is immediately apparent: craft levels that have a concise and crisp aesthetic while making the platforming engage both character control and spatial awareness in a way that leaves the skill ceiling sky high.
there are just not enough good things i can say about the levels in this game. i'm going to now shock the world and say that the treasure-hunting levels in this game are not only good, they can be arguably some of the best parts of the game. levels like security hall, meteor herd, and aquatic mine all challenge you in both level knowledge and manipulation and have layouts that accommodate more "hide and seek" structures. they're a great change of pace from the visual noise that shooting sections can be at times, or the frantic "level jets past you as you go" gameplay that speed levels can be. each type of gameplay shines in its own way, but i want to specifically dedicate part of this review to singing the praising of treasure-hunting. i've always had a fondness for them and their intricate levels that don't demand, but merely ask for your time to learn them.
beyond that, i just feel as though this game knows exactly what it wants to do at every opportunity. there's something extremely confident and cocksure in how this game plays. there is quite literally no level in this entire game that feels too long, and it feels novel to see a level like sky rail be beatable in less than 2 minutes. i'll show my hand here and admit that i've been sitting on this for about a month and mostly been dicking around with getting perfect chaos in that time because i am more autistic than you (l https://i.imgur.com/8hZDaOl.png o https://i.imgur.com/0RiKeOK.png l https://i.imgur.com/1VjMVZa.png). but it's simultaneously given me a lot of time to truly marinate on this game. it also gave me time to let curiosity take over and urge me to play sonic heroes again and. . . well. having finished a team sonic run of that game, i feel the utmost comfortable saying that the levels in that game are too god damn long.
i won't sidetrack too long into what sonic becomes after this, but it is worth mentioning that a "short" level in sonic heroes sits at around 5 minutes, while an average one will be anywhere from 8-10 minutes. compare that here, where the longest speed levels (final rush/chase) are going to sit comfortably around 4-6 minutes depending on how much you dilly dally, and i think my point gets made. brevity is the soul of wit, and sonic adventure 2 is aware of that. i'm sure you could have made city escape about twice as long, but then you'd ruin the replayability of it. you'd make it unnecessarily longer when it already feels like a dense introduction to what sonic plays like. conversely, when you do have levels you want cram with a lot of shit, you can have them stand out more and be more memorable for all that shit cramming. cosmic wall is one of my favorite levels just because it feels so large and "i'm crossing over all this shit in space just to stop that god damn hedgehog one last time". it's grandiose because this is a grand finale for the dark story and sets the tone for eggman's complete dominance in the upcoming confrontation. there are so many things like this in the game, and i can talk about them endlessly and eternally.
are there shortcomings in the game? i'm obligated to say yes, but i struggle to think of them off the top of my head. i feel as though people come up with a whole buffet of reasons to dislike this game, but the complaints have never resonated with me. let's go through most of them
"the camera is bad" really? i've never had problems with it and any time i need to adjust it, it's responsive and snappy. relative to the other games of its time, it's fairly low-maintenance and gives the player optimal angles for setpieces and maneuverability with little issue. if nothing else, it's a giant leap from what SA1's camera was like.
"i don't like playing as knuckles/rouge" skill issue
"[story element] is dumb" this is entirely subjective but i am the person who loves every single stupid aspect of this game's story, both from a presentation point of view and from a writing perspective. i love small things like in the hero story when eggman blows up the moon it's shown as this devastating move that indicates he means business and has complete control, meanwhile you see that same moment in the dark story and he has a dr. evil moment going "WHY THE HECK WONT THIS DAMN THING WORK". and i love rouge the bat, she's such a fun character. chaotic neutral with a hint of morality to her. i think my favorite scene in the entire game is when shadow walks in on her trying to steal the emeralds and calls her a pathetic creature, then she proceeds to drag the dogshit out of him. true cinnamontography, etc.
"i don't like how momentum works in this game" this is quite possibly the most bizarre complaint i see every now and again. i adore how momentum feels here. everything has weight, but it still feels as though all you need is a good stretch of land to start up a run. the spin dash is appropriately hard to control but a great way to get things going, and once you learn about how to break the speedcap + maintain velocity, you can have some insane fun with this game.
"i hate the audio-mixing in the cutscenes" Bro are you seriously going to be one of those colossal nerds who complains about the audio mixing in a sonic the hedgehog game. yeah sometimes the dialogue audio isn't leveled right and characters talk over each other, but i've always felt that was fairly realistic. real life is full of people talking over each other and the like, so it worked for me. besides, all the important information is conveyed well enough + the game gives you subtitles. barring a few mistranslations, there's really no reason this should be a game-breaking thing for you unless you're a pedant.
"shadow is dumb" fuck you and people like you shadow rules
"i dislike how the light speed dash and bounce bracelet are mapped to the same button" ok you got me this is something i actually don't like. it's very very very minor but there's like the one out of every twenty times where you'll be trying to light speed dash in mid-air and it'll accidentally do a bounce instead and that usually results in you dying and it's so :|. it feels like they could've avoided it by mapping the bounce to another button, but it's by no means a dealbreaker and isn't nearly as problematic as when the boost games map light-speed dash to the same button as boosting.
ok i think i'm out of strawman complaints to address. i don't know how much more there is for me to say about this game. i am very serious when i say that this is my favorite 3D platformer ever, and it's in my top 5 games of all time for a very distinct reason. i grew up on sonic games both 2D and 3D, and playing this as an 8 year old was course-correcting. to this day, i think this game has one of the best OSTs of all time (apropos of nothing here is a lame ass tier list i made of my favorite songs in the game https://i.imgur.com/5CvNZJL.png (green hill is bottom by default because it's basically just green hill with barely changed instrumentation)) and it's just given me so much joy in my life. this is one of my most revisited games of all time by far and it speaks so much to me about what video games can provide both in terms of game design and the intangible feelings associated with that. again, i could truly talk about the ways in which this game is special to me for ages, and i suspect i'll likely be editing this review a lot in the coming days after publishing it. either way, if you read this far, thanks, i wrote this with absolutely no aims of changing anyone's mind, just expressing my love for a game that is over 2 decades old and still feels brand new to me.
i think sonic adventure 2 is as good as 3D platforming will ever get for a very long time. maybe not forever, and maybe there's a better 3D platformer that exists that i've yet to play. but, based on the evidence i have now, and my own lived experiences, this is the best i think we've got. the level design in this game is just smooth as butter and every level feels like it's actualized from concept in a near flawless way. part of my bias comes from the fact that i've arguably committed so much of this game to muscle memory that i think there's a fairly generous chance i could play it blindfolded. but it's also worth stating that this game's design document is immediately apparent: craft levels that have a concise and crisp aesthetic while making the platforming engage both character control and spatial awareness in a way that leaves the skill ceiling sky high.
there are just not enough good things i can say about the levels in this game. i'm going to now shock the world and say that the treasure-hunting levels in this game are not only good, they can be arguably some of the best parts of the game. levels like security hall, meteor herd, and aquatic mine all challenge you in both level knowledge and manipulation and have layouts that accommodate more "hide and seek" structures. they're a great change of pace from the visual noise that shooting sections can be at times, or the frantic "level jets past you as you go" gameplay that speed levels can be. each type of gameplay shines in its own way, but i want to specifically dedicate part of this review to singing the praising of treasure-hunting. i've always had a fondness for them and their intricate levels that don't demand, but merely ask for your time to learn them.
beyond that, i just feel as though this game knows exactly what it wants to do at every opportunity. there's something extremely confident and cocksure in how this game plays. there is quite literally no level in this entire game that feels too long, and it feels novel to see a level like sky rail be beatable in less than 2 minutes. i'll show my hand here and admit that i've been sitting on this for about a month and mostly been dicking around with getting perfect chaos in that time because i am more autistic than you (l https://i.imgur.com/8hZDaOl.png o https://i.imgur.com/0RiKeOK.png l https://i.imgur.com/1VjMVZa.png). but it's simultaneously given me a lot of time to truly marinate on this game. it also gave me time to let curiosity take over and urge me to play sonic heroes again and. . . well. having finished a team sonic run of that game, i feel the utmost comfortable saying that the levels in that game are too god damn long.
i won't sidetrack too long into what sonic becomes after this, but it is worth mentioning that a "short" level in sonic heroes sits at around 5 minutes, while an average one will be anywhere from 8-10 minutes. compare that here, where the longest speed levels (final rush/chase) are going to sit comfortably around 4-6 minutes depending on how much you dilly dally, and i think my point gets made. brevity is the soul of wit, and sonic adventure 2 is aware of that. i'm sure you could have made city escape about twice as long, but then you'd ruin the replayability of it. you'd make it unnecessarily longer when it already feels like a dense introduction to what sonic plays like. conversely, when you do have levels you want cram with a lot of shit, you can have them stand out more and be more memorable for all that shit cramming. cosmic wall is one of my favorite levels just because it feels so large and "i'm crossing over all this shit in space just to stop that god damn hedgehog one last time". it's grandiose because this is a grand finale for the dark story and sets the tone for eggman's complete dominance in the upcoming confrontation. there are so many things like this in the game, and i can talk about them endlessly and eternally.
are there shortcomings in the game? i'm obligated to say yes, but i struggle to think of them off the top of my head. i feel as though people come up with a whole buffet of reasons to dislike this game, but the complaints have never resonated with me. let's go through most of them
"the camera is bad" really? i've never had problems with it and any time i need to adjust it, it's responsive and snappy. relative to the other games of its time, it's fairly low-maintenance and gives the player optimal angles for setpieces and maneuverability with little issue. if nothing else, it's a giant leap from what SA1's camera was like.
"i don't like playing as knuckles/rouge" skill issue
"[story element] is dumb" this is entirely subjective but i am the person who loves every single stupid aspect of this game's story, both from a presentation point of view and from a writing perspective. i love small things like in the hero story when eggman blows up the moon it's shown as this devastating move that indicates he means business and has complete control, meanwhile you see that same moment in the dark story and he has a dr. evil moment going "WHY THE HECK WONT THIS DAMN THING WORK". and i love rouge the bat, she's such a fun character. chaotic neutral with a hint of morality to her. i think my favorite scene in the entire game is when shadow walks in on her trying to steal the emeralds and calls her a pathetic creature, then she proceeds to drag the dogshit out of him. true cinnamontography, etc.
"i don't like how momentum works in this game" this is quite possibly the most bizarre complaint i see every now and again. i adore how momentum feels here. everything has weight, but it still feels as though all you need is a good stretch of land to start up a run. the spin dash is appropriately hard to control but a great way to get things going, and once you learn about how to break the speedcap + maintain velocity, you can have some insane fun with this game.
"i hate the audio-mixing in the cutscenes" Bro are you seriously going to be one of those colossal nerds who complains about the audio mixing in a sonic the hedgehog game. yeah sometimes the dialogue audio isn't leveled right and characters talk over each other, but i've always felt that was fairly realistic. real life is full of people talking over each other and the like, so it worked for me. besides, all the important information is conveyed well enough + the game gives you subtitles. barring a few mistranslations, there's really no reason this should be a game-breaking thing for you unless you're a pedant.
"shadow is dumb" fuck you and people like you shadow rules
"i dislike how the light speed dash and bounce bracelet are mapped to the same button" ok you got me this is something i actually don't like. it's very very very minor but there's like the one out of every twenty times where you'll be trying to light speed dash in mid-air and it'll accidentally do a bounce instead and that usually results in you dying and it's so :|. it feels like they could've avoided it by mapping the bounce to another button, but it's by no means a dealbreaker and isn't nearly as problematic as when the boost games map light-speed dash to the same button as boosting.
ok i think i'm out of strawman complaints to address. i don't know how much more there is for me to say about this game. i am very serious when i say that this is my favorite 3D platformer ever, and it's in my top 5 games of all time for a very distinct reason. i grew up on sonic games both 2D and 3D, and playing this as an 8 year old was course-correcting. to this day, i think this game has one of the best OSTs of all time (apropos of nothing here is a lame ass tier list i made of my favorite songs in the game https://i.imgur.com/5CvNZJL.png (green hill is bottom by default because it's basically just green hill with barely changed instrumentation)) and it's just given me so much joy in my life. this is one of my most revisited games of all time by far and it speaks so much to me about what video games can provide both in terms of game design and the intangible feelings associated with that. again, i could truly talk about the ways in which this game is special to me for ages, and i suspect i'll likely be editing this review a lot in the coming days after publishing it. either way, if you read this far, thanks, i wrote this with absolutely no aims of changing anyone's mind, just expressing my love for a game that is over 2 decades old and still feels brand new to me.
I've completed three or four randomizers of this game. I've lost count. Every time, there are two specific moments which I audibly say "oh fuck this game" out loud - it's either getting lost in Aquatic Mine (conveniently available as a first stage at least 2-3 times now), or it's when I have Shadow dramatically ramp off the first jump in Sky Rail, off the stage, into the kill plane, while the Chao Kindergarten music is playing, as Omochao starts talking about mating rituals, and Shadow reaches mach 5 to his death. Somewhere in the middle of this journey, my objections melt away as I figure out why the supposed boundaries of the game don't matter - I accidentally clip through a wall and realize I can use this knowledge to skip the Flame Ring. (Outer Wilds?? eat your fucking heart out???) A bunch of Chao drown themselves across a pond to the climatic Live and Learn, like their life depends on it. It does. By the end I'm on the verge of tears as Sonic says his heartfelt goodbye to Shadow: "NEED MORE MEMORY, BUD!"
What I'm saying is - even if you take this anxious mess of emblematic (ha!) 00's angst, cut it into scissors, smear a glue stick against a wall, chuck the pieces at it, then shoot an entire bottle of ketchup across it while blasting Jamiroquai, DMX, Pendulum, Streetlight Manifesto, and Foo Fighters all at the same time inside a moving car, it never crashes! You come out of it with a pending arrest warrant, but I swear it still ends up worth it and ready to go again. I don't know why! There's just something here, man. Something special.
The level design is so slapshot. Have you ever stopped running in the middle of the speed levels and looked at a broad view of what they... do? They're linear, and there are these big dash pads that they tell you to go this way, and the second you walk around one you look around and tell yourself "what the FUCK were they thinking?" Then the game suddenly jets Sonic in some direction because you happened upon the middle of some half-scripted segment, and the game asks you, "what the FUCK were you thinking?" But they probably realized people were doing this, so they made it non-linear by putting STUFF right in those sections. Instead of just moving along, eventually you're constantly looking for the places it fucks up! Guess what? There's SHIT there! Every time. There's a life! There's a lost Chao!! There's a fucking upgrade!!! There's a pipe in outer space and you whistle at it and a skunk pops out. God dammit. Brilliant.
This game is a pile of confetti ideas, and it's best every time you throw it up in the air and ignore the complete mess it makes. Suddenly you forget how the walker missions aren't designed around anything, and the emerald stages are horribly winding messes by choice, and the speed missions are designed around psychically predicting you'll be holding the analog stick in a particular direction even though the camera has no vestibular system, and that this jank is all desperately held together by tamogachis and kart racing. The aesthetic does a Weekend at Bernie's on the gameplay. The misplaced mix of edge and "what if we all just got along........." optimism shoots it through the fuckin door and into the horizon. It's incredible. I think about how much this game sucks every time I play it. By the end I'm laughing or crying. I can't tell which. I never care.
No one makes five different functional video games in one with umpteen different music directions starring an edgy antihero against jarring heavily-contrasted rainbow palettes. Why? Because it's stupid. And I love this stupid, stupid game so much.
What I'm saying is - even if you take this anxious mess of emblematic (ha!) 00's angst, cut it into scissors, smear a glue stick against a wall, chuck the pieces at it, then shoot an entire bottle of ketchup across it while blasting Jamiroquai, DMX, Pendulum, Streetlight Manifesto, and Foo Fighters all at the same time inside a moving car, it never crashes! You come out of it with a pending arrest warrant, but I swear it still ends up worth it and ready to go again. I don't know why! There's just something here, man. Something special.
The level design is so slapshot. Have you ever stopped running in the middle of the speed levels and looked at a broad view of what they... do? They're linear, and there are these big dash pads that they tell you to go this way, and the second you walk around one you look around and tell yourself "what the FUCK were they thinking?" Then the game suddenly jets Sonic in some direction because you happened upon the middle of some half-scripted segment, and the game asks you, "what the FUCK were you thinking?" But they probably realized people were doing this, so they made it non-linear by putting STUFF right in those sections. Instead of just moving along, eventually you're constantly looking for the places it fucks up! Guess what? There's SHIT there! Every time. There's a life! There's a lost Chao!! There's a fucking upgrade!!! There's a pipe in outer space and you whistle at it and a skunk pops out. God dammit. Brilliant.
This game is a pile of confetti ideas, and it's best every time you throw it up in the air and ignore the complete mess it makes. Suddenly you forget how the walker missions aren't designed around anything, and the emerald stages are horribly winding messes by choice, and the speed missions are designed around psychically predicting you'll be holding the analog stick in a particular direction even though the camera has no vestibular system, and that this jank is all desperately held together by tamogachis and kart racing. The aesthetic does a Weekend at Bernie's on the gameplay. The misplaced mix of edge and "what if we all just got along........." optimism shoots it through the fuckin door and into the horizon. It's incredible. I think about how much this game sucks every time I play it. By the end I'm laughing or crying. I can't tell which. I never care.
No one makes five different functional video games in one with umpteen different music directions starring an edgy antihero against jarring heavily-contrasted rainbow palettes. Why? Because it's stupid. And I love this stupid, stupid game so much.
I have so many mixed feelings about this game. The speed stages are great and that's why the rating isn't any lower, but the emerald stages are way worse then they are in the first adventure, and the mechs just don't feel fun to control at all. Over half the game just isn't that fun to me. Music kicksass though at the least and I adore the story a lot. Also 100% is misery don't ever do it
While I still find the Tails/Eggman stages to be a drag, I can't help but still absolutely love the hell out of this game. This game is the definition of cool. Sonic/Shadow stages are cool, the soundtrack on Knuckles/Rouge stages are cool. Shadow is the coolest.
Eu nunca imaginei que um jogo do sonic ia me deixar hypado pra cada detalhe, e que encerramento MDSSSS. Obrigado a todos que me encheram o saco pra jogar essa maravilha
An incredible improvement over SA1. The music and story are both much better, and the gameplay feels a lot more polished. The space levels are the reason this isn't a 10.
every level in this game is either a huge hit or a large miss, no in between
Hoo boy...
I really want to like this. The music is amazing, the graphics are a big improvement over SA1, and the story is kinda dimb at points but nonetheless enjoyable.
But good lord the gameplay. The Sonic/Shadow stages are fun enough i guess, but something about how they play just feels wrong, kinda slippery or something. The levels being more linear doesn't help with this, ultimately being less fun to play than Sonic in SA1 despite certain stages here being fine.
Knuckles/ Rouge I just don't like at all. Not only is the radar nerfed for some reason, but the levels, specifically later on, are just a pain in the ass, ESPECIALLY on Rouge's side. Finally, the Eggman levels are actually pretty alright, moves at a fine pace and they're relatively fun to traverse. Tails tho oh my god, he feels a little more sluggish to me, and his stages just aren't that fun at all. A clear sign of his super late addition to the game.
TLDR: I really want to like this, and there are things i do like, but the flaws are just too numerous for me to truly be a fan.
I really want to like this. The music is amazing, the graphics are a big improvement over SA1, and the story is kinda dimb at points but nonetheless enjoyable.
But good lord the gameplay. The Sonic/Shadow stages are fun enough i guess, but something about how they play just feels wrong, kinda slippery or something. The levels being more linear doesn't help with this, ultimately being less fun to play than Sonic in SA1 despite certain stages here being fine.
Knuckles/ Rouge I just don't like at all. Not only is the radar nerfed for some reason, but the levels, specifically later on, are just a pain in the ass, ESPECIALLY on Rouge's side. Finally, the Eggman levels are actually pretty alright, moves at a fine pace and they're relatively fun to traverse. Tails tho oh my god, he feels a little more sluggish to me, and his stages just aren't that fun at all. A clear sign of his super late addition to the game.
TLDR: I really want to like this, and there are things i do like, but the flaws are just too numerous for me to truly be a fan.
9.9/10
Really good game. I like the levels here, all the characters control pretty good, the story here is pretty nice too. I really like shadow here, he's actually written well here and not made into a complete dope. Him having a character arc and sacrificing himself to save everyone is pretty cool too.
I enjoyed the 3 playstyles here, I do perfer the speed stages over the others but I still do enjoy the mech and treasure hunting stages. I also love that the game constantly makes people replay the stages to get a better rank since the game is score based than being time based like SA1, I love how you have to be at your A game to get the A ranks here. Also I like this game equally to SA1, they both are really good.
I enjoyed my time in this game a ton.
Really good game. I like the levels here, all the characters control pretty good, the story here is pretty nice too. I really like shadow here, he's actually written well here and not made into a complete dope. Him having a character arc and sacrificing himself to save everyone is pretty cool too.
I enjoyed the 3 playstyles here, I do perfer the speed stages over the others but I still do enjoy the mech and treasure hunting stages. I also love that the game constantly makes people replay the stages to get a better rank since the game is score based than being time based like SA1, I love how you have to be at your A game to get the A ranks here. Also I like this game equally to SA1, they both are really good.
I enjoyed my time in this game a ton.
Incrível como o Shadow é literalmente eu.
An enjoyable "remaster" (or "HD port", whatever you wanna call or see it) of a classic.
extraordinarily conflicted about this. i literally ricochet between "this game is underrated and awesome" to "this game is dogshit" several times every play session. it continues to hold my attention after all this time, though, so that's got to count for something
Very flawed, bumpy ride of a game that glaringly shows its age, but I'm more charmed by its quirks than bothered by its warts. I warmed up to it by the end after adjusting to how this era of Sonic plays, thanks in no small part to Crush 40's legendary tunes. Despite not playing the game until recently, they've been some of my favorite video game songs ever since I first heard em in Brawl as a kid. So for that alone, you know I'm out here respecting my elders.
Don't settle for an opinion a YouTuber gave you, give the game a fair shot. You may not love it but you just might like it. I did!
Don't settle for an opinion a YouTuber gave you, give the game a fair shot. You may not love it but you just might like it. I did!
In the year 2001, something new was birthed.
A good video game.
The apex of an era. Of a franchise. Of a hedgehog. Cowards will tell you the game "aged poorly" becauase they are fundamentally weak. It's only gotten better with age as we've through the era of Shadow the Hedgehog being a cool guy to the era of Shadow the Hedgehog being a cringe guy and now into the golden age of Shadow the Hedgehog being the Best Guy.
The masses will hate me because I tell the truth. They'll say shit like "all the levels that aren't Sonic and Shadow suck" because they have failed to reached the zen state of running around them like a maniac racking up points and getting it faster. I'm right and I won't be stopped from saying it any more. It's the best Sonic.
Chao are cute too tbh
A good video game.
The apex of an era. Of a franchise. Of a hedgehog. Cowards will tell you the game "aged poorly" becauase they are fundamentally weak. It's only gotten better with age as we've through the era of Shadow the Hedgehog being a cool guy to the era of Shadow the Hedgehog being a cringe guy and now into the golden age of Shadow the Hedgehog being the Best Guy.
The masses will hate me because I tell the truth. They'll say shit like "all the levels that aren't Sonic and Shadow suck" because they have failed to reached the zen state of running around them like a maniac racking up points and getting it faster. I'm right and I won't be stopped from saying it any more. It's the best Sonic.
Chao are cute too tbh
Nothing has made my wife laugh harder than Eggman running around the Chao garden. Worth playing even just for that.
The camera and controls are better than the first game, but I missed the hub world with its explorative charm. The story is propelled at a nice clip, even if it is a tad back-loaded (and as occasionally outright embarrassing as any other Sonic story). The Chao garden rules. None of the characters play as poorly as Amy from the previous game.
I think Sonic Adventure 2 is probably the best 3D Sonic game I’ve played, and is positively filled with stuff to do. It’s an easy recommendation for Sonic fans, and really anyone, especially if you have a high jank tolerance.
Also fyi my rating would probably be higher if the 360 version didn’t have a bunch of technical problems. And idk if it’s exclusive to this version, but I once loaded into a bizarre debug room with minimal textures where I couldn’t die and had to restart the game.
The camera and controls are better than the first game, but I missed the hub world with its explorative charm. The story is propelled at a nice clip, even if it is a tad back-loaded (and as occasionally outright embarrassing as any other Sonic story). The Chao garden rules. None of the characters play as poorly as Amy from the previous game.
I think Sonic Adventure 2 is probably the best 3D Sonic game I’ve played, and is positively filled with stuff to do. It’s an easy recommendation for Sonic fans, and really anyone, especially if you have a high jank tolerance.
Also fyi my rating would probably be higher if the 360 version didn’t have a bunch of technical problems. And idk if it’s exclusive to this version, but I once loaded into a bizarre debug room with minimal textures where I couldn’t die and had to restart the game.
The story, characters and OST are really good but.... The chao garden exist, and this single things is worth 5 stars
Sonic fans will look you straight in the fucking eye, unblinking and uncaring with their eyes bloodshot and filled with disdain for their fellow man, telling you that Sonic Adventure 2 is a good video game and they will all go to hell for the sin of lying.
the final boss here is harder than any fromsoftware shit i’ve ever dealt with okay fuck this guy enjoy prison yuji naka
A much improved sequel. They improved on the things that worked in SA1 while throwing out the things that didn't. I don't hate the radar change like most people seem to, and the mech stages can be pretty fun. The only real sore spots for me are the boss fights. Most can be beaten in 20 seconds and are inoffensive, but sadly the final two fights are the worst in the game. Both are definitely elevated by the music though. The music in SA2 is SUCH a step up its absurd.
This game feels very Jerky and unnatural, especially with the camera and the Unbelievably Horrible beeping sounds in the Tails and Knuckles Stages. But... I still like this game. I have to be in the right mood to play it.
now THIS is 3D sonic motherfucker
yall tricked to me saying this was a good game
The knuckles stages legitimately seem like a breach of the Genova Convention.
Fucking hate Knucles you piece of shit motherfucker
Chao garden 2 is easily the best Sonic game, my Chao died twice and then became a god. Its a shame the game was so good because now all other Sonic games have to live up to it and its not fair. When will Sega learn that their actions have consequences?
The in game font is comic sans so that brings the rating down.
Dont worry buddy.
The in game font is comic sans so that brings the rating down.
Dont worry buddy.
this story sucks i love it
I don't care if I'm biased or not, this game is just one of my favorites ever. Yes, it's a broken buggy mess especially by today's standards but it will always have me coming back to it almost at least once a year. The music is timeless, and the characters are so nostalgic. A lot of the level theme-ing is really good and I'll never get tired of coming back to this game.
Also, chao garden is fireeee.
Also, chao garden is fireeee.
The best sonic game