I have a long story with this game; I played the DX port on my Xbox 360 during a huge blizzard from school; so I had like around a week to myself, and I SUCKED at it. I never got past beating Sonic and Tails story because I couldn't beat Knuckles (I didn't know as a kid for some reason you could play them out of order.) but I still really enjoyed it.
Now as a adult playing this game on Steam with BetterSADX and the original Dreamcast game; I can for sure say this is my favorite game ever made. The story is very campy for sure and the English voice acting doesn't help; but yet; it's still an interesting story for what it is. This game has set the gold standard for Sonic games for plot and character arcs; setting up the personalities we've known till this day. Sonic being a cocky-goofball but yet still caring and showing compassion for his friends, Tails wanting to prove to Sonic and everyone that he can be strong and independent, Knuckles simple-minded but strong loyalty to protecting the Master Emerald, and Gamma honestly being probably a top 3 campaign. You won't be disappointed by this games story.
The gameplay is probably my favorite part of this game; while each Sonic game type has it's own jank; hell even the jump from Adventure 1 to 2 has it's own learning curve; but I don't think I've had more fun speedrunning levels as Sonic, Tails, etc. The broken spin-dash Sonic is a key part of his kit and it makes getting to his top speed so much fun; I think only rivaled by the boost in Unleashed and Gens. The level design is fantastic; same goes for all 3 Adventure style games, This, Adventure 2, and Sonic 2006. Speed Highway and Red Mountain for Sonic come to mind instantly for great level design; even the Knuckles hunts are very well made for their first time; if I had to pick one thing to criticize is that I wish there was more level design variety.
Art direction wise? It's by far the part of the game that hasn't aged well but; it's charming in it's own whole different way. Just standing around Emerald Coast looking at the open sea; Speed Highways impressive scale that only Empire City from Unleashed can compare to. It's that 90s vibe that people still want in games visually and I personally love... the soundtrack is another very very strong part of this game; every character theme song is iconic & catchy.. especially the level songs!
All around; I do believe everyone should play this version of the game, DX just does too much to harm the atmosphere this game built back in 1998 that still reigns to the top of most video games, with the charm, music, and art direction it has.
Really really love this game. Please play it.
Now as a adult playing this game on Steam with BetterSADX and the original Dreamcast game; I can for sure say this is my favorite game ever made. The story is very campy for sure and the English voice acting doesn't help; but yet; it's still an interesting story for what it is. This game has set the gold standard for Sonic games for plot and character arcs; setting up the personalities we've known till this day. Sonic being a cocky-goofball but yet still caring and showing compassion for his friends, Tails wanting to prove to Sonic and everyone that he can be strong and independent, Knuckles simple-minded but strong loyalty to protecting the Master Emerald, and Gamma honestly being probably a top 3 campaign. You won't be disappointed by this games story.
The gameplay is probably my favorite part of this game; while each Sonic game type has it's own jank; hell even the jump from Adventure 1 to 2 has it's own learning curve; but I don't think I've had more fun speedrunning levels as Sonic, Tails, etc. The broken spin-dash Sonic is a key part of his kit and it makes getting to his top speed so much fun; I think only rivaled by the boost in Unleashed and Gens. The level design is fantastic; same goes for all 3 Adventure style games, This, Adventure 2, and Sonic 2006. Speed Highway and Red Mountain for Sonic come to mind instantly for great level design; even the Knuckles hunts are very well made for their first time; if I had to pick one thing to criticize is that I wish there was more level design variety.
Art direction wise? It's by far the part of the game that hasn't aged well but; it's charming in it's own whole different way. Just standing around Emerald Coast looking at the open sea; Speed Highways impressive scale that only Empire City from Unleashed can compare to. It's that 90s vibe that people still want in games visually and I personally love... the soundtrack is another very very strong part of this game; every character theme song is iconic & catchy.. especially the level songs!
All around; I do believe everyone should play this version of the game, DX just does too much to harm the atmosphere this game built back in 1998 that still reigns to the top of most video games, with the charm, music, and art direction it has.
Really really love this game. Please play it.