'Looks like Fun!' - Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Adventure
This is a massive game for the series. Sonic Adventure originated as a Sega Saturn game, code-named Sonic & Knuckles RPG but due to a push from Sega to work with an upcoming console (Dreamcast) and Sonic Team themselves interested with the stronger hardware, they decided "Lets launch Sonic with the system".
Fast forward to 1998 and for the Japanese launch of the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur launched alongside it. It came to EU/NA gamers in 1999 thanks to Sonic Team USA taking time to gut the bugs/glitches from the original JP release (with that being dub "International Version" for JP in a later re-release).
This game changed......everything for Sonic. Sonic & Friends having new designs, the music direction shifting, the world expanding include human characters, hubs to explore and being an honest effort to translated the fun 2D Sonic gameplay into the third dimension.
A lot was riding on this title, with it being the first major Sonic game since.....in many respects, Sonic & Knuckles in 1994. We got games like Sonic Jam, Sonic R, 3D Blast and Sonic the Fighters but not a mainline platforming adventure.
The closest we got to this was the Game Gear Sonic & Tails series, the GG versions of Sonic 1 & 2 and Knuckles Chaotix.
So, is the game good? Has it aged well? And do I enjoy this game?
Its one of my favorite 3D Sonic's and considering how badly it could of ended up, Sonic Team did a strong job bring the Blue Blur into 3D. Lets jam!
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Background/Setting:
Yes, I'm not just talking about story first! We gotta cover some ground work first
. -Robotnik is officially called Eggman after Sonic Adventure, with Eggman starting out as a 'joke' by Sonic's friends with SA2 having Robotnik adopting the Eggman name for the future. In Japan, he was always called Eggman.
-Sonic and Friends got more 'mature' designs. Everyone looks a bit taller, character eyes are colored in, and some characters like Amy and Eggman got more radical designs (Fun Fact: Eggman was going to keep his Classic look but Sonic Team pushed for the re-design anyway).
-Humans live in Sonic's world, so we see a lot of them in Station Square and other locations in the game world. We have three hubs (Station Square, Mystic Ruins and Egg Carrier) with each one being quite massive but at the same time, easy to move around in.
-Elements from series lore introduced from past games (Master Emerald for example) comes into the picture and things like Knuckles race are explained.
Okay, now that is out of the way, lets cover the redesigns!
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Growing Up a Bit
Sonic got taller, his spikes got longer and his eyes are green (likely from exposure from the Chaos Emeralds; his eyes turned green in Sonic 3 when he turns super sonic).
Interesting enough, Sonic's in-game model in the Dreamcast version of the game looks really close to his Classic design:
He still has his pot-belly and his legs/arms are not as long as the concept art makes you think. This changed in the DX version (GC/XBLA/PSN/PC versions) when they cleaned up the game for re-releases).
The rest of the cast's designs ranges from 'Not that major' too 'Quite different'. Amy's look is the most different, as she has more modern look in some ways. She mirrors another Sega character in some ways though.........her dress might be a nod to a future Dreamcast title, Space Channel 5 ala Ulala's look. But that might be reaching a bit XD!
Now, we can get to the fun part, the gameplay!
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Sonic Rolls into 3D?!
The way stages work in Sonic Adventure is that we have 11 Zones, but depending on the character, it determines if they go to it or not.
Sonic will go through 10 zones but will never see Hot Shelter, while Tails will not go to zones like Lost World and Final Egg for example. This allows focus to be given to each characters visits, ensuring their level layouts are different enough from each other.
Sonic makes up the majority of the game with him having a full adventure with him running through 10 zones.
Emerald Coast is the first 3D Zone in Sonic history and man, what a great way to kick off Sonic's 3D Adventure!
You have ramps you can spindash off of to gain great height, lots of loops to run through and most importantly, Sonic's first escape from the dreaded whale. This being comes back to hunt the blue blur in a lot of future games
. Sonic's gameplay is a literal rip of the Genesis era Sonic titles, but make them work in 3D. Sonic keeps momentum when going down hill, he slows down when running up hill, and your spindash has a lot of momentum and is instant. You press it and BAM Sonic starts rolling. It feels great and honestly......its the best control Sonic has ever got in the 3D realm to me. I may love Colors, Heroes, Unleashed and other 3D games, but Sonic's core control has never felt as 'tight' or close to the original Genesis games as it does here.
And the level designs are built for this in mind! Windy Valley has long downward paths that build up your speed, you can run on the walls in Speed Highway, you can spindash at the inclines in Ice Cap to launch yourself to a massive short cut.......it feels great to run through these levels.
The fact we got 10 of these stages is amazing and this works for Tails & Knuckles as well. They do things a bit differently (Tails stages are races in Sonic-like levels while Knuckles explores for Emerald Shards) but they are still designed like Sonic levels. You have lots of paths to take and in Knuckles case, you have working Emerald Radar! Makes his time here enjoyable vs. SA2's treasure hunting zones.
But I have to address something; the game is a bit buggy. Not nearly as bad as future games like 06, but you can clip through walls at points and the camera is not as good as it should be.
And two zones have problems; Sky Deck and Casinopolis. The former has some really annoying design elements & the camera is a bit of a pain here. The latter is mainly pinball with one small platforming section (when Casino Night and Carnival Night Zones mixed the two more naturally with one another).
Overall, I really enjoy Sonic, Tails and Knuckles adventures in this game
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Sonic Jam
This is the series first 3D adventure, so does it rock hard? Why, YES, it does
.Jun Senoue comes back to the series after work on Sonic 3D Blast and helping on some tracks for Sonic 3&K, and we see his iconic rock shine through here for a few tracks. He isn't the only one making tracks, a lot of talented composers lend their hands for the Adventure soundtrack, and it explains why its so high quality.
First, lets cover the character themes. These are such great tracks and they fit the characters like gloves. Love, LOVE Sonic's two themes (It Doesn't Matter and Open Your Heart), as they scream Sonic..
The level themes are great, as they are really varied.
Here is a new link for the entire OST; original links died thanks to the YouTube account linked to the music being shut down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJs1iJOXFN8&list=PLvNp0Boas722L8qX0VsBhaI8s0a9k4Umr
Love this soundtrack and next to Unleashed, SA2 and Colors, its hands down my favorite 3D Sonic soundtrack
. Such verity and strong compositions. It really feels like an adventure, and they did a great job capturing that here.- - - - - - -
Spread of Content vs. Gameplay Styles
In Sonic Adventure, you have 11 Stages and different characters go through them, but do they go through everyone? Nope.
Sonic: 10
Tails: 5
Knuckles: 4
Amy: 3
Gama: 5
Big: 4
Sonic, the most fun character, has the most gameplay time and content while the other characters have fewer stages to focus on their gameplay styles feeling fresh and enjoyable but not overstay there welcome.
Now, lets go to Adventure 2 and see how much content we got:
Sonic: 6
Shadow: 4
Tails: 4/5
Eggman: 4/5
Knuckles: 4
Rouge: 6
The most fun characters, Sonic & Shadow, have the same amount of stages as Sonic did alone in SA1. But you had 20 levels of the other styles. They overstay there welcome so quickly
. I covered this in SA2 thread but to sum things up; Speed gameplay fun but a step down from Adventure level design wise, Mech levels a downgrade from the fun/fast levels as Gama here but still enjoyable, Treasure Hunting levels have good design but horrid, horrid design choice to butcher the Emerald Radar from Adventure ruins any fun these stages could offer.
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Amy Rose:
This character was introduced in the Sega CD Classic Sonic CD and this is her first ever playable role in a mainline Sonic platformer. She was playable in other games before this, like Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Drift 1 & 2, but never in a platformer.
Her gameplay style is slower paced compared to Sonic & Tails, with her running slow. But she makes up for this with her Piko Piko Hammer. She uses this giant, massive hammer to scare Sonic....I mean defend herself from foes. You can use the hammer in the air for a spin-jump like effect, slam it on the ground when running to do the hammer jump for great height, and use it normally (spinning it around on the ground or just hitting someone on the head.
The goal in every level is to avoid this robot:
To do this, you head to the goal balloon at the end of every stage:
Her core level design is more platforming focused, with it being more Mario-like in some respects. She has only three stages (Twinkle Park, Hot Shelter and Final Egg) and one major boss fight but it was very enjoyable
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She is a character that while not the best thing about the game, is a lot better then expected.
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Gamma:
Gamma is one of the brand new characters made for Adventure, and I have touch on story here, as it explores a topic that past Sonic games gloss over; robotization.
In the Archie Comics and Satam, this topic is characters turning into mind-less robots with loss of free will, forever trapped as this being. Eggman always did this in the comics and while that changed as of late, it was horrifying seeing this in both Archie and Satam.
The cannon games don't do this exactly the same, but its still horrid. Little creatures like Flickies (little Birds) are stuffed into robots and when Sonic & Friends destroy them, little creatures pop out. They are free......but what happens to them INSIDE the robots?
Gamma touches on this, as his story is of a little Flicky being turned into a war machine by Eggman as part of his E-Series robots. Gamma is the most successful and Eggman sets him lose to hunt for the Emeralds and Froggy (as he ate a Chaos Emerald/has a bit of Chaos in his tail). Along the way, he questions what and why he is doing things when he bumps into Amy, then sets out to 'free' his brothers by......destroying them?
Why would he destroy fellow robots when....wait, is the little Flicky inside him remembering his origin? Do the animals forget their memories when inside robots? This element makes his story my favorite in Adventure. I didn't touch on Sonic/Tails/Knuckles/Amy's plots as it is either Stop Eggman/Restore the Master Emerald/Learn to be independent from Sonic & destroy the robot Zero.
But Gamma's story touches on questions many had since Sonic 1 about what happens to the creatures Eggman captures and his theme is perfect for expressing this; sounds a lot sadder then any other main character theme so far.
Okay, lets move on to the gameplay, as it really is quite fun
. He is Sonic with a gun, literally. You move quite fast and you are on a timer; the more you destroy robots and objects you increase your timer. Gamma can lock on to foes and the longer lock-on chain, the more time you can earn.
His gameplay is really easy.....but it is a lot of fun
. Once you get the hover upgrade, it makes his platforming sections very enjoyable.Gamma feels swift and lose, something that makes his gameplay a lot of fun and one element that I get baffled that Sonic Adventure 2 botches. Tails/Eggman's walkers are heavy tanks, but that leads to more stiff control. Its more of a personal taste thing here but I greatly prefer the level designs/gameplay of Gamma here vs. Sonic Adventure 2's Mech stages.
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Big the Cat:
Its FISHING time everyone, can't wait to talk about this character?! .......Right?
Wow, even Sonic is running away from this....well, okay, lets take apart Big the Cat's role in Adventure and how odd his gameplay is compared to the rest of the cast.
His grand contribution to Adventure is......fishing. Just, simple fishing. That melds perfectly to Sonic like peanut butter and jelly XD! It such a bizarre mix but I could see why Sonic Team put this style into the game.
This was added into game, likely to push the water effects the Dreamcast could produce (that is the reason why Chaos is a water god; water looked great on the Dreamcast so Sonic Team tried using it as much as they could). And in many respects, Sonic Adventure was also a tech demo for what the system could do; Fast Gamplay (Sonic/Tails), Exploration (Knuckles), Slower Platforming (Amy), Shooting (Gamma) and Fishing (Big).
Big having fishing is less of a shocker when taking that into consideration.
The goal for Big's four stages is to find Froggy and the only way you can do this is to fish for him. This is dumb, considering you could just grab the frog if you dive into the water, but I digress :l.
Anyway, fishing works like, well Sega Bass Fishing. You more or less got a smaller version of that game inside Sonic Adventure through Big's gameplay.
You can catch different kinds of fish to get points and it is a nice diversion from the main stages......but you need to beat his story to unlock the final story (an element that is very common in many Dreamcast Era 3D Sonic's). So, if you hate this gameplay, you have no choice but to play this.
Big's story can be completed in under an hour (he only has four stages) and his story has some odd charm to it. Big is just some dumb, big cat that lost his pet frog. He winds up in this big conflict Sonic and Friends are involved in thanks to Froggy eating a Chaos Emerald and having some of Chaos in his tail.
The most amazing thing? John St. John voices Big the Cat. Yes, Duke Nukem himself voices the dumb cat XD!
Big is a fun diversion to the main adventure but it has no real reason to be part of the game. He does pop up in future games though, like chilling out in Green Forest while the Island is about to blow up, fishing like champ.
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He is just a dumb, fun character XD
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Final Part - Story, Extra Comments and More
Story:
The plot tells the story of Chaos and an Tikal, as both are connected. The former is a protector of a species called the Chao while Tikal was one of the guardians of the Master Emerald. Things took a turn for the worst and the entire Echinda tribe attacked Chaos out of fear of his power. This lead to the Chaos around the Angel Island to be struck down, with him fight back. Before Chaos could harm more people, Tikal sealed herself and Chaos inside the Master Emerald.
Fast forward post Sonic 3&K and we are in place called Station Square, with Eggman researching about the Master Emerald. He learns about Chaos so he shatters it into pieces, unleashing Chaos and feeding it Chaos Emeralds for it to become stronger.
This leads to the following:
-Sonic and Tails on the hunt for the Emeralds
-Knuckles trying to repair the Master Emerald while also learning a bit about his backstory
-Amy Rose goes on an adventure to protect a little Flicky while also growing away from her 'Obsessed over Sonic' thing (though it comes back in latter games :l)
I like this story as while its 'serious', its still a Classic Sonic game at heart. Sonic and friends going on an adventure to stop Robotnik from taking over the world; that is the case here too but with spoken dialog that......is dated to say the least but it has a so-bad-its-great charm to it.
Overall, the story is good enough and the final battle really is a highlight to the story. Sonic takes drained Chaos Emeralds and still turns Super Sonic with this amazing theme blasting into the background.
Extra Stuff:
-Chao Guardian: Nice pet simulator thing that gets better in SA2.
-Racing: A little track in Twinkle Park that every character can play. Its fun enough and it has a great remix of It Doesn't Matter.
-Mini Games (GC Version): As you collect Emblems, you can unlock Game Gear games to play on your GameCube. If you collect all of them, you can play up to 19 Game Gear games. Talk about a great deal XD! And if you looked through my Sonic & Tails, Sonic 1 & 2 GG, Tails Adventures, and Sonic Drift Threads, they are really decent games
. -Mission Mode (GC and HD Versions): You have a little mission mode that gives you some extra goals to complete within the hub worlds and actions stages.
-Metal Sonic (GC and HD Versions): When you unlock all the Emblems, you can play as Metal Sonic! He is a clone of Sonic and is more or less a skin for Sonic. Still nice though
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