Sonic - not showing his age one bit (Sonic Adventure 2 (DC))

Member Name: timtm

Product:	Sonic Adventure 2 (DC)
Date:	12/07/01 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Astounding gameplay, Astounding graphics, Astounding size

Disadvantages: Some camera quibbles, A few frustrating parts

Sonic Adventure 2 was released on June 23rd, 2001, to mark the occasion of his 10th birthday. He's not an old hedgehog with a zimmer frame just yet, though ...

I haven't completed the game yet. I thought I'd better say that in case you get the idea this is based on a complete playthrough. When I *do* complete the game, I'll make sure this is updated, though!

The first Sonic Adventure was a marvellous game, and really grabbed my attention. I played it from start to finish over a week, and still play it today in an effort to try and get all the emblems. It's quite a feat to follow, but SA2 has all the markings of doing so.

Unlike the first game, you don't choose a character to play as this time. Instead, you choose whether to play through the "hero" or "evil" stories ... and they're pretty different as far as I've got. In each case, there's three characters to play as (and you play as all three), which participate in different sorts of levels ...

SONIC (hero) OR SHADOW (evil)

Standard 3D Sonic fare here. Get to the end of a level, running and jumping and busting baddies and finding crates and being blown away by the graphical wonderment.

I love these. It's like being on a rollercoaster at times, but you feel like you're in control ... which, most of the time, you are.

TAILS (hero) OR DR ROBOTNIK (evil)

A 3D shooty-game, where you lock-on to targets and blow things up before they do the ame to you. Both characters are in a walking robot contraption, whcih seems slightly at odds with the whole Sonic ideal, but imaging E-102 from the first game, and you're basicly there.

While these bits are fun, I can't help but think that Tails should be running and flying. It's what he does.

KNUCKLES (hero) OR ROUGE (evil)

Rouge is a new character - a kind of bat. These levels have you exploring a lar
ge playing field looking for three pieces of crystal which are buried somewhere. You've got a radar to help you, and TVs give you hints (televisions, not the other kind of TVs!).

While these are still fun, they can be a bit difficult, and could be frustrating if you get stuck with finding one of the pieces!

In fact, the game in general is more difficult than the first - you might even die on the first level (shock, horror) if you're not careful. Levels are bigger, graphics are more impressive (most notable if you go back to SA1 after playing it), and it is generally more fun. Yes, it's a better game - just.

Some problems exist though. As mentioned above, the searchy levels may be frustrating. There are very occasional problems with the in-game camera. Neither of these is a major issue, though, and I haven't found any other quibbles yet!

Finally, you can raise your chaos as in the first game, with a more refined Artifical Life engine. I've yet to play it, but you get a VM game - Chao Adventure 2 - which helps with this. From other sources, I hear it's quite good.

Unfortunately, you no longer have the chance to get one of the limited edition packs - these were sold with the first 200 ordered through the Sega Online shop - but that shouldn't matter at all. This game is astoundingly good, and is a necessary purchase for all Dreamcast owners everywhere.

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