Sonic Adventure: Then & Now

[Linkabel]

I just have a question for those who the DC version.

In the title screen is there a water ripple effect behind the Sonic Adventure logo? Cause I seen it in Youtube, but in the version I have the water ripple is nowhere in sight. My copy is from 1999 btw not the All Star Version.

[Chooch]

I hasn't aged gracefully...

...But it's still better than Adventure 2.

[Nintendoga]

I will always, always say that SA1 had a great story, it was just utterly marred by the horrible cutscene animations and voice work.

The way Sonic and Tails stretch their mouths and facial expressions in this game are some of the funniest things in the game.

And this I find pretty funny, because SA1 is one of the 3D Sonic games that's actually pretty lax with the scripted events when compared to future Sonic games. Also there are a good number of places where Sonic can use genuine momentum, for example in Emerald Coast you can have Sonic run up the side of a wall into a small cave at the top. And you can even use the spin dash + jump technique to cut through the levels and reach areas quicker.

True, The scripted events get far worse in the future. And the momentum, it's there to a certain extent imo, but they never use it in any of the stages as part of the level design. A wasted opportunity.

[Old dead account]

SA1 has aged but I still find it very playable. Storywise, it could be classified as Sonic 4 because of how it expands on the Master emerald and angel island's history. Overall still pretty good and it still has the same feeling and atmosphere as the classics. SA2 though, changes everything, atmosphere, story, gameplay, and just doesn't feel the same. The gameplay is even worse than SA1 too I think, so yeah give me SA1 any day.

[Shane]

I just have a question for those who the DC version.

In the title screen is there a water ripple effect behind the Sonic Adventure logo? Cause I seen it in Youtube, but in the version I have the water ripple is nowhere in sight. My copy is from 1999 btw not the All Star Version.

The original Japanese version and the original American version do not have the water ripple. The default version released in Europe and in Japan under the title Sonic Adventure International do have the water ripple, as does the All-Stars version.

The HD port without the DX DLC has a water ripple too, but it's actually a completely different ripple effect than the one in some Dreamcast versions.

[Linkabel]

The original Japanese version and the original American version do not have the water ripple. The default version released in Europe and in Japan under the title Sonic Adventure International do have the water ripple, as does the All-Stars version.

The HD port without the DX DLC has a water ripple too, but it's actually a completely different ripple effect than the one in some Dreamcast versions.

Ah okay I always wondered about that since I was a kid, thanks for the info!

[Kuzu]

It's a decent game, but I admit it's been quite a while since I played(I think three years?). Gameplay......could have been better, especially without the Big and gamma stages, but I do like how it tried to mix the gameplay up with some variety in the mini-games, without it compromising a whole portion of the game. The storytelling is probably THE best in the series as it not only expands on previously established plotlines, but rather than just keep Sonic as the primary viewpoint character with everyone else playing a supporting role, everyone gets their time in the spotlight by having their own stories, something I think the series needs to go back to.

[SilJeff]

years ago, I thought it was completely epic (not S3&K, mind you).

in 2012, I just think it is good.

I have the exact same opinion for SA2.

~SA1~

Sonic- THE best 3D Sonic experience in the whole franchise. Too bad it has aged a lot. It needs quite a bit of touch-ups, but it has great level design. (I wish they gave Sonic the Hot Shelter level as well...)

Tails- Not as good as Sonic, but easily better than SA2

Knuckles- flame me all you want, but I still really enjoy the treasure hunting in this game.

Amy- wasted potential. She is just WAY TOO slow.

Gamma- same with knuckles, I really enjoyed his levels, both the amount and the levels themselves. There wasn't too many, and the levels, although really short, were still fun. I just wish they didn't have the time limit.

Big- ........................................................................................................................................

~SA2~

Sonic/Shadow- I know that they made the levels into linear hallways, but I still have LOTS of fun with it. Inferior to SA1, aside from polish. Control-wise: SA1<<SA2. Level Design SA1>>>>>>>>>SA2

Knuckles/Rouge- flame me all day, but I once again enjoyed them, though the radar was neutered. I hate Meteor Herd (I actually have fun in Mad Space) and Egg Quarters though. I liked Treasure Hunting more in SA1, though.

Eggman- Had a couple of really fun moments (Weapons Bed and Cosmic Wall), but was definitely inferior to Gamma aside from the time limit being gone.

Tails- the same as Eggman, but without the fun levels.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Mr.Snarf

[Rusty Spy]

I was gonna say something else, but at this point I need to understand this.

I find it interesting that people call SA1 better than SA2. Not so much that they like it more than SA2, rather the way they compare them; as if SA2 is a worse game, rather SA1 being a better game.

The way I see it, SA1 had a lot of rough concepts that were executed with subpar results. While you could make the argument that Sonic's gameplay is better than in SA2, I would agree with you, but on the other hand, everything else about the game just doesn't stack up. But underneath Sonic's fun gameplay is a slew of messy, crummy gameplay styles that hog up their own portions of the game's content. Amy and Big themselves are just a waste of time, and Knuckles and Gamma's stages only got repetitive thanks to having to play through an entire story as them.

Knuckles' controls and level design are just so sloppy compared to SA2. His awkward collision detection made everything feel weird coupled with the way the levels were laid out (and do NOT tell me playing Sky Deck wasn't a complete headache). Everything about Knuckles is much tighter in SA2 and doesn't feel like I'm playing some beta test. I feel that I can easily skim over the levels much easier with the way he handles, whereas in SA1 I keep feeling like the entire stage is coated with fly paper.

While one could argue that Gamma controls better than the mechs in SA2, my biggest gripe with him is that all his levels feel incredibly insubstantial. Half the time they're just reusing levels and adding a couple things to shoot at. Hardly any of it was memorable and every level could be boiled down to running forward and shooting waves of enemies. There's no satisfying feeling in completing a stage, there's no real challenge, and the samey level design just makes playing Gamma forgettable. It's not bad, but it's not noteworthy either. SA2 at least had the decency of having unique level designs and the scoring system actually made getting high combos worthwhile, and there was more emphasis on platforming compared to Gamma as well as some extra gimmicks which helped break up the monotony of just shooting, and gave each level an identity of it's own. It was more interesting.

Aside from gameplay technicalities, in truth I like SA1 better in it's individual pieces. When you take little bits and pieces of it, Sonic's gameplay, the story, the levels, each part, on it's own is marginally better than SA2's individual pieces, but looking at both as a whole, SA2 has less crap parts than SA1. It's fewer and more refined gameplay styles is more enjoyable than SA1's six, overall sloppy gameplay styles.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Rusty Spy

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The flaws both Adventures have is why I don't rate either one better than the other.

For one, SA2 makes you switch characters every level while SA1 keeps you playing your selected character all the way through. However, SA1 had 6 different modes of play while SA2 streamlined it to two.

And when it comes to story, let's just say I'm seeing what seems to be a flip-flop reaction against the tone and atmosphere SA2 had for being darker that the usual Sonic game. Okay, yeah it was dark and that can't be denied, but unless any of you want to convince me otherwise, a lot of people are treating it as if it's the very GRIMDARK kind of story we obviously don't want in the series. Anyone want to confirm or deny this for me?

Edited October 15, 2012 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[ArtFenix]

The game brought me back to the franchise and thanks to this very game I bacame a true Sonic fan. I played it in 2003 (DX version) and I LOVED IT!!! ...and I still do! I love pretty much EVERYTHING about this game. Sure, there are some things I don't really liked like Amy's speed or Big's fishing levels (which are OK, I even rarely play them to relax) but other than that I do think it's the best Sonic 3D game ever! It's one of the greatest games in terms of storytelling and it has an amazing lore which expands the series and connects the game with CD and S3&K. The OST is still my favorite OST! It is just perfect! I loved watching the huge amount of cutscenes and I still do even if the animation seems awkward now and the voice acting is often somewhat off. The game is pretty lengthy and I love playing as multiple characters and the branching storyline. I also loved the huge amount of unlockables and mostly enjoyable missions thanks to which I played the game again and again.

I don't know what else to add.. The game may have aged for somebody but I still see it as the best 3D Sonic game with a soul and incredible amount of effort put into it. Something I can't say about a couple of new games. I think sonicteam could and should learn a lot from Sonic adventure. This game is where Sonic was at his best (aside from the classics)!

Edited October 15, 2012 by ArtFenix

[Rexeljet]

I think the first Sonic Adventure was quite good, and one of my favourite 3D Sonic games. It did introduce a lot of things that I don't think the series benefited from, but here I find them to be generally less offensive than later games.

I prefer Sonic and Tails' levels to the rest of the cast's in the game. Particularly Sonic's levels, where Classic Sonic physics and level gimmicks are attempted at (and generally work quite well) and most levels manage to be fun in their own right, particularly Speed Highway, Lost World, and final egg. I don't think there's one level in Sonic's story that I don't like. Same with Tails' levels, which are all done quite well and have a gameplay style which is actually quite good for a Sonic game.

Sonic's physics aren't perfect, though. Collision detection is off. You run slightly diagonally instead of straight ahead when holding the analog stick forward and this really doesn't help when you're going down a narrow passageway because as soon as you come into contact with a wall, you come to a halt. I find it comparable with Sonic 2's air speed cap.

Knuckles' levels are alright. I don't like collecting things to progress through a game, I find it a waste of time. However, Knuckles' level are at least small and quick enough that it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to get through each level. It's better than being stuck on Meteor Herd for hours.

Amy's levels are OK I suppose. At least there are only 3 levels. I don't think Amy should have been quite so slow, she should have been about the speed of Knuckles or maybe a little bit slower. She can gain enough momentum to get a bit faster but there will always be some sort of obstacle to grind everything to a halt at some point. I don't tend to play as Amy in trial mode once I've completed her story.

Gamma's levels are good because of their arcade-like structure with the time limit and fast paced gameplay. I wish they could have kept the fast-paced-ness of Gamma's levels in Eggman's and Tails' levels in the next game.

And I won't bother talking about Big.

The voice acting is bad, but I'd say that's down to bad voice direction rather than bad actors. I know Corey Bringas wasn't a great voice actor but I don't recall him saying anything as daft as "I wonder what happened to Soneek?" in the other games he voiced in. Thankfully there's not a lot of engrish in the dialogue unlike Sonic "Is that what Chaos Control is?" Adventure 2.

The Character animation hasn't aged too well. Of course we know about how everyone looks stupid when they talk, but as well as that I think some of the walk cycles could be better. When the game was rereleased with the newer models, I think they should have redone the animations as well because a lot of the animations on the characters look even worse with the newer models.

The Music is good and actually sounds like it would work well in a Classic Sonic game in a lot of cases. Open Your Heart I'd say is about on par with Live and Learn and I far prefer the original "It doesn't matter" to the Sonic Adventure 2 one. The original "Unknown from M.E." I find to be a lot better than the later one. The level music doesn't rely too much on one genre and most of the tracks sound really good. It's one of my favourite soundtracks in a Sonic game next to the great Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

I think the story is actually quite good, it has some good moments of character development. Tails' story showing him developing from a sidekick into a hero in his own right was particularly good, and Amy's story concluded with her becoming a more likeable character in her own right. Unfortunately both of these were erased from the timeline when the next game rolled around. The main story wasn't too much of a jump from the classic games, which was a good thing.

The graphics would have been great in 1998 and they're still quite good now. The levels are colourful and their designs wouldn't look out of place in an older Sonic game. The characters' models aren't fantastic but good for the time. I still prefer the original Dreamcast models mostly because they fit the animations better and because they don't look as out of place next to the surroundings.

So I think Sonic Adventure is a great game. Not as fantastic as some Sonic games, but certainly worth getting if you have a Dreamcast and can find a copy at a decent price.

[Jack / Joker]

It's the best 3D game in the series and the second-to-best game in the franchise in my opinion. It has the best controls for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles we've ever had in a 3D game and the levels and story are superb. Knuckles, Amy, Big and Eggman's VA's are all very good despite the piss-poor direction and really the only ones that let the cast down are Corey Bringas as Tails, and Ryan Drummond as Sonic (yeah, I said it!). Big and Gamma as well as the NPC Tikal are very likeable characters and personally I enjoyed Amy's Story. Big's fishing never bothered me because I liked the character so much, and overall it's a sublime entry to the Sonic series even thirteen years later.

[Riverstone]

First played sonic 2 when i was 6. Then sonic 1 when i was 7. Then got sonic 3 for my 8th birthday and s&k after that.

When i was about 12, my best friend got sonic adventure on his new dreamcast. Back then, t was the fucking coolest game i had ever played. Best graphics, sense of speed, story, music and general coolness that no other game had. It will always have a special place in my heart. And i learned a lot about life from the story and sonics attitude.

Im 24 now and the game is obviously old now. Just like all the games released in that period. I rate this game and any other game on how it would have been when it came out. I think people should rate re-releases in the same way.

Anyway, i love this game for what it was in its time. No other game has had an impact like this sonic adventure 1.

Now im sad ....lol

[TheOcelot]

I like the level design in Sonic Adventure. Levels like Twinkle Park have interesting structure with plenty of exploration to boot. Also has some pretty funky music, which made it fun to replay the levels.

Edited October 15, 2012 by NightwingFox

[hangarninetysix]

I think the biggest problem was the camera. It eliminated any reasonable expectation the player had of how to navigate the environment once you saw it coming.

A third of the time, you could see a curvy path coming up, and the camera would stay still so you controlled all Sonic's movement. Another third of the time, the camera would automatically shift behind Sonic as the path curved so you were just supposed to hold forward, and doing anything else caused you to run into a wall or possibly get hit. The other third of the time, the camera shifted SLIGHTLY so that you had to control Sonic to make the turn but not so much as was indicated by the actual curve of the path. This is a simplification of the camera problems obviously, but it was just frustrating that you as the player had no precedent to understand how to navigate an obstacle when you saw it. It just felt like luck. Sometimes I hold forward, sometimes I turn, etc.

Other than the camera issues though, I honestly think it's a pretty good game. The only other thing about it that bothered me was the voice acting and cutscenes, but it wasn't nearly as big a problem as the camera IMO.

[Dr. Crusher]

I like it, but think it's horribly overrated, just like it's sequel.

There's plenty of good in it, no doubt about that. The soundtrack is wonderful and variable. Sonic (for the most part), Tails and Knuckles control right enough, the levels all stood out from each other and didn't simply repeat the same settings like SA2 often did, the hub worlds were big but not easy to get lost in, we got characters like Gamma, and it was the only 3D console game until Colours to have genuine Badniks. (SA2 only had them in the pyramid levels, few compared to G.U.N. robots.) Oh yes, and you at least get to stay as whatever character you play as, and not suddenly change to another like in the sequel.

But there's also a lot that I'm not fond of. Of course you have the obligatory mention of additions like fishing (and I'm talking of the fishing itself, not Big the Cat as a character, who I like), but there's also things like Gamma's gameplay, which I didn't mind but couldn't ever get into, Amy's gameplay which was... just awkward to me, the treasure hunting wasn't horrible but nothing I was excited about, and sometimes Sonic could occasionally control a bit strangely in certain spots.

Then there's the story, which is... okay.

I've always loved Chaos/Tikal/Gamma/etc and still do, but over the years I've been liking SA1's story - or to be more accurate, how it was done - a lot less than I used to. This game introduced the whole "playable characters from their point of view" routine (you know, "*insert character's* Story" and all that) rather than the typical character selection ala S3&K, and as early as my first experience, I always had a problem with it, even before later games went on to use it more poorly. Talking of which, this story introduced certain plot devices that would later become annoyingly persistent, which obviously isn't this game's own fault by any means, but... I don't know. I'll always love Tails making himself a hero by beating Robotnik alone, and I'll always love Gamma redeeming himself and saving his brothers, I'll even enjoy the parts in the past with Tikal and Pachacamac... but for the most part, I'm simply indifferent to the plot nowadays. But again, I'll still take it over SA2's plot.

Overall, I still like Sonic Adventure and consider it a decent game, but I don't care for it as much as most, and am more of an Unleashed/Colours/Generations person.

[Tracker_TD]

Huh... the convenient moment when I actually wrote a Sonic Adventure retrospective on Wrecks the other day: http://www.sonicwrecks.com/articles/trackers-sega-retrospectives-2-sonic-adventure/

Anyhow, to sum it up, I still feel that, although it's controls are a tad worse than I remember, the game was still a great example of the DC's power, and in my opinion one of Sonic's finest moments, even to this day.

...but just fuck Big's levels. It may be an overused complaint, but it's a valid one.

[Crash]

I love the game. It's just awesome. SA2 is okay but compared to the original it's easy to say the original was better.

I actually like the Big stages. No, they shouldn't be in a Sonic game but still. I prefer Knuckles stages in SA1. Sonic feels fluent and Tails is fun. Screw the Amy and Gamma stages though.

[batson]

12-year old batsons initiall thoughts on Sonic Adventure back in 1999:

Wow, that intro with the water monster has like the best graphics i have ever seen! Awesome sauce!

Man, Sonic sure looks different. And why does everyone in this game keep calling Dr Robotnik "Dr Eggman"? And whats with all these humans? Is this game even set on Mobius or not?

Oh wow, Gammas story is awesome, ive never felt so much for a video game character before.

Is that pink hedgehog girl the same one as the one in Sonic CD? She sure looks different... but shes got boobs now, which is awesome, and you can see her underwear when she jumps, which is also awesome, so its all fine by me! If i had played this game only a year earlier i wouldnt have cared about this stuff, but now that im 12, i sure as heck do!

All things considered this is a kinda weird Sonic game (just what is with that "Eggman"? stuff?) but a really fun one! I like it!

Current day batsons thoughts on Sonic Adventure: The game is still fun, and by this point also filled to the brim with nostalgic appeal, so i still like it. And Amy is still kinda hawt.

[-blank-]

Ah, Sonic Adventure, what can I say about this game? Plenty, actually. I’ve never played the original on the Dreamcast, but the DX Gamecube port was my favorite game in the series for a long while. Nowadays, as I’ve noticed more of the flaws, it’s dropped off my ‘favorites’ list in favor of more polished endeavors such as Unleashed and Generations, but I still find it a very fun game that I still enjoy playing to this very day.

The storyline is actually very good. Yes, it’s got some cheesy lines of dialogue (“Watch out, you’re gonna crash, ah.”), but the actual story was awesome. You’ve got Eggman trying to control this water beast aptly named Chaos in order to destroy Station Square so he can build ‘Robotnikland’ on its ruins. So, like in 99.999999% of all Sonic games, he has to collect the Chaos Emeralds in order to power up Chaos – the more emeralds he has, the more powerful he gets, and once he has all seven, the ‘God of Destruction’ will be pretty much invincible. Sonic, with Tails joining him very early on, endeavor to stop him, again like in 99.99999% of all Sonic games, with four other storylines featuring Knuckles, Amy, Gamma, and Big all intertwining.

I’ll say this, this intertwining was actually done quite well. Every character contributed something to the storyline, even Big in a way what with Froggy swallowing a Chaos Emerald. They all had at least some sort of purpose even if it wasn’t huge or direct. The pacing was also fairly well, though it still could have been improved.

But, my favorite thing is the character development. More specifically, that of Tails and Amy. Tails for one realized that he had to step out of Sonic’s shadow and that he couldn’t always depend on him. Meanwhile, Amy started to make an effort to be less of a damsel in distress. (Too bad SA2 kind of ruined this... >_>). Pretty nicely done, if you ask me.

Then we have the music. My god, it is just awesome. The hub worlds, the characters’ theme songs, the stages, it was just fantastic. And it just fit so well with the overall ‘adventure’ mood of the game. A couple of the stages you could reach from the Mystic Ruins (Lost World and Ice Cap) come to mind here.

Speaking of the levels, I felt they were pretty well designed. Lost World I think is the my favorite in the game, plus I quite enjoy all the little puzzles it has. Speed Highway, Red Mountain, and Sky Deck would be close favorites. However, I don’t understand why people like the At Dawn section in Sonic’s Speed Highway. To me, it just seemed very out of place.

Which brings me to the gameplay. Sonic was very fun, as is to be expected. Though, I have to kind of echo Soniman’s statement on his gameplay when going through narrow hallways. Tails was enjoyable, but dear god his flying ability is broken as hell. I’m not kidding, it’s easy to skip huge chunks of stages with it. Amy’s…slow, but still fairly fun. Knuckles is okay, the treasure hunting stages are better than SA2’s at least.

Gamma and Big…oh, dear god… From a control standpoint, Gamma’s not bad. I mean, he controls fairly well and the shooting mechanic works. But dear lord, it is just. So. Freaking. Boring. All you do is move through the levels and shoot stuff. That’s it. Oh, yeah, there’s a time limit. A time limit that is so easy to beat by shooting enemies it may as well not be there. I can forgive, say, SA2’s Green Forest and White Jungle for having this same issue with a time limit that’s way too easy to get under because the levels were actually fun to play. This? Not at all. It lacks the sense of speed Sonic’s (and by extent, Tails’) gameplay had, it has very little exploration value like you see in Knuckles’ levels. And heck, Zero popping up at inopportune moments in Amy’s levels seemed at least like an attempt for tense moments that this particular gameplay couldn’t even do with a time limit.

It’s a shame though, for Gamma actually has a damn good storyline. So, the shooting gameplay (and I’m including SA2’s in this as well) is what I would consider the second worst major gimmick in a Sonic game. What’s the first?

Big’s fishing levels. Not only are they even duller than the shooting stages, (at least you were moving around during the whole level. This you just find a body of water, sit down, and start fishing in it) but the controls sucked. I cannot, for the life of me, get past Twinkle Park. And it’s the first stage. How my brother managed to beat all Big’s stages is still a mystery to me. Every time I try to move the line from side to side, I can only move to a single side. Not to mention how time consuming it is to try and find a place where Froggy will bite.

Ugh, SEGA, why’d you include this? Just why…?

That said, I still think it’s an enjoyable game, despite its flaws.

[kalion]

OT but I never got how the Levels A,B,C worked.

I'd usually end up with a C no matter what.

[Dr. Crusher]

You do the C Mission by default.

You select the B Missions - and eventually the A Missions - in the select menus.

[Heybunny]

I never actually owned a Dreamcast back when it was still readily available so didn't get to play Sonic Adventure when it came out exactly, but I did play it when I got a pre-owned one in 2003ish and had already played through SA2:B on the Gamecube.

The graphics compared to its sequel showed, but it still looked fantastic when you consider the kind of graphics most Playstation games had to offer at the time. I think it's clear to see that even for a launch game, it bowled over the competition. I actually think it has better graphics now than some early PS2 games.

The gameplay was great, except for Big (fishing, wut?) and Amy (good idea but I think she could have been faster). After playing SA2:B, I lamented when I realised I'd been playing as Tails in a mech when I could have been running around and flying as him in SA.

The glitches are there, but that's nothing new to most games, even nowadays.

The music. My god, the music is just awesome. SA and SA2 both started my love of Crush 40 (and the other contributing musicians). Speed Highway had a fantastic track and most characters had really good theme songs, too.

To be honest, my biggest gripe are those facial animations...

Edited October 17, 2012 by Heybunny

[WarioBone]

12-year old batsons initiall thoughts on Sonic Adventure back in 1999:

Wow, that intro with the water monster has like the best graphics i have ever seen! Awesome sauce!

Man, Sonic sure looks different. And why does everyone in this game keep calling Dr Robotnik "Dr Eggman"? And whats with all these humans? Is this game even set on Mobius or not?

Oh wow, Gammas story is awesome, ive never felt so much for a video game character before.

Is that pink hedgehog girl the same one as the one in Sonic CD? She sure looks different... but shes got boobs now, which is awesome, and you can see her underwear when she jumps, which is also awesome, so its all fine by me! If i had played this game only a year earlier i wouldnt have cared about this stuff, but now that im 12, i sure as heck do!

All things considered this is a kinda weird Sonic game (just what is with that "Eggman"? stuff?) but a really fun one! I like it!

Why doesn't this post have more likes? This is the best post ever made on this whole goddamn website. You all know you were like this at one point, DON'T TRY TO FUCKING DENY IT