SEGA Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Sonic Adventure's Japanese Release

Finally got around to playing Adventure on the pc in 2003 when DX released as I never owned a Dreamcast (I'd jumped ship to PS1 by 1997...mainly for the f1 games! Lol)

It had issues, but yes, it was a good, fun, game with a good story and helped the shift from the 2d to 3d. I loved the callbacks to previous games -Angel Island, Ice Cap, Twinkle Park Music,Mecha Sonic in Eggman's base etc - and the way it took the Game Canon forward - set in earth,Tails a genius etc.

While it was Heroes which REALLY got me back "in" to the franchise, SA really made me enjoy and appreciate it again after some time out following Sonic 3d blast. 

A great game! Defo due a 5th gen remaster and a re-release soon!

And it gave us TSS too - even better!!!

1 minute ago, castell-neath said:

And it gave us TSS too - even better!!!

Wowwwwww, that's right, SA gave us The Sonic Stadium!!!!!!! Happy Anniversary, Sonic Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 25th anniversary to my favorite Sonic game, and one of my favorite games period. I wrote a piece on why I loved it for a popular gaming outlet, but it's not up yet. Hope it gets posted today. I need to express my adoration!

I have heard of this game ever since I joined the Sonic fandom and I have yearned to play it. I have seen videos of people playing them which can't make up for it! So for now, I will celebrate the existance of this game with all of you. Happy Birthday, Sonic Adventure!

This game brought us Big, Froggy, Chaos, Tikal, and the adorable little Chao, New stages, play styles, stories in this amazing game! But there is one IMPORTANT thing that this game has brought. All of us, together, the Sonic Stadium. Even though we haven't met in person, we all are pals that no matter how different we are, we respect that blue blur. Happy Birthday, Sonic Adventure.

It's Sonic Adventure? What else can I say? The game that fully introduced 3D to the world of Sonic after the belated release of 3D Blast on the Saturn and Genesis. I can't say how many memories I have playing the Directors Cut on the XBLA version of the game. It only took me a couple of years to realize how revolutionary the original version was when it came out back in 1998 as I only knew of the PC and the XBLA ports of the game. For those who have played DX on the Gamecube and PC in 2004, this probably would be more nostalgic for you than it was for me as those ports were the original pair of ports to come out before the XBLA and modern ports of the game.

The models from the original look very dated as with Mario from his appearance in Super Mario 64, but likewise, they also do a great job reflecting the charm of many of the older video game models that had existed at that time but also having a bit of personality which fits the game's style. The cut-scenes are very clearly dated, though, it is amazing what they could do with basic mouth movements in 1998, even if it looks sorta bizarre due to the limitations of that time.

The gameplay, while often criticized for being buggy at times and sometimes not very fun, showed that Sonic could still be fun at times, with Speed Highway, Hot Shelter, and Red Volcano being some of my favorite points in the game.

The best element that literally everyone knows so far in this game is the Chao Garden. I like the idea of raising virtual pets whom you can change their appearance and stats by using animals dropped from Badniks, a concept that has been expanded upon into this game through Chao Gardens, instead of being solely part of the gameplay and story. The variety of chao evolutions also adds to the fun factor, especially when you need to figure out what kinds of evolutions or stats would be necessary to win all the races in the game. I can say that the Garden is only frustrating if you are going for achievements in modern-day ports but otherwise, the great gameplay in the garden makes up for it.

Sonic Adventure was the title that made me a full-time Sonic fan. My fondest memory was first playing the Emerald Coast demo and I was amazed about the game. A couple of years later, I got the game (All-Stars version aka 1.02 with the rippled effect on the title screen, which fixed some bugs) and I simply loved it, though it took me awhile to finish Sonic's story because of Egg Viper.  The rest of the cast, even Super Sonic's, was easier. While I adored the Dreamcast version, the DX Director's Cut on the GameCube and newer ports, not so much. I was so excited when looking at the previews (i.e., Tails and Amy able to go to Emerald Coast) but only resulted of a release port with some bonuses: Mission Mode, all of the Sonic Game Gear titles, unlockable Metal Sonic and updated the Chao features thanks to Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. But those newer ports are a buggy mess, due to Sonic Team lost the original source code of the Dreamcast version and not using the updated US/International version, especially 1.02. Also, honestly, I did not like the updated SA2B models of the characters.

Luckily with the Steam version, the mods of restoring the PC version to the Dreamcast version was not only a godsend, but made the possibly of making DX what should had been based on the previews. Even adding a lot more, like the Dreamcast DLCs, restoring some stuff that was cut and "expanding" its longevity.