Sonic Adventure DX Mission Mode and Chao Raising Revealed

A brand new preview of Sonic Adventure DX has been published by Gamespot - along with a whole bunch of screenshots! - and with it some more details about the game has come to light, including new minigame modes and Chao raiding improvements lifted from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

The Mission Mode and minigame challenges will be where you'll get to unlock the many Game Gear bonus games included in the Gamecube port. According to the preview:

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The mission mode features 60 different missions that are divvied up among the game's roster of playable characters. You'll choose a character and explore the various levels in the game, where you'll discover cards that will provide you with assorted challenges. The challenges include tasks like wiping out a set number of weeds in a stage, popping a certain number of balloons, and collecting specific items, among other things, and they usually have a time limit. Completing the various missions will reward you with exclusive items and unlock some of the game's hidden content. Some of this content can be seen in the new minigame collection mode, which will allow you to unlock a whopping 12 classic Game Gear games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Later in the preview, Gamespot talks about the Chao Gardens in Sonic Adventure DX and they have been vastly improved compared to the Dreamcast original. Some of the new features found in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle have been brought into this prequel release, making it familiar to anyone who is used to how Chao evolve in SA2.

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"You'll be able to see the levels of your Chao's attributes when you're near it, and you'll be able to purchase items for the Chao with the rings you've collected in the game. The Chao-raising feature also makes good use of the GameCube's connectivity with the Game Boy Advance by allowing you to download your Chao into the GBA."

Overall, Gamespot thinks SADX is shaping up to be "relatively solid," although it had some concerns over the graphics that "are still a bit rough around the edges... at the moment, the game doesn't match the visual quality seen in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and it even falls a bit short of matching its Dreamcast cousin in some spots...the game's frame rate fluctuates a bit, which can be jarring."

However, "judging from what we've seen so far, Sonic Adventure DX is poised to offer a relatively solid dose of retro gaming for those who are up for it."

Read the rest of the preview on Gamespot's website - and check out the website's HUGE collection of screenshots captured from their playtest as well.