Sonic Adventure 2

The Good
Graphically, it's still gorgeous in places, especially in terms of texture-mapping, which the DC has always excelled at. The Sonic/Shadow levels are a blast, though not as good as SA1's were.

The Bad
Well, everything else, really.

What first hit me was how utterly dire the music was. They've taken some of the greatest tunes from the original SA, remixed them, and destroyed them. Honestly, some of this stuff made me want to chop off my friggin' ears. Don't get me started on the rap crap...

The characters are next on my hit-list. Why in god's name have they expanded upon the worst elements of SA1? Sure, there's 6 characters, but since they all behave identically to their good/evil counterparts, it's basically 3.

As I said earlier, the Sonic/Shadow levels are fantastic in places, so what about Eggman/Tails & Rouge/Knuckles? Seriously, SEGA, I'm asking you, what about these horrible, horrible things? What possessed you to wedge crap into this game? The Eggman/Tails levels are an expansion of the E-102 (sp?) levels from SA1, which were short but fun. Here, they're just slow and hideous, with some truly yawn-worthy moments. They involve robots. big, hulking robots, something Tails looks really awkward in. Now, guess what the Knuckles/Rouge levels are based on? Yup, those horrible "find the jewel in the enormous level with only a really crappy sonar thing to help you" levels from SA1. Terrible. Truly awful beyond belief.

The Bottom Line
A sure-fire disappointment in your Sonic-loving life.

The Good
Two Years after the release of Sonic Adventure, Sega hit Dreamcast gamers with Sonic Adventure 2. SOA 2 drops the adventure mode, why?

In Sonic Adventure 2, a black hedgehog Shadow, has been causing trouble leaving Sonic to be blamed, a armed group known as G.U.N., is gunning for the blue blur. Meanwhile Dr. Robotnik, aka Eggman, is up to know good, he wants to abduct Shadow, and use him against our favorite hedgehog.

The plot is not very well done. But more on that later. New to the franchise, is the ability to play as the villains. Dr. Robotnik, Shadow, and Rouge. This is a good idea, but it ultimately fails.

The Graphics are much improved over the original game. And better show off the Dreamcast’s power. The camera angles are better but far from perfect.

The Music is horrible. Who wrote these lyrics? The Eagles? The Sound effects are done well however.

The Adventure mode is gone. Now it plays more like the Sonics on old. Basically you play a level, watch a cutscene and than play the next often as a different character. You can no longer choose which character you wish to play as. And each one has a shorter game.

The Bad
The plot is bad. It is so clichéd. I mean an evil Sonic come on. What is this a poorly written cartoon? Plus the G.U.N. plot point is never resolved. And how the hell do the mix up Shadow and Sonic? Shadow is black, while Sonic is blue. Are they color blind?

Late in the game we learn about Shadow’s origin. Which is horribly written. We learn that Shadow was created to protect the human race, and somehow the jackass thinks he is meant to destroy it. WTF? And why is he like Sonic?

Playing as the bad guys is a good idea on paper, but in action not so much. There games play exactly like the games of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. They are not very satisfying either. I have waited years to play as Dr. Robotnik, but Sonic Team blew it. Sega Of America did not develop this contrary to what you may have heard.

The music is atrocious. Sonic Team needs to either learn how to write lyrics or fire the writer. This game just feels rushed. And unpolished. Sega probably rushed it out to have a game for Sonic’s 10th anniversary. But what did they do for the 10th anniversary for Phantasy Star? Or that of Streets of Rage?

The Bottom Line
Very poor effort from Sonic Team. Play Sonic Adventure and skip this one. It pains me to see such a weak Sonic game.

The Good
The thing I loved most about this game is it introduced my all time video game character, Shadow. His levels, along with Sonic's, are so fast which is what I love about the Sonic games. The final boss is also one of the things I love. It's challenging and actually fights back, unlike other bosses in the Sonic games. The music in the game was, as always, great for the game.

The Bad
There were few things I didn't like in the game. One thing that I found disappointing is they took away the adventure fields. So far that's all I can think of.

The Bottom Line
Sonic Adventure 2 is a worthy sequel if ever I played one. It has all of your favorite characters and some new faces in the Sonic Team. If you still have your Dreamcast laying around somewhere, play this game and remember the fun times.