SA2 Review

Sonic Adventure 2

A review of SA2. The game's rank will be determined at the end. 

Summary: 

Sonic Adventure 2 is a great game. It's has different gameplay-like levels, it's filled with a clever hero/dark theme, and it introduces us to characters Shadow and Rouge (as well as Maria, Gerald, etc). 

Gameplay: 

• The Sonic and Shadow levels are really fun, nice and fast.
• Light-dash has is much better than in Sonic Adventure.  
• One annoying little part is somersaulting (with the level-up needed to break containers) instead of spinning or light-dashing. Can cause an unwanted slow-down.  
• Knuckles and Rouge levels can be fun, and it's nice to be able to explore a bit, but they can get too long or tedious. Maybe if there were less emeralds to find or the hints weren't limited. 
• Attacks are pretty good. 
• The Eggman and Tails levels are horrendous. They are loud, annoying, slow, and frustrating. 
• Gamma wasn't like this! If this is the best Sega can do, just give them a gun. Please. 
• It's hover and jumping capabilities SUCK.  
• Then we get Tails/Eggman complaining all the time "My POWER! MY POWER'S FAILING!" Shut up!
• Wish their were less of these levels. Eggman in particular seems to have a lot. 
• The only time it's not a nuisance is in the battles against each other. 
• Canon's Core:
• I hated it the first time. Seemed hard as heck. Later I realized it's not so bad, but can still get on my nerves. 
• Like how every character comes together...oh wait, WHERE IS SHADOW?
• He gets a boss fight? Oh whoopee. 
• Eggman and Tails, damn it, Eggman and Tails.
• Boss Fights
• All the "rival" fights are fun.
• However, the other battles can be boring/take along time.  
• The Golem thing was annoying as heck. Eggman's version was terrible. Do-able, but terrible.  
• Biolizard is fine, but that awkward break in the ground that sweeps you into yellow-water, though...yeek. 
• Super Fight
• Fun, awesome. Switching isn't exactly made clear, but overall it's pretty easy to get past. It's challenging enough to be fun. 
• Chao Garden. 
• Cute, adorable. Unnecessary? Maybe. But I love it. 
• Gotta' love the Hero/Dark theme added. 
• Races...snooze. Kinda difficult, but if you focus on one chao (instead of the millions you may have bought/breeded), they'll really build their stats.   
• Better controls than in SA. No accidentally smashing your chao with Amy's hammer. 
• Missions
• Missions can be hard, and usually need the mystic melody at some point. I think there's too much in general/too much expected of the player. Those Route ones are awful. Oh yeah...
• Tails/Rouge in a car chase. 
• It sucks. 
• It could have been...but...no, it sucks. 

Characters: 

• Team Hero; Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. 
• Good old Team Hero, always good to see the gang together. 
• Sonic: Attitude-y, just seems like he's along for the ride. Thumbs up.
• Tails: Eh, Tails is just kind of there. He tries to helps, but...eh. 
• Knuckles: MY MASTER EMERALD. Enough said.   
• Team Dark; Eggman, Shadow, Rouge.
•  Eggman: it's the first game to show us (sort of) "behind the scenes with Eggman," but it's really not too interesting. World conquest? Whoo.
• Shadow: why play team dark? This guy, right 'ere. He may "look like Sonic," and he may have the speed to match, but he's not here to play games. He's after revenge...and has a bit of a morality conflict to figure out.  
• Rouge: why play team dark a second time? This girl, right 'ere. Rouge is often over looked, but come on. She's a treasure hunter/thief/spy. 
• And she's after Knux's jewels, lol.       
• Other characters.   
• Amy: Amy may not have her own story, and I kind missed playing as her (with her giant hammer), but she still has a pretty big impact. 
• Freed Sonic from jail (--how she do that).
• Talked to Shadow and made him realize his real promise. 
• And also hugged Shadow thinking he was Sonic--staring one of the series best running-gags and basically creating a bunch of Shadow-Amy fans (what is that one...Shadamy?)
• Maria
• Maria is kind and it's nice to see Shadow in a friendship with someone. Makes good contrast. 
• She also keeps the player hooked on "what happened 50 years ago." 
• Gerald
• Gerald is cold, creepy. It's easy to see his shift from "hero to villain" within his diary. 
• Mr. President & his secretary. 
• Pretty useless and unnecessary. Meh.  

Plot/cutscenes:

• General: 
• This was Dreamcast era, so it doesn't look very good visually.
• In these days the cutscenes were designed for Japan and dubbed over, so there are plenty of lines that overlap ("You're not even good enough--I'll make you eat those words--[same time] to be my fake!"). Not cool.
• The variety in character movements is pretty good (hand symbols, winking, etc).  
• Hero:
• This is more interesting the first time you play it. 
• Thanks, stupid humans. Thinking Shadow is Sonic--idiots. 
• Dark: 
• More interesting, awesome. Slows a bit with Eggman's stuff, though (no wonder he was cut from Team Dark). 
• What happened on Space Colony Ark, and how is that affecting today? 
• Last: 
• An ending that brings all the characters together, gets them to work together, and answers the big questions. 
• Really makes one think: What revenge will cause someone to do; how different the biolizard was from Shadow, and why; the impact of a promise...
• Yeah. Very, very good. 

Music:

• Music's awesome. Live and Learn, It Doesn't Matter, Throw It All Away. Awesome. 
• Tails and Rouge have the weaker themes. 
• Eggman's is amusing.
• Knuckles' stuff is infamous. Not a huge fan, but it's TOUGHER THAN LEATHER. 
• The levels match the characters as well as the location. 
• Though the names...Ghost Pumpkin's soap? Where does that even come from?   

Graphics/Design: 

• Graphics have not aged too well, but it's not super bothersome. It's a talking blue hedgehog it doesn't need to be super realistic. 
• Levels have some interesting layouts and looks. City Escape, Radical Highway, and some around the Space Colony are awesome.
• I like the similarities between rival-levels and close-locations.  
• The level select is pretty straightforward.
• They added soap shoes. Cool.   
• New character designs:
• Shadow looks cool, edgy. 
• Rouge looks...uh, she's a cartoon bat, so what's with the huge boobs? 
• Oh well, now it's trademark Rouge. 
• Maria looks like Alice in Wonderland a bit. Highlights her innocent and young traits. 
• Gerald looks like a gray version of his grandson. No surprise there. Kinda' skinnier though. 
• All the other humans are pretty creepy looking. What's with overhauls girl anyway? 

Final Thoughts: 

• I know some people think Shadow should have remained dead here. While I agree that it takes away from the game, Shadow has become a big part of the series. He usually adds a more mature touch to the story, and I think he's one of the more dynamic of the cast (meaning he's changes over time). 
• And compared to Sonic, for example, Shadow didn't get as many levels. Seems fair for fans to demand to bring him back. 
• The Tails/Eggman levels are often forgotten. They were 1/3 this game, and they sucked. This is the main reason this game is not perfect.    
• Also, TERRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAA. 

Game Ranking (E is lowest, S is highest): A

It has it's flaws but it's still one of the best games in Sonic history.