E3’s Big 4 Part 1: SA2 Behind Closed Doors

IGN Dreamcast had the opportunity to see many major Sega titles. Part one of our report focuses on Sonic Adventure 2:

The collage of game footage was linked together by constantly flashing antonyms. For example, we saw footage of Sonic running away from a truck that was barreling down a street (more on that soon), then were be presented with the words “Light and Dark”. That was followed by footage of Knuckles running and jumping with even more antonyms appearing next. It all culminated in the sequential flashing of the following words: “Sonic”, “Knuckles”, “Dr. Eggman”, “Chaos Emerald”, and “Top Secret Weapon”.

As far as the gameplay footage of Sonic Adventure 2 went, it was looking very much like the first tile, with some massive speedups. The most notable footage was of the street scene, which resembled one of those long staircase-like roads in San Francisco. In this case however, there was no normal flow of traffic. A huge mack truck was chasing Sonic down the street (much like the whale chase in the first title). Cars that happened to be parked on the side of the road were blown out of the way by this massive vehicle, and it was all moving blisteringly fast. Other footage included what appears to be Knuckles’ new burrow attack, a cinematic shot of Eggman laughing, and Sonic running like the blue blazer he is down a jungle path (complete with vines all over the place). Sonic Adventure 2 is looking to be a lot faster than the original, although the characters themselves don’t seem to have many more details to their models. And sorry to report this but Tails and Amy and all the rest were no where to be found in this footage.

The show concluded with the end of the Sonic 2 footage, showcasing what seemed to be a black-colored Sonic staring at the audience, and we left the theater. Well actually, we paused a bit, lifted our jaws off the floor, and then finally proceeded to walk out the door with our knees still shaking.

Part 2 takes a look at Shenmue and Black and White; a very interesting read is ahead…