SA: Limited Edition Fan Review in its Entirety

Hawkmoon has played SA: LE, and here’s his review:

As some of you may know, I have played the Japanese version of Sonic Adventure extensively. I just finished playing the American version from Hollywood and I am here to report the changes that I have seen so far…

(Voices)
The voice acting in the game is not that bad. Sonic sounds older than tails and that is the way it should be. Knuckles does not sound as menacing as he should, but his voice sounds to be in the same age group as Sonic. I thought the voice for Dr. Robotnik (Eggman) was pretty good. Amy’s voice is good as is E102. Big the cat has the worst voice (thank god his portion of the game is short).

(Why Dr. Robotnik is called Eggman)
Dr. Robotnik is referred to as Eggman. There is a reason for this. When the Dr. makes his second appearance in the game (near Tails workshop) Sonic & Tails sees the Dr. Sonic makes smart butt comment “Look it’s a giant talking Egg”. The Dr. replies, “I am Dr. Robotnik”, Sonic says “Whatever Eggman”. Later in the game when the Dr. tells E102 to attack Sonic, E102 responds by saying “Yes Dr. Robotnik”. This is the reason the Dr. is referred to as Eggman.

(More Voice information)
There is a lot of voice in the game. What was really cool is when you enter the train station a female voice says “The train headed for Mystic Ruins will be departing soon” the voice is echoed as if it is heard in a large train station. A male voice is used at Mystic Ruins. Sonic and the other character have alot of voice when you leave the controller and let the character sit there. Sonic mentions “Better get going”, hey, hey, hey, there’s no time to rest”. Depending on the location of the character, they say different things as well.

The options menu’s also have voices telling you information. When you go to the sound menu a female voice states “Sound Test. You can listen to various music tracks”.

(Camera)
The camera has been worked on. It still needs some more work but it is much better than the Japanese game. For example in the Hotel Lobby, the camera is fixed lower and closer to Sonic. In the shop, the one with the Egg in the window, the camera is fixed in one view. In tails workshop, the camera is fixed so that you don’t get stuck looking at a wall. On the Japanese version when you start running from the whale, the camera at times would be under the bridge. On the American version, I could not get it to do it. It would happen at least once every 3-4 playthroughs on the Japanese version.

Using the D-Pad allows you to look around and the triggers change the camera angle just like the Japanese version, but the american one seems to have more freedom. I was able to look around in some levels using the triggers and saw things that I never say in the Japanese version.

(Other stuff)
The internet option is not available as someone else reported. The menu states the following will be offered:

Communication
Game Hints
Game Downloads
Data Exchange
World Rankings
NOTE: No On-Line play as previously mentioned!

It also says that the Sonic Adventure Home Page will available on 9.9.99.

It may be my faulty memory, but I noticed different camera angles when you have close encounters (voiced parts) with other characters. I also noticed additional paths on the Windy Valley level. On the Sky Deck, I went through a sequence that I did not go through before. Until, I can play my Japanese version again, I will only say that if my memory serves me well, then there has been some additions.

(Some more other stuff)
Like a typical RPG, when you talk to people sometimes you have to talk to them again for them to say something else. They will also say different things depending on time of day and what point in the game you are in.

I actually liked the dialogue in the game. Parts of it seem a little kiddie, others are quite funny. The game is geared towards a younger crowd, so I expected this. overall, I really enjoyed the dialogue. Cheesy at some points, good in others.

(Overall)
Even though the is a “LIMITED EDITION” and I do not know what differences there will be in the final product, I think that it will do extremely well. The game is beautiful, I actually stopped and just looked around to see the sights. Even though I played the Japanese version, beat it with every character (twice), I still was blown away by the visuals. For me, this will be a title I pick up at launch. It probably won’t get played much the first week (with all the other releases), it is still a treasure to have.

The game came w/no instruction manual, but below is what it says on the back of the game package.

Buckle up and we’re talking 5-point harness. sonic the hedgehog will propel your Dreamcast into warp-speed 3d adventure. Want rings? We’ve got rings. Want Chaos emeralds? We’ve got those too. you want insane graphincs, hige levels, puzzles, hidden mini games, multiple playable characters and more? Oh yeah! We’ve got it all.

Features:
6 playable characters each with his/her own skills and abilities.
Jaw-dropping 3d graphics with unbelievable detail and speed.
Nearly 50 massive levels, bonus rounds, bosses and minigames.
Exclusive A-Life system: Breed and train chao characters with the vMU and then race them in Sonic Adventure.

The back of the box shows three game shots and anime style drawings of all the playable characters.