Sonic Adventure Review Roundup

IGNDC has reviewed the DC Launch title. When I saw this, I was glad that some people are unbiased and are willing to tell the flaws of the game (because there are), but A) This is ridiculous, and B) They are incredibly nit picky. Here it is:

I can practically still hear the tapping. I can almost see the arms folded. And I can nearly feel those impatient eyes glaring at me, blurting out “what are you waiting for, slow poke?!??”

Its hard to believe that it’s been over 7 years since Yuji Naka’s signature creation first shot me that matter-of-fact look of annoyance, and nearly as many since I made my initial run through the tour de twist-n-turns in an attempt to calm Sonic’s edgy attitude via some of the most unforgettable moments in gaming history.

Perhaps the only thing more difficult to swallow is that Sonic fans have had to wait an entire generation of hardware before seeing an adequate answer to the likes of Crash Bandicoot and Mario 64 from their beloved Blue Bomber, so of course, the hardcore have rested a great deal of their gaming hopes and dreams on the prickly back of our speedy friend, making Sonic Adventure one of the most anticipated titles to hit the states since Nintendo’s masterful Zelda 64 late last year.

Even more so than the gaming public, Sega themselves have a lot riding on the return of their saucy little mascot, as they had hoped he would help lead the Dreamcast charge into the holiday season with what many have deemed the resurgence of gaming itself in a dry and uninspired industry. So after kicking Dr. Robotnick’s looney can to the curb yet again, I am sure you’re wondering if I was overcome with a sense of awe and nostalgia worthy of such a wordy, epic introduction. Well…yes and no. A hefty helping of quality time with Sonic Adventure has yielded many a glorious gaming moment, but by the same token, it has produced some of the most inconceivably frustrating sequences in gaming history. What I’m left with is a game that, despite how much it tries to make me hate it, I simply cannot help but love.

But the question remains: exactly how much love am I willing to float our favorite Hedgehog and his pals, and is it worth enduring the occasional torture for a brief glimpse at perfection? Let’s take a look:

First off, there’s no denying that this is, without a doubt, the most impressive display of graphical prowess the genre has ever seen from nearly every angle imaginable. Be it texture quality, special effects, level design, or even just the overall appeal of the characters, Sonic looks brilliant, and will be the envy of his platforming brethren for quite some time (that is until Ubi’s Rayman 2 finally makes it’s way to the Dreamcast next year).

But what would all this beauty be if we didn’t zip past it with all the urgency and excitement that has typified the series to date? Why, none of course, and as if to flaunt this visual vitality, Sonic’s return to console gaming will completely re-define your idea of speed. I won’t bother BS’ing and pretend that I can count the frames per second in any given lop-de-loop, nor will I sit here and try to tell you that this game doesn’t bog down every now and again, but just know that this game can haul balls when it wants to, and that turns out to be a good majority of the time. This game will leave you in awe at times, but you’d better be careful not to leave your mouth hanging open too wide, as some of the drops will leave you with your controller in your stomach. This game is filled with more twists and turns than a roller-coaster, and thanks to the aforementioned pace, you’ll have a new-found appreciation for Naka-san’s original vision, as it has never been as powerful as it is in the levels of Sonic Adventure.

The sad truth is, as powerful as the majority of this game manages to be, the times when it fails to deliver this level of intensity turn out to be exponentially painful, and not that I want to point any fingers or anything, but it is all Sonic’s fault.. This may sound weird, but it’s almost as if Sonic Adventure is a victim of it’s own identity at times. As a title renown for it’s near-superhuman sense of speed and intensity during it’s peak moments, I couldn’t help but be left feeling empty when in a “valley.”

For starters, the “adventure” aspect of the game a complete joke. Not only in the voice acting down right awful (I swear I will kill Tails if it is the last thing I do!), but the game is a bit too non-linear for its own good, with hints as to the next course of action sparsely located in fixed beacons throughout the game world. I don’t know about you, but my idea of an adventure is hardly defined by going back to the same spot, talking to the same glowing orb time after time to find out where I am supposed to go or what I’m supposed to do because the poorly acted cinemas (that I can’t skip, even if I’ve seen them 20 %&#$@ times) fail to give me a clear idea of what my next task is. This got old faster than Mortal Kombat, people, and you’d best prepare some serious “what now” action, because it is around every corner.

As irked as I was with this aspect of the game, it paled in comparison to the game’s biggest flaw. For some inexplicable reason, Sonic has this habit of slowing to a painful halt right in the middle of some of the most blistering courses you will ever experience. Some of you may dig this about the game, but for my money, I simply loved the game’s faster portions, and had absolutely no desire to stop for a breather. When sections of the game made little sense in terms of progression or pacing, I found myself very disenchanted with the game, and a lost great deal of interest.

This was one of the most frustrating aspects of the game for me, and I almost feel guilty, because it’s not like these sections were necessarily bad. It’s just that certain sections of the game are so good and so fast that these less intense section seemed all the more uninspired by comparison.

Take for instance the Lost World level. There are several sections that require you to flat out walk in order to make it through alive. Personally, I found this a little irritating when other sections of the level had me flying through so quickly the textures on the walls were actually moving backwards! I mean, when the control is pre-disposed towards allowing you to move as quickly as possible, do you really want to crawl across the floor? Hell no. Of course not.

To further the problems caused by this lack of consistency, the cameras for Sonic Adventure, though they have been cleaned up considerably from the oftentimes painful Japanese release, are still incredibly frustrating at points. Slowing down only manages to be such a pain because the abrupt camera switches you normally don’t notice because you’re flying by them are all now painfully apparent, and the controls have a nasty habit of being dependant on he viewpoint. So much so, in fact, that you’ve got my personal guarantee that they will kill you more than you’re lack of gameplay skills, or Anoop will eat his copy of Pen Pen.

I just can’t tell you how many times I cursed at the screen like a sailor due to some sort of visually impaired demise. There is nothing more annoying than busting your ass for 20 minutes to get through a level only to bite it right before the next checkpoint because the camera has just swapped the absolute definitions of left and right at your expense. The sad part is, as much as I loved the game, it got so frustrating that I just had to walk away. The checkpoints seem so few and far between, and the most ill-conceived angles always found a way to crop up a good 10 minutes into an area, right after a seriously demanding sequence of jumps and maneuvers. What resulted was yet another visit to the better parts of a good 50% of the game’s levels, and regardless of what anyone will tell you, this is not fun after about the 30th time.

The crew at Sonic Team seems to have missed a very important lesson in game design, and I can’t help but point it out here. I think it can best be summed up by saying that there is a reason people only go to the top of the Statue of Liberty once. Yeah, it may be amazing, and it may even be considered unforgettable by those who make the trek, but by the same token, it is a pain in the ass to get there, and it isn’t exactly worth a second trip, much less a third, or fourth, or fifth…

The same can be said for SA. I will never forget the first time I blasted through Windy Valley, or the first time I went down the side of the sky scraper in Speed Highway. But at the same time, after dying in the mirror room in Lost World a good 7-8 times, I was ready to kill someone, despite how cool it was. I guess for me, some things, such as games, are meant to be experienced, and once that has happened, you simply cannot expect the same level of effort and enthusiasm to drive them to that accomplishment. Through a combination of near-criminal camera angles and unfamiliar shifts in the overall pace of the game, Sonic Adventure will force you to take more than your fair share of trips down memory lane. Maybe you’re patient enough to deal, but if there was one thing I could change about Sonic, it would be this.

So how is it exactly a game that pissed me off this much manages to even get more than a passing glance from me in the realm of purchasing possibilities? Basically, because when this game is at its best, it managed to deliver some of the most impressive sequences I have ever witnessed in a video game. There are parts of this game that are so damned good, you’ll forget every senseless death, every bad camera angle, and every expletive you passionately flung at the screen during the course of gameplay. When it’s running on all cylinders, Sonic Adventure is a testimony to the reason I play games. Engrossing, demanding, and utterly awe-inspiring, Yuji Naka’s vision has finally come full circle in this phenomenal title, and once you’ve experienced the magic, you will never look at gaming the same. Period. This may sound weird to you now, but take a trip through the whole of Sonic Adventure and you’ll understand every word. I promise you that much. Then you’ll see why it’s almost tragic that it could not maintain this sense of wonder throughout.

To it’s credit, as frustrating as it could be, SA manages to do a lot of things right, and you will be impressed with the sheer number of things to do. The game’s multiple characters, though their games are a bit to repetitive and unrelated (I so wish they would have made you alternate between characters as the story dictated..), they do give you a whole mess of objectives, and go a long way towards making the game a deep title. Add to that a wide variety of mini-games and you’ve got a lot to keep you busy in Sonic. Throw in Internet options and the whole Chao experience and SA more than has the extras department covered. Anyone who says this title is a breeze to complete has obviously neglected the true scope of the game, and though it may be a bit of a pain to finish, it is by no means quick and easy.

The thing is, will the game’s high points be enough to help you put up with the occasional breakdowns in gaming coherency? I’d love to tell you I have the answer to that question, but the truth is, that really depends on you. Many people have completely loved this game, and will no doubt send me a sea of hate-mail for even entertaining the notion that Sonic Adventure is not the ultimate expression of gaming genius. But by the same token, there are sure to be those who feel I’m on the take from Sega because of my score. The bottom line is that SA is a great game, but it is just too far from perfection to be considered a must-have title for the casual gamer during the Dreamcast launch. Hardcore platforming fans would be stupid not to pick this title up however, as they’ve seen there share of the rough spots in gaming history, and will no doubt appreciate the flashes of brilliance Sonic displays when he’s at his best. If you think you can deal, then pick this one up, if not, at least give it rental. It may surprise you.

Overall, IGNDC gave it an 8.6. Now to Gaming-Age:

I have to admit it, I am a long time Sonic fan. I reluctantly bought a Genesis around the time that Sonic the Hedgehog first made his US debut. At first I felt as if I were betraying everyone’s favorite pudgy plumber (Mario could do no wrong), but a day later, I was past the feeling. From that day on I enjoyed all of Sonic’s adventures, including Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R to an extent.
Fast forward to when the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure were both officially announced. After coming off the Sonic Team high that was NiGHTS, I was especially looking forward to the first “true” 3D Sonic the Hedgehog title. Nintendo did it with great success, so why not Sega? Well in my opinion, Sonic Adventure is to the Dreamcast what Mario 64 was to the Nintendo 64. And more.

Sonic Adventure, as if you didn’t already know, is a 3D platformer featuring Sonic, a few of his old friends, as well as a few new ones. Dr. Robotnik is once again up to no good, and it is Sonic’s job to put him back in his place. The diabolical eggman has come across an ancient shape shifting gelatinous creature known as Chaos, and has discovered that, by feeding Chaos “chaos emeralds” will cause it to grow larger and more powerful. So Dr. Robotnik sets out to steal all the emeralds in order to power Chaos up to immense proportions. Now it is up to Sonic, Amy Rose, Knuckles, Tails, Big the Cat and E-102 to thwart Robotnik and save Station Square.

The stages in Sonic Adventure can be one of two types: Action, Adventure. Action Stages are setup in a fashion similar to the original Genesis Sonic titles, which more or less means speedy 3D gameplay. Adventure Stages, are well, more adventurous. These stages are more akin to the large 3D environments of Mario 64. Linking all the stages up are a few different “hub” type areas that provide access to all the Action and Adventure stages. As with the original Sonic titles, all the stages are littered with various robotic enemies which release fuzzy little animals when defeated. The animals can be collected, and used later on to help evolve your Chao creatures (more on that later).

Along with Sonic Adventure’s many characters comes a variety of different gameplay possibilities. Sonic is fast, and can spin dash through enemies; Tails can fly, Knuckles can punch and glide, Amy can swing a tremendous hammer, Big can fish, and E102 can shoot lock on lasers and hover. Each character can power up their abilities by searching for a number of special items hidden throughout the Adventure levels.

Sonic Adventure handles the multiple character aspect a little differently than other 3D platformers. The games uses the same general stages and areas for each character, though certain characters can only access specific pieces of each stage. The goals to be completed within each stage also varies depending on the character chosen. While Sonic may have access to all of Twinkle Park as he races to retrieve the Chaos Emerald, Big the Cat can only play in the large pool located in the very beginning. There are also a small handful of stages and areas that are exclusive to a particular character, as well as pinball, racing, snowboarding and other assorted mini games.

Speaking of characters and stages; Each character has a different set of 3 goals to accomplish in each stage or area. Sonic must retrieve the Chaos Emerald, beat a certain time or finish with a certain number of rings. Tails must beat Sonic. Knuckles must retrieve shards of the Master Crystal by playing a “hot/cold potato” sort of scavenger hunt. E102 must complete stages with a certain amount of fuel energy remaining. Amy must collect rings and grab a large balloon. And Big the Cat must fish for a specific amount of fish (in pounds), and then reel in his frog buddy. As you can see, there is quite a bit of gameplay variety in Sonic Adventure. The overall goal for all, is to collect the Sonic Emblems. For every goal that a character completes, they are awarded an emblem. Those, in addition to a number of hidden emblems scattered throughout the stages, give you a grand total of 130. In order to really complete Sonic Adventure, or to buy new Chao and such off of the Sonic internet site, the Sonic Emblems need to be collected.

Graphically Sonic is still amazing, even after spending about 40 hours with the import version. The textures are of such high quality that they sometimes look photorealistic. The characters are all modeled with a nice amount of polygons, and many times appear to look identical to the original CG models. Sonic Team used more than your fair share of special effects, including multiple layers of transparencies, environment mapping, specular highlighting, as well as plenty of light source shading. The framerate is more than adequate, and is either 30 or 60fps depending on the stage.

As always, sound, or more specifically music, is definitely one of Sonic Team’s strong points. As with NiGHTS, Sonic Adventure has a beautifully magical feeling to it. The music tracks are all totally appropriate for the stages they play in, and the direction and quality is second to none. I do like fruity music tracks, and some of Sonic Adventure’s definitely fit right into that category. Also, I do not know why everyone does not like the US voices. They certainly aren’t worse than those found in your typical Saturday morning TV show. I thought that the voices fit the characters quite well.

So what has Sonic Team fixed for the US release? Well there is a fairly long list of minor bug fixes, but I rather not bore you with anymore details as small as those. The major changes involve the camera, the collision detection and the network. The camera, while not perfect (no 3D platformers have a perfect camera yet), is much better than it was in the Japanese version. It does not seem to get stuck behind solid objects as frequently as before, and in tight spaces, the angle is now locked at some pre-determined point. It still swings around to the wrong angle on occasion, but you can quickly readjust it with one of the shoulder buttons. The annoying problem which caused Sonic to fall through the floors and walls on certain levels, has thankfully been address as well. Taking a plunge off of one specific Speed Highway or Windy Valley segment time after time could definitely get on your nerves. Last, but not least, is the newly reworked Network segment of Sonic Adventure.

Sonic Team obviously spend a great deal of time in expanding Sonic’s network functionality. No, you cannot play against other Sonics in a Quake style deathmatch, or race against others in Twinkle Circuit. Nothing like that. The idea is to involve all the Sonic Adventure gamers into a worldwide community, through the use of the games Sonic Adventure specific web browser. After connecting to Sega’s Sonic server, there are many exclusive options, none which can be accessed without that specific browser. You can view Sega’s extensive Sonic Adventure visual FAQ, speak to others on a SA messageboard, trade Chao, purchase Chao with your Sonic emblems, send Chao to a doctor to be evaluated, speak to Sega reps, take part in sponsored contests, download little changes and cheats, upload your times to be ranked and even download new Twinkle Circuit tracks. There are so many different options you now have, all designed to extend Sonic Adventure’s lifespan and provide fans of the game with an interactive community. Due to time constraints, the Japanese version included only one or two of the above mentioned features. Sega will soon be re-releasing the US version as Sonic Adventure International, to allow Japanese gamers to get involved with the US/European community.

One of my favorite Sonic Adventure features, I left for last. I have totally enjoyed Sonic Team’s a-life feature, ever since it was first implemented in NiGHTS. Sonic Adventure contains small tear-drop shaped artificial life creatures named Chao (pronounced “chow”). They can be found, in egg form, either within 1 of 3 Chao gardens located around the Sonic Adventure world, or hidden within an adventure stage or 2. When found, they need to be hatched while within a Chao garden, buy throwing them onto the ground, or into a solid object. When hatched, the cute creatures must be cared for by either feeding them a Chaonut from a tree, or by picking them up and cuddling them. The Chao tell you what they are thinking/feeling by a little symbol above their heads, as well as their mannerisms. A Chao with a heart, that jumps around, is usually happy. One with his eyes closed, or snoring, is tired. These creatures can grow, evolve and even mate depending on how well they are treated.

One of the cooler features is accessed when you place one of your Chao into the VMU. You can name your Chao, play games with him/her, and even take part in a mini adventure complete with 1 on 1 fights with other wild Chao. The adventuring, games and fights all allow you to obtain items that will boost your Chao’s stats. Upon reloading your Chao into Sonic Adventure, you will notice that he/she has become stronger, and can now fly, swim and run faster than before. As mentioned earlier, you also have the option to mix many of the little animals that you rescue, with your Chao. By doing so, your Chao will take on characteristics (physical and statistical) of that animal. All of this time spent raising Chao, does actually have a purpose. Sonic Adventure has what is called “Chao Races”, in which various powered up Chao race, by running, flying, swimming, pushing and climbing, through several different obstacle courses in order to earn Sonic Emblems. You can cheer your little guys on, and even give them a bit of help in order to insure that they defeat the other Chao. I spent more hours then I would like to admit raising my Gold Chao, but I found it quite enjoyable.

When you go to the store to pick up your US Dreamcast system, I would definitely recommend taking home a copy of Sonic Adventure. Great graphics and sound, varied gameplay, extensive network options, and plenty of fun are more than enough reasons to buy the game. For those new to the Dreamcast, or fans of Sonic and friends, Sonic Adventure is a must buy.