Sonic Adventure 2 Battle

"Yet another good Sonic Game"

Introduction

This game was the main reason I got a Gamecube in the first place; I am a big Sonic fan and had been out of touch with the series for what seemed like many years. I was interested to see how this one lived up to its predecessors.

Gameplay - 7/10

The gameplay is quite fun. You can choose between two stories; the hero story and the dark story, and you are given three characters each with their own style of gameplay - Sonic, Tails and Knuckles on the Hero side and Eggman on the dark side with newcomers Shadow and Rouge. The best levels by far are Sonic and Shadow's levels, as you race along at great speed, using cool moves such as the "light dash" and homing attack. These levels are pretty much similar to some of the classic Sonic levels, and they very rarely become repetitive. Knuckles and Rouge's levels take a bit of getting used to; like in Sonic Adventure (and Sonic Adventure DX), you have to look for three emerald shards, as you move across the "arena" that you have been placed in. There are some interesting variations to this, such as Rouge's "Security Hall" level, in which you have to race against the clock, and it can be very hectic for first-time players. The big letdown of the gameplay is Tails' levels. Due to the fact that both stories are designed so that all three characters on both sides with have the same gameplay, Tails ends up having to do the same style levels as Eggman. Confined to his Tornado for practically the entire game (except when you enter Chao World), Tails has to walk around slowly, shooting things around him - similar to Gamma's levels from Sonic Adventure. This style of gameplay is good for Eggman, but really cramps Tails' style - especially since Eggman seems to get all the best shoot-em-up levels.

With regard to the stories themselves, you will play a different character with each level, so you will be playing with Sonic one moment, then you will switch to Knuckles. In this respect, the Hero story is considerably more fun than the Dark Story, as it has a large dependance on Sonic's stages (Sonic is used in 6 out of 16 stages). The Dark story suffers from huge problems from the fact that Shadow has just 4 full stages out of the 14, with many more of Eggman's shooting levels in the first half than anyone could actually want, whereas Shadow features in a boss fight at the end of the first stage, then gets a full stage in stage 4, but after that does nothing until stage 9. There are some variations in the gameplay, as both stories include very enjoyable driving levels which you play as Tails and Rouge.

Boss fights are often interesting, with all characters battling out against their equivalent from the other side. In this case, only the Tails v Eggman battles disappoint, as these consist solely of running around and firing like mad. I nearly always get through the second battle of this type by luck alone. Other battles are more interesting, such as the Egg Golem, although the battle is considerably more fun when you play as Sonic, and King Boom Boo (although he sounds at first like a rip off of the Mario games), and it is such a shame that his "equivalent" on the Dark side seems to be almost a rehash of the bosses faced by Sonic and Shadow at the start of the game, albeit playing with Rouge). There is an incredibly complex penultimate boss, although - as is the case with most recent Sonic games - the final boss is just too easy.

Just one more big annoyance in gameplay is the inclusion of Omochao, who "helps" you throughout the levels. Evidently to give help to complete beginners, it soon becomes apparent that he is there to insult the player's intelligence.

In addition to the main game, there is the Chao World, and raising Chao to compete in races is fun. The races are better than those of Sonic Adventure in that you actually have some control over how your chao races as you can give them stamina boosts. The only problem is, there are way too many races (over 60 in total), and beating them all can get tedious, especially as it gets very repetitive after a while.

There is also the new two-player mode, in which you can race through Sonic and Shadow's levels, which can be very enjoyable as you use special moves to mess up your opponents. Tails and Eggman's levels are shoot-up battles, while Knuckles and Rouge race to get emeralds. Added to this are other characters, such as Chao, Amy, Metal Sonic, Tikal and Chaos Zero. Most of the modes are quite fun, though I felt sorry for Tails, Eggman and the Chao, who are the only characters who aren't given apparently magical powers to mess each other up (aside from Metal Sonic, who has hardly any special moves to speak of). Like with so many other games, though, the two-player mode quite literally requires two human players, and an option to play against the computer would have at least been interesting.

Story - 9/10

The story is one of the best of the series. Although once again it revolves around Dr. Eggman attempting to take over the world. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are all given great personalities (Sonic gets some of the best lines), and Amy's appearances provide some comic relief. As for the dark side, Shadow and Rouge are two very interesting characters - as the story reveals exactly what their purposes are - and there are some twists in store. It is quite fun seeing two sides of the story from the perspectives of both sides, and many scenes become clearer on the second viewing. The two stories themselves are centred vastly around the characters they are about - so you will play most of the Dark story and not see much of Tails or Knuckles, while Rouge is virtually absent from the Hero story.

The ending does not disappoint, despite the fact that many characters, especially Tails and Rouge, almost seem to vanish out of the plot entirely.

Graphics - 9/10

The 3D graphics in this game are great, with neat scenery in every level and enjoyable cinemas. Added to the two player mode are a number of extra costumes, though many of these are actually quite horrible looking (Shadow and Sonic look ridiculous in their costumes, final proof that hedgehogs should not wear clothes, and Tails' "costume" is a massive disappointment). There are some neat touches, such as the pictures of Sonic and Tails on the walls of the Chao kindergarten, but what a shame that the memorably dopey feline Big the Cat was taken out of the levels and reduced to making cameos in the cutscenes.

Sound - 7/10

The voice acting is good. The late Deem Bristow, for example, provides Eggman with the sort of voice you would expect from an evil genius, while the other voice actors also shine as they bring personality to their characters. The music is mostly good, although I'm unsure of what to make of the rap music on Knuckles' levels. It's very strange that only Knuckles, Sonic and Shadow actually get given lyrics on their levels, too. Sonic's song on his first level is very catchy, as is Shadow's on the level "White Jungle". There is, sadly, some music that is far from good. One notably horrible song features on Eggman's "Weapons Bed" level. Most of the music is quite good, though.

I also like the inclusion of "Menu Themes", in which you get different characters introducing things to you. Eggman and Rouges' cries of "What? I'm not good enough for you?" are hilarious.

Replay Value/Play Time - 10/10

Unlocking everything in this game took me a long time, and there is a lot to do. 180 emblems in total, and five missions on every level. Getting an A rank on missions can often take a lot of practice. The only fault for me is that the Chao racing just takes way too long. There is a nice extra feature for anyone with the patience to get all the emblems. Most of the levels stand up well to repeat playing.

Final Verdict

Buy this. It is unlikely that you will unlock everything from just a few days' rental, and this is just as good as any other Sonic game. Although there is vast criticism of Sonic's transition to 3D, this is a great game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/05