SapphireLibra3 Reviews #6: Sonic Adventure · 2:57am Jul 30th, 2016
Well, I couldn't NOT talk about this game. After all, Project 2017 and Sonic Mania were previewed recently, and I just did review Sonic and the Black Knight. Believe it or not, I have played a lot of Sonic games, despite not being a super fan. You don't have to be a fan of something to like it. I respect Sonic a lot more than Egoraptor does.
So for the next few reviews, I'm going to review a few Sonic games. Only the Sonic games that I've actually played. Also, I'm probably not going to tackle the 2D Sonic games for a number of reasons. One, I haven't played them enough. Two, they're all pretty short. And three, I don't want to offend anyone just because I don't think those games are God. Are they fun, yes. Do I feel that they are the only way to play Sonic, no.
Oh look, there's that follower number going down by the second. I am digging my grave here.
These reviews I feel will be interesting, because I'm not blinded by nostalgia or Sonic Fanboy/girlism. So you can trust my opinion will be honest enough for me.
So without further ado, this is SapphireLibra3 reviewing Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo Gamecube.
STORY
The story of Sonic Adventure is told from 6 different perspectives, as we have six playable characters:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Miles "Tails" Prower
Knuckles the Echidna
Amy Rose
E-102: Gamma
and... Big... the... Cat... 
*slaps herself* Sorry everyone, I don't know what came over me.
For the sake of this story, I'm only going to tackle the basic gist of all six characters stories, and then tackle the final story at the end. Just a warning, there will be unmarked spoilers for a few moments in each characters arc, because their paths intertwine with each other and affect one another. I'll mark the final story though.
Sonic: His story has him returning from a long unspecified journey. When he arrives in Station Square, he sees a monster called Chaos. This being, known as the God of Destruction, was released by Dr. Robotnik (I know that he's called Eggman officially, but I've always known him as Robotnik, so that's how I'll refer to him). This creature seems to get stronger by absorbing Chaos Emeralds, becoming bigger and more powerful with each Emerald. Sonic's journey is pretty simple: stop Robotnik from getting all seven Chaos Emeralds and unleashing a fully powered Chaos onto the world.
Tails: He shares a majority of his story with Sonic, so there isn't really much of a difference. However, there is a subplot with Tails beginning to realize that he's relying too much on Sonic, and wants to be able to stand NEXT to Sonic as opposed to always following after him. At some point in his story, he and Sonic get separated, forcing Tails to have to think on his own and realize his own true power. Pretty deep stuff actually.
Knuckles: His story seems separate from the others, but it's actually deeply connected, and technically happens before all the others with the exception of possibly E-102: Gamma's story. Knuckles is on Angel Island guarding the Master Emerald, when it suddenly shatters for seemingly no reason. The only clue being Chaos standing in front of it. Without the Emerald's power, Angel Island can't stay afloat, so Knuckles goes on a journey to find the Master Emerald shards and fix the Master Emerald.
Amy: Now HER story is somewhat separate from the others, but still has its importance. Amy, who is living in Station Square by herself now, finds a mysterious bird being chased by one of Dr. Robotnik's robots, E-100 Alpha, or Zero as he's called in America (I like E-100 Alpha better). Feeling sorry for the bird, Amy embarks on a journey of her own to protect the bird from Robotnik's robots, making an interesting friend along the way. Speaking of...
E-102: Gamma: Gamma is the second official robot in Robotnik's E-100 series. Upon his activation, Robotnik pits him against his older brother, E-101: Beta. Gamma defeats Beta, and is brought into the fold of Robotnik's elite E-100 series unit. Gamma sees things however that later make him question both his own programming and whether or not working with Robotnik is the right path. After a run in with Amy and her bird friend, he outright rebels against Robotnik, choosing instead to release the animals sealed within Robotnik's robots.
Big: Finally Big the Cat, my least favorite character in all of Sonic. His story is simple, and pointless. ACTUALLY pointless. Well, sadly not too pointless. You see, Big's pet frog, Froggy, somehow absorbed Chaos' tail. This is causing Froggy to act strangely, and Big sets out on a journey to figure out what's wrong with him and bring him home. Beyond that, he doesn't contribute anything else to the story.
While these stories seem separate, there is a common thing that connects them all. You see, at different times in each character's story, a mysterious light will show them bits of the past. It's here that we see a world inhabited by Echidnas like Knuckles, clearly his ancestors as they live near the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds. The past sections star an echidna girls named Tikall, who went to the Master Emerald shrine and befriended the tiny creatures called Chao, along with the mysterious guardian of the Master Emerald. Her father seeks the Emerald's power, and is willing to destroy the shrine in order to get that power.
After beating all six stories, a seventh story is unlocked meant to tie all loose ends.
After Chaos was defeated, he managed to survive and steal the Chaos Emeralds that Knuckles retrieved in his fight against Chaos 6. Sonic and Tails arrive at Angel Island, which is somehow still unable to stay afloat even though the Master Emerald is back in one piece. Upon seeing that Knuckles is okay, that light shows up again, this time sending Sonic into the past to see what happened.
Sonic sees the Shrine being attacked by Tikall's father and his soldiers, all of the Chao along with Tikall herself being trampled on. This angers the benevolent guardian of the Master Emerald, who turns out to be none other than Chaos, who's not a God or anything, but a Chao that was mutated by the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds. In his anger, Chaos absorbed the seven Chaos Emeralds becoming Perfect Chaos, and Tikall had no choice but to seal Chaos and herself within the Master Emerald.
Sonic returns to the present and goes with Tails to find the Seventh Emerald, which Tails used to power his new plane Tornado 2. Sadly, Chaos gets there first and steals the Chaos Emeralds, thus turning into his Perfect form. As Perfect Chaos he destroys Station Square, leaving Sonic to wonder what to do. It's then that Tikall appears before Sonic, revealing that the red light that's been helping you throughout the game was Tikall's spirit. She tells Sonic that he has no choice but to seal Chaos back into the Master Emerald, but Sonic refuses saying that doing so won't solve anything.
Sonic's friends all gather the Chaos Emeralds, which have turned grey from their power being stolen. Turns out Chaos only takes the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds, but Sonic could use the positive energy and fight Chaos. Sonic then turns into Super Sonic, and engages Perfect Chaos, eventually neutralizing him. Now benevolent again, Tikall takes Chaos into the spirit world, where they'll finally pass on and be at peace.
This story is pretty good, but at times hard to follow. Different things happen in some characters' stories that put into question just how things happened. A perfect example of this is the fight against E-102: Gamma. If you're playing as Sonic, the cutscene shows Sonic as the victor, and if you're playing as Tails, then Tails was the one who fought him and won. But oddly, if you're playing as Gamma, then it shows that he fought Sonic, and WON.
Also, there's a moment in Knuckles' story where E-102: Gamma falls out of the sky on Angel Island. This is odd, because in Gamma's story he doesn't go to Angel Island until much later, AFTER that particular part of the story.
There's also the issue with... Big the Cat. Like, everything about Big the Cat. His story wasn't needed in the slightest, and while it does touch up on Chaos' tail, that doesn't really change things too much. You could have taken Big the Cat out of the game and change nothing about the story.
While the story is good, it's not really the best. Then again, it's actually perfect for a Sonic game. It's straight forward, and has a few plot twists, but you can tell that story wasn't the main focus. That goes to...
GAMEPLAY
Sonic Adventure is broken up into two styles of gameplay: Adventure Fields and Action Stages.
Adventure Fields are the various overworlds you travel through in this game, giving it a sort of RPG like feel. Usually after cutscenes, you'll find yourself here, where you have to find the entrance to the next Action Stage. Don't worry if you don't know where to go, because somewhere in each Adventure Field is that red ball of light, and she's more than willing to give you hints to what you need to do next.
There are three main Adventure Fields you'll explore, so you'll have plenty of time to get used to your surroundings. In these fields there are people to talk to, but they don't really add anything. The main crux of the game is in the Action Stages.
With six characters come six different stage styles, each one meant to make use of the characters individual strengths and abilities.
Sonic's stages are your standard speed based platformers. Basic gist, get to the end of the stage as fast as you can for a higher score. Sonic controls REALLY well in these stages, and his speed is very easy to manage.
Tails' stages are similar to Sonic's but they're actually shorter versions meant to be races against Sonic. You win if you get to the end before Sonic does. If you find this unrealistic, don't worry. Tails uses his flight to reach certain shortcuts to get to the end faster. These aren't as daunting as they sound, and are a lot of fun.
Knuckles' stages are open world exploration stages where you have to find three shards of the Master Emerald. At the bottom of the screen is a radar that chimes whenever you are near a shard. These are a lot of fun too, as you have to explore every part of the stages.
Amy's stages are slower platforming stages, that rely more on problem solving and puzzles instead of speed. In these stages, you're also constantly being chased by E-100 Alpha, and if he gets you, that's it. Game over.
E-102: Gamma's stages are time based shooters. You're given an allotted time, and you have to get to the end of the stage and take out the target robot at the end within the time limit. By destroying multiple enemies at ones, you add to your time, making his stages more destruction based.
Finally is... Big the Cat... His stages... are fishing. That's right. Fishing. In a Sonic game. The goal of these stages is to catch Froggy with your fishing line. That's it. You can catch other fish to increase your score, but why would you do that? Usually Froggy is right there. These stages are stupid, and a waste of time. And they don't make any logical sense at all. I mean, in one stage, you LITERALLY pass by Froggy while getting into position to catch him. So I ask you, why doesn't he just GRAB THE FUCKING FROG WHILE HE'S-
We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by.
Okay, I've calmed down. I'm good now. I'm good.
With the exception of Big the Cat's stages, everything about the game's stages are perfect in my opinion. I mean, all the other characters are fun to play as. If I had any criticism to give, it's in the presentation. When player characters talk, their mouths move in really odd manners, as do their faces. Watching Sonic talk is TERRIFYING. I know, I know, graphic limitations, but they could have done a better job with that.
SOUND
The music in this game is FANTASTIC. I have no bad things to say about it.
Everywhere you go the music matches the atmosphere, giving a sense of ambiance as you explore. The Action Stages have music you'd expect from a Sonic game in 3D. They just took the kind of music you'd find in a 2D title, and gave it a more detailed mix.
The voice acting for the characters is spot on too. Ryan Drummond was in my opinion the best voice for Sonic. He really captured that arrogant yet heroic feel that Sonic had. Roger Craig Smith is a close second, with Jason Griffith being third. Not horrible, but I do feel that the other two portray Sonic in a more natural way.
All the other characters are great too. I want to make special mention to Knuckles' voice. Not just because his actor did a great job, but I feel that his voice in this game is the kind of voice Knuckles should have. Smooth, youthful, yet can be aggressive when he needs to be. Lately it seems most interpretations of Knuckles have him be a short tempered muscle head, but that's not what Knuckles is in the slightest. Sure, he's gullible, and his temper is hot, but overall Knuckles is rather calm, and he doesn't like disturbances. It takes a lot to get him angry, it's just that WHEN he gets angry, someone gets hurt. Also, being gullible and being stupid aren't the same thing. My point here is that Knuckles' voice portrays this very well in my opinion.
Each of the main characters have a theme song that matches them in both tune and lyrics. Crush 40 makes their debut in this game with two songs. Sonic's personal theme, It Doesn't Matter, and Open Your Heart, the theme of the entire game. All of these songs are great, my favorite two being Tails' theme called Believe in Myself, and E-102 Gamma's theme, which doesn't have a name or lyrics. The ambient feel of the song though is very somber, putting you in the mind of a machine that now doubts its programming.
And in case you're wondering, this is the ONE thing about Big the Cat that I don't hate. His theme song is... much to my dismay, catchy. Mind you, it's my least favorite of the songs, but it's catchy in its own right. It's definitely the lowest quality though in my opinion.
FINAL VERDICT
This game was Sonic the Hedgehog's first foray into the third dimension, and I have to say, it was a successful one.
Sure, the story is sort of hard to follow, but this doesn't detract from the game in the slightest in my opinion. With the exception of a few graphic related things, Big the Cat, and Big the Cat, oh, did I mention Big the Cat, everything else was perfect. If you're a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, then you HAVE to play this game. Seriously, you have no reason not to.
So with everything I've said here plus my own enjoyment of the game has me giving Sonic Adventure a score of...
9/10
Plus the special rating of Royally Guaranteed, a special rating to those games I personally feel are too good to ignore.
Alternate titles I shall point you toward Mario 64 if you wish to see another mascot make his jump to the world of 3D, and while I haven't personally played these games, I hear that The Crash Bandicoot series is pretty good, and from what I've seen it's pretty similar, so between those you should find something worth enjoying.
And with that, I am done with this review. Please comment on your thoughts, follow me on Patreon if you wish to support my work, and until next time, have yourselves a blessed day.
Salute`!
should probably mention that its on Steam as well, so if you dont want to spend an UNGODLY amount to buy it, check out the steam version. adventure 2 is also on steam, so theres that too.
I've played a few and thought it was okay. I tried replaying Sonic's story last year and rage quit at Egg Viper, towards to the end when I have use those tops to get close and attack Sonic won't connect to Eggman when I was certain I was doing it right. I also hate the Perfect Chaos final boss if only the second phase for unnecessarily repetitive of the first stage and annoying.
Considering that he can't even be bothered to give anything Sonic related a chance and when he plays a Sonic game he's not even willing to see the good of it, that's not very hard.
Yes, nostalgia blindness, one of the few things I truly despise for reasons I won't rant about here.
Also, my only real exposure to Sonic was the anime which combined this and Sonic Adventure 2 with it's own plotline, and a few online Flash games.
For me, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and E-102 Gamma are the best parts of Sonic Adventure in terms of both gameplay (I always replay their levels whenever I revisit this game...which I sadly haven't done in a while...
) and their character theme songs (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' themes in this game are superior to the Sonic Adventure 2 versions, and I love Gamma's theme, so much so that it's the leitmotif for Rainbow Dash in my Avengers-Verse).