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Sonic Adventure - Open Your Heart

RK128

Member
Was it ever explained in series canon why Amy wasn't as fast as most of the other characters, being a hedgehog and all?

She can run fast like Sonic and company in latter games through; Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Sonic Heroes show she can be fast like Sonic (as she is part of the 'speed' group). Its just that some of her appearances play up her hammer, so they either make her platforming focused (Sonic Adventure, Advance) or battle focused (Sonic 06.....Ugh X().
 
I really don't like how these 3d Sonic games were designed... They're just less than mediocre games and the Sonic style of gameplay was never properly adapted to 3d. The only good thing about the Sonic Adventure games is the music they made for it.

I recently had a few really good ideas for where I'd take Sonic and where Sonic should be headed in terms of gameplay. My brother is still playing Sonic 1 and 2 from time to time on his 20+ year old Mega Drive, so it'd probably be fun to make a little prototype with something better for him to play. Could make for a good headline, too: "Ori and the Blind Forest designer redesigns Sonic!", hahaha :D
 
Maybe it's because I played and enjoyed the hell out of SA2 for GameCube before I played the DX version of this but i didn't really care for SA1 that much.

Back when I had my PS3 plugged up and the Sonic games were on sale I picked up SA2 and still enjoyed it liked I did when I was a kid but didn't even bother with SA1.
 

RK128

Member
I really don't like how these 3d Sonic games were designed... They're just less than mediocre games and the Sonic style of gameplay was never properly adapted to 3d. The only good thing about the Sonic Adventure games is the music they made for it.

I recently had a few really good ideas for where I'd take Sonic and where Sonic should be headed in terms of gameplay. My brother is still playing Sonic 1 and 2 from time to time on his 20+ year old Mega Drive, so it'd probably be fun to make a little prototype with something better for him to play. Could make for a good headline, too: "Ori and the Blind Forest designer redesigns Sonic!", hahaha :D

Would love to play that prototype when you get around to making it :D!

Its an honor you posted here (love the work you and Moon Studios put into Ori!), so thank you for your words. Sorry you didn't enjoy Sonic Adventure though :(. Maybe give Unleashed, Colors, Heroes or Generations a shot :). Personally really enjoyed those games :D.
 
Would love to play that prototype when you get around to making it :D!

Its an honor you posted here (love the work you and Moon Studios put into Ori!), so thank you for your words. Sorry you didn't enjoy Sonic Adventure though :(. Maybe give Unleashed, Colors, Heroes or Generations a shot :). Personally really enjoyed those games :D.

Thank you :) I did, I think they're quite okay, but I've never seen any of them as a real, proper Sonic sequel (And the Sonic 4 games, don't even get me started...). It always felt like they just wanted to copy the past, but never really truly improved upon that old formula. When I grew up, Sonic was the epitome of 'cool'. I used to draw Sonic and Tails all the time into every one of my textbooks in elementary school, even though I always preferred Mario in terms of gameplay :) Anyway, Sonics gameplay should be designed around SPEED and just immediate fun. You want to feel like a cannonball that's being shot through the levels, but you still want to feel like you're fully in control of the action.

I'd probably base my design around Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. I think most other Sonics introduced too much stuff that made you stop and interact. That was also one of the things that was a no-go on Ori - We never wanted to force players to stop their movement, we wanted Ori to be able to zip through the world like a little ninja with a multitude of abilities. Ability wise, I'd probably re-use Ori's BASH ability for Sonic - It introduces a quick 'stop', so you can aim which direction you want to fly into, but I think it'd totally work for Sonic as well, since it'd just allow you to catapult yourself quickly from enemy to enemy.

It'd be quite fun to put a little demo together. I'd probably make a test level that makes things feel a bit like a faster Canabalt, but get rid of that 'straight line infinite runner' feel by allowing multiple paths, interaction that's all dependent on SPEED and I'd zoom the camera out a bit more than in the original Sonic games, so you could always see things that are coming up, react and it'd stay fair that way. I always liked that enemy attack they introduced, pressing the jump button to dash into enemies...

Actually, this is getting my juices going... :D Btw, art-wise, I love the style of your avatar. Sonic should shine in bright colors, blues, oranges, reds, whites, all very strong and bright. Any chance that image is available in a bigger size somewhere?
 

Zafir

Member
I still mostly enjoy Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 even now, despite the bugs. I still find Big the Cat levels utterly tedious beyond belief though. Not sure who thought they were a good idea. The rest of the characters, while no Sonic, they're at least average. Big though? Just urgh.

Tis a shame that Sonic 06 ended up being such a mess. Instead of taking the formula and you know, removing the bugs. They decided to add more. :|
 

CNCOMICS

Member
9-9-99 the most hyped day I ever had. Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure launch and MTV Music Awards that night. The following year in middle school, I was rocking the VMU with Chao Adventure around my neck on a chain, until a teacher questioned what it was and strongly advised me to put it away or she'll take it -you didn't get stuff back until end of the year or with a parent's visit.

As far as the game, I enjoyed everyone's story except for Big initially. I was forced to play his story to get to the final story and his slow pace slowly grew on me, most likely because once I snagged a fish, the music switched suddenly, Sega Bass Fishing! LOL! And the bro-love for Froggy warmed my heart enough to give a damn.

And E-102 Gamma's ending gave me a case of the feels; it was bitter sweet.

Thanks RK128 for putting these reviews/impressions out, definitely a nice warm up to the 25th anniversary.
 

RK128

Member
Thank you :) I did, I think they're quite okay, but I've never seen any of them as a real, proper Sonic sequel (And the Sonic 4 games, don't even get me started...). It always felt like they just wanted to copy the past, but never really truly improved upon that old formula. When I grew up, Sonic was the epitome of 'cool'. I used to draw Sonic and Tails all the time into every one of my textbooks in elementary school, even though I always preferred Mario in terms of gameplay :) Anyway, Sonics gameplay should be designed around SPEED and just immediate fun. You want to feel like a cannonball that's being shot through the levels, but you still want to feel like you're fully in control of the action.

I'd probably base my design around Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. I think most other Sonics introduced too much stuff that made you stop and interact. That was also one of the things that was a no-go on Ori - We never wanted to force players to stop their movement, we wanted Ori to be able to zip through the world like a little ninja with a multitude of abilities. Ability wise, I'd probably re-use Ori's BASH ability for Sonic - It introduces a quick 'stop', so you can aim which direction you want to fly into, but I think it'd totally work for Sonic as well, since it'd just allow you to catapult yourself quickly from enemy to enemy.

It'd be quite fun to put a little demo together. I'd probably make a test level that makes things feel a bit like a faster Canabalt, but get rid of that 'straight line infinite runner' feel by allowing multiple paths, interaction that's all dependent on SPEED and I'd zoom the camera out a bit more than in the original Sonic games, so you could always see things that are coming up, react and it'd stay fair that way. I always liked that enemy attack they introduced, pressing the jump button to dash into enemies...

Actually, this is getting my juices going... :D Btw, art-wise, I love the style of your avatar. Sonic should shine in bright colors, blues, oranges, reds, whites, all very strong and bright. Any chance that image is available in a bigger size somewhere?

Thank Archie Comics for the avatar buddy XD!

Sonic.jpg


And good luck on your prototype, looking forward to seeing how it ends up :D.
 

RK128

Member
9-9-99 the most hyped day I ever had. Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure launch and MTV Music Awards that night. The following year in middle school, I was rocking the VMU with Chao Adventure around my neck on a chain, until a teacher questioned what it was and strongly advised me to put it away or she'll take it -you didn't get stuff back until end of the year or with a parent's visit.

As far as the game, I enjoyed everyone's story except for Big initially. I was forced to play his story to get to the final story and his slow pace slowly grew on me, most likely because once I snagged a fish, the music switched suddenly, Sega Bass Fishing! LOL! And the bro-love for Froggy warmed my heart enough to give a damn.

And E-102 Gamma's ending gave me a case of the feels; it was bitter sweet.

Thanks RK128 for putting these reviews/impressions out, definitely a nice warm up to the 25th anniversary.

Happy to help :).

I wanted to cover the series in a great light and I thought 'Why not a retrospective :D?' while playing through Sonic Heroes on whim. Odd game to start the retrospective with but still XD.
 

Tailzo

Member
I just played through Tails' storyline. That was fun, I like his levels as much as much as the Sonic levels in SA1.
 

Vex_

Banned

All of them are great tracks, but I can just see and remember how I felt playing these areas back then.

Awww man. Stuff started getting crazy around when you got to this part. Flashbacks, ancient ruins, the MASTER EMERALD mystery. Oh god, it was so great. This game took you places. You felt like you were really going somewhere. I guess this is what happens when you have a good team devoted to capturing real world locales.

/nostalgia


Edit: nope. One more thing. Every adventure game had a tear jerking moment, the original sa1 had the whole E 102-GAMMA story which legit made me tear up back then (that damn bird), and sa2 had shadow pulling a majin vegeta :0
 

RK128

Member
No, I mean emphasis on her skirt in-game. Just selecting her for example.

You mean her in-game design? It is a bit odd, as its the most radical of the main casts. If my OP over-explained her, would you want me to edited the OP some more? Gotta add more stuff anyway (going to talk about Gamma, Big and the Story by Sat. Night).
 

RK128

Member
Gamma is one of the brand new characters made for Adventure, and I have touch on story here, as it explores a topic that past Sonic games gloss over; robotization.

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In the Archie Comics and Satam, this topic is characters turning into mind-less robots with loss of free will, forever trapped as this being. Eggman always did this in the comics and while that changed as of late, it was horrifying seeing this in both Archie and Satam.

The cannon games don't do this exactly the same, but its still horrid. Little creatures like Flickies (little Birds) are stuffed into robots and when Sonic & Friends destroy them, little creatures pop out. They are free......but what happens to them INSIDE the robots?

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Gamma touches on this, as his story is of a little Flicky being turned into a war machine by Eggman as part of his E-Series robots. Gamma is the most successful and Eggman sets him lose to hunt for the Emeralds and Froggy (as he ate a Chaos Emerald/has a bit of Chaos in his tail). Along the way, he questions what and why he is doing things when he bumps into Amy, then sets out to 'free' his brothers by......destroying them?

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Why would he destroy fellow robots when....wait, is the little Flicky inside him remembering his origin? Do the animals forget their memories when inside robots? This element makes his story my favorite in Adventure. I didn't touch on Sonic/Tails/Knuckles/Amy's plots as it is either Stop Eggman/Restore the Master Emerald/Learn to be independent from Sonic & destroy the robot Zero.

But Gamma's story touches on questions many had since Sonic 1 about what happens to the creatures Eggman captures and his theme is perfect for expressing this; sounds a lot sadder then any other main character theme so far.

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- - - - - - - - -

Okay, lets move on to the gameplay, as it really is quite fun :).

He is Sonic with a gun, literally. You move quite fast and you are on a timer; the more you destroy robots and objects you increase your timer. Gamma can lock on to foes and the longer lock-on chain, the more time you can earn.

Gamma_Fighting_Delta.jpg


His gameplay is really easy.....but it is a lot of fun :). Once you get the hover upgrade, it makes his platforming sections very enjoyable.

Gamma feels swift and lose, something that makes his gameplay a lot of fun and one element that I get baffled that Sonic Adventure 2 botches. Tails/Eggman's walkers are heavy tanks, but that leads to more stiff control. Its more of a personal taste thing here but I greatly prefer the level designs/gameplay of Gamma here vs. Sonic Adventure 2's Mech stages.

Now we are going to talk about a big cat next ;). Ready to do some fishing?
 

Zeta Oni

Member
Long post

Just reminds me how much I enjoyed these missions, they were honestly my second favorite after Sonics and then probably tails third.

Actually, I'd say the only person who's missions I actually disliked at the time was Knuckles.

I'd rather fish than ever have to find another damn emerald again.

I also agree about the change between sonic adventure 1 mech missions and sonic adventure 2. The weighted feel made them feel much more clunky than previously.
 
You know, it was definitely a nice consideration from Sonic Team right there. They wanted to include a shooting mechanic but figured that an anthropomorphic hedgehog had no business wielding a gun, so they just decided to make an all new appropriate character to do the job.

Too bad they didn't have the same consideration when this game happened.

Shadow_the_Hedgehog_Coverart.png
 

Zeta Oni

Member
You know, it was definitely a nice consideration from Sonic Team right there. They wanted to include a shooting mechanic but figured that an anthropomorphic hedgehog had no business wielding a gun, so they just decided to make an all new appropriate character to do the job

Too bad they didn't have the same consideration when this game happened.

There's a thread about this video in which a YouTuber goes over all the first missions in every mainline sonic game.

Watching the whole thing, as somone who stopped playing sonic games right around this title gave me a very harsh reality:

Sega gives absolutely zero fucks about any kind of quality, any kind of coherence, or any kind of consistency.

Sonic is the most mistreated IP in all of video game history, and Sega plans on changing nota damn thing.

At least the official twitter is funny though. :/

OP's threads have bought some feelings out I did not know I had for the little blue guy. Sadness.
 

Ferr986

Member
There's a thread about this video in which a YouTuber goes over all the first missions in every mainline sonic game.

Watching the whole thing, as somone who stopped playing sonic games right around this title gave me a very harsh reality:

Sega gives absolutely zero fucks about any kind of quality, any kind of coherence, or any kind of consistency.

Sonic is the most mistreated IP in all of video game history, and Sega plans on changing nota damn thing.

At least the official twitter is funny though. :/

OP's threads have bought some feelings out I did not know I had for the little blue guy. Sadness.

Colors and Generations has been the best thing to happen to Sonic since the game of this post, or maybe even since S3&K.
 

Bioshocker

Member
Back then I loved it. It showed me that Sega were back for real, and in my mind Sonic Adventure crushed Super Mario 64. Of course it didn't, and looking back at it Sonic Adventure was a pretty messy experience. It was beautiful and had some nice levels, but the controls were sloppy, the boss fights (which I had enjoyed so much in the 16 bit games) were awful, and Sonic had become an extra in his own game with plenty of new characters.

I think Sonic Adventure 2 is a better game, but it shares some of the same issues as SA.
 

Gen X

Trust no one. Eat steaks.
Imo the first Sonic Adventure is the best Sonic game I've played. Fantastic game in its day. Never cared much for the sequel though.
 

woopWOOP

Member
I legit loved running around the city/jungle hub areas in this game. Was sad that some locations were one-time accesible only, like going inside that hotel building for that one Chaos boss fight.

Big the Cat's gameplay was awful, but I still like that big ol' tubby
 

RK128

Member
There's a thread about this video in which a YouTuber goes over all the first missions in every mainline sonic game.

Watching the whole thing, as somone who stopped playing sonic games right around this title gave me a very harsh reality:

Sega gives absolutely zero fucks about any kind of quality, any kind of coherence, or any kind of consistency.

Sonic is the most mistreated IP in all of video game history, and Sega plans on changing nota damn thing.

At least the official twitter is funny though. :/

OP's threads have bought some feelings out I did not know I had for the little blue guy. Sadness.

Sorry if my posts made you sad buddy :(. Sega has no real quality control over the IP as its a playground for Sonic Team.....but it needs to be more focused.

They tried doing this and ever since Unleashed, they have been hitting that 'good' mark often now. Its just Boom Wii U that really soured the series name again.
 

RK128

Member
Just reminds me how much I enjoyed these missions, they were honestly my second favorite after Sonics and then probably tails third.

Actually, I'd say the only person who's missions I actually disliked at the time was Knuckles.

I'd rather fish than ever have to find another damn emerald again.

I also agree about the change between sonic adventure 1 mech missions and sonic adventure 2. The weighted feel made them feel much more clunky than previously.

The weight really makes the mech levels in SA2 a pain to play sometimes :(. And considering how Tails is so agile and how Eggman could of worked like Ratchet (various guns and gadgets to play with), they would of been a great replacement for Gamma. Hell, Tails can FLY, so you got the hover ability right there to play with.
 

Stronty

Member
Coworkers were blown away by the DC. They were most impressed with Soul Calibur and called Sonic Adventure 'Mario on Crack' when they first saw DC in September of 99.
 

RK128

Member
hqdefault.jpg


Its FISHING time everyone, can't wait to talk about this character?! .......Right?

sonic_running_by_thewax.jpg


Wow, even Sonic is running away from this....well, okay, lets take apart Big the Cat's role in Adventure and how odd his gameplay is compared to the rest of the cast.

His grand contribution to Adventure is......fishing. Just, simple fishing. That melds perfectly to Sonic like peanut butter and jelly XD! It such a bizarre mix but I could see why Sonic Team put this style into the game.

BigCat.jpeg


This was added into game, likely to push the water effects the Dreamcast could produce (that is the reason why Chaos is a water god; water looked great on the Dreamcast so Sonic Team tried using it as much as they could). And in many respects, Sonic Adventure was also a tech demo for what the system could do; Fast Gamplay (Sonic/Tails), Exploration (Knuckles), Slower Platforming (Amy), Shooting (Gamma) and Fishing (Big).

twinklepark_shot4.jpg


Big having fishing is less of a shocker when taking that into consideration.

The goal for Big's four stages is to find Froggy and the only way you can do this is to fish for him. This is dumb, considering you could just grab the frog if you dive into the water, but I digress :l.

Anyway, fishing works like, well Sega Bass Fishing. You more or less got a smaller version of that game inside Sonic Adventure through Big's gameplay.

You can catch different kinds of fish to get points and it is a nice diversion from the main stages......but you need to beat his story to unlock the final story (an element that is very common in many Dreamcast Era 3D Sonic's). So, if you hate this gameplay, you have no choice but to play this.

Big's story can be completed in under an hour (he only has four stages) and his story has some odd charm to it. Big is just some dumb, big cat that lost his pet frog. He winds up in this big conflict Sonic and Friends are involved in thanks to Froggy eating a Chaos Emerald and having some of Chaos in his tail.

The most amazing thing? John St. John voices Big the Cat. Yes, Duke Nukem himself voices the dumb cat XD!

Almost as surreal as Silver the Hedgehog being voiced by Ridden from Metal Gear Solid (and this makes Metal Gear Rising even better to me personally XD!). But point still stands.

Big is a fun diversion to the main adventure but it has no real reason to be part of the game. He does pop up in future games though, like chilling out in Green Forest while the Island is about to blow up, fishing like champ.

Big_the_Cat_(Green_Forest).jpg


He is just a dumb, fun character XD.
 

SNURB

Member
1448754895985.jpg

The lip-sync and animation were AWFUL. The Crash Bandicoot games on PS1 were better in presentation and that was a generation prior.

The game as a whole, is pretty lame.
 

RK128

Member
The final chapter to this Sonic Adventure thread is me covering the story, some details I glossed over for Tails/Knuckles, and stating my overall thoughts on the game :).

Story:
The plot tells the story of Chaos and an Tikal, as both are connected. The former is a protector of a species called the Chao while Tikal was one of the guardians of the Master Emerald. Things took a turn for the worst and the entire Echinda tribe attacked Chaos out of fear of his power. This lead to the Chaos around the Angel Island to be struck down, with him fight back. Before Chaos could harm more people, Tikal sealed herself and Chaos inside the Master Emerald.

Fast forward post Sonic 3&K and we are in place called Station Square, with Eggman researching about the Master Emerald. He learns about Chaos so he shatters it into pieces, unleashing Chaos and feeding it Chaos Emeralds for it to become stronger.

This leads to the following:
-Sonic and Tails on the hunt for the Emeralds
-Knuckles trying to repair the Master Emerald while also learning a bit about his backstory
-Amy Rose goes on an adventure to protect a little Flicky while also growing away from her 'Obsessed over Sonic' thing (though it comes back in latter games :l)

Big and Gamma's stories are somewhat related but they really are their own self-contained thing.

I like this story as while its 'serious', its still a Classic Sonic game at heart. Sonic and friends going on an adventure to stop Robotnik from taking over the world; that is the case here too but with spoken dialog that......is dated to say the least but it has a so-bad-its-great charm to it. Sonic's voice here is a great example of that, he sounds like he is trying so hard to be cool, that its really funny.

Overall, the story is good enough and the final battle really is a highlight to the story. Sonic takes drained Chaos Emeralds and still turns Super Sonic with this amazing theme blasting into the background.

Extra Stuff:
You have quite a bit with Sonic Adventure and depending on the version, they added a ton of content.
-Chao Guardian: Nice pet simulator thing that gets better in SA2.
-Racing: A little track in Twinkle Park that every character can play. Its fun enough and it has a great remix of It Doesn't Matter.
-Mini Games (GC Version): As you collect Emblems, you can unlock Game Gear games to play on your GameCube. If you collect all of them, you can play up to 19 Game Gear games. Talk about a great deal XD! And if you looked through my Sonic & Tails, Sonic 1 & 2 GG, Tails Adventures, and Sonic Drift Threads, they are really decent games :).
-Mission Mode (GC and HD Versions): You have a little mission mode that gives you some extra goals to complete within the hub worlds and actions stages.
-Metal Sonic (GC and HD Versions): When you unlock all the Emblems, you can play as Metal Sonic! He is a clone of Sonic and is more or less a skin for Sonic. Still nice though :).

Thoughts on Other Playable Characters:
I am mainly going to talk about Knuckles here, as his gameplay comes back in Sonic Adventure 2. I like his gameplay in both games but one element makes me enjoy them in Adventure but loath them in Adventure 2; the Emerald Radar. In Adventure, it picks up all three pieces at once, while Adventure 2 picks up one at a time. Makes hunting for them in Adventure 2 a complete pain despite Knuckles handling better in Adventure 2.

Overall, like Knuckles Stages in Adventure and they were a nice difference between Sonic/Tails stages.

Final Thoughts:
Adventure is a game I have a lot of respect for. Sonic Team did a lot to make this a great Sonic. They traveled across the world for ideas, they spent time making this instead of rushing this (at least in NA/EU) and when they brought Sonic into 3D it still felt like 'Sonic'.

He rolls, he jumps, he spin dashes and he has momentum; it felt like Classic Sonic in 3D. Ironically, the first time was the closest we got to a 3D Classic Sonic game.

Adventure 2 is more of a prototype to Unleashed/Generations Modern Gameplay in many respects (extra paths not for exploration but for speed-runs) while Heroes tries to go back to the Genesis Era with stage design but doesn't have the control Adventure has despite having the great level design.

I like this game a lot for what it represents for Sonic; the blue hedgehog jumping into 3D for the first time in a mainline platformer. And it was done well in my opinion.

Now, I would be moving on to Sonic Adventure 2 logically......but I already covered that XD!

So, what is the next game on the list? Sonic isn't the only series I'm covering in this Retrospective ;). Sonic Team isn't just the team that makes Sonic, they make a lot of new IP.

Going to be bouncing between Sonic and Sonic Team IP for the remainder for the Dreamcast Era, so before having a fun Neo Geo Pocket Adventure, we are going to dream. Dream of a Night flying in the sky :).

nights-nightopia-8090826-454-600.jpg
 

RK128

Member
Update: Updated the OP so that it contains every 'major' post I made here. Hope this helps for anyone who doesn't want to dig through all the posts here :).
 
Nostalgia plays a grand factor when it comes to SA1. For me, this game was a revolutionized video game back when I moved to the United States from Mexico. Seeing the demo on display at Toys R Us will always be embedded onto my inner child's mind.

The Sonic part of the game is the only one I enjoy 100%. From the fun Emerald Coast, to the casino playing NIGHTS pinball for literally hours, it is still just so much fun for me even at this age of my mid 20s. All the other characters are just an additional part that weren't neither necessary or humongous fun in my opinion.

The music. My God. Everything about the music is just fantastic. All the stages had a lovable side to them, even the "Butt Rock", the lyrical music, was endearing and can give anyone a melancholic or joyful feel.

I wish I could express more my love for this one game, a more analytical view from my perspective, but all I could say is that is it one of my favorite games of all time, even when only playing the Sonic story and avoiding the rest.

Now when it comes to the other 3D Sonic games, I've tried to enjoy, but the experience was not the same. Though SA2 was gradually a more well thought game, with a better story and pacing, the stages and music were not there for me, with the exceptions of a few Sonic stages and of course all of Knuckles stages. As a dream, I'd like for the Sonic Team to see what made the Sonic Adventure games memorable, and try to mimic them with better results, as well as mimic the memorable music (including Crush 40).
That is what I think about Sonic Adventure 1 in a small nutshell.
 

RK128

Member
Nostalgia plays a grand factor when it comes to SA1. For me, this game was a revolutionized video game back when I moved to the United States from Mexico. Seeing the demo on display at Toys R Us will always be embedded onto my inner child's mind.

The Sonic part of the game is the only one I enjoy 100%. From the fun Emerald Coast, to the casino playing NIGHTS pinball for literally hours, it is still just so much fun for me even at this age of my mid 20s. All the other characters are just an additional part that weren't neither necessary or humongous fun in my opinion.

The music. My God. Everything about the music is just fantastic. All the stages had a lovable side to them, even the "Butt Rock", the lyrical music, was endearing and can give anyone a melancholic or joyful feel.

I wish I could express more my love for this one game, a more analytical view from my perspective, but all I could say is that is it one of my favorite games of all time, even when only playing the Sonic story and avoiding the rest.

Now when it comes to the other 3D Sonic games, I've tried to enjoy, but the experience was not the same. Though SA2 was gradually a more well thought game, with a better story and pacing, the stages and music were not there for me, with the exceptions of a few Sonic stages and of course all of Knuckles stages. As a dream, I'd like for the Sonic Team to see what made the Sonic Adventure games memorable, and try to mimic them with better results, as well as mimic the memorable music (including Crush 40).
That is what I think about Sonic Adventure 1 in a small nutshell.

Sonic's portion of Adventure is hands down the strongest (with Tails, Gamma, Knuckles and Amy being enjoyable at different levels).

I liked Adventure 2 a lot myself (it was my childhood on many levels XD) but I had issues with the game sadly. Overall, both games are good but each has issues.

I fear if they go back to the Adventure setting, they would pad the game out with extra characters that play differently (vs. what Tails and in some cases, Gamma did in Adventure where they move fast but access different paths at points).
 

z1ggy

Member
When i bought a DC and this game i was so hyped...then i started to play it and gameplay wise it was fucking terrible. I don´t really understand why people might like this game...music was good tho.
 

RK128

Member
When i bought a DC and this game i was so hyped...then i started to play it and gameplay wise it was fucking terrible. I don´t really understand why people might like this game...music was good tho.

What did you not like about it?

I can understand if you didn't like Adventure if the bugs got in the way or if the control didn't click with you. I explained my thoughts on the game clear enough (I think.....), so I hope why I enjoy this game comes across to you via OP :).
 

z1ggy

Member
What did you not like about it?

The camera, the level design...it was too fast and uncontrollable sometimes, bugs, etc.

"Classic" Sonic games had (almost) a Nintendo quality design...then something was lost when they went 3D.

It's ok if you like the game, back in the day first stage was impressive but...i don´t know, Mario 64 came out years before and was a (way) better game, we got Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2 around the same time...quality was lacking on this game imo.
 

RK128

Member
The camera, the level design...it was too fast and uncontrollable sometimes, bugs, etc.

"Classic" Sonic games had (almost) a Nintendo quality design...then something was lost when they went 3D.

It's ok if you like the game, back in the day first stage was impressive but...i don´t know, Mario 64 came out years before and was a (way) better game, we got Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2 around the same time...quality was lacking on this game imo.

I will agree Adventure lacked polish in areas but I give the game a pass due to the game being Sonic's first big 3D adventure in the platforming genre. For a game that juggles six different characters, it really could of been a lot worse. But Sonic Team did good translating the core 2D gameplay into 3D, at least I feel like they did.

The camera is an issue and it could of been a lot better.

The level design is something I disagree with you on.....mostly. Some stages like Sky Deck has really bad design at points X(. But most of Sonic's levels have a lot of paths and it is fun exploring.

I appreciate that you shared your thoughts instead of just saying 'it sucks'. You're cool man :).
 

Sami+

Member
Sonic Adventure is undeniably rough, but after playing through it again with my niece last year and then again recently last Christmas, I can't say it doesn't have a place in my heart lol. It just makes me feel some kind of way, and I enjoy it a lot more than Generations or any other game that isn't Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's not a masterpiece, but it remains a great template for the future and stands as one of the most purely ambitious games in the series by far.
 

RK128

Member
Sonic Adventure is undeniably rough, but after playing through it again with my niece last year and then again recently last Christmas, I can't say it doesn't have a place in my heart lol. It just makes me feel some kind of way, and I enjoy it a lot more than Generations or any other game that isn't Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's not a masterpiece, but it remains a great template for the future and stands as one of the most purely ambitious games in the series by far.

I agree with you; the game tires very hard to do a lot at once. I'm being honest when I say it could of been a LOT worse doing everything at once but overall, its a solid adventure despite its age souring some elements (story, character animations, ect).

Placing it in my 10-Sonic Games.....it would fall somewhere in the middle honestly :).
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
We have three hubs (Station Square, Mystic Ruins and Egg Carrier) with each one being quite massive but at the same time, easy to navigate.

citation needed
 

Sami+

Member
I agree with you; the game tires very hard to do a lot at once. I'm being honest when I say it could of been a LOT worse doing everything at once but overall, its a solid adventure despite its age souring some elements (story, character animations, ect).

Placing it in my 10-Sonic Games.....it would fall somewhere in the middle honestly :).

I want to make an in depth analysis video that does it justice at some point. It really deserves it- Sonic Adventure just doesn't get enough love anymore, and when it does it's often overshadowed by SA2. Maybe have a focus on comparing and contrasting design choices made with SA1 that I personally enjoy and want to see return relative to SA2 and Generations.

The hub worlds are the biggest thing, but I enjoyed SA1 taking cues from S3&K in basing its story on the mythos and history of Sonic's world as opposed to focusing on a single character (Shadow in SA2) or nothing at all (Generations). Substantial optional content in the Chao Gardens and the introduction of missions were nice, I liked the level design in general, as well as how they approached the multiple playable characters, and the music was fantastic. I really think it's a natural evolution of the direction Sonic 3 was taking the series.

There's just so much that SA1 does right, but those great things are sadly held back by some tech limitations and/or weird design choices that make people overlook the good for the bad. Which is understandable, but I still think future games should aim to follow the spirit of what Sonic Adventure tried to be than anything else. Even great games like Sonic 2 and CD just aren't able to instill feelings as strong as the ones I have for Sonic Adventure and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
 

RK128

Member
I want to make an in depth analysis video that does it justice at some point. It really deserves it- Sonic Adventure just doesn't get enough love anymore, and when it does it's often overshadowed by SA2. Maybe have a focus on comparing and contrasting design choices made with SA1 that I personally enjoy and want to see return relative to SA2 and Generations.

The hub worlds are the biggest thing, but I enjoyed SA1 taking cues from S3&K in basing its story on the mythos and history of Sonic's world as opposed to focusing on a single character (Shadow in SA2) or nothing at all (Generations). Substantial optional content in the Chao Gardens and the introduction of missions were nice, I liked the level design in general, as well as how they approached the multiple playable characters, and the music was fantastic. I really think it's a natural evolution of the direction Sonic 3 was taking the series.

There's just so much that SA1 does right, but those great things are sadly held back by some tech limitations and/or weird design choices that make people overlook the good for the bad. Which is understandable, but I still think future games should aim to follow the spirit of what Sonic Adventure tried to be than anything else. Even great games like Sonic 2 and CD just aren't able to instill feelings as strong as the ones I have for Sonic Adventure and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Completely agree with you, and in many ways, it was Sonic Team's first return to the series in a long time.

Many forget that they move on to a number of new IP while Sonic was shifting hands to a number of different developers from 1992-1997. So them coming back to make a brand new Sonic was not only major, it had to be a learning curve for the studio.

I like how they did the other characters and while Big is the one I have the most problems with, everyone else was what I expected them to be. Had Sonic-like levels but focused on different elements.

Gamma, Knuckles and Amy were even better as they tried new mechanics (shooting, exploring, slow platforming) that were not in the Classic series, so it was refreshing to play as them after Sonic & Tails' adventures.
 
I played it when it first came out and I was 12 and it was as mind blowing as Mario 64 was. While I don't think a new gamer could really get into it as much as I did nowadays, I really miss the Sega that birthed it.

The company was willing to not only go back to the drawing board after some aborted attempts at doing Sonic on the sega saturn, but they did so in a way that celebrated not only Sonic, but his global audience. The graffiti inspired redesigns, the genre-spanning soundtrack. A masterstroke from a Sega that wasn't afraid to be bold and take risks. The complete opposite of the company that it is today.

I still play SA every couple of years, waiting for the Xbox version to hit Xbone backwards compatibility.
 

Fumpster

Member
It was still a huge mistake putting "Open Your Heart" as the first song during the final boss instead of the second. Completely ruins that moment for me.

I loved Sonic Adventure as a kid, and I still think it's pretty fun. I wouldn't champion it, but it's really neat as a tech demo and an ambitious undertaking.
 

Boogiepop

Member
I have to say that the secret disappointment for me in my last replay: Perfect Chaos (though this applies to pretty much all the bosses in the game) goes down waaaaaaaaay to quickly and easily. Like, I like the thing conceptually and it's good that it's a Super Sonic fight NOT set in space, but it's just three quick hits and three more, almost over before it begins, and you don't even get to really appreciate Open Your Heart. Still better way better than the Heroes finale fot example, though, which couldn't even let you appreciate the butt rock as you had to keep using the super move and interrupting it...
 

RK128

Member
I have to say that the secret disappointment for me in my last replay: Perfect Chaos (though this applies to pretty much all the bosses in the game) goes down waaaaaaaaay to quickly and easily. Like, I like the thing conceptually and it's good that it's a Super Sonic fight NOT set in space, but it's just three quick hits and three more, almost over before it begins, and you don't even get to really appreciate Open Your Heart. Still better way better than the Heroes finale fot example, though, which couldn't even let you appreciate the butt rock as you had to keep using the super move and interrupting it...

Generations fixes this somewhat with the first phase of the fight having more rounds before progressing to the final part; you can appreciate the Open Your Heart remix some more then :D.
 

Boogiepop

Member
Generations fixes this somewhat with the first phase of the fight having more rounds before progressing to the final part; you can appreciate the Open Your Heart remix some more then :D.
Yeah, that was one of the fights that Generations did a great job with, which may be part of the reason I find the original so unimpressive nowadays.
 
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