"GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAD OF THIS!" - Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, 1998.

Rough transition into 3D my ass. For the blue blur's first step into the Dreamcast era, it was done spectacularly well. And while it isn't perfect nor has it aged well in some aspects, it damn well had some fucking heart! There is so much lore expansion from the genesis games that it is incredible! The adventure formula as some call it has a lot of potential to be explored further if they choose to do so. And the game has a lot of banger tracks to listen to. While it is far from the magnum opus that most people claim it as, nor is it some rushed mess, but it absolutely moved the series forward in so many ways. I still sometimes tear up from the ending of Gamma's storyline.

Note: To those on the Steam port wanting a more customizable experience, I highly recommend using the SADX Mod Installer. It will let you customize the game, even letting you change things back to the original Dreamcast version if it fits your fancy.

(!)Played on Steam via the SADX Mod Manager. This included making the game widescreen, Dreamcast conversion, etc

Sonic's first traditional outing in a 3D setting (not counting Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R) is still pretty good even to this day! This game still has, for better or worse, something that modern 3D Sonic games don't and that being multiple characters. Most Sonic games nowadays just have you play as the titular hedgehog, but you have 5 whole other options here and each character has their own moveset and campaign to go through after (or during) Sonic's story

Speaking of, the plot SA is the pretty standard formula of Eggman is trying to harness an evil power so Sonic has to stop him, but what makes it unique from other games is how the story is told. Characters keep popping in and out of Sonic's story, but you never really get the full scope of the story until you've played through all 6 characters. You can find a pretty nifty visualization here (spoilers ofc)

That being said, its definitely not flawless. While everyone's stories overall I would say are pretty different, there are sometimes where they overlap a little too much for my liking. Meaning that if you want to get the full story, you need to fight the same boss 3 or so times with different characters and that's a little boring ngl. Not every story is made equal too, while Sonic and Knuckles' stories are perfectly fine, E-102 Gamma and Big's are severely lacking in any actual involvement in the overall narrative. I understand that Big's (really awful gameplay-wise btw) story is mainly a shitpost, Gamma not really being a part of anything was a little unfortunate

Anyway, story aside now. Gameplay wise, I would say that this game as a hit overall. I've only ever played the boost games so I was worried about how controlling Sonic would feel super awful and slippery, but I was pleasantly surprised! You can actually make slight adjustments to your movements now without Sonic slipping and sliding all over the place. Granted, some gameplay gimmicks are a little annoying. Apart from Big's whole story which has been shat on since 1998, a couple level specific gimmicks are pretty bad too. The ice stalagmites in Ice Cap Zone, the tilting mechanic in Egg Carrier, both flying stages, etc. These all take away from the gameplay a fair bit imo

One thing that later games do improve on that I think was kinda bad here is the homing attack. Sonic's homing attack is the definition of okay. Later games add a reticle and thank goodness they do, because 8/10 times the homing attack is responsive, but the other 2 times you will end up losing a life because Sonic went where you didn't want him to go and that's frustrating. That combined with this game's worst aspect: the camera

Now, I admit that this might be because of the mods I had installed, but the camera in this game is fucking awful at times. There is a certain part in Amy's story where I lost 4 lives because the camera was in a fixed position incredibly far away from her and I just end up walking off the platform. Ofc, this is not to mention the several other times throughout my playthrough where the camera just got stuck or clipped into walls completely obstructing my view of anything which definitely pissed me off for a bit

But if there was one thing I had to highlight in this review specifically, is the goddamn Egg Viper boss fight. Happens near the end of Sonic's story and this is probably the worst and most unfair boss fight I've played in awhile. What's crazy is that the boss isn't even that hard, its just that 80% of the time your homing attacks don't fucking work. I have GRAZED Doctor Eggman's eyeballs several times throughout that fight because of how close I was to him, but still never did any damage because the game registered that homing attack as a miss. Screw the Egg Viper seriously

That being said, I would still say that this is a good Sonic game. Definitely not timeless, its a little aged in a couple areas here and there, but overall still a fun experience. Likely would not go back to it all too much tho

I need to preface this review by mentioning that I have played the steam release with the BetterSADX modpack which greatly influenced my perception of this particular version. If the review was to only discuss the paricular version of the game, I'd rate it at most a 5/10

So, Sonic Adventure DX.
An infamous remaster of 1998's Sonic Adventure. The steam release, is possibly one of the worst video game ports of all time. Glitchy beyond belief, with graphical errors you'd never think you'd see on an actual commercial product. It is however easily the most accesible version of the game, and with a few mods it can look and play pretty much on par with the Dreamcast original.
I decided that I finally wanted to do everything this game had to offer, after a long time of being a Sonic fan who always loved what SA brought to the table.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Sonic Adventure fan who played it multiple times, it's just that I have previously, as a 11(?) year old played through a pirated copy of SADX. Though I don't remember much of that, apart from getting a few viruses and being stuck listening to the Windy Valley song, as it was the only one in the cracked copy, apart from Open Your Heart.
That is to say, I did have a slight bit of experience with the controls and physics of the title. Though arguably it only influenced my latter, B and A grade runs of stages.
Going through all the stories again was a great experience. People like to rag on the seriousness of Sonic stories but if you menage to find joy in your heart, I believe you can really enjoy what Sonic Team was able to do with limited 1998 tech. The cutscenes geniuenly look really impressive for the time, and the slightly more serious and continuous way of telling the story is something I really appreciate. It's kinda really sick that all 6 storylines connect and complement each other too.
The part I've been paying extra attention to during this playthrough, was definately the RPG heritage of Sonic Adventure. It's remarkable how the progression of SA's adventure field feels very much so like an old school RPG, complete with talking to town npc's and solving puzzles to enter "dungeons". Fun stuff.
The stages, are overall designed with big setpieces and insane skips of oftentimes huge chunks of the level. At least in the Sonic and Tails stages.
Yeah, the game includes a whopping 6 playstyles, assigned to 6 different characters. There's the previously mentioned Sonic and Tails, with speed platforming based stages. Knuckles, with his emerald hunting, which requires the player to explore and internally map out the stage. Amy, who's limited movement speed makes you struggle against a chasing, invincible opponent. E-102 Gamma, focusing on combat, and lining up enemy combos for time extentions. And of course, the infamous Big The Cat, who asks you to slow down and enjoy a bit of fishing. Each character feels unique, in what they can do and what they're tasked, which makes playing trhough each campaign a fun experience, even with 1:1 level reuse. Variety is the name of the game and every stage is full of unique gimmicks and setpieces. It's important to say that none of those provide a particular challenge though. There's a lot of extra lifes, the level design is merciful, and you slightly magnetize to platforms when jumping. The main campaign only requires the player to interact with each character on a surface level - the C grade of stages. All the characters come into their own during the A grades though. It makes you rethink the ways you traverse the stages and find the most optimal routes, using every tool in the character's arsenal. At that point, you need to interact with everything they put down on the table, and it's extremely satisfying to meet the often strict requirements. These are quite challenging at times, and I personally really like it. They're challenges for the player who already beat the stage and came back for more. And that's way better than inherently difficult level design.
The big thing I didn't even mention as of now is the Chao Garden.
In between stages, you can visit your little dudes, and raise them to become great racers. It's an aspect of the Adventure games I've never really interacted with apart from slight glances. Going for a 100% this time though, I had to play the Chao Garden a good bit; and frankly, I'm a bit scared of the abyss now. It's insane how in depth this sidemode is, with a lot of stats and micromanagement and stuff, that I'd never want to get into. I just needed to get enough stats to get the required emblems and bounce. It's extrememly cool that this stuff is in this already big game as just a sidemode, but I don't particuralrly want to engage with it, especially since it boils down to a lot of grinding for stat animals and rings.
There's a bit of content that the DX version adds, namely playable Metal Sonic as a reward for getting all emblems and a set of missions.
Metal Sonic is kinda cool I guess, even if just a reskin of sonic for the Trial mode. Playing through the stages with him feels kinda like a victory lap.
The mission mode however can go to hell. It's 60 quests hidden throughout the Adventure Field. The thing is, the missions vary wildly in difficulty and some of them are downright frustrating. Easily the worst part of the game.
What else... Right, the music is fantastic. Geniuenly don't think there's a single stinker on the soundtrack. The visuals also look incredible, especially for a game that's turning 26 this year (at least with the BetterSADX modpack, SADX looks putrid).

Well, ultimately I'm really happy to finaly have 100%ed this title. I heavily appreciate what it presents artistically and had a lot of fun playing it.