I wanted to make a review Sonic Adventure 2 because I've not expressed myself about it enough. It has been my favorite game of all time for a long while. It inhibits so many parts that I can identify with and appeal in regards to in video games, even if throughout the years where I'm recognizing flaws in the game and in the writing. From the tight and instant gameplay loop, to the charmingly conveyed narrative, it will always have something for me to go back to. The constant tension and creative movement is sublime from any other action game I've played, and the story while having a bad translation and its own set of problems, is still a personal piece that tells a message of purpose and the potential good in humanity. Sonic Adventure 2 is a byproduct of its time; originally released just at the end of the Dreamcast's twilight, at the start of the early 2000's, and just when the 3d platforming genre started to expand. So much has gone past this era of the franchise that I can't help but appreciate SA2 for how it passionately paved the series and placed its mark on the genre. It's an incredibly tight game that thrives off its edgy appeal.
The gameplay keeps you at the heart of the action at every single turn; level hazards, enemy patterns, higher paths, maneuvering rails and multiple pathways all play into the ranking system. It rewards players that mastered their movement and combat options and make sharp turns according to the level layout, and this in turn lets them get the best out of a level. It's like an arcade game, and you could say this replaces the level direction on Adventure 1's open movement with SA2's linear obstacle course level design, though in my opinion it justifies this in creating scripted set pieces that are engaging enough mechanically and visually. It streamlines intersections of levels that involve action and movement while still having enough of a skill ceiling to create replay value. It's less about translating movement to level design elements like in the classic games, and more about flowing through different segments of level design. It's cathartic. I feel like Sonic games since its wake ignored this and instead chose to hyper focus on the latter to exacerbate this design even more to the point that it's all scripted inputs. Despite all the oddly quirks it has in its movement and gravity, and the level design in some of the later parts, there are no games can draw me in as easily as candidly as SA2 has, and still have a fun time out of it.
Diving into SA2 by the first core idea you get greeted by the box art and the opening cutscene; good and bad, heroes and villains, organic and artificial, nature and industry. This is the main idea it spreads throughout the game in small ways to enhance the whole experience. Like how it uses its absurd gameplay pieces to portray how G.U.N corrupt is, it's kind of farcical that way. The characters have a wide range of vocal themes highlighting their motives or their thoughts in a certain point in the story, contrasting their interests. The U.I blends and interacts with the style of the game perfectly, it has a digital neon aesthetic that represents themes of advanced technology in the game. The character art is angular and has exaggerated proportions. It sings its edge and style the game was going for, it can get corny at some points but the energy can still hit you.
It's hard writing genuine reviews for these games without slowly drifting into being argumentative, because I need to vindicate Sonic games of all things in order to truly ask myself that I loved them like I've always had, due to the new standards and views in the side of discussion. I asked myself to see the other side of the coin many times, because I did share some of the problems when I've started to get conscious about the game in contrast to SA1. Sonic Adventure had loose, floating movement that often was extremely satisfying to take advantage in levels. Sonic Adventure 2 had strict movement that will mostly lean towards one direction and hard to control anywhere else. SA1 had 5 different characters that were easy to digest due to the the short amount of levels they each had and free story progression between them. SA2 had only 2 of them with played out story progression, and with 3 different gameplay types. SA1 had the premise almost summed up in the opening, had a straightforward story that had its plot beats told in each side of the story, and had satisfying development wrapped up by the end of most campaigns. SA2 had a story that to some felt convoluted and had a lot of plot holes. It's very easy to pin point the disconnect here. But then, when I started to play the game beyond its flaws I began to experiment with it. I saw how all these aspects flow and understood the direction it was going for. The Speed stages were becoming less aggravating and I started to appreciate how it used all of its mechanics as the focal point for each level. The Mech stages weren't sluggish and I saw how much potential there was in stacking enemies together, and the annoying room encounters were much more satisfying to approach. The Emerald Hunting stages which were the hardest part for me to sit down and play on my own, began to grow up on me. I started to learn the level layouts and tracked a pattern order where I search each section of the level. Once I did that it became a really fun time to replay over and over to find out niche parts of them that I've never considered. I watched the story through the Japanese translation and it's jarring to see how it enhanced the story with all the baggage of the English script. It had great voice direction, the interactions were more grounded, the story actually hit me emotionally. There is so much more that SA2 has to challenge the player beyond trial and error, and the story is worth delving into beyond its short comings. I mastered this game 3 times over because there is so much that isn't on the surface that keeps me entertained. Seeing all these things elevate placed itself as my favorite game of all time.
The gameplay keeps you at the heart of the action at every single turn; level hazards, enemy patterns, higher paths, maneuvering rails and multiple pathways all play into the ranking system. It rewards players that mastered their movement and combat options and make sharp turns according to the level layout, and this in turn lets them get the best out of a level. It's like an arcade game, and you could say this replaces the level direction on Adventure 1's open movement with SA2's linear obstacle course level design, though in my opinion it justifies this in creating scripted set pieces that are engaging enough mechanically and visually. It streamlines intersections of levels that involve action and movement while still having enough of a skill ceiling to create replay value. It's less about translating movement to level design elements like in the classic games, and more about flowing through different segments of level design. It's cathartic. I feel like Sonic games since its wake ignored this and instead chose to hyper focus on the latter to exacerbate this design even more to the point that it's all scripted inputs. Despite all the oddly quirks it has in its movement and gravity, and the level design in some of the later parts, there are no games can draw me in as easily as candidly as SA2 has, and still have a fun time out of it.
Diving into SA2 by the first core idea you get greeted by the box art and the opening cutscene; good and bad, heroes and villains, organic and artificial, nature and industry. This is the main idea it spreads throughout the game in small ways to enhance the whole experience. Like how it uses its absurd gameplay pieces to portray how G.U.N corrupt is, it's kind of farcical that way. The characters have a wide range of vocal themes highlighting their motives or their thoughts in a certain point in the story, contrasting their interests. The U.I blends and interacts with the style of the game perfectly, it has a digital neon aesthetic that represents themes of advanced technology in the game. The character art is angular and has exaggerated proportions. It sings its edge and style the game was going for, it can get corny at some points but the energy can still hit you.
It's hard writing genuine reviews for these games without slowly drifting into being argumentative, because I need to vindicate Sonic games of all things in order to truly ask myself that I loved them like I've always had, due to the new standards and views in the side of discussion. I asked myself to see the other side of the coin many times, because I did share some of the problems when I've started to get conscious about the game in contrast to SA1. Sonic Adventure had loose, floating movement that often was extremely satisfying to take advantage in levels. Sonic Adventure 2 had strict movement that will mostly lean towards one direction and hard to control anywhere else. SA1 had 5 different characters that were easy to digest due to the the short amount of levels they each had and free story progression between them. SA2 had only 2 of them with played out story progression, and with 3 different gameplay types. SA1 had the premise almost summed up in the opening, had a straightforward story that had its plot beats told in each side of the story, and had satisfying development wrapped up by the end of most campaigns. SA2 had a story that to some felt convoluted and had a lot of plot holes. It's very easy to pin point the disconnect here. But then, when I started to play the game beyond its flaws I began to experiment with it. I saw how all these aspects flow and understood the direction it was going for. The Speed stages were becoming less aggravating and I started to appreciate how it used all of its mechanics as the focal point for each level. The Mech stages weren't sluggish and I saw how much potential there was in stacking enemies together, and the annoying room encounters were much more satisfying to approach. The Emerald Hunting stages which were the hardest part for me to sit down and play on my own, began to grow up on me. I started to learn the level layouts and tracked a pattern order where I search each section of the level. Once I did that it became a really fun time to replay over and over to find out niche parts of them that I've never considered. I watched the story through the Japanese translation and it's jarring to see how it enhanced the story with all the baggage of the English script. It had great voice direction, the interactions were more grounded, the story actually hit me emotionally. There is so much more that SA2 has to challenge the player beyond trial and error, and the story is worth delving into beyond its short comings. I mastered this game 3 times over because there is so much that isn't on the surface that keeps me entertained. Seeing all these things elevate placed itself as my favorite game of all time.