Sonic Adventure is not the best game of all time, but it might be the coolest, and I can't stop smiling when I play it.
Virtually every gripe I have with this game is technical. Every character besides Sonic has terrible camera angles in the Adventure Fields, and I think the developers knew this because by the time you reach Amy's story the game isn't even letting you explore anymore, it's just transporting you directly to wherever you need to be. Character animation in cutscenes is often hilariously exaggerated. Tons of Eggman's lines are reused, as if they had to strategically give him few enough sound bites to fit on the disc, though many conversations that occur in multiple characters' stories use different voice clips in each one, so I doubt this was the actual reason. Collision can be shaky at times, but it isn't anywhere near as bad as it's sometimes made out to be. The general themes and events of the story are great, though it sometimes seems to lack structure: every time I was teleported to the Echidna city I had no idea what I was there for or where to go.
Other than a certain obvious outlier, I honestly think I enjoyed Sonic's story the least out of any of the characters (I did enjoy it though, don't get me wrong). It seems clear to me that his segment of the game was meant more as a showcase. His story is the longest, it has the most levels, and it probably has the most varied content. Nearly every level is throwing in a new gimmick, gameplay styles change so often to the point where I feel like it's hard to find time to appreciate Sonic on his own merits. Pinball, kart racing, snowboarding, rail shooting...
The draw of the gameplay, for me, is that each of the characters (again, there is an obvious exception) is uniquely satisfying to move. Sonic has the homing attack, spin dash, and light speed dash, all enabling him to move as fast as one would expect. Tails can fly upward slightly, followed by a controlled descent, which give his sections a bit of lenience that I think is appropriate for Sonic's first truly 3D outing; I honestly think his levels, with their unique alternate paths, were my favorite part of the game, and I wish his story was longer. Knuckles can glide for long horizontal distance. Amy is slow but attacking while running will fling her into the air. Gamma has a slight hover and rolls around when at top speed.
The outlier, of course, is Big the Cat. Many adventure-themed video games from around this time had a fishing mini-game. These were usually optional distractions built for pure amusement in case the player wanted to take a break from the main game. Sonic Adventure breaks the mold by making its fishing mini-game both devoid of fun, and necessary to reach the end of the narrative. By the time I finished Sonic's story I had 30 lives, I never had a game over with any character until I reached Big's first stage. I had to google how to catch Froggy: you just wait until he bites, then hold down on the analog stick and mash A and B. If you know what you're doing it's a complete waste of time, and if you don't, well, good luck.
Everything about the game's presentation is just endearing. The soundtrack, whether its just background music or the character songs, is pretty much perfect. The visuals, while sometimes rough around the edges, are just as often stunning, especially for the time (note: I played with the better SADX mod, using Dreamcast graphics for pretty much everything besides the water textures). The intro FMV is still straight up pretty much the most hype shit of all time.
Most of the character's stories are pretty good, though again it is lacking structure. Sonic's story, as far as the plot is concerned, is kind of a mess, genuinely falling apart in the second half; if you aren't already aware of the events of the other characters' arcs, it feels really random. Tails and Amy have nice stories that are largely self-contained, while Knuckles' story largely serves to develop the setting and mechanics of the world. E 102-Gamma's story is probably the most interesting thing Sega has ever done with the basic concepts of the original Sonic games. Big's story is pretty much pointless.
Sonic Adventure is kind of a situation of high highs, and low lows. It goes back and forth constantly between being a really engaging platformer with unparalleled vibes, and a bizarre mini-game collection barely held together with duct tape.
Virtually every gripe I have with this game is technical. Every character besides Sonic has terrible camera angles in the Adventure Fields, and I think the developers knew this because by the time you reach Amy's story the game isn't even letting you explore anymore, it's just transporting you directly to wherever you need to be. Character animation in cutscenes is often hilariously exaggerated. Tons of Eggman's lines are reused, as if they had to strategically give him few enough sound bites to fit on the disc, though many conversations that occur in multiple characters' stories use different voice clips in each one, so I doubt this was the actual reason. Collision can be shaky at times, but it isn't anywhere near as bad as it's sometimes made out to be. The general themes and events of the story are great, though it sometimes seems to lack structure: every time I was teleported to the Echidna city I had no idea what I was there for or where to go.
Other than a certain obvious outlier, I honestly think I enjoyed Sonic's story the least out of any of the characters (I did enjoy it though, don't get me wrong). It seems clear to me that his segment of the game was meant more as a showcase. His story is the longest, it has the most levels, and it probably has the most varied content. Nearly every level is throwing in a new gimmick, gameplay styles change so often to the point where I feel like it's hard to find time to appreciate Sonic on his own merits. Pinball, kart racing, snowboarding, rail shooting...
The draw of the gameplay, for me, is that each of the characters (again, there is an obvious exception) is uniquely satisfying to move. Sonic has the homing attack, spin dash, and light speed dash, all enabling him to move as fast as one would expect. Tails can fly upward slightly, followed by a controlled descent, which give his sections a bit of lenience that I think is appropriate for Sonic's first truly 3D outing; I honestly think his levels, with their unique alternate paths, were my favorite part of the game, and I wish his story was longer. Knuckles can glide for long horizontal distance. Amy is slow but attacking while running will fling her into the air. Gamma has a slight hover and rolls around when at top speed.
The outlier, of course, is Big the Cat. Many adventure-themed video games from around this time had a fishing mini-game. These were usually optional distractions built for pure amusement in case the player wanted to take a break from the main game. Sonic Adventure breaks the mold by making its fishing mini-game both devoid of fun, and necessary to reach the end of the narrative. By the time I finished Sonic's story I had 30 lives, I never had a game over with any character until I reached Big's first stage. I had to google how to catch Froggy: you just wait until he bites, then hold down on the analog stick and mash A and B. If you know what you're doing it's a complete waste of time, and if you don't, well, good luck.
Everything about the game's presentation is just endearing. The soundtrack, whether its just background music or the character songs, is pretty much perfect. The visuals, while sometimes rough around the edges, are just as often stunning, especially for the time (note: I played with the better SADX mod, using Dreamcast graphics for pretty much everything besides the water textures). The intro FMV is still straight up pretty much the most hype shit of all time.
Most of the character's stories are pretty good, though again it is lacking structure. Sonic's story, as far as the plot is concerned, is kind of a mess, genuinely falling apart in the second half; if you aren't already aware of the events of the other characters' arcs, it feels really random. Tails and Amy have nice stories that are largely self-contained, while Knuckles' story largely serves to develop the setting and mechanics of the world. E 102-Gamma's story is probably the most interesting thing Sega has ever done with the basic concepts of the original Sonic games. Big's story is pretty much pointless.
Sonic Adventure is kind of a situation of high highs, and low lows. It goes back and forth constantly between being a really engaging platformer with unparalleled vibes, and a bizarre mini-game collection barely held together with duct tape.