Yeah wow this is a big step up.

This may as well be another entry into the main series Genesis games for everything it adds. It has some kickass new zone concepts, some great execution of series staple zone concepts, and introduces two new characters in the kidnapped Vanilla and her daughter Cream.

I also love the running bosses! Running bosses make so much sense considering all of our abilities etc. And I love that there's a boss rush towards the end! And OH MY GOSH the soundtrack. Seriously, guys! This game is SO good and SO fun!!

Basically the only thing I don't love is the way you get to the Special Stages in these. Tracking down all those special rings is just anti-fun. At least the special stages themselves are way better than Advance 1's.

Basically the only thing keeping this from being on the same tier as Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 (& Knuckles) is that the final boss could be more overwhelmingly good. But honestly? It feels nitpicky even saying that. This game is SO good! And one of the biggest reasons it's pretty dang annoying that people usually skip the handheld games when they're ranking Sonic games.

Speaking of ranking, let's rank some stuff! The Special Stage soundtrack isn't ranked because it’s the same as in Sonic Advance 1.

Zones
Techno Base Zone (A-Rank)
XX Zone (A-Rank)
Hot Crater Zone (A-Rank)
Leaf Forest Zone (A-Rank)
True Area 53 Zone (B-Rank)
Egg Utopia Zone (B-Rank)
Music Plant Zone (B-Rank)
Sky Canyon Zone (B-Rank)
Ice Paradise Zone (B-Rank)

Bosses
Egg Totem (A-Rank)
Egg-Go-Round (A-Rank)
Egg Frog (A-Rank)
True Area 53 (A-Rank)
Super Eggrobo Z (A-Rank)
Egg Hammer Tank II (A-Rank)
Aero Egg (A-Rank)
Egg Bomber Tank (A-Rank)
Egg Saucer (B-Rank)

Soundtrack
Hot Crater Zone Act 1 (S-Rank)
Sky Canyon Zone Act 2 (S-Rank)
Egg Utopia Zone Act 1 (S-Rank)
XX Zone (S-Rank)
Egg Frog (Egg Utopia Boss) (S-Rank)
True Area 53 Zone (S-Rank)
Boss (S-Rank)
Egg Utopia Zone Act 2 (A-Rank)
Sky Canyon Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Super Eggrobo Z (XX Boss) (A-Rank)
Leaf Forest Zone Act 2 (A-Rank)
Leaf Forest Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Music Plant Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Techno Base Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Hot Crater Zone Act 2 (B-Rank)
Staff Roll (B-Rank)
Music Plant Zone Act 2 (B-Rank)
Ice Paradise Zone Act 1 (B-Rank)
Versus Mode 1 (B-Rank)
Versus Mode 2 (B-Rank)
Techno Base Act 2 (C-Rank)
Versus Mode 3 (C-Ran)
Ice Paradise Zone Act 2 (C-Rank)

I remember this series totally ruling, but I want to say it gets drastically better in Advance 2? Because this one is actually pretty pedestrian. Like, it’s not BAD. It’s a classic-style Sonic platformer and you get to play as four different characters. The level design is pretty comparable to the Genesis era, though not the Genesis era at its best necessarily. But yeah. Mostly this just ain’t half bad.

I do like that you have to play through as all four of us (me, Sonic, Knux, and Ames), and that we all play way differently. Playing with Amy is ANNOYING, playing with me is joyous and freeing and kinda breaks the game, etc.

The zones are all pretty simple, and not really much of a strength. (This is something I remember improving in Advance 2, so hopefully my memory is correct there.) Like, there’s nothing wrong with them, but they just don’t add much. They’re just fine.

I know it sounds like I’m really down on this game, but I’m not! I think it’s a worthy successor to the classic 2D games, but that means I’m comparing it to them. And that’s a really high standard to be judged by. That’s all. This game honestly rules, even if I don’t have as much to say about it as I do about the Genesis games I grew up with.

Speaking of judging, let’s rank some stuff! Not ranking The Moon Zone under zones because it’s just a boss fight.

Zones
1. X-Zone (B-Rank)
2. Cosmic Angel Zone (B-Rank)
3. Egg Rocket Zone (B-Rank)
4. Angel Island Zone (B-Rank)
5. Ice Mountain Zone (B-Rank)
6. Neo Green Hill Zone (B-Rank)
7. Secret Base Zone (C-Rank)
8. Casino Paradise Zone (C-Rank)

Bosses
1. Egg Mobile-H (A-Rank)
2. Egg Mobile-D (A-Rank)
3. Mecha Knuckles (A-Rank)
4. The Moon Zone (B-Rank)
5. EGG X (B-Rank)
6. Egg Hammer Tank (B-Rank)
7. Egg Snake (B-Rank)
8. Egg Spider (B-Rank)
9. Egg Ball (B-Rank)
Egg Press (B-Rank)

Soundtrack
1. X-Zone Boss 2 (S-Rank)
2. X-Zone Boss 1 (S-Rank)
3. X-Zone Boss 3 (A-Rank)
4. Boss 6 (A-Rank)
5. Mecha Knuckles Part 2 (A-Rank)
6. X-Zone (A-Rank)
7. Mecha Knuckles Part 1 (A-Rank)
8. Cosmic Angel Zone (B-Rank)
9. The Moon Zone (B-Rank)
10. Egg Rocket Zone (B-Rank)
11. Boss 1-4 (B-Rank)
12. Angel Island Zone Act 1 (B-Rank)
13. Ice Mountain Zone Act 2 (B-Rank)
14. Secret Base Zone Act 2 (B-Rank)
15. Ice Mountain Zone Act 1 (B-Rank)
16. Neo Green Hill Zone Act 2 (C-Rank)
17. Credits (C-Rank)
18. Special Stage (C-Rank)
19. Angel Island Zone Act 2 (C-Rank)
20. Secret Base Zone Act 1 (C-Rank)
21. Neo Green Hill Zone Act 1 (C-Rank)
22. Casino Paradise Zone Act 1 (C-Rank)
23. Casino Paradise Zone Act 2 (C-Rank)

This used to be my favorite game.

Yeah, I knew Sonic 3 & Knuckles was better, but this was new and in 3D! And it had Shadow in it!! I had such an embarrassing crush on him. (I now have a much less embarrassing crush on him.)

One trope I have always loved is a hero having to fight an "evil" version of themself. So Shads was my favorite villain (even though he isn't a villain for long), the Green Ranger was my favorite Power Rangers villain, I ate up Batman vs new Batman, Dark Link was my favorite baddie in Zelda, Venom was my favorite Spider-Man villain, I liked the idea of Wario as a baddie in Mario (though in retrospect WOW Bowser is better), etc etc ad nauseum. So this game is kinda entirely built around that idea, with Sonic vs Shadow, Knuckles vs Rouge, and me vs … sigh Eggman. So yeah, as a kid I was all about that.

Now… yeah, this still totally rules! Don't get me wrong. But I can already tell that Sonic Adventure 1 is my preference.

First of all, Sonic Adventure 1 just feels like Home, and you can't really beat that. It just really Gets It, at least for me. On top of that, I really like its structure! Having separate, coherent stories for all the major characters really makes it feel like a true ensemble piece where everyone gets to shine. While weaving their stories in and out of each other’s like Sonic Adventure 2 does does certainly make the story less confusing, it also makes each individual feel less important.

Worst of all, I really don’t like my parts in the game! They decided that me and Eggman are counterparts, so all my gameplay has me stuck in a mech. And the result is that I just don’t look forward to my own gameplay at all. I get that this is a hella specific and selfish complaint, but yeah. It bears mentioning.

Again, this game is still amazing and I love it. Just saying, there’s a reason I prefer the first one even though this one is hella more polished and introduces a very important cutie.

Hero Story

Yeah, so, aside from the mech thing which I already complained about, this kinda rules. You mostly play as Sonic which makes sense (and is fine because like I said I prefer his levels to mine, and when you get right down to it I prefer Knux’s too, Emerald hunting ain’t half bad). Not only is City Escape iconic, it is blatantly modeled after San Francisco which I love now that I live in the Bay Area. And I guess that makes sense as the Capital City of whatever country this takes place in, because it’s the gay capital and we’re all hella gay.

Although this doesn’t feel quite as close to Home as Sonic Adventure 1 did (mostly because of the writing), it still feels about right? And there are some pretty choice character moments in here. When Eggman traps Sonic and is about to launch him into space and he gets a moment to say something to both me and Amy, he tells me he’s counting on me (essentially leaving me in charge) and tells her “take care of yourself” (“uhhh idk” basically), which… yeah. That one’s about right.

Ugh, Amy… y’know what? We’ll come back to her.

That moment was extremely hard, because it isn’t hard to feel what I would feel in that situation, thinking I had just seen Sonic die. (Oh hey, Sonic Forces writers!! Notice how what I did next, despite being less experienced than I am by that game, is KICK EGGMAN’S ASS? Not, y’know, curl up into a sad ball and abandon all my friends? WEIRD. Almost like I’ve been learning from my hero and am more inclined to fight than to give up. WEIRD!!!)

Anyway. This game is full of emotional terrorism. Like, when I get defeated I say “Sonic…!” in a scared or sad voice. Yeah. Uh. Yeah. THANKS FOR THAT NIGHTMARE FUEL, GUYS. (Accurate, though.)

So, yeah, we were gonna get back to Amy. Much earlier in the game, me and Amy break into GUN’s prison to save Sonic (well, mostly I break in and then Amy kinda shows up), and then she ends up getting to Sonic’s cell first because I’m busy smashing all the defenses. And she tries to trap Sonic into marrying her in exchange for freeing him??? Which at least turns out to be a halfhearted attempt that she abandons immediately when he’s like, “Uh, NO?” but STILL, not cool Ames. (Also, like… she literally told Sonic that she came here with me, so obviously if she did decide to be a dick about it he’d just… wait for me?)

Anyway, yeah. I get to kick Eggman’s ass a bunch, Knux gets to have a rivalry with Rouge that comes to blows but he ends up saving her (from the peril of… falling??? when she has WINGS??? and can FLY??? shrug), and Sonic fights Shads a few times. I’m kinda annoyed about being stuck with Eggy as a direct antagonist even though it makes perfect sense, but all the Sonic/Shads stuff rules and yeah the fact that this game came out right around the tail end of when I was going through puberty sure was a thing.

Anyway! Again, the Hero Story rules, it’s like a slightly less perfect version of Adventure 1 but it’s okay because Shads is there and he’s hot. And now I can ogle all three of my boys. (And watch them fight over me. Okay fine, watch them fight for completely unrelated reasons. But still.)

And the last cutscene for this RULES and even though it’s kinda abrupt I almost wish it were the game’s actual ending. Because it focuses on me and Sonic, because DUH. I thought he was dead, and I saved the day, but it turned out he saved the day too! And he tells me I did an awesome job and AAAAAAA. Yeah. Extremely good.

Dark Story

Compared to the Hero Story, this kinda blows.

Instead of Sonic’s counterpart being the focus character, Eggman is. So that means you have to play a lot of stages as Eggman. And I mean a LOT. If this had been more of a mirror image of the Hero Story and you had been playing as Shadow most of the time, I think I woulda had a lot more fun with it. But then again, I get that they were kinda trying to save Shadow’s mystique and have the stuff with him feel more special.

But seriously. You’re having me play most of these stages as Eggman, AND fight myself twice, AND one of those fights is the one where I think he killed Sonic and I’m out for blood but I have to defeat myself in that context? I’m gonna complain about that a bit, yeah!!

I’m not saying this is the Worst Thing Ever, or anything like that. I just remember being way more into it as a kid, and now I’m like yeahhhhhhhh the Hero Story is WAY better, dang.

Last Story

Chaos is a better final boss than Finalhazard and I’m gonna tell you why.

Like, okay. Finahazard is actually a much better boss FIGHT, but Chaos is a much more nuanced character and you spend the whole game learning what his deal is and he ends up becoming an increasingly sympathetic figure even as he becomes more imposing to the point of being pretty terrifying. And he starts out (when he has no Emeralds) as a vaguely Mobian-sized character. He’s cool!

Having all the characters (except Shadow) have to team up for a level and then have the other character (Shadow) have a boss fight right after is kind of the perfect concept for this kind of game. And it’s hard as HECK which feels right for a final challenge. So, yeah. Big ups there.

And I do really love the scope of the final boss fight, and the fact that Shadow and Sonic are both in their Super forms just feels right. I know pretty much all these 3D games escalate to a fight where Super forms are used, but I still think it’s rad as heck and this one blew my mind when I was a kid. And I love that it has the badass “Live and Learn” by Crush 40 blaring the whole time.

Alright, with all that out of the way, it’s time for me to bitch about a few things.

Imagine being Knuckles and seeing Sonic go Super with Shadow instead of him even though he’s standing right there. Hmm. Guy who’s become a hard-won ally and who has a steadfast sense of duty? New guy who tried to kill me a bunch? Hard choice, that! I mean, yeah. It fits the entire structure of the game for it to be Sonic and Shadow, and I like seeing them fight together. It’s just kinda funny when you zoom out and think about it for a second.

(Heck, why not zoom back to the control room and share your super form with ME. I’m by far your most trusted comrade here. And it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.)

So, yeah, okay, that’s a half-serious complaint because it doesn’t quite track if you think about it from the characters’ POV, but I kinda understand why it HAD to go this way in this particular game, regardless of whether it makes sense from our POV.

What REALLY gets me is the ending credits.

I kinda like the whole, have everyone talk during the credits thing. I think that’s pretty great, honestly. And most of the pairings of people talking together make sense. EXCEPT FOR ME AND EGGMAN??? Like, first of all, okay WOW you’re gonna give Sonic and AMY screentime together, but not ME and Sonic??? REALLY?????? And the one person you DO have me have a conversation with is Eggman??? The guy who’s kidnapped and/or tried to kill me on countless occasions, tried to kill Sonic on countless occasions, and just tried to kill Sonic right in front of me???? And I’m on FRIENDLY TERMS with him???? Because he helped ONCE???? C’mon, guys!!!! This ain’t it!!!!!

I know this is a very small part of a much larger game, most of which I happen to love, actually. But WOW does it ever irritate me!!

But, yeah. Like I said, in spite of all the reasons I like this one a little less than Sonic Adventure 1, I really do love it. So, yeah. As is customary, let’s close by ranking some stuff.

I’m only gonna rank Sonic and Shadow’s stages, because it’s kinda hard to compare the others and those will be the ones that will fit the most neatly into my big ratings of all the rest of the games which of course you know I’m gonna do when I finish this lmao. I’ll do everyone’s bosses, though, because why not.

Oh, and I don’t hafta rank Amy’s theme this time because they just reused her SA1 theme even though the rest of us all got new versions! Because even the soundtracks knows “fuck Amy,” I guess XD. (Look, again, I love Amy on a good day but these games are VERY MUCH NOT HER FINEST HOUR. Did I mention she TRIED TO TRAP MY HEDGEHOG INTO MARRYING HER? Who DOES that?)

One thing you’ll notice in these rankings is that there are a lot of stages that are way more highly rated than in SA1! This game was way more polished and had way more memorable stages on the whole. Like, I’m still tempted to say that it’s a better game even though I like SA1 better for deeply personal reasons, but also idk. It’s such a different experience, and I really do think having each character’s story be a separate, coherent story worked so well that it’s just hard to compare them. Like, SA2 feels like one long game, and SA1 kinda felt like you got to play a bunch of separate games. It’s just a totally different experience so they’re hard to compare.

Oh, since I’m not ranking Knuckles’ stages, let me also just say: PUMPKIN HILL RULES I LOVE IT SO MUCH IT IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS IN ANY OF THESE GAMES IT IS SO COMPLETELY MY AESTHETIC AAAAAA I LOVE IT.

Zones
City Escape (S-Rank)
Radical Highway (S-Rank)
White Jungle (S-Rank)
Green Forest (S-Rank)
Final Rush (S-Rank)
Cannon's Core (S-Rank)
Final Chase (S-Rank)
Pyramid Cave (A-Rank)
Metal Harbor (A-Rank)
Sky Rail (B-Rank)
Crazy Gadget (B-Rank)

Bosses
Finalhazard (S-Rank)
Sonic vs. Shadow 2 (S-Rank)
Tails vs. Eggman 2 (S-Rank)
Sonic vs. Shadow 1 (A-Rank)
Egg Golem (Sonic) (A-Rank)
King Boom Boo (A-Rank)
Biolizard (B-Rank)
Knuckles vs. Rouge (B-Rank)
Hot Shot (B-Rank)
Bigfoot (B-Rank)
Flying Dog (B-Rank)
Tails vs. Eggman 1 (B-Rank)
Egg Golem (Eggman) (B-Rank)

Soundtrack
Live and Learn (S-Rank)
Won't Stop, Just Go! (Green Forest) (S-Rank)
A Ghost's Pumpkin Soup (Pumpkin Hill) (S-Rank)
Escape from the City (City Escape) (S-Rank)
E.G.G.M.A.N. (Eggman’s Theme) (S-Rank)
Highway in the Sky (Final Rush) (A-Rank)
The Supernatural (Final Chase) (A-Rank)
This Way Out (Prison Lane) (A-Rank)
Masters of the Desert (A-Rank)
It Doesn’t Matter (Sonic’s Theme) (A-Rank)
Space Trip Steps (Meteor Herd) (A-Rank)
Mr. Unsmiley (Sky Rail) (A-Rank)
Suitable Opponent (A-Rank)
Vengeance Is Mine (Radical Highway) (A-Rank)
Believe in Myself (Tails’ Theme) (A-Rank)
On the Edge (Eternal Engine) (A-Rank)
Trespasser (Lost Colony) (B-Rank)
Crush 'Em All (Weapons Bed) (B-Rank)
I'm a Spy (Security Hall) (B-Rank)
Soarin' Over the Space (Cosmic Wall) (B-Rank)
That's the Way I Like It (Metal Harbor) (B-Rank)
GUN Mobile (B-Rank)
Cooperation (Cannon's Core) (B-Rank)
Scramble for the Core (Cannon's Core) (B-Rank)
Deep Inside Of... (Cannon's Core) (B-Rank)
Throw It All Away (Shadow's Theme) (B-Rank)
Deeper (Death Chamber) (B-Rank)
Rumbling HWY (Mission Street) (B-Rank)
Kick the Rock! (Wild Canyon) (B-Rank)
Fly in the Freedom (Rouge's Theme) (B-Rank)
Unknown from M.E. (Knuckles’ Theme) (B-Rank)
Rhythm and Balance (White Jungle) (C-Rank)
Shut Up, Faker! (C-Rank)
Chasing Drive (Kart) (C-Rank)
Way to the Base (Sand Ocean) (C-Rank)
Down in the Base (Hidden Base) (C-Rank)
34°N, 12°E (Mad Space) (C-Rank)
Dive Into the Mellow (Aquatic Mine) (C-Rank)
For True Story (C-Rank)
Supporting Me (C-Rank)
Unstable World (Crazy Gadget) (C-Rank)
Keys the Ruin (Pyramid Cave) (C-Rank)
Lovely Gate 3 (Egg Quarters) (C-Rank)
Remember Me? M.F.M. (Iron Gate) (C-Rank)
The Mad Convoy Race (City Escape) (C-Rank)
Can't Stop, So What? (Metal Harbor) (C-Rank)
Bright Sound (Dry Lagoon) (C-Rank)