I guess technically I played Sonic Adventure DX through Steam, just with a good list of mods tucked in as some sorta 'restoration' of the original Dreamcast release. Ignoring that, though:
Sonic Adventure is, in my own opinion, the best Sonic the Hedgehog has ever been. My love for this game in particular doesn't come exclusively from how fun it is, how great the soundtrack is, or how the story is written (though they are a good part of it). Instead, I love Sonic Adventure for the feeling it gives me. A feeling that no other can replicate, an intense wave of nostalgia, even for a game that I had only first played just last year. The spirit of this game is what had originally gotten me into the franchise as a kid.
Now, obviously I can admit when something isn't perfect. Especially a game like this, camera controls aren't always the best, movement can be pretty finicky in certain scenarios, voice acting is awkward and can sometimes feel a little choppy, if that's a good way to put it. But I'm also willing to admit that none of that hindered my experience nearly as much as you would think. I was willing to look past those, because they truly did not mean that much to me. I could chalk it all up to the game's age, as well as this being Sonic's first big 3D platformer. I was still having fun throughout. That's all that mattered to me.
I'm not playing Sonic for some profound narrative that'll shake me to my core, no gameplay innovations that would rock the modern world over. He's a silly and radical blue rodent that moves fast and says dumb shit to look cool. I can't take him seriously, I'm just here for a good time.
And what a good time this is. I genuinely had no qualms with any character's story, the only ones that might have been a problem are too short to give a damn. Amy's slow and clunky movement only persists for three total stages, and one boss that ends in 30 seconds. Big the Cat has four... remarkably easy fishing levels. The amount of people who seemingly have so much trouble with his story, I feel like I'm being lied to at this point.
Everything else is an absolute blast. Speeding through Sonic's several unique environments for whatever goal is assigned to you, racing that hedgehog in some of those same levels as Tails, scouting the areas for gems as Knuckles, and for all of it to come together in the end, to take down big bad Water Monster and save the city in your new powered up transformation, it's... cartoonishly simple.
That's what it is. Sonic Adventure is a ridiculous story with a cheesy soundtrack played over fantastical adventures spanning a wide variety of anthropomorphic animals, and a robot. It feels, in the most endearing way possible, like a cartoon. This whimsical mix of laid-back and fast paced action is exactly what I look for in a Sonic game, and it's in full force here to absolute perfection. There is no better feeling than seeing the culmination of all of these critters' stories, the creatures that have stuck with me for damn near my entire life. I fucking love Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic Adventure is, in my own opinion, the best Sonic the Hedgehog has ever been. My love for this game in particular doesn't come exclusively from how fun it is, how great the soundtrack is, or how the story is written (though they are a good part of it). Instead, I love Sonic Adventure for the feeling it gives me. A feeling that no other can replicate, an intense wave of nostalgia, even for a game that I had only first played just last year. The spirit of this game is what had originally gotten me into the franchise as a kid.
Now, obviously I can admit when something isn't perfect. Especially a game like this, camera controls aren't always the best, movement can be pretty finicky in certain scenarios, voice acting is awkward and can sometimes feel a little choppy, if that's a good way to put it. But I'm also willing to admit that none of that hindered my experience nearly as much as you would think. I was willing to look past those, because they truly did not mean that much to me. I could chalk it all up to the game's age, as well as this being Sonic's first big 3D platformer. I was still having fun throughout. That's all that mattered to me.
I'm not playing Sonic for some profound narrative that'll shake me to my core, no gameplay innovations that would rock the modern world over. He's a silly and radical blue rodent that moves fast and says dumb shit to look cool. I can't take him seriously, I'm just here for a good time.
And what a good time this is. I genuinely had no qualms with any character's story, the only ones that might have been a problem are too short to give a damn. Amy's slow and clunky movement only persists for three total stages, and one boss that ends in 30 seconds. Big the Cat has four... remarkably easy fishing levels. The amount of people who seemingly have so much trouble with his story, I feel like I'm being lied to at this point.
Everything else is an absolute blast. Speeding through Sonic's several unique environments for whatever goal is assigned to you, racing that hedgehog in some of those same levels as Tails, scouting the areas for gems as Knuckles, and for all of it to come together in the end, to take down big bad Water Monster and save the city in your new powered up transformation, it's... cartoonishly simple.
That's what it is. Sonic Adventure is a ridiculous story with a cheesy soundtrack played over fantastical adventures spanning a wide variety of anthropomorphic animals, and a robot. It feels, in the most endearing way possible, like a cartoon. This whimsical mix of laid-back and fast paced action is exactly what I look for in a Sonic game, and it's in full force here to absolute perfection. There is no better feeling than seeing the culmination of all of these critters' stories, the creatures that have stuck with me for damn near my entire life. I fucking love Sonic the Hedgehog.