Video Game: Sonic Adventure

Title: Sonic Adventure
Publisher: Sega/Sonic Team
Platform: Dreamcast
Released: 1999
Played from: 2000-2003, occasionally since

Yes, I loved Rogue Squadron. But Sonic Adventure was my first video game obsession. It is, in my mind, the defining line between "Classic" and "Modern" games.

Overview
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Eggman is up to his antics once again with over-sized death machines and releases an ancient force to rain destruction down on the world etc. It's a Sonic game, so you know what you are getting into. Melodrama, high-speed platforming, and foiling of evil plots to save the world.

Similar to older games such as Sonic & Knuckles, you have the opportunity to play through the same story six different times with six different characters. The game is divided into three different adventure fields (large open areas with no objective except to find the next level/trigger for the story) and 11 levels, which each character can get into between 4 and 10 of. Each character has different objectives:
Sonic: Get to the end as fast as possible
Tails: Race against Sonic to the end... as fast as possible
Knuckles: Find 3 emerald shards in each level
Amy: Run away from an invincible robot
E-101 Gamma: Get to the end under the time limit and destroy as much as possible to increase your time
Big: Catch your frog (fishing game)

So, Sonic, Knuckles, and Gamma have interesting levels, and the rest of the characters are literally just filler. The developers were obviously under severe time constraints, so most of the other characters are simply playing in smaller sub-sections of Sonic's levels. The only level that Sonic cannot get into is Hot Shelter, which Amy plays in its entirety.

 Fortunately, to give you some more to do, you have your very own Chao (small pet things) garden in each adventure field. Since virtual pets were a big fad around this time, that is exactly what the Chao gardens are: Manage your Chao's emotions and upload it into a VMU to play a mini game to help it level up. It is a rewarding feature if you like that sort of thing, but most gamers will simply pass it by.


Graphics
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Okay, so graphics have come a long way since 1999. Still, the Dreamcast is technically in the same console generation as the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, so the graphics are roughly on par with those systems. Although many ports from the PS and N64 are admittedly poor in the graphics department, Dreamcast-exclusive games are generally of good quality. Sonic Adventure is very clear graphically with very few jagged polygons, smooth 3D animations, and even lip-synching (if you're playing in Japanese). This game blows its contemporaries out of the water. However, the observant gamer will notice that the development time constraints meant that you are literally playing in a box for the most part. If you can manage to get out of the levels (more on that later) you will notice that there is literally nothing placed outside of the level to give it a more authentic look and feel.


Sound
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Classic Sonic sounds are back (reminiscent of the 16-bit era in most cases) along with a generally forgettable soundtrack of hard rock with poorly written lyrics about believing in yourself. Fortunately, most of the actual levels have instrumental tracks that fit the level well. Just don't listen to the end credits.


Replay value
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At its face, Sonic Adventure offers a little to go back for. Every character's level and most mini games give you the chance to earn an Emblem for completion. All levels have 3 tasks to be completed for an emblem, mini games have 2, and most adventure fields have a few hidden ones for the player to find. However, there is nothing to show for it once you do have all 130 emblems, which frankly stinks.

There is, however, one caveat to this: the game is full of bugs and glitches. Normally, a glitch is a shortcoming that impairs the playability of the game, but in the case of Sonic Adventure, it actually enhances the game's playability. Let me explain.

As discussed above, every level is the same for every character. Since some characters have unique abilities (Sonic can dash along a line of rings, Tails can fly straight up, Knuckles can climb up walls and glide at a slightly downward angle), they have exclusive access to certain parts of adventure fields and levels. Certain scripted events also keep characters out of areas they aren't supposed to be in, usually using a locked door or other obstacle. However, the rushed development time and the underlying identical level geometry used for every level and adventure field means that the inaccessible area still exists for every character, even if it is not accessible through conventional means. This includes "bumpers" as well--invisible walls that will teleport a character into a given stage.

Also, thanks to the rushed development time, the level geometry is literally FILLED with holes. The lack of a true physics engine means that if you jump your character at these holes long enough, sooner or later you might get lucky and get them through.

So what does this mean? Find a hole in the geometry, assault it relentlessly in just the right way, and DING!--you have just gained access to a level that not even the developers meant for you to get into. This can be done to get access to about 10 new levels as well as a number of sections of levels the character is not normally supposed to get in to. For a more detailed guide on how to do this:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/dreamcast/198694-sonic-adventure/faqs/9257


Closing thoughts
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This is a solid game, although my review of it is undoubtedly heavily biased based on how much I loved it when I was 11. There are better games out there, and I even thought that the story was childish when I was in elementary school. That said, it is head-and-shoulders above any Sonic game released since the demise of the Dreamcast. It is certainly worth a play-through, but not necessarily worthy of the attention I gave it all those years ago.