Retro Review: Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)
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Here’s the opening sequence to help wet your appetite. Enjoy.
Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog who hasn’t heard of this famous game character? Not many I can assure you that. Designed to fend off Nintendo’s definitive character- Mario, Sonic has graced many a screen world wide – from the fun platform games available for all of Sega’s machines to the weird arcade titles.
The Dreamcast’s ‘flagship’ game, Sonic Adventure keeps the spiky blue hedgehog in our minds, but this time in glorious 3D, though not for the first time but a much-preferred improvement over the dodgy mini-level in Sonic Jam. Do not get me wrong though, I thoroughly enjoyed the 3D antics of Sonic on the Saturn, but many reviewers made the game out to be better than Mario 64 (Which in my mind is still the greatest 3D platform game to date) However it just turned out to be a bonus level of sorts and didn’t compare to the N64’s champion.
But anyway, I digress. (Back to Sonic Adventure) You (initially) take on the role of our favourite game character, Sonic, who is spending a day of his usual running around, breaking many speed limits when a strange water-like creature starts to cause a but of havoc in the city (not a usual setting for a Sonic game) luckily Sonic is there to stop the monster before it does too much damage. Then enter Robotnik- of course he has something to do with the strange creature and he tells you his plan straight off- how he needs the Chaos emeralds to make the monster Uber powerful and take over the world … etc … etc.
Stupid main plot aside, the story line in this game is actually quite good- in that the characters that you play as -Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy and (introducing) E-102, their story lines intermesh and you get to see many different sides of the story- each character having their own unique view of what’s going on. Something that made the game more enjoyable- as each character has different levels (though many are similar) and different styles of play.
He’s BIG. He’s BAD. He’s 3D!
The main characters (baddies included) are all brilliantly animated- Tails beautiful err tails as they wave quietly behind his furry ass are just one example. But the non-interactive characters (the humans) are really quite bland with no real detail or effort put into them- but that is just one small problem.
The very first level took my breath away- Sonic running along with this amazing beach scenery flying past him- doing a full loop in 3D graphics and landing on another part of the beach and running off into the distance. “Wow!”
The level detail and general graphics do NOT diminish as the game goes on, but the player will get used to it as they play, so certain things that would have impressed if you had only just started playing will not make you raise much more than an eyebrow. However- I think that Sega might have predicted this, as you come to later levels- something will happen which will make you stop and say ‘Wow!’ or ‘Dear Lord what can that be?!’- So just be warned.
Not only are the in game graphics good, but also I found that the FMV graphics were very impressive- it might have been because I was used to Saturn or PC FMV, but the FMV in Sonic Adventure seems to be of a really high quality-like when you see Dr. Robotniks ship flying over a jungle- though unfortunately there are only a few FMV sequences in the game, most of the cut scenes are in game graphics.
The general effects all round are good, they don’t really push the Dreamcast, but at the time of it’s release the best graphics I had ever seen in a 3D platform game were Banjo-Kazooie on the N64, which I still think are very good and I would consider Sonic Adventure to have far superior graphics. In fact the ONLY 3D platformer that I have played with vastly superior graphics is Mario Sunshine on the GameCube and that’s only really for the amazing water effects, the buildings and stuff are about the same as Sonic’s plus Sonic Adventure’s levels are bigger than ‘Sunshine’s’.
And, now I’m sure that I will be heavily slated for saying this- but there are certain areas in the game that would lead me to believe that the Dreamcast could have possible handled ‘mammoth’ titles such as {gulp} Halo.
Now bear with me please.
When you go to where Knuckles Island is and just look at the surroundings, the trees, the grass, rocks and the 2-Dimensional backdrop of mountains and forests, it reminds me of when you first crash land on Halo- the graphics are not quite as good as Halo’s – but I reckon that they could be done up quite a bit- maybe not to the same extent as the Xbox counterpart, but I believe that it could be done.
Take a look at Shenmue 2. The Xbox version is better than the Dreamcast’s but only slightly- less pop-up and slowdown (for those really crowded areas) with mildly sharper graphics. I remember there being some complaints to Sega and comments made in magazines when the Xbox version was released “Why haven’t the graphics been updated†etc, etc. Well one comment that sticks in my head was “People underestimate the true power and abilities of the Dreamcastâ€
Anyway enough said on that- please do post and comments on the boards, but try to keep the swearing and blaspheming to a minimum. Thank you.
Yep- that’s probably a good 200 foot drop. Better take a closer look.
The control system as with all Sonic games is very simple, move and jump- but because of it being 3D the old- hold down and press jump to perform a spin-dash has been replaced by pressing a single button to perform the trick.
The characters respond to your controls very well, however on occasion you may find yourself running into a wall at no fault of your own- mainly due to the camera suddenly adjusting- meaning that what once was forward becomes left. Or the camera might get stuck itself and you can’t quite see what is happening, but this is quite a rare event, only occurring in confined spaces where you don’t need to be going at speed and shouldn’t ruin your game playing too much. Though it can be frustrating when you’re almost at the end of a level and then the camera jolts and you fall to your untimely doom.
Throughout the game I did not encounter a single bit of slow down or dodgy frame-rates, the game is very smooth and slick- which is essential for a Sonic game, where running at great speed is what it’s all about.
Looks like Willy was finally freed….and is now seeking revenge.
When I purchase a new game, no matter how little time I have to play it or how excited I am to play it- I ALWAYS make time to watch the opening title sequence and the initial FMV sequence as you start the game- for me they add to the overall enjoyment of the game. If it does not have a very good opening sequence I feel that it lets the game down, as it is the build up for what is to come.
Fortunately Sonic Adventure has an excellent opening sequence, one of the best I have seen. The satisfying jingle of ‘Sonic Team’ fades in and out with a slight ringing for background effect, we see a busy city street, but something is up- water bursts through the drains, causing cars to skid and crash. Water pours out from the buildings around and the road begins to split. We see through the eyes of something travelling at immense speed- running through grass. The camera cuts to more havoc in the city, then back to the grass then back to the city where a huge monster bursts through the side of a skyscraper. More running through grass and the grass moulds into buildings, the music kicks in properly (great for the ‘rock’ fans out there) and we have a montage of various actions scenes from in the game to finally come to the title Sonic Adventure appearing on screen. It may not sound too spectacular –but when you see it for the first time it really gets you in the mood for playing the game.
The game isn’t quite the same as any other Sonic title I have encountered. Usually you would just start a level, complete it and start another- may be with a tiny cut scene showing Robotnik or Knuckles coming on screen to hinder your progress by burning the level or releasing a Robotic Sonic on you. But this game has been updated to match such games as Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon, where you actually travel to different areas in the game yourself to enter the different levels. You have Adventure Fields which are the areas that you walk around in, to gain access to other areas and levels and on occasion you find yourself having to solve a small puzzle or two- but these are usually very simple and only take a minute or two, this helps to keep you involved with the game at all times- unlike Mario 64 in which the castle serves no real purpose to the game, just that it made a good change and was quite impressive at first- running around in 3D, jumping into the moat but there was never any need to explore the castle (not that you could) and like the castle the adventure fields in Sonic have no baddies and it is almost impossible to die. I say almost because I have fallen off a cliff or two on many occasions. The other areas are Action Stages the actual levels- basic idea start at one end and run to the finish, or depending on what character you are, collect certain objects to complete the level.
All the characters go to similar levels, some miss out levels or one character might have a level that none of the others have- but which ever character you play with the level will be different, it will have a different layout or you will take a different route to a previous character- meaning that you won’t find the game too repetitive.
The cut scenes through out the game are pretty good- filling the player in with info on what is actually happening, though on occasion you do wish to be able to skip some of them. And I’m sorry to all you Americans out there- but I HAD to change the voices to Japanese with English subtitles- because the American voices and slang used in the game really did my head in- For all those who wanted to kill Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, well that is what Tails sounds like (I swear they got the same kid to do the voice) – Also it can be quite amusing because the Japanese, I’m sure, does not translate quite the way the subtitles do. For example at one point Sonic is warped somewhere by a mysterious red orb thing and he says, in Japanese, ‘goh’ (That’s what it sounds like) and the translation underneath read ‘Oh, geez’
The music in the game is very good- it goes well with the scenery, when you are waddling around the Adventure Fields and like all other Sonic games it goes very well with the action sequences in the levels and some of the music is borrowed from other Sonic games- I distinctly remember myself automatically humming along to a tune on one of the levels the first time I played it- because the tune was a re-vamped version of one of the pieces from Sonic 3D on the Megadrive/Genesis and Saturn.
Err…run?
I found quite a lot of replay value in this game. Apart from the main quest you do open up some small bonus levels- like snowboarding or a go-kart track thing or a pinball game. There is also the Chao Adventure add on- where you can help to look after a small creature called a Chao- by feeding it fruit and letting it come into contact with animals that you free from Robotnik so that it evolves. And then you transfer it into your VM Unit and continue the fun on the go.
Also by logging on to the Sonic Adventure website you can download special themed packs- for example there is a Halloween pack that transforms one of the levels into a fun lantern filled world with pumpkins and scary faces- quite a good idea if I do say so myself.
I have completed this game several times (about 10) from start to finish collecting everything possible and I love every minute of it. I would stop playing for ages and then one day I would fancy some snowboarding or running along a beach or even fishing- so I would put the game in play a little bit and then feel the urge to wipe one of my files and start again.
Now, where on Earth did they get planning permission to build that?!
Summary:
In one word Fun. I found this game to be most enjoyable from start to finish and the new characters made the game more interesting than most 3D platform games. Or you have only played Sonic Adventure 2, then I would strongly consider buying this. In my opinion Sonic Adventure 2 was greatly inferior and the hype for the game (what with it being released on Sonics 10th anniversary) was just that, hype. Sonic Adventure i a lot more fun and has a much better structure to it.
Score: 8/10
~G~
Tags: Dreamcast
1 opinion for Retro Review: Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)
amy poehler amber
Oct 30, 2007 at 8:25 am
amy poehler amber…
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..
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