![]() ![]() A game’s difficulty should never make you feel that way, period. It didn’t make me want to get better, it made me feel as if I would never get better. I had a lot of fun with Sonic Adventure 2, but getting D and E grade after trying my hardest was pretty draining. Now imagine how crappy it is when I’m given a big fat E grade and told through Sonic’s smug voiceover that I totally sucked. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not especially good at video games, but when I persist through a level in a platformer and make it to the end after a million tries I get an incredible sense of achievement. Where Sonic Adventure 2 goes wrong is in the scaling, making even a paltry C grade its own challenge. In principle it’s a very good thing to encourage players to become better at clearing levels, especially in a series like Sonic where the key is not only being able to pick up speed but having the proficieny to maintain it. I also have a bone to pick with the grading system. It makes the challenge of later levels feel unearned, leaving a sour taste in your mouth through a large portion of the final stretch. When these issues compound with the trickier Sonic and Shadow stages you end up feeling cheated out of almost every life you lose, most frustrating of all in the topsy-turvy Crazy Gadget Zone. Not to mention, the camera sometimes doesn’t show obstacles ahead which almost guarantees death the very first playthrough of certain stages. The railing segments of Sonic and Shadow levels are generally fun but jumping from rail to rail can be incredibly slippery. The most obvious clarity problem is the repeated mistake of putting multiple functions on one button, which can be incredibly agitating when you attempt a light dash but end up sommersaulting off a cliff. And while design clarity and camera issues aren’t as prevalent as the original they do come up in the Sonic and Shadow stages. Knuckles and Rouge stages suffer from occassionally being too cryptic with clues, and Tails and Eggman stages turn into a bit of a monotonous slog as you quickly reach the depths of its mechanics. On top of all that it offers even more great visual highlights with its brief cinematic cutaways.īut it’s not all smooth sailing. ![]() By trimming the fat and nailing the game down to three fully realised play styles it becomes a lot more enjoyable and coherent. Knuckles’ stages are a little more puzzle oriented and shared with Rouge The Bat, offering something a little more mellow while still being slick and fast. The original games’ E-102 Gamma shooting stages are re-tooled around Tails and Eggman, ditching the time limit for a health bar and making targeting faster and smoother for more rapid pacing. Sonic’s manuevering in general is also tighter, and the design of his levels is meatier and more succintly built around speed and a smooth ebb-and-flow of momentum (ditto the Shadow stages). The opening City Escape Zone is immediately one of the most engaging experiences in any Sonic game, encapsulating both in design and presentation the pure visceral thrill of, well, going fast. Right from the get-go you’re launched in with Sonic jumping from a helicopter and surfing his way down the hills of the bustling cityscape, all to the tune of the awesomely goofy and upbeat ‘Escape From The City’. Speaking of which, the action is a lot more fine-tuned. This lets you get into the action a lot quicker with far less lulls. Sonic Adventure 2 ditches this by taking you from level to level immediately while also offering a stage select map in the menu. I found it complicated to navigate at times but also sparse as far as actual things to do. ![]() If you read what I said about the original Sonic Adventure you would know I wasn’t a fan of the overworld. What endeared me to Sonic Adventure 2 almost immediately is the streamlining of bouncing from level to level. Just pointing it out because some people take this stuff very *ahem* personally. Never touched the Battle content and technical differences aren’t a big factor in my impressions so it makes no difference. It’s a similarly bumpy ride to the original, but it manages to hit a lot more highs along the way.īy the way I played the HD version on PSN, not the original Dreamcast version. Sonic Adventure 2 is a pretty good game. The original Sonic Adventure was overflowing with ideas and constantly vying to be on the cutting edge of its era, but it spread itself thin and ended up being seen as an awkward product of its time. By contrast Sonic Adventure 2 is a noticeably tighter game, with a more singular and solid focus that brings everything into a more complete experience. ![]()
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