![]() There was even attention paid to the NPCs (not often given the time of day in Sonic titles), the most memorable of which involved a subplot where the train staff at Station Square go on strike for better working conditions. Sonic Adventure's hub sections were great for breaking up the pace and spoon-feeding you the game's story, and while it’s hardly up there for memorable narratives, missions were cleverly intersected so that the new characters you met would become playable – and then you'd experience the story from their perspective. ![]() But, in retrospect, the action focus meant it was also missing that titular ‘adventure’ element. Sonic Adventure 2 arguably had a more interesting grading system, and for a while that convinced me it was the superior game. After a few false starts, it seemed like Team Sonic finally found its feet with Sonic Adventure, then. Despite being on the linear side, additional challenges (like completing stages with a certain number of rings, or within a set time) offered replayability for players who wanted to get all the game’s 130 emblems. The new homing spin attack also had its quirks, too you might not necessarily have locked onto an enemy in the way you wanted, or you could end up just spinning around them for an indefinite period of time.īut when it worked, it was exactly the flow and rush you wanted from a 3D Sonic. That’s not to say racing through these levels came without issues, as the developers have always had to wrangle a camera that could keep up with Sonic without either leaving him stuck on scenery or, worse, falling through the level. That’s been a glaring issue with later Sonic titles, which were guilty of repeating the same sequences ad nauseum, sometimes within the same level, which made it more frustrating when you lost all your lives and had to replay the level from scratch. The Sonic Adventure promo art sure was a vibe.Īnd these stages didn’t waste a moment with moving you from one inspired spectacle to the next, so tightly designed that most could be cleared in two or three minutes. Sonic’s co-creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima were firing on all cylinders, delivering a headline game on new 128-bit hardware that was simply not possible before, taking the hedgehog’s signature speed to new dizzy heights with unforgettable setpieces being pursued by an orca on Emerald Coast, snowboarding down a mountain to escape an avalanche, running down the side of a skyscraper on Speed Highway, and – heck – even a pinball mini-game that throws in a cameo of Nights into Dreams. And it does it all while the chorus for Crush 40's ‘ Open Your Heart’ officially established Sonic as a hedgehog who likes his rock music. Eggman has never looked more bad-ass when the camera crash-zooms on him standing aboard the Egg Carrier with the wind blowing against his moustache). ![]() It teases us with quick shots of each character, including newcomers and redesigns (Dr. ![]() It introduces us to a new menacing high-stakes threat in the form of Perfect Chaos. Let’s start with the game’s CG intro, which absolutely understood the assignment in bringing the hype. But when I’ve come back to replay the game in recent years, even on its original hardware, it still holds up as the gold standard for all 3D Sonic games – and one which future entries have just never managed to match. Sonic Adventure was by no means a perfect game the original Japanese release was rushed out in order to hit shops just two days before Christmas, after all. It wasn’t until 1998’s Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast that Sega’s beloved mascot would finally speed into 3D proper, ushering Sonic – and fans – into a new exciting dimension. The cancellation of Sonic Xtreme on Sega Saturn, and what was basically a 3D tech demo inside the compilation release Sonic Jam weren't exactly helpful in getting Sonic and pals off the 3D starting block at speed. That 2D to 3D lane change has continued to dog the hedgehog’s releases even into the modern generations (isn't that right, Sonic Forces?) whereas former rival Mario kept soaring beyond galaxies, getting more comfortable with each release.įor Sonic, these transitional woes were the case even at the beginning while Super Mario 64 arrived fully formed and revolutionised 3D gaming, the Blue Blur had false starts. Sonic’s transition to 3D has always been tricky.
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