Jonas Ward
“Sonic Adventure 2” was the final game developed by Sonic Team USA for the original SEGA DreamCast in 2001, and is the second produced in the “Adventure” series. SEGA sadly decided to discontinue producing home video game systems after the release of “Sonic Adventure 2,” which was a major success. This remarkable video game set the standard for what an action-adventure game should be in the new millennium.
“Sonic Adventure 2” has a plot that is fit for a movie. This video game has two campaigns, a good and a dark campaign. Playing both campaigns will give players two different viewpoints of the plot. During the good campaign, players play as Sonic and his friends who are trying to save the world. When players start the dark campaign, they play as the evil Dr. Robotnik, also known as Eggman who tries to take over the world working with a lifeform named Shadow, who is the evil doppelganger of Sonic.
Sonic is the fastest hedgehog on Earth, with the ability to run faster than the speed of light under certain circumstances. Shadow is a lifeform that roughly resembles Sonic. He was created by Dr. Robotnik’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. Shadow is also incredibly fast and his main purpose is to defeat Sonic while helping Dr. Robotnik take over the world. Dr. Robotnik is an evil genius and a master of devising robotic beings to do his bidding.
In the beginning, Sonic was accidentally mistaken for Shadow by the military and was captured. Simultaneously, Dr. Robotnik infiltrated a floating military base which housed Shadow with the intention of bartering with him. Since Sonic was captured, this gave Dr. Robotnik enough time to release Shadow.
For the rest of the plot, Dr. Robotnik encourages Shadow to help him attain a massive secret government weapon called the “Eclipse Cannon.” Dr. Robotnik’s end goal is to threaten the people of earth with this cannon so he can achieve world domination. While threatening the whole world, he accidently blows up half the moon. Sonic later frees himself and fights with his friends to stop Dr. Robotnik during the story.
For a 20-years-old game, “Sonic Adventure 2” truly has one of the best devised plots in a vintage video game. It has a story that takes over 10 hours to complete. Players learn about multiple characters who have unique roles in the plot like Tails, Rouge and Knuckles. The story offers many viewpoints within the good and dark campaigns, which helps players stay glued to their controllers.
The graphics in “Sonic Adventure 2” are not mind blowing and are a step below what Nintendo had to offer back in 2001. That doesn’t hinder the execution that the developers used when designing this game. The game’s levels are incredibly fast-paced, so players mostly focus on where they are running, fighting and not the background. This makes the slightly lower graphic quality nearly unnoticeable. The controls for this game are easy to understand. Characters are easy to move across the maps and fighting is usually only used with two controller buttons. This makes the game easy to play without any learning curve. The gameplay is very engaging and it does offer a good challenge keeping the play experience fresh.
“Sonic Adventure 2” is a fantastic addition to any SEGA fans video game library. Not only does it introduce players to the awesome world of Sonic the Hedgehog, but the game offers a great story that anyone can enjoy if they like classic video games. “Sonic Adventure 2” is a vintage gem that really shows players what it’s like to go fast.
