Sonic Adventure 2
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| Sonic Adventure 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Sonic Team Sonic Team USA |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) |  June 18, 2001 June 23, 2001 June 23, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone ELSPA: 3+ |
| Platform(s) | Dreamcast, GameCube |
| Media | GD-ROM |
| Input | Game controller |
Sonic Adventure 2 (ソニックアドベンチャー2 Sonikku Adobenchā Tsū?) is a video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Sonic Team for the Sega Dreamcast, and later ported as an update to the Nintendo Gamecube.
It was released in North America on June 18, 2001 and in Japan and Europe on June 23, 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of Sonic the Hedgehog. This game introduces two new playable characters, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat, and is also one of the few Sonic titles to officially feature Doctor Eggman as a playable character.
Contents |
[edit] Single player
Gameplay takes place between two parallel storylines; the player has the option of advancing in either one or the other at any time. The "Hero" story featuring Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and the non-playable Amy, while the "Dark" story featuring Shadow, Rouge (in actuality a secret agent sent on a mission by the President ), and Dr. Eggman play similar to each other, with each hero character playing similar to the respective dark character. Levels advance in order for each storyline, alternating between each of the playable characters.
Levels featuring Sonic or Shadow are designed much the same as they were in Sonic Adventure,[1] wherein the player's primary objective is simply to get to the end of the level. Levels with Tails or Dr. Eggman allow the player to control a mechanized robot walker and generally blast their way through to the end of the stage. Knuckles and Rouge are required to scour their levels for shards of the master emerald. Interspersed between the levels are various bosses, which one particular character must fight.
Within action stages, players collect rings and defeat enemies, with a timer counting the time spent within the level. At the end of each stage, the player is given a score based on the number or rings collected and time spent within the level. The more rings and less time, the higher the score is. The player is also given a rank based performance, a letter grade that is either A, B, C, D, or E (A being the highest and E being the lowest).
There are five missions within each action stage; they differ between characters, ranging from "find the Lost Chao!" to "collect 100 rings" to simply completing the level successfully.
Emblems are also given within the game; there are 180 emblems in total. In order to gain all 180 emblems, players must complete all stages, all missions within all stages, and achieve an A rank in all stages and missions.
[edit] Hero side story
Renowned hero Sonic the Hedgehog has been framed for stealing a Chaos Emerald from a bank in Central City and has been taken into custody by the Guardian Unit of Nations (G. U. N.), the national military. While the helicopter containing Sonic flies over the city, Sonic breaks free and, using a piece of metal from the chopper as a makeshift snowboard, makes his escape. He outruns the police and military and afterwards does battle with one of G. U. N's giant walkers: Big Foot. Sonic defeats the robot and encounters a black hedgehog, who goes by the name of Shadow. Shadow is the one who stole the Chaos Emerald and uses it to teleport with the power of Chaos Control. Sonic is then re-captured by G. U. N and taken to Prison Island.
Meanwhile, Knuckles the Echidna is having trouble guarding the Master Emerald when the mysterious thief Rouge the Bat attempts to steal it. In the middle of their argument, Dr. Eggman snatches the emerald while they're fighting, but Knuckles, in order to prevent Eggman from stealing the gem, shatters it. Knuckles then sets off to find the pieces and restore the Master Emerald.
On Prison Island, Tails goes to break Sonic free as he knows that his friend is not guilty. Upon arrival, Tails, piloting his Cyclone walker, saves Amy Rose from Dr. Eggman. Tails and Amy find out where Sonic is, and Tails goes on to break through security with his mech. Amy then uses a mysteriously obtained G. U. N security card to free Sonic and tells him that Shadow and Dr. Eggman are on the island. Immediately after she does so, Sonic races off to find Shadow. Sonic goes into the island's forest via a rocket at a nearby harbour and finds him. The two battle and are both out of breath, but before one finishes the other off, Eggman talks to Shadow through the latter's walkie-talkie, telling him that the island will blow up soon. The two run off and Sonic barely finds Tails and Amy before the island explodes.
Later on, Sonic, Tails and Amy witness Eggman destroying half the moon with a powerful weapon called the Eclipse Cannon located on board the Space Colony ARK, after he sends a transmission across the globe claiming it as part of the Eggman Empire. The three realize that Eggman could destroy the Earth with that kind of firepower; all he needs is the seventh Chaos Emerald. Tails has the seventh Chaos Emerald (which he was rewarded with for stopping Eggman destroying Station Square with a missile in Sonic Adventure) as well as a fake Chaos Emerald that he created. The fake emerald has the same wavelength and properties as the real one, except it is less powerful and would cause the Eclipse Cannon to self-destruct. However, Eggman's plan to destroy Prison Island was executed successfully, as he was also able to use Tails as a scapegoat for Prison Island being destroyed. The next morning, the president gets a call from Eggman, and seems about to surrender to him, but Sonic and Tails arrive and cut the conversation short. The president demands to know what is happening, but Sonic assures the president that nothing is going to happen to Earth. After meeting up with Knuckles, the gang infiltrates Eggman's secret pyramid base. Eggman sends robots out to try and stop them, but they succeed in finding a rocket which they use to get to the ARK. Knuckles leaves the group after Sonic pulls a lever on the rocket, releasing the Master Emerald shards that were onboard. He runs off toward a group of meteorites nearby. Sonic and the others leave Knuckles to his work and race to destroy the cannon before Earth is blown into extinction. Tails succeeds in destroying the colony's power supply but Amy is captured by Dr. Eggman, who holds her at gunpoint.
As this is happening, Knuckles finds the last pieces of the Master Emerald and encounters Rouge again. After a fight, Knuckles saves Rouge's life as she very nearly falls to her death. In return, Rouge grudgingly gives Knuckles her share of the Master Emerald and Knuckles restores it. Sonic rushes to meet Eggman, who is holding Amy and Tails hostage in return for the last Chaos Emerald. Sonic attempts to trick Eggman with the fake emerald created by Tails, but Eggman is aware of the plot (since his radar picked up eight Chaos Emeralds onboard the ARK, earlier) and is able to trap Sonic in a capsule. He then sends Sonic off into space, setting the capsule to explode as soon as it clears the ARK. Sonic then uses the fake emerald to execute Chaos Control and just barely escapes his death in the explosion. Emboldened by Sonic's last words, Tails challenges Eggman and the two fight for a second time. Sonic ends up somewhere outside the ARK, where Knuckles is. Although he is fatigued, he still has some energy and some time to get to the Eclipse Cannon and destroy it with the fake emerald that had saved his life. When he gets to the final runway leading to the cannon, Shadow appears. Having seen the explosion, Shadow is surprised to see him alive. The two have a final confrontation, where, apparently, Sonic wins. He is seen to be alive by Tails and Amy while holding on to the outside of the Eclipse Cannon as it starts to malfunction. However, while Tails is watching Sonic, Eggman snatches the real Chaos Emerald.
This ending has been the cause of some debate as fans wonder if the last story continues from the Hero and Dark stories or only the Dark story. It is generally assumed that the scene of Dr. Eggman taking the emerald was used to suggest he escaped and put it into the eclipse cannon control panel, thus bridging the gap between the Hero and Last stories.
[edit] Dark side story
After the events in Sonic Adventure, Dr. Eggman learns of a top secret military weapon sealed away by G. U. N., created by his late grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. Eggman breaks into Prison Island in search of his grandfather's weapon: "Project Shadow". After blasting his way through the floors and security systems of the base, Eggman finds what he's looking for. Activating a stasis pod in a vault, using a Chaos Emerald, Eggman discovers Project Shadow: A black hedgehog with incredible speed and a high resemblance to his arch enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog. The hedgehog introduces himself as Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow disposes of a guard robot that was sent to intercept them, Hotshot, and then instructs Eggman to bring more Chaos Emeralds to the abandoned Space Colony ARK.
Soon after, Rouge attempts to steal the Master Emerald from Angel Island, hindered by its guardian, Knuckles the Echidna. Eggman comes from above to steal the Master Emerald; to prevent this, Knuckles shatters it into pieces. Dr. Eggman flees, while Knuckles and Rouge both vow to find the scattered pieces. Eggman returns to his hidden pyramid base in the desert, immediately learning of Shadow's theft of a Chaos Emerald from the National Reseve Bank.
After the heist, Shadow arrives just outside Central City, pursued by GUN and their robots. During a pause in the chase, he has a flashback of his best friend, Maria, dying on the ARK 50 years ago after she ejected him from the space colony, remembering his promise to seek revenge on all humans for her death. He eludes the military's pursuit, ending up in Central City right in front of Sonic the Hedgehog, meeting him for the first time. Sonic realizes that he had been framed for the theft and attempts to attack Shadow, while Shadow simply taunts him before teleporting away using Chaos Control.
Meanwhile, Rouge has halted her search for the pieces of the Master Emerald to follow Eggman, infiltrating his base and tracking him to the Space Colony ARK.
Eggman has utilised his base's space transporter to get to the space colony, making his way to the central control room to meet with Shadow. Shadow then shows Eggman the shut down Eclipse Cannon, explaining that, with the seven Chaos Emeralds, he would have the power to destroy a planet, or to claim it as his own, an idea that Eggman quickly supports. They are interrupted however by the mysterious jewel thief and government spy (the latter of which is unknown to the two) Rouge the Bat, offering to assist the two villains in return for using Eggman's radar, though her motives are initially unknown to them. She gives them a Chaos Emerald and tells them she knows where the others are located.
Rouge takes them to Prison Island; the same island that Eggman attacked to free Shadow in the first place. Eggman quickly formulates a plan of attack, with him moving in first to distract the military while the other two move in undetected, Shadow setting Egg Bomboms to explode in 15 minutes to blow up the island, and Rouge stealing the Chaos Emeralds from the safe. The first stage goes relatively smoothly for Eggman, despite the interference of Amy Rose and a short battle with Tails, and Rouge succeeds in stealing the Emeralds, but a battle with the guard robot, Flying Dog, leaves her trapped with the bombs set to explode. As she broadcasts her predicament on her walkie-talkie, Shadow has flashes of Maria and decides to save her (though later he says that it was for the Chaos Emeralds). On the way, he meets Sonic again and battles him, but before either one could win the fight, Eggman yells at Shadow through his own walkie-talkie revealing their plan to blow up the island to Sonic and prompting Shadow to continue his rescue. Shadow runs quickly to where Rouge is located, using Chaos Control to teleport them both out right before the bombs go off and the island detonates.
After Shadow has another flashback, this one less tumultuous, and a quick conversation with Rouge, the villains decide that with six of the seven Chaos Emeralds they can reveal their plan to the world. Eggman broadcasts a worldwide message on every single television, declaring himself ruler of the Earth and announcing the start of the Eggman Empire, before destroying half the moon with the Eclipse Cannon. Despite the display, Eggman becomes angry as his threats did not bring any results (according to the hero story, Sonic and Tails had interfeared with his demands for surrender), Shadow explaining that all seven Chaos Emeralds are necessary for the cannon to be at full power. Rouge then arrives and announces that the seventh emerald is in Tails's possession (for his heroics in Sonic Adventure). The team then begins pursuit of the fox and the heroes accompanying him, soon realizing they are heading for to Eggman's pyramid. In an attempt to steal the emerald, Eggman sent out his minions to intercept them but they were defeated, with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy stealing one of his rocket located in the pyramid and travelling to the ARK.
Shadow goes to see Eggman who is watching the heroes through cameras on the ARK, reporting that there are in fact eight Chaos Emeralds on board the ARK. Eggman realizes that one of the emeralds in their possession is, in fact, a fake. Eggman then mans his walker and sets off to intercept them.
Rouge sets off to collect the last pieces of the Master Emerald once she realizes Knuckles is onboard the shuttle as well. She runs into Knuckles as she searches and they battle, causing Rouge to nearly fall to her death. Knuckles saves her in the nick of time and Rouge decides to give Knuckles the remaining shards of the Master Emerald, allowing Knuckles to reform it. Rouge then tries to steal the six Chaos Emeralds from the Central Control Room before she is stopped by Shadow, warning her not to do so, as he realizes that she is in fact a government spy. She doesn't just walk away, however, showing him the results of her research into Project: Shadow; a full report that shows a picture of the real Ultimate Life Form; the Biolizard.
Eggman reaches the space colony, immediately taking the isolated Amy hostage and forcing Sonic to meet him. He traps Sonic and the fake emerald in a capsule and fires it into space where it explodes, and the event is also witnessed by Shadow. It seemed Sonic had been killed. Tails challenges Eggman and defeats him shortly after, but Eggman takes the last Emerald and escapes. He tells Shadow that he has the Emerald and that someone is trying to get to the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow follows this person who turns out to be Sonic. Shadow is surprised to see him alive acknowledging his abilities. They then fight each other. Though Shadow gains the upper hand in the fight, apparently, Shadow wins as Eggman successfully powers up the canon, which would not have happened had Sonic won, as he would have made it to the canon like in the Hero Side Story. The story ends with Eggman inserting the final Chaos Emerald to power up the Eclipse Cannon and laughing. However, the control panels begin flashing red and displaying the word DANGER.
[edit] Last Story
After finally managing to retrieve all seven Chaos Emeralds, Dr. Eggman prepares to fire the Eclipse Cannon aboard the Space Colony ARK. However, instead of firing, a Warning Message appears. Unwittingly, Eggman had activated Gerald Robotnik's last attempt at revenge on the world for the murder of his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik.
The Space Colony ARK shifted its position and was on a direct collision course with Earth. With the power of the emeralds, the resulting impact by the Colony would mean the complete destruction of the planet. They all see a video from before Gerald's death while he's in prison of his plan to destroy the Earth and everyone on it, in which Earth would be destroyed with impact of the Space Colony ARK: "This is a death sentence for every human being on Earth. If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact the Earth in 27 minutes, and 53 seconds. All of you will be destroyed, along with your beloved planet Earth." The recording continues: "I plan to give you a taste of my revenge once all the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss and despair." (Professor Gerald Robotnik) Eggman walks in, and Knuckles orders him to stop the ARK. Eggman says that he would've done this a long time ago, if he had the chance. He then walks over to Rouge and hands her his grandfather's diary. She puts it onto the screen and reads it.
"I don't quite know what happened, or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the Ultimate Life Form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind... But then the military guards landed on the colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project that I had been working on. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter Maria, I hope you are all safe. The colony was completely shut down, probably to keep the prototype from falling into the wrong hands. (At this point, we hear Rouge's voice change to Professor Gerald's voice.) The ARK was shut down, under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me, and I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research! I lost everything...I had nothing more to live for...I went insane! All I could think about...was to avenge her, somehow, someway. I got scared as I no longer was able to control my thoughts. All I could think about was that I wanted it all to end... Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project: Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure. I will leave everything to him. If you wish, release and awaken it to the world!"
All the pieces of the story comes to together at this point, and Rouge suddenly realizes why Eggman went to Prison Island in the first place. After Eggman explains what is happening to the ARK, due to the reaction of the Chaos Emeralds, Rouge then comes up with the plan of using Knuckles' recently restored Master Emerald to deactivate the Chaos Emeralds.
Casting aside their differences, everyone (except for Shadow and Amy), agrees to team up in order to stop the Colony together. However, the most important actions come from Amy Rose, who, in pleading to Shadow to stop Gerald's revenge, reminds Shadow of what promise he really made to Maria Robotnik before she died, a promise to bring hope to humanity. In the end, Shadow helps Sonic and Knuckles get to the replica altar of the Master Emerald by facing off against the Biolizard, a giant lizard like creature, created by Gerald as a prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform. Unfortunately, the Biolizard, using the power of Chaos Control, ends up attaching itself to the tip of the Eclipse Cannon outside of the Colony to drag it towards planet earth. The Finalhazard, in an effort to force the colony to impact with the planet, is soon stopped by Sonic and Shadow. Sonic and Shadow, utilizing the power of the Chaos Emeralds in the Cannon's Core, transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow. They battle the Finalhazard in space and destroy it before it impacts Earth. The two super hedgehogs then charge at the ARK at light speed and come to a stop to hold back the force with their energy. As their friends unknowingly cheer them on, Shadow thinks of his promise to Maria and pushes harder. Sonic and Shadow then perform a very powerful combined Chaos Control to teleport the Space Colony ARK back to its original position. Shadow, having fulfilled Maria's promise, falls towards the planet, presumably to his death, vanishing in a flash of light (where it is revealed in Shadow the Hedgehog that one of Eggman's robots came to save him). With their own lives and the world saved, Sonic and the others head back to Earth. The game ends with Sonic saying "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog" (which were Maria's last words to Shadow).
[edit] Racing
- Hero: Sonic the Hedgehog (Main Protagonist)
- Dark: Shadow the Hedgehog (Main Antagonist)
The speedy gameplay gamers are most familiar with. Players must run to the end of the stage, gathering the most items and rings as possible in the least amount of time.
[edit] Shooting
- Hero: Miles "Tails" Prower
- Dark: Dr. Eggman
The player boards a mecha, and plays using a modified version of E-102 Gamma's gameplay from Sonic Adventure. Using laser sights, the player locks on to multiple targets at a time and fires away. The more targets that are locked on to at one time, the higher the bonus is. The player has to reach the goal ring. Instead of the normal ring system, the player has an energy bar. If the player is hit, all the rings are lost, and a chunk is taken out of the energy bar. However, unlike the E-102 Gamma stages, the player has infinite time.
[edit] Treasure hunting
- Hero: Knuckles the Echidna
- Dark: Rouge the Bat
Slower and based much more heavily on exploration, Treasure Hunting segments (Adapted from Knuckles' story in Sonic Adventure)force the player to find three items in the least amount of time possible. To help the player find the items, there is a radar that beeps depending on how close the player is to the item. You start with three shard-like icons at the start. As you get closer, one of them will change color and the radar beeping will speed up. By the time one of them is red, the location is obvious.
[edit] 2P stages (Hero)
Speed:
- City Escape
- Metal Harbour
- Green forest
- Piramid Cave
- Final Rush
Treasure hunting:
- Wild Canyon
- Pumpkin Hill
- Aquatic Mine
- Death Chamber
- Meteor Herd
Shooting:
- Mission Street
- Hidden Base
- Enternal Engine
[edit] 2P stages (Dark)
Speed:
- Radical Highway
- White Jungle
- Sky Rail
- Final Chase
Treasure hunting:
- Dry Lagoon
- Egg Quarters
- Security Hall
- Mad Space
Shooting:
- Iron Gate
- Sand Ocean
- Lost Colony
- Weapons Bed
- Cosmic Wall
NOTE: See Single Player Stages where every stage is listed.
[edit] Driving
- Hero: Miles "Tails" Prower
- Dark: Rouge the Bat
The game features two "kart racing" levels in story mode, where Tails or Rouge must drive towards an objective without falling off the course, hitting too many cars or running out the clock. There's also a mode with all the characters playable, where the player must finish a few laps before the other CPU players, and an emblem is obtained if successful. Said mode is unlocked by beating one of the racing levels. Beating the second level unlocks a two-player version.
[edit] Single player stages
[edit] Hero side
- City Escape - Sonic
- Boss: F-6t Big Foot - Sonic
- Wild Canyon - Knuckles
- Boss: Eggman - Tails
- Prison Lane - Tails
- Metal Harbor - Sonic
- Boss: Shadow - Sonic
- Green Forest - Sonic
- Pumpkin Hill - Knuckles
- Mission Street - Tails
- Aquatic Mine - Knuckles
- Route 101 - Tails (Driving)
- Hidden Base - Tails
- Pyramid Cave - Sonic
- Death Chamber - Knuckles
- Boss: King Boom Boo - Knuckles
- Boss: Egg Golem - Sonic
- Eternal Engine - Tails
- Meteor Herd - Knuckles
- Boss: Rouge - Knuckles
- Crazy Gadget - Sonic
- Boss: Eggman - Tails
- Final Rush - Sonic
- Final Boss: Shadow - Sonic
[edit] Dark side
- Iron Gate - Eggman
- Boss: B-3x Hot Shot - Shadow
- Dry Lagoon - Rouge
- Sand Ocean - Eggman
- Radical Highway - Shadow
- Egg Quarters - Rouge
- Lost Colony - Eggman
- Weapons Bed - Eggman
- Boss: Tails - Eggman
- Security Hall - Rouge
- Boss: R-1 "A Flying Dog" - Rouge
- White Jungle - Shadow
- Boss: Sonic - Shadow
- Route 280 - Rouge (Driving)
- Sky Rail - Shadow
- Boss: Egg Golem - Eggman
- Mad Space - Rouge
- Boss: Knuckles - Rouge
- Cosmic Wall - Eggman
- Boss: Tails - Eggman
- Final Chase - Shadow
- Final Boss: Sonic - Shadow
[edit] Last story
- Cannon's Core - Tails, Eggman, Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic, in that order
- Boss: Biolizard - Shadow
- Final Boss: The Final Hazard - Super Sonic/Super Shadow tag team
[edit] Secrets
- Green Hill Zone - Sonic
- Chao Garden - Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Eggman, Rouge
- Costumes in 2P mode - Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Eggman, Rouge, Metal Sonic, Amy Rose, Chao Walker, Dark Chao Walker (GameCube only), Big the Cat (Dreamcast only) , Chaos 0, and Tikal.
- New Karts in Kart Race - Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Eggman, Rouge
- Test Level - Secret level used in testing accessible only using Action Replay.
[edit] Two-player mode
There are some characters that can only be played on two-player mode. These include, Amy Rose, Metal Sonic, Tikal the Echidna, Chaos, Chao, Dark Chao (Gamecube only, Dreamcast Unlockable), Eggrobo (Kart Racing), and Big the Cat (Dreamcast only). However, using Action Replay these characters can be playable in single-player mode.
A multitude of levels from single-player are playable. The levels playable in two-player mode are mostly the same as the normal game; Sonic, Shadow, Amy and Metal Sonic race, Tails, Eggman, Chao, Dark Chao have a shootout, and Knuckles, Rouge, Tikal and Chaos hunt for emerald shards.
[edit] Themes
The Sonic Adventure 2 main theme, "Live and Learn", was created by the group Crush 40.
Each character also has their own separate theme song.
Hero Side:
Sonic - "It Doesn't Matter" (remake)
Tails - "Believe in Myself" (remake)
Knuckles - "Unknown From M. E." (remake)
Amy Rose - "My Sweet Passion"
Dark Side:
Shadow - "Throw it All Away"
Rouge - "Fly in the Freedom"
Eggman - "E. G. G. M. A. N."
[edit] Reaction
Opinions of Sonic Adventure 2 are variable among both professional reviewers and fans of the Sonic series. Although the initial Dreamcast release of Sonic Adventure 2 generally received positive reviews (with the game's smooth graphics praised as some of the best visuals on the system), the game faced the following criticisms:
- The camera system is largely fixed, but it is difficult to successfully adjust before automatically snapping back into its original preset position. This is the most persistent complaint of both Sonic Adventure titles from professional critics.
- The game was more linear, being speed-based, single-lane highways suspended over bottomless pits. Contrary to earlier games, there were few opportunities for exploration - for example, whereas Tails shared many levels with Sonic in the original Adventure, in the sequel his levels are much more restricted in terms of movement and gameplay.
- Another criticism of the game came from the characters themselves - that they were too removed from the original Adventure in terms of how they acted and spoke. Sonic, for example, was seen as being more violent in Sonic Adventure 2, particularly in his encounters with Shadow. Amy Rose, instead of 'making that Sonic respect [her]' at the end of her previous story, was reduced to being another sidekick, to be seen in cutscenes only - as opposed to her major role in the original Adventure.
- If the game is played with dialogues in English, the lip syncing is poor and in one story sequence Tails' mouth starts moving two seconds before he actually speaks. Many times, voice clips mix in with each other.
The GameCube port (Sonic Adventure 2 Battle) fared considerably worse in terms of reviews, despite having no single player gameplay changes from the Dreamcast version. Aside from this, some fans still consider Sonic Adventure 2 largely a successful sequel particularly its smoother 2 player game play.
[edit] Rouge's report
As Sega often does, in the Japanese Official Strategy Guide to Sonic Adventure 2, some interesting and exclusive content was provided that sheds slightly more light on the events that transpire in the plot; "A partial excerpt from the last investigative report by Rouge, about Project Shadow". Rouge, who was a double agent for the government in Sonic Adventure 2, gives us a peek at what she uncovered about Shadow the Hedgehog's mysterious origins.
In it, Rouge notes she has discovered a letter to Professor Gerald Robotnik from the President of that era, requesting that Gerald research "mankind's ultimate dream", the secret to eternal life. Gerald would have no part in the research, declaring that it was "like playing God". Further research on Rouge's part reveals that Gerald was ultimately forced to accept the position after his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, contracted the disease NIDS (Neuro Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome). With no cure for NIDS, Gerald entered the program in hopes that he could treat her illness using data he gathered from his research into eternal life.
Thus, Project Shadow was born, aboard the Space Colony ARK. Here, the confidential research began by experimenting on lizards, and their regenerative growth abilities. However, applying Chaos Emerald Energy to the test subject became too risky, and it became violent and out of control. It is unknown how, but information about an accident involving a mutated lizard, "The Proto-Type of the Ultimate Life-Form", was leaked to the Guardian Unit of Nations. By taking advantage of the situation aboard ARK, G.U.N. enacted a procedure under the codename, "ARK's Indestructible Seal", with the ultimate goal of erasing the existence of Project Shadow indefinitely.
However, there was a miscalculation: By the time G.U.N. arrived on ARK, they discovered Gerald was already placing the finishing touches on the finalized "Ultimate Life-Form", a hedgehog named Shadow. Gerald, Maria, and Shadow attempted to escape the ARK before the G. U. N. could seize Shadow - but in the commotion, Maria was shot and killed. With her last ounce of strength, she ejected Shadow's escape pod to Earth.
[edit] Voice actors
| Role | English Voice Actor | Japanese Voice Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Ryan Drummond | Junichi Kanemaru |
| Shadow the Hedgehog | David Humphrey | Kouji Yusa |
| Miles "Tails" Prower | Corey Bringas | Atsuki Murata |
| Dr. Eggman | Deem Bristow | Chikao Ohtsuka |
| Knuckles the Echidna | Scott Dreier | Nobutoshi Kanna |
| Rouge the Bat | Lani Minella | Rumi Ochiai |
| Omochao | Lani Minella | |
| Amy Rose | Jennifer Douillard | Taeko Kawata |
| Gerald Robotnik | Marc Biagi | |
| Maria Robotnik | Shelly Fox | Yuri Shiratori |
| The President | Steve Broadie |
[edit] Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
| Sonic Adventure 2 Battle | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Sonic Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) |  December 10, 2001 February 12, 2002 May 3, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone OFLC: G8+ |
| Platform(s) | GameCube |
| Media | 1.5 gigabyte optical disc |
| Input | Game controller |
There was an update to Sonic Adventure 2 for the Nintendo GameCube, called Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (ソニックアドベンチャー2バトル お買い得版 Sonikku Adobenchā Tsū Batoru O-kai-doku-ban?). This version was released on December 10, 2001 in Japan, February 12, 2002 in North America, and on the GameCube's launch (May 3, 2002) in Europe.
[edit] Features
This game changed a large portion of raising Chao, the A-life form available in both Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. A Chao's stats can be viewed from within the game. The player can transfer one Chao from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle to the "Tiny Chao Garden" section in Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, and Sonic Pinball Party with the GCN-GBA Link Cable. (If a Game Boy Advance is connected without a GBA Game inserted, a version of the Tiny Chao Garden can be copied temporarily into the Game Boy Advance's memory.) Also the introduction of Chao Karate, in which the Chao stats are used for stats in fighting, and the Chao fight in a fighting game style, with little influence from the player.
As with the Dreamcast version, after collecting all 180 emblems, the player can unlock a 3D version of the Green Hill Zone from Sonic 1, with a remixed version of the music from the original. Only Sonic is allowed to play this stage and while you are given a ranking, it is not recorded on the map screen.
New "Battle" multiplayer options were added, like the addition of new characteristics to the multiplayer-exclusive characters (which, in the original, had to be unlocked, but now karts replace their requirements). Some "bells and whistles" were also included.
In the GameCube version, the boxes in the Crazy Gadget level have a red 'x' on them instead of the Dreamcast's version's green 'x'. This is possibly because the Xbox bears a striking resemblance to the boxes with the green 'x'.
Minor special effects were added to the game, such as rain in White Jungle.
Strangely, Big the Cat's humorous cameos didn't remain in the stages, but he can still be viewed in some story sequences by rapidly pressing the A button throughout the scenes. He no longer appears in the Hero Side story, however, which means he is not in Sonic's opening scene in any form.
Another key thing was that, in this version, on the 5th Mission for the Cosmic Wall stage, as opposed to the requirement of 50,000 points for an A rank, as was the case on the Dreamcast version, 100,000 points were required instead, and this left many confused and sometimes very frustrated with trying to achieve the score.
[edit] Reception
This version of the game was not as well-received as its Dreamcast predecessor. One possible reason is that it was seen as technologically inferior to most other GameCube games developed originally for that system, such as having inferior graphics, bad translations, and many bugs, despite slightly enhanced character models and textures, and the removal of some bugs.
However, to date, the game has done well with sales of 1.14 million units in North America alone, making it one of the GameCube's highest selling games,[2] and it is still one of the most popular GameCube games.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Sonic Adventure 2 review on IGN
- ^ US Platinum Videogame Chart. The Magic Box. Retrieved on August 13, 2005.
- ^ Sonic Adventure 2 Battle at GameSpot
[edit] External links
- Sonic Adventure 2 information site
- Sonic Adventure 2 at MobyGames
- Sonic Adventure 2 Battle at MobyGames
- Sonic Adventure 2 page at The GHZ
- Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle) time attack records at The Sonic Center
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Sonic the Hedgehog main series
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Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) · Sonic the Hedgehog 2 · Sonic the Hedgehog CD · Sonic the Hedgehog 3 · Sonic & Knuckles · Sonic Adventure · Sonic Adventure 2 · Sonic Heroes · Shadow the Hedgehog · Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) · Sonic and the Secret Rings |
