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 by Johnny Liu |
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It's also a little strange since we have yet to see Mario on the Gamecube. Sure, Luigi romped through a spooky castle, but the system is still missing a classic platformer featuring a famous mascot.
Well,
not anymore, because Sonic Adventure 2 Battle is a port of the Dreamcast
version. The single player sticks to the original source material, but now
there are some new battle stages and modes for you and a buddy.
Speaking of which, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle introduces two new characters to the Sonic universe: Shadow, the anti-Sonic, and Rouge, an annoying bat with breasts.
The plot is classic Sonic. Robotnik, while searching the remnants of his grandfather's laboratory, uncovers Shadow the Hedgehog. Together, the two conspire to unleash the Eclipse Cannon - a weapon of mass destruction. Apparently the government is color blind and arrests Sonic for Shadow's nefarious hijinks.
The game allows you to join the path of light or fall to the dark side by selecting either the Hero or Evil quests. Help Sonic, Knuckles and Tails get to the bottom of Robotnik's schemes or try to take over the world with Robotnik, Shadow and Rouge. A very cool choice, but it would have been even better if a choose-your-own story method a la Guardian Heroes was used. Instead, the level progression is strictly linear for the two stories.
From a story standpoint, Sonic games haven't progressed from the classic rules of 1.) Robotnik = bad; 2.) Sonic = good; and 3.) Finish the game to get an image of Sonic pointing at you. Despite the nice length of the game, the story is still simple and barely picks up at the end. Sure, it's an action game, but if they are attempting a more compelling story, they should follow through on it.
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle actually gets rid of the "adventure" element from the first Sonic Adventure, opting for a level-to-level flow that's true to the nature of the Sonic series. Unfortunately, this rhythm is a staccato beat due to the forced switching of characters between levels.
The Sonic levels play great...and then, you get jarringly smacked upside the head with the far slower Knuckles or Tails levels. While these stages aren't so bad by themselves, the sharp contrast of speeding along only to slam into a brick wall causes the game to lose some magic.
Each character has a different style of gameplay. Robotnik rides his classic eggpod and Tails jets around in his Valkyrie-esque robot-plane. Knuckles and Rouge must search for emeralds, utilizing their flying and wall climbing abilities. And obviously, Sonic and Shadow run really, really fast. Regardless of the character, the control is kept relatively simple and is easy to pick up. It's actually made all the more simple with the big fat "A" Gamecube button used for jumping.
But again, it boils down to level design, which is a mixed bag. The best Tails/Robotnik stages play like classic twitch-shooters on rails. The Knuckles/Rouge stages are just incredibly huge. Plus, there are upgrades for your characters that will allow them to uncover new secrets.
Still, the Knuckles/Rouge stages suffer from a narrow-minded emerald detection meter. The meter only indicates nearby emeralds in a certain order. You might be able to accidentally stumble upon an emerald, but your meter only tells you where the "next" one is. Annoying when you consider that the levels are still time-based.
In contrast, the Sonic/Shadow levels are fast, well designed, and play like a 3D take on the original game. They've brought in some classic obstacles like the loop de loop and cyclone tubes. There are also some new inventions tailored for the three-dimensional world, such as 6-way gravity, miniature planets, and the over-publicized rail grinding. Jump onto a rail suspended high in the starry sky, and slide down Jet Grind style
The "smart" camera is designed to always keep the open path on screen For example, Sonic is supposed to turn left at a corner. Once you reach the corner, the camera will whip around to give you a view to your left. That sounds all fine and dandy in theory, but the reality often proves to be a different beast.
Often, the camera will get stuck behind objects or point you astray. It feels a touch better in the Gamecube version, but every now and then it can get annoying. One area has Rouge perched high above the floor. The camera won't allow rotation, so you can't really see where she's going to land. Leap of faith!
Despite
the camera issues, the graphics are sweet, sweet eye-crack with a port that
dishes an unwavering 60 FPS. Levels have sharp, photographic textures and it
looks no worse for wear than the Dreamcast version. The characters look and
animate beautifully. Shadow runs like he's effortlessly skating, and you simply
have to see how Robotnik runs about in the Chao Garden. It's a gas. He and Luigi
should have a competition for Lamest Gaming Jog.
I wasn't a big fan of the original's musical themes, but I like the kitsch value of those odd 80's J-pop songs done by groups speaking limited English. The character themes in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle are thankfully more understated. What you get is a mix of good to above-average tunes. The lyrical tracks seemed to get lost in the game, but if you pay attention and listen to them, they are quite heinous. Exhibit A: The Knuckles rap. Whoa.
The game is chock full of extras and extended play features. A whopping 180 goals to complete is nothing to thumb your nose at, and the two-player modes of the original have been greatly expanded. There are more levels in which to compete as well as some new character choices for the battles. Robotnik and Tails can now duke it out in a low-budget Power Stone/Smash Brothers fighting arena. The two-player modes offer decent, short-lived fun and I love the fact that there was at least an attempt to add content to this port. But all in all, the battle modes are far from a dramatic addition.
Chao raising on your VMU has been swapped out in favor of the Gamecube-to-Game Boy Advance cable, which allows you to send your little Chao baby into handheld land. The VMU offered more of a virtual pet, Tamogotchi experience, while the GBA's take has better mini games but loses some of the neurotic antics of the little VMU Chao that made it so charming.
While Chao raising on the GBA doesn't require the GBA game Sonic Advance, you will need the game if you want to save your Chao to your GBA. Alternatively, there's a sleep mode that uses low battery consumption. Your Chao still needs to be uploaded back to your GC, or else say good bye to your little friend.
Although it has a few hang-ups, the Gamecube manifestation of Sonic Adventure 2 is as solid as the Dreamcast version. The single player experience is the same, so Dreamcast players can opt out of this re-iteration. The battle modes make a good effort to differentiate the two and offer decent fun, but the developers didn't address the main problems of the original game.
But when you've got it, you've got it. Even on a system where you'd never expect to see the blue streak, there are plenty of classic wide-eyed moments of joy following the heels of the world's fastest, most arrogant hedgehog.
| Revolution Report Card |
| B |
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+ Sonic levels |
