Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast) review "Though Sonic and Shadow's levels are fun, it's a shame the game isn't exclusive to them. Tails and Eggman's levels are decent, but hardly great. And Knuckles/Rouge's levels are--oh my God--BAD! Since I love Knuckles, I kept trying to reassure myself saying, ''it's not that bad, it's not that bad,'' and then realizing, through the awful time I was having, that they really..."

Sonic Adventure was a great game. However, most Sonic fans--including myself--who have played Sonic Adventure will tell you: it was not good enough. Luckily, Sonic Team gave us Phantasy Star Online (and Sonic Shuffle, but that was mostly developed by Hudson--and wasn't very good) to keep us happy before the release of their next masterpiece, Sonic Adventure 2.

Sonic Adventure 2 is an improvement over its Dreamcast predecessor, Sonic Adventure, in many ways, especially gameplay.

First off, no longer are there any of those stupid adventure fields we came to hate in Sonic Adventure. The game goes straight from FMAs (or FMVs) to the action stages. Speaking of the action stages, the levels are about three times bigger than the stages in Sonic Adventure, and thus make it a hell of a lot more fun. Also, the graphics are an improvement over the ones found in Sonic Adventure, and as so add to the overall enjoyment of the title.

The game does not cycle through like it did in Sonic Adventure. When you begin playing the game, you can either play as the Heroes (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles), or the Dark characters (Robotnik, Shadow, and Rouge). Whichever you choose is up to you. Both reveal their own parts of the storyline. And, unlike in SA, the three characters in each story progress together, meaning Sonic would do an action stage or two, then Tails would have one, Knuckles, etc.

Because each of the forces uses the philosophy of ''opposites,'' each character has his or her own opposite. For instance, Sonic and Shadow rival each other in the game, as they are both hedgehogs, and both their stages are action stages, like Sonic's in SA. Knux's rival is a new character, Rouge, a bat. Their stages are almost exactly like Knuckles's in Sonic Adventure, except for a few modifications. And finally, we have Eggman (Robotnik) and Tails opposing each other. Their stages are much like Gamma's in Sonic Adventure, where they pilot walkers and shoot things. However, Tails uses a modified Tornado 2, called the Cyclone, and Robotnik uses his infamous Egg Walker.

Probably one of the most drastic improvements over Sonic Adventure with SA2 is the addition of a 2-player mode. In it, you can race go-karts in the new Kart Mode, or go head-to-head with each characters' opposite. For example, you can choose to have Sonic and Shadow racing each other, with each player controlling one of them. Or you can race to find a shard of the Master Emerald with Rouge and Knuckles, or you can go into a one-on-one shootout with Tails versus Robotnik. Very cool, indeed.

Also, the A-Life system has also been improved. This time, I found it to be much more fun, as you can either create a Dark or Hero Chao, depending on the characters you raise them with. You can also unlock two extra gardens--a Hero (Heaven) Garden, and a Dark (Hell) Garden.

With all these great things, you would think that it was an awesome title, eh? Not really...

First off, the US voices are downright awful. Tails still sounds like a little girl, Amy sounds like she's an idiot--wait, so does Sonic, and Eggman, and . . .

In addition to these crappy voices, the FMAs attempt to compliment the dialogue with lifelike movements. However, seeing Sonic fidgeting around like he's on caffeine and turning his head every two seconds doesn't exactly impress me.

Though Sonic and Shadow's levels are fun, it's a shame the game isn't exclusive to them. Tails and Eggman's levels are decent, but hardly great. And Knuckles/Rouge's levels are--oh my God--BAD! Since I love Knuckles, I kept trying to reassure myself saying, ''it's not that bad, it's not that bad,'' and then realizing, through the awful time I was having, that they really are that bad. However, the bosses are fun, and that's a plus.

As for the bonuses, there are several power-ups for each character, with some being necessary, and some hidden items proving to be merely helpful, or just making the character look cool. (Example: Knuckles' sunglasses).

Overall, Sonic Adventure 2 is a great game, however, its faults outweigh its strong points.. This is nowhere near as much of a must-have title as Sonic Adventure.

Staff review by Zack M (Date unavailable) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.