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Systems > GameCube > S > Sonic Adventure 2: Battle > Staff Review
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Review by David Wilson
November 05, 2006
Now, where was I? Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was the first Sonic game to be on a Nintendo system. Although, people liked to pick apart the fact that it was travesty that Sonic was on the Gamecube, it actually was one of the better games in the early Gamecube library. What about Super Mario Sunshine, I hear you cry? Forget it; Mario hasn’t starred in a quality platform game since 1991. Luigi’s Mansion? Do you ever have sleep problems? This game is the cure. In fact, when I first purchased my Gamecube, Sonic Adventure 2 was the only game going for it. (Bare in mind, this was before Wind Waker, which is easily the best Gamecube game to date.)
Unlike the original Sonic Adventure, SA2 splits the story, the characters and the mechanics in half. Instead of having six playable characters which follow their own individual path in the story and have their own specific abilities. This game shuffles the cast and the story by dividing it in two. On one side, we have the heroes, Sonic, Knuckles and Tails, who need no introduction. On the dark side (Ah!! I won’t do any Star Wars joke. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!), we have Dr. Robotnik (NOT DR. EGGMAN!) and two new characters: Shadow the Hedgehog, a mysterious immortal which shares the exact characteristics of our blue hero, and Rouge the bat. A new female character who has a thing for bling!
The game focuses on three sections which each character from either side is assigned to. Sonic and Shadow’s main ability is speed so their levels are constructed for you to whiz through them in an attempt to re-kindle the flames of the original classic Sonic titles of the 16-bit era. With these two, you’ll dash through stages, collect vast amount of rings to gain an extra life and jump on badniks (although, the guys we have here are more like security robots.) Sonic has all of the abilities from the classic era: his speed and his spin dash as well as brand new techniques such as his ability to bounce like a ball, ignite into flames as he rolls across the ground and home onto enemy robots. Shadow, as a clone of Sonic, doesn’t have anything different from him, aside from cooler shoes. Most of their levels have the same goal, which entails you to get from one end of the stage to the other within the time limit.
Those who enjoyed the adventures of E-102 Gamma, the robot with a soul in Sonic Adventure will be happy to find that the key elements of his game have been re-introduced here. However, taking his place are Sonic’s popular sidekick, Miles “Tails” Prower and Sonic’s nemesis (available to play for the first time ever), Dr Ivo Robotnik! (Not Eggman, people! I cannot stress that enough!) They follow the exact same shooting game that Gamma originally introduced to us back in the original adventure. Both Tails and Robotnik have robotic walkers which they are confined it. These walkers have homing launchers, similar to Gamma’s gun, which you have to use to destroy certain targets to gain extra time, health and other assorted power ups. Both characters have the ability to hover, which is incredibly useful for floating down from large drops so you don’t hit anything nasty on the way down or so you gather floating items. Unfortunately, this sub-game requires very little cognition. Holding down the homing button to target all of the enemies in the room and releasing it to fire, isn’t exactly the most interesting thing to do but it’s certainly entertaining enough.
The third and final main component of the game comes from the treasure hunting game that was Knuckle’s main mission in the previous adventure. Once again, the Master Emerald is shattered into tiny fragments and scattered across the world! So, it’s up to Knuckles to go out and gather the pieces again. However, he’ll have some competition this time as the new girl on the scene, Rouge the bat, just happens to have particular fetish with the very same emerald. Just like the other sets of characters, Knuckles and Rouge share the same abilities. They have to use the retuning emerald radar to search an area for three emerald pieces. It’s often cited as the worst aspect of this game and the last one, but it’s an intriguing challenge. Unlike the other modes, it actually challenges you to think creatively to discover the shards of emerald. If you hear anyone complaining about how poor this section of the game is, then it’s probably because they either suck at it or don’t have the patience to give it a chance.
Although, this is pretty much it for the main section, the game comes with some extremely addictive sub-games to pass the time. It doesn’t allow you to unlock older classic Sonic games like Sonic Adventure DX did but it does give you an upgraded and more interactive Chao garden, which could easily be the most addictive concept I’ve played in years. Chao’s are small creatures which you can feed, train and race for your enjoyment. If you remember the Tamagotchi’s that were really big, back in late nineties you’ll be familiar with the stuff you have to do in the garden. With your Chao, you can give it small animals and coloured Chao drives that you can collect from the main game. These will alter the appearance of your Chao and make it stronger in specific areas, such as its ability to fly, swim and fight. When you’ve fed your Chao enough drives and animals, you can enter it to fight other Chaos in the Karate dojo or you can test you Chao in the races. Although it sounds rather boring and hollow, it is actually extremely addictive and entertaining due to its originality and charm.
One feature which is exclusive to the Gamecube version, is the ability to battle (hence the new title) each other in two-player mode. It takes the three main concepts of the game and allows you to play as alternative characters. For example, the speedy game revolving around Sonic and Shadow is turned into a race and also allows you to play as Amy Rose and Metal Sonic. The shooting game has been turned into a duel, where you blast each other until one player’s health runs out; you get the additional option to play as two different Chao Walkers, which are amusing robots that are controlled by chaos themselves. In a similar twist, the emerald hunting game is simply transformed into a race to find them before the other player, with Tikal the echidna and Chaos Zero thrown in as additional characters. It also allows you to play a kart racing game, which apart from being insanely fast, offers little to the imagination.
Now, one thing that this game is rather notorious for is its highly unusual and occasionally irritating soundtrack. Now, I think its basic common knowledge to avoid J-pop in all of its forms, except maybe for Cosmic Eternity on Sonic CD. However, SA2 thrives on it by not only including an incredibly annoying theme song for each character, but it alters from every stage. The first level with its “Follow Me Set me Free” song is quite possibly the most annoying song I’ve heard. The rapping on the Knuckle’s levels is just awful, despite being annoyingly catchy.
Hey, yo! This is Knuckles at Pumpkin Hill, y’all. Word!
Well, they’re not as bad as that. In fact, they’re probably worse! The only one which I actually enjoyed was Robotnik’s “I am the Eggman”, but in all honesty, it blows just as much as the rest of them.
However, I bring back my opening argument. Sonic Adventure 2 is easily one of the more enjoyable platform titles on the Gamecube. It’s got more action than Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion and Metroid Prime combined. (Okay, so that’s a bad example since neither Luigi’s Mansion or Metroid Prime had any action to begin with.) If you can forgive the horrible soundtrack, which can be easily amended, you’ll find that Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is an enjoyable title packed with action and excitement. Worth getting for the pennies it’s going for nowadays.
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Very Good This game does enough things right that for the most part, you'll likely enjoy yourself while playing it. Recommended. |
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Staff reviews represent the opinion of the individual staff member that wrote them and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the site staff as a whole. If you disagree with the contents of this review, you may click to leave feedback on our dedicated forum. Thank you!
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Title: Sonic Adventure 2: Battle |
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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is another GameCube game in the Action genre that has been attracting activity lately, so you might want to check it out and see what all of the fuss is about!
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