Sonic Adventure 2

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Sonic Adventure 2
North American Dreamcast cover art
Developer(s)	Sega Studio USA
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Takashi Iizuka (Director/Level Designer)
Writer(s)	Shiro Maekawa
Artist(s)	Kazuyuki Hoshino (Art Director/Characters) Yuji Uekawa (Characters) Hiroshi Nishiyama (Field Art Director) Michikazu Tamamura (Lead Event Artist)
Composer(s)	Jun Senoue (Sound Director) Kenichi Tokoi Fumie Kumatani Tomoya Ohtani
Engine	Tetsu Katano (Main Programmer)
Platform(s)	Dreamcast, GameCube
Release date(s)	Dreamcast JP June 23, 2001 NA June 18, 2001 PAL June 23, 2001 GameCube JP December 10, 2001 NA February 7, 2002 PAL May 3, 2002
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer (two-player)
Rating(s)	CERO: A ELSPA: 3+ ESRB: E OFLC: G8+
Media	GD-ROM, Nintendo optical disc
Input methods	Game controller, GameCube controller

Sonic Adventure 2 (ソニックアドベンチャー2, Sonikku Adobenchā 2^?) is a video game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega in 2001 as a part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Sonic Adventure 2 is the sequel of Sonic Adventure.

The game was released in North America on June 19th, 2001 and in Japan and Europe on June 23, 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of the original 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 games to officially feature Doctor Eggman as a playable character. It is also the first game in which the latter character is wholly referred to as "Eggman" in the West, and the "Robotnik" name was adopted in Japan for other related characters.

On December 10, 2001, a port of the game called Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was released onto the Nintendo GameCube in Japan, followed by North America on February 12, 2002 and Europe on May 3, 2002.

Gameplay

Sonic Adventure 2 follows the same basic principles of previous games in the series. Within the stages are Rings, which will protect the player from dying so long as one is held by the player. The Tails and Doctor Eggman stages are an exception, in which the player has a health bar which is reloaded by gathering rings). Item capsules are also located within the stages, and when broken by the character they reward the player with one of a variety of bonuses. Each character has power-ups (referred to as Level-Up Items) which grant them new abilities, such as destroying metal boxes or playing mystical melodies.

Single-player

The single player mode takes place between two parallel storylines, the "Hero" story and the "Dark" story; the player has the option of advancing in either one or the other at any time. The "Hero" story features Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and the non-playable Amy, while the "Dark" story features Shadow, Rouge, and Dr. Eggman. Each hero character plays similarly to their respective dark character, and vice versa. Levels advance in order for each storyline, alternating between each of the playable characters.

Levels featuring Sonic or Shadow are regular platformers, designed in much the same way as they were in Sonic's levels in Sonic Adventure,^[1] where in the player's primary objective is simply to get to the end of the level. Levels with Tails or Dr. Eggman are based on shooting, allow the player to control a mechanized robot walker and shoot their way to the end, reminiscent of E-102 Gamma's stages in Sonic Adventure. The Knuckles and Rouge levels are based on hunting, with the characters scouring their levels for three items, usually shards of the Master Emerald, much like Knuckles' levels in Sonic Adventure. Interspersed between the levels are various bosses, which one particular character must fight. The main story line can only be finished when both "Hero" and "Dark" story modes are finished, and an extra "Final" story mode is revealed where the player must use all the characters to achieve the true ending.

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, with A being the highest and E being the lowest. Irrelevant to any other factors, an A Rank is automatically awarded to players that complete any score-ranked mission with all of the rings from that level in the player's possession.

There are five missions within each Action Stage; in order to obtain the second mission, the player must complete the first one, to unlock the third, the second mission must be finished, and so on. In order from first through fifth, the missions are to complete the level, collect 100 rings, find a "lost Chao" using the Mystic Melody, finish within a time limit, and complete a "Hard mode" version of the Action Stage.

Emblems are also given within the game; there are 180 Emblems in total. In order to gain all 180 Emblems, players must defeat every mission within every stage, achieve an A rank in all stages and missions, etc. After collecting all 180 Emblems the player unlocks an extra level 3-D Green Hill level. 3-D Green Hill is a remake of Green Hill Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog game.

Two-player mode

A two-player mode is introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, where the complementary characters are able to play against one another in racing levels, shooting levels, and treasure-hunting levels. Stages from the main one-player game are available in this mode, though slightly altered for competitive play. The goals for each stage is to defeat the other player by completing the goal first: racing levels require the player to reach the Goal Ring, shooting levels end when one Walker runs out of energy, either by being destroyed by the competitor or falling off the stage; and the treasure hunting levels are won when one character gets two of the three Emerald shards. Special moves are acquired by collecting a number of rings; these moves are also seen in the final bosses of the Hero and Dark stories.

Special features in two-player mode are unlockable by meeting certain conditions in the single player mode. These include additional characters and alternate costumes. The additional characters include familiar characters from previous games, but they must be unlocked in the original Dreamcast version: Amy and Metal Sonic complement Sonic and Shadow, Chao and Dark Chao complement Tails and Eggman, and Tikal and Chaos 0 complement Knuckles and Rouge. Alternate costumes are usable only in two player mode and vary in each version of the game, as do the conditions required to unlock the costumes.

Chao and Chao World

Chao are protected by Chaos, and are raised and taken care of much like real babies are taken care of. The entire area they live in is called Chao World, which is separate from the rest of the game world. Chao World incorporates three main areas: the Chao Gardens (three in total; two must be unlocked), the Chao Kindergarten, and the Chao Race Lobby (which includes Chao Karate in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle).

Chao Gardens are the homes for Chao, and where they are raised. When the Chao hatch, they crawl and are unable to swim. They get their nutrition from knocking the fruit off trees. When a Chao begins to grow up, it will eventually go into a cocoon stage in which it will transform. Depending on how the each Chao in the garden is raised and treated during childhood, it can become a Light or Dark Chao. If the chao evolves without having a preference over either the light or dark side, it will remain neutral. Chaos Drives and hidden animals found in the action stages can be given to Chao during childhood to affect the Chao's stats and physical attributes.

The Chao Kindergarten is where the player can take the Chao to have it named, its health and stats checked, and have it learn new skills. Also, in the GameCube adaptation only, a black market was introduced where rare items can be purchased using the Rings collected during normal gameplay. The Black Market is also in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, and with more game Emblems earned, rarer merchandise becomes available on the Market.

Plot

After discovering the existence of a secret weapon mentioned in the diary of his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, Dr. Eggman infiltrates a high-security G.U.N. facility in search of it. This weapon, a black hedgehog named Shadow who claims himself the "Ultimate Life Form", offers to help Eggman take over the world, telling him to rendezvous with him at the abandoned Space Colony ARK. Shadow invades the city and steals a Chaos Emerald from the Central Bank. G.U.N. forces mistake Shadow for Sonic and the latter is apprehended, only momentarily evading capture to confront Shadow, whom demonstrates his profound Chaos Emerald-empowered ability to use Chaos Control which allows him to warp time and space.

Meanwhile, Knuckles confronts both Rouge the Bat and Eggman, who attempt to steal the Master Emerald for each their own reasons. Knuckles shatters the Master Emerald to prevent this, and proceeds to search for the scattered shards and restore the the Emerald. While Rouge also intends to collect the shards, she must also accomplish a mission to spy on Eggman for the government. This mission leads her to the ARK, where Shadow relays to Eggman his plan to use the Chaos Emeralds to charge a superweapon on the ARK called the Eclipse Cannon to take over the world. To accomplish this, Shadow and Eggman recruit Rouge to assist in their search of Chaos Emeralds.

The trio collects three Emeralds on Prison Island, encountering Sonic and his friends along the way, and destroy the island. Eggman then broadcasts his threats across the planet, demonstrating the cannon's current level of power by severely damaging the Moon. Sonic and company use the final Emerald within their possession to track down the other six, Knuckles coming along as well. Together, the group infiltrate Eggman's base, narrowly boarding Eggman's shuttle as it launches into space. Along the ride into space, Knuckles' Master Emerald shards are spilled, and he leaves the group to collect them, fighting Rouge in the process.

Onboard the ARK, Tails reveals that he has created a counterfeit Chaos Emerald with the same wavelengths and properties of a real Emerald; however, it is designed to reverse the effects of the real Emeralds and destroy the Eclipse Cannon. Sonic goes to place the fake Emerald into the cannon when Eggman announces he has captured Tails and Amy. Sonic tries to give Eggman the fake Emerald, but at the last second Eggman traps and jettisons Sonic in an escape pod rigged with explosives. Using the fake Emerald, Sonic manages to perform Chaos Control and escape before it explodes, but Tails, thinking Sonic is dead, fights Eggman again. Shadow is sent to intercept Sonic before he destroys the Eclipse Cannon. After a fight, however, Sonic succeeds, with Tails and Amy relieved to see Sonic is alive and well.

After Eggman collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, Gerald Robotnik's failsafe activates, and a recorded message is broadcast by the late Gerald explaining that the ARK will collide with and destroy the planet Earth. The two sides agree to work together to take the Master Emerald to the core of the Eclipse Cannon to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds and stop the collision. Once there, Sonic and Knuckles encounter the Biolizard, a prototype of Gerald Robotnik's experiment to create the ultimate life form. Shadow defeats the Biolizard, allowing Sonic and Knuckles to complete their mission. However, the Biolizard revives and uses Chaos Control to fuse with the Eclipse Cannon, continuing the ARK's collision course. Using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Shadow transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow,^[2][3] and defeat the Biolizard for the final time. They then use Chaos Control to place the ARK back into Earth's orbit. In the process, however, Shadow plummets to earth to his apparent death. The group returns to Earth, remembering Shadow as a hero.

Development

This section requires expansion.

Cast

Doctor Eggman's name

One noticeable detail about this game is the name of Dr. Eggman. The original English instruction manual for his 1991 debut game Sonic the Hedgehog described the character's full name as "Doctor Ivo Robotnik"^[4] while the Japanese version's instruction manual for the same game called him "Doctor Eggman".^[5] Then, in 1999's Sonic Adventure, the character was called both "Doctor Robotnik" and "Doctor Eggman" in the English version.^[6] Yuji Naka has explained that "Robotnik" is the character's real name while "Eggman" is a "common name taken after his shape."^[7] Despite this, the Japanese Sonic Channel profile listed his full name as unknown.^[8] Sonic Adventure 2 is the first game released in the West in which he is wholly referred to as "Eggman" in the English dub; at no time is he called "Robotnik" by anyone. However, this is also the first game in which the "Robotnik" name was used in the Japanese original. This is noted when the Last story begins in the Japanese dub; when his grandfather appears on screen, Eggman recites his name as "Dr. Gerald Robotnik".

Music

Jun Senoue returned as head composer for this game. Like the previous game, each character gets an instrumental motif that serves as their theme song. The game features performances by returning vocalists Tony Harnell, Ted Poley, Marlon Saunders, Nikki Gregoroff and Johnny Gioeli, as well as new vocalists Tabitha Fair, Todd Cooper, Paul Shortino, Everett Bradley, Kaz Silver and Hunnid-P.

Crush 40 officially debuted with the theme song Live and Learn, which plays during the main menu and the final battle.

The Sonic Adventure 2 Multi-Dimensional Original Soundtrack was produced by Jun Senoue and released by Marvelous Entertainment on August 22, 2001. The songs feature the band Crush 40, which consists of Senoue and vocalist Johnny Gioeli. ^[9]

Sonic Adventure 2 Vocals Collection: Cuts Unleashed was produced by Jun Senoue and released on August 21, 2001 by MMV. It contains musical tracks from the game composed by Jun Senoue and Kenichi Tokoi.

Reception

Opinions of Sonic Adventure 2 are variable among both professional reviewers and fans of the Sonic series. At its initial release on the Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure 2 was the recipient of very positive reviews, averaging an 89% according to critic compiler Metacritic. ^[10] The game received praise for its fast-paced Sonic/Shadow levels, high-quality graphics, enhanced Chao Garden and improved gameplay mechanics from the original. The game's music has gone on to become some of the most well-known in the franchise with the main theme Live and Learn being cited as the best song in the game. Like its predecessor however, the game received criticism concerning the game's camera system. Although sites like Gamespot admitted that the camera flaws in the original Sonic Adventure were "infinitely more frustrating by comparison" the sequel was still noted to "retain some of the quirky camera work". Along with the camera flaws, the game received criticism for the Knuckles/Rouge levels, which were described by some reviewers as "confusing" and "frustrating" as well as the game having a lack of challenging boss fights. Despite these issues, the game was still a critical and commercial success with many reviewers agreeing that the game was one of the last great Dreamcast releases. IGN concluded that "If this is the last Sonic game in these declining Dreamcast years, it's satisfying to know that the DC didn't go out with a bang, but with a sonic boom."^[1]

The GameCube re-release, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, fared considerably worse in terms of reviews^[11], despite having no single player gameplay changes from the Dreamcast version and only an 8-month gap between their releases. Despite this, the game has sold 1.44 million units in the United States alone, making it one of the GameCube's highest selling games.^[12] The game also sold well enough to be re-released as a Player's Choice title.^[13]

Sonic Adventure 2 has also won several awards: IGN and GamePro's Editors' Choice Awards; and GameSpy's Best of 2001: Best Dreamcast action/adventure game. Also, ScrewAttack rated Sonic Adventure 2 the fifth best Dreamcast game ever.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

North American cover art

The Nintendo GameCube adaption of Sonic Adventure 2 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. This game is also the first Sonic the Hedgehog game on a Nintendo system, having been released ten days before Sonic Advance in Japan.

Features and differences

This game changed a large portion of raising Chao, the artificial life form available in both Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. A Chao's stats can be viewed from within the game. ^[14]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. Chao Karate was also introduced in this version. The Chao's stats are used against a computer-controlled opponent to fight in a fighting game style, but with minimal influence from the player and very little in the way of actual Karate.^[15] The layouts of all three Chao Gardens were also changed slightly, with Sonic Adventure 2 Battle's Chao Gardens being significantly smaller than those of the original Dreamcast version.

Most noticeably, the "Battle" multiplayer options were expanded upon, including the addition of new characteristics to the multiplayer-exclusive characters.^[16] In the original these had to be unlocked, but now additional features for the kart mode are unlocked for their previous requirements.

There are several purely aesthetic changes, as well. In the GameCube version, minor special effects were added such as rain in the "White Jungle" level. Also, when playing as Knuckles or Rouge, an exclamation (!) will appear above his or her head when directly nearby their targets. Moreover, some cutscenes were redone slightly, with different or improved character animations and camera angles. Some rankings also had their requirements changed. Quite noticeably, the cutscenes appear to play faster than on its original Dreamcast counterpart^{[citation needed]}, such as when the heroes crash on their first arrival on the ARK. Big the Cat's cameos did not remain in the stages or in cutscenes, but he can still be viewed in some story sequences by rapidly pressing the A or B buttons throughout the scenes. He no longer appears in the multiplayer mode, where he was replaced by a Dark Chao.

References

External links

• Sonic Adventure 2 Official Site
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Official Site
• Sonic Adventure 2 at Giant Bomb
• Sonic Adventure 2 at MobyGames
• Sonic Adventure 2 Battle at MobyGames
• Sonic Adventure 2 at the Sonic Retro community wiki