I will never forget the first time I saw Sonic Adventure. I had no idea what to expect and when I saw the gameplay on the screen, I knew that not only was I seeing something special, I was also witnessing next gen gaming.
I really do cherish this game. It definitely holds a place in my heart and it’s a game ive played through dozens of times. While it’s a game that is wonderful, it does have some glaring issues that I will discuss today. For this review I’m going to break it down into several categories and for each category, I’m going to give it a ranking out of 5 and at the end of the review I am going to average it all out for the final score. The categories for review are, graphics, music, sound and gameplay. So let’s take a seat and prepare ourselves to revisit, Sonic Adventure!
Graphics: 5/5
With the exception of the humans in this game, I feel that the graphics still hold up really well today. The graphics in this game truly felt next gen and definitely immersed you in the world that SEGA created. The environments were beautiful, the levels were gorgeous and it was amazing seeing sonic in a 3D setting where he didn’t look like a bunch of squares and triangles put together. Everything was so fluid and the game felt out of this world because of it. Graphics aren’t everything, but I would be damned to say that they didn’t play a huge role in this game.
Music: 5/5
One of this game’s greatest attributes is its music. The music in this game is a perfect blend of old meets new. So much so in fact that it was one of the first soundtracks I went out of my way to buy. Even a few of the songs in this game are remixed songs from Sonic 3D Blast, which as a Sonic fanboy, made me happier. It gives the game and the levels an atmosphere and, like the graphics, immerses you in the game. Each level can be defined by its music and that proves just how powerful and amazing the music is in this game. My only complaint is a fanboy complaint and it’s that I wish the invincibility music would have stayed the same from the older games. Nonetheless, great music.
Sound: 5/5
Much like the music, the sound is a mix of old and new and it works really well for this game. They changed up certain things but it didn’t feel forced. I actually welcomed the change they made considering Sonic’s jump sound. In the older games at times, the jumping sound could get kind of annoying and they toned it down in this game, which was nice change. The villains had some great sounds too, especially Chaos in his final form, in particular when he roars after basically taking over the city. Still gives me chills.
Gameplay/Controls: 3/5
Before you go grilling me on this, please let me explain. I still think the gameplay in this game is fun. It definitely brings back great memories of sitting in front of my TV for hours on end. However, certain things in this game even back when it was initially released, kinda bugged me.
One of my major gripes has always been the fact that in order to achieve Super Sonic, you had to play Amy and Big’s stories. I just felt that they were rushed and not really needed and were very repetitive, and the same can even be said about Tail’s story as well. Speaking of Super Sonic, this was the first game that I can remember where Super Sonic was only playable against the final boss. Talk about a wasted opportunity. Not only that, but until very recently, this game started the trend of having Super Sonic only playable at the end and not through the main levels. I will mention that Gamma’s levels are a lot of fun and the story was very gripping and added depth to the game.
Also, some of the controls would bug out as well, one of those being the homing attack. I want to mention that I think the homing attack was and is a great feature, but at times it would fail you in this game (it was greatly improved upon In Sonic Adventure 2). However, the worst offender of this was the light speed dash. So many times after charging up and getting in line with the rings, it would mess up and somehow miss a few rings in line and could lead to your demise (this was also fixed in Sonic Adventure 2).
Summary
Despite these issues, the music is amazing, the graphics are great, the atmosphere is beautiful and I feel that Sonic, Knuckles and to an extent, Tails’ stories are fun and the levels are what make this game replayable in my opinion. After combining all of the scores in the sections above, I give this game a 4.5/5
