Sonic Adventure
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| Sonic Adventure {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
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| Developer(s) | Sonic Team {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | September 9 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | Dreamcast {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Sonic Adventure (ソニックアドベンチャー in Japanese) is a video game created by Sonic Team and released on December 23, 1998 in Japan by Sega for the Sega Dreamcast. The final updated edition, known as Sonic Adventure International, was released on September 9, 1999 in North America, October 14 in Japan and Europe, October 18 in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and December 3 in Australia.
Contents |
Plot
The game follows the story of Chaos, a mysterious liquid creature released from the Master Emerald by Dr. Eggman on the floating Angel Island. Eggman plans to use Chaos as part of scheme to make Station Square his own robotic city. If Chaos gets the seven elusive Chaos Emeralds, then he will transform into a powerful monster with unstoppable strength known as Perfect Chaos. Unfortunately for Eggman, our hero Sonic The Hedgehog gets involved in the scheme and plans to stop the doc from completing his goal. Eventually, Tails gets involved in the situation, and helps Sonic find the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles is also in this adventure as the Master Emerald was shattered and the pieces scattered, when Chaos was unleashed. Amy Rose saves a Flicky bird named Lily from one of Eggman's robots, E-100 Zero as it been captured before by Eggman. E-102 Gamma, is an artillery robot built by Eggman who gets caught up in the madness, after having to retrieve a certain tailed frog, who belongs to the laidback Big the Cat, who has left his peaceful life to rescue his pollywog pal, Froggy.
Every now and again, an odd red light transports the six heroes to an odd shrine where they meet a mysterious echidna girl named Tikal and the Chao. Can Sonic and Tails unravel Chaos' past and stop him from getting the Chaos Emeralds? Will Knuckles restore the Master Emerald and find out what killed his ancestors? Can Amy save Lily and herself from Zero and reunite with Sonic? Can E-102 escape Eggman's control and save his brothers from destruction, and can Big find Froggy?
Production
This is the first full 3D game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise (outside of the cancelled Sega Saturn game) and was generally considered the most impressive display of graphical prowess the genre had seen at the time. It was one of the first titles to be released on the Sega Dreamcast and was also the first "true" Sonic game (produced by Sonic Team) since Sonic & Knuckles in 1994. It was largely considered by fans to have been a major comeback for Sonic after a series of bad, poorly-designed games released in 1995 - 1997 (Sonic 3D Blast, Knuckles' Chaotix, etc.). Also unique is the ability to take a Chao creature found and hatched within the game and place it onto a VMU device for adventure, fighting, and breeding with other Chao on other VMU devices (they can be interconnected).
This was the first game in North America and Europe where the main villain was referred to as Doctor Eggman. Previously in these locales he had been named Doctor Ivo Robotnik (video games back when Sonic began named villians like Russians, due to the end of the Cold War, i.e Mega Man 4), with Sonic and friends using the nickname "Eggman". The manuals now refer to him as "Doctor Eggman aka Doctor Robotnik" with Sonic Adventure 2 where he starts going by the name "Doctor Eggman".
Sonic Adventure was re-released on the Nintendo GameCube under the title Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut on June 17, 2003 in North America, June 19 in Japan, and June 27 in Europe, and later made available on PC CD-ROM. The update includes enhanced graphics (including a change in Knuckles' appearance to resemble more the Sonic Adventure 2 Knuckles), a new Mission Mode, and the playability of every Sonic the Hedgehog Game Gear game. However, Sonic Team didn't remove all the glitches, add other features, or even include the original level designs of some of the stages that were either removed or completely redesigned, which can be considered a bad point for some.
Characters
Unlike the previous action game in the series, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Adventure has six different characters to choose from, providing two more than the four (Sonic & Tails combo being the fourth) available in the earlier Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
Playable Heroes
Sonic The Hedgehog/Super Sonic
The main hero of the game with supersonic speed. Sonic's story revolves around Dr. Eggman releasing Chaos from the Master Emerald. Sonic battles Eggman and Chaos in an effort to save Earth. Sonic has run ins with the other five main characters and must find the Chaos Emeralds before Eggman and Chaos do. Sonic's goal in levels is to either collect a Chaos Emerald or free animals from a capsule.
Miles "Tails" Prower
Sonic's twin-tailed sidekick, who starts to believe in himself. After Sonic rescues Tails from Emerald Coast, the two-tailed fox sets out to help Sonic collect the Chaos Emeralds and stop Chaos. Tails' final battle is against Eggman's Egg Walker. Tails' goal in levels is to race Sonic (except for his last stage, in which case it will be Eggman) to the target (Chaos Emerald, missile, capsule, etc.)
Knuckles the Echidna
Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald shatters when Eggman frees Chaos and Tikal's spirit from within it, causing Angel Island to fall out of the sky. (the chunk of the island containing the Master Emerald Shrine somehow separates from the island on impact, and a long bridge connecting it to the main Island then appears, possibly constructed by Knuckles). Knuckles' goal is to reassemble the shards of the Master Emerald. His levels are large, explorable areas in which you must hunt about the various Action Stages for three shards per stage using a sort of "Emerald Sense" radar to detect nearby Emerald shards. Knuckles is the only character able to dig, glide, or climb walls. He will later be joined in Sonic Adventure 2 by his rival with these abilities, Rouge the Bat.
Amy Rose
Amy Rose, Sonic's eternal girlfriend (in her own mind), is walking through Station Square one day when a tiny blue Flicky falls from the sky and lands on her head. It is discovered that Dr. Eggman needed the Flicky named Lily because of the Chaos Emerald in its pendant. Amy and Lily must escape E-100 Zero (AKA E-100 Alpha) the Chase Master throughout the levels until Amy confronts E-100 during the final battle.
Big the Cat
Big the Cat is a newcomer to the Sonic series of games. Big The Cat aptly fits his name as he is a massively rotund, purple cat. Big's best friend is a frog that he has creatively named "Froggy." Froggy becomes possessed by Chaos' tail, and swallows Big's "lucky charm", a Chaos Emerald, which causes him to mutate. Froggy then runs off, and Big's story begins. Big's levels are fishing minigames, in which Big must fish for, and catch, Froggy. Big may also catch a number of other fish for additional points.
E-102 Gamma
E-102 Gamma is one among a series of robots designed by Dr. Robotnik for the purpose of collecting Chaos Emeralds. After an encounter with Amy, he suffers a malfunction and gains a "conscience." He then turns his aim to destroying his robotic brothers and freeing the animals trapped inside. Gamma's levels are shooting levels. There is a time limit and if it expires the player loses a life. Gamma can gain extra time by destroying multiple enemies in a single lock-on. His missions end when he destroys a certain target (Other E-Series robots usually.). His final is against his older "brother", E-101 Mark II.
Villains and Minor Characters
Dr."Eggman" Robotnik
Doctor Ivo Robotnik, also known by Sonic and the gang as Doctor Eggman has formulated a new plan to conquer the planet, this time not relying on his robots alone, but this time employing a strange liquid creature only known as Chaos. He has also constructed a new vessel, The Egg Carrier!
Chaos
Little is known about Chaos, except that he is liquid, and mutates into different forms when in contact with Chaos Emeralds. It is later revealed near the end of the game, that Chaos is the guardian of the Chao. If he collects all 7 Chaos Emeralds he transforms into Perfect Chaos.
Tikal the Echidna
A mysterious echidna girl who appears whenever Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, E-102 Gamma and Big are sent back in time. She is trying to stop her father, Pachacamac, from stealing the Chaos Emeralds from the Master Emerald shrine. In the end, Tikal appears in the destroyed Station Square and asks Sonic to defeat Perfect Chaos. She appears in levels and the adventure fields as a red ball of light
Chao
Chao are featured in the flashbacks, said to be Chaos' children. They exist primarily in the Chao Gardens as a sort of intelligent virtual pet for the player to raise, an 'evolution' of the A-life system from NiGHTS into Dreams... Chao can be taken with the player by downloading the minigame Chao Adventure to their VMU.
E-101 Beta
The 1st robot of Eggman's E-100 Series, E-101 Beta is a black robot with 2 guns. He is the 1st boss in E-102 Gamma's side of the story. Later he gets upgraded into E-101 Beta mkII. This form of E-101 Beta is the last boss in E-102 Gamma's side of the story. E-101 Beta is powered up by a gray flicky bird.
Game play
The game is divided up into two stages: Action Stages, and Adventure Stages. The division of Action Stages and Adventure Stages was a serious departure from all previous Sonic games, as before all games had been a continuous stream of playable levels, which was returned in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes.
Action Stages
Action Stages are, very basically put, playable levels. This is the only type of area where Sonic or any of his companions will encounter enemies (except for Boss battles in adventure fields). There are eleven action stages, accessible by different characters; Sonic has the most of them, accessing 10 out of 11 (except Hot Shelter); The character who accesses the least is Amy with only three. The best thing to compare Action Stages to would be the levels of all previous Sonic games. However, unlike previous Sonic games, Action Stages are not made up of Zones and Acts. Instead, the game is more like one continuous zone that may have a few parts to it.
List of Action Stages:
- Emerald Coast (Station Square) - The scenic coastline and local offshore islands of Station Square. Visted by Sonic, E-102, and Big.
- Windy Valley (Mystic Ruins) - The location of strong breezes, windmills, and a tornado. Visted by Sonic, Tails, and E-102.
- Casinopolis (Station Square) - Resort of the treasure-seekers and pinball wizards. Visted by Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
- Ice Cap (Mystic Ruins) - The unstable frozen peaks of Angel Island. Visited by Sonic, Tails, and Big.
- Twinkle Park (Station Square) - A psychedelic amusement park. Visited by Sonic, Amy, and Big.
- Speed Highway (Station Square) - The inner city. Visited by Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
- Red Mountain (Mystic Ruins) - An arid mountain range and brimstone chasm. Visted by Sonic, Knuckles, and E-102.
- Sky Deck (Egg Carrier) - The guarded vast hull and decks of the Egg Carrier. Visted by Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
- Hot Shelter (Egg Carrier) - The armored and hazardous inner sanctum of the Egg Carrier. Visited by Amy, E-102, and Big.
- Lost World (Mystic Ruins) - The forgotten ruins of the old Echidna city, and arguably the best and most popular level in the game. Visited by Sonic and Knuckles.
- Final Egg (Mystic Ruins) - Robotnik's infernal lair. Visted by Sonic, Amy, and E-102.
Adventure Fields
Adventure Fields are non-linear game stages, generally designed for (light) puzzle solving, exploration, and plot advancement. They contain very few items (enemies, rings, etc.). The purpose of the Adventure Field is not unlike Overworlds found in RPGs. Every Adventure field links to the other two fields, and they also connect to all of the Action Stages and they each [ack with various powerups for different characters. There are three Adventure Fields:
Station Square
Station Square is a large, metropolitan city, same locatation where Sonic fought Chaos, part of the section was closed (for some character). Robotnik plans to destroy it and construct his Eggman Empire ("Robotnikland"), on its ruins. It contains a train station that connects to the Mystic Ruins, and a boat landing (hidden until the area is available) which leads to the Egg Carrier. Station Square also contains a casino, a beach, and a hotel. In the hotel, the elevator on the left leads to the Station Square Chao Garden.
Contains: Emerald Coast, Casinopolis, Twinkle Park, Speed Highway.
Mystic Ruins
The Mystic Ruins is the largest Adventure Field in the game. It has a clearing with a train station that goes to Station Square, and below is a boat landing that goes to the Egg Carrier. Tails' Workshop is located here, and nearby that is the entrance to the Chao Garden disguised as an abandoned mine. There is also an ice cave, as well as the inevitable landing point of Angel Island (first seen in Sonic 3). A more dense jungle is hidden away, which offers an older Echidna temple, the launch platform for the Egg Carrier and also Big the Cat's house can be located close to the Sandhill entrance cave. Eggman's base, the Final Egg, is also found here.
In a cave, a monkey guard sits, next to it is a railway cart that leads to the chao garden.
Contains: Windy Valley, Ice Cap, Red Mountain, Sand Hill, Lost World, Final Egg.
The Egg Carrier
Dr. Robotnik's massive flying airship. It has two modes, and depending on which, access to certain areas may become available. Other than that, the stage is quite self-explanatory. Notably, this is the Adventure Field where most characters fight their final bosses. There is also a large Chao garden in the Egg Carrier that can be accessed by entering the password "EGGMAN".
Contains: Hot Shelter, Sky Deck.
Reaction
The game has a very 'love-hate' feeling to it, with reception at the time of release being overwhelmingly positive, including reviews from GameSpot and GameSpy being above 90%. The current Gamerankings overall status is a respectable 87%. Many now do not like the game, and see it as not living up to the previous games on the Genesis.
This likely has to do with relative perception. When Sonic Adventure first came out, its methods of transitioning Sonic's gameplay from 2D to 3D were very original and unexpected. Gameplay flaws such as excessive linearity in level design (as opposed to the many branching paths of the 2D Sonic games), the somewhat short length of the adventure, and the sometimes severe camera problems were overlooked or minimized in favor of the fun and original play mechanics and amazing sense of speed. Over time, the game's flaws became more and more difficult to overlook.
A later port to the Nintendo Gamecube in the form of Sonic Adventure DX made these flaws more glaring, not only to those who had not played the original game, but those who had, and noticed the port had done nothing to address them.
Easter Eggs & Trivia
- Conceptualized by Takashi Iizuka (who would later go on to form Sonic Team USA and later Sega Studios USA), he originally envisioned this game as a "Sonic RPG", leading to many rumors of a "Sonic & Knuckles RPG" prior to the game's unveiling in August, 1998.
- Originally, this game ran at 60fps; However, it suffered from fatal bouts of slow down - so the framerate was later lowered to 30fps (strangely though, Twinkle Circuit is running on perfect 60fps). The Gamecube Port, Sonic Adventure DX, attempted to restore the game's original framerate, but due to timing issues and the unstable nature of the Sonic Adventure engine, the framerate randomly fluctuates between 60fps and 30fps, sometimes even going as low as 20fps.
- At least one boss was cut from the game: A giant, three-headed robot dragon that would attack Sonic & Tails during the Sky Chase minigame.
- Many stages under went repeated heavy revisions as Sonic Team got a feel for how Sonic should play in 3D; one of the stages that received the most changes was Windy Valley.
- Just before Sonic transforms into Super Sonic, a crowd of people can be heard chanting "Sonic! Sonic!" - the Japanese language chants were actual people chanting, recorded live when Sonic Adventure was unveiled publically in 1998. Japanese Sega Saturn mascot Segata Sanshiro was responsible for getting the crowd to chant.
- Sonic Team actually took a business trip out to ancient Mayan Ruins, to get a feel for the jungle/ruins locations in the game. Many of the textures for the ancient ruins locations in the game were created from real photographs the team took during their trip.
- This was the final game Naoto Ohshima was credited for. It is rumored he left the company after a dispute with Yuji Naka over the direction they wanted the Sonic series to take after Sonic Adventure. Naoto Ohshima's name was removed from the credits for Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut for unknown reasons.
- When Amy Rose remembers "the good old days", she is actually remembering the time Sonic saved her from Metal Sonic in Sonic CD. In that very same background shown in that particular scene, it is the prototype version of Windy Valley before its revision. She also was wearing her new outfit during that memory instead of wearing her previous outfit at the time.
- Both Metal Sonic (Sonic CD) and Mecha Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog 2) are on display in the Adventure Field for Final Egg.
- This game sought to unify the different storylines between the Japanese and American versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and create one world-wide continunity; as such, this is the first game in which American Gamers hear Dr. Robotnik being referred to as "Eggman".
- The main enemy of the game, the water beast "Chaos", was designed specifically to be an enemy that could not be rendered on previous generations of hardware.
- A lost voice clip on the Sonic Adventure disc reveals that Super Sonic, who normally is only accessible during the final boss encounter with Perfect Chaos, was originally intended to be accessible outside of that boss fight, similar to the classic Sonic games.
- The boss E-105 Zeta is powered by a circle of Dreamcast console icons around his base. They were replaced by Gamecubes console icons in the DX version.
- A comic adaption of both Archie and Fleetway have been done for this game. Archie Sonic issues 79-84 and a 48-page special (of same name) covers this game. The Fleetway version of this game is final story arc for their continuity.
English voice actors
- Ryan Drummond - Sonic the Hedgehog
- Corey Bringas - Miles "Tails" Prower
- Michael McGaharn - Knuckles the Echidna
- Deem Bristow - Doctor Eggman
- Jennifer Douillard - Amy Rose
- Steve Broadie - Pachacamac and E-102 Gamma
- Jon St. John - Big the Cat
- Elara Distler - Tikal the Echidna
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
| Sonic Adventure DX {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | June 18, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player (though 2P GameCube obtained with the second controller controlling Tails) Some game-gear games are multiplayer. {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, PC {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Sonic Adventure DX is a video game for the Nintendo GameCube and PC CD-ROM released June 18 2003.
Description
This game was released as an enhanced port of the original Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast (1999), with several additional features. The PC version was released at first in only Japan and Europe, but released in the US later on. Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut included a mission mode, which included 60 missions to complete throughout the adventure fields and action stages. Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut also includes a mini game collection, which is comprised of 12 Sega Game Gear games featuring Sonic and friends. It didn't do quite as well with reviews as its Sega Dreamcast predecessor.
Unlockable games
This game features many unlockable games previously available on the Sega Game Gear handheld game console.
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic Drift
- Sonic Chaos
- Sonic Spinball
- Sonic Labyrinth
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
- Sonic Triple Trouble
- Sonic Drift 2
- Tails' Skypatrol
- Sonic Blast
- Tails Adventure
Changes over the original Sonic Adventure
Several additions/changes were made to Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut when it was ported to the Nintendo Gamecube. They include:
- Enhanced graphics: Character models for Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy were re-created with higher polygon counts, resulting in smoother models. Shader technology was also implemented for effects like rippling water (Shader effects are not present in the PC version).
- The original 60fps framerate was partially restored. Unfortunately due to the unstable nature of the Sonic Adventure engine, the framerate frequently fluctuates between 60fps, 30fps, and sometimes, even 20fps.
- Minor changes were made within the levels themselves in an effort to help patch some of the game's problems concerning collision detection.
- The Internet connection feature was removed. However, most of the downloadable content from the Dreamcast version was included in the Gamecube port, but may only be accessed via Action Replay cheats.
- A brand-new "Free Camera" mode was added, allowing you to move and adjust the Camera with the Gamecube's C-Stick during play, similar to the system used in Super Mario Sunshine.
- Many changes to the Chao System were made, including removing the Chao Adventure VMU minigame (instead replaced with a Gameboy Advance connection feature). Addtionally, The Chao Raising engine and models from Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was adapted and used.
- 60 Missions were added for an all-new Mission Mode, which task the player with completing certain goals within the Adventure Fields and Action Stages for Emblems, similar to the Mission Mode found in Sonic Jam's 3D Sonic World.
- A reward for collecting all the Emblems was added: The option to play as Metal Sonic, whom, despite new sound effects and a new player model, plays exactly like Sonic.
- Cream the Rabbit makes several cameo appearances during the main game and Mission Mode, such as being the one who drops the Ice Key.
External links
- Gamespot page on Sonic Adventure
- Sonic Teams's Sonic DX site
- Sonic Adventure DX official site
- IGN page on Sonic DX
- Download.com link to download Sonic DX demo for the PC
- Sega American page on Sonic DX
Template:SonicGameses:Sonic Adventure fr:Sonic Adventure ja:ソニックアドベンチャー sv:Sonic Adventure