Sonic Adventure
| Sonic Adventure | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Yuji Naka, Takashi Iizuka |
| Platform(s) | Dreamcast |
| Release | .svg?lang=en){kind=small} December 23, 1998 September 7, 1999 October 14, 1999 December 3, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single Player, limited multiplayer (Tails can be controlled in Sonic's stages with controller 2) |
Sonic Adventure (ソニックアドベンチャー, Sonikku Adobenchā) is a video game created by Sonic Team and released on December 23, 1998 in Japan by Sega for the Sega Dreamcast. One of its development titles was Sonic RPG, (although the final game was an adventure game not a standard RPG)[citation needed]. The final updated edition, known as Sonic Adventure International, was released on September 7, 1999 in North America, October 14 1999 in Japan and Europe, October 18 1999 in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and December 3 1999 in Australia. A director's cut version was released in 2003 as Sonic Adventure DX for the Nintendo GameCube and in 2004 for the PC CD-ROM. It has sold over 1 million copies in the United States alone, making it the top selling Dreamcast game of all time.[1]. Its sequel is Sonic Adventure 2.
Plot
Centuries ago, the Gods bestowed upon the planet seven Chaos Emeralds. These emeralds were a source of absolute power. However, absolute power corrupts absolutely — and it did not take long before wars broke out over who would control the Chaos Emeralds' seemingly unlimited power. This angered the Gods, and so, they created one singular Master Emerald, which held powers that could control and neutralize the Chaos Emeralds. And with the Master Emerald, came a guardian spirit. It is said that a single tribe of Echidnas angered the spirit by attempting to steal the Chaos Emeralds and ruining the sanctuary it was protecting. They were all but completely destroyed within a single night, and the guardian spirit was never seen again. The monster was then named "Chaos," the God of Destruction.
In the present day, Doctor Eggman learns of the legend surrounding Chaos. Believing it to be true, he seeks out the Master Emerald and shatters it, freeing Chaos in the process. Eggman's goal is to control Chaos, and use its destructive powers to conquer the world. When Sonic the Hedgehog learns of this, he and his friends spring in to action to stop Eggman . Knuckles helps by gathering the pieces of the shattered Master emerald. Amy keeping a flicky from being imprisoned in a robot. Sonic and co. start another journey for the chaos emeralds.
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
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, as well finding the Chaos Emeralds before they do.
Miles "Tails" Prower
After Sonic rescues Tails from Emerald Coast after a "Tornado" prototype experiment goes wrong (And crashes), the latter sets out to help Sonic collect the Chaos Emeralds and stop Chaos. Most of his levels are abridged versions of Sonic's, which require him to reach the end of the level before Sonic can.
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. Knuckles' goal is to reassemble the shards of the Master Emerald.
Amy Rose
Amy Rose 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 this Flicky (nicknamed "Birdie" by Amy) because of the Chaos Emerald in its pendant. Amy and Birdie must escape ZERO the Chase Master (some fans argue that he is E-100 Alpha), one of Eggman's robots.
Big the Cat
Big the Cat is a newcomer to the Sonic series of games. Big's best friend is a frog who became possessed by Chaos' tail, and swallows Big's "lucky charm", a Chaos Emerald, which causes him to mutate. The frog then runs off, and Big's story begins. His levels involve using his fishing pole to try and catch Froggy, although he can also choose to try and catch big fish, with score bonuses based on size.
E-102 Gamma
E-102 Gamma is one among a series of robots designed by Eggman for the purpose of collecting Chaos Emeralds. After an encounter with Amy Rose, he suffers a malfunction and gains a "conscience." He then turns his aim to destroying his robotic brothers and freeing the animals trapped inside them.
Villains and unplayable characters
Dr. Eggman
Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also known as Dr. Eggman, has formulated a new plan to conquer the planet, this time not relying on his robots alone, but employing a strange liquid creature known only as Chaos.
Note: This is the first game where he is internationally called Dr. Eggman (previously, it was his name in Japan only) in the West.
Chaos
Chaos is the guardian of the Chao. He is apparently water or a plasma-like material and changes form after consuming a Chaos Emerald.
Tikal the Echidna
A mysterious female echidna 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.
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 his VMU, or in the GameCube version, by downloading the Chao to a Game Boy Advance.
E-100 series
Dr. Eggman's E-100 Series series of robots play a large role in Gamma's story, as he is one of them, and is out to destroy the others.
- E-101 Beta is a black robot with two gun arms. He is the first boss in E-102 Gamma's side of the story, and is later upgraded into E-101 Beta mkII, who is Gamma's fifth and final boss.
- E-103 Delta is a blue robot who is Gamma's second boss, waiting at the end of Windy Valley.
- E-104 Epsilon is an orange robot who is the third boss of Gamma's side of the story and is fought at the end of Red Mountain.
- E-105 Zeta is a purple robot who is Gamma's fourth boss and is located at the end of Hot Shelter. While at first humanoid, Zeta is altered into a cylinder-like form with several turrets.
Gameplay
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.
Action Stages
Action Stages are basically playable levels. This is the only type of area where Sonic or any of his companions will encounter enemies (most boss battles appear to take place in the Adventure Fields, but they are actually in Action Stages designed to look like the Fields.). There are eleven action stages, accessible by different characters. However, unlike previous Sonic games, Action Stages are not made up of Zones and Acts. Instead, the game plays more like each adventure field is a zone and the action stages are the acts in the zone. The Action Stages have separate areas that could be considered "Acts," but they are not separate levels, like in the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
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.). Every Adventure field links to the other two fields and a Chao Garden. They also have four emblems each. They are each packed with various powerups for different characters.
There are three Adventure Fields:
- Station Square: a large, metropolitan city, and is the location of Sonic's first fight with Chaos. Eggman plans to destroy it and construct "Eggmanland" on its ruins.
- The Mystic Ruins: a large mountainous area and the largest Adventure Field in the game.
- Egg Carrier: Eggman's massive flying airship. This is the Adventure Field where most characters fight their final bosses (except Sonic and Tails).
Reception
The reception at the time of release was overwhelmingly positive, including reviews from GameSpot and GameSpy being above 90%. The current Game Rankings average ranking is 88%.[2] It became one of the few Sega All Stars games.
Recently, however, in an age of more polished platformers, the game's flaws are more glaring, causing opinion of it to fall somewhat. This was intensified when DX was released, which fixed some of the errors, but in fact also added some. [3]
Voice actors
| Role | English Voice Actor | Japanese Voice Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Ryan Drummond | Junichi Kanemaru |
| Miles "Tails" Prower | Corey Mitchell Bringas | Atsuki Murata |
| Knuckles the Echidna | Michael McGaharn | Nobutoshi Canna |
| Amy Rose | Jennifer Douillard | Taeko Kawata |
| Big the Cat | Jon St. John | Shun Yashiro |
| E-102 Gamma | Steve Broadie | Joji Nakata |
| Doctor Eggman/Doctor Ivo Robotnik | Deem Bristow | Chikao Ōtsuka |
| Tikal the Echidna | Elara Distler | Kaori Asō |
| Pachacamac | Steve Broadie | Tōru Ōkawa(?) |
Dreamcast versions
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure was originally meant to have a frame rate of 60 frames per second, no polygon tearing (jagged edges), and little to no pop-up. The December 23, 1998 launch of the Sega Dreamcast prevented the developers from achieving this, resulting in a max framerate of 30 FPS, noticeable polygon tearing, a lot of pop up, and frame rate drops, sometimes with extreme slowdown.
Sonic Adventure: Limited Edition
Exactly the same as the above version, except without the Internet option.
Sonic Adventure International
Shortly after the U.S. launch of the Dreamcast, Sonic Team released Sonic Adventure International. This was the same game, but with additional features that provided a more complete experience:
- The complete English voice track and the complete Japanese voice track were included.
- A new option was added to the Options screen, giving the user the choice of text in five different languages: English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and German.
- A few glitches were fixed.
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
| Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut | |
|---|---|
| European version of the PC box art | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sega, Activision |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, PC |
| Release | GameCube June 18, 2003 June 19, 2003 June 27 2003PC December 18, 2003 February 6, 2004 September 14, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (ソニックアドベンチャー デラシクス, Sonikku Adobenchā Derakusu), is a platform game for the GameCube and PC. It is the basic Sonic Adventure with more stages and some improvements.
This game was released as an enhanced port[1] of the original Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast (1999), with several additional features. The PC version was released at first in only Japan and Europe, but was eventually released in North America later on in a limited amount. Sonic Adventure DX included a mission mode, which included 60 missions to complete throughout the adventure fields and action stages. It also includes a minigame collection, which is comprised of twelve Sega Game Gear games featuring Sonic and friends.
The reviews received were generally less positive than those of its Sega Dreamcast predecessor, scoring over 20% lower than the game's original release, even though it is just as successful. [4]
Unlockable games
This game features many unlockable games previously available on the Sega Game Gear handheld game console. If the start button of the second controller is pressed, then the game screen will split, and two one-player games will go on at the same time. Additionally, Gear-to-Gear cable emulation is present, enabling the games that have two-player modes to be played in these modes if both players access the proper options within the game.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - 20 Emblems
- Sonic Drift - 40 Emblems
- Sonic Chaos - 60 Emblems
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 80 Emblems
- Sonic Labyrinth - 100 Emblems
- Sonic Drift 2 - 110 Emblems
- Sonic Triple Trouble - 120 Emblems
- Tails' Skypatrol - 130 Emblems
- Sonic Spinball - 20 Missions
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - 40 Missions
- Sonic Blast - 130 Emblems, 60 Missions
- Tails Adventure - 130 Emblems, 60 Missions
Changes over the original Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut is a port of Sonic Adventure International, a re-release of the original Sonic Adventure, and includes everything that was added to that version of the game. Several additions/changes were made to the game when it was ported to the Nintendo GameCube. They include:
- Enhanced graphics: The main characters 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 frame rate was partially restored. Unfortunately, due to the unstable nature of the Sonic Adventure engine, the frame rate frequently fluctuates randomly between 60fps and 30fps, usually very rapidly, and even in places where few objects are displayed, and/or where the Dreamcast version did not slow down (however, some effects that caused slowdown before do not affect the framerate in the GameCube version). Cutscenes now run in a low frame rate, but this seems to have been intended.
- A Camera option was added to the pause menu, allowing the user to select either the original Auto Camera or the newly added Free Camera; which was usually nearer to the character, and the player controlled where it was exactly with the C Stick.
- Changes (mostly minor) were made within the levels themselves in an effort to help patch some of the game's problems concerning collision detection. However, many glitches were not fixed, and some were even actually added[citation needed].
- The Internet connection feature was removed. However, most of the downloadable content from the Dreamcast version was included in the GameCube port.
- Many changes to the Chao System were made, including removing the Chao Adventure VMU minigame (instead replaced with a Game Boy Advance connection feature).
- 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 three-dimensional Sonic World.
- Metal Sonic is a playable character in Trial mode, as a reward for collecting all the Emblems.
- Cream the Rabbit makes several cameo appearances during the main game and Mission Mode.
- In the Dreamcast version, E-102 Gamma's Adventure Field was playable at night after beating his story. This seems to randomly happen in the GameCube version. What actually causes it is unknown. Strangely, the PC version follows the Dreamcast version by having the Adventure Fields always playable at night.
- As mentioned above, a Minigame Collection mode was added allowing access to 12 Sega Game Gear games.
- The ability to skip cut-scenes by pushing Start was added in.
- A Map option, found on the pause menu while in Adventure fields, was added.
- In the Dreamcast version, the letters spelling the name for E-101 MKII right before E-102 Gamma faced him would not make the typewriter/clicking sound effect unlike the other bosses where the sound was hearable. This problem has been fixed for Sonic Adventure DX on the GameCube version.
References
- ^ U.S. Platinum Chart
- ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/198694.asp
- ^ For example, characters now slide off the Burger Shop's statue when they try to land on it, and they can slide through walls as well.
- ^ Gamerankings.com's average review score for Sonic Adventure compared to the average review score for Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut