Well, this is a big one XD!
I grew up with Adventure 2 and it was a major game for me growing up. When deciding to revisit the Sonic series, this was the one I was the most interested in re-playing, as my mind set on this changed a lot over the years since 2003 when originally played this.
I loved this game a lot when I was little and was the first video game I played that I wasn't frustrated by. Growing up, I had horrible frustration problems and I couldn't play any video games without getting upset. Didn't know how to jump in Yoshi's Story, snapped the Spyro 1 disk in half after getting frustrated during a level, got lost badly in Pokemon Gold......the list sadly goes on
. I own many systems during this period of my life too (Dreamcast, GBC, PS1, PS2, ect) and the fact I couldn't enjoy them bothers me when looking back :'(.
But something pushed me into asking for a Nintendo GameCube and my mom had no issue; 100+ bucks latter and she came home with Sonic Mega Collection and the Purple Lunchbox. I loved playing the classic games but I asked for more Sonic games. My mom found Adventure 2 in a store and said 'Why not". She brought it home, I put the game in and......my love of gaming was restored and whatever caused my frustration, just...vanished.
It was magical when I played City Escape; everything clicked. Sonic felt great to control, it felt so fast, sliding down the city on that snowboard rocked and it was the most fun I ever had with a game. I enjoyed the rest of the game but that was the most vivid memory of my time with Adventure 2 growing up; City Escape. Such a good first impression.
So, its clear I have strong connection to this game XD! But after playing latter Sonic's (Heroes, Colors, Unleashed HD, Generations, ect) I got a more different view point on Adventure 2. The treasure hunting stages and mech levels were a blur for a reason; I didn't love them but I didn't hate them. The camera was not as good as it should be. The many actions mapped to the action button was dumb considering the Dreamcast and GC controllers had many face buttons.
I still enjoyed SA2 but I started seeing the issues many pointed out over the years.
Playing the game again on PS3 via HD 2012 Version when it launched and starting it up again, its more mixed for me. But I should start talking about the now XD!
Unlike SA1 where we got six characters to play as....well, we still got six with Adventure 2 but unlike SA1, its only three gameplay styles. Sonic, Knuckles and Gama's gameplay styles were expanded and grew more. I think this was a good move, considering those three (and Tails) were fun in SA1.
Sonic/Shadow is the Speed Stages, Knuckles/Rouge is Treasure Hunting, and Tails/Eggman is Shooting.
Sonic/Shadow is great like is should be, with tight level designs that are a very early version of what we saw with Unleashed; consistent focus on going forward with extra paths/short cuts made not to push exploration but to push for faster runs. I loved this in the past and still love this now. Sonic feels great to control and it feels soo good getting a great run here. Rail Grinding and the multiple actions mapped to the action button are problems but you can work with them.
Tails/Eggman are fun and while I prefer how Gama controlled (more or less a Robot Sonic with a rapid fire gun with lock on ability), they are still fun. There levels are focused on combat and light platforming. For what it is, honesty could of been much worse. Controls are decent enough, level design is open enough for some fun platforming and the combat is done well.
Knuckles/Rouge......they can die in a fire X(. I'm sorry but even with my three playthroughs (past, 2012 and now) I hate this gameplay and its because of ONE element; the Emerald Radar.
In SA1, you had a radar that picked up where each Emerald Shard was and it picked up all of them at once. However Sonic Team thought it was smart (no, it was fucking stupid) to have the Radar ONLY pick up one Shard at a time.....what does this mean? Even if a shard is right in front of your face, the game might not read it as its not the one you are SUPPOSED to pick up.
It crates artifical fustration and something I really hate. Its a shame too, as I love how Knuckles/Rouge control, the music for both sound great and the level designs are good (Meteor Herd feels great to explore with how open it is, same with Pumpkin Hill). Not to mention the outstanding Knuckles music but will comment on the OST soon. Overall, weakest part of the game just because of one stupid element that could of easily been fixed.
Honestly baffled that the GC version nor the 2012 HD re-release didn't fix this major gameplay issue.
The story in SA2 is serious and dark, but unlike latter games (Shadow & 06), its done somewhat well. Everyone is mostly well voiced, some scenes are well done and I like the two new characters a lot. Shadow and Rouge are great additions to the Sonic Crew and its nice they are still around. Eggman had his most powerful time here, as he took stuff seriouslly. He blows up the moon, hold Amy at gunpoint, 'kills' Sonic, and does things finally with his stages; love Eggman here (best role next to Unleashed, Lost World and Colors).
Its not perfect though, with English dubbing over-acting at points and talking over peoples lines....just watch this and enjoy the joke :').
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ixd2q7lzvI
But there are also major plot holes and some characters are badly acted (Tails comes to mind at some points). Overall not bad but not great either. But the fact Sonic did serious decently at all is surprising, considering future games falling on its face when doing this (though Unleashed/Colors had a great balence I think).
Music is something SA2 is infamous for and I have to list a lot of tracks.
Live and Learn
Biolizard (Shadow Fight)
City Escape
Metal Harbor
Radical Highway
Green Forest
Pyramid Cave
Final Rush
EGGMAN Theme
Sonic Theme
Knuckles Theme
Wild Canyon
Pumpkin Hill
Death Chamber
Meter Herd
Notice how so many of these tracks come from Sonic and Knuckles stages XD? These tracks are iconic; City Escape is a track we ALL know in some form or another. Pumpkin Hill is sooo good as a track and I love Knuckles tracks as a whole; they are so cheesy its amazing :').
SA2 is also famous for its Chao Garden and I will only briefly talk about this, as barely spent time with this :l.
Its a pet simulator in many respects; you raise specific stats, can generate names for them, buy them toys to play with and play mini games (Kirate and Racing). Its nice relaxing with the Chao's, as they are adorable.
But they aren't a major selling point for me, as I don't like Pet Simulators :l. But its a nice extra.
Overall, I loved my time with SA2 growing up and while I easily see the games issues all over the place now (think Heroes, Colors, and Generations are better), I have a soft spot for the game.
The strong elements here, really are strong and make up for the lesser parts of the game. I recommend giving the game a shot if you have access to a GameCube (Battle Version) or the HD Rerelease that came out in 2012.
Oh! Forgot to talk about the amazing MP X(.
Okay, the MP mode for this is great; whole levels and originals stages are usable for the MP. Can play as all three styles with some new characters for each one (Amy, Metal Sonic, Chaos, Takal, ect) and can unlock costumes after getting enough emblems (things you get for beating stages, extra missions and more). Very fun and had great times playing this with my best friend and my sister (and she doesn't like video games that much XD).
I grew up with Adventure 2 and it was a major game for me growing up. When deciding to revisit the Sonic series, this was the one I was the most interested in re-playing, as my mind set on this changed a lot over the years since 2003 when originally played this.
I loved this game a lot when I was little and was the first video game I played that I wasn't frustrated by. Growing up, I had horrible frustration problems and I couldn't play any video games without getting upset. Didn't know how to jump in Yoshi's Story, snapped the Spyro 1 disk in half after getting frustrated during a level, got lost badly in Pokemon Gold......the list sadly goes on
. I own many systems during this period of my life too (Dreamcast, GBC, PS1, PS2, ect) and the fact I couldn't enjoy them bothers me when looking back :'(.But something pushed me into asking for a Nintendo GameCube and my mom had no issue; 100+ bucks latter and she came home with Sonic Mega Collection and the Purple Lunchbox. I loved playing the classic games but I asked for more Sonic games. My mom found Adventure 2 in a store and said 'Why not
". She brought it home, I put the game in and......my love of gaming was restored and whatever caused my frustration, just...vanished. It was magical when I played City Escape; everything clicked. Sonic felt great to control, it felt so fast, sliding down the city on that snowboard rocked and it was the most fun I ever had with a game. I enjoyed the rest of the game but that was the most vivid memory of my time with Adventure 2 growing up; City Escape. Such a good first impression.
So, its clear I have strong connection to this game XD! But after playing latter Sonic's (Heroes, Colors, Unleashed HD, Generations, ect) I got a more different view point on Adventure 2. The treasure hunting stages and mech levels were a blur for a reason; I didn't love them but I didn't hate them. The camera was not as good as it should be. The many actions mapped to the action button was dumb considering the Dreamcast and GC controllers had many face buttons.
I still enjoyed SA2 but I started seeing the issues many pointed out over the years.
Playing the game again on PS3 via HD 2012 Version when it launched and starting it up again, its more mixed for me. But I should start talking about the now XD!
Unlike SA1 where we got six characters to play as....well, we still got six with Adventure 2 but unlike SA1, its only three gameplay styles. Sonic, Knuckles and Gama's gameplay styles were expanded and grew more. I think this was a good move, considering those three (and Tails) were fun in SA1.
Sonic/Shadow is the Speed Stages, Knuckles/Rouge is Treasure Hunting, and Tails/Eggman is Shooting.
Sonic/Shadow is great like is should be, with tight level designs that are a very early version of what we saw with Unleashed; consistent focus on going forward with extra paths/short cuts made not to push exploration but to push for faster runs. I loved this in the past and still love this now
. Sonic feels great to control and it feels soo good getting a great run here. Rail Grinding and the multiple actions mapped to the action button are problems but you can work with them.
Tails/Eggman are fun and while I prefer how Gama controlled (more or less a Robot Sonic with a rapid fire gun with lock on ability), they are still fun. There levels are focused on combat and light platforming. For what it is, honesty could of been much worse. Controls are decent enough, level design is open enough for some fun platforming and the combat is done well.
Knuckles/Rouge......they can die in a fire X(. I'm sorry but even with my three playthroughs (past, 2012 and now) I hate this gameplay and its because of ONE element; the Emerald Radar.
In SA1, you had a radar that picked up where each Emerald Shard was and it picked up all of them at once. However Sonic Team thought it was smart (no, it was fucking stupid) to have the Radar ONLY pick up one Shard at a time.....what does this mean? Even if a shard is right in front of your face, the game might not read it as its not the one you are SUPPOSED to pick up.
It crates artifical fustration and something I really hate. Its a shame too, as I love how Knuckles/Rouge control, the music for both sound great and the level designs are good (Meteor Herd feels great to explore with how open it is, same with Pumpkin Hill). Not to mention the outstanding Knuckles music but will comment on the OST soon. Overall, weakest part of the game just because of one stupid element that could of easily been fixed.
Honestly baffled that the GC version nor the 2012 HD re-release didn't fix this major gameplay issue.
The story in SA2 is serious and dark, but unlike latter games (Shadow & 06), its done somewhat well. Everyone is mostly well voiced, some scenes are well done and I like the two new characters a lot. Shadow and Rouge are great additions to the Sonic Crew and its nice they are still around. Eggman had his most powerful time here, as he took stuff seriouslly. He blows up the moon, hold Amy at gunpoint, 'kills' Sonic, and does things finally with his stages; love Eggman here (best role next to Unleashed, Lost World and Colors).
Its not perfect though, with English dubbing over-acting at points and talking over peoples lines....just watch this and enjoy the joke :').
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ixd2q7lzvI
But there are also major plot holes and some characters are badly acted (Tails comes to mind at some points). Overall not bad but not great either. But the fact Sonic did serious decently at all is surprising, considering future games falling on its face when doing this (though Unleashed/Colors had a great balence I think).
Music is something SA2 is infamous for and I have to list a lot of tracks
.Live and Learn
Biolizard (Shadow Fight)
City Escape
Metal Harbor
Radical Highway
Green Forest
Pyramid Cave
Final Rush
EGGMAN Theme
Sonic Theme
Knuckles Theme
Wild Canyon
Pumpkin Hill
Death Chamber
Meter Herd
Notice how so many of these tracks come from Sonic and Knuckles stages XD? These tracks are iconic; City Escape is a track we ALL know in some form or another. Pumpkin Hill is sooo good as a track and I love Knuckles tracks as a whole; they are so cheesy its amazing :').
SA2 is also famous for its Chao Garden and I will only briefly talk about this, as barely spent time with this :l.
Its a pet simulator in many respects; you raise specific stats, can generate names for them, buy them toys to play with and play mini games (Kirate and Racing). Its nice relaxing with the Chao's, as they are adorable
.
But they aren't a major selling point for me, as I don't like Pet Simulators :l. But its a nice extra
. Overall, I loved my time with SA2 growing up and while I easily see the games issues all over the place now (think Heroes, Colors, and Generations are better), I have a soft spot for the game.
The strong elements here, really are strong and make up for the lesser parts of the game. I recommend giving the game a shot if you have access to a GameCube (Battle Version) or the HD Rerelease that came out in 2012.
Oh! Forgot to talk about the amazing MP X(.
Okay, the MP mode for this is great; whole levels and originals stages are usable for the MP. Can play as all three styles with some new characters for each one (Amy, Metal Sonic, Chaos, Takal, ect) and can unlock costumes after getting enough emblems (things you get for beating stages, extra missions and more). Very fun and had great times playing this with my best friend and my sister (and she doesn't like video games that much XD).
