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[KeRaSh]

The Chao Garden is where it's at.

Please bring it back, Sega.

Fuck yes. I bought the Steam version just so I can raise Chaos!
I'd pay good money for a Chao breeding game...

 

[Spinluck]

Not a good game. But fuck if I didn't think that shit was dope as hell at the time lol.

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Yeah. I LOVED that game growing up, but man it's just mediocre at best looking back. The Chao Garden will always be great though. Hmmm I might go and admire my 3 Chaos Chao.

And no matter what, I can forever jam out to that Pumpkin Hill song. FISTS METAL CRACK EM.

 

[SharkJAW]

follow me, set me free
trust me and we will escape from the city~

Yeah, the game was pretty janky aside from shadow/sonic and the chao garden, but it hits the nostalgia spot for me so I still like it.

 

[Mr Swine]

This is sadly the only sonic game where we can play as Dr Eggman :/

 

[RK128]

Sonic Adventure 2 is.....odd, as on paper it SHOULD be a solid game. The speed sections were great in Adventure, so their gameplay being carried over should be great ! The Knuckles stages in Adventure were okay, so them being expanded upon and improved should make them fun . The Gama stages were great in Adventure, so expanding on that gameplay and making it stronger should be a great idea (as his gameplay was essentially Sonic with a gun).

What we got was.....really a confused game . The speed stages were good, but not as good as Adventures. Don't get me wrong, I love the speed stages (City Escape, Final Rush and Metal Harbor are a bast to play through ), but they are....so linear compared to Adventures stages . In SA1, the game still had the Genesis game's ideal, with plenty of extra paths to take and usage of momentum being important in exploration. With SA2? Gone; the extra paths are very reliant on your timing of your light speed dash/jumps while the levels being much more linear then in SA1. The thing is....even with SA2's issues with the speed sections, it is outstanding in comparison with the rest of the game X(.

The treasure hunting stages.....oh boy X(. I mean, they have solid control and if you know what your doing, they CAN be fun.....but its is baffling how Sonic Team fucked this gameplay up . The emerald radar? Broken; the game forces you to get one at a time rather then the exploration-focused levels in SA1 (the radar picks up any of them, so you can get the third one first then the rest after that). This makes something that uses exploration, linear :l.....that is just.....great . The camera is also an issue here but thankfully, the PSN/XBLA versions of the game have the camera on the right stick, so it isn't nearly as bad as it was on the Dreamcast/GameCube. If the radar worked like in SA1, these levels would be fun honestly . But otherwise.....it is just....jugh X(.

Lastly is the shooting levels....and it is outstanding how Sonic Team messed up Gama's gameplay. You know how you are supposed to run through levels, shooting things to increase your time meeter? Now it is just a boring slog through levels with Eggman and a crippled Tails (why else would he not run through these areas?) shooting foes while also controlling the most stiff mech controls out there . I would have rather the levels only have Eggman playable and the gameplay be a sudo-Ratchet and Clank game then :l. Eggman having a hover pack to hover, him ordering his badnicks to fight for him and even using his mechs from the Genesis games and Adventure 1 to help him out . THAT would have been amazing .

In the end, the game was Sonic Team's attempt to make a 'epic' Sonic....when the series already is epic (just play Sonic 3&K to find out) :l. I applaud the game for making three different gameplay styles and giving them an equal amount of content.....but when one (the speed levels) trumps the rest of the others styles....you should make more content for the speed stages :l. If the game was like Adventure and you could just pick the gameplay you want, then people would have enjoyed this more .

Oh well, as least future games in the series improved on things and as a result, we got some damn good Sonic games via Generations, Unleashed and Colors .

I find it funny that I'm calling out Sonic Adventure 2 so much, I loved the game when I was little and still have positive feelings for the game....guess it is the nistologa talking XD!

 

[jose1]

Sonic adventure 2 is my favorite 3D sonic game. I like all the stage types, and the variety keeps things from getting boring. SA2:Battle's multiplayer is where the emerald hunting stages really shined, especially if you are playing with someone that knows the game well. It also has the best soundtrack of all Sonic games IMO.

I'm still amazed that the Dreamcast managed to pull this game off at 60fps. The graphics were amazing back in the day, and it was blisteringly fast and smooth.

I did with Sonic Generations what you did with SA2, OP. I felt that 3d sonic was too dumbed down and boring. In 2d sonic stages, it felt unplayable to me, probably because it was 30fps on PS3. Maybe I should give it a shot on my new PC.

 

[Jazzy Network]

Still my GOAT 3D sonic. Probably tied with Generations. The Sonic and Shadow levels were boss and the music is fucking amazing. Fuck Crazy Gadget though.

 

[Coffee Dog]

These games didn't "age poorly". They were plagued with poor design decisions and janky gameplay from day 1.

They're just proof that you could always sell games on shiny graphics and flashy gameplay-lite sequences.

 

[Guri]

This is sadly the only sonic game where we can play as Dr Eggman :/

Yeees. http://youtu.be/e6jEQv7ee9s

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

So many hours in the Chao garden. Great game and awesome soundtrack. People really should go back and play this though. It's aged pretty badly; especially the cut scenes.

I would have bought a standalone chao game. So good.

 

[Cream]

Don't care what anyone says, I love literally everything about this game.

 

[PKMNTrainer]

The scene just before the final battle when Sonic and Shadow are talking to each other as they begin to pick up speed running out of the space station had me so hyped back in the day. So badass.

 

[Unicorn]

The Chao Garden was okay.

Only reason I played.

 

[Mr. Patch]

Best levels:

Security Hall (good level to weed out bad players)
Metal Harbor
Pumpkin Hill (the great Emerald's power allows me to feel!)
Sky Rail
Pyramid Cave
Meteor Herd
and the best of them all Crazy Gadget that had the weird gravity mechanics.

I remember A-ranking that one the first time I played it. What makes it weed out bad players? The time limit?

 

[HanktheAwesome]

Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're comparing yourself to me? HA! You're not even good enough to be my I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS

 

[MrBadger]

I don't get how anyone can prefer Sonic ADventure 1. Even the Sonic levels in 1 were pretty messy. The bad stuff in 2 is much worse in 1.

I kind of like the Knuckles and Tails levels, though, they do get in the way of the Sonic stuff. And a couple of the individual levels are just bad on their own.

I feel like what made Sonic Adventure 1 bad was its glitches and rather messy production, while a lot of the levels themselves were actually fun beyond that and you could see what they were going for. 2, on the other hand, just has a worse design. It's not glitches getting in the way, it's just designed to not be fun. Plus with SA1 I can pick and choose which of Sonic's shitty friends I want to play as and their levels aren't very long. In SA2, you have to use every character systematically, the stages are bigger and the treasure hunts are more tedious as the radar only ever locks onto one at a time. In SA2, there's only a handful of fun Sonic levels anyway, before they just devolve into grind rails over bottomless pits.

Sonic 3 And Knuckes>>>>> All 2D Mario games.

Spoiler

Come at me.

No arguments here. Unless we're counting Yoshi's Island as a 2D Mario game

 

[MetalSlug]

I think SA2 is a fantastic game. I also don't find the camera to be that much of a hassle, but then again for other game series like Resident Evil, I think tank controls are great yet others find it terrible and difficult.

 

[cireza]

Both Sonic Adventure games were very good games back then. They did not age so well, especially the controls, but I had a lot of fun when they were released.

 

[Slavik81]

I'm kinda surprised that the tails/eggman stages bug people so much. I enjoyed them.

Gem-hunting was a minor annoyance, but I wouldn't give up the music for anything.

 

[Winterfang]

Awww Yeah Sonic Adventure 2. Textures look surprisingly sharp on 3D, the character models are showing their age but it still looks pretty good. Gameplay wise it has aged really badly sadly. It's still my favorite 3D Sonic game

 

[Anura]

Sonic adventure 2 was one of the very best pet simulation games I've played.

 

[Nintendoga]

SA2's aged poorly in general. The only levels that still hold up are Sonic and Shadow's.

Best levels:

Security Hall (good level to weed out bad players)

Fuck this level so much. Eggman gave her FIFTEEN minutes not five. First time I played SA2 I couldn't beat it because of that dumb shit.

 

[MagnesD3]

Love both these games. 2 has less problems than 1 tho.

 

[Winterfang]

SA2's aged poorly in general. The only levels that still hold up are Sonic and Shadow's.



Fuck this level so much. Eggman gave her FIFTEEN minutes not five. First time I played SA2 I couldn't beat it because of that dumb shit.

This, Rouge levels where the worst because they keep it too varied. Hide in the shadow to not get destroyed by that giant beetle, this level has a timer, this one is a super mario galaxy prototype. Knuckles levels were much better, both have great music and look pretty cool

 

[Laz-E-Boy]

Sonic Adventure 2...lmao what a piece of junk.

How the hell do you take just about everything from Sonic Adventure 1 and make it worse?

 

[Mabufu]

But Crazy Gadget is the best 3D platforming level ever made.

Sonic/Shadow levels were awesome. The others... well, like the werewolf from Unleashed.

Also, I think SA1 >> SA2. SA1 sense of adventure was quite more pleasing.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

I think we can all agree that SA2 still has some of the best Sonic music, though.

True but Generations over took that spot.

 

[Sub_Level]

I remember A-ranking that one the first time I played it. What makes it weed out bad players? The time limit?

Yeah. You would be surprised...

 

[Village]

Fuck yes. I bought the Steam version just so I can raise Chaos!
I'd pay good money for a Chao breeding game...

I think everyone would like that, thought the reasons for it not returning or from what I gathered just kind of makes me upset at sega

 

[Rising_Hei]

SA2 aged awesone on my eyes, and back in the time it was fucking amazing, much better graphics than SA, double the framerate... much more speed

What i liked more was the final battle tho, but SA's final battle was even better :3

 

[dlauv]

Back when it came out, I was pretty disappointed with it. I learned to kind of like it, but then it got worse every time I played it. It's just a bad game. Adventure 1 is janky as hell, but even it is better.

It does have the honor of being one of the least poorly programmed 3D entries.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I hate that the devs seemingly went out of their way to make the shooting and hunting stages five times worse than their SA1 counterparts. The time attack system and the bonus time mechanic is what made the Gamma stages in SA1 fun. Now they're just boring levels, and outside of a few of Eggman's levels, none of them are even remotely fun.

I'm glad you covered this because upon entering this thread I was trying to narrow down exactly what made Gamma's take on things so much better, it also helps that Gamma feels more manoeuvrable as a character and the emphasis on time led to shorter and stronger stages as opposed to the slogs of SA2, Cosmic Wall is probably one of the better ones yet it just never ends.

That said for reasons I'm not entirely sure of I quite like the hunting stages of SA2, I chalk it down to having endured them enough that I just know where to find emeralds on instinct, the great emeralds power allows me to feel and so on.

Also I'm thinking that while the Sonic stages are still enjoyable their design structure went through streamlining for the worse, often a lot more constricted and less fleshed out, sure we all love Metal Harbour and its rad music but that stage is over so soon before it really gets around to doing anything notable.

 

[mr teaspoon]

Pros:
Good music.
...

.....sorry, what?

Ha ha, more power to you! I found it mostly atrocious. Fond memories of the Sonic and Shadow levels. I remember playing the demo, which was the first Sonic level where he surfs on the helicopter debris, over and over and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.

 

[RomanceDawn]

Anyone remember the animations during cut scenes? Egg Man was always pop lockin and everyone else moved like they could hardly contain themselves. It was so bad it was funny and made me enjoy the crappy cut scenes. Then the characters talked all over each other and the music was blasting so much you could barely hear them speak. The game was a mess.

Darn it I loved the Sonic and Shadow levels though. I could play in a way where Sonic wouldn't stop moving and not in the stupid Generations and beyond way where you just plow through everything.

Oh and regarding character animations, I don't know what company the cut scenes were out sourced to but those same people did the animations for F-Zero GX. I caught that during the first cut scene of adventure mode. Super bad and unnatural.

 

[Jay RaR]

Everyone always talks about how awful it is to play as Sonic's friends.

I don't think it's "playing as Sonic's friends" that's the problem. I think it's that they come up with new shitty mechanics for their levels that makes them suck.

Because in Sonic 2 and 3+K, I loved playing as Sonic's friends...because they played just like Sonic, with a couple fun modifications.

It's not the friends, it's the levels and mechanics.

I still remember watching Game Grumps playing Sonic 06, and it came to the point where they had to play as Blaze, and they were like "holy shit, she's actually fun to play as!"

Yeah, this is also how I feel on the matter.

Games where you only play as Sonic, ie Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Lost World, get a lot of flak because of the horrible gimmicks that you were forced to suffer throughout the game. Instead of playing as Sonic's shitty friends, you gotta play as Sonic's shitty transformation or use Sonic's shitty wisp power-ups.

 

[hotnheavyload]

I like Sonic, but I'm not very fond of SA2. SA1 was a better game imo.

 

[Marjar]

Honestly, I don't care what people say about this game, I love it to hell and back. Same with the first game.

Are they technically pieces of shit? Sure. But they're fun as hell pieces of shit.

Don't judge me.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Loved it at first, then the Sonic's friends levels just kept getting longer and longer and more and more a chore to play. Especially Knuckles and Rouge... geeze those levels took forever. Took forever for the last of their levels, to the point I quit playing the game for weeks on end between sessions. The crystals were way to obscure to find to say the least. Can't remember if I even beat Rouge's last level or I just stopped at Sonic's last level.

Was really dissapointed with this game after loving the first one, aside from once again Knuckles and Big the boring ass why was it there Cat.