Name: Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
Platform: Sega Dreamcast, Gamecube

Introduction

Little Sonic, the blue hedgehog who stole our hearts many years ago. However, recently it would seem that we have pretty much taken it back from him, as his last couple games have been put simply.... utter crap. The brain dead camera, the non-responsive controls and bad voice acting really did contribute to the digging of Sonic's grave, anyone who has kept up with Sonic's latest releases should be aware of what I'm on about. Looking at these titles though, I remember that Sonic's console games used to be fun. This game of course is that proof, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle originally released on the Dreamcast and after Sega's defeat in the console race, found it's way to Nintendo's purple box of joy and happy things. Here is my review.

Story

Dear Sonic has been captured by the G.U.N soldiers for being accused of being a "Secret Military Weapon" that escaped from the military base. Sonic escapes with the Police on hot pursuit when he comes across the real bandit, a hedgehog by the name of Shadow. Shadow of course is the real escapee and Sonic just unfortunately seems to be stuck in the middle. As Sonic goes to confront the faker, Shadow teleport's away, leaving Sonic alone with nothing but an army of G.U.N soldiers surrounding him. And so, the adventure begins.

Gameplay

In this game you get to pick whether or not you wanna play as the Hero Side, which consists of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles or the Dark Side, which consists of Shadow, Dr. Eggman and Rouge. Each mission varies depending on the character who is doing it. Sonic's and Shadow's missions are high speed missions which require you to run very fast to the Goal Ring at the end of the level. Tails and Dr Eggman's missions are mecha-suit shoot em ups where you go through a level destroying robots. Knuckles' and Rouge's missions are treasure hunting missions, where you have to find 3 objects, whether they be emerald shards or keys etc. For the most part, these missions are fun and challenging, however some are just plane boring and uninspired. Some of the Treasure Hunting missions are so big and confusing that it can literally take you an hour or so to find the 3 objects you are after. Some of the speed missions can also be annoying, with sometimes Sonic falling through a grind rail or the buttons not responding in time, with some getting used to you can play very easily though.

Game Modes

Apart form the Story Mode, there is a relatively entertaining 2 Player mode where you can race each other through action stages or to find Treasure, even a Go Kart racing mode makes an appearance however only 3 tracks that look almost exactly alike make it a pretty repetitive experience. If you decide to take a break from your Adventure there is also a mode called Chao World which can be unlocked by finding the Chao Key in an action stage. Chao World is like a Virtual Pet Mode, where you get to care for a range of large headed creatures called Chao (pronounced chow), differing in colour and personality. For many people who are into this sort of thing, it can add HOURS and HOURS of extra playability for you, with you needing to be able to raise a Chao in order to beat the game. Apart form that, there is a Level Select Mode, Boss Battle Mode and a Sound Test Mode, all of which are pretty self explanatory.

Graphics

Now to be fair, saying that this game pushes the Gamecube to it's limits is like saying MTV care about music, STOP LYING TO YOURSELF. Although a pretty good improvement upon the Dreamcast version, much of the textures and levels look distinctly "out dated"! Luckily, the game is playing so fast that you're not likely to notice anything to bad anyway. The game runs smoothly and fast, and that's all that I ask of it.

Sound
As with every other Sonic game, top notch music that suits each level perfectly. Doing a fast Action Stage, expect fast music! Calm Treasure Hunting level, expect calm music. The voice acting in this game surprisingly, is far better than in the future titles. I don't care who you are, but the voice actors in this game were good, the ones they used for the last few were to say the least..... bad!

Overall

So why can't Sega do it? Why is it so hard to create a SOnic game that was at least half as good as this? Sure there were "some" issues with the camera and non-responsive buttons but there has yet to be a Sonic game come out that I played for as long as this one. Do us a favor Sega, bring back the old voice actors, bring back the Chao Garden, and for the love of all that is good, STOP ADDING CHARACTERS. Shadow the Hedgehog was alright, but Silver the Hedgehog? C'mon this is why Mario survived and Sonic did not, Mario is still Mario, Sonic is now Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Eggman, Omega, Blaze, Silver, the list continues! You took the right approach with Secret Rings with only Sonic, now haul the bad voice acting and mushy crap then you may, just MAY have yourself a Sonic game worth buying.

Story: 4/5 - Choose who you wanna be with an unlockable Last Story mode, you won't wanna put it down till it's done.
Gameplay: 3/5 - Some missions are fun, some you will wonder why they were even added.
Game Modes: 4/5 - A few modes will keep you coming back for more, pacifically the Chao World Mode.
Graphics: 2/5 - Slight update from the Dreamcast edition, but nothing to jaw dropping.
Sounds: 4/5 - Nice fast catchy music with some of the better voice acting seen in the series.

Overall: 17/25