Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Adventure 2
North American Dreamcast cover art depicting Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog
Developer(s)	Sonic Team USA
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Takashi Iizuka
Producer(s)	Yuji Naka
Programmer(s)	Tetsu Katano
Artist(s)	Kazuyuki Hoshino
Writer(s)	Shiro Maekawa
Composer(s)	Jun Senoue
Platform(s)	Dreamcast GameCube PlayStation 3 (PSN) Xbox 360 (XBLA) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	June 19, 2001[show] Dreamcast NA June 19, 2001 JP / PAL June 23, 2001[1] GameCube JP December 10, 2001 NA February 11, 2002 PAL May 3, 2002 PlayStation 3 (PSN) NA 20121002October 2, 2012 EU 20121003October 3, 2012 JP 20121004October 4, 2012 Xbox 360 (XBLA) WW October 5, 2012 Microsoft Windows WW November 19, 2012
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Media/distribution	GD-ROM, Nintendo optical disc, Download

Sonic Adventure 2 (ソニックアドベンチャー2, Sonikku Adobenchā Tsū^?) is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast console. It was released in North America, Europe, and Japan in June 2001 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Due to Sega's exit from the video game console manufacturing business, the game was ported to the Nintendo GameCube and re-titled Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, with brand-new features as well as minor changes in the level design. The original game and content from Battle was released in high-definition on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in October 2012. A version for Microsoft Windows was released in November 2012.

It is the seventh chronological installment in the series and the sequel to Sonic Adventure. It follows the protagonist team of Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Miles "Tails" Prower and the antagonist team of Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and Doctor Eggman and the heroes' attempt to work together in order to save the world from destruction.

The game was a commercial and critical success, receiving generally positive reviews; however, criticism was directed towards its camera system and side characters. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was less positively received than the original release, but was a commercial success, selling more than 1 million copies worldwide and becoming the tenth best-selling Nintendo GameCube game of all time.

[edit] Gameplay

An example of gameplay in Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic uses a snowboard to perform tricks.

Sonic Adventure 2 is a platform game in which the player controls Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog. The game follows the same basic principles of previous games in the series. However, the Tails and Doctor Eggman stages use a health bar which is reloaded by gathering rings. Item capsules are also located within the stages, which provide the player bonuses. Each character has obtainable power-ups which grant them new abilities, such as the ability to destroy metal boxes or play mystical melodies. The player is given a set of lives, which are lost when the character is attacked by an enemy or falls into water or a pit. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, the game is over.

The game can be played between two parallel story lines, the "Hero" story mode and the "Dark" story mode. The player has the option of advancing in either story at any time. The "Hero" story features Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, while the "Dark" story features Shadow, Rouge, and Dr. Eggman. Each dark character plays similarly to its corresponding hero character, respectively. Levels advance in the same order for both story lines. Levels featuring Sonic or Shadow are regular platform levels, designed in much the same way as Sonic's levels in Sonic Adventure.^[2] The player's primary objective is to reach the end of the level. Levels with Tails or Dr. Eggman are based on shooting, allowing the player to control a mechanized robot walker and shoot their way to the end, reminiscent of E-102 Gamma's stages in Sonic Adventure. The Knuckles and Rouge levels are based on hunting, with the characters scouring the levels for three keys, usually shards of the Master Emerald, much like Knuckles' levels in Sonic Adventure. Interspersed among the levels are various bosses, which one specific character must fight. The main story line can only be completed by finishing both the "Hero" and "Dark" story lines. When the main story line is completed, an extra "Final" story mode is introduced in which the player must use all 6 characters back-to-back to achieve the true ending.

If the player can complete an entire level, the player is is informed of how well they've done and which letter grade rank is awarded. If the player completes any score-ranked mission with all of the level's rings, an A Rank is automatically awarded.

In Action Stages, players must collect rings and defeat enemies, with a timer counting the time spent within the level. Five missions are assigned to each Action Stage; to access the next mission, the player must successfully complete each previous mission. In order from first to last, the missions are to complete the level, collect 100 rings, find a "lost Chao" using the Mystic Melody, finish within a time limit, and complete a "Hard mode" version of the Action Stage. Special powers are acquired by collecting a certain number of rings; these moves are also seen in the final bosses of the Hero and Dark stories.

Emblems can be collected for each mission. There are 180 in total. Players must complete mission and achieve an A rank in all stages and missions. After collecting all 180 Emblems the player unlocks the 3D Green Hill level, a remake of Green Hill Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog game.

In the game's two-player mode, the corresponding characters from the "Hero" and "Dark" stories are able to play against one another in racing levels, shooting levels, and treasure-hunting levels. Stages from the main one-player game are available in this mode, slightly altered for competitive play. The goals for each stage are to defeat the other player by completing a task first: racing levels require the player to reach the Goal ring, shooting levels end when one Walker runs out of energy either by being destroyed by the competitor or falling off the stage, and the treasure hunting levels are won when one character gets two of the three Emerald shards.

Special features in this two-player mode are unlocked by meeting certain conditions in the single player mode. Additional characters include familiar characters from previous games, but they must be unlocked in the original Dreamcast version: Amy and Metal Sonic complement Sonic and Shadow, Chao Walker and Big Walker complement Tails and Eggman, and Tikal and Chaos Zero complement Knuckles and Rouge. Alternative costumes are usable only in two player mode and vary in each version of the game, as do the conditions required to unlock the costumes. The costumes are only for the 6 story mode characters Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Dr. Eggman, Rogue and Knuckles.

[edit] Chao and Chao World

The animal Chao exist in an area held separate from the rest of the game called Chao World. Chao are meant to be raised and taken care of in the same manner as with human babies. Chao World incorporates three main areas: the Chao Gardens (three in total, but two must be unlocked by the player), the Chao Kindergarten, and the Chao Race Lobby.

The player finds and raises Chao in the Chao Garden. When Chao hatch, they crawl and are unable to swim. They get their nutrition from knocking the fruit off trees. When a Chao begins to grow up, it will eventually go into a cocoon stage in which it will transform. Depending on how each Chao in the garden was raised and treated during childhood, it can become a generic Chao or a Light or Dark Chao. As soon as a Chao transforms, if it has become a Light or Dark Chao, it will unlock for the player the Hero Garden or the Dark Garden, which are vertically positioned in Chao World similar to common Western descriptions of Heaven and Hell. "Chaos Drives" and hidden animals can be found in the action stages and can be given to Chao during childhood to boost the Chao's stats and physical attributes.

The Chao Kindergarten is where the player can take the Chao to have it named, have its health and stats checked, and have it learn new skills. Also, in the GameCube adaptation only, rare items can be purchased at the Black Market using the Rings collected during normal gameplay. The Black Market is also available in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut; in that version, with more game Emblems earned, rarer merchandise becomes available in the Market.

[edit] Plot

Following from where Sonic Adventure left off, Sonic defeats Perfect Chaos and saves Earth from destruction. After discovering the existence of a secret weapon mentioned in the diary of his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, Dr. Eggman infiltrates a high-security G.U.N. facility in search of it. This "weapon," a black hedgehog named Shadow who claims that he is the "Ultimate Life Form," offers to help Eggman take over the world, telling the scientist to rendezvous with him at the abandoned Space Colony ARK with more Chaos Emeralds. Shadow proceeds in stealing one of the Emeralds. During the event, Shadow has a flashback to the final moments of a young girl named "Maria," begging him to complete an unspecified task—which he interprets as a request for revenge. Because Shadow makes a hasty retreat and no one is able to get a good look at him, G.U.N. officials mistake Shadow for Sonic. After escaping from the military, Sonic is arrested again shortly after a confrontation with Shadow, who demonstrates to Sonic the Chaos Control technique.

Meanwhile, Knuckles confronts both Rouge the Bat and Eggman, who each attempt to steal the Master Emerald. Knuckles shatters the Master Emerald to prevent this, and proceeds to search for the scattered shards and restore the Emerald. While Rouge intends to collect the shards for personal benefit, she must also accomplish a mission for the government to spy on Eggman. This mission causes her to infiltrate Dr. Eggman's base, which also leads her to the ARK, where Shadow relays to Eggman his plan to use the Chaos Emeralds to charge a "super weapon" on the ARK called the Eclipse Cannon to take over the world. To accomplish this, Shadow and Eggman recruit Rouge to assist in the search of the Chaos Emeralds.

Tails and Amy infiltrate Prison Island and rescue Sonic from G.U.N., while Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge collect three Emeralds on the island, which they then destroy. Eggman then broadcasts his threats across the planet and demonstrates the cannon's level of power by destroying half of the moon. Sonic and company use the final Emerald within their possession to track down the other six, with Knuckles coming along as well. Together, the group infiltrates Eggman's base, narrowly boarding Eggman's shuttle as it launches into space. Along the ride into space, Knuckles' Master Emerald shards are spilled, and he leaves the group to collect them, encountering Rouge again. During the fight, Knuckles saves Rouge from certain death, and Rouge surrenders her collected shards, finally allowing Knuckles to restore the Master Emerald.

On board the ARK, Tails reveals that he has created a counterfeit Chaos Emerald designed to reverse the effects of the real Emeralds and destroy the Eclipse Cannon. Sonic goes to place the fake Emerald into the Cannon when Eggman announces he has captured Tails and Amy. Sonic tries to give Eggman the fake Emerald, but at the last second Eggman traps and jettisons Sonic in an escape pod rigged with explosives. Using the fake Emerald, Sonic manages to perform Chaos Control and escape before it explodes, but Tails, thinking Sonic is dead, fights Eggman again. Shadow is sent to intercept Sonic before he destroys the Eclipse Cannon, but Sonic succeeds.

Once Eggman collects all seven Chaos Emeralds and attempts to fire the Eclipse Cannon at full power, a failsafe activates, and a recorded message is broadcast by the late Gerald Robotnik. It explains that the ARK will collide with and destroy Earth, as revenge against humanity for condemning him and his research, as well as killing his granddaughter Maria and numerous colleagues on board the ARK. Everyone agrees to work together to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald and stop the collision. Shadow initially does not participate, due to his apathy for humankind; however, Amy's pleading reminds him of Maria's true request to serve as a benefit for society. He catches up with Sonic and Knuckles after they make their way to the core.

After disabling the various security features guarding the Cannon's core, Sonic and Knuckles encounter the Biolizard, a prototype of the Ultimate Life Form, and Shadow's "biological" brother, who had been awoken from stasis to ensure that the Emeralds would not be tampered with. Shadow defeats the Biolizard, allowing Knuckles to deactivate the Chaos Emeralds using his repaired Master Emerald. However, the injured Biolizard uses Chaos Control to fuse with the Eclipse Cannon, becoming the Finalhazard and continuing the ARK's collision course by physically dragging it along. Using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Shadow transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow and defeat the Biolizard while he is fused to the ARK. They then use Chaos Control to teleport the ARK back into a stable orbit around Earth. The process, however, depletes Shadow's energy, and is rendered unable to remain in orbit. He plummets to Earth, and to his apparent death, content that he has fulfilled his promise to Maria. Humanity celebrates openly as the two teams solemnly express gratitude towards Shadow for his sacrifice and return to Earth, expressing their plans from there.

[edit] Development

This section requires expansion. (November 2009)

Sonic Adventure 2 was developed by Sega Studio USA, the former United States division of Sonic Team, and published by Sega. The game was directed by longtime series contributor Takashi Iizuka, and was developed over the course of approximately one and a half years.

The environments of the game were inspired by San Francisco, California—the location of Sega Studio USA—and by the United States as a whole. The game was designed to be action-oriented as opposed to the slower-paced, more story-based Sonic Adventure.^[3]

Sega promoted Sonic Adventure 2 both as the final Sonic game for the Dreamcast, and as marking the tenth anniversary of the original Sonic the Hedgehog.^[4]

[edit] Music

Jun Senoue returned as head composer for this game. Like the previous game, each character received an instrumental motif that serves as their theme song. The game features performances by returning vocalists Tony Harnell, Ted Poley, Marlon Saunders, Nikki Gregoroff and Johnny Gioeli, as well as new vocalists Tabitha Fair, Todd Cooper, Paul Shortino, Everett Bradley, Kaz Silver and Hunnid-P.

Crush 40, which consists of Senoue and Gioeli,^[5] officially debuted with the theme song Live & Learn, which plays during the main menu, the final battle, and the ending credits.

The Sonic Adventure 2 Multi-Dimensional Original Soundtrack was produced by Jun Senoue and released by Marvelous Entertainment on September 5, 2001. The songs feature the band Crush 40.

Sonic Adventure 2 Vocals Collection: Cuts Unleashed was produced by Jun Senoue and released on August 21, 2001 by MMV. It contains musical tracks from the game composed by Jun Senoue and Kenichi Tokoi.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the first Sonic game, Sonic Adventure 2 Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Edition was released in June 2011 featuring a selection of fan-favorite songs from the game.

[edit] Alternative versions and releases

[edit] GameCube adaption

Cover art for the GameCube version.

The Nintendo GameCube adaption of Sonic Adventure 2, called Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, was released on December 10, 2001 in Japan, February 12, 2002 in North America, and on the GameCube's launch (May 3, 2002) in Europe, making it the first in the series to be released for the Nintendo system. This game changed a large portion of raising Chao. A Chao's stats can be viewed from within the game.^[6] The player can transfer one Chao from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle to the "Tiny Chao Garden" section in Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, and Sonic Pinball Party with the GameCube-Game Boy Advance Link Cable. If a Game Boy Advance is connected without a GBA game inserted, a version of the Tiny Chao Garden can be copied temporarily into the Game Boy Advance's memory. Chao Karate was also introduced in this version. The Chao's stats are used against a computer-controlled opponent to fight in a fighting game style, but with minimal influence from the player and very little in terms of actual karate.^[7] The layouts of all three Chao Gardens were also changed slightly, with Sonic Adventure 2 Battle's Chao Gardens significantly smaller than those of the original Dreamcast version.

The "Battle" multiplayer options were expanded in the GameCube version, including the addition of new characteristics to the multiplayer-exclusive characters, while removing all online play.^[8] Also, the additional features for the kart mode are not required to be unlocked in the GameCube version.

There are several aesthetic changes, as well. In the GameCube version, minor special effects were changed such as rain in the "White Jungle" level. Also, when playing as Knuckles or Rouge, an exclamation (!) will appear above his or her head when directly nearby their targets. Some cutscenes were also redone slightly, with different character animations and camera angles. Some rankings had their requirements changed. Additionally, the cutscenes appear to play faster than on its Dreamcast counterpart^{[citation needed]}, such as when the heroes crash on their first arrival on the ARK. Big the Cat's cameos did not remain in the stages or Hero cutscenes, but he can still be viewed in some Dark and Final story sequences by rapidly pressing the A or B buttons throughout the scenes. A Dark Chao (with Dark Chao Walker) replaces Big the Cat in two-player mode.

[edit] Downloadable re-releases

Sonic Adventure 2 was re-released in a high-definition resolution with additional content from the Battle edition purchasable as separate DLC.^[9]

The game was released on the PlayStation Network in North America on October 2, 2012, in Europe on October 3, 2012, and in Japan on October 4, 2012.^[10][11] It was released worldwide on the Xbox Live Arcade on October 5, 2012.^[10] It was released on Microsoft Windows through Steam on November 19, 2012.^[12]

[edit] Reception

After its initial release on the Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure 2 was well-received, being the recipient of very positive reviews, and scoring well with reviewers. Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 33 out of 40,^[13] and it averages an 89% according to critic compiler Metacritic.^[14] The game received praise for its fast-paced Sonic/Shadow levels, high-quality graphics, remodeled and enhanced Chao Garden and improved gameplay mechanics from the original. IGN's Anthony Chau praised the "astounding level design": "Whether it's the levels of speed for Sonic and Shadow, the shooting blast-a-thon of Tails and Eggman, or even the scavenger hunts of Knuckles and Rouge, the stages are both very large and wonderfully designed."^[2]

Like its predecessor, however, the game was subject to criticism concerning the game's camera system. Although sites like GameSpot admitted that the camera flaws in the original Sonic Adventure were "infinitely more frustrating by comparison" the sequel was still noted to "retain some of the quirky camera work".^[15] The game was also criticized for having a lack of challenging boss fights.^[15]

Despite these issues, the game was still a critical and commercial success with many reviewers agreeing that the game was one of the last great Dreamcast releases. IGN concluded that "If this is the last Sonic game in these declining Dreamcast years, it's satisfying to know that the DC didn't go out with a bang, but with a sonic boom."^[2]

The GameCube version, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, fared considerably worse in terms of reviews,^[16] despite having few single-player gameplay changes from the Dreamcast version, and only an 8-month gap between their releases. Even in spite of the mixed reviews, the game sold 1.44 million units in the United States alone as of December 2007^[update], making it one of the GameCube's highest selling games.^[17] The game also sold well enough to be re-released as a Player's Choice title.^[18] In Japan, Famitsu magazine scored the GameCube version of the game a 33 out of 40.^[19]

Sonic Adventure 2 has also won several awards: IGN's and GamePro's Editors' Choice Awards and GameSpy's "Best of 2001: Best Dreamcast Action/Adventure game". ScrewAttack also rated Sonic Adventure 2 as the fifth best Dreamcast game.^[20]

[edit] Legacy

Sonic Adventure 2 introduced two new characters to the series, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Rouge the Bat. Since then, they have reappeared in other Sonic games; Shadow even got a starring role in his own self-titled game.

The gameplay element of "grinding" first appeared in the game, and went on to be used in many future games in the Sonic series. It has also become a landmark gameplay innovation that influenced other platforming games. Another element introduced in the game is the inclusion of a ranking system, which has reappeared in many other games as well.

For the series' 20th anniversary, Sonic Generations contained gameplay elements and levels from past games. The stage City Escape is included in the console version and Radical Highway is in the 3DS version. Also, in the console and handheld versions of the game, Shadow the Hedgehog returns in one of the three rival battles. The Biolizard is the Dreamcast Era boss in the 3DS version, but with Sonic being controlled instead of Shadow.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

	Sonic portal
	Video games portal
	2000s portal

• Sonic Adventure 2 at SonicTeam.com
• Sonic Adventure 2 Battle at SonicTeam.com