Release dates:
Japan: December 23, 1998
North America: September 9, 1999
Europe: October 14, 1999
Australia: December 1, 1999
Game details:
One player
Standard controller
VMU Compatible: 10 blocks
VGA box
Jump Pack
Modem
Sonic Adventure was one of the launch titles for the Dreamcast released in Japan, 1998. It was once again a launch title for the US Dreamcast launch on September 9th, 1999. The US launch featured a lot of great games such as House of the Dead 2, SoulCalibur and Power Stone. Over 2.5 million copies of Sonic Adventure were sold, making it the best-selling Dreamcast game of all time, and one of the few titles to be re-released as a Sega All Stars title. After Sega went third party, Sonic Adventures was re-released for a multitude of platforms including Gamecube, PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
-Fun gameplay with sluggish controls
The gameplay is great. Sonic looks awesome in his 3D-style, while running fast as never before. He slides on railings and jumps on robots. But the Dreamcast controller didn't live up to its potential in this game. With weird camera angles it became hard to control Sonic when the game became fast paced. Regardless of these problems, the gameplay is addictive. As with all the old Sonic games, you want to keep playing it and beat the game.
There are some very memorable levels in the game, specifically the one where you're chased by a giant killer whale. Not only is it an exciting moment, but the graphics look great as well. You have six different characters to choose from: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Big, Amy and E-102 Gamma. Each of the characters have their own style. Tails can fly and Knuckles can climb walls. At first you can only play as Sonic, but you unlock different characters when you meet them in his story. All of the characters have their own stories. You can also find hidden Chao Gardens where you can get a virtual pet called Chao. You can then take it with you in your VMU. Maybe to school or on the bus...
-Boring storyline
Storyline wasn't the main point of the game. The game starts with Sonic coming back from an adventure. He sees Chaos fighting some cops. You then start to fight Chaos. When he's defeated he escapes. The goal of the game is to collect the Chaos Emeralds. That's about all that's important to the storyline.
-Annoying controls
As I've said before the controls aren't good. And the camera angles sometimes make it difficult to see Sonic. But with practice you get used to it.
After you beat a level, Tails will follow Sonic wherever he goes. A second controller can then control Tails. The controls in general, are pretty simple. As you would expect from a Sonic game.
-Amazing graphics
The graphics, for its time, are great. Compared to the N64 hit Super Mario 64, the difference is huge. The colors are clear, the environment looks fantastic and the characters are well designed to make it look like the original as much as possible. In my opinion, it has better graphics than Sonic Adventure 2. But I think it's because I was so surprised by the graphics of the first one, I got disappointed by the second one. They're not Shenmue level graphics but they're still very good.
-Great music, cheap voice acting
The music is great. I still listen to it today. The music doesn't sound like it would fit in a game, but it does! It's real Rock n' Roll!
Unfortunately, the voice acting isn't good. This has often been a problem in Sega-games. It's not as bad as the first Resident Evil or Blue Stinger but it's not great, either. Back then, you didn't really care about the voice acting. But today it sounds funny. In a good or bad way? You decide.
Conclusion
Sonic's 3D debut was what we hoped for. It features stunning graphics, catchy music and addictive gameplay.
Even though it suffers from poor controls and annoying camera angles, you get used to it.
You can find it online for a low price and it's totally worth every penny.
8.5/10
Sonic Adventure was also released in a Limited Edition and Sega All-Stars format in North American markets. It was released in an International Version in Japan.
