Game Debate #48: Sonic Adventure

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

8/10. I adored this game and played every last bit of it when my brother and I got a Dreamcast. It was probably the first high-speed 3D platformer and that first stage with the Orca blew my teenage mind. If they took out Big the Cat, I'd bump it to a 9.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

I had a Dreamcast, but I've never played this. I'd give it a try.

[Webhead123 | 675]

Dreamcast was one console I never had and only ever played it twice. Once was a demo unit at Software Etc. on which I played Sonic Adventure for about 2 minutes. The second was at a friend's apartment, where we played a couple rounds of Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

I'm not the biggest Sonic fan anyway, so I feel it's fair to say I'll never play this one.

[Nintegageo | 582]

7. I actually enjoy the art, though not the GameCube one. The game has its charm and its cool moments.

[Tanooki | 4,930]

7 in general, probably an 8.5-9 by Dreamcast standards if kept in a bubble.

It's a solid game, it even in brief moments of design captured that speedy Sonic style without making kind of feel off or just wrong.  But when you get into the weird designs of the overworld, the more Mario-ish style platforming that's most common, the camera and random holes in so-called walls and floors, it becomes a bit of a chore around what's mostly a pleasure.  I imagine it was rushing for launch, but the DX version that came later, elsewhere, still isn't flawless so...

[OptOut | 8,881]

Yeah, this one was pretty good! It was certainly a novel experience to play when it first came out round a mate's house on his Dreamcast. However, I REALLY got into it when it came to the GameCube, that would have to be the definitive version of the game.

I appreciate the game for its variety in gameplay styles and playable characters, and there is a decent variety of level designs and bosses etc, that keep the game feeling pretty fresh the whole way through. The story is also enjoyable, although it's super cheesy! I also really LIKE the Big the Cat levels fishing, before anybody goes there!

I feel the main thing that lets the game down is an overall chunkiness and lack of polish. The game almost feels experimental/tech demo-y at times... Which is good and bad. Also, it's not SUPER replayable IMO, once you've played through it a couple times there's not much here to go back to.

7.

[Sumez | 2,932]

The original 3D Sonic games were a disaster. The fact that the highly broken and unenjoyable Sonic Adventure 2 is an improvement over this, says a whole lot about the game.

At least it's enjoyable to laugh as some of the outrageously terrible cutscenes in a cd-i zelda kinda of manner, but I'm not sure that's supposed to give it any bonus points.

I'll never understand why people unanimously rag on Sonic 06, when it's overall a much more enjoyable game than the Sonic Adventure games which otherwise suffer from the exact same issues as that one.

2/10

[Sumez | 2,932]

12 hours ago, RH said:

Ok, so I'm not a fan of Scott Pilgrim.  Why would they blatantly rip off the Sonic Adventure cover (because they did)?

Scott Pilgrim is all about references because of references.

I never read the comics, but at least in the movie, the bands are called Sex Bob-omb and Clash at Demonhead. The entirety of the scott pilgrim game is a nod to the Kunio games / River City Ransom.

[Robot_Ninjutsu | 122]

I guess I'd give this a 5/10. I've owned it since 2003, and almost finished the game. I also haven't played it since 2003.

It's alright, certainly better than SA2. I lost interest in that game after 3-4 levels.

[Estil | 1,261]

I can't believe no one mentioned the debut of the super cute Chao!   While Chao are MUCH better done in Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle), it is cute how in the first Sonic Adventure when they eat their fruit they say, "ahhhhh!"...that must be some really good juicy tasty fruit!  I also remember how appalled I was at the time about how all anyone talked about at GameFAQs was "torturing" and otherwise being mean to Chao   How could anyone be so mean to such adorable, darling little creatures?  Though if you really need to take out your frustration on someone...

Don't worry, he's made of strong welded metal and can't really feel anything; he'll be fine...  

Edited May 7, 2021 by Estil

[Kguillemette | 1,543]

Some of the stages in Sonic Adventure are really fun, but the boss fights are pretty boring, the central town hub is annoying to walk through, and the Big the Cat levels make the game worse. This game has a lot of variety, but not in a good way. 5/10

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

11 hours ago, Sumez said:

Scott Pilgrim is all about references because of references.

I never read the comics, but at least in the movie, the bands are called Sex Bob-omb and Clash at Demonhead. The entirety of the scott pilgrim game is a nod to the Kunio games / River City Ransom.

Don't forget Crash and the Boys

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

Holy shit, I forgot all about the Chaos! I remember taking my VMU to the high school football games and training them up instead of watching our shitty team get clobbered. Yeah, I was one of the cool kids for sure.

[Robot_Ninjutsu | 122]

8 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Don't forget Crash and the Boys

I loved the movie (and the comics) for the NES and The Smashing Pumpkins references.

[Estil | 1,261]

12 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

Holy shit, I forgot all about the Chaos! I remember taking my VMU to the high school football games and training them up instead of watching our shitty team get clobbered. Yeah, I was one of the cool kids for sure.

Chao is the plural form.  One Chao, two Chao.  Chaos is that monster who absorbs the Chaos Emeralds.

[Sumez | 2,932]

I always thought they called them Chao exactly so the plural form would be chaos... 

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

3 hours ago, Estil said:

Chao is the plural form.  One Chao, two Chao.  Chaos is that monster who absorbs the Chaos Emeralds.

Chao? Chaos? All I know is they're cute as a button.

[Estil | 1,261]

1 hour ago, DoctorEncore said:

Chao? Chaos? All I know is they're cute as a button.

Well when Chaos has all seven Chaos Emeralds on top of being raging mad at what those thoughtless Echinas did to those poor little Chao when they stole the Master Emerald and burned down its surrounding area...that is anything BUT cute!!

And in Sonic Generations that re-creates that battle, you don't get to be Supa Sonic?  Weak...  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

I started playing my copy last night.  I've never tried a 3D Sonic, and I know the game's reputation, but I went in with an open mind...

 

My god what a janky, poorly-designed mess.  I'm struggling to come up with positives.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

20 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I started playing my copy last night.  I've never tried a 3D Sonic, and I know the game's reputation, but I went in with an open mind...

 

My god what a janky, poorly-designed mess.  I'm struggling to come up with positives.

It was impressive when it came out. Maybe it hasn't aged well. I haven't played it in years.

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

38 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

It was impressive when it came out. Maybe it hasn't aged well. I haven't played it in years.

All I know is that Super Mario Sunshine is heralded as the worst 3D Mario game of all time and Sonic Adventure is heralded as the best 3D Sonic game of all time. 

Both came out around the same time.

After playing/replaying both recently, Sunshine is clearly the better game by a staggering amount.  That's pretty telling. 

[Sumez | 2,932]

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

My god what a janky, poorly-designed mess.  I'm struggling to come up with positives.

I tried to actually rack my brain, and I can't really think of any. Some of the music is pretty nice, but it's being counterbalanced by some really cringeworthy buttrock tracks.
In retrospect I'm not sure why the game deserved as high as 2/10.

3 hours ago, mbd39 said:

It was impressive when it came out. Maybe it hasn't aged well. I haven't played it in years.

See, this is exactly why I don't give any merit to those "it aged poorly" arguments.  Sonic Adventure was awful when it came out, everyone hated it.
The fond memories I've heard about the games never really surfaced until many years later. Maybe from people of a younger generation who grew up with the game, without really holding it to any realistic standards?

[Sumez | 2,932]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

All I know is that Super Mario Sunshine is heralded as the worst 3D Mario game of all time and Sonic Adventure is heralded as the best 3D Sonic game of all time. 

Both came out around the same time.

Mario Sunshine came out 4 years later. Not that much, but at the time I think it made a difference. It's not like there weren't plenty of perfectly competent 3D platformers before Sonic Adventure though.

And it's not close to being the best 3D Sonic game. In fact, I think it might be the worst. Even Sonic '06 is better.
Sonic Generations is a 3D game that's actually good. And it's not just good, it's really good, and feels like what they'd wanted the earlier ones to be. I know that game has 2D stages too, but the 3D ones are actually the best part of the game, even though the 2D ones aren't shabby either.

Really, play that game.

Edited May 8, 2021 by Sumez

[mbd39 | 2,017]

3 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I tried to actually rack my brain, and I can't really think of any. Some of the music is pretty nice, but it's being counterbalanced by some really cringeworthy buttrock tracks.
In retrospect I'm not sure why the game deserved as high as 2/10.

See, this is exactly why I don't give any merit to those "it aged poorly" arguments.  Sonic Adventure was awful when it came out, everyone hated it.
The fond memories I've heard about the games never really surfaced until many years later. Maybe from people of a younger generation who grew up with the game, without really holding it to any realistic standards?

I definitely don't remember everyone hating Sonic Adventure when it came out. I owned a Dreamcast and had SA at the time and was one of the few DC games that I really enjoyed.

 

[mbd39 | 2,017]

It  sure doesn't look like "everyone hated it."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Adventure#Reception

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by mbd39