Game Review-Sonic Adventure HD (Xbox 360/PS3)

(All pictures have been taken from the Xbox LIVE Arcade port of the game.  Special thanks goes to GameFAQs, & GameSpot for the pictures.)

Game Review:Sonic Adventure HD (Xbox 360/PS3)

It's been a nice 15 years since Sonic Adventure was first released to the public on SEGA's 15 year-old console, the Dreamcast.  Since then, there are people who praise this game for being one of Sonic's best adventures, & then there are some out there that don't like the game at all, due to bad camera angles, the fact that some of the characters (preferably Knuckles, Amy, & Big) were not fun to play as, & the HUB Worlds were annoying.  While I didn't have a problem with the HUB worlds, or playing as Knuckles or Amy (to an extent), I understand where they're coming from about Big the Cat, & the camera angles.
Nonetheless, the HD version of Sonic Adventure was released almost 3 years ago on Xbox LIVE Arcade, & Playstation Network, & has been my main attention this month, gaming-wise.

Sonic Adventure was released as the Dreamcast's launch title in 1998.  Hardware-wise, Sonic Adventure was already one step ahead of anything that Sony's Playstation, or Nintendo's N64 was capable of doing.  Sure, the PS2 & Gamecube managed to knock it's socks off a few years later, but it was revolutionary for it's time.

Now, the reason I love the game is simple.  The fact that Sonic & Tails happen to be the best parts of the game.  Think Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but in a 3D environment.  This is how I've wanted to play Sonic in 3D, & I'm sure everyone can agree to that!

Sonic & Tails play VERY similar to each other, almost having the same level design.

On top of that, is Knuckles.  Now, his levels aren't speed-wise, like Sonic & Tails' are, but they're still a bit fun.  It's a pain in the rear end trying to get all of his emblems, though.  The goal of Knuckles' stages are to collect all of the Master Emerald shards.  Think of it as "hide and seek", except with a gliding, climbing, super-fast echidna.

Knuckles stages involve a little, somewhat frustrating, game of hide & seek.

Now, Amy's stages....Oh, where to begin?  I'm gonna be honest here.  You'll get SOME fun out of Amy, but don't expect her to move as fast as Dimps made her move in the Sonic Advance series on Game Boy Advance.  She's probably the slowest character in the game, which makes it annoying to play as her.  Especially when you've FINALLY gotten so used to playing as the super-fast Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles already.  On the plus side, her levels play more like Sonic's, but a robot is chasing her now.  Another plus is that her story only lasts for a total of 30-45 minutes, if you know what you're doing.

Not as fun to play as, compared to the others, but that doesn't mean she's the worst....

Big...Ugh...Do I have to?  I'm sorry, but there is NO WAY that I can even get a tiny amount of joy from Big's stages.  You see on that caption on Amy's picture that says, "she's not the worst"?
This is what I was talking about.

Big's stages involve fishing.  Yes, out of all the concepts in the world....fishing.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Fishing in a video game isn't bad (I was hooked on the HD remake of SEGA Bass Fishing for about 2 days), but is it REALLY necessary to put fishing stages in a Sonic game?!  Heck, at first, I didn't even know what I was doing, so I sat there for like, 30 minutes trying to catch a frog, for God's sake!  Luckily, if you're good at Big's stages, you can have his story done in a mere 20-30 minutes.  Yeah.  Big's story is shorter than Amy's.  For good reason.
But, I might as well give it SOME praise now, should I?  The only good thing about Big's stages are that they're relatively easy when you get the hang of it.  That's it.  Never ask me anything else about Big.  I'm going to get a banana.

This was the only picture of Big I could find.  Even GameSpot hates him.

Finally, there's E-102 Gamma.  Gamma's stages are actually really fun.  They're not Sonic styled at all, but more Third-Person Shooter, in genre.  All ya do is hold down the action button until there's an enemy in range, & then he shoots it.  Sure, it's unfitting for the Sonic universe, like Big's stages, but they are more fun.  More fun, indeed.  Gamma's story is probably a little longer, compared to Amy or Big, so if you REALLY enjoy it, it's gonna suck for you.
Also, I should note that the Gamma style gameplay was used in Sonic Adventure's sequel for Eggman & Tails.  Just thought I'd mention that.

Gamma's stages involve third person shooter gameplay.  If you weren't shooting dolls or robots,  I'm sure ESRB would've given this game a T rating.

And there's also one more story, but I'd rather not spoil it.  You'll find out for yourself when you beat all the stories in the game.

On top of that, there's also a nice Chao raising thing you can do.  It's not required, but if you want all 130 emblems, I'd say it's about time you started raising some Chao!  The Chao feature feels more like a virtual pet type game, similar to games like Nintendo's Hey You, Pikachu!, or the old Tomagachi toys from the early 2000's.

Was going to do a picture, but the one I wanted to show wouldn't go into this post.  Sorry. ^^"

And that's about it about Sonic Adventure!  Now, while Big (urgh...) & the Camera Angles are annoying, the rest of the game is truly worth playing!  So, get that Xbox 360 or PS3 & get that game!

Now that this is over with, there's more to see this month in Shadow's Wonderful World of Gaming!  So, stay tuned!