It’s easy to dismiss Sonic Adventure as a rough transition to 3D, but the game’s about as good as it was on release. Sonic Adventure at its best is a fantastic reinvention of the Sonic formula, capturing the high octane speed from the 2D games while presenting everything in a far more stylish package. At its worst, Sonic Adventure is a slapped together tech demo that – while admirably ambitious – doesn’t make use of its many gameplay mechanics.
Sonic Adventure is split into six campaigns across six playable characters (with an unlockable final story for the titular hedgehog himself). Every character has their own distinct play style and level design, meaning that Sonic Adventure is a wildly erratic game. With a bit more focus, Sonic Adventure could have maintained a legacy akin to Super Mario 64. Instead, the game is bogged down by six campaigns.
6 Big The Cat
Big the Cat’s campaign is notoriously bad. In a game all about platforming, Sonic Adventure pivots towards fishing when playing as Big. Fishing mini-games are common across all genres of gaming and can often be implemented well (see The Legend of Zelda or Breath of Fire for positive examples). Unfortunately, Sonic Adventure’s fishing mechanics are undercooked.
It doesn’t help matters that Big’s controls aren’t particularly well refined. Sonic Adventure’s mechanics lend themselves well to fast paced gameplay, but not slow fishing. The act of fishing also isn’t framed in a very fun way, since players are tasked with simply catching Froggy each mission. There’s little variety or incentive to actually explore the multiple fishing ponds. Worse, Big’s story is painfully disconnected from the rest of Sonic Adventure, throwing a wrench into the Rashomon-esque framing.
5 Amy Rose
While Amy’s campaign isn’t half as bad as Big’s, her stages do leave something to be desired. Amy’s gameplay is similarly slow paced for Sonic Adventure, placing emphasis on stealth based gameplay as Amy makes her way through linear stages. Amy’s campaign is mainly about staying alive across a few short levels, while tying into the overall story in minor ways.
Considering this was Amy’s first playable appearance in the Sonic franchise, Adventure is a rather disappointing showing for her. Amy gets minimal use out of her hammer as a gameplay tool, which actually would have paired nicely with her slower gameplay. Amy’s level design is at least in line with the rest of Sonic Adventure, but the core gameplay is lacking.
4 Tails “Miles” Prowers
Tails’ gameplay centers around winning races against Sonic and Dr. Eggman. As Tails’ arc in Sonic Adventure is all about coming into his own as someone independent of Sonic, the fact his gameplay is about beating Sonic at his own game really works in the campaign’s favor. Unfortunately, the races themselves are pitifully easy.
It goes without saying, but Tails’ ability to fly breaks any semblance of challenge in his stages. The level design unfortunately isn’t catered to his flight, allowing you to sequence break stages, or is so catered that the only way to fail is to run (which no one would realistically do). Tails’ campaign is ultimately at odds with itself, but it’s definitely better than Big’s and Amy’s.
3 Knuckles The Echidna
Knuckles has always been a fan favorite Sonic character and he makes one of the most graceful transitions to Sonic Adventure. Knuckles’ main style of gameplay centers around treasure hunting, but his controls are fast and he has combat capabilities that arguably make him more fun to play as than even Sonic.
Knuckles’ stages also tend to be the most nuanced in terms of level design and fairly open ended. Really selling Knuckles’ campaign, however, is what it adds to the franchise’s lore – expanding on his role as the Master Emerald’s guardian and giving Knuckles a glimpse at the lost Echidna tribe he descends from.
2 E-102 Gamma
By far the most inspired campaign in Sonic Adventure, E-102 Gamma’s story is unlike anything the franchise had seen up to that point. E-102 Gamma is a robot created by Dr. Eggman who has to continuously kill enemies to stay active. If E-102 Gamma runs out of time, the stage ends and players get a game over.
E-102 Gamma’s gameplay is the most creative in Sonic Adventure and has an inherent layer of tension due to the timer. Gamma’s boss fights also happen to be his brothers, which lends an emotional element to the narrative that’s downright heartbreaking by the finale. E-102 Gamma is arguably the heart and soul Sonic Adventure, if not the most memorable playthrough in the game.
1 Sonic The Hedgehog
At the end of the day, the main appeal of Sonic Adventure is playing as Sonic the Hedgehog in a 3D setting. If Sonic Adventure were just Sonic gameplay, the game would be far more fondly remembered. Every single Sonic stage is wonderfully crafted, emphasizing speed on a level that’s comparable to the original Genesis trilogy.
Sonic Adventure is at its best when Sonic is moving at the speed of sound, homing from enemy to enemy and taking in the beautiful set pieces. Sonic’s bosses are likewise the best in the game and his core mechanics are the most nuanced, allowing players to pull off some truly impressive gameplay feats.
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