[P3DR0]

Haters gonna hate.


Back in the beginning of the 21st century, a new Sonic game has been launched, it was the sequel of the first 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure.
The title was Sonic Adventure 2, and since the time ‘til now, the game is claimed by many as the best Sonic game ever created. The concept was new, was fresh… Was shitty.
I'll explain here, how Sonic Adventure 2 ruined Sonic's next titles:
(May have spoilers, read by your own risk)


Dark/Complicated story, bro.

It isn't new that Sonic tries to stay away from complicated stories without much twists and turns, but recently, Sonic games started to look a little too much deep… Guess where it began? Since Adventure 2.
Sonic Heroes and all of that “Shadow cloning” stuff was kinda of dark for that happy story, after all it kinda implied (at least for me) that Shadow was dead and all this time you were playing with an android. That's why it was only shown at the end of the game.
Shadow the Hedgehog by itself was a game who tried to create a dark plot, with chaos, dead people and… Ugh… Monsters. I guess I don't need to enter further on this one, just keep in mind: Dark story.
Sonic 2006 a game that involves monsters killing our blue hedgehog, a silver hedgehog from the future speaking of killing a “Iblis Trigger”… Guess who… our blue hedgehog. Involves the end of the world, monsters, etcetera. It's shitty as can be.
Sonic and the Secret Rings this one was kinda less dark, but still had some pretty bizarre monsters, a guy destroying a whole story (which you can say that it's destroying some lifes as well since it was a “alive story”) and your friend who is killed in the end. Ok that it's just fantasy, but still isn't the pretty and colored story from the classic games.
Sonic Unleashed a giant demon who lives at the center of the earth and it's possessing people around the globe that was shattered by an evil genius and our hero suffer from this curse as well, becoming a werewolf at the night.
Sonic and the Black Knight an evil king rises and start ruling the land by the worst way possible, our hero have to fight with him and after destroying him, he finds out that the friend who was helping him since the beginning was the one who holds all the guilty for all of this.

Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors has broken this cycle.

But still, I'm kinda scared at Generations and this whole “Time Eater” thing. The name isn't friendly anyway, and SEGA has announced that will be a new enemy so… New robot or new monster? (With SEGA's portfolio I wouldn't be surprised if it's a monster).


Ok, so what does this have to do with Sonic Adventure 2 sucking? Sonic Adventure 2 was the first Sonic game who presented a complicated/dark story. Ok that Sonic Adventure had that whole thing of a monster destroying City Square, but still had more class and was less scary than Biolizard and all of SA2's story. Military forces chasing you, a dark past revealed, destruction of the world, an new enemy, betrayal, teenagers dying (Maria), and an rival, an enemy who in the end becomes your friend, who is dead in the end. “Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog”.
Boy what's with all this mess? Why can't we have an simple story like Robotnik creating a masterplan to destroy the world and Sonic foiling his plans? Thankfully that's what happened in Sonic Colors.


Moving on…


”Invisible walls everywhere” and “Can I play a little bit with Sonic now, please?”

What was the main complains about Sonic games in this modern era? “Invisible walls, invisible walls everywhere!” and "linear level design".
Ok I do understand the need of setting some bounds for the player don't fuck up with the game or to avoid glitches (open-world type of games are the most glitchy games around). And guess where this started? Sonic Adventure 2.

Sonic Adventure 1 was beautiful, you could go anywhere on the map, explore… You saw the lighthouse, and you could go there! It was a fantastic idea! You could play the game making a speedrun, ignoring the level and exploration and just running as fast as you can just to get to the end of the stage, it was optional, the player had the power of choice, the player could play the game that he wanted to play.

But Sonic Adventure 2 of course, raped this idea and made a “speed-run from point A to B” with Sonic and Shadow, copied the Treasure Hunt from Sonic Adventure 1 with Knuckles and Rouge, just making the levels worst and smaller (except for Pumpkin Hill). And finally, added a boring mechanic for Tails and Robotnik, which could be resumed as: Sonic and Shadow's point A to B game scheme, just slower as hell with E-102 Gamma shooter scheme.

And even worst, it forced the player to play with the other characters instead of the Sonic Adventure scheme where the player choose the character and play his whole story… No. You have to play with Tails/Robotnik and Knuckles/Rouge first to be able to play with Sonic/Shadow. And most of the time the game doesn't even follow the chronologic order! Making you play with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Tails, Sonic, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Knuckles, Tails, Knuckles, Sonic…

And I do remember another game who forced me play with characters that I didn't wanted to play… Sonic motherfucking Unleashed. Yeah, you know those three levels with five~ten minutes long with Werehog before you play with Sonic? Guess from where SEGA had picked up this idea? And what about in Sonic 2006 where you had other characters in the level who changes the gameplay drastically making you play with them… I wonder, where did SEGA picked up this fucked up idea too… Oh yeah, Sonic Adventure 2.

Rawr… I'm a motherfucking monster and I'm going to rape everyone in your family

Ok, this item isn't really Sonic Adventure 2 fault, it was Sonic Adventure's fault. But hey, Sonic Adventure 2 kept the idea of a monster being the final boss of the game, and since Sonic Adventure 2 was claimed by 80% of the fans as the best Sonic ever, this probably gave SEGA the idea that they were going on the right track making giant enemies who says to Robotnik at the end: “Hey dude, look at the size of my cock. Thanks for all the efforts on making me a giant killing machine, but now go fuck yourself.”
Well, they must have thought that was a good idea since later on we had Metal Overlord, Iblis/Solaris, Dark Gaia, Alf-Laya Lyla (I don't fucking know how is he called), Merlina Something-Queen (same here). Ok that we can't blame Sonic Adventue 2 entirely, Sonic Adventure has his part of guilty but hey, after winning two times it kinda makes you think that you're doing it right. No? So thank you for that, SA2.


In the end, Sonic Adventure 2 is a shitty game who's defended by nostalgia's sake. It was made back in the time where Sonic didn't used to fail much, so mistakes were tolerated. But it was SA2 who threw the snowball downhill. And like on any good cartoon, it was getting bigger, bigger, bigger, and finally it came and made a strike in our hopes and dreams.


I often see people complaining “Why don't they make a game like Sonic Adventure? :/”
Well they actually did it, it's called Sonic 2006/Sonic Next-Gen/Sonic the Hedgehog.
It has one of the lost factors since Sonic Adventure 2: The exploration. All the levels were open and you could even enter other characters sections. It also had another Sonic Adventure lost feature: You could select with who you wanted to play. Ok that it forces you to change it in the middle of level, but still, you're playing just your character's story.
And the only reason that Sonic 2006 was a bad game, was because it tried to be a Sonic Adventure 3, picking up the “best” elements for both Sonic Adventures.
From Sonic Adventure 1: The exploration, level design, character selection and the hub worlds (which were oddly fun at Adventure 1).
From Sonic Adventure 2: The story.
And what are the most ridiculous and hatted elements at Sonic 2006?
The story and the glitches.
Now, the game was rushed, and that's what caused most of the glitches. But what's the excuse of the story?... Oh yeah, Sonic Adventure 2 had a similar one.




But hey, at least Sonic never disappointed us at the music and graphics.

[Namo]

Not a bad write-up, I'd say. Could use less "baw" factor, but eh.

For the record, Sonic Adventure 2 did have a dark story, but it was presented in what I'd say is a "saturday morning cartoon" style, which didn't really make it that bothersome in my opinion. The cut-scenes feel a lot like the late 90's era when many channels were playing violent Anime numbed down and cut for American children. While I certainly think the story isn't great, it's not exactly horrible, and that's to do with it's presentation. That was pretty much as dark as it got until Shadow the Hedgehog got his own game, really. Sonic Heroes had dark overtones to it, but again, the presentation made it not seem as dark as it was. It wasn't really until Sonic 06 that it just seemed like a drama fest. To quote a review I read on it, "the game used the words 'kill', 'die', and 'death' more often than the words 'and', 'the', and 'or'." And Sonic Unleashed reached near-Sonic Heroes levels of embarrassing dialog, again making a story with dark overtones less serious, and I daresay enjoyable.

As for the "can I play as Sonic now" bit, I'd say the biggest offender there would actually be the first Sonic Adventure. Sonic Adventure has you going through 6 individual character episodes, only really two of which play like Sonic (that'd be Sonic and Tails). Sonic Adventure 2, though, has you do a Sonic level, a Knuckles level, a Tails level. Though a lot of the backlash there certainly goes to the non Sonic levels being... questionable in terms of fun. Most of the hate I hear on this account goes towards Tails and Eggman.

Though I definitely will agree with you on the monster idea. I've had just about enough of the "Super Sonic battling a giant monster in space" schtick. Biolizard could have easily been a giant Eggman robot, as could have Solaris and whoever.

[Steven M]

The flanderisation of the non-Sonic levels I'll agree with (really not keen on treasure-hunting in SA2, though the shooting was passable). The rest is undermined by hyperbole and nostalgia goggles.

[P3DR0]

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Though I definitely will agree with you on the monster idea. I've had just about enough of the "Super Sonic battling a giant monster in space" schtick. Biolizard could have easily been a giant Eggman robot, as could have Solaris and whoever.

Exactly. I mean, "Eggman" has always been a genius with a 300 IQ, how he'd never invented a way to control everything that he causes? Control the monsters that he unleash or the robots that he uses. It was just recently that we had a Eggman as a final boss in a game, and look, it was the most awesome game since S3&K.

Look SEGA, you're doing it right. For what I'd saw from the Generations and what I'd played in Colors I can easily let go my classic-lover mind and start enjoying the modern Sonic.

[Metal Knuckles]

I'm somewhat confused by the message you're trying to send. At one point it seems that you're saying that Sonic Adventure 2 introduced a bunch of new concepts that the other games afterwards took too much to heart and went nuts with, ruining the true source material. On the other hand, It seems like you're saying Sonic Adventure 2 was a perpetrator of these faults.

I dunno, maybe it's just because I disagree with your assessment. But it seems kind of like you haven't decided whether Sonic Adventure 2 is at fault for introducing these concepts that were so abused by later games, or for abusing these concepts itself in the act of introducing them.

[0r4ng3]

Dark/Complicated story

I disagree that SA2 was the first one to do it as (like you say) SA had its dark flair as well. The story wasn't that much darker from SA either. Even Shadow was fun in that game and in Heroes. He only started being that bland and boring dark thing after that. Biolizard and Perfect Chaos seem to be in the same level of scary, perhaps Perfect Chaos more because he actually starts small and you see it grow more and more deadly as the game progresses. And Biolizard is a joke once you notice where he's mounted on in Last Hazard.

Invisible walls everywhere

There were only invisible walls in parts of City Escape and in the hunting levels. Most other levels were either surrounded by blatant pits (cannot say the same for SA) or by visible walls.

I agree on everything else though. I understand why the level design was mostly linear considering the game's penchant for racing and competition, but that's not platforming and Sonic is platforming (or at least was at the time).

I like playing as the werehog as I never liked playing as Tails.

And the only reason that Sonic 2006 was a bad game, was because it tried to be a Sonic Adventure 3, picking up the “best” elements for both Sonic Adventures.

I don't agree. Sonic 2006 was a bad game because the gameplay wasn't implemented decently, Sonic's model was horrendous and (mostly Sonic's) story was embarassing and annoying.

[jasonchrist]

Great write up! SA2 marked my permanent departure from the series, until this year (when I will probably buy Generations).

- Depressing, real life locations
- Sonic looking even more of a cunt than he did in Adventure 1
- Whiny underdog faggoty singing over levels
- Blatant bandwagon jumping on the Tony Hawk and anime crazes of the time
- Shitty storyline and art direction designed to appeal to anime loving losers.

I played through City Escape in a game shop, hated absolutely everything about it.

"Fuck this!" thought a young Jason Christ as he turned his back on Sonic and never looked back.

[Herm the Germ]

Sonic Adventure 2 was, to me, one of the best games in the series.

I don't mind when Sonic stories go dark or complicated. I outright enjoy that much more than just plot being there for the sake of having plot (I.e. Heroes, for the most part).

While SA2 arguably did feel quite linear at times, the challenge present was good enough for me to not mind that. In fact, I actually prefer linear paths over wide open areas (that may be linked to my indecisiveness as well as the fact that I have horrendous orientation wherever I go).

I also wish we could actually go back to having Sonic games with more playable characters with their own styles of gameplay again, personally… but that seems, sadly, quite unlikely.

Monsters and the like, I do not mind, either. Makes for a more diverse universe, though it was pretty badass of Eggman to take matters in his own hands by the end of Colors (Wii). I guess it would be pretty cool if Eggman kept pulling the strings to the end of his plots more often. But, eh.

Then again, I'm the weird one out around here with these things, so, what do I know?

[BlazeHedgehog]

Did you only read a synopsis online or something? Sonic Unleashed's plot is neither dark nor complicated. That's kind of where Sonic Colors' whole "saturday morning cartoon" storytelling style first cut its teeth. I mean, I guess if you take it at face value it sounds like it could be dark, but it's really, really not.

[jasonchrist]

Herm the Germ, on 10 August 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

Sonic Adventure 2 was, to me, one of the best games in the series.

I don't mind when Sonic stories go dark or complicated. I outright enjoy that much more than just plot being there for the sake of having plot (I.e. Heroes, for the most part).

While SA2 arguably did feel quite linear at times, the challenge present was good enough for me to not mind that. In fact, I actually prefer linear paths over wide open areas (that may be linked to my indecisiveness as well as the fact that I have horrendous orientation wherever I go).

I also wish we could actually go back to having Sonic games with more playable characters with their own styles of gameplay again, personally… but that seems, sadly, quite unlikely.

Monsters and the like, I do not mind, either. Makes for a more diverse universe, though it was pretty badass of Eggman to take matters in his own hands by the end of Colors (Wii). I guess it would be pretty cool if Eggman kept pulling the strings to the end of his plots more often. But, eh.

Then again, I'm the weird one out around here with these things, so, what do I know?

Even though Adventure 2 is by far my least favourite game of the series, I DO think they need to keep making games like it.

What they seem to be doing these days is taking the modern and classic worlds and merging them together. I personally think that's a shitty idea. I'm a classic purist, I want a split franchise and a classic experience. I DON'T want a watered down "best of both worlds" solution because it doesn't exist. You can't make ONE Sonic game to please everyone, and that's their fucking fault!

When I played Sonic 1 10 years ago, it was utterly depressing to see how unrecognisable the series had become from its original self. It's no fucking wonder Sonic fandom is so divided, and I think SA2 is the game responsible for that. But the truth is that people loved and STILL love Sonic Adventure 2, and today those people are being denied a chance to have experiences like that again. I don't fucking want shitty, linear gameplay and Crush 40 faggots singing, and I don't want to fight the fucking Minge Eater as the final boss, likewise the other side of the fanbase doesn't want to play as JUST Sonic, and they may well want more serious "badass" apocalyptic storylines.

[P3DR0]

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Did you only read a synopsis online or something? Sonic Unleashed's plot is neither dark nor complicated. That's kind of where Sonic Colors' whole "saturday morning cartoon" storytelling style first cut its teeth. I mean, I guess if you take it at face value it sounds like it could be dark, but it's really, really not.

I'd actually finished all the games, Unleashed included. The story wasn't complicated, indeed. But it was kinda of dark, c'mon a giant demon at the center of the earth, the world breaking appart, etctera... I mean, it's dark. Not as SA2 or ShTH but is dark.

[Namo]

jasonchrist, on 10 August 2011 - 12:26 PM, said:

You can't make ONE Sonic game to please everyone, and that's their fucking fault!

I pretty strongly disagree with this, but I don't think that Sonic Generations isn't the game that's going to do it. What is boils down to is we've got the Sonic Unleashed experience and a Classic Sonic experience (sorta) mashed together. And while I liked Sonic Unleashed's day time stages for their replayability (getting an S rank in a level game is 10 times more satisfying than doing so in Sonic Adventure, Adventure 2, and Heroes that's for certain), not many people understandably don't like them for how linear they are.

As for the newer fans, I've actually seen a few scattered youtube comments on how they don't like Classic Sonic all that much. And them newer fans are all over that place.

[Sparks]

It sounds like it's dark, but it's treated too lightly to actually be considered dark.

Besides, the world broke apart in Sonic Advance 3 too.

[P3DR0]

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You can't make ONE Sonic game to please everyone, and that's their fucking fault!

I'm pretty sure that Colors kinda pleased everyone... I'm a classic-fan and got pleased by it and I know many others that had been too. But I guess that Colors isn't the game that is going to please everybody, but is good to see Sonic Team going in the right direction. Ok, it took almost three generations of consoles, but better late then never.

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It sounds like it's dark, but it's treated too lightly to actually be considered dark.

Besides, the world broke apart in Sonic Advance 3 too.

Demons, dude. Motherfucking demons. People getting posessed. Also the world in SAdv3 is a fictitious world, there are no people on it, etcetera... Not that Unleashed's world is real, derp, but it's based on the real world.

[Flare]

But it was done in such a cartoony way, I mean... demons that make Jason Griffith dance the night away babe, versus actual zombie demons. Nothing about the game wasn't light hearted and didn't make me question whether anyone was in serious danger.