Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2[a] is a 2001 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It features two good-vs-evil stories: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna attempt to save the world, while Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Eggman, and Rouge the Bat attempt to conquer it. The stories are divided into three gameplay styles: fast-paced platforming for Sonic and Shadow, multidirectional shooting for Tails and Eggman, and action-adventure exploration for Knuckles and Rouge. Like previous Sonic the Hedgehog games, the player completes levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. Outside the main gameplay, they can interact with Chao, a virtual pet, and compete in multiplayer battles.
Sonic Adventure 2
After Sonic Adventure (1998), Sonic Team was downsized and a portion of the staff moved to San Francisco to establish Sonic Team USA. They worked on Adventure 2 for a year and a half, with Takashi Iizuka directing and Yuji Naka producing. Developed during a tumultuous period in Sega's history, Adventure 2 had a significantly smaller development team than the first game. Sonic Team USA streamlined the design to emphasize faster, more action-oriented gameplay giving each character roughly equal gameplay time. The levels were influenced by American locations such as San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. The soundtrack—composed by Jun Senoue, Fumie Kumatani, Tomoya Ohtani, and Kenichi Tokoi—spans genres including pop-punk, glam metal, rap music, and orchestral arrangements, and features several metal singers.
Sonic Adventure 2 was released in June 2001, coinciding with the franchise's tenth anniversary. It was the final Sonic game for a Sega console, released in the months after Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and transitioned to third-party development. As a result, a port for the GameCube, released later in 2001, became the first Sonic game for a Nintendo console. Adventure 2 received positive reviews, with praise for its gameplay variety, visuals, and music but criticism for its camera, voice acting, and plot. Although reviews for the GameCube port were more mixed, it sold 1.7 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the bestselling GameCube games and the bestselling third-party GameCube game. Following Adventure 2, Sonic became a multiplatform franchise, beginning with Sonic Heroes (2003).
Sonic Adventure 2 introduced Sonic to a wider audience with its GameCube port. It originated characters and elements used in later games; Shadow became one of the most popular Sonic characters and featured in the spin-offs Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and Shadow Generations (2024). Adventure 2 remains popular among Sonic fans and was rereleased for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows in 2012. Its first level, City Escape, is considered one of the greatest opening stages in a video game. Adventure 2 has been ranked among the best Sonic games, although it has been characterized as divisive, particularly for its emphasis on multiple characters. Its story has been adapted across different forms of media, including in the anime series Sonic X (2003–2006) and the live-action film Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024).
Plot[edit]
Doctor Eggman learns of a secret weapon from the diary of his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, and infiltrates a high-security Guardian Units of Nations (GUN) facility to revive it with a Chaos Emerald. The weapon—Shadow, a black hedgehog who proclaims himself the "Ultimate Lifeform"—offers to help Eggman conquer the world, telling him to rendezvous at an abandoned space colony, the ARK, with more Chaos Emeralds. Shadow has vowed to fulfill a promise he made to his friend, Eggman's cousin Maria, before she died; the amnesiac Shadow interprets the promise as one of revenge. Shadow steals a Chaos Emerald, and GUN arrests Sonic after mistaking him for Shadow.
Knuckles encounters Eggman and Rouge, a government spy, attempting to steal the Master Emerald. He stops them by shattering it and searches for the scattered shards to repair it. Rouge follows Eggman to the ARK, where Shadow shows Eggman the Eclipse Cannon, another weapon created by Gerald. Shadow plans to charge the cannon with the Chaos Emeralds and use it to take over the world. Rouge offers her services and gives Shadow and Eggman a Chaos Emerald to gain their trust. Tails and Amy infiltrate GUN's base and rescue Sonic, while Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge collect three emeralds and blow up GUN's base to erase their tracks. Eggman makes a global broadcast in which he threatens to destroy the planet if he is not accepted as Earth's ruler. He demonstrates the cannon's power by destroying half of the Moon. While avoiding GUN forces, Sonic, Tails, and Amy meetup with Knuckles and use a Chaos Emerald to track the others to the ARK.
Knuckles separates from the group and finishes repairing the Master Emerald while reconciling with Rouge. On the ARK, Tails reveals he has made a counterfeit Chaos Emerald to destroy the Eclipse Cannon. As Sonic is about to use it, Eggman captures Tails and Amy, forcing Sonic to return and rescue them. Sonic tries to trick Eggman with the fake emerald, but Eggman deduces the plan and jettisons him in an escape pod rigged with explosives. Sonic uses the power of the fake emerald to escape; Shadow is sent to intercept him. Eggman sneaks away with the last emerald and arms the Eclipse Cannon. The entire colony suddenly starts falling, and a prerecorded message from Gerald is broadcast globally: he programmed the ARK to collide with Earth if the emeralds were used, a retaliation against the government for condemning his research and killing his colleagues, including Maria. Everyone but Shadow works together to access the cannon's core and neutralize the ARK using the Master Emerald.
Amy pleads for Shadow's help, and he remembers that Maria really requested for him to help mankind. Shadow catches up with Sonic and Knuckles in the core as they encounter the Biolizard, a colossal lizard and prototype Ultimate Lifeform. Knuckles deactivates the Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald, but the Biolizard fuses with the cannon to continue the ARK's collision course. Sonic and Shadow use the emeralds to transform into their super forms, destroy the Biolizard, and put the ARK back into a stable orbit. This depletes Shadow's energy and he plummets to Earth, content in fulfilling his promise to Maria. The people on Earth celebrate as the heroes return home, and Sonic bids Shadow farewell.
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
Sega announced Sonic Adventure 2 at E3 2000 with a trailer premiere behind closed doors and a press release. Game Informer reported that it was 40% complete at that time.[25] Sega uploaded the trailer online when it launched Sonic Team's website on June 30,[47] and allowed journalists to play a demo version in December.[28][48] Early copies of Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online, released in Japan in December and worldwide in January 2001,[49][50] were bundled with the demo.[51] It features the opening cutscene and level,[48] ending with a trailer showcasing later levels.[52] Sega showcased Adventure 2 further at E3 2001 in May.[53]
On June 13, Archie Comics published a brief adaptation in its Sonic the Hedgehog comic book, written by Karl Bollers and penciled by Patrick Spaziante. According to Ken Penders, one of the series' writers, the creative team was unable to adapt the story in full due to Sonic Team's desire for secrecy; they were only able to work from the demo and a few screenshots.[54] Penders said that they considered adapting the story in a separate Super Special issue, but Archie had ceased publishing one-shots at the time.[55]
Adventure 2 was initially set to be released in February 2001,[28] but was ultimately released in North America on June 19 and worldwide on June 23.[56][57] The worldwide release coincided with Sonic's tenth anniversary,[57] and Sega marked the occasion in its marketing.[58] In Japan, Sega offered a limited edition "Birthday Pack" for two days that included the game, a gold disc containing Sonic music, a commemorative gold coin, and a 17-page booklet detailing the series' history.[56][57] On June 30, Sega held a celebration at a Software Etc. in San Jose, California, where attendees could have birthday cake, partake in giveaways, and receive Naka's autograph.[30]
Legacy[edit]
Retrospective assessments[edit]
Sonic Adventure 2 is frequently ranked among the best Sonic games.[b] GameSpot and Kotaku deemed it a satisfying conclusion to Sonic's run on Sega hardware,[123][127] and Game Informer considered it a worthy sequel to Adventure.[122] However, journalists have characterized Adventure 2 as divisive,[c] and the 2012 rerelease received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic.[133][134] Some fans regard Adventure 2 as the franchise's pinnacle, but others find it unfocused—"a jack of all trades, master of none", as The Escapist wrote.[76] According to The Escapist, "depending on who you ask, [it] represent[s] the franchise at its best and at its worst."[76]
Common elements of retrospective praise include Sonic and Shadow's levels,[d] the Chao Garden,[e] and the soundtrack.[f] GamesRadar+ felt Adventure 2's increased speed and emphasis on spectacle positively influenced the series.[124] Conversely, its focus on multiple characters with different gameplay styles has been divisive.[131][132] While IGN praised the gameplay variety,[125] Kotaku noted that many only like the Sonic and Shadow levels;[127] retrospective reviewers have criticized the other characters as frustrating and cumbersome.[g] Game Informer found Tails and Eggman's levels fine, but Knuckles and Rouge's annoying.[122] Nintendo Life disagreed, writing Knuckles and Rouge were "entertaining enough" while Tails and Eggman were "rubbish".[136] To TechRadar, the gameplay variety meant the quality of levels fluctuated more than it did in Adventure, though Sonic and Shadow's levels were a significant improvement.[129] Kotaku appreciated the other characters' levels for their immersion, despite their poor quality.[127]
Additional criticism has been directed at the camera for obscuring enemies and platforms,[63][118] poor voice acting and audio mixing,[76][118][136] and the story.[h] The audio mixing, in which characters' dialogue in cutscenes frequently overlaps, has been described as infamous.[76][137] The Escapist and VentureBeat called the story nonsensical,[63][76] Destructoid said it "almost feels like work to get through",[118] and Vice jokingly compared it to a Bob Books take on Armageddon.[41] Nintendo Life felt the plot would have been interesting were it not for the plot holes caused by events playing out differently across campaigns.[136] However, VentureBeat praised the good-vs.-evil presentation as clever and adding unexpected nuance to the villains' motivations,[63] and Rock Paper Shotgun said the story was one of Sonic's best despite some melodramatic moments. They highlighted the scene in which Eggman destroys the Moon as considerably more impactful than his schemes in later games.[58]
VentureBeat wrote that Adventure 2 did not hold up to modern standards, finding its camera and reliance on trial-and-error design outdated,[63] and Destructoid said it was only redeemed by how engaging the Chao Garden was.[118] A Vice writer, while playing Adventure 2 for the first time in a decade, said that "[I've] been forced to reconcile my nostalgia with the harsh reality that it is not a terrific game".[41] VentureBeat wrote that it was more worth remembering for its historical significance as the last Sonic game for a Sega console than it was worth replaying.[63] Others conceded that Adventure 2 is flawed, but argued this was negated by its merits.[i] Nintendo Life said Adventure 2's many "bizarre design choices" made it endearing,[135] and Kotaku said it "felt equal parts triumphant and bittersweet... Adventure 2 has plenty of flaws, but you can tell Sonic Team was working hard to build off the best parts of its previous Adventure and play out Sega’s home console era with style."[127]
Following Adventure 2, Sonic's critical standing began to decline,[138] which VentureBeat attributed to Sega "depending on stupid gimmicks to sell their most iconic property" following the third-party transition.[63] The Escapist wrote that subsequent Sonic games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed (2008), and Sonic Forces (2017), attempted to replicate the Adventure 2 format of varied gameplay styles, but failed because they did not develop each style fully.[76] VentureBeat said Adventure 2's alternate gameplay styles were natural additions to Sonic whereas those in subsequent games, such as Unleashed's Werehog segments and Sonic and the Black Knight's (2009) swordplay, were not.[63]
Media related to Sonic Adventure at Wikimedia Commons