Sonic Adventure 2 Battle Review

While most people thought that the day would never come when Sonic would end up on a Nintendo console back in the days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genesis, it has happened. Although only a port of the Sega Dreamcast game; Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic has indeed come to the Nintendo GameCube. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle is based on the blue hedgehog; Sonic and his many friends and foes. You take the role of good with Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower the Fox and Knuckles the Echidna or the role of the villains known as Shadow the Hedgehog, Dr. Eggman and Rouge the Bat. Turn on the GameCube and prepare to follow an interesting story while playing the levels.

Gameplay

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is a bit different from classic Sonic games in the sense that there are three types of levels you will most likely be playing. First of all you have the choice of playing as Hero or Dark. You can play the one you didn’t play first after. Depending on Hero or Dark mode, the story will be quite different but it will overlap with the other mode’s story. Before most levels there will be a little clip, which are quite enjoyable to watch. As you progress in the story, I’ll be switching between characters. When playing as Sonic or Shadow you’ll be playing the action stages. When you play as Tails or Dr.Eggman, you’ll be playing the shooting stages and when you play as Knuckles or Rouge, you’ll be playing the treasure hunting stages. Not all gameplay modes were created equal in this case and I’ll explain why right now.

Action Stages
Now this is classic Sonic gaming. The main object is to blaze to the end of the level as fast as you can while collecting as many rings and destroying as many enemies as you possibly can. You can stop and explore but that isn’t really the point unless you’re looking for the lost Chao. Remember these levels usually require your reflexes to be top notch if you expect to get an A rank. Tough at times but really fun to play, these levels will leave you wanting more.

Shooting Stages
While it’s an innovative idea for a Sonic game it is quite lame. Tails’ plane turns into a weird shooting machine thing while Dr. Eggman also has one. Seriously I want fast paced action in a Sonic game not this. You walk around blasting your way to the finish with little problem. This isn’t fun but rather tedious as you wait for a Sonic or Shadow level where you can have some fun. The only real fun part is trying to rush through the level as fast as you can while locking on to many enemies at once to get a higher score but in reality this shouldn’t be anywhere near a Sonic game.

Hunting Stages
These stages revolve around you attempting to collect three pieces of the master emerald as either Knuckles or Rouge. Knuckles looking to use it for good or Rouge because of her love for jewels. Unlike the other characters Knuckles and Rouge can glide to help you out and do many other things after finding the upgrades necessary. You have a radar that helps you find the pieces of the master emerald. No color means you’re very far away, green means you’re closer, yellow means you’re close, red means your really close and when it’s red and you have a “!” symbol above your characters head you’re extremely close. If you want to get a good rank in these stages you have to hurry and find the emeralds fast. The faster you find them the more points you receive. Running around frantically looking for the pieces of the master emerald makes the hunting stages fun. Although some people may not like them because they don’t really belong in a Sonic game.

Multiplayer
You can play 2-player multiplayer in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on the Action, Shooting and Hunting stages. You select the character you want to use and the stage and your set. You then either race to the finish, shoot your opponent or search for the pieces of the master emerald. In 2-player mode you can acquire special powers for collecting certain amounts of rings, which can help you out or damage your opponent. In addition to special powers you have some other characters to choose from in 2-player mode. For action race battle you can stick with the original Sonic or Shadow, or you can also pick Amy or Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic is faster than the original but can’t collect rings for special powers. He does however have a shield, which you can use to protect yourself with from your opponents powers. In the shooting stages you can stick to Tails and Dr.Eggman or you can try out Chao Walker or Dark Chao Walker. In the treasure hunting stages you can use the original Rouge or Knuckles or use Tikal or Chaos Zero. 2-player battle is quite fun to play and will be enjoyed by many. It may get quite boring eventually but their aren’t any real problems with it.