Sonic Adventure (XBLA) – Review – Xbox 360

The SEGA Dreamcast was a console that came and went fairly quickly due to what seemed like bad timing. It was, and still is today, well known for its advanced graphics and features but it seemed to have come out just a little too late and was left in the shadows by the PS1. There were many great games on the console and most of them had a huge following, even today. So when SEGA announced that they would be bringing many popular titles over to the consoles of today such as the Xbox 360 and PS3, naturally this spiked a huge interest in the gaming community. The first of many Dreamcast games to be released is Sonic Adventure – the first all 3D Sonic game that introduced a 3D adventure mode, 3D action stages and a full cast of voice actors for every character and NPC in the game.

Story: Dr. Robotnik plans to destroy the world with his evil sidekick Chao. Sonic’s friend Tales tells Sonic of a new way to power his airplane with the use of Chaos Emeralds. You search for these emeralds for Tails but Dr. Robotnik always seems to turn up and steel them on you and feeds them to Chao which makes him stronger and taller. You must stop Dr. Robotnik and Chao from taking over the world.

Gameplay: If you had the chance to play the game on the Dreamcast you’ll be happy to know you’ll be getting the exact same game aside from graphical improvements. All the camera angle problems and drop in issues are still here providing that genuine nostalgic feel. For those that haven’t played the game, when you think of Sonic, typically you automatically think of fast side-scrolling action with a lot of loops and Sonic rolled up into a ball. Sonic Adventure however introduces an adventure mode which allows you to walk around the city doing small missions and progressing through a story. Mixed in with this adventure mode is the action stage which is basically a 3D version of the 2D Sonic you typically know. At first I wasn’t sure if I should be running fast or if I should just be trying to complete the level because in 3D, it’s much harder to control sonic at high speeds. Eventually I decided to just take my time, collect rings and defeat enemies that were in my way as I progressed through the stages. Although I didn’t get the best time I enjoyed the game more on a first play through. Many times through the story I was completely confused as to what I was supposed to do next. Luckily there is a little fairy that will give you a hint as to what you should do. At times you will also encounter boss fights that should be too much of a challenge early on. Aside from the 3D action stages, you can visit the casino and play pinball or there is even a bumper car racing game in one of the action stages. Once you beat the main game with Sonic you can return and play the game with any of Sonic’s friends with their own separate story; the main story from their point of view.

Graphics/Audio: The Dreamcast was always known for great 3D graphics; it was clearly a next generation system at the time. With this XBLA port, Sonic Adventure is a much sharper and polished game. The Dreamcast version use big polygons, but this version uses a lot more to provide a cleaner and more rounded character model. Aside from that, the game has been left untouched. The familiar J-Pop music is still here and as catchy as always. It’s definitely an enjoyable sound to hear when zooming at high speed through the action stages. Although the game featured a full cast of voice actors, lines are spoken with excitement when there shouldn’t be excitement or they sound plain when they should be really excited. Sometimes though it sounds perfect and fits the part. Dr. Robotnik for example sounds great and easily fits the part.

Overall: Sonic Adventure is the same game fans have come to love on the Dreamcast aside from the obvious graphical overhaul. Many of the problems you remember back in the day are still here and all the fun 3D action is available to provide that nostalgic feeling. Fans of the Dreamcast version should not be disappointed. I wasn’t lucky enough to play the original Dreamcast version but playing this XBLA port made me wish I could go back and play these games. I think it’s great that SEGA is bringing these games back not only for the fans but for new gamers that missed out on the Dreamcast when it was released.

Pros:
-Graphical overhaul
-Straight port of the Dreamcast version

Cons:
-The problems from the Dreamcast version are still here; provides nostalgia though

Overall Score: 8.5/10

A Copy of this game was provided to the reviewer for reviewing purposes from the publisher

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