Of my childhood icons, Sonic has suffered the most across these past two decades. SEGA may have created the little blue furry to compete against Mario, but we all know which virtual celebrity is king.
Attempts to jumpstart Sonic’s image have mostly resulted in much crashing and burning. Now, countless reimaginings later, SEGA is doing another port of their highly successful Sonic Adventure for PSN and XBLA.
The HD port is based more on the GameCube/PC version than the Dreamcast original. You’ve got the slightly updated visuals and mini-games, but the game is stuck in a 4:3 display. Nothing more was added to enhance the Sonic Adventure for either console, so the nostalgia is there. Sadly, that warm, fuzzy feeling is also the only thing Sonic Adventure has going for it. The high-speed gameplay is hindered by an awkward, vomit-inducing camera, and bugs range from annoying to game-breaking.
Every area and stage returns in full polygon glory, but my carefree exploration was constantly interrupted by the uncooperative camera. There are moments when it follows your little furry from a fixed angle, then gets stuck against a wall if you try hopping an object or walking into a tunnel. Shoving the analogs around is the only way to get free, which shakes the screen something fierce. The jittering also happens if you land on certain surfaces, like the corner of a stairway or the outer rim along one of those big red buttons.
The camera doesn’t behave too well during action sequences either. While jumping (or flying) around, it’ll sometimes sink halfway into the ground or hover from some other inconvenient angle. As such, you can’t always see where you’re going, and I’ve plummeted to my death several times when attempting to navigate blind.
Speaking of death, let’s talk about those bugs. In addition to the camera wigging out against vertical surfaces, every world you enter can potentially “break.” When returning to Sonic’s very first stage, one particular corner kept sucking Sonic into and through the running track’s inside fence/border, then hurling him into the awaiting abyss. Bam, another life wasted. The problem went away after leaving and reentering that particular level, but the same issue came up several times across other stages.
When it decides to cooperate, Sonic Adventure is relatively entertaining. Sonic’s buddies are unlocked when he runs into them in-game, offering a wide range of play styles to keep your short attention span occupied. Unfortunately, Big the Cat is back too, toting along his horrendous voice and brain-numbing gameplay. To be fair, none of the voiceovers sound remotely decent, though the game forces you to sit through lengthy cutscenes crammed full of the awful stuff, just so you’ll know where to go next.
Sonic and his buddies are a lovable bunch, and I honestly can’t stay angry at them just because they’ve been forced into a sloppy port. For all its problems, Sonic Adventure functions well enough to be considered playable. If you absolutely loved the Dreamcast classic, you’ll more than likely dig this one too. That being said, you're probably one helluva Sonic fan to fork over $10 for a direct port that offers nothing new except a few nerve-wracking glitches.
Final score: 5.9 / 10
forums
