Sonic Adventure

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Sonic Adventure
2000 version of the North American Dreamcast cover art.
Developer(s)	Sonic Team Sonic Team USA (international) NOW Production[3] (additional DX staff) Sega Studios Shanghai (360/PS3 ports) [4]
Publisher(s)	Sega Sega PC (Windows)
Designer(s)	Takashi Iizuka (Director/Level Designer)
Artist(s)	Kazuyuki Hoshino (Art Director) Yuji Uekawa (Character Design)
Writer(s)	Akinori Nishiyama
Composer(s)	Jun Senoue (Sound Director) Kenichi Tokoi Fumie Kumatani
Platform(s)	Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Windows, Zeebo,[5] PlayStation 3 (PSN), Xbox 360 (XBLA)
Release	December 23, 1998 Dreamcast GameCube Windows Xbox Live Arcade: NoGames Network:
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer (two-player)

Sonic Adventure (ソニックアドベンチャー, Sonikku Bukākke) is a video game developed by Sonic Team and released on December 23, 1998, in Japan by Sega for the Dreamcast. One of its development titles was Sonic RPG (although the final product was an adventure game, not a standard RPG). The final updated edition, known as Sonic Adventure International, was released on September 9, 1999, in North America, October 14, 1999, in Japan and Europe, October 18, 1999, in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and December 3, 1999, in Australia. It has sold over 2.5 million copies, making it the best-selling Dreamcast game. It was the first Sonic game on a sixth generation console.

An enhanced port was released in 2003 as Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (see below) for the Nintendo GameCube and in 2004 for Microsoft Windows. The game was ported to Xbox Live Arcade on September 15, 2010 and PlayStation Network on September 20, 2010. The game was featured on Dreamcast Collection, a four game bundle released in 2011.

This game is the first in Sonic series to feature free-roaming 3D gameplay. The game is divided into three types of stages: Action Stages, Adventure Fields and Subgames, which developers claim were inspired on rival series Mario Party. The division of Action Stages and Adventure Fields was a serious departure from previous Sonic games. In addition, unlike the previous game in the series, Sonic Adventure has six different characters to choose from: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big and E-102 Gamma; each with their own style of gameplay. Only Sonic is playable at first, but other characters are made available after encountering them in his story. When all stories have been completed, a final story is unlocked.

Sonic's stages involve high speed gameplay, whilst Tails' stages require him to reach the end of the level before Sonic (and in one case, Robotnik) does and Knuckles' stages see him searching the area for shards of the Master Emerald. All three of these returning characters retain a lot of their trademark moves from previous Sonic games. Amy's stages require her to escape from the E-100 Zero robot chasing after her, Gamma's stages involve shooting through levels to reach a target and Big's stages involve fishing for his friend, Froggy.

Action Stages are the main playable levels for each character, where the player must face various enemies in order to complete their respective goals. Adventure Fields split up the action, where players can explore the surroundings to advance the plot, discover new levels or search for items which enhance a character's ability (for example, the Light Speed Shoes which allow Sonic to run across a path of rings.) Subgames deviate from the main gameplay of the character, which include minigames such as kart racing and snowboarding. Players may also find hidden Chao Gardens, which allow them to raise Chao, a sort of virtual pet. Chao can be taken with the player by downloading the minigame Chao Adventure to their VMU, or in the GameCube version, a Game Boy Advance with Sonic Advance. The player can also raise their stats by giving them small animals that they found by defeating the robots, which improves their performance in Chao Races. There are also eggs hidden throughout the Adventure Fields which can produce special types of Chao.

By playing through Action Stages and Subgames, searching through the Adventure Fields or winning Chao Races, players can earn Emblems. In the case of Action Stages, each one has three Emblems, which can be earned by replaying the stages and fulfilling certain objectives, such as beating the level within a time limit. In Sonic Adventure DX, these can unlock hidden extras such as Game Gear games.

Much of Sonic Adventure centers on Sonic, a hedgehog who has the ability to run at supersonic speeds, and Miles "Tails" Prower, a two-tailed fox who often accompanies Sonic on his adventures; they are the main characters of the game who are in pursuit of Robotnik. Supporting characters include Knuckles, an echidna who guards the Master Emerald gem on Angel Island, Amy Rose, a pink hedgehog who has a crush on Sonic, and newcomers Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma. Big is a purple, noticeably overweight cat who must rescue his best friend Froggy who became possessed by Chaos' tail, and swallows Big's "lucky charm", a Chaos Emerald, which causes him to mutate. Gamma is one among a series of robots designed by Eggman to take orders without question. After an encounter with Amy, he suffers a malfunction and gains a "conscience". He then turns his aim to destroying his robotic brothers and freeing the animals trapped inside them.

The main antagonist of the game is Dr. Robotnik, also known as Dr. Eggman because of his round body shape, who has formulated a new plan to conquer the planet, this time not relying on his robots alone, but employing a strange liquid creature known only as Chaos. Chaos also serves an antagonistic role in the game, and is the guardian of the Chao. He is apparently water or a plasma-like material and changes form after consuming a Chaos Emerald. After consuming all seven Chaos Emeralds, it turns into Perfect Chaos, which Eggman aims to use in order to conquer the planet. The main antagonist of Amy's story is E-100 Alpha (better known as Zero), the first E-100 series robot who is a large green robot and is considered the prototype.^[6] Zero is one of Dr. Eggman's Robots sent to find Amy's friend Birdie. He follows Amy wherever she goes hoping to capture her and the bird. At one point he succeeds but Amy is rescued by E-102 Gamma. Eventually Zero is defeated by Amy on the Egg Carrier.

Dr. Eggman's E-Series of robots play a large role in Gamma's story, as he is one of them, and is out to destroy or "save" the others. All of them have letters of the Greek alphabet as part of their name. E-101 Beta is a black robot with two gun arms. He is the first boss in E-102 Gamma's side of the story, and is later upgraded into E-101 Beta Mk II, who is Gamma's fifth and final boss, E-103 Delta is a blue robot who is Gamma's second boss, waiting at the end of Windy Valley, E-104 Epsilon is an orange robot who is the third boss of Gamma's side of the story and is fought at the end of Red Mountain, and E-105 Zeta is a purple robot who is Gamma's fourth boss and is located at the end of Hot Shelter. While at first humanoid, Zeta is altered into a cylinder-like form with several turrets made up of a few Dreamcast machines.

Friendly characters who are non-playable include Tikal, a mysterious female echidna who appears whenever Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, E-102 Gamma and Big are sent back in time. She is trying to stop her father, Pachacamac, from stealing the Chaos Emeralds from the Master Emerald shrine. She appears mostly in the form of a red ball of light called a Hint Orb. A major feature of the game are Chao, small creatures who can be raised in the Chao Gardens and play a supporting role in the story.

Centuries ago, the planet was bestowed the seven Chaos Emeralds. These emeralds were a source of unlimited power, and consequently it did not take long before wars broke out over who would control the Chaos Emeralds. There was also a Master Emerald, which was the controller of the Chaos Emeralds and could either negate or amplify the Chaos Emerald's power. One of the chao living near the shrine of the Emeralds accidentally made contact with the holy water in the shrine and mutated to become a peaceful creature that could use the power of water called Chaos and became the guardian of the rest of the chaos there. Later on, a tribe of echidnas, led by Pachacamac, angered Chaos by attempting to steal the Chaos Emeralds, ruining the sanctuary it was protecting and attempted a mass massacre on the chao living there. They were all but completely destroyed within a single night and Chaos, in his fury, used the negative power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Perfect Chaos and slaughtered all the echidnas. Pachacamac's daughter, Tikal, had pleaded with Pachacamac but he refused to listen to her. Tikal then prayed to the Master Emerald after Perfect Chaos had left to destroy the entire world to seal herself with Chaos inside the Master Emerald.

In the present day, Dr. Eggman learns of the legend surrounding Chaos through a mural in the lost world. Believing it to be true, he creates his flying fortress, the Egg Carrier, seeks out the Master Emerald and shatters it, freeing Chaos in the process while interrupting Knuckles's job of protecting it and forcing him to collect the shattered pieces. Eggman's goal was to control Chaos, and use its destructive powers to collect the Chaos Emeralds and conquer the entire world, turning it into Eggmanland. To help him, he has created the E-Series robots, a group of powerful robots powered by animals placed inside them and programmed to obey him. Soon after, Chaos makes his way into the Mystic Ruins where Big is sleeping. Big's friend, Froggy, ends up swallowing Big's lucky charm, the yellow Chaos Emerald, and bitting off Chaos's tail which causes him to grow his own tail. Big then begins chasing down Froggy. As Sonic returns from an adventure, he sees the police trying to attack Chaos who has arrived into Station Square. He fights and defeats him but escapes. Later at night, Eggman creates E102-Gamma, the second of his E100 robots. Eggman tests Gamma's skills by having him do target practice and battling E101-Beta in order to join the team of the Egg Carrier. The next morning, Tails is out testing a new prototype plane but malfunctions and crashes. Sonic rescues him, and Tails shows him a Chaos Emerald he found which gets stolen after a battle with Dr. Eggman upon arriving at the Mystic Ruins. Amy's story begins in mid-story of all the characters. Remembering old times with Sonic, the Egg Carrier flies over Station Square, and a bird smacks into Amy. As soon as the bird drops, a robot named ZERO chases Amy. After they learn of Eggman's plans, Sonic and his friends spring in to action to stop Eggman and they all start their own separate, but intertwined, journeys for the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic has defeated Eggman and Chaos, Tails has stopped Eggman from bombing Station Square with a missile, Knuckles has restored the Master Emerald, Amy has rescued a small bird and his family from the clutches of Eggman and his robotic minion Zero, Big has rescued his best friend Froggy, and Gamma has rescued his robotic brothers from Eggman's clutches, destroyed by a last resort point blank blast from his elder "brother" E-101 Beta MK-II and releasing the bird during the process.

However, shortly afterward, Angel Island falls once again, and Eggman is attacked by a surviving Chaos. Meanwhile, noticing that Angel Island has fallen once again, Knuckles decides to go to Sonic with the Chaos Emeralds for advice, when suddenly he finds Eggman on the island, bitter and defeated. Knuckles asks him what happened, to which Eggman responds "This is terrible! C-Chaos is...", before being attacked once more alongside Knuckles by Chaos, who steals the latter's six Chaos Emeralds.

Elsewhere, Sonic and Tails take notice that Angel Island has fallen once again, and hurry to the scene, where they find Eggman and Knuckles lying on the ground. Knuckles then reveals to Sonic and Tails that Chaos stole and absorbed the six Chaos Emeralds he was in possession of. Eggman flies off in a hurry, going to his secret hangar to use the Egg Carrier 2. Sonic and Tails then decide that they must retrieve the final emerald before Chaos, when suddenly, Sonic is teleported to the past where he witnesses former echidna chief Pachacamac and his warriors attacking the Master Emerald shrine, with the chief's daughter Tikal pleading to them not to attack the shrine before they are all killed by Chaos, who absorbs the seven emeralds and attempts to destroy the world. Sonic then returns to Angel Island, where he and Tails return to Tails' plane the Tornado 2, which uses the seventh emerald as a power source. However, they arrive too late and Chaos retrieves the seventh emerald before they do.

Meanwhile, in Station Square, Chaos transforms into his final form, Perfect Chaos, and floods the entire city. Sonic arrives, where he witnesses Eggman trying to attack Chaos in the Egg Carrier 2. However, Chaos immediately destroys it. Tikal then appears, explaining that Chaos' heart is filled with anger and sadness and the negative energy of the chaos emeralds flows through him. Chaos drains the emeralds power completely, leaving all power of the emeralds useless. Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Big arrive with all 7 emeralds and their collective positive energies (explained in Sonic Rush) along with Sonic's good heart enables him to re-ignite the Emerald's positive powers. Sonic transforms into Super Sonic and neutralizes Perfect Chaos. Chaos is not destroyed completely, but his heart is filled with joy, happiness and forgiveness. Tikal takes Chaos back with her, but leaves the Chao to live peacefully with humans. Sonic runs off into Station Square and Angel Island is put back to its original state high in the heavens.

Development of Sonic Adventure began around April 1997 with a development team of 30 members. Then Sega employee Yuji Naka had been unhappy with prior treatment of Sonic, especially in the Sega Saturn racing game Sonic R^{[citation needed]}. After several titles for the Mega Drive, he worked mainly on the game Nights into Dreams.... However, learning of the Dreamcast brought him a renewed interest in creating Sonic games. The development team focused on graphics and high resolution for this game, with Naka reflecting that "[w]e have pushed the Dreamcast as far as we can at present".^[7]

Naka aimed to create levels that would take the player at least five minutes to complete, yet retain similar gameplay to the Mega Drive titles. Following the creation of the basic level maps, Naka wondered "why don't we use this map for other characters?" This led to the introduction of Big and E-102. The development team conducted surveys of fans to ensure that the final product—especially the characters—would please them.^[7] Sega made it a top priority to keep the game hidden until shortly before its release. Despite these efforts, screenshots were leaked onto the Internet in mid-1998. Naka presented the game to Edge in mid-August, and official announcement fell on August 22 in Japan.^[7]

Sonic Adventure also introduced a drastic shift in the overall art style of the games that continued to be used over the next few years. The more detailed, modernized redesigns of Amy Rose and Dr. Eggman probably best reflect this. The characters resemble graffiti art in their official artwork, striking more dynamic and extreme poses.

Head composer Jun Senoue brought a new sound to the Sonic the Hedgehog series with this game, and as such it features many different styles of music such as jazz, rock, techno, pop and country. Each heroic player character (aside from Gamma) also has an instrumental motif that later translates into a vocal theme song that plays during the end credits of their story. The game contains vocal performances from Tony Harnell, Karen Brake, Marlon Saunders, Dread Fox, Ted Poley, Nikki Gregoroff and Johnny Gioeli, whom the latter would later join Senoue to form the band Crush 40. The development team preferred the use of "hot, funky, and rock 'n' roll" music over the traditional techno-based music present in earlier Sonic games.^[7]

In 2003 an enhanced port was released for the GameCube and Windows titled Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (ソニックアドベンチャー デラシクス, Sonikku Adobenchā Derashikusu). The Windows version was at first released only in Japan and Europe, but later saw a limited North American release. Sonic Adventure DX includes a Mission Mode, which included 60 missions to complete throughout the adventure fields and action stages. It also contains an unlockable compilation, which comprises twelve Game Gear games featuring Sonic and friends. Also, if all Emblems are collected, then the player can play as Metal Sonic. Also, Cream the Rabbit makes a cameo appearance in certain parts of the game. Reviews were generally less positive than those of its Dreamcast predecessor, scoring more than 20% lower than the original release.^[8]

On June 10, 2010, Sega officially announced Sonic Adventure would be released on both Xbox Live Arcade and NoGames Network in Fall 2010, as the first in a series of Dreamcast titles to be released as digital downloads. Additional features will include enhanced graphics, surround sound, online leaderboards, achievement/trophy support and unlockable Avatar Awards, comprising of a Sonic Adventure T-Shirt and Sonic's 'Speed Shoes'.^[9]

Sonic Adventure was released on Xbox Live Arcade on September 15, 2010, while the PlayStation Network version was released on September 20, 2010.^[10] The initial release is based on the PC version of Sonic Adventure DX despite the game simply being called "Sonic Adventure".^[11] The DLC package, simply titled "Sonic Adventure DX Upgrade", has launched alongside the game on XBLA, for 400 Microsoft Points, and $4.99 on PSN, effectively making the entire Sonic Adventure DX 1200 Microsoft points ($15). It upgrades the game to include all of the features from the Gamecube and PC versions with the exception of the Game Gear games and Dreamcast DLC.

The reception at the time of original Dreamcast version was overwhelmingly positive, including reviews from GameSpot and GameSpy being above 90%. The current Game Rankings average ranking is 88%.^[12] It became one of the few Sega All Stars games. In Japan, it received an excellent 38 out of 40 from Famitsu.^[13] Although criticized for its camera system, framerate issues, and fishing stages with Big,the game was still highly praised for retaining the fast and enjoyable gameplay that Sonic was known for in 2D as well as the game's graphics, multiple character storylines, and soundtrack. Brandon Justice of IGN rated the game an 8.6/10, criticizing various glitches and voice acting while praising the game's visuals and gameplay.^[14] Despite this, GamePro gave it a positive 5/5 by saying "Sonic is fun, fast, and a great reason to purchase a Dreamcast".

The 2010 Xbox 360 and PS3 ports received less favorable reviews. While some critics viewed it as a good piece of nostalgia, others criticized the lack of improvements and the game's more noticeable age, with IGN giving it a score of 3.5 out of 10, calling it "so fundamentally flawed that it borders on unplayable", making it the lowest scored Sonic game on the site since Sonic and the Black Knight.^[15] 1UP.com gave it a D rank, criticizing its lack of improvements and touchy controls.^[11] Retro Gamer magazine gave the Xbox Live Arcade port 63%. In 2009, GamesRadar featured Sonic Adventure in the article about the "games that don't deserve nostalgia", citing the gap between the review scores of the original version and ports.^[16]

The game has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Dreamcast game.^[17] This includes one sold in the United States.^[18]

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