They nailed sonic, he's very lighthearted and "cool" but when something serious happens, he doesn't crack a dumb joke about dying. He actually gets serious
This has always been my favorite Knuckles. I find his "meathead" personality to be so aggravating and the complete opposite of what Knuckles used to be.
@@jkthegreat5687 wtf? wut's that supposed to mean? is this how u perceive black people to be? I've never seen a stereotype like this but....... like why u gotta say that? I'm not mad I'm just confused. P.S. I'm black 👍🏾
@@devinperson242 yes I mean, I'm not mad, just confused. Does JK assume that black ppl are quiet and keep to themselves but have anger issues. My brother is black and he's the most chill person ever. idk man, that dude is just ignorant.
It's also implied with the master emerald shrine in this game and with Gerald studying the ancient echidna tribe in Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles that Gerald went to the Lost World in the Mystic Ruins and designed the Biolizard after Perfect Chaos. Oh and the Biolizard has Perfect Chao's roars.
It's just canon in general that Gerald made Shadow after Super Sonic, Gerald actualy went to Angel Island at some point and saw the murals near the master emerald shrine, and since he thought it looked like the "Super" being was fighting a great evil, he decided to base Shadow on that
What's crazy was that Shadow himself was going to ONLY appear in this game. His death at the end was going to be 100% permanent but he was super popular with the fans in such a short amount of time, Sega had no choice to bring him back and he became a series staple since then
I hate this argument about Sonic stories and I even see it popping up in Kingdom Hearts as of late too and just find it really silly. Especially if you look at how both series start out and see the darker undertones present even then. (More so in Kingdom Hearts than, Sonic but my point still stands.) I wish thst argument would stop popping up so we can get stories to the level of adventure 1 or heroes at least.
He should do a review of Super Paper Mario. Its so underrated because it is often seen as the 'beginning of the sticker star era" but unlike sticker star/color splash/origami king it has a good story and characters. (Origami king just needed to shorten the tutorial stuff and not end the way it did and it'd be pretty alright, which is way more than I can say than sticker star/color splash xD.)
@@archmagemc3561 I disagree about that "Sticker Star era" nonsense. To me, Super Paper Mario was the last of the "original" Paper Mario games. The gameplay may have been different, but the story, characters, themes, and presentation were still very much in line with what came before. Heck, the change of gameplay was just an experiment to see if Bowser's gameplay from The Thousand-Year Door could work for a whole game. Also, it was the last Paper Mario made by Ryota Kawade (who was the director for PM64 and TTYD).
@@KingdomHeartsBrawler I think you misunderstand me. I love SPM, ts just that its gameplay isn't very engaging compared to the first two games as its just super easy. (Carrie bowser destroys everything.)
This to me was a glimpse into what the series COULD have been as a standard from here on out. In some alternate Universe Sega kept up with the quality of their games and continued to branch the Sonic lore with these 3D titles while continuing with the 2D games alongside it. Just like what Mario does, this should have been what Sonic should have been doing all the way to present day. And I can only hope one day it eventually does.
@Ordinary GP I wouldnt say Sonic 4 but sure the Advance and Rush games, and Mania all have what I want for 2D Sonic. We should have kept getting games like that along with Adventure styled/Unleashed kind of games. We didnt need this garbage in the 2010s. This decade could be the most wasteful decade I've ever seen for a game series. Sonic has literally jack this entire era aside from Generations and Mania and the CD re-release. To make it worse, it doesnt show any signs of changing. So this is gonna extend beyond the 10s. Man 2021 is going to be cringe for the blue blur all over again. I'll just hope the movie is good
And maybe we'll get this. With Mania having it's own team, if sonic team manages to establish good gameplay and level design with 3D sonic (and decent storytelling in contrast to Forces' first draft script). I hope they just stop with the "sonic is for kids and kids are dumb" plotlines.
@@ufazig Well you pretty much repeated exactly what I was just saying so yeah that would be great. I personally would like a fully 3D Sonic game again. We havent had one since Shadow and 06 and the last GOOD one was SA2 and arguably Heroes. Enough of this 3D to 2D stuff. It's great but for crying out loud stick to something. We have 2D and 3D type of games they dont always have to be smacked together.
@@dapperfan44 No the sequel. The first movie was pretty great I just hope that continues in the sequel. I was pleasantly surprised with the first movie. Really good
All that's left is for the Sonic Adventure games to get ported to current-gen consoles (I will buy them the instant they come to Switch) to critical acclaim and we'll have come full circle.
@@ChiefMedicPururuOkay, sorry. I was just trying to say that the detractors get the most pandering aside from classic sonic fanboys. Notice how sega barely tried anything that was in 06 or adventure 2 because of how panned those games were? It's because they want to please non fans who either only hate on sonic for attention or only like the classic games and dislike the modern games because of nostalgia.
I’m my opinion SA2 could’ve been the end. Egg man had an epiphany and there didn’t seem to be a reason to still do harm. Everyone had a character ark. They are here and learned and became better versions of themselves. This was one of the saddest moments as you felt triumphant but just to find out you couldn’t save shadow it was a lot to bare. Plus it seemed as though everything sonic and friends have been through led up to this point
I mean, with the state of Sega at the time, it makes sense that they’d intentionally make a story that could be the end. As far as the devs knew, it very well could have.
@@TwentyGX I remember a TH-cam video stating that Unleashed was made with a similar purpose in mind, especially since it came after Sonic 06. That’s why the final stage is Eggmanland, which was Eggman’s dream to build since SA1, & Sonic says “time for the big finale!” before the final boss.
This game introduced arguably the most developed sonic character and my personal favorite shadow the hedgehog. Not only that it actually tried to a have a story with stakes and character development. This game also has peak dr eggman and he actually outsmarts tails and basically wins for a few seconds. But really this game was at a time where game stories tried to be something more than memes and self aware parodies of themselves, it tried to make you feel different while playing the game and it really leaves off on a bitter sweet ending. Sonic adventure 2 while flawed in its gameplay and story refined sonic the hedgehog and I'd say if this was the last sonic game we ever got I'd say it ended on a high note. Also live and learn is one of the best opening themes to any game.
Fun Fact: In the Japanese version The reason Sonic was framed for Shadow’s actions was primarily because the government wanted to keep Project Shadow, Gerald, and The Ark a secret to the public. Framing Sonic would be a perfect excuse
They were willing to frame a fifteen-year-old, three foot tall, blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog boy, who saved the world from an Evil Scientist and a Water Entity of destruction to cover up their mistakes? Actually, that sounds like something the government would do.
7:54 "Shadow's not Sonic's first rival." *Shows Amy in Sonic CD* Me: Wow, I've never seen anyone portray Amy as one of Sonic's- *Metal Sonic shows up* Me: Oh, duh.
1:02:24 This part of the story actually makes more sense in the Sonic X anime. There it can be summized that Gerald Robotnik is the reason Eggman was in Sonic's alternate dimension. This was his way of "protecting his grandson while Shadow destroyed the Earth.
I mean, Gerald wanted none to survive. The question here is moreso if he forgot he had surviving family or just didn't care. That explanation in Sonic X actually sucks, because it introduces another plothole. it is said that everyone needs to be in their world or else the concept of time itself dies and everything is frozen forever. But if Eggman was not in his proper world for most of his life, then....
My Dad got SA2B and the GameCube for my sister and I on Christmas of '01. It is the most memorable game we share, especially after him passing in '06. To this day, we still put on the album and sing together like we're 6 and 5 years old again. It is truly one of my favorite games and soundtracks of all time 😭☺
Honestly, I kind of wonder if the slight uptick in SA2 praise over the past couple of years has to do with Forces putting things into perspective. Forces tries to hit so many of the same notes as SA2, but it falls so short that you can't help but look back and appreciate what SA2 got right. At least, that's my theory. Great video. I agreed with almost everything you said.
EDIT: Just some more stuff I thought of, mostly story moments. Glad to I’m not the only one who made parallels between SA2 and Forces. •Darker narrative •Speed based gameplay, platforming focused gameplay, enemy focused gameplay •Stage to stage/world map •Mysterious new villain clad in black with an unknown backstory •A plot point of Sonic being sent to prison, breaking him out, and Sonic escaping. •A plot point in which Eggman has a secret trick up his sleeve to get Sonic out of his hair once and for all.(The Capsule scene from SA2 & the Null Space scene from Forces.) •A story moment in which a giant, fiery object from space is falling down to the planet to destroy everyone.(The ARK from SA2 and the Sun from Forces.) Not to mention Episode Shadow just being a giant SA2 reference with its ost. Forces really is just SA2 done very badly.
@@mcmistle9892 Actually, episode shadow is a giant shadow the hedgehog reference. And outside of shadows character being written better, it did literally everything worse because it is part of forces. Less good levels, less good atmosphere and you know, StH actually had a real war going on. Instead of everyone just doing whatever until they win.
I think it's because of the backlash it's been getting over the years. The mid to late 10's saw a lot of bashing of the Adventure series. Now we're getting to see a backlash to the backlash, of people saying it's good. Imagine if we just get caught in an infinite cycle? As a backlash to this backlash, people'll start bashing the game again, and as a backlash to that backlash, people will praise it once more. It'll just keep going.
Ah yes... SA2 the direct sequel to SA (which in turn was the sequel to the classic games) in a simpler time of: *No two worlds *No alternative dimensions *No timeline retcons *No self-aware humour *No cringe memes *No continuity errors *No side-lining of everyone (that isn't Sonic and Eggman). Just a great game with a serious tone where each of the playable characters in the story contributed to the plot.
My favorite plot point in the entire story is how Knuckles just randomly comes out of the sewers next to Tails and Amy like, "Hey guys, long time no see. I must have got lost in the mines. Looking for the Master Emerald pieces was tougher than I thought it would be. Where are we anyway?" Like there's so much to unpack there. You're telling me that underneath the city that they're currently in is a sewer system that connects to AN UNDERGROUND COAL MINE SHAFT/FACILITY???? ("once was a coal pit, but now it's a water ride") and, not only that, but this man just shows up, talks some nonsense about the Master Emerald to two people who have just witnessed Eggman blowing up the moon with a giant space laser gun, and none of them ask him any questions NOR do they clarify what is even happening. Tails just starts talking about tracking the President and his limo and that they can find Eggman by tracing the call from said Limo. Knuckles says nothing. Nobody asks him about the Master Emerald. How did he get lost in the mines and come up in the EXACT spot that Tails and Amy were standing. Why do they not tell him what's going on?! And I, to this day, don't care. It's still hilarious and I love it.
I spent many summer vacation days in 01-04 playing this game with my sister, raising Chaos, and playing through single player. Sonic Adventure 2 was a part of my childhood. I was in middle school back then...i’m 32 now!
That line from Eggman during the credits always stood out to me. Felt so fucking raw and sad, straight from someone whos foundation of themself has been shaken.
"Let's pause the game for several minutes to do a comedy bit at the expense of playing the mod. Also I'm not having fun playing Meteor Herd as a mech, but instead of quitting or handing off the controller, I'm just going to keep whining about it."
@@AkameGaKillfan777 That's a video separate from the main fandub series. They were just playing with mods on their Twitch stream and it's nothing to take that serious. They were most likely working on improv together because they're clearly friends outside of the fandub videos
@@MrJtYates I just don't like SnapCube that much. Not helping is how their fans started badgering Mike Pollock to do the Eclipse Cannon line, even though he didn't find it funny and he could get fired if he did. Also it was Deem Bristow who did Eggman's voice beforehand until he died. Wow, piss = comedy, ha ha so funny and original. Are you people in Kindergarten or something?
What can I say, I never get sick of videos praising the adventure games. Having grown up with them, it was really disheartening to go onto youtube as an early teen and hear everyone shit on these games like they're the worst pieces of trash imaginable, like sonic was never good, these past few years though it feels great seeing all the people who love and respect these games come out of the woodwork and give them the praise they rightfully deserve. SA2 was the peak of not only Sonic storytelling, but 3D gameplay in the sonic series in general, say what you will about "tHe GlITchES" but the Boost formula aint got shit on adventure. With some refinement and time on the mechanics, and going back to the full on blockbuster style stories of adventure 2, an "adventure 3" could be a complete re-invigoration of the franchise. Damn I miss the old Sonic Team.
I do hope that the next game is going back to the "Adventure" gameplay. They did rely on boost gameplay for a very long time, so I'd like to see Sonic Team do something different.
Sonic Adventure 2 hardly had glitches on GameCube. Superbounce is a skilled mastery of bounce bracelet physics, & the game itself is built on rules of physics. I've heard someone think it was a glitch in Final Rush that they flew between 2 platforms because they expected an invisible wall, they clearly didn't see the Sonic sized gap between them. The Adventure Games have been the best games in the Sonic Series for 20 years & we need a return to form for story, characterization, & gameplay.
@@WaterKirby1994 I completely agree, that's why I wrote "glitches" in a mocking tone as that's just the common criticism the adventure games get. Also, yes I have seen Ruby of Blues Adventure videos.
This is by far the best review of this game I’ve ever seen. This is the prime example of “explaining why I like this game, not why it’s good despite its flaws or why it’s underrated.”
I know, I mean, over the years, everyone has been trashing on this game. Saying this game sucks and you should hate it too. But I don't think that way. I personally think that Sonic Adventure 2 is my favorite 3d Sonic game ever made. To me, it's like transformers dark of the moon. It's where everyone says that movie was the worst of the entire trilogy, Well, others think it's while others think it's one of the best in the trilogy I am one Of those people Who say dark of the moon is the best And who consider sonic adventure 2 the best game ever.
Sonic Lost World: Welp, time for me to throw genuine positive humanity Eggman had at times like in SA2 by making him pretend to be on Sonic’s side before I become a very one-dimensional mad scientist! If you don’t mind SLW, opinion accepted. But Sonic Lost World is a Sonic game that didn’t try hard enough to hold a candle to the original versions of most other mainline Sonic games (Sonic ‘06 being the only exception along with Sonic Forces).
@@kieranstark7213 I couldn’t get into that game- it’d looked adorable at the time to me but I ended up just not liking the vibes from the demo. Shame to hear how he turned out in that though. Can’t imagine what led them to that decision...
*Sonic Adventure 2 (DC) score* Presentation: 8 (sure, the only real problem I have with it is that the CGI cutscenes look more lifelessly than cinematically animated and a more minor one is that My Sweet Passion does have lyrics about Amy Rose being Sonic-obsessed although in the Sonic Adventure series, she wasn’t too much that it held her back from being a confident, intelligent character rather than a character that would condescend Sonic for not being romantically interested in her like in Sonic Heroes, Sonic and the Black Knight and *especially* the *infamous* Sonic Free Riders. But everything else about the graphics and soundtrack of Sonic Adventure 2 make it a lot more exciting!) Story: 8 (there are people who actually go as far as to call SA2’s story one of the *absolute greatest in gaming* and while I wouldn’t go THAT far because of a line as sexist as “Attacking a lady?! Shame on you!”, even for an ass-kicking woman, with an ending more emotionally packed than imaginable and much more stuff, boy does it show!) Gameplay: 8 (the treasure hunting stages can be a pain, but the speed stages, early Knuckles stages, mech stages and especially the last story stages can be complexly challenging for the greatest of reasons) *8/10 (Best 3D Sonic platformer up to the ranks of SA1 for the Dreamcast and Sonic Unleashed)* *Sonic Lost World score* Presentation: 7 (the way they designed the game’s aesthetics and sound do have professional work put into it... except for the Deadly Six looking as much like they do not belong in a Sonic the Hedgehog game about as much as the realistically designed Sonic ‘06 humans. That, and while Amy Rose is luckily not clingy anymore, her voice was still hard to listen to because as I did say in early 2016 on Peter Pan Parodies Wiki no matter how much crap I got from it by Seth White aka 72.224.115.118 on Wikia, it sounded even more like Cream the Rabbit than Minnie Mouse, who by the way sound a little similar) Story: 0 (m.th-cam.com/video/SDNz342v_qA/w-d-xo.html) Gameplay: 3 (ExoParadigmGamer, a respectably amazing TH-camr at heart, unfortunately pointed out that it was hypocritical for people to complain about how harsh the level design of Sonic Lost World was while not calling out the level design of Sonic 2 for the Sega Genesis for having the same problem. However, while TheRetroReplay, another video game reviewer gave the game a “Good” score despite recommending it more to people who have figured out how to work through a game as tricky as this than newcomers, I think Sonic 2 is a great game, maybe not for beginners, but definitely for post-newcomers who figured out how to beat and have a lot of fun with the game as another one of those 2D Sonic platformers like the original 16-bit Sonic and Sonic Advance trilogies after playing it several times despite Metropolis Zone having regardlessly unforgiving enemy placement, while Sonic Lost World, on the other hand, feels like it’s both being a hard game yet playing it safe to pander to Classic Era nostalgia at the same time, both for the sake of it) *3/10*
The way that each character's music is handled is honestly the detail that makes SA2's OST transcend for me. I absolutely love how sonic gets a mix of ska and jrock while shadow gets this grungey edm style music, its so much fun. Metal harbor is probably one of my favorite themes in the entire franchise and probably the one I think exemplifies the character of sonic the most.
Let me tell you...that scene with Eggman and the fake emerald is masterful! The voice acting, the tension, hell even the character models were on point for once! Look at Amy's expression when Sonic says goodbye to her and tell me you don't feel her despair! This was the first Sonic game I owned and to this day it is by far my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good story and despite the holes this one had a (comparatively) great story. Also, going back I agree with some of what you said about G.U.N. and the government. I think that G.U.N. knew Sonic wasn't Shadow, but since they couldn't let it be known that they let Shadow escape they framed Sonic. Rogue was probably called in to help cover up the government's mistakes like you said. Lastly, "Live and Learn" is my favorite video game song EVER, bar none. This was one of the last video games my little brother and I played together and every time I hear that song I get chills reminiscing on the times. This game as a whole holds such a special place in my heart, but man that song is just top notch. Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now. Thank you for this video!
Fucking amazing, J. This is a game that I've always held so dear to my heart even as I grow into a cynical 20-something who hates everything. I will never forget my first time playing this game as a second grader whose only other experience with Sonic was Sonic 2 for the Genesis and being blown away the visuals, the music, the gameplay and levels, and the characters. This was what made me fall in love with the franchise and showed me that video games can be legitimate forms of storytelling even if I was too young to really understand that. And that final speech you made really got to me and reminded me of why these games meant so much to me as a kid. Thank you so much for this and the whole retrospective.
SA2 has so many super small bits that I can't help but to overthink and feel my heart melt! Super Sonic's little animation when he goes to fight the Finalhazard. Now much more experienced with Chaos Energy and, while not to the same degree of Shadow, he did perform Chaos Control. He just roars with energy, filled with pure rage. It's so cool and shows that Sonic has limits. Knuckles has a reason to not turn into Super Knuckles. He still needs to look after the Master Emerald! Sonic, while cheering up Amy, does still feel a bit hurt. Yes, he's able to move on but gave a heartfelt goodbye to Shadow. He really sounds like he's almost about to tear up. There's so many moments I can list and it's all because I love the game and the series to bits. Thank you for doing it justice.
J, I can't believe you were the person that made me notice after almost 20 years, that The Space Colony Ark is just an upside down Evil Bespin from Star Wars... I can't believe I never noticed that before.
This is definitely one of your best videos, from the pacing to the emotion to the thorough explanation on the game play and story, I was surprised at how quickly this video went by
Thank you, seriously. I'm sick and tired of everyone dogpiling on SA1 and 2, and treating them like trash. Sonic can be good in 3D and it's about time more people said it.
I'm happy to finally see a review of Sonic Adventure 2 that doesn't hate on the Knuckles and Rouge treasure hunt stages. Those were always one of my favorite parts of the game and I was disappointed when I found out that they weren't well liked by most people. I know they're easy to get lost in at first, especially the later ones, but once you remember your way around, they really aren't that bad. Whenever my mom and I played the game, we spent most of our times in the treasure hunt stages and the Chao Garden. Not to say I didn't like the other stages as well. I love the speed stages, and the shooting ones are more fun once you get the hover ability.
When I was 11, I hated them. That was mainly because I never liked adventure games growing up where you had to explore and not given much direction. Of course now I've grown to enjoy them a lot more. Meteor Herd is my favourite stage in the game actually.
@@codywinter4818 Every other reviewer I've seen review Sonic Adventure 2 besides this one criticized them saying they were the worst part of the game. I remember one reviewer even said the Sonic and Shadow stages were the only good ones.
The worst part of the game?? Thats wild. I love playing as knuckles and rouge, the punch/kick and gliding and everything, sick. I feel like they have less jankiness than the others can get in certain levels too. I guess I can see if you dont like exploring much and just want to run through or blow shit up, but I think the only bad part of the game is the shitty camera in some areas.
I really never understood the hate for this game when it's one of my favorite games of all time. I literally played it until my gamecube broke. There's just something magical about it. I think my favorite part about the game was the heroes and villains coming together against a bigger threat. It was almost as if their fight against each other earlier was all just a play and they're all actually friends. I feel like it kept the game from being too dark for a sonic game.
This notification interrupted my Seinfeld...but then I thought, what if Jerry Seinfeld voiced Sonic? “I mean, WHAAAT is the deal with this airline? No food or movies? I might as well board on the asphalt OOUAAAOUUHHHH!!”
On the topic of the map screen, I had been replaying a few stages when I just decided to stop and look at Prison Island for a second. I thought that it had kind of resembled a crescent moon, but then I remembered that after all of the Prison Island stages is when Eggman blows up the moon. I could be stretching, but if that was a bit of intentional foreshadowing, then holy shit.
1:07:36 while Johny’s review was alright, Jared’s review is pretty bad and we aren’t saying that he sucks for disliking the game, the problem I had with Jared’s review was his condescending tone towards fans of the game and his arguments aren’t of sound reasoning, the video you showed at the bottom by Ruby of Blue was to show how Jared’s arguments are poorly constructed and to call out Jared’s rude behavior towards fans of the game, Ruby doesn’t hate ProJared and his video wasn’t meant to hate on him.
I stand by to this day that Scott Drier was the best voice actor for Knuckles from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes. Edit: ALSO Lani is one of the best voices for Rouge. I'm probably saying that because she was the first voice actor I was introduced to for her. I'm up for debate with this one.
@@dapperfan44 True. I think it's because Lani gave Rouge that seductive voice to go along with her body, which is why I like her voice as Rouge so much. I don't really get that feel with other Rouge actors, but I do like the voice for Rouge in Generations.
I think Lani is the best rouge voice because the voice was a bit seductive but it wasn't so to the point where the voice and the character of rouge were just "sexy bat". I hate how that small aspect of her became her entire character for no reason. Later actors just do the seductive voice and that's it, not really any emotions beside that.
Agreed, easily one of the best boss theme songs of all time. It's too bad it didn't sound as dynamic when they remixed it in Sonic Generations, at least in my opinion anyway. I preferred the droning vocals of the original as opposed to the more cleaned up style, made it feel more ominous and ghostly.
They did the same with Sonic, one of his beta designs was an armadillo which later became Mighty. Ofc Mighty got his shine in the comics and has recently resurged in popularity thanks to Mania (too bad "mandates" restrict him and Ray from ever directly appearing in the "modern" games).
@@lynxfresh5214 yeah the design became mighty. I think it was literally ripped when they where making sega sonic. But his colour choice was picked from Sega Sonic Bros
I'd argue there is still some attitude in later games, what it truly lacks is energy. Attitude with no energy is what makes Sonic comes off as a cynical, detached d-bag rather than a cocky and confident hero imo.
So, so true. SA2 was the beginning of the downfall for many fans of the previous era but the absolute peak for many younger fans. Still the most polarizing game I have seen in the series.
@@bleakburd4965 Shadow the Hedgehog was a decent game with an okay narrative structure that, while a little redundant, wrapped up the story pretty nicely. I say wrapped up because it was pretty much the last game we got that followed the storyline of Sonic Adventure, sadly enough. Wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.
@@bleakburd4965 No, because I played it myself and thought it was fun. It's a strong 6.5 or maybe even 7 out of 10. I also don't let TH-cam review channels shape my worldview or how I view games.
I absolutely adore this game, is still in my opinion the best of the 3D Sonic games and easily in the top 3 if not number 1 of all Sonic games. It amazes me that they made/used a game engine that worked so well for Sonic movement and really only needed a few more small tweaks (I think) to be perfect and then seem to just ditch it or lost it after like Sonic Heroes.
personally i never liked shadow that much when i was younger,but he was such a good character in sa2 and heroes that i didnt feel nothing but respect for him when i played those games.
I wish he came back like a REAL playable character with his own abilities and chaos moves. It would be nice and would make a lot of shadow fans really happy. But we can just imagine.
@@kenwalkensdeadchannelcanal2886 I mean, that would be if Sega wanted to attempt something like 06 again, but oops. Everyone already shot that down and the only reason they do not ignore it existing anymore is because people wanted crisis city in generations.
@@kenwalkensdeadchannelcanal2886 I agree, Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, 06, Battle and Chronicles do a good job of showing Shadow's superhuman strength, stamina and chaos abilities. So why do some games make play as a Sonic clone with signatures techniques of his own?
@@donathan2933 Sega just put shadow as a playable character when you finish a level once... and he's just a copy of sonic, with different animations and effects... kind cheap honestly. They could make it Better like... a chaos dash that is only exclusive to shadow that when in the air can make him hover but it will decrease your boost gouge when you're in the air for too long, but when on the ground with your boost gouge full you can make a super dash that functions like the cyan wisp from colors. But he only dashes through enemies at high speeds, and and is faster than the boost but it will take out ALL of your boost Gage. (And yes i just gave an entire idea on how shadow could be just a bit unique in forces...)
Sonic Adventure 2 is one of the best Sonic games ever made. I love it with a passion! Just as much as SA1. However, there are just a few thing I wish SA2 had. 1. A Sonic VS Eggman boss fight, after defeating Shadow. 2. Flashbacks showing Eggman interacting with his grandfather Professor Gerald, and his cousin Maria. 3. Sonic and Shadow having one last conversation, before Shadow "dies". To make that scene even more emotional.
Interestingly enough, modders have been trying to get eggman to fight sonic and other characters fighting each other for years. But, for whatever reason, you can't. Mech characters can only fight mech characters, speed characters can only fight speed characters, and treasure hunting characters can only fight treasure hunting characters. They've been trying for years but they can't figure it out. Whenever you load in sonic, for example into an eggman vs tails fight, shadow will always load in. So maybe they just couldn't figure out how to do it before the game released.
Starscream91 Yeah. For an SA2 remake, they can have that as a new Robotnik boss fight for Sonic, after defeating Shadow. Then the whole “You’re pretty persistent for a hedgehog” line comes to place at THAT moment.
shiro maekawa said if he had to add anything to sa2 it would be the cut stuff he is good story writer for the sonic games he even said cutting things in the games was very heart brokening and hard for him cuz he love sa2 too much and treat shadow as a son he even said i would cut my own hands to get the cut stuff back so all in all if sa2 remake happen maekawa must come back to sonic team and sega to write back the cut things but i do not know if the cut stuff will make you happy or not i do not know even what was the cut stuff was
I want to just say that GUN thinking Shadow was Sonic isn't too crazy like Cooper said in his review everyone saw Sonic turn into SuperSonic in SA1 so with that knowledge in mind that being Sonic can transform. They already saw him turn into a golden hedgehog and fly turning black and red doesn't sound too crazy in theory.
And Ruby of Blue made it make more sense he said all the people saw was a hedgehog stealing a chaos emerald running blitzing speeds at night and by the time Sonic is in city escape people actually did see the real Sonic
Not only that, but when Sonic transformers into Super Sonic, his spikes are pratically the same as shadow in his normal and even super form. So it make sense for GUN thinking that Shadow was Sonic.
Um Besouro Pistoleiro that too as the audience we notice all of that but the people in universe don’t it’s called dramatic irony lol it’s like how terra aqua and ven didn’t know xehanort was evil to us he checks off as a bad guy but to them he’s a guy who’s been around forever
Are some of you stupid? They took still pictures of Shadow. On cameras with advanced technology. Shadow also stood still enough for the news to put him on spotlight as he was tZalking to himself on Radical Highway. Its CRAZY unless you live your life behind screens. Alot of proper evidence would be needed before they sent someone out to arrest. The footage and still photos would have to be analyzed.
sonic's literally the fastest thing alive so if someone comes along and rivals that speed it's not hard to think the average joe would be like "hmmm emo sonic"
Everything you said about the characterization and story is exactly why it saddens me so much to see the writing and story and characterization of the games since Sonic Colors aka meta era, all I ask is that whatever this next main sonic game is... I just hope it has the same story and writing beats that the adventure games had... give sonic an emotion other that sarcasm
I'd say it's best to wait until we will see what that game will be before judging. Although I wouldn't hold high hopes for it since Sonic hasn't been doing very well for the past decade and because the last major title was Sonic Forces.
RadicialDraws He grew to appreciate and respect the characters in SA2, and he developed into someone who would be open to having friends... If he didn’t fucking die that is Then as you said, thats where Heroes comes in
@@hihi-nm3uy Yeah, it sucks looking back at this game where most of the cast are at their best and then looking at what we have now. Shadow's case is particularly painful because we know this is what SEGA _wants._ It's not just that the writers suck, because we got confirmation last year that Ian Flynn intended him to be as he should be in the pages of IDW but SEGA said no. We know Ian can write a good Shadow, because he was good in pretty much every story in Archie. Even moreso, Shadow was, along with Knuckles, one of the few cases where the comic did better than the games. I often felt that the more game-like Archie became, the more the characters were stretched between their OG Archie personalities and the game versions. Eggman especially suffered from that, with his actions becoming increasingly dissonant the more the comic went on. But Shadow was great. And now he isn't.
Sonic and Shadow’s final confrontation has two sonic quotes that are so perfect it’s unreal “what can I say, I die hard” and “what you see is what you get, just a guy that loves adventure. I’m sonic the hedgehog!” Both of these quotes not only perfectly demonstrate what kind of person sonic is but they are just pure badass in the most honest way.
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was literally the best game in the entire series and it has yet to match the addictive replayability of that game. Mostly do to the chao garden. The story in SA2B is also one of my favorite in the series.
Same. I brought my Dreamcast stuff out of storage a while back after I’d ordered a new, functional one to replace the long since broken one I played as a kid, as I hadn’t played a ton of its library back when it was alive and realized it could play all of its library just through burned CDrs. Ended up finding my now teenage Chao, preserved just as they were on the old memory card, and I got to say hey to them once more. Shit was EMOTIONAL
55:49 Just like how Shadow is based on the Super Sonic mural, I always thought that the Biolizard was based on the Perfect Chaos mural. Granted, that doesn't explain why it doesn't look like the other artificial Chaos enemies, but... Well... The Biolizard IS a prototype so maybe, after refocusing on Shadow, they used the Chaos research to create those weaker enemies. The theory isn't 100% solid, but it's better than having a giant (non-liquid) lizard that has zero connection to All of the other research.
Maybe Gerald used lizards for their regenerative abilities? Ultimate life form is supposed to be unkillable, ageless, capable of regenerating lost limbs and all that.
Maybe it has something to do with froggy? Some other mural that 'mentioned' him and big? And that muddled the Dr's perception of what perfect chaos looked like even if chaos zero was understood?
@@connorschultz380 I hear you. Your suggestion is a bit more of a stretch, tho since it's based on nothing rather than something present in the games. Besides, Froggy is an amphibian. Not a lizard and looks nothing like Biolizard.
The boost limits Sonic and his cast so much, it feels so un natural going from the Adventure formula to this I love 2006 but at the same time fuck this game for ruining Sega's vision of what Sonic should be
@@maude7420 “Vision for what sonic should be.” Did you forget that sega is the same company that brought sonic into existence?. Your literally going off of what YOU think sonic should be. Yet, I don’t see you filing a complaint about it. Other people have opinions. Not everything evolves around you.
AHR sonic team does not understand what sonic should be anymore tho. Just look at sonic forces, it seems like they lost all their passion and ambission and made the most boring and uninspired sonic game ever created.
@@acousticslayer5883 A balannce between Boost and Adventure would be very welcome, as in, the player would have the ability to turn into the ''Boost Mode'' by unlocking it as a special move (like the Light Speed Attack and it's LSDash variant) just the same way Shadow and Silver could get Chaos Boost or Psycho Boost. Making it work as a special move let's the player calculate when they will need to use it or not, instead of just being a button mashing of X/Square until you beat the stage.
Honestly I disagree with the radar change in the hunting stages. This is an unpopular take, but the hunting stages are my favorite playstyle in the game. While I do like how each stage was built to accommodate hunting for emerald pieces I think the radar can hurt the style in some way. In fact on some occasions depending on location emerald placement can dictate enjoyment factor of certain levels. Even if I have the stage memorized (As much as I love SA2 and it is my favorite Sonic game, inplantgames review of SA2 was pretty accurate in discussing issues with the gimped radar system) Mad Space for instance is easily the worst level in the game and honestly one of my least favorite stages in any Sonic game. With Mad Space the level is too spacious to the point where exploring the entirety works against it. Rather than using Rogue's ability to scale/climb to the top, you have to use rockets to go upwards and the wonky gravity physics don't do the stage any favors it feels like an unnecessary mechanic, especially when Meteor Heard had none of this outside of spacious design and vertical progression. I also find the hint systems can be very obtuse in certain instances of this level. The only good thing about Mad Space is the music, which is probably my favorite Rouge music in the game. I also don't like Death Chamber because the overly cramped nature hinders movement and I often find its too cramped. Even if I do admire the feel they were going for with it (exploring an underground chamber) I feel Egg Quarter's did this better (minus that beetle) The problem with Tikal showing the player where the emerald pieces were was that it held the player's hand too much, as the only accomplishment came from just following her to the direction, not that the radar itself was the problem. I felt a balance should've been met, having the radar from SA1, but allowing exploration up to the player in a way that's not just given to them. So while I do agree that the stages are better than SA1 for me, the radar certainly has this grey area.
Well said & agreed almost completely. Meteor Herd may be huge, although without any gravity gimmicks it's easy to traverse quickly using rockets. Death Chamber & Mad Space were Level 4 in 2P Battle mode for good reason. I think Adventure 2's radar of 4 Color Settings & the Exclamation Point when right next to it is better than the 6 Color Radar of Adventure, although SA2 really needed the ability to track all 3 Emeralds/Keys at once. Maybe the radar for what you aren't searching for could change color based on proximity while faded? Hint system was much better in Adventure 2 & I think the 1 at a time was because Sonic Team didn't know how to balance 2P Battle mode & utilize hints/score bonuses with all 3 being tracked at once. Maybe the gray area for what you aren't focusing on could remain for the hints, just with the ability to detect proximity to all 3 at once? Treasure Hunting feels great.
@@Langas_LVDC I agree. The treasure hunting crap and Werehog should of been a separate game. But in 2020, the internet is well archived. Both Treasure Hunting and Werehog was forced because Sega believed it would keep gamers from finishing the game too quickly. They only had enough time to create 10 speed levels, and they gave Shadow one of Sonic's intended levels.
Agreed. The radar in SA1 made the stages wayyy too easy and go by way too quickly. Yes, SA2 makes emerald progression more linear but if you explore the stage and find an unmarked emerald you get a huge poimt bonus which I find really good, it encourages thoughtful exploration instead of just relying on the radar to spoonfeed all of the locations at once.
Final Hazard was always much easier to defeat than Perfect Chaos for me. With Perfect Chaos you need to maintain enough speed in order to damage the boss, which becomes difficult when there are all these attacks & obstacles in the narrow pathways. Final Hazard you just have to run into the weakpoint with the 5 minute time limit being the main threat if you know you can switch places to regain rings. Here's hoping the Sonic Series returns to form in the near future, Sonic Adventure 2 remains the series at its peak after 19 years.
"In 2019, I decided to replay the Sonic series up to Sonic Heroes, and this is when the click finally happens." So...is there still a chance we'll get a Sonic Unleashed review in the future? Also, this is my favorite video you've done so far.
I will take the flawed but still good games like SA one and two and Sonic Unleashed over the bland, boring, and lame Sonic games like Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic Forces.
I think Colors wasn't all that bad. It's a great game, but I personally didn't get sucked into any of the 3D games as much as the classic games so it's understandable.
@@mep6302 I actually came to heavily dislike the Sonic Rush trilogy on the DS. Sonic Colors seemed a lot more better to me, but this is all only subjective.
MsPapaille Damn right, especially the Whale in a Sub segment! 😊 Though to be frank, the game does have several highlights! awesomegames.miraheze.org/wiki/Pac-Man_World_2
This is one of the more better, in-depth, less biased, clear & well done reviews of this game! I like that while you acknowledged the flaws, you still were optimistic but honest. And also that personal story in the end was a nice touch! It cleared up that this review is not to prove that SA2 is some legendary game that deserves no hate, but it takes a look at the game & tells what you liked & disliked about the game while being as neutral as possible, and also so showed that the game is very... polarizing, so polarizing that 1 playthrough can change your perspective & opinion about it. I think one of the problems is that a lot of people play the game with some kind of preconceived notions, whether it be negative or positive. So they see it in a different light. Some people play the game thinking ``This game must be awesome, everyone talks about it so it must be``, so they see why it is awesome but ignore the problems, which are mostly minor by themselves, and this is where the negative POV comes in. Some people think `` This game is a mess`` while playing it, which leads to them seeing every single problem & seeing them all collectively as the game being a mess. (There are also people who DO acknowledge both the pros & cons, but I`m not talking about the people in the middle) that`s why I kept saying to myself ``However this game may be, I`m just gonna try to have fun`` and that mindset helped cuz while some parts were frustrating (lookin at you, Eternal engine & Mad space) the game was overall a blast to play through, and that`s why I love it. I think the game just needs a faithful remake that addresses & fixes the its problems properly.
For those who hate this game, same as I used to, please, PLEASE try playing the Steam version with your own picked mods. Even just swapping the mech physics with Gamma's from SA1, enabling all 3 Emerald shards/Emeralds/keys to be tracked at the same time, and remapping the light speed dash to the top face button, improves the game so much it's not even funny. Then there's texture edits, model improvements, music mods [such as my own pop punk track pack #shamelessplug], the cutscene overhaul, all cutscenes playing in widescreen... Adventure may be my favorite vanilla 3D Sonic game, but Adventure 2 is my favorite modded.
@@Laiser Updates shouldn't be needed to make a game good. If you're not playing the day one unpatched rushed out beta build of a game, you're not playing that game.
@@Laiser What the hell? Mods are just there to elevate an experience. However, SA2 has many problems that can be fixed by mods. Example, the cutscenes in Story Mode are broken, there's a mod to fix them.
Amazing review J. by the way one intresting thing i have noticed with the main theme of Sonic Adventure 2, Live and Learn. Is that you actually never hear the full song until the final boss but you hear parts of the song scattered throughout the entire game in the intro, menu etc. And it feels like not just the story is building up towards the final battle, But entire game is. So when you finaly reach the final battle and hear the entirety of Live and Learn it makes the final battle feel even more epic as you finaly get to hear the entire song you heard throughout the game in its full glory.
SA2 felt like the true, final end to Sonic's legacy. Even through Generations and Colors had their moments, nothing ever really lived up to it. If you think about the state of Sega at the time, you can really get a feel that this was the end of an era, the culmination of the entire franchise. Even the end of the last story had an odd tone of finality, like they expected it to be the last Sonic game.
You are right, and the saddest thing to me is as a kid I couldn't have realized that this would be it for sonic. I never got into another sonic game after SA2. One of my favorite games of all time, and honestly the ending for my favorite character of all time. It's so sad when you think about it, and what sonic could have been.
I didn't understand how in depth and great this storyline is. I do remember that when I was a kid and beat the game, I teared up cuz those final cut scenes are just 😭😭
Shadow may not be my favorite, but I'll always like he who is as a character (well, used to be). Yeah, SA2 is my favorite game of all time, as well as the first I ever played, but I didn't really appreciate the series' overall story until a few years back. Growing up, I was also someone who thought Shadow was just the agnsty, edgelord rival, but the guy has some real depth to him that's easily overlooked. Doesn't help that the more recent games do pretty much have Shadow as the agnstly edgelord.
@@112deno Folks legitimately wrote to Sega wanting a Sonic game with guns and we got Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) as a result. Tbh I actually enjoy parts of Shadow's game (guilty pleasure I know) but I blame the warped perceptions of Sega/the fandom. I mean we've had characters use weapons before: Knuckles has his dusters, Bean has his bombs, Amy has her hammer and heck we even had characters use guns; Fang uses rifles, Tails has an arm cannon, Omega is literally a walking arsenal, etc Somewhere along the lines, guns = overly edgy for Sega and certain parts of the fandom and thus we got Shadow may cry...
@@lynxfresh5214 I didn't mind the atmosphere in that game, it just everything else was overly excited very badly. Plus, did Shadow really need guns? doesn't he have Chaos Spear?
Another great video, J. I went 'woo!' when you said the PS2 was the greatest console of all time. I was always baffled by the decision to make Shadow a hedgehog in-universe, and my jaw dropped when you brought up the Sonic 3 connection.
SA2 will always be my favorite 3D Sonic. Like Sonic 2, it takes the best parts of it’s predecessor and improves upon them. The music like almost all Sonic games is really good. And while SA1 had more variety in genre, i still think SA2’s music is more memorable. I also love how the characters are portrayed in SA2. Tails learns to be more independent and even stands up to and even rival Robotnik. Robotnik himself is at his best here as he’s the most threatening we’ve seen him. And he even shows a more human side at the end. And Shadow, well.. He probably the best written character out of the entire series in SA2 alone. Honestly, if Sonic as whole ended here, it would’ve been a perfect way to send it off.
All of Knuckles's themes are rap, Rouge's are jazz, and they have music for cutscenes that matches the context and tone of what's happening instead of just playing the hub or character theme, like the ominous and unsettling song that plays when Shadow is explaining the Eclipse Cannon to Eggman, and when Rouge reads Gerald's diary. Also the Chao World themes. SA2's ost isn't as oversaturated with rock as people act like it is.
Holy crap this was such a great review, possibly your best. I’m personally not a big fan of this game but even you made me have more appreciation for SA2 and the impact it’s made on fans of the series
I think part of the impression about the non-existence of non-Robotnik humans in the original Sonic games is that a lot of the early spinoff media (mainly the first three cartoons and the Archie comics) didn't really have any while having much larger casts of characters (the Archie comics eventually did have more humans, but that was a bit later). None of these spinoffs were canon to the games, but it helped reinforce the perception.
Actualy a guy has thought about it! Idr the channel but if you search "What if Sonic died instead of Shadow" you'll find a guy who's created a "what if" scenario of that!
While I do believe SA2 is objectively the best 3D Sonic game period, I don't play it as frequently as I do something like Heroes or 06. While I do prefer the 4kids voice cast over the original cast, I still see the value in the original cast, I wouldn't mind if they returned some day. I do agree that this is the embodiment of everything that made Sonic great, keep up the good work J!
George Summitt I view the 4kids cast the same most people view DCAU cast, the default voices of the characters. I’m going to make the audacious claim that the ONLY good thing about Chris Thornedyke’s inclusion in the entirety of Sonic X was his speech he gave to Shadow when the ARK was crashing into Earth, notably “Can’t you see it’s unfair [that humanity must pay for Maria’s death even though all of humanity had nothing to do her death]” and that’s a quote that has stuck with me to this day.
@@mysteryperson1958 Now that is just being ridiculous. So the classic games are only good subjectivity. So Sonic Generations is only good subjectivity. Your logic is objectively flawed.
Was looking forward to hearing what you thought about the game and it didn't disappoint at all. The game was not perfect but you could feel that they really tried to bring a lot of heart to the game and it was felt back then and it's still there today if given the chance. And even with the different gameplay styles, sure you may have one you don't like but they're still doable. I didn't really like the mech shooting but I still had somewhat okay enjoyment with them though mostly with Eggman since it worked for his character. But yeah it wasn't the worst thing even if Gamma's gameplay was far superior. And I just never had a problem with the treasure hunting stages but that's only because I like scavenger hunts. And of course the speed stages were gonna be the best part so no need to go into that but I think it's without question that the presentation of this game is what made it so iconic and memorable. The music, (even if lacking in genre variety compared to SA1), the story giving us a much more intense stake, the drama of the story, just everything really. And it's just cool to see that this game is still beloved. It's been so nice seeing all these more positive reviews of Sonic Adventure 2 after it low-key got dragged through the mud since Projared's review back in 2015. Not hating on the guy but there's no question that the attitude towards SA2 totally changed after that review and you had more people saying the game was overrated and terrible. And you know I can understand why some would be annoyed and tired of this game. It does get a lot of love and praise and this could especially be hard to revel in if you were born after the game came out and you didn't get to experience it back in its heyday and especially if you're someone who's first Sonic game was a game like Sonic Unleashed, Colors, or Lost Worlds, it can feel annoying when these games you grew up with aren't getting near as much love and praise as Adventure 1 or Adventure 2 gets. And I can feel for them even if I don't think the later Sonic games were as wholesome as the first 2 Adventure games but hopefully with time the people who only hate SA2 because of hype/popularity will simmer down and maybe find some enjoyment for the game just like how some older fans found some enjoyment for Unleashed (at least the gameplay anyway). Anyway great review.
The Adventure Games actually had ambition put into them, which none of the 2010s Sonic Games had except Mania. Colors Wii was such a disappointment, although certain people were giving it all this undeserved praise, then they started bashing the best games in the series. Colors was the game that ushered in the Worst Decade of Sonic's Career, the people who claimed it was the end of the Dark Age completely forgot about Black Knight that released on the same console 1 year earlier. They were blind to the fact that Unleashed was a better game than Colors as well as Black Knight & the existence of Rush Adventure. Generations while a good game, wasn't all that ambitious for what it was trying to accomplish. Sonic Colors never should have been allowed to become the new normal for the series. I miss the days when Sonic was actually cool & not this parody of himself that we've been stuck with for 10 years now. I have missed getting to play as characters other than Sonic in the main series for over 10 years. The Sonic series deserves better than the awful 2010s direction for it.
@@WaterKirby1994 I agree 100% with this, especially the Sonic Colors thing... I too hate how that became the standard and I'm just super tired of the boost gameplay. I hate how Sonic controls and moves in the games post Sonic Adventure where he now feels stiff and confined to a straight path instead of smoothly fluid and open ranged where you could move in any direction while not feeling rigid. I'm not sure if that makes sense but damn I just hope that they eventually ditch this and go back to the free control type of style Sonic had in the Adventure games.
@@decadentgamer3108 I know exactly how you feel the Adventure Games you felt like you had total control over Sonic's movement. Better it was not just his, Knuckles, & Tails in the 1st game felt the same way. Shooting may have not offered the freedom to explore how you want, although it was often a blast to play & you at least had some control once you got the upgrade to hover. If we aren't in control we better be getting something awesome to make up for it. Boost games don't make up for the control they take away though. I want a return to the Adventure Games as well in story, tone, characterization, & gameplay. We had the series hijacked from us by people who were never going to be fans. We held on to hope & ended up betrayed repeatedly through all these years.
@@WaterKirby1994 Exactly. Hopefully Sonic Team finally wises up and just gives the fans (FANS, not people who don't even play Sonic games) a true experience. That's what made Mania successful and it can be the same for a Sonic Adventurre 3 (or any new game in general).
On the music side of things, while the soundtrack overall is phenomenal (and I actually prefer this game's version of It Doesn't Matter), there were some... bizarre choices they made when they were remixing Tails's theme. The vocalist does a great job with what she's given, but the melody and rhythm of her lines in the chorus don't seem to fit the same way they did in the original version. A general rule for songwriters is that if your words are describing a motion, your vocal melody follows that motion -- unless you have a good reason for it not to. Having the lines about longing to fly higher follow a downwards melody instead feels really jarring, and it's not helped by the attempt to slow down the delivery so much that the last four syllables of each thought have to be crammed into two beats. Also doesn't help that the song's lyrics are about the character development Tails already went through in the last game, and they don't have anything to do with who he is in this one. The arrangement of the music tries to reflect that, with a very distinctive lead tone in the electric sitar, and a much more straightforward sense of direction when it get its own melodies, but the carried-over lyrics still hold it back. So while I like all the other character themes, I think "Believe in Myself" really got the short end of the stick here-- with the irony of feeling like it doesn't know what it wants to be. And that's too bad 'cause the original version from Sonic Adventure was a really good song.
The getting mistaken for each other thing never bothered me. What's more likely, that Sonic dyed his fur and broke bad or that there is a *second* semi-magical anthrohog who goes fast?
0:00 Sonic Adventure 0:29 Sonic Adventure 2 4:40 Duality 34:21 5:20 City Escape 7:34 Sonic is Innocent 9:12 The Rule of 3: Shadow wins, They are even, The Final Fight 11:04 Classic Level-By-Level Action 13:16 Dark Story Begin, Iron Gate 21:30 Humans in Sonic The Hedgehog 27:36 Cutscenes 29:04 Voice Acting 30:57 Soundtrack 36:00 Is The Story Too Dark or Too Serious? - No 46:56 Dreamcast --> Gamecube --> PS3 51:31 A-Rank is Earned 52:54 Chao Garden *The Best Scene In The Game* 39:16 On The Ark 40:37 He ALREADY KNEW 42:52 Chaos Control *Shadow The Hedgehog* 18:12 Shadow The Hedgehog: An Avenger 20:35 Shadow's Design 44:55 That Government Spy Rouge The Bat *Rouge The Bat* 23:53 Rouge The Bat *Tails and Dr Eggman* 35:42 /37:45 How they play *Stage Types* 14:52 Speed Stages 24:40 Treasure Hunting Stages 37:45 Mech Stages *The Finale* 53:35 The Last Story 55:15 Cannon's Core 55:50 The Prototype of The Ultimate Life Form 58:44 The Final Hazard 1:01:17 Shadow...died? 1:03:30 The Final Analysis
With how this game ends and how it was the final sonic game for sega hardware and they didn’t know the future of the company due to financial reasons, i honestly believe this was intended to be the end. Robotnik turning good and the trailers even saying “farewell sonic, forever”. It would of been a great way to go out for sure but boy an i glad sega and sonic didn’t end :)
SA2 was made to be the last game and it shows, while I do love a lot of the stuff in the 2000s and Mania is very additctive, I wouldn't have mind SA2 being the end
I figured sonic 3 and knuckles was the end Seriously i thought eggman died at the end Thought he could "vader-fied" after sonic story (though it was just an egg robo) and he got destroyed dueing knuckles story
Sweet review man, you gave this game the proper review it deserved. I'm so glad there are still people who still love this game. This game is up there with Kingdom Hearts 2 and Mega Man X4 for being one of my favorite games of all time.
The most unrealistic part of Sonic Adventure 2 was seeing any open parking spaces in San Francisco
😂😂
Lol 😂
That and a Pyramid
/s
@@thehevandragonNah. That’s the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid.
They nailed sonic, he's very lighthearted and "cool" but when something serious happens, he doesn't crack a dumb joke about dying. He actually gets serious
Didn’t he make a joke when egg man was literally pointing a gun at Amy?
@@revthescatman137 Literally what I thought. lmao.
@@revthescatman137 "You've turned into a big-time villain, doctor."
@@revthescatman137 at the time sonic is annoyed by amy so he didn't care that much about it
@@Puss_pog no, sonic was just confident that eggman would take the bait but once he realized this he starts acting serious
This has always been my favorite Knuckles. I find his "meathead" personality to be so aggravating and the complete opposite of what Knuckles used to be.
He was naturally cool there, Knuckles was everything his apparition in Sonic 3 needed to evolve into in a story driven 3D game, chill but tough
Well he was pretty much a black dude in SA2 which kinda explains his personality
@@jkthegreat5687 wtf? wut's that supposed to mean? is this how u perceive black people to be? I've never seen a stereotype like this but....... like why u gotta say that? I'm not mad I'm just confused.
P.S. I'm black 👍🏾
@@jkthegreat5687 yeah as a black dude i can assure you asians, whites and latino act like that too not all blacks act tge same like at alll
@@devinperson242 yes I mean, I'm not mad, just confused. Does JK assume that black ppl are quiet and keep to themselves but have anger issues. My brother is black and he's the most chill person ever. idk man, that dude is just ignorant.
Fun fact : yuji naka mentioned in an interview that shadow"s final character design was modeled after super sonic.
Joshua Levenberg I have no idea tbh
It's also implied with the master emerald shrine in this game and with Gerald studying the ancient echidna tribe in Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles that Gerald went to the Lost World in the Mystic Ruins and designed the Biolizard after Perfect Chaos. Oh and the Biolizard has Perfect Chao's roars.
It's just canon in general that Gerald made Shadow after Super Sonic, Gerald actualy went to Angel Island at some point and saw the murals near the master emerald shrine, and since he thought it looked like the "Super" being was fighting a great evil, he decided to base Shadow on that
I mean his spikes is like Super Sonic's early spike style
Joshua Levenberg actually it was changed starting from 06 when sonic goes super.
What's crazy was that Shadow himself was going to ONLY appear in this game. His death at the end was going to be 100% permanent but he was super popular with the fans in such a short amount of time, Sega had no choice to bring him back and he became a series staple since then
Would have been better if he had of died there. He really didn’t do much in any games since 06. He was great in heroes though so it’s tough
@@Moltisantiproductionslike belly in dbz didn’t have to do much but so cool has no choice but to stay on the roster
Then to turn around and get his very own game 5 years later. Crazy how things work out.
since someone used dbz reference here, same thing for Vegeta, he was supposed to die in the first arc of Dbz, but the fans loved him too much.
@@0E1M1there's a lot of dbz parallels with Sonic tbh.
Detractors: "Sonic Adventure 2 is too dark for a Sonic game."
Meanwhile in Super Paper Mario...
I hate this argument about Sonic stories and I even see it popping up in Kingdom Hearts as of late too and just find it really silly. Especially if you look at how both series start out and see the darker undertones present even then. (More so in Kingdom Hearts than, Sonic but my point still stands.)
I wish thst argument would stop popping up so we can get stories to the level of adventure 1 or heroes at least.
He should do a review of Super Paper Mario. Its so underrated because it is often seen as the 'beginning of the sticker star era" but unlike sticker star/color splash/origami king it has a good story and characters. (Origami king just needed to shorten the tutorial stuff and not end the way it did and it'd be pretty alright, which is way more than I can say than sticker star/color splash xD.)
@@archmagemc3561 I disagree about that "Sticker Star era" nonsense. To me, Super Paper Mario was the last of the "original" Paper Mario games. The gameplay may have been different, but the story, characters, themes, and presentation were still very much in line with what came before. Heck, the change of gameplay was just an experiment to see if Bowser's gameplay from The Thousand-Year Door could work for a whole game. Also, it was the last Paper Mario made by Ryota Kawade (who was the director for PM64 and TTYD).
@@KingdomHeartsBrawler I think you misunderstand me. I love SPM, ts just that its gameplay isn't very engaging compared to the first two games as its just super easy. (Carrie bowser destroys everything.)
Super paper Mario is my favorite game of all time
This to me was a glimpse into what the series COULD have been as a standard from here on out. In some alternate Universe Sega kept up with the quality of their games and continued to branch the Sonic lore with these 3D titles while continuing with the 2D games alongside it. Just like what Mario does, this should have been what Sonic should have been doing all the way to present day. And I can only hope one day it eventually does.
@Ordinary GP I wouldnt say Sonic 4 but sure the Advance and Rush games, and Mania all have what I want for 2D Sonic. We should have kept getting games like that along with Adventure styled/Unleashed kind of games. We didnt need this garbage in the 2010s.
This decade could be the most wasteful decade I've ever seen for a game series. Sonic has literally jack this entire era aside from Generations and Mania and the CD re-release. To make it worse, it doesnt show any signs of changing. So this is gonna extend beyond the 10s. Man 2021 is going to be cringe for the blue blur all over again. I'll just hope the movie is good
And maybe we'll get this. With Mania having it's own team, if sonic team manages to establish good gameplay and level design with 3D sonic (and decent storytelling in contrast to Forces' first draft script). I hope they just stop with the "sonic is for kids and kids are dumb" plotlines.
@@ufazig Well you pretty much repeated exactly what I was just saying so yeah that would be great. I personally would like a fully 3D Sonic game again. We havent had one since Shadow and 06 and the last GOOD one was SA2 and arguably Heroes. Enough of this 3D to 2D stuff. It's great but for crying out loud stick to something. We have 2D and 3D type of games they dont always have to be smacked together.
@@stormcutter59 You mean the movie that's already out?
@@dapperfan44 No the sequel. The first movie was pretty great I just hope that continues in the sequel. I was pleasantly surprised with the first movie. Really good
Glad to see the Adventure hate is starting to slowly die off. More and more positive things are being said about it compared to a few years ago.
All that's left is for the Sonic Adventure games to get ported to current-gen consoles (I will buy them the instant they come to Switch) to critical acclaim and we'll have come full circle.
@@smashmaster521 Too bad SEGA is too obsessed trying to please the detractors instead of the fans.
@@ChiefMedicPururu No they're trying to please everyone which makes their recent games barely coordinated messes.
@@AAAAAA-bm9qd ...That includes the detractors, dude.
@@ChiefMedicPururuOkay, sorry. I was just trying to say that the detractors get the most pandering aside from classic sonic fanboys.
Notice how sega barely tried anything that was in 06 or adventure 2 because of how panned those games were? It's because they want to please non fans who either only hate on sonic for attention or only like the classic games and dislike the modern games because of nostalgia.
I’m my opinion SA2 could’ve been the end. Egg man had an epiphany and there didn’t seem to be a reason to still do harm. Everyone had a character ark. They are here and learned and became better versions of themselves. This was one of the saddest moments as you felt triumphant but just to find out you couldn’t save shadow it was a lot to bare. Plus it seemed as though everything sonic and friends have been through led up to this point
true
"everyone had a character ARK."
I see what you did there.
@@dami8875 lol 😂
I mean, with the state of Sega at the time, it makes sense that they’d intentionally make a story that could be the end. As far as the devs knew, it very well could have.
@@TwentyGX I remember a TH-cam video stating that Unleashed was made with a similar purpose in mind, especially since it came after Sonic 06. That’s why the final stage is Eggmanland, which was Eggman’s dream to build since SA1, & Sonic says “time for the big finale!” before the final boss.
This game introduced arguably the most developed sonic character and my personal favorite shadow the hedgehog.
Not only that it actually tried to a have a story with stakes and character development.
This game also has peak dr eggman and he actually outsmarts tails and basically wins for a few seconds.
But really this game was at a time where game stories tried to be something more than memes and self aware parodies of themselves, it tried to make you feel different while playing the game and it really leaves off on a bitter sweet ending.
Sonic adventure 2 while flawed in its gameplay and story refined sonic the hedgehog and I'd say if this was the last sonic game we ever got I'd say it ended on a high note.
Also live and learn is one of the best opening themes to any game.
I love and miss the Adventure era and gameplay
This does have a story with stakes and character development.
Forces is the one who tried to have a story with stakes.
@@mechashadow Unfortunately, Forces' stakes weren't very good.
Forces had no stakes lmao, unless you count 2 minute automated levels a stake
@@theminecraft2516 You used two minutes on them?
Fun Fact: In the Japanese version The reason Sonic was framed for Shadow’s actions was primarily because the government wanted to keep Project Shadow, Gerald, and The Ark a secret to the public. Framing Sonic would be a perfect excuse
That is either super stupid to think this is a good idea or super evil to think this is how you treat the one who save you from chaos
They were willing to frame a fifteen-year-old, three foot tall, blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog boy, who saved the world from an Evil Scientist and a Water Entity of destruction to cover up their mistakes?
Actually, that sounds like something the government would do.
Oh wow that’s crazy, how come more people don’t bring this up
It was because of early Shadow design, that looked fairly similar to Sonic
@@DioBrando_ infact, it was originally Shadow the Tenrec, Tenrec means Fake Hedgehog
7:54 "Shadow's not Sonic's first rival."
*Shows Amy in Sonic CD*
Me: Wow, I've never seen anyone portray Amy as one of Sonic's-
*Metal Sonic shows up*
Me: Oh, duh.
I thought the exact same thing! 😂
"Top 30 anime deaths, number 1: Your fucking ass right now!"
56:46
What do you mean Amy is the one to convince Shadow to help?
Wasn't that Chris Thorndyke?
...wait where is Chris during these games?
@prickly pear they're joking.
say sike right now
LMAO
haha funny. right, RIGHT? ur joking right? RIGHT?
@@crownagex5687 It's a joke.
1:02:24
This part of the story actually makes more sense in the Sonic X anime.
There it can be summized that Gerald Robotnik is the reason Eggman was in Sonic's alternate dimension. This was his way of "protecting his grandson while Shadow destroyed the Earth.
why do you keep coming back to this video like one of your other comments was 6 months prior to this one
@@ketama180 good vidya 🤷
I mean, Gerald wanted none to survive. The question here is moreso if he forgot he had surviving family or just didn't care. That explanation in Sonic X actually sucks, because it introduces another plothole. it is said that everyone needs to be in their world or else the concept of time itself dies and everything is frozen forever. But if Eggman was not in his proper world for most of his life, then....
In the games, Sonic isn't from an alternate dimension so not really.
@@TheRedGyardos yeah but in the anime is not so probably
The adventure series will forever be my favorite sonic series
Same. They were really good
Same
My Dad got SA2B and the GameCube for my sister and I on Christmas of '01. It is the most memorable game we share, especially after him passing in '06. To this day, we still put on the album and sing together like we're 6 and 5 years old again. It is truly one of my favorite games and soundtracks of all time 😭☺
Honestly, I kind of wonder if the slight uptick in SA2 praise over the past couple of years has to do with Forces putting things into perspective. Forces tries to hit so many of the same notes as SA2, but it falls so short that you can't help but look back and appreciate what SA2 got right. At least, that's my theory.
Great video. I agreed with almost everything you said.
EDIT: Just some more stuff I thought of, mostly story moments.
Glad to I’m not the only one who made parallels between SA2 and Forces.
•Darker narrative
•Speed based gameplay, platforming focused gameplay, enemy focused gameplay
•Stage to stage/world map
•Mysterious new villain clad in black with an unknown backstory
•A plot point of Sonic being sent to prison, breaking him out, and Sonic escaping.
•A plot point in which Eggman has a secret trick up his sleeve to get Sonic out of his hair once and for all.(The Capsule scene from SA2 & the Null Space scene from Forces.)
•A story moment in which a giant, fiery object from space is falling down to the planet to destroy everyone.(The ARK from SA2 and the Sun from Forces.)
Not to mention Episode Shadow just being a giant SA2 reference with its ost.
Forces really is just SA2 done very badly.
@@mcmistle9892 Actually, episode shadow is a giant shadow the hedgehog reference. And outside of shadows character being written better, it did literally everything worse because it is part of forces. Less good levels, less good atmosphere and you know, StH actually had a real war going on. Instead of everyone just doing whatever until they win.
I think it's because of the backlash it's been getting over the years. The mid to late 10's saw a lot of bashing of the Adventure series. Now we're getting to see a backlash to the backlash, of people saying it's good.
Imagine if we just get caught in an infinite cycle? As a backlash to this backlash, people'll start bashing the game again, and as a backlash to that backlash, people will praise it once more. It'll just keep going.
Hey, better for people to keep talking about this game good or bad instead of just having it forgotten.
Ah yes... SA2 the direct sequel to SA (which in turn was the sequel to the classic games) in a simpler time of:
*No two worlds
*No alternative dimensions
*No timeline retcons
*No self-aware humour
*No cringe memes
*No continuity errors
*No side-lining of everyone (that isn't Sonic and Eggman).
Just a great game with a serious tone where each of the playable characters in the story contributed to the plot.
My favorite plot point in the entire story is how Knuckles just randomly comes out of the sewers next to Tails and Amy like, "Hey guys, long time no see. I must have got lost in the mines. Looking for the Master Emerald pieces was tougher than I thought it would be. Where are we anyway?"
Like there's so much to unpack there. You're telling me that underneath the city that they're currently in is a sewer system that connects to AN UNDERGROUND COAL MINE SHAFT/FACILITY???? ("once was a coal pit, but now it's a water ride") and, not only that, but this man just shows up, talks some nonsense about the Master Emerald to two people who have just witnessed Eggman blowing up the moon with a giant space laser gun, and none of them ask him any questions NOR do they clarify what is even happening.
Tails just starts talking about tracking the President and his limo and that they can find Eggman by tracing the call from said Limo. Knuckles says nothing.
Nobody asks him about the Master Emerald. How did he get lost in the mines and come up in the EXACT spot that Tails and Amy were standing. Why do they not tell him what's going on?!
And I, to this day, don't care. It's still hilarious and I love it.
The Sonic characters all know what Knuckles' deal is. He does his own thing and comes and goes.
There's also the fact that Tails just drives off and leaves Knuckles and Amy behind for no reason
I'm a simple guy, I see an hour-long SA2 retrospective, I click.
My life story XD
@@Poker2735 As the ultimate lifeform
Why do people find this joke funny
@@thefastcommenter7774 I don't know, why people find your comment useless?
@@Hugo-yz1vb Why do you find your attempt of a "joke" funny
I spent many summer vacation days in 01-04 playing this game with my sister, raising Chaos, and playing through single player.
Sonic Adventure 2 was a part of my childhood.
I was in middle school back then...i’m 32 now!
Same
That line from Eggman during the credits always stood out to me. Felt so fucking raw and sad, straight from someone whos foundation of themself has been shaken.
“I miss my wife Tails. I miss her a lot.”
i never understood that joke
@@jdawson7877 th-cam.com/video/G6tISxVCBnM/w-d-xo.html
"Let's pause the game for several minutes to do a comedy bit at the expense of playing the mod. Also I'm not having fun playing Meteor Herd as a mech, but instead of quitting or handing off the controller, I'm just going to keep whining about it."
@@AkameGaKillfan777 That's a video separate from the main fandub series. They were just playing with mods on their Twitch stream and it's nothing to take that serious. They were most likely working on improv together because they're clearly friends outside of the fandub videos
@@MrJtYates I just don't like SnapCube that much.
Not helping is how their fans started badgering Mike Pollock to do the Eclipse Cannon line, even though he didn't find it funny and he could get fired if he did. Also it was Deem Bristow who did Eggman's voice beforehand until he died.
Wow, piss = comedy, ha ha so funny and original. Are you people in Kindergarten or something?
What can I say, I never get sick of videos praising the adventure games.
Having grown up with them, it was really disheartening to go onto youtube as an early teen and hear everyone shit on these games like they're the worst pieces of trash imaginable, like sonic was never good, these past few years though it feels great seeing all the people who love and respect these games come out of the woodwork and give them the praise they rightfully deserve.
SA2 was the peak of not only Sonic storytelling, but 3D gameplay in the sonic series in general, say what you will about "tHe GlITchES" but the Boost formula aint got shit on adventure.
With some refinement and time on the mechanics, and going back to the full on blockbuster style stories of adventure 2, an "adventure 3" could be a complete re-invigoration of the franchise.
Damn I miss the old Sonic Team.
I do hope that the next game is going back to the "Adventure" gameplay. They did rely on boost gameplay for a very long time, so I'd like to see Sonic Team do something different.
Ever see ruby of blues SA2 videos ? Cuz that’s some of my favourite SA2 videos
@@raidoukuzonoha883 For real, I think he made some of the best Sonic Adventure reviews you can find.
Sonic Adventure 2 hardly had glitches on GameCube. Superbounce is a skilled mastery of bounce bracelet physics, & the game itself is built on rules of physics. I've heard someone think it was a glitch in Final Rush that they flew between 2 platforms because they expected an invisible wall, they clearly didn't see the Sonic sized gap between them. The Adventure Games have been the best games in the Sonic Series for 20 years & we need a return to form for story, characterization, & gameplay.
@@WaterKirby1994 I completely agree, that's why I wrote "glitches" in a mocking tone as that's just the common criticism the adventure games get.
Also, yes I have seen Ruby of Blues Adventure videos.
This is by far the best review of this game I’ve ever seen. This is the prime example of “explaining why I like this game, not why it’s good despite its flaws or why it’s underrated.”
I know, I mean, over the years, everyone has been trashing on this game. Saying this game sucks and you should hate it too. But I don't think that way. I personally think that Sonic Adventure 2 is my favorite 3d Sonic game ever made. To me, it's like transformers dark of the moon. It's where everyone says that movie was the worst of the entire trilogy, Well, others think it's while others think it's one of the best in the trilogy I am one Of those people Who say dark of the moon is the best And who consider sonic adventure 2 the best game ever.
I almost choked up hearing Eggman say “You’re our last hope”. He said that in a way that genuinely touched me.
Sonic Lost World: Welp, time for me to throw genuine positive humanity Eggman had at times like in SA2 by making him pretend to be on Sonic’s side before I become a very one-dimensional mad scientist!
If you don’t mind SLW, opinion accepted. But Sonic Lost World is a Sonic game that didn’t try hard enough to hold a candle to the original versions of most other mainline Sonic games (Sonic ‘06 being the only exception along with Sonic Forces).
@@kieranstark7213 Could you not condescend?
@@kieranstark7213 I couldn’t get into that game- it’d looked adorable at the time to me but I ended up just not liking the vibes from the demo. Shame to hear how he turned out in that though. Can’t imagine what led them to that decision...
*Sonic Adventure 2 (DC) score*
Presentation: 8 (sure, the only real problem I have with it is that the CGI cutscenes look more lifelessly than cinematically animated and a more minor one is that My Sweet Passion does have lyrics about Amy Rose being Sonic-obsessed although in the Sonic Adventure series, she wasn’t too much that it held her back from being a confident, intelligent character rather than a character that would condescend Sonic for not being romantically interested in her like in Sonic Heroes, Sonic and the Black Knight and *especially* the *infamous* Sonic Free Riders. But everything else about the graphics and soundtrack of Sonic Adventure 2 make it a lot more exciting!)
Story: 8 (there are people who actually go as far as to call SA2’s story one of the *absolute greatest in gaming* and while I wouldn’t go THAT far because of a line as sexist as “Attacking a lady?! Shame on you!”, even for an ass-kicking woman, with an ending more emotionally packed than imaginable and much more stuff, boy does it show!)
Gameplay: 8 (the treasure hunting stages can be a pain, but the speed stages, early Knuckles stages, mech stages and especially the last story stages can be complexly challenging for the greatest of reasons)
*8/10 (Best 3D Sonic platformer up to the ranks of SA1 for the Dreamcast and Sonic Unleashed)*
*Sonic Lost World score*
Presentation: 7 (the way they designed the game’s aesthetics and sound do have professional work put into it... except for the Deadly Six looking as much like they do not belong in a Sonic the Hedgehog game about as much as the realistically designed Sonic ‘06 humans. That, and while Amy Rose is luckily not clingy anymore, her voice was still hard to listen to because as I did say in early 2016 on Peter Pan Parodies Wiki no matter how much crap I got from it by Seth White aka 72.224.115.118 on Wikia, it sounded even more like Cream the Rabbit than Minnie Mouse, who by the way sound a little similar)
Story: 0 (m.th-cam.com/video/SDNz342v_qA/w-d-xo.html)
Gameplay: 3 (ExoParadigmGamer, a respectably amazing TH-camr at heart, unfortunately pointed out that it was hypocritical for people to complain about how harsh the level design of Sonic Lost World was while not calling out the level design of Sonic 2 for the Sega Genesis for having the same problem. However, while TheRetroReplay, another video game reviewer gave the game a “Good” score despite recommending it more to people who have figured out how to work through a game as tricky as this than newcomers, I think Sonic 2 is a great game, maybe not for beginners, but definitely for post-newcomers who figured out how to beat and have a lot of fun with the game as another one of those 2D Sonic platformers like the original 16-bit Sonic and Sonic Advance trilogies after playing it several times despite Metropolis Zone having regardlessly unforgiving enemy placement, while Sonic Lost World, on the other hand, feels like it’s both being a hard game yet playing it safe to pander to Classic Era nostalgia at the same time, both for the sake of it)
*3/10*
Kieran Stark Okay, you’re seriously overrating SA2’s story.
The way that each character's music is handled is honestly the detail that makes SA2's OST transcend for me. I absolutely love how sonic gets a mix of ska and jrock while shadow gets this grungey edm style music, its so much fun. Metal harbor is probably one of my favorite themes in the entire franchise and probably the one I think exemplifies the character of sonic the most.
Let me tell you...that scene with Eggman and the fake emerald is masterful! The voice acting, the tension, hell even the character models were on point for once! Look at Amy's expression when Sonic says goodbye to her and tell me you don't feel her despair! This was the first Sonic game I owned and to this day it is by far my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good story and despite the holes this one had a (comparatively) great story.
Also, going back I agree with some of what you said about G.U.N. and the government. I think that G.U.N. knew Sonic wasn't Shadow, but since they couldn't let it be known that they let Shadow escape they framed Sonic. Rogue was probably called in to help cover up the government's mistakes like you said.
Lastly, "Live and Learn" is my favorite video game song EVER, bar none. This was one of the last video games my little brother and I played together and every time I hear that song I get chills reminiscing on the times. This game as a whole holds such a special place in my heart, but man that song is just top notch. Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now. Thank you for this video!
It's a dumb cutscene from a dumb game. Calm down
@@itsknighttime9572 looks like someone is an adventure hater. lol
@@crownagex5687 nah, I was just done listening to this virgin cry about a cutscene. It's like....shut the fruit up
@@itsknighttime9572 Dude relax, he's just letting out his love for something. Is that so wrong in this context? Come on, just let him enjoy it
@@goofball2237 nope. Not doing that. This guy is a virgin
Oh the joy in my soul when I saw this on my recommended
For real haha. I saw it was said “hey babe! It’s SA2 TIME BABY!” And was a video is was! I really enjoyed it!
Same
@SharinganSakura fr idk why i get so hyped over these
Finally a video on TH-cam about SA2, that isn't about bashing it over and over for 90 minutes straight.
hmmm..... I wonder what
J thinks about SA2? Oh J uploaded a new vi-....
Ok that answers my question
Fucking amazing, J. This is a game that I've always held so dear to my heart even as I grow into a cynical 20-something who hates everything. I will never forget my first time playing this game as a second grader whose only other experience with Sonic was Sonic 2 for the Genesis and being blown away the visuals, the music, the gameplay and levels, and the characters. This was what made me fall in love with the franchise and showed me that video games can be legitimate forms of storytelling even if I was too young to really understand that. And that final speech you made really got to me and reminded me of why these games meant so much to me as a kid. Thank you so much for this and the whole retrospective.
Sonic adventure 1 and 2 were some of my favorite childhood games
Fuck this game it’s fuckin garbage
@@reallyhimongod keep telling yourself that
@@reallyhimongod Why is it garbage?
@@hanezutchins2786 the gamecube port is god awful everything about it it’s like you guys like torturing yourself if you enjoyed that pile of shit
SA2 has so many super small bits that I can't help but to overthink and feel my heart melt!
Super Sonic's little animation when he goes to fight the Finalhazard. Now much more experienced with Chaos Energy and, while not to the same degree of Shadow, he did perform Chaos Control. He just roars with energy, filled with pure rage. It's so cool and shows that Sonic has limits.
Knuckles has a reason to not turn into Super Knuckles. He still needs to look after the Master Emerald!
Sonic, while cheering up Amy, does still feel a bit hurt. Yes, he's able to move on but gave a heartfelt goodbye to Shadow. He really sounds like he's almost about to tear up.
There's so many moments I can list and it's all because I love the game and the series to bits. Thank you for doing it justice.
J, I can't believe you were the person that made me notice after almost 20 years, that The Space Colony Ark is just an upside down Evil Bespin from Star Wars...
I can't believe I never noticed that before.
I knew that had something to do with star wars!
This is definitely one of your best videos, from the pacing to the emotion to the thorough explanation on the game play and story, I was surprised at how quickly this video went by
Thank you, seriously. I'm sick and tired of everyone dogpiling on SA1 and 2, and treating them like trash. Sonic can be good in 3D and it's about time more people said it.
If they mad sa3 the case would be closed and people wouldbt have to shitpost
I'm happy to finally see a review of Sonic Adventure 2 that doesn't hate on the Knuckles and Rouge treasure hunt stages. Those were always one of my favorite parts of the game and I was disappointed when I found out that they weren't well liked by most people. I know they're easy to get lost in at first, especially the later ones, but once you remember your way around, they really aren't that bad. Whenever my mom and I played the game, we spent most of our times in the treasure hunt stages and the Chao Garden. Not to say I didn't like the other stages as well. I love the speed stages, and the shooting ones are more fun once you get the hover ability.
When I was 11, I hated them. That was mainly because I never liked adventure games growing up where you had to explore and not given much direction. Of course now I've grown to enjoy them a lot more. Meteor Herd is my favourite stage in the game actually.
the extra step of using hint monitors instead of tikal just telling you where they are is what seperated the boys from the men
Whaat people hate the treasure hunt stages?! I loved those ones they were some of my favorites when I was younger.
@@codywinter4818 Every other reviewer I've seen review Sonic Adventure 2 besides this one criticized them saying they were the worst part of the game. I remember one reviewer even said the Sonic and Shadow stages were the only good ones.
The worst part of the game?? Thats wild. I love playing as knuckles and rouge, the punch/kick and gliding and everything, sick. I feel like they have less jankiness than the others can get in certain levels too. I guess I can see if you dont like exploring much and just want to run through or blow shit up, but I think the only bad part of the game is the shitty camera in some areas.
They really need to make another Adventure style games.
Heros was as close as we got
No they don't. They were all bad
@@itsknighttime9572 wrongo
@@Xyvir no, take off the nostalgia goggles. They suck
@@itsknighttime9572 I've played it recently. It's a good game.
I really never understood the hate for this game when it's one of my favorite games of all time. I literally played it until my gamecube broke. There's just something magical about it. I think my favorite part about the game was the heroes and villains coming together against a bigger threat. It was almost as if their fight against each other earlier was all just a play and they're all actually friends. I feel like it kept the game from being too dark for a sonic game.
This notification interrupted my Seinfeld...but then I thought, what if Jerry Seinfeld voiced Sonic?
“I mean, WHAAAT is the deal with this airline? No food or movies? I might as well board on the asphalt OOUAAAOUUHHHH!!”
Jerry Seinfeld to voice Sonic in the second sonic movie
Kramer as Tails
This actually made me laugh lol
Sketch ayyyy if you like my humor, I DO indeed have a 23 minute iceberg video gaining traction on my channel (shameless plug is indeed shameless)
i like how you made the comment still funny to me, i dont even know who jerry is
On the topic of the map screen, I had been replaying a few stages when I just decided to stop and look at Prison Island for a second. I thought that it had kind of resembled a crescent moon, but then I remembered that after all of the Prison Island stages is when Eggman blows up the moon. I could be stretching, but if that was a bit of intentional foreshadowing, then holy shit.
Holy shit, I never noticed that.
It might be unintentional foreshadowing, since most people wouldn't stop playing after the Prison Island stages to see the layout of the map screen.
Wow...
1:07:36 while Johny’s review was alright, Jared’s review is pretty bad and we aren’t saying that he sucks for disliking the game, the problem I had with Jared’s review was his condescending tone towards fans of the game and his arguments aren’t of sound reasoning, the video you showed at the bottom by Ruby of Blue was to show how Jared’s arguments are poorly constructed and to call out Jared’s rude behavior towards fans of the game, Ruby doesn’t hate ProJared and his video wasn’t meant to hate on him.
I stand by to this day that Scott Drier was the best voice actor for Knuckles from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes.
Edit: ALSO Lani is one of the best voices for Rouge. I'm probably saying that because she was the first voice actor I was introduced to for her. I'm up for debate with this one.
Im a Dan Green shell myself.
Agreed with Knuckles, can't really tell the difference with Rouge because she's so under used these days.
@@dapperfan44 True. I think it's because Lani gave Rouge that seductive voice to go along with her body, which is why I like her voice as Rouge so much. I don't really get that feel with other Rouge actors, but I do like the voice for Rouge in Generations.
@@Zak-bv4qm same he gives Knuckles this tough no nonsense attitude in X
I think Lani is the best rouge voice because the voice was a bit seductive but it wasn't so to the point where the voice and the character of rouge were just "sexy bat". I hate how that small aspect of her became her entire character for no reason. Later actors just do the seductive voice and that's it, not really any emotions beside that.
Supporting Me is one of the greatest video game songs ever imo
Agreed, easily one of the best boss theme songs of all time. It's too bad it didn't sound as dynamic when they remixed it in Sonic Generations, at least in my opinion anyway. I preferred the droning vocals of the original as opposed to the more cleaned up style, made it feel more ominous and ghostly.
*yes*
I love that you can hear a subdued version of Live & Learn underneath it. Shadow turning hero as things look bleak.
It's pretty good, ngl.
Oh who am I kidding? The whole soundtrack's a banger!
The soundtrack alone is incredible. This is by far my favorite Sonic game, and I would love to see a re-release of it and SA1 on the Switch
Fun Fact: Shadow's original design was later used for Infinite the Jackal.
Yeah, I got serious Infinite vibes when I saw Shadow's prototype designs, and I think one of the other ones has been used for fan games.
Inspired, not used. Sadly, they made him uninteresting.
They did the same with Sonic, one of his beta designs was an armadillo which later became Mighty.
Ofc Mighty got his shine in the comics and has recently resurged in popularity thanks to Mania (too bad "mandates" restrict him and Ray from ever directly appearing in the "modern" games).
Guess the beta design was TOO WEAK to be Shadow
@@lynxfresh5214 yeah the design became mighty. I think it was literally ripped when they where making sega sonic. But his colour choice was picked from Sega Sonic Bros
I love dedicated video essays about one of my favorite games ever.
Btw, Patchy the Pirate's echo: Yes XD
Hello again.
The reason why the 1998-2009 games have such a strong fanbase is because that was the last time sonic actually had energy and attitude in the games
Lets hope Sonic Frontiers will have a GOOD STORYLINE
I'd argue there is still some attitude in later games, what it truly lacks is energy. Attitude with no energy is what makes Sonic comes off as a cynical, detached d-bag rather than a cocky and confident hero imo.
Last good Sonic game ended with Sonic Generations in 2011
@@Alexis-yc2ti oh do I have news for you 👀
Sonic frontiers actually has a decent story👀
The Dreamcast didn't go out with a bang, but with a boom
A Sonic Boom
Farao IGN quote
@@SaturnSZN wait really?
Farao Ya, in the SA2 IGN review the last sentence they said was that.
Back when IGN wasn't filled with ignorant bosses.
@@SaturnSZN didn't know that
living and learning i guess
SA2 was an end of an era.
SA2B was start for another.
So, so true. SA2 was the beginning of the downfall for many fans of the previous era but the absolute peak for many younger fans. Still the most polarizing game I have seen in the series.
@@upcdowncleftcrightc9429 If anything, I'd say Shadow the Hedgehog was the start of the series downfall
@@bleakburd4965 I strongly disagree but you have a right to your opinion :)
@@bleakburd4965
Shadow the Hedgehog was a decent game with an okay narrative structure that, while a little redundant, wrapped up the story pretty nicely. I say wrapped up because it was pretty much the last game we got that followed the storyline of Sonic Adventure, sadly enough. Wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.
@@bleakburd4965
No, because I played it myself and thought it was fun. It's a strong 6.5 or maybe even 7 out of 10. I also don't let TH-cam review channels shape my worldview or how I view games.
I absolutely adore this game, is still in my opinion the best of the 3D Sonic games and easily in the top 3 if not number 1 of all Sonic games. It amazes me that they made/used a game engine that worked so well for Sonic movement and really only needed a few more small tweaks (I think) to be perfect and then seem to just ditch it or lost it after like Sonic Heroes.
The fact that, Sa2 was the Last Sonic game where Sonic actually controlled good pisses me off lol.
personally i never liked shadow that much when i was younger,but he was such a good character in sa2 and heroes that i didnt feel nothing but respect for him when i played those games.
I wish he came back like a REAL playable character with his own abilities and chaos moves. It would be nice and would make a lot of shadow fans really happy.
But we can just imagine.
@@kenwalkensdeadchannelcanal2886 I mean, that would be if Sega wanted to attempt something like 06 again, but oops. Everyone already shot that down and the only reason they do not ignore it existing anymore is because people wanted crisis city in generations.
@@lpfan4491 crisis city in generations was my favorite level with my favorite music, for me it was the best level in the game had imo.
@@kenwalkensdeadchannelcanal2886 I agree, Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, 06, Battle and Chronicles do a good job of showing Shadow's superhuman strength, stamina and chaos abilities. So why do some games make play as a Sonic clone with signatures techniques of his own?
@@donathan2933 Sega just put shadow as a playable character when you finish a level once... and he's just a copy of sonic, with different animations and effects... kind cheap honestly. They could make it Better like... a chaos dash that is only exclusive to shadow that when in the air can make him hover but it will decrease your boost gouge when you're in the air for too long, but when on the ground with your boost gouge full you can make a super dash that functions like the cyan wisp from colors. But he only dashes through enemies at high speeds, and and is faster than the boost but it will take out ALL of your boost Gage.
(And yes i just gave an entire idea on how shadow could be just a bit unique in forces...)
Sonic Adventure 2 is one of the best Sonic games ever made. I love it with a passion! Just as much as SA1. However, there are just a few thing I wish SA2 had.
1. A Sonic VS Eggman boss fight, after defeating Shadow.
2. Flashbacks showing Eggman interacting with his grandfather Professor Gerald, and his cousin Maria.
3. Sonic and Shadow having one last conversation, before Shadow "dies". To make that scene even more emotional.
Interestingly enough, modders have been trying to get eggman to fight sonic and other characters fighting each other for years. But, for whatever reason, you can't. Mech characters can only fight mech characters, speed characters can only fight speed characters, and treasure hunting characters can only fight treasure hunting characters. They've been trying for years but they can't figure it out. Whenever you load in sonic, for example into an eggman vs tails fight, shadow will always load in. So maybe they just couldn't figure out how to do it before the game released.
Louiepikmin3 I guess. Hopefully if they remake this game, they can make it happen.
Starscream91 Yeah. For an SA2 remake, they can have that as a new Robotnik boss fight for Sonic, after defeating Shadow. Then the whole “You’re pretty persistent for a hedgehog” line comes to place at THAT moment.
@prickly pear its for the better
shiro maekawa said if he had to add anything to sa2 it would be the cut stuff he is good story writer for the sonic games he even said cutting things in the games was very heart brokening and hard for him cuz he love sa2 too much and treat shadow as a son he even said i would cut my own hands to get the cut stuff back so all in all if sa2 remake happen maekawa must come back to sonic team and sega to write back the cut things but i do not know if the cut stuff will make you happy or not i do not know even what was the cut stuff was
This game has arguably the best story in a sonic game.
I want to just say that GUN thinking Shadow was Sonic isn't too crazy like Cooper said in his review everyone saw Sonic turn into SuperSonic in SA1 so with that knowledge in mind that being Sonic can transform. They already saw him turn into a golden hedgehog and fly turning black and red doesn't sound too crazy in theory.
And Ruby of Blue made it make more sense he said all the people saw was a hedgehog stealing a chaos emerald running blitzing speeds at night and by the time Sonic is in city escape people actually did see the real Sonic
Not only that, but when Sonic transformers into Super Sonic, his spikes are pratically the same as shadow in his normal and even super form. So it make sense for GUN thinking that Shadow was Sonic.
Um Besouro Pistoleiro that too as the audience we notice all of that but the people in universe don’t it’s called dramatic irony lol it’s like how terra aqua and ven didn’t know xehanort was evil to us he checks off as a bad guy but to them he’s a guy who’s been around forever
Are some of you stupid? They took still pictures of Shadow. On cameras with advanced technology. Shadow also stood still enough for the news to put him on spotlight as he was tZalking to himself on Radical Highway.
Its CRAZY unless you live your life behind screens. Alot of proper evidence would be needed before they sent someone out to arrest. The footage and still photos would have to be analyzed.
sonic's literally the fastest thing alive so if someone comes along and rivals that speed it's not hard to think the average joe would be like "hmmm emo sonic"
Everything you said about the characterization and story is exactly why it saddens me so much to see the writing and story and characterization of the games since Sonic Colors aka meta era, all I ask is that whatever this next main sonic game is... I just hope it has the same story and writing beats that the adventure games had... give sonic an emotion other that sarcasm
Nah, it will be Forces 2. SEGA didn't learn shit.
I'd say it's best to wait until we will see what that game will be before judging. Although I wouldn't hold high hopes for it since Sonic hasn't been doing very well for the past decade and because the last major title was Sonic Forces.
@@ChiefMedicPururu Uhh well
@@pinhe4d321 Check the date. And back then, I was not in a good mood.
"That brings us to the first stage, City Escape." *ad about traveling*
They're trying to show how much better their flights are
sonic adventure 2 is also my fave sonic game
and it really does feel like a final as well if very nearly WAS the grand final of sonic
Iizuka: "ShaDoW doEsn'T hAvE frIeNDs!"
To be fair it’s not Izuka who said that it was the big boys at Sega
He didn't really have them in SA2 tho.
He started getting them in heroes.
RadicialDraws He grew to appreciate and respect the characters in SA2, and he developed into someone who would be open to having friends...
If he didn’t fucking die that is
Then as you said, thats where Heroes comes in
oh my god don't get me started
i could rant on shadow's mistreatment post 2010 for eons
@@hihi-nm3uy Yeah, it sucks looking back at this game where most of the cast are at their best and then looking at what we have now.
Shadow's case is particularly painful because we know this is what SEGA _wants._ It's not just that the writers suck, because we got confirmation last year that Ian Flynn intended him to be as he should be in the pages of IDW but SEGA said no. We know Ian can write a good Shadow, because he was good in pretty much every story in Archie.
Even moreso, Shadow was, along with Knuckles, one of the few cases where the comic did better than the games. I often felt that the more game-like Archie became, the more the characters were stretched between their OG Archie personalities and the game versions. Eggman especially suffered from that, with his actions becoming increasingly dissonant the more the comic went on.
But Shadow was great. And now he isn't.
Sonic and Shadow’s final confrontation has two sonic quotes that are so perfect it’s unreal “what can I say, I die hard” and “what you see is what you get, just a guy that loves adventure. I’m sonic the hedgehog!” Both of these quotes not only perfectly demonstrate what kind of person sonic is but they are just pure badass in the most honest way.
I miss playing sonic adventure 2 battle on my GameCube. Good times
At exactly 1 hour and zero seconds, you can find a hidden Jeb. 🙃
Okay so i wasn't the only one
Good eyes, Whisper!
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was literally the best game in the entire series and it has yet to match the addictive replayability of that game. Mostly do to the chao garden. The story in SA2B is also one of my favorite in the series.
Sonic Adventure 2 is my childhood game
Same. I brought my Dreamcast stuff out of storage a while back after I’d ordered a new, functional one to replace the long since broken one I played as a kid, as I hadn’t played a ton of its library back when it was alive and realized it could play all of its library just through burned CDrs. Ended up finding my now teenage Chao, preserved just as they were on the old memory card, and I got to say hey to them once more. Shit was EMOTIONAL
@@deathray252 cool
@Freddy Voorhees very cool
55:49 Just like how Shadow is based on the Super Sonic mural, I always thought that the Biolizard was based on the Perfect Chaos mural.
Granted, that doesn't explain why it doesn't look like the other artificial Chaos enemies, but... Well... The Biolizard IS a prototype so maybe, after refocusing on Shadow, they used the Chaos research to create those weaker enemies.
The theory isn't 100% solid, but it's better than having a giant (non-liquid) lizard that has zero connection to All of the other research.
Maybe Gerald used lizards for their regenerative abilities? Ultimate life form is supposed to be unkillable, ageless, capable of regenerating lost limbs and all that.
Maybe it has something to do with froggy? Some other mural that 'mentioned' him and big? And that muddled the Dr's perception of what perfect chaos looked like even if chaos zero was understood?
@@connorschultz380 Areyou saying that there is another mural mentioning Froggy and Big or are you just making things up?
@@JSevion I didn't say there was one /: I was just discussing and thinking of possible answers sense I can't really think of much else
@@connorschultz380 I hear you. Your suggestion is a bit more of a stretch, tho since it's based on nothing rather than something present in the games.
Besides, Froggy is an amphibian. Not a lizard and looks nothing like Biolizard.
I miss this era of sonic 😢
The boost formula is alright, but this is what got me into sonic
The boost limits Sonic and his cast so much, it feels so un natural going from the Adventure formula to this
I love 2006 but at the same time fuck this game for ruining Sega's vision of what Sonic should be
@@maude7420 “Vision for what sonic should be.” Did you forget that sega is the same company that brought sonic into existence?. Your literally going off of what YOU think sonic should be. Yet, I don’t see you filing a complaint about it. Other people have opinions. Not everything evolves around you.
@@CTL_ It's been 2 months
I've grown past this, don't be mad lol
AHR sonic team does not understand what sonic should be anymore tho. Just look at sonic forces, it seems like they lost all their passion and ambission and made the most boring and uninspired sonic game ever created.
@@acousticslayer5883 A balannce between Boost and Adventure would be very welcome, as in, the player would have the ability to turn into the ''Boost Mode'' by unlocking it as a special move (like the Light Speed Attack and it's LSDash variant) just the same way Shadow and Silver could get Chaos Boost or Psycho Boost. Making it work as a special move let's the player calculate when they will need to use it or not, instead of just being a button mashing of X/Square until you beat the stage.
Honestly I disagree with the radar change in the hunting stages. This is an unpopular take, but the hunting stages are my favorite playstyle in the game. While I do like how each stage was built to accommodate hunting for emerald pieces I think the radar can hurt the style in some way. In fact on some occasions depending on location emerald placement can dictate enjoyment factor of certain levels. Even if I have the stage memorized (As much as I love SA2 and it is my favorite Sonic game, inplantgames review of SA2 was pretty accurate in discussing issues with the gimped radar system) Mad Space for instance is easily the worst level in the game and honestly one of my least favorite stages in any Sonic game.
With Mad Space the level is too spacious to the point where exploring the entirety works against it. Rather than using Rogue's ability to scale/climb to the top, you have to use rockets to go upwards and the wonky gravity physics don't do the stage any favors it feels like an unnecessary mechanic, especially when Meteor Heard had none of this outside of spacious design and vertical progression. I also find the hint systems can be very obtuse in certain instances of this level. The only good thing about Mad Space is the music, which is probably my favorite Rouge music in the game. I also don't like Death Chamber because the overly cramped nature hinders movement and I often find its too cramped. Even if I do admire the feel they were going for with it (exploring an underground chamber) I feel Egg Quarter's did this better (minus that beetle)
The problem with Tikal showing the player where the emerald pieces were was that it held the player's hand too much, as the only accomplishment came from just following her to the direction, not that the radar itself was the problem. I felt a balance should've been met, having the radar from SA1, but allowing exploration up to the player in a way that's not just given to them. So while I do agree that the stages are better than SA1 for me, the radar certainly has this grey area.
Well said & agreed almost completely. Meteor Herd may be huge, although without any gravity gimmicks it's easy to traverse quickly using rockets. Death Chamber & Mad Space were Level 4 in 2P Battle mode for good reason. I think Adventure 2's radar of 4 Color Settings & the Exclamation Point when right next to it is better than the 6 Color Radar of Adventure, although SA2 really needed the ability to track all 3 Emeralds/Keys at once. Maybe the radar for what you aren't searching for could change color based on proximity while faded?
Hint system was much better in Adventure 2 & I think the 1 at a time was because Sonic Team didn't know how to balance 2P Battle mode & utilize hints/score bonuses with all 3 being tracked at once. Maybe the gray area for what you aren't focusing on could remain for the hints, just with the ability to detect proximity to all 3 at once? Treasure Hunting feels great.
I dropped the game in Mad Space, Im' never touching SA2 again, that level can burn in hell.
@@Langas_LVDC I agree. The treasure hunting crap and Werehog should of been a separate game.
But in 2020, the internet is well archived. Both Treasure Hunting and Werehog was forced because Sega believed it would keep gamers from finishing the game too quickly. They only had enough time to create 10 speed levels, and they gave Shadow one of Sonic's intended levels.
Agreed. The radar in SA1 made the stages wayyy too easy and go by way too quickly. Yes, SA2 makes emerald progression more linear but if you explore the stage and find an unmarked emerald you get a huge poimt bonus which I find really good, it encourages thoughtful exploration instead of just relying on the radar to spoonfeed all of the locations at once.
@@moniques6204 ??? The treasure hunting stages take 2-4 mins to complete. Are you okay? The werehog levels each take 20 mins.
Ah, good ol’ faithful. SA2 has always been my favorite Sonic game. You my good man have produced some quality work.
I literally cannot find a single argument to the title.
Final Hazard was always much easier to defeat than Perfect Chaos for me. With Perfect Chaos you need to maintain enough speed in order to damage the boss, which becomes difficult when there are all these attacks & obstacles in the narrow pathways. Final Hazard you just have to run into the weakpoint with the 5 minute time limit being the main threat if you know you can switch places to regain rings. Here's hoping the Sonic Series returns to form in the near future, Sonic Adventure 2 remains the series at its peak after 19 years.
"In 2019, I decided to replay the Sonic series up to Sonic Heroes, and this is when the click finally happens." So...is there still a chance we'll get a Sonic Unleashed review in the future?
Also, this is my favorite video you've done so far.
I will take the flawed but still good games like SA one and two and Sonic Unleashed over the bland, boring, and lame Sonic games like Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic Forces.
I’d pick 06, SA1, SA2, and Unleashed any day over over Colors and Forces lol
I think Colors wasn't all that bad. It's a great game, but I personally didn't get sucked into any of the 3D games as much as the classic games so it's understandable.
@@cloroxhammer3289 It's not great at all. The DS version is the only great one.
@@mep6302 I actually came to heavily dislike the Sonic Rush trilogy on the DS. Sonic Colors seemed a lot more better to me, but this is all only subjective.
@@cloroxhammer3289 true
Coming sometime later in the 2020s...
“Why Pac-Man World 2 is the Best Pac-Man Game Since the Original”
Yes
And btw, this is only a reference to the home console version.
PMW2 was the shit tbh
MsPapaille Damn right, especially the Whale in a Sub segment! 😊
Though to be frank, the game does have several highlights! awesomegames.miraheze.org/wiki/Pac-Man_World_2
This was the first Sonic game I ever played. I hold so many awesome memories of the game and I love it. The ending always drives me to tears.
This is one of the more better, in-depth, less biased, clear & well done reviews of this game!
I like that while you acknowledged the flaws, you still were optimistic but honest.
And also that personal story in the end was a nice touch! It cleared up that this review is not to prove that SA2 is some legendary game that deserves no hate, but it takes a look at the game & tells what you liked & disliked about the game while being as neutral as possible, and also so showed that the game is very... polarizing, so polarizing that 1 playthrough can change your perspective & opinion about it.
I think one of the problems is that a lot of people play the game with some kind of preconceived notions, whether it be negative or positive. So they see it in a different light. Some people play the game thinking ``This game must be awesome, everyone talks about it so it must be``, so they see why it is awesome but ignore the problems, which are mostly minor by themselves, and this is where the negative POV comes in. Some people think `` This game is a mess`` while playing it, which leads to them seeing every single problem & seeing them all collectively as the game being a mess. (There are also people who DO acknowledge both the pros & cons, but I`m not talking about the people in the middle)
that`s why I kept saying to myself ``However this game may be, I`m just gonna try to have fun`` and that mindset helped cuz while some parts were frustrating (lookin at you, Eternal engine & Mad space) the game was overall a blast to play through, and that`s why I love it.
I think the game just needs a faithful remake that addresses & fixes the its problems properly.
For those who hate this game, same as I used to, please, PLEASE try playing the Steam version with your own picked mods. Even just swapping the mech physics with Gamma's from SA1, enabling all 3 Emerald shards/Emeralds/keys to be tracked at the same time, and remapping the light speed dash to the top face button, improves the game so much it's not even funny. Then there's texture edits, model improvements, music mods [such as my own pop punk track pack #shamelessplug], the cutscene overhaul, all cutscenes playing in widescreen... Adventure may be my favorite vanilla 3D Sonic game, but Adventure 2 is my favorite modded.
Cutscene Revamp really helps. Level Oddity improves the levels.
Mods shouldn't be needed to make a game good. If you're playing with mods, you're not playing SA2.
@@Laiser Updates shouldn't be needed to make a game good. If you're not playing the day one unpatched rushed out beta build of a game, you're not playing that game.
@@Laiser What the hell? Mods are just there to elevate an experience. However, SA2 has many problems that can be fixed by mods.
Example, the cutscenes in Story Mode are broken, there's a mod to fix them.
@@aortaplatinum
Yeah, I equally agree with that unless the game is free.
Amazing review J. by the way one intresting thing i have noticed with the main theme of Sonic Adventure 2, Live and Learn. Is that you actually never hear the full song until the final boss but you hear parts of the song scattered throughout the entire game in the intro, menu etc. And it feels like not just the story is building up towards the final battle, But entire game is. So when you finaly reach the final battle and hear the entirety of Live and Learn it makes the final battle feel even more epic as you finaly get to hear the entire song you heard throughout the game in its full glory.
SA2 felt like the true, final end to Sonic's legacy. Even through Generations and Colors had their moments, nothing ever really lived up to it.
If you think about the state of Sega at the time, you can really get a feel that this was the end of an era, the culmination of the entire franchise. Even the end of the last story had an odd tone of finality, like they expected it to be the last Sonic game.
You are right, and the saddest thing to me is as a kid I couldn't have realized that this would be it for sonic. I never got into another sonic game after SA2. One of my favorite games of all time, and honestly the ending for my favorite character of all time. It's so sad when you think about it, and what sonic could have been.
bro knuckles and tails levels are fuck, generations is way better
Wait, Colors had moments?
SA2 was the third sonic game that I ever played. I personally prefer Adventure 1 more, but this game is still great.
I liked and prefer part 1 more than 2. Adventure 1 is my favorite 3D Sonic game.
Adventure 1 has bad controls, and it's way too complicated to go from stage to stage. I would take SA2 any day over SA1
Don’t know why you needed over an hour when all you had to say was ‘Chao Garden’
Or just 6 words
-Chao Garden
-Music
-Controls
-Atmosphere
-Story
-Amazing Levels
@@theminecraft2516 Thats 8 words, not that I disagree with them
Imagine he makes a separate 1 hour video on the Chao Garden
@@cookieblobber I mean Cybershell did...
@TheWalkerman97 Wait wasn't that a 2 hour video?
I didn't understand how in depth and great this storyline is. I do remember that when I was a kid and beat the game, I teared up cuz those final cut scenes are just 😭😭
Shadow may not be my favorite, but I'll always like he who is as a character (well, used to be). Yeah, SA2 is my favorite game of all time, as well as the first I ever played, but I didn't really appreciate the series' overall story until a few years back. Growing up, I was also someone who thought Shadow was just the agnsty, edgelord rival, but the guy has some real depth to him that's easily overlooked. Doesn't help that the more recent games do pretty much have Shadow as the agnstly edgelord.
Blame his own game for ruining his own legacy.
@@112deno Folks legitimately wrote to Sega wanting a Sonic game with guns and we got Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) as a result.
Tbh I actually enjoy parts of Shadow's game (guilty pleasure I know) but I blame the warped perceptions of Sega/the fandom. I mean we've had characters use weapons before: Knuckles has his dusters, Bean has his bombs, Amy has her hammer and heck we even had characters use guns; Fang uses rifles, Tails has an arm cannon, Omega is literally a walking arsenal, etc
Somewhere along the lines, guns = overly edgy for Sega and certain parts of the fandom and thus we got Shadow may cry...
@@lynxfresh5214 I didn't mind the atmosphere in that game, it just everything else was overly excited very badly. Plus, did Shadow really need guns? doesn't he have Chaos Spear?
@@lynxfresh5214 Shadow May Cry...you know, a Shadow game that plays like Devil May Cry would actually be a lot of fun.
Another great video, J. I went 'woo!' when you said the PS2 was the greatest console of all time. I was always baffled by the decision to make Shadow a hedgehog in-universe, and my jaw dropped when you brought up the Sonic 3 connection.
SA2 will always be my favorite 3D Sonic. Like Sonic 2, it takes the best parts of it’s predecessor and improves upon them. The music like almost all Sonic games is really good. And while SA1 had more variety in genre, i still think SA2’s music is more memorable.
I also love how the characters are portrayed in SA2. Tails learns to be more independent and even stands up to and even rival Robotnik. Robotnik himself is at his best here as he’s the most threatening we’ve seen him. And he even shows a more human side at the end. And Shadow, well.. He probably the best written character out of the entire series in SA2 alone.
Honestly, if Sonic as whole ended here, it would’ve been a perfect way to send it off.
All of Knuckles's themes are rap, Rouge's are jazz, and they have music for cutscenes that matches the context and tone of what's happening instead of just playing the hub or character theme, like the ominous and unsettling song that plays when Shadow is explaining the Eclipse Cannon to Eggman, and when Rouge reads Gerald's diary. Also the Chao World themes.
SA2's ost isn't as oversaturated with rock as people act like it is.
Perfect send off
Holy crap this was such a great review, possibly your best. I’m personally not a big fan of this game but even you made me have more appreciation for SA2 and the impact it’s made on fans of the series
I think part of the impression about the non-existence of non-Robotnik humans in the original Sonic games is that a lot of the early spinoff media (mainly the first three cartoons and the Archie comics) didn't really have any while having much larger casts of characters (the Archie comics eventually did have more humans, but that was a bit later). None of these spinoffs were canon to the games, but it helped reinforce the perception.
I love how you just casually showed footage of the beta version of Windy Valley as if it's just a regular part of Sonic Adventure.
I think it’s interesting to think about a universe where Sonic sacrifices himself instead of Shadow.
Actualy a guy has thought about it! Idr the channel but if you search "What if Sonic died instead of Shadow" you'll find a guy who's created a "what if" scenario of that!
Yeosksjsshsshshandbsbsbssbsjaisussjs *SKI*
While I do believe SA2 is objectively the best 3D Sonic game period, I don't play it as frequently as I do something like Heroes or 06. While I do prefer the 4kids voice cast over the original cast, I still see the value in the original cast, I wouldn't mind if they returned some day. I do agree that this is the embodiment of everything that made Sonic great, keep up the good work J!
George Summitt I view the 4kids cast the same most people view DCAU cast, the default voices of the characters. I’m going to make the audacious claim that the ONLY good thing about Chris Thornedyke’s inclusion in the entirety of Sonic X was his speech he gave to Shadow when the ARK was crashing into Earth, notably “Can’t you see it’s unfair [that humanity must pay for Maria’s death even though all of humanity had nothing to do her death]” and that’s a quote that has stuck with me to this day.
@Mike will Rude
@@georgesummitt1980 Cool, more misuse of "objectively."
@@beta511ee4 How? There are many things in SA2 that are provable as good with objective reasoning. How is it misused?
@@mysteryperson1958 Now that is just being ridiculous. So the classic games are only good subjectivity. So Sonic Generations is only good subjectivity. Your logic is objectively flawed.
17:58 after 10+ years of playing this game I never new that spring was there, just goes to show how much love was put into this game.
SA2 is my favorite game of all time, this is the video I needed
Try ruby of blue’s review
same here pal
@@cameronedwards4893 I saw his review, it was fantastic
Dark Slayer I know right
You’re joking right, have you played the Knuckles missions this game can’t possible be anyone’s fav of all time relax there jr
Was looking forward to hearing what you thought about the game and it didn't disappoint at all. The game was not perfect but you could feel that they really tried to bring a lot of heart to the game and it was felt back then and it's still there today if given the chance. And even with the different gameplay styles, sure you may have one you don't like but they're still doable. I didn't really like the mech shooting but I still had somewhat okay enjoyment with them though mostly with Eggman since it worked for his character. But yeah it wasn't the worst thing even if Gamma's gameplay was far superior. And I just never had a problem with the treasure hunting stages but that's only because I like scavenger hunts. And of course the speed stages were gonna be the best part so no need to go into that but I think it's without question that the presentation of this game is what made it so iconic and memorable. The music, (even if lacking in genre variety compared to SA1), the story giving us a much more intense stake, the drama of the story, just everything really. And it's just cool to see that this game is still beloved.
It's been so nice seeing all these more positive reviews of Sonic Adventure 2 after it low-key got dragged through the mud since Projared's review back in 2015. Not hating on the guy but there's no question that the attitude towards SA2 totally changed after that review and you had more people saying the game was overrated and terrible. And you know I can understand why some would be annoyed and tired of this game. It does get a lot of love and praise and this could especially be hard to revel in if you were born after the game came out and you didn't get to experience it back in its heyday and especially if you're someone who's first Sonic game was a game like Sonic Unleashed, Colors, or Lost Worlds, it can feel annoying when these games you grew up with aren't getting near as much love and praise as Adventure 1 or Adventure 2 gets. And I can feel for them even if I don't think the later Sonic games were as wholesome as the first 2 Adventure games but hopefully with time the people who only hate SA2 because of hype/popularity will simmer down and maybe find some enjoyment for the game just like how some older fans found some enjoyment for Unleashed (at least the gameplay anyway).
Anyway great review.
The Adventure Games actually had ambition put into them, which none of the 2010s Sonic Games had except Mania. Colors Wii was such a disappointment, although certain people were giving it all this undeserved praise, then they started bashing the best games in the series. Colors was the game that ushered in the Worst Decade of Sonic's Career, the people who claimed it was the end of the Dark Age completely forgot about Black Knight that released on the same console 1 year earlier. They were blind to the fact that Unleashed was a better game than Colors as well as Black Knight & the existence of Rush Adventure.
Generations while a good game, wasn't all that ambitious for what it was trying to accomplish. Sonic Colors never should have been allowed to become the new normal for the series. I miss the days when Sonic was actually cool & not this parody of himself that we've been stuck with for 10 years now. I have missed getting to play as characters other than Sonic in the main series for over 10 years. The Sonic series deserves better than the awful 2010s direction for it.
@@WaterKirby1994 I agree 100% with this, especially the Sonic Colors thing... I too hate how that became the standard and I'm just super tired of the boost gameplay. I hate how Sonic controls and moves in the games post Sonic Adventure where he now feels stiff and confined to a straight path instead of smoothly fluid and open ranged where you could move in any direction while not feeling rigid. I'm not sure if that makes sense but damn I just hope that they eventually ditch this and go back to the free control type of style Sonic had in the Adventure games.
@@decadentgamer3108 I know exactly how you feel the Adventure Games you felt like you had total control over Sonic's movement. Better it was not just his, Knuckles, & Tails in the 1st game felt the same way. Shooting may have not offered the freedom to explore how you want, although it was often a blast to play & you at least had some control once you got the upgrade to hover.
If we aren't in control we better be getting something awesome to make up for it. Boost games don't make up for the control they take away though. I want a return to the Adventure Games as well in story, tone, characterization, & gameplay. We had the series hijacked from us by people who were never going to be fans. We held on to hope & ended up betrayed repeatedly through all these years.
@@WaterKirby1994 Exactly. Hopefully Sonic Team finally wises up and just gives the fans (FANS, not people who don't even play Sonic games) a true experience. That's what made Mania successful and it can be the same for a Sonic Adventurre 3 (or any new game in general).
@@WaterKirby1994 uh the classic fanboy that thinks his opinions are objective. Man you need to get your head out of the clouds.
26:23 glad to see more people who realize this, this is exactly why I prefer SA2’s hints over SA1.
On the music side of things, while the soundtrack overall is phenomenal (and I actually prefer this game's version of It Doesn't Matter), there were some... bizarre choices they made when they were remixing Tails's theme. The vocalist does a great job with what she's given, but the melody and rhythm of her lines in the chorus don't seem to fit the same way they did in the original version.
A general rule for songwriters is that if your words are describing a motion, your vocal melody follows that motion -- unless you have a good reason for it not to. Having the lines about longing to fly higher follow a downwards melody instead feels really jarring, and it's not helped by the attempt to slow down the delivery so much that the last four syllables of each thought have to be crammed into two beats.
Also doesn't help that the song's lyrics are about the character development Tails already went through in the last game, and they don't have anything to do with who he is in this one. The arrangement of the music tries to reflect that, with a very distinctive lead tone in the electric sitar, and a much more straightforward sense of direction when it get its own melodies, but the carried-over lyrics still hold it back.
So while I like all the other character themes, I think "Believe in Myself" really got the short end of the stick here-- with the irony of feeling like it doesn't know what it wants to be. And that's too bad 'cause the original version from Sonic Adventure was a really good song.
The getting mistaken for each other thing never bothered me. What's more likely, that Sonic dyed his fur and broke bad or that there is a *second* semi-magical anthrohog who goes fast?
THANK YOU. Finally someone else who agrees that SA2 massively improved the treasure hunting levels.
SA2 was the best - the control over the characters was so clean and responsive. The exploration is something thats been missing since too
I actually really love how you explained Sonic's Chaos Control scene
5:23 the first word a character says in sa2 is “sigma”
I was literally just about to say that!
0:00 Sonic Adventure
0:29 Sonic Adventure 2
4:40 Duality 34:21
5:20 City Escape 7:34 Sonic is Innocent
9:12 The Rule of 3: Shadow wins, They are even, The Final Fight
11:04 Classic Level-By-Level Action
13:16 Dark Story Begin, Iron Gate
21:30 Humans in Sonic The Hedgehog
27:36 Cutscenes 29:04 Voice Acting 30:57 Soundtrack
36:00 Is The Story Too Dark or Too Serious? - No
46:56 Dreamcast --> Gamecube --> PS3
51:31 A-Rank is Earned
52:54 Chao Garden
*The Best Scene In The Game*
39:16 On The Ark 40:37 He ALREADY KNEW 42:52 Chaos Control
*Shadow The Hedgehog*
18:12 Shadow The Hedgehog: An Avenger
20:35 Shadow's Design
44:55 That Government Spy Rouge The Bat
*Rouge The Bat*
23:53 Rouge The Bat
*Tails and Dr Eggman*
35:42 /37:45 How they play
*Stage Types*
14:52 Speed Stages
24:40 Treasure Hunting Stages
37:45 Mech Stages
*The Finale*
53:35 The Last Story 55:15 Cannon's Core
55:50 The Prototype of The Ultimate Life Form
58:44 The Final Hazard
1:01:17 Shadow...died?
1:03:30 The Final Analysis
This deserves a lot more likes
With how this game ends and how it was the final sonic game for sega hardware and they didn’t know the future of the company due to financial reasons, i honestly believe this was intended to be the end. Robotnik turning good and the trailers even saying “farewell sonic, forever”. It would of been a great way to go out for sure but boy an i glad sega and sonic didn’t end :)
SA2 was made to be the last game and it shows, while I do love a lot of the stuff in the 2000s and Mania is very additctive, I wouldn't have mind SA2 being the end
I figured sonic 3 and knuckles was the end
Seriously i thought eggman died at the end
Thought he could "vader-fied" after sonic story (though it was just an egg robo) and he got destroyed dueing knuckles story
Sweet review man, you gave this game the proper review it deserved. I'm so glad there are still people who still love this game. This game is up there with Kingdom Hearts 2 and Mega Man X4 for being one of my favorite games of all time.
Plz talk about how Professor Gerald based Shadow off of the Super Sonic Mural. There is so much lore there its insane. I NEED THIS PLEASE!