ProJared reviews Sonic Adventure 2

[Nepenthe]

People have multiple modes of transport all the time, either out of recreation or necessity. The teleporter doesn't even make the shuttles irrelevant, because again, this only assumes that Eggman is only ever working in a present tense, that he would never have need for them if he can simply warp to a single point in space. It makes no sense to think this at all.

 

Furthermore, people have a habit of picking on details in SA2 that aren't actually plotholes or problems despite their being claimed to be, or are the result of the way media and suspension of disbelief simply works. It feels like SA2 has to live up to some particularly ridiculous standard of storytelling that other Sonic games before and since never did, and aside from it being a kneejerk reaction to its ever-outdated reputation as the best 3D Sonic game (which if we're still reacting to that, is also fucking nuts, because we're basing our discussion on this game on people's opinions who are neither here nor relevant), it's hard for me to understand. Like I said, I'm a story buff. I pick up on things that don't make sense in a fictional world's universe fairly often, particularly cartoony universes. Hell, I went on a rant about why Lost World's use of color theory bothered me. And even I don't fucking get the critical culture surrounding this game on this forum. Like, I really don't understand why most of this shit bothers people in SA2 massively but they happily accept weirdness in other media or even other Sonic games.

[Diogenes]

The in-story explanation is that Eggman is a mad scientist and thus has all sorts of crazy shit lying around his base. What more do you need than that?

[Kuzu]

I still think it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense and feel the shuttle was just there to get the Heroes in space and nothing more, but whatever. I think we've kind of beaten this argument into the ground. I don't think Sonic Adventure 2 needs to be some kind of pinnacle of story telling, but at the same time its not the shining beacon of it either. 

 

 

So...how about them Chao Gardens ay?

[Dr. Detective]

I haven't watched the video and I don't really plan to. All I'll say is that the future is always unclear and the gems of the past are often subject to the scrutiny of the future. With there being such an overwhelming negative shadow hanging over the series nowadays regardless, things remaining in the favor of the Adventure Games for too long was understandably low.

 

I don't have a problem with giving things from the past and once over and changing opinions on it. I'm just burnt out is all.

 

It's 2015 and we're still repeating this same stuff over and over and over again. I feel as though the reason we are is because we don't really have a definitive answer as to whether or not we're right. 

 

When I hear someone say the Adventure formula isn't that good and that it shouldn't come back, I just have to wonder if when they imagine it coming back they're imagining it being the exact same thing from the late 1990s and early 2000s instead of something that would obviously be re-worked and updated as something that could realistically be used within a 3-D Sonic game coming out in 2015. 

[Solkia]

Maybe Eggman just felt like making a Rocket.

 

Maybe he needed it to move supplies.

 

Why does it matter? 

[Dr. Detective]

When it comes to that argument you all are having, I'll side with the majority.

 

It isn't weird for Eggman to have ships in his bases. He's got an entire air fleet of them in Heroes onward even.

[Wittymations]

Popping in to say, this is Eggman.

Eggman makes an air fleet before eating breakfast.

Rocket ships? Why not?

[azoo]

Yeah, Eggman I'd imagine just has a bunch of hidden random machinery stuff everywhere. You imagine he'd be more than prepared in any location around the world for at least a get-away plan.

 

Anyways everyone, let's hurry up and get onto a different subject than the spaceship RIGHT NOW before the topic blows up with you on it.

[E-van]

BLOWS UP!?

[Milo]

Anyways everyone, let's hurry up and get onto a different subject than the spaceship RIGHT NOW before the topic blows up with you on it.

 

BLOWS UP!?

 

You know what else blew up in Sonic Adventure 2? The moon, when Eggman destroyed it with the Eclipse Cannon. And nobody since has questioned how it has appeared magically intact in later Sonic games. And that's why Sonic games since SA2 have always sucked!

 

 

 

Don't take this seriously .-.

[E-van]

Actually, didn't Iizuka once say that the other side of the moon is being shown in the later games or something like that?

[Komodin]

So... can the Biolizard speak anything besides "Gyarrrgh!"?

[FriendBot]

Well he can speak Perfect Chaos if that mean anything, to ya Komo.

[Wittymations]

Actually, didn't Iizuka once say that the other side of the moon is being shown in the later games or something like that?

He did. It was an excuse for their oversight, but he did.

[azoo]

So... can the Biolizard speak anything besides "Gyarrrgh!"?

 

You mean that one screech-growl it does?

 

Because going by it, the Biolizard is a lizard with a life support backpack that came into creation from trying to make a hedgehog, and sounds just like a wildcat when you hurt it.

 

It also buds out cancerous orbs from it's skin and has the ability to fuse itself with machinery and take control of entire space stations. It also has no eyes, but instead energy poles going through it. Also no back legs, just nubs. Also, no teeth, just a big ol' mouth with nothing in it.

 

What the hell were they doing when they made the Biolizard. I ask that to both Gerald and Sega simultaneously, because I'm honestly at a loss about it.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

 In short, you're projecting your own omniscience as an audience member onto a fictional universe where it's completely impossible to do this with any accuracy. So perhaps Sonic and Shadow actually do look really fucking close to one another in order to fool the world into thinking Sonic has somehow turned bad or has shown up in weird places, and that the designs we see are just exaggerations for our own convenience.

Exaggerations for our own convenience, huh? I guess I could buy that. It's still distracting, but whatevs. 

[E-van]

Yeah, didn't they just reuse Perfect Chaos' roar thing for the Biolizard, or is it a bit different?

[JezMM]

I know this thread of discussion sorta died but here's my personal final thoughts on it:

 

 

Eggman has clusters of giant spinning neon lollipops with his face on in his base

 

But the spaceship is the thing some folks are getting hung up about not having a practical purpose in the story

[ThatSpookyGuy59]

I know this thread of discussion sorta died but here's my personal final thoughts on it:

 

 

Eggman has clusters of giant spinning neon lollipops with his face on in his base

 

But the spaceship is the thing some folks are getting hung up about not having a practical purpose in the story

 

JezMM, everyone knows that modes of transportation outranks that of the decorative flair of one's base.

 

 

On a serious note though, yeah. Why the hell does Eggman have all those neon signs lying around his base when he states perfectly ingame that "those fools" will never find it? That's like holding a giant sign that says, "I'M A CROOK! PLEASE ARREST ME!"

[Dr. Detective]

You mean that one screech-growl it does?

 

Because going by it, the Biolizard is a lizard with a life support backpack that came into creation from trying to make a hedgehog, and sounds just like a wildcat when you hurt it.

 

 

Came into creation when trying to create the Ultimate Lifeform. What animals he used for his prototypes can vary.

[Badnik Mechanic]

He did. It was an excuse for their oversight, but he did.

 

I know this is sudden, but... here is a possible Sonic Science trivia to explain the moon fixing, now that you have finished your post.

 

Did you know, that all bodies in space are attracted to one another? And that unless the orbits are fixed they will eventually pull towards one another and collide, or move further away, it depends on the orbit and various other factors.

 

In the game Sonic Adventure 2, the moon is destroyed by a powerful energy weapon, we do not know the makeup of this weapon, however, there is evidence to suggest it might in fact be some kind of gravity based beam, due to the fact we see artificial gravity control and other energy throughout the space station which effects all objects, not just metallic ones, as well as enemies which hold water molecules together yet still in a fluid form, only artificial gravity could do that.

 

The space station is full of technology related to artificial gravity to such an extent, it flows through it like electricity or a power grid.

 

 It would therefore suggest that only did pieces of the moon break off and float in near orbit of the original body, but due to the effects of possible increased gravity, combined by the natural gravitational pull of smaller objects towards a larger body.

 

The moon in fact, fixed itself.

 

And that was the Sonic Science Trivia of the day.

[Kuzu]

No shut up, stop trying ot make sense out of this.

 

 

The real answer is that gnomes did it.

[Azzy]

I know this thread of discussion sorta died but here's my personal final thoughts on it:

 

 

Eggman has clusters of giant spinning neon lollipops with his face on in his base

 

But the spaceship is the thing some folks are getting hung up about not having a practical purpose in the story

 

Because it's pretty blatant Deus Ex Machina

 

But it's said before that SA2's story isn't a case of flawless writing. Asking "why" does Eggman happen to have a random spaceship for Sonic and co to use is just as reasonable as replying "why not".

[Celestia]

Let's talk about how Rouge has a car.

 

What's up with that? Why would she have a car when she can glide or even run fast? Explain yourselves Sonic Team, ya jerks!

 

 

 

Seriously though, when it comes to SA2 it's definitely one of those Sonic games where I kinda feel at odds with the current consensus on it. The game certainly has it's problems, but I think it's pros and cons balance it out with the first Adventure rather than one being absolutely better than the other (though they're different enough that I can understand preferring one over the other based on certain things).

 

One negative thing I will say is that, while I actually enjoy the mechs and treasure hunting and don't really see them as unfitting for the game / series, I think some small design changes from their equivalents in SA1 were a step down.

 

Like, the mechs weren't too different Gamma aside from, well, speed. Even Gamma's normal running was faster, and the wheel mode he changes into when you maintain top speed long enough was even faster. It was also easier to keep moving at that speed (especially since Gamma stayed in that transformed state even if you stopped moving, and only leaves it when you jump), whereas the faster speeds of Eggman's and Tails' mechs weren't that generous and were hard to maintain compared to the other characters in SA2 at that. I consider this a negative especially because that was always a genuinely interesting mechanic for Gamma, and even fits the series' "maintaining speed through skill" thing but with a twist that had some extra strategy to it. Like, you can keep moving at that faster speed, but eventually you'll need to jump, and ideally keep moving and get back to that speed to transform again.

 

Meanwhile, treasure hunting as a whole was actually an improvement (especially digging), but it did bother me that the radar only focusing on one Emerald at a time. Also some of the treasure hunting levels were a bit confusing to navigate--I liked the idea of larger levels, even the space ones in theory, but well, it's with the space levels that it gets a bit annoying to get everywhere. And once you know how, it gets kinda boring? Like, it's just using some rockets and stuff to get to the different places or whatever. I feel like I'd be fine with that if the levels were A-to-B, but with the levels being open, ehh. Granted gliding can take you places to an extent, but doesn't help if you have to go up. So I guess I wish the ARK levels were designed to be more horizontal?

 

This also goes for the speed stages too, in that I think they were an improvement for the most part but did have some weird issues that I can nitpick. Like, I don't really mind that the level design was more linear since alternate paths doesn't usually strike me as particularly interesting in Sonic games outside of some special cases, but there are other problems with the Sonic/Shadow stages' level design. Grinding was cool, but some levels (Sky Rail, the final ARK levels for Sonic and Shadow) put too much emphasis on it over standard platforming. I also consider the rolling mechanics not really being relevant kind of a negative even if I don't have much attachment to the classic rolling stuff. Why? Because it's still in SA2 but, again, they don't take advantage of it. It'd be like if we had a game with the boost but literally nowhere to really use it.

...That was a lot of words that I hope make sense together

You mean that one screech-growl it does?

 

Because going by it, the Biolizard is a lizard with a life support backpack that came into creation from trying to make a hedgehog, and sounds just like a wildcat when you hurt it.

 

It also buds out cancerous orbs from it's skin and has the ability to fuse itself with machinery and take control of entire space stations. It also has no eyes, but instead energy poles going through it. Also no back legs, just nubs. Also, no teeth, just a big ol' mouth with nothing in it.

 

What the hell were they doing when they made the Biolizard. I ask that to both Gerald and Sega simultaneously, because I'm honestly at a loss about it.

This adds to it's charm. It's a prototype attempt at making "ultimate life", I can totally buy an early attempt at that being a terrifying(ly amazing) abomination.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Eggman is a big bombastic villain who makes statues of himself and carves his face on his bases.

 

Of course he has a spaceship!