Jump to content
Awoo.

Sonic Adventure 2 Character Reel: Hoax?


Plasme

Recommended Posts

This will all sound like a bad creepypasta, but I swear it's true.

When I first got Sonic Adventure 2, I found a Faq/Cheat Code guide which detailed how to unlock everything in SA2. This was for the Dreamcast version, so it was probably circa 2001-2002, because I remember getting the game the day it came out. I don't remember what the guide was, but I'm pretty sure it was a Faq of some sort, the kind you read on Gamefaq.

The Faq was very accurate, it detailed how to unlock all the costumes and secret characters for the multiplayer mode as well as Green Hill, which required getting all Emblems and so all A Ranks. This was prime time for BS cheat codes, so I didn't believe it, especially because the characters seemed like really cool unlocks and a lot of development work for how difficult they were to unlock. But I would later download a save file off the Dreamcast which unlocked all the emblems and find out the vast majority of the Faq was true.

However, the Faq also detailed a Character Reel unlockable option, a feature which is probably a hoax, but it's strange that the Faq lied about this but was so accurate about everything else.

The Faq claimed that if you got an A Rank on every stage then you would unlock a Character Reel and could use codes in the reel to unlock secret characters for single player. These included the multiplayer exclusive characters, but also really weird options, like Eggman without a mustache. 

The hook here is that to unlock all the emblems you don't need to unlock all A Ranks on Cannon's Core, only for the other stages. This is because you get an emblem for getting A Ranks on each character's stage. Cannon's Core is for the Final Story, not associated with any character, and so grants no emblem for getting all A Ranks on it. The save I downloaded did not have A Rank for every mission on Cannon's Core and I was never good enough to do it myself. So, I never saw the fabled Character Reel option.

So this is probably a dumb question, but is there recorded evidence of someone getting an A Rank on every mission of Sonic Adventure 2 on Dreamcast? I honestly think the Character Reels is probably a hoax, but I find it weird that I can't find any info on it and I'm unsure if anyone has gotten an A Rank on every mission of Cannon's Core on DC. I mean, it's not required for all emblems, so why would anyone do it? And the Faq was completely accurate about everything else, so it bugs me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Plasme said:

I mean, it's not required for all emblems, so why would anyone do it?

Because it's there. Considering people will go as far as making up their own challenges to wring more entertainment out of a game they like, for any reasonably popular game surely there'd be people who go for 100% of the game's own challenges regardless of any reward for doing so.

Anyway it's pretty obviously fake. SA2 was a pretty popular game, 100%ing a game is not an obscure unlock method that could go overlooked, and it's hardly more effort than it takes to unlock GHZ. If this was a thing it'd be as well documented as GHZ is.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Diogenes said:

Because it's there. Considering people will go as far as making up their own challenges to wring more entertainment out of a game they like, for any reasonably popular game surely there'd be people who go for 100% of the game's own challenges regardless of any reward for doing so.

Anyway it's pretty obviously fake. SA2 was a pretty popular game, 100%ing a game is not an obscure unlock method that could go overlooked, and it's hardly more effort than it takes to unlock GHZ. If this was a thing it'd be as well documented as GHZ is.

I think it's almost certainly fake too, but is there any recorded evidence anywhere of someone getting A Rank on every level in SA2 on DC, including Canon's Core, because I can't find it.

SA2 Battle on GC has always been more popular, and all self imposed challenges are done on that version.

I want to put this to rest for my own sake if anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Either your memory is playing tricks of you, or the FAQ was talking about something that's entirely false. The game is 20 years old almost. It's been 100%'d by countless people over the years.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The stuff you're describing sounds like fan-made mods, not any official in-game unlockables.

You might be mis-remembering and conflating some fan-mod with an FAQ on the game's actual secrets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm probably not misrembering. If it's untrue, which it probably is, then the faq was lying. It was just really elaborate (it had lots of codes) and in a faq/cheat codes section which was otherwise full of accurate info.

It was also definitely not about mods - it clearly outlined that you needed to get all A Ranks to unlock it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Plasme said:

I think it's almost certainly fake too, but is there any recorded evidence anywhere of someone getting A Rank on every level in SA2 on DC, including Canon's Core, because I can't find it.

Have you ever used Google?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/291597-sonic-adventure-2/saves

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

As I said on my OP, I downloaded a similar save to unlock everything. The save was listed as all A Rank 100%, because it technically was, you don't need to get all A Rank on Cannon's Core to get 100% and unlock everything. We don't know if that save has all A Ranks on Cannon's Core.

Does anyone have a working DC to test it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Plasme said:

As I said on my OP, I downloaded a similar save to unlock everything. The save was listed as all A Rank 100%, because it technically was, you don't need to get all A Rank on Cannon's Core to get 100% and unlock everything. We don't know if that save has all A Ranks on Cannon's Core.

Does anyone have a working DC to test it?

You can grab an emulator and test it yourself if you want to. But if you think there's any chance that somehow nobody has ever gotten all A ranks on SA2 DC... Well I don't know what to tell you.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

You can grab an emulator and test it yourself if you want to. 

That's a good idea, thanks.

Nevermind, I can't run the emulator.

I just really want to see concrete proof of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding the FAQ being mostly legit, bar a detail like that, these FAQs have a habit of having multiple contributors, especially in the early days of the internet, and hoaxes ran rampant. Sometimes an official guide can get a bogus tip from someone else. If the timeframe you’re describing is correct, SA2 would’ve presumedly only been out a little while, and therefore still hiding secrets.

An infamous example which was proven by a LostMedia YouTuber named  LSuperSonicQ tackled this exact thing. There was a long rumour of a American/NTSC version of the Super Game Boy 2 having been briefly sold on QVC. A rumour that got such high popularity that even game magazines picked up and mentioned it in passing.

Upon inspection however, and tracking down the original source, a Nintendo/SNES FAQ hosted on GameFAQs, and somehow tracking down the three people involved with said guide that populated the rumour, it turned out that the information was a false memory from someone who claimed to have seen the Super Game Boy 2 on QVC late on TV one night, who probably wasn’t trying to spread misinformation, but legitimately believed this, likely due to the Mandela Effect. The person who originally wrote the guide and also hosted popular Nintendo sites in the mid to late 90s later confirmed this was the case and the Super Game Boy 2 never released in America, and that while the Japanese version could be modified to have NTSC compatibility, it never officially happened.

It’s an interesting video, you should give it a watch, but the point is it’s likely the same situation here. A third party source claimed this to the FAQ writer who took him at his word and added it.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.