Sonic Adventure is our favorite blue speedster's first go into the world of 3D gaming. I remember playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on my brother's Sega Genesis, and boy, was it was fun to play. Well, fun up to till point you run into a baddie and lose all your rings. Anyways, back in his genesis days Sonic was pretty awesome, but his transition into 3D was less so.

Story

Sonic games never had much of a story during the old days, it was usually just save the animals. That is why I was kind surprised by Sonic Adventure's inclusion of actual story. A story that is complete with fully voice acted cutscenes. Also a plus is that it isn't about saving the animals, but it does use an element that has been used since Sonic 2. Sonic Adventure also starts the tradition of including Dr. Robotnik (now known as Dr. Eggman) working with some super being that becomes empowered by you know what if played this before. Now, unfortunately this alright premise becomes overshadowed by terrible lip syncing and not so good voice acting. Another negative point is that some character's stories are terrible; Big the Cat's story being the absolute worst. The game also introduces new characters that are unfortunately not included in the story of the succeeding main titles. But, a story isn't worth much watching if the graphics aren't appealing.

Graphics

Now, the graphics in this game are actually pretty good looking. The models look nice, and the textures are kinda well designed as well. However, I say that some of the character animations look a little awkward, especially the running animation on some characters. Another Unfortunate thing is that the game has awful lip syncing, which ultimately makes the cutscenes very awkward to watch. However, the graphics can be either amplified or diminished by the game's sound.

Sound

The music in the Sonic series has always been good, and it is no different in Sonic Adventure. The sound effects are always pretty nice as well with some sound effects returning from the old days. However, the voice acting is not very good at all. The worst voices are those by Tails and Big the Cat, whose voices are so irritating that you just want to punch them. I will though that I like this Sonic's voice the best, as I do not like Roger Craig Smith's Sonic due to his dumb jokes. But, ultimately, it is the gameplay that decides the game's worth.

Gameplay

Sonic Adventure plays similar to its Genesis predecessors with some additions. First off is the fact that the game is in 3D, which changes how he look at a Sonic game. Second is that the game is no longer stage-by-stage, instead opting more for a hub level selection, which are very open. You may also find upgrades that improve your character's abilities, but some of these aren't particularly useful. There is also the inclusion of these little creatures called Chao that you can improve with the animals you collect, but I didn't care about that feature. But the biggest addition is being able to play different characters, each with their own play style. Now, Unfortunately, while the game does try to keep the old formula, it just doesn't as well here. Sonic and company do not seem to have running room in the levels like in the old games, so they feel a little slowed down. Another issue is that when I was running straight I would divert to the right, even though my control stick was pointing straight up. Now, like I said before you can play as different characters with their own different play styles. The characters are: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Gamma, and Big. Sonic plays like he did in the old games, and his levels work the same way as well. Tails can fly for an unlimited time and can do a tail spin attack, and his levels are just races against Sonic. Amy can use a hammer to attack, and her levels involve avoiding someone while running to the exit. Gamma's play style is to basically shoot everything. Big's play style is, for some dumb reason or another, to fish, which really makes the game feel slowed down. The boss fights are rather easy and simplistic to beat, but the ones against our newest baddie (you know who) and the later Eggman ones are pretty cool. However, the quality of the gameplay is lowered by awkward movement, and by the fact that only a couple of character play styles make the levels feel different from when you played the same levels as a different character.

Sonic Adventure was pretty decent for a 3D sonic game. However, issues with movement, lip syncing, voice acting, and insignificant play styles do not improve the game's quality. Unfortunately, though Sonic Adventure was the start of Sonic's fall from stardom as the succeeding 3D games (minus Sonic Adventure 2) would not be received well. But Sega will still dole out new Sonic games that have very little quality assurance in them

Supergamer :

DUDE you need a thesis before you break off into the sections.  I have other vizzed writers who need my help, so I stopped reading there.  

if you end your intro with a question.... does this game suck?  YOU NEED TO TALK MORE before narrowing your focus to the "story" of the game.  the story might suck and it could still be an awesome game.  

your intro can be two paragraphs, but if you leave me in suspense about the suck level of the game and then start chattering about the story of the game??  you have my lost my interest, my friend.