Sonic Adventure

in one of the game's levels, Speed Highway Sonic Adventure is a 3D platform game with action and role-playing elements. Some levels include minigames separate from the main story. These feature different styles of gameplay, among them rail shooting, racing, pinball, and sandboarding. Some minigames can only be accessed with particular characters. Fulfilling certain objectives allows the player to obtain bonus items. Unlocked minigames and stages the player has completed can be accessed from a Trial Mode on the title screen. As with previous Sonic installments, players can collect golden rings, which can grant them protection from a single enemy or hazard as well as an extra life if 100 are collected. Also scattered throughout the levels are canisters containing power-ups, such as speed shoes, additional rings, temporary invincibility, and protective shields, and 1-ups. In several stages, the player engages Robotnik or Chaos in a boss fight and must deplete the boss's health meter to proceed. Point markers act as checkpoints where the character can respawn after losing a life. Players may also discover Chao Gardens, hidden, protective environments inhabited by Chao, a virtual pet. Players can hatch, name, and interact with multiple Chao, and they can raise the status of their Chao by giving them small animals, which can be collected by defeating enemies within the Action Stages. The Dreamcast's handheld Visual Memory Unit (VMU) allows the player to download the minigame Chao Adventure, in which their Chao walks through a course to evolve and improve its skills. Evolving one's Chao improves its performance in competitions called Chao Races. Eggs that can produce special types of Chao are hidden throughout the Adventure Fields. Players can earn emblems by playing through Action Stages, searching through the Adventure Fields, or winning Chao Races. Each Action Stage has three emblems that can be earned by replaying the stages and fulfilling objectives, such as beating the level within a time limit. == Plot ==

The mad scientist Doctor Robotnik seeks a new way to defeat his nemesis, Sonic, and conquer the world. He learns about Chaos, a creature that, thousands of years ago, helped to protect the Chao and the all-powerful Master Emerald, which balances the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. When a tribe of echidnas sought to steal the power of the Emeralds, breaking the harmony they had with the Chao, Chaos retaliated by using the Emeralds' power to transform into a monstrous beast, Perfect Chaos, and wipe them out. Tikal, a young echidna who befriended Chaos, imprisoned it in the Master Emerald along with herself. Robotnik shatters the Master Emerald to release Chaos and tests its natural form on the city of Station Square. After police fail to defeat Chaos, Sonic and Tails work to stop Robotnik from empowering it with the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles, the only remaining echidna, sets out to find the shards of the Master Emerald. Robotnik activates a new series of robots, including E-102 Gamma, and orders them to find Froggy, a frog who ate a Chaos Emerald; Froggy's owner, Big, seeks him as well. Back in Station Square, Sonic's friend Amy protects a Flicky being pursued for its Chaos Emerald. When she and the Flicky are captured, Amy convinces Gamma not to work for Robotnik. Gamma helps her escape before seeking out and destroying the other robots in his series. Gamma confronts Beta and successfully destroys him and frees the Flicky inside, but is fatally wounded from the fight. However, Gamma regains memories of the Flicky within him before collapsing, shutting off his auto-repair system. Gamma sacrifices himself by self-destructing, freeing the trapped Flicky within him. Meanwhile, Tails foils Robotnik's contingency plan to destroy Station Square via a missile strike. Although Sonic disrupts Robotnik's plans, Chaos absorbs the Chaos Emeralds and transforms into Perfect Chaos. It rebels against Robotnik and destroys Station Square. Through flashbacks from Tikal, who was also released from the Master Emerald, Sonic realizes that Chaos has been in constant torment and sorrow, and that imprisoning it again will not stop it. He uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and defeats Perfect Chaos. Chaos calms down when it sees the Chao living peacefully in Station Square, and Tikal takes it somewhere safe to live in peace. Sonic pursues a fleeing Robotnik. ==Development==

Background During the early 1990s, Sega was one of the most successful video game companies due to the rise of its Genesis console. Genesis sales were driven by the popularity of Sega's flagship franchise of 2D platform games, Sonic the Hedgehog. The cancellation is an important factor in the Saturn's commercial failure, leaving it with no original Sonic platform game. Meanwhile, Naka and Sonic Team developed original Saturn games, such as Nights into Dreams (1996). Naka wanted a 3D Sonic game, but felt that only Sonic Team should undertake the endeavor; his refusal to let STI use the Nights game engine was instrumental in X-treme cancellation. Nights into Dreams designer Takashi Iizuka felt that Sonic fans had been let down because Sonic Team was not focusing on the series. Additionally, Kazuyuki Hoshino, who would serve as art director on Sonic Adventure, said he thought during the Saturn era Sonic had become outdated. Sonic Team started to work on it in April 1997 on the Saturn with a 20-strong team. but the Saturn's limited capabilities made development difficult. Sonic Team undertook development in conjunction with the Dreamcast, aiming to release the game in December 1998, even if it meant making improvements after release. gave Iizuka influence over the console's development; Characters and art Sonic Team felt challenged by the new hardware to recreate Sonic and his world in a new way. Hoshino noted that the characters' longer limbs made it easier to recreate their 2D poses in 3D. Big was designed to be giant and relaxed so the player would not expect something more intense. While some Sonic games, such as Sonic CD (1993), contained limited voice work, Sonic Adventure was the first Sonic game to feature extensive voice acting. The decision was made early in development as the game was more story-focused than previous Sonic games. Sonic Team's staff had differing opinions about how Sonic should sound. Iizuka recalled that the only element they agreed on was to avoid using an anime voice actor, favoring a film actor with an "over-the-top" voice. Sonic Team cast Jun'ichi Kanemaru as Sonic. In an interview celebrating his 30th anniversary as a voice actor, Kanemaru said one reason he was cast was because of his ability to speak English. After Sonic Team USA was formed, they hired American actors to translate the Japanese script. The English-language voice cast consists of Ryan Drummond as Sonic, Corey Bringas as Tails, Michael McGaharn as Knuckles, Jennifer Douillard as Amy, Jon St. John as Big and E-102 Gamma, and Deem Bristow as Robotnik. Iizuka used Sonic Adventure to introduce Robotnik's Japanese name, "Dr. Eggman", to western audiences; he accomplished this by having Sonic insult Robotnik when they meet for the first time in-game. Similarly, he avoided referring to Tails as "Miles", which he was commonly called in Japan. One of the biggest challenges the Adventure designers faced was transitioning Sonic 2D style to 3D. Sonic Team split levels into parts to save memory. The team also wanted to add elements unexpected in a platform game; for example, the level in which Tails sandboards was inspired by a group of sandboarders in Ica, Peru. The design took considerable time to finalize and had to be made as simple as possible because the virtual pet's look changes form as it evolves. Adventure was Senoue's first project as sound director and its scope meant he had many more responsibilities, including schedule management, compared to his previous games. Despite this, Senoue said he did not feel much pressure, as he was a Sonic fan and had contributed to previous games' soundtracks. In contrast to previous Sonic games, which featured electropop soundtracks, the Adventure sound team preferred "hot, funky, and rock 'n' roll" music. Senoue composed several songs with English lyrics to highlight the various characters' personalities, and collaborated with Tokoi and Kumatani to polish them. The main theme, "Open Your Heart", was performed by Hardline's Johnny Gioeli; other songs were performed by Gioeli, Marlon Saunders, Dred Foxx, Ted Poley, Nikki Gregoroff, and Tony Harnell. Sonic Adventure marked Senoue's first collaboration with Gioeli; the two later formed the band Crush 40 (originally known as Sons of Angels), and continue to make music together. Iizuka was inspired to use "Open Your Heart" as the final boss music by films, which he noted often use main themes during dramatic events. Iizuka also felt that the songs helped define Knuckles and Amy's personalities, as they had not received much character development in Sonic games until Adventure. ==Release==

in Japan in December 1998 and in the West in September/October 1999. Sonic Adventure was kept a secret during production, It was unveiled by Naka and the rest of Sonic Team on August 22, 1998, Naka described the debut as intense, having "[given his] all" to make it fit for release. The Japanese version shipped with many glitches; according to Iizuka, Sonic Team did not have time to fix them due to the tight schedule. The promotion began on July 15, 1999, and took place at 1,055 Hollywood Video stores across the country. The localized version was released in North America on September 9, 1999, as a launch game, and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It includes Japanese and English-language audio and Japanese, English, Spanish, French and German subtitles. Online features—including Chao daycare and downloadable content (DLC) such as minigames and new level assets—were also added. The American release of Studio Pierrot's Sonic the Hedgehog (1996) original video animation coincided with the Western release of Sonic Adventure, while DIC Entertainment's Sonic Underground (1999) was commissioned to help promote the game. The localized version was released in Japan as Sonic Adventure International. Before release, Sega projected to sell a million copies of Sonic Adventure. In Europe, it sold 86,000 copies during its first five days on sale. In the UK, it was the top-selling Dreamcast launch game, and topped the all-formats chart. After the North American release, there were complaints of a number of Sonic Adventure discs failing to load. Sega of America determined that this was a software problem due to errors at one manufacturing facility and tracked the faulty software. Most copies were unaffected, and customers with defective copies could trade for working ones at retailers. ==Reception==

As the first fully 3D Sonic platform game, Sonic Adventure was highly anticipated. and Computer and Video Games (CVG) called it one of the greatest video games of all time. Sonic Adventure won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the "Favorite Sega Dreamcast Game" category, and was a runner-up for GameSpots annual "Best Console Platform Game" award, which went to Rayman 2: The Great Escape (1999). It was a finalist for "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering" during the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which went to Unreal Tournament. The visuals and presentation attracted acclaim. and Hyper estimated it exceeded graphics of high-end personal computers. IGN called it the most graphically impressive platform game released up to that date, praising its cinematic sequences and describing it as "engrossing, demanding, and utterly awe-inspiring". GameSpot agreed and said only Soulcaliburs graphical quality surpassed that of Sonic Adventure. Edge felt the graphical features showed off the Dreamcast's potential to the fullest and that the game was a "perfect" showcase. AllGame was conflicted; they appreciated Tails's portrayal but found Sonic's and Knuckles's voices unfitting. GameSpot and AllGame praised the rock-style music, The gameplay was generally praised. The camera system and glitches were criticized by many reviewers. AllGame wrote that the game was an impressive showing of the Dreamcast's potential and that it was among the best of the series. which had not sold well by the end of 1998. CVG also thought it could re-establish Sega as the dominant console manufacturer after the relatively unsuccessful Saturn. ==Post-release==

Sequel Although Sonic Adventure was a success, Dreamcast sales struggled to meet Sega's expectations, and the Adventure team was downsized. Sega directed a team of 11—significantly smaller than Adventure team of 120—to begin working on Sonic Adventure 2. Adventure 2 made its debut at E3 2000 and was released in June 2001. The sequel was designed to be more action-oriented than the slower-paced, story-centric Adventure and to give all the characters equal playtime. Sonic Adventure 2 received positive reviews, but prior to its release, Sega announced it would transition from a first-party to a third-party software publisher, in response to the international failures of the Saturn and Dreamcast. Rereleases In June 2003, Sega released ''Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, a port of Sonic Adventure for the GameCube and Windows. aims for a frame rate of 60 instead of 30, and sports a redesigned Chao-raising system that uses connectivity with the Game Boy Advance (GBA). It includes 60 new missions and the option to unlock emulations of all 12 Sonic games released for the Game Gear. These features were added to appeal to players of the original game. This version is based on Sonic Adventure DX and supports high-definition visuals at a 4:3 aspect ratio. The game was also included in the Dreamcast Collection'' compilation in 2011 and is backwards-compatible with the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Soundtracks A two-disc soundtrack, Sonic Adventure "Digi-LOG Conversation" Original Sound Track, was released in Japan in January 1999. In May 2011, the soundtrack was rereleased to commemorate the Sonic franchise's 20th anniversary. A two-volume digital soundtrack was also released on iTunes and Spotify in September 2014 and January 2017, respectively. Brave Wave Productions released a vinyl LP version of the soundtrack including interviews with Senoue and Iizuka in 2018. ==Legacy==

With most contemporary 3D platform games focusing on exploration and collecting items, Sonic Adventure stood out with its linear gameplay. Joystiq wrote that both Adventure and the original Sonic the Hedgehog had innovated—in 3D and 2D games, respectively—through effective linear level design and by feeling "good to play". Retrospective assessments In 2009, GamePro listed Sonic Adventure as the seventh-best platform game of all time, saying that it had not aged well in certain aspects but that its core gameplay remained among the best of the Sonic series. Several journalists ranked the game among the series's best, but Kotaku argued the addition of voice acting and greater focus on plot changed Sonic into "a flat, lifeless husk of a character, who spits out slogans and generally has only one personality mode, the radical attitude dude, the sad recycled image of vague '90s cultural concept". Sonic Adventure DX received mixed reviews. GameSpot was disappointed the rerelease did not address the problems of the original version, iterating the graphics were only marginally different, and dissatisfied with its collision detection. GameSpot offered some praise for the extra features, such as the missions, but concluded players were better off playing the Dreamcast version. Reviews of the 2010 rerelease were generally unfavorable, with criticism directed at the perceived lack of effort put into the port. 1UP.com lambasted the port for what they called its slapdash quality, criticizing its display, controls, and dated design, and saying that it "feels like it wasn't even tuned for the Xbox 360 controller and its analog sticks." Influence Many of Sonic Adventures designs and concepts were reused in later Sonic games. The direction, basic gameplay, and Uekawa's modernized character designs became series staples. The first level in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog reboot heavily references Sonic Adventures Emerald Coast stage. To celebrate the Sonic series's 20th anniversary in 2011, Sega released Sonic Generations, which reused aspects from past games in the franchise. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows versions contain reimagined versions of the Speed Highway level and the Perfect Chaos boss fight, and the Nintendo 3DS version contains a remake of Emerald Coast. Several characters that first appeared in Sonic Adventure appeared in later games. As well as appearing in Sonic Generations, Chaos is an antagonist in the 2017 entry Sonic Forces; it and Gamma are playable characters in the 2004 fighting game Sonic Battle; and a recreation of its boss fight appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. The Chao creatures also feature predominantly in later games. One of the characters introduced in Adventure, Big the Cat, became infamous for his negative reception. Game Informer considered his gameplay painful and boring, while Destructoid decried his portrayal as a "mentally handicapped imbecile" and his voice actor's incoherent performance. and was named one of the worst game characters in a poll conducted by 1UP.com. A concept for Sonic Adventure 3 was reworked into the 2008 game Sonic Unleashed. In 2017, Iizuka stated there were no plans for a third Sonic Adventure game, saying it would not advance the series's design. He did not rule out the idea, saying "If we can get the gameplay to evolve and get to a place where Adventure 3 makes sense, then you might see an Adventure 3 come out". In 2018, Iizuka expressed interest in remaking Sonic Adventure, but had ruled out the prospect by 2025. He said that bringing Adventure to modern standards would take the same effort as developing a new game, which he preferred. Sonic Adventure was adapted in the second season of the 2003 Sonic the Hedgehog anime series Sonic X. The Japanese voice cast from the game reprised their roles, but the American licensing corporation 4Kids Entertainment hired a new cast for the English-language dub. The American publisher Archie Comics adapted Adventure in its Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, which accounted for the altered character designs and established that Station Square was hidden beneath Sonic's planet, Mobius. An Adventure adaptation was the last original story published in the British publisher Fleetway's Sonic the Comic before its cancellation. ==Notes==