Hey, Real Talk: Was 'Sonic Adventure' Actually Good?

I haven't had much time to play Sonic Mania, which is, apparently, very good. Though I've always been a Mario person, Sonic Mania seems like an opportunity to re-examine my own history with the ol' hedgehog. And while I'm mixed about the early games, I was straight-up obsessed with Sonic Adventure when it came out.

Dreamcast arrived at a time when I had, for the first time, my own disposable income, thanks to a crummy refreshments job at the local movie theater, and access to websites that'd let you import Japanese game consoles. I'm sure it was possible to import games pre-Internet, but the Internet made it so it wasn't completely unreasonable. (That said, I'm pretty sure my purchases were partially fueled by selling old NES, SNES, and Genesis games. A mistake, old Patrick.)

Anyway, I followed the Dreamcast's launch like a hawk, and mustered the money to buy a Japanese machine not long after it came out, along with Sonic Adventure. I do believe I wasted money on a copy of Pen Pen Tricelon, as well. Look, I was young.

Sonic Adventure blew me the fuck away. Sure, the aforementioned killer whale chase scene was, in fact, dope, but the fast/slow dynamic, and the ability to and explore these massive 3D worlds, captured me. I somehow convinced myself that going fishing at Big the Cat was fun, too! And I may or may not have I spent more time than I'm willing to admit raising Chaos, lugging a VMU in my pocket.

Wasn't there a robot?

In retrospect, I wonder if there's an easy explanation for why it connected: it was like Mario! Specifically it was more like Super Mario 64, which, at the time, was probably my favorite platformer. The two were more alike than different.

It seems like one of those games I should leave in the past, though, the kind of game that was a function of the time it was made in. Some games are best left to nostalgia.

I never got around to Sonic Adventure 2, as I was too taken by other Dreamcast classics, like Jet Set Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, and Soul Calibur. Generally speaking, I've never really given Sonic the time of day; the focus on speed always rubbed me the wrong way. I'm going to give it another chance with Sonic Mania.

Sonic Adventure, though. That was a cool game. I think? Pretty sure.

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