It introduced two characters that became fan favorites, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge, has one of the best final boss themes (Live and Learn), gave us some iconic lines (the whole "faker" dialog), has some banger levels with an equally banger ost. Not to mention a massive expansion on Chao Garden mechanics compared to the first game
There's too many good things with SA2 that they got right, its kinda cheezy sometimes but thats completely fine for me. The only thing that SA2 could have done better is... I like the "open" of Sonic Adventure 1. even if it was bare bones i like being able to travel to different locations and interact with the hub world and find secrets
Yeah I really loved it, too. Fond, FOND memories of the early 3D era with the colors and exploration being brand new. Finding secrets, Chao eggs, the calming music...
Damn, I can only hope the new generations get their own incredible nostalgia.
When it came out, the idea of in depth story-based content was new for this series. Before adventure 1, it was mostly the pixel games which have a general narrative, but no dialogue so this and the one before felt like a huge evolution, giving the characters more personality and depth.
Also the music slaps.
I think, for a lot of people, it was their first Sonic game, either because they never owned a SEGA console before, or because they were too young to have owned any console before. As such, being there introduction, it left a strong impression.
Had SEGA released Adventure 1 before Adventure 2 on the Gamecube, I suspect it would be more of a fan favourite, though equally there is Shadow to consider, a character who was immediately popular simply because he managed to capture the zeitgeist of what was cool at the time it came out in a way the series hadn't since Sonic himself.
I probably would've ignored it more honestly. I previously had played Sonic games, but I never got into them hardcore. Child me always getting stuck in the water levels aside.
SA2 made the story the center focus. Do we get to pick between good and evil exactly like how the back cover advertised? No. But that duality in the story and gameplay peaked my interest more than a regular Sonic on the cover ever did. And the presentation of music and everything else involved rewarded my time. You could feel the effort put into every nook and cranny. And that's on top of having a solid impressionable opening, a solid landing, and high stakes the whole way through.
I love SA too, and it's got a lot to love. But SA2 was much more focused and streamline. Even though I was sad that Amy wasn't playable, everyone served a better purpose in the story. And the stage mechanics were more enjoyable even if I do love running around Mystic Ruins.
The general story and feel of the game. Sonic is always been the Hedgehog with attitude, but this took it up to a whole new level. The rail grinding, the soap shoes, the music, it all blends into a general feeling of awesome
First Sonic game on a Nintendo console.
Show of hands, how many people here actually played the original release on the Dreamcast and not the Battle port?
My old ass is 35 and I've been a fan since Sonic 2, so I played the hell out of SA1 on the Dreamcast and SA2 was my most anticipated game of all time. I already knew City Escape like the back of my hand before the game came out because I watched videos of the demo that came with PSO over and over again.
I have, and bless my parents, they scoured far and wide through many stores at the time to find a single shop selling a copy of SA2. It was one of my greatest birthday gifts :D
My mom would hog and rarely ever play the gamecube years ago. A classmate let me borrow SA2:B, so I got to sneak it for a few hours after school. She even gave me a GBA link to add to the experience. I already had like two chao on the tiny chao garden of Sonic advance and Sonic Advance 2, and had no idea about the CG on the adventure games.
I originally played SA1 on Dreamcast, but not SA2. The Dreamcast version of SA1 is massively better than the GameCube version. For SA2, it’s not nearly as noticeable of a difference. Having played both versions now, I do still prefer the Dreamcast version. But I don’t think you’re getting a gimped experience if you play the GameCube version of SA2. I can’t say the same about SA1.
I was all about the Dreamcast. I played SA2 before the Gamecube was released here in NA. When I was told that Sega was dropping out of the console business I was devastated. And then I got a Gamecube because the Sonic games were coming out on it lol.
Own both, the Dreamcast game actually runs better imo but the extra content in the gcn version makes up for it.
Been playing Sonic games since Sonic 3
I grew up back when Sega did what nintendon't 🤘
As someone who has been in the fandom since Sonic's inception in 1991 as a literal child, for me, it was the last time that Sonic as a franchise were being true to themselves with their final game on their final Sega console.
It's not a perfect game by any means but Sonic and crew as characters were at their absolute peaks here. SA2 was building on top of those big mainline games that came before it (Sonic 3 & Knuckles -> Sonic Adventure). A high focus on action and cinematic plot, introducing a "dark Sonic", a sexy bat character, AND you could play as freaking Dr. Robotnik???
This stuff also hit all the right notes at the height of Y2K youth culture at the time. Edgy stuff was coming up like The Matrix movies, Linkin Park, Dragonball Z, nu-metal music, etc. If you were growing up at the time and feeling different than the rest of the kids and mildly artistically inclined, oh boy was this franchise easy to latch on to. With the rise of DeviantART at the time, It's no coincidence that Sonic fan artists appeared and started self-inserting their goth/emo/alt selves into the fandom, uploading their OC's, filling their artworks with song lyrics, and effectively creating what later became the meme of " the hedgehog" (I know because I took part in all of that). And I blame SA2 completely for it, because SA1 had none of this welcoming energy for edgy sh\*t.
In my opinion, something got lost in translation when they went multiplatform after the Dreamcast's demise. It makes sense, since they no longer could appeal to the Sega crowd but literally needed to regress a bit from the edginess so they could appeal to more people. Which makes SA2 even more of an anomaly since it was also the first Sonic game on a Nintendo console, the Gamecube - as a result many, many kids' first Sonic game. Personally it confirms to me this particular edginess, at this particular time, is more timeless than what they've been trying to do ever since. :D
Sonic Frontiers has finally been bringing back some of that IMO, and it's currently one of my favourite Sonic games, lol.
Edit: I didn't even mention the legendary OST - something I still haven't heard any other game before or since pull off: Every character had their own musical genre and identity, and every level theme took that into account. *Chef's kiss*
this was the most concise capture of this experience.
Growing up and until recently, hardly anyone I know had played it or knew of it. I found myself brought to tears (which I never expected sonic to bring me to tears in any context) when the symphonic orchestra showed up on my ig feed playing Escape from the City, with the whole auditorium singing along. I had no idea it had such a cult following.
my household was one of the last in my neighborhood to give in to “video games at home,” and so Sonic was my first game on my first console in 2003, and it absolutely blew my mind.
I haven’t found any game on any system that I return to as often as I do SA2 lol. The soundtrack and its personalizations were so iconic. Was definitely one of those kids that found the storyline and art direction just riveting too. I kept my GameCube til it gave out, kept my disc and was so thankful I did when Wii appeared.
I think something else that made it great was the versatile play options and flexible game breaks. You could switch modes pretty easily without losing progress. I loved that the mini games didn’t feel like mini games, but instead felt so well rounded and fun. I am a Chao Garden enthusiast, I am always hoping someday we’ll get a reboot of this format.
I was really new to games and didn’t play with much guidance (ie help books/sites) and if I got stuck at a level outside my play level, I could practice by repeating my favorite levels (and songs LOL)
I remember discovering the races and karate through the waterfall after having the disc for ages, realizing I had a whole new motivation (return to fave stages and power up my chaos.) even though I couldn’t get past the insane zero g levels as a late stage gamer (still can’t beat them tbh 🙃)
I genuinely am still searching for a game that is that much fun for me, haven’t quite gotten there. Such an excellent example of world building just because you CAN and that’s a beautiful thing.
I do hold out hope we’ll get a comparable game or a remaster for the Switch, bolstered a bit by the fact that they are supposedly drawing on this storyline for the latest Sonic movie. 🤞🏻
EDIT:
It was also so full of options at like a $40 flat price point, the value was so well worth it for us as a low income household. We got literal decades of gameplay out of this game over multiple generations of cousins 😹
I honestly really disagree with the idea that it improves on everything Adventure did. Now this is all a matter of preference, but I think Adventure did most things better. I prefer the speed, shooting, and treasure hunting stages in SA1. Sonic’s levels are more open and less linear, Gamma’s movement is far less clunky and the countdown timer was an interesting gameplay twist, and Knuckles levels weren’t so sprawling and allowed you to use all 3 radars at once. I also really like the presence of adventure fields in SA1, it gives the levels a sense of place; you can really see how they’re all connected.
Now to be fair, Big’s levels were shit, and Tails and Amy’s were fun distractions at best, but I think that the stage types that were brought over to SA2 were downgrades over their SA1 iterations. Obviously the Chao garden is better in SA2 as well. I prefer the SA1 garden designs, but mechanically SA2 was a big improvement. I like the final episode better in SA2 as well.
I don’t blame anyone for preferring SA2. It does a number of things better than SA1, and I know it’s more nostalgic for a lot of people in a certain age group. And I’ll admit that to me personally, SA1 is more nostalgic than SA2. But I think it’s a massive exaggeration to say it does everything better than SA1.
I’d sum it up like this: SA1 has higher highs and lower lows. SA2 is more consistent throughout. But if we’re taking the average, I’d put SA1 above SA2.
I can see where you're coming from, but to me I've always liked the simple level select since I've found the open hubs to be gimmicky and empty, I like that knuckles stages are way bigger (though I do agree on the radar being worse, it doesn't hurt the experience nearly as much as everyone claims), and I prefer the clunkiness of the mechs since it makes them feel more realistic. I hear a lot of people say they prefer tails in SA1, but honestly I didn't like that his levels were just "race sonic in the same stage, but with boost rings". I also just find the story in 2 to be way better. I like SA1, but to me, SA2 has way more highs, and I prefer the consistency of it.
I think improves everything adventure did is a strong statement. The mech levels are definitely better than gammas. The hunting stages can be fixed with the radar mod. Though I feel double the hunting and double the mecha outstay their welcome a bit. The speed levels are more linear but more frantic so I’d chalk that down to preference.
At the time I genuinely missed the racing levels with tails, Amy’s slower puzzle platforming and bigs fishing.
I can see where you're coming from with some levels overstaying their welcome, but the level design is so damn good that I didn't mind (except mad space, screw that stage) and I was never bothered by the changed radar, but it is a downgrade in that respect. I would have liked to see tails SA1 gameplay as maybe a mini game, cause I don't like his levels in SA1. And while I can see the preference for more open levels, I prefer them a little more linear since I find it more fun to go through as fast as possible. I didn't mind Amy too much in 1, but I never missed the fishing, it was just too clunky, slow, and annoying, though I wouldn't mind an improvement to it.
The levels themselves in my opinion are better for treasure hunting, but the new tracker absolutely ruins them. Sonic adventure 2 went from like one of my top 5 games to my favorite game with just a few mods on pc, mostly the addition of the sa1 tracker and action remap so I don’t keep dying over cliffs trying to do a light speed dash. I feel if sega did a rerelease with these fixes, and some other stuff too, it would be seen a while lot better.
Damn good music, City escape may be the best sonic level ever (debatable of course], Introduced fan favorite characters, and the story is excellent and makes use of everyone.
from what i remember, people love it for introducing shadow and rouge, it having one of the best sonic stories ever, and having sonic levels people really love
In my opinion the characterization of almost everyone is right on the money in SA2. The story of the game isn't the best but I think the interactions that the characters have with each other at least sort of make up for it. Not to mention the soundtrack being one of my favorites in the entire series.
Because... It's a great game? Plus it's also instantly iconic, like this game introduced us to City Escape, Shadow, Rouge, and has one of the best Stories in the series, I think it's easy to see why it's such a fan favourite.
Because Shadow. With a side of Rouge and making Eggman "deep". And because Sonic's friends got nerfed to keep "main attraction" Sonic unique and on top, even though that was why the series fell. Adventure 2 fans have either no clue (Sega's fault) or no taste (their own fault). At least the Chao Garden was done well. EDIT: Oh, yeah, and some great boss music, City Escape and an interesting idea with the level music.
Okay imagine you’re between 5 and 10 and then you hear city escape for the first time and sonic snowboards down San Francisco after jumping out of a helicopter and you tell me it’s not in the top 5 coolest things you’ve ever seen in your life at that point.
Like what else is there. it’s this, goku going super saiyan and the green ranger.
A portion of it is definitely Generational impact.
A more refined 3D entry after Adventure, during the peak of the Dreamcast - arguably some of Sega’s best days… for a lot of kids it was huge.
…And for a lot of those very kids who are now older, their time in the nostalgia light is now.
I never quite clicked with it, but that doesn’t really matter - it was time for a different era.
it's an amazing game !
Even if it have its flaws (and even more now, it didn't aged well) it's still a beautiful games with lots to offer gameplay wise, scenario wise (not translation tho, they really did a bad job at translating the game !) and music wise !
It's not my first Sonic game, but it's still a game that I have deep love for it.
First Sonic game on a Nintendo console, introducing a whole new generation to the series. And despite the story having many flaws, it's cool and edgy enough for kids to automatically love it.
https://preview.redd.it/c72j6vlkac6d1.png?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e334d4a8c09038d42179ba79dd2436b8a33828a4
The first time I played I really didn't like it much, seriously, the Tails/Eggman and Knuckles/Rouge stages were very stressful for me at first, there were also other things that I didn't like at first. But after playing for the third time I started to really enjoy this game, the stages, the story, the Chao Garden, I also learned a little bit about playing these stages after researching on the wiki how to get rank A, now I'm trying to get rank A in all the stages.
It's a good game and a lot of us haven't been affected by the historical revisionism that is this game's Identity. This game was very beloved when it came out.
It might not have aged the best but.. most games from that era didn't. I'm sorry but this isn't a Sonic exclusive problem.
Basically it is the most loved because it is the only one that presents a decent story instead of focusing so much on the gameplay like most Sonic games, basically it is as if it were a Sonic anime (which is the fantasy of many fans)
Because the storyline is really good, the gameplay is super fun, all of the “missions” are challenging and rewarding, the multiplayer is 👌🏻, and chao garden is also 👌🏻 I still, to this day, hop on my GameCube to play this game because of all the good memories it holds as well! (+ Shadow is 👌🏻😆)
Because Sonic’s gameplay on this one is still peak Sonic gameplay.
Also, the game was a terrific platformer in its own right. The edgy aesthetic was also really in tune with the times.
The story line is top tier. Drama, action, intense, with a good plot and lots of side stories all building up into one story. It’s like a movie that played like a game. They actually mastered that recipe and for no good reason abandoned it.
Ahem...
Introduced Rail-grinding
Had arguably the best Rail-grinding
Introduced Shadow
Playable Eggman
OST is one of, if not the best, in the Series
Made Knuckles literally black
The story is the best and still is at least in the top 2 of Sonic storylines (Frontiers standing either right above or below it)
Chao Garden
Eggman peak moment
Super Shadow
My nostalgia for this game is through the roof. Playing the port on Xbox is awful though. I'm not sure if the camera movement and controls were as crappy on the GameCube, but that might be because it's the port from the one on Dreamcast, not sonic adventure 2 battle for GameCube. Idk. But I don't remember having a hard time playing it when I was a kid.
Because zoomers played it when they were kids. They got a GameCube when the price dropped to $99 and I remember getting this for under $20 at GameStop. So you’re a kid with limited funds for games and 100% the game takes hours and hours so your childhood was spent playing 200 hrs getting the right Chao to get 100%.
It’s mostly nostalgia honestly (don’t get me wrong I’ve played it but didn’t grow up with it) the game is clunky in some stages, but it’s also one of the best sonic stories where it built on lore we hadn’t seen since the genesis and stuff that’s still being talked about today the ark,Maria,the chaos emerald origin,the master emeralds power, chaos control so it’s a double edge sword
Introduced fan favorite characters, controls are nearly perfect, it streamlined the Adventure style, the music is amazing, the story is great (if a bit convoluted), the multiplayer is fun, and the Chao are even better than Adventure 1, not to mention it was the first Sonic Game on a non-Sega console which opend up a whole new group to the Sonic Fandom.
I wish I could explain it. Part of it for me is perhaps the timing. You just had to be there. Many great memories with others also enjoying this game.
It was the first time as a long time Nintendo fan to this day that I really got to dig into this fun series and I fell in love with it.
It also has had an influence on my musical taste.
Maybe it's nostalgia, but I feel like it still controls better that most of the boost era for sure.
An amazing story that took itself seriously without trying so hard (unlike Frontiers), with great cutscenes only held down by the voice volume mixing and timings.
Amazing gameplay with the introduction of the rank system which rewards people for using everything within a stage for the best performance (though I prefer the treasure hunting from SA1). I love the rail grinding.
Banger soundtrack, probably the best in the series.
Lots of good side content to keep you busy for HOURS e.g. Chao Garden, Missions, 2 player battle and boss rush.
Sorry for the ramble:
Best one depictions of the characters yet. Sonic is impatient, upfront and overall COOL with an attitude like he was originally designed to be whilst also being down to earth when needed (as seen when he said goodbye to shadow and gave rouge the inhibitor ring). Even when tails spoiled the fake emerald plan, he didn't lose his cool and still encouraged tails to protect amy.
Shadow wasn't an edge lord like he is now and had a reason for all of his behaviours, even shedding a tear after Amy reminded him of his promise.
Knuckles is good, determined to get the emeralds, sadly nothing too special. Same with rouge.
Tails was brave and heroic, helping sonic escape from prison leading to him also getting chased by gun and even trying to make sonic proud by defeating eggman on the ark after he spoiled the plan.
Eggman was menacing which was a really great side of him to see even if I prefer the more comical sonic unleashed eggman.
Even Amy was depicted great here despite not having her gameplay segments anymore. She had a crush on Sonic and also did her part to help out like setting sonic free and convincing shadow to help out. Would've liked to see a more SA1 approach where she actually does something though.
The game is honestly a near peak sonic experience for me. And I wish that Sega could go back to the standard of quality Sonic had before 2011.
Part of it is it basically repeated some of what made Sonic popular ten years earlier: it introduced an edgy character with an attitude who was seen as cool and appealed strongly to young kids and teenagers. This led to a lot of nostalgia when they grew up.
For me and this is just my opinion it's the sense of style. Getting to the end is fun but looking cool while doing hell yeah hitting those grind rails/ramps just right is so satisfying the tricks work so well. The summersault jumps make me all tingly. This is how I picture Sonic he's the coolest guy in the entire universe and he needs to show it.
I think one of SA2 biggest credits is it's soundtrack. Sure we're all talking about live and learn but literally every character save tails have a stage that's an absolute banger, and the breadth of genres meant that there was something for almost everyone. Knuckles had an awesome hip-hop soundtrack, with rouge getting a much jazzier ensemble. Even Eggman got a pretty good track in the secret base stage. Sonic OST's are usually pretty good(even if they come from a game that isn't) but SA2 was one of the few that had a truly excellent OST
Personally it's my favorite because the ranking system is so strong, It require both a mastery of each game play but also knowledge of the entire level, compared to today ranking which only require you to go as fast as possible without taking the time to learn the level.
In other words you had to understand and master SA2 for a max rank, today you just bang your head against the level until you get it.
It was a lot of people's first Sonic game. Had I not been exposed to the old PC port of CD, it would have been mine.
Shadow and Rouge. Period. Everything about them both.
Chao Garden and everything that was expanded upon it from Adventure 1.
The OST in general.
There is a lot to like there. Even after all these years it's still in my top 3 Sonic games, and in my top 20 of all time.
SA2 had peak story but imho SA1 had better gameplay, had better Sonic stages, better treasure hunting and mech stages, had exclusive tails stages that felt like Sonic + flight, Amy got 3 of her own stages which were ok but slow aaaand we were perfect, yep, we had no one else to ruin it, yep yep yep, we also had Super Sonic secret stage where all characters give Sonic chaos emeralds but then one just fell out of the sky, weird, maybe they planned one more character to give Sonic last chaos emerald but oh well.
Really if they could just perfect SA1 Sonic stages formula we'd have perfect transition between 2D Sonic formula into 3D. They had so many cool shortcuts, although half of it was only possible due to how strong spindash was, strong spindash was half the fun of exploring the stage!
Throughout the whole game, it felt like it was a consistent great quality that knew exactly the feel it was going for.
I love the stages, the design, layout, and music for each stage is unmatched by later games. Especially when you consider stages tend to have a Hero/Dark counterpart that are in the same area but don't just copy and paste the level for both sides. (Mission Street/Radical Highway, Final Rush/Chase, Sky Rail/Pumpkin Hill, etc.)
The "Secrets" found in each stage are insane too. Three Chao boxes can be found to get a key to the garden (which is amazing for us as kids to find), a bunch of animals, and then a legendary animal. And then you have even more animals scattered through out the stage with some being rare and harder to find without a guide. Even upgrades can be secrets. Some are a bit more obvious and mandatory so they'll shove it in your face to progress in the stage/story. But they will have upgrades that aren't needed but can be found by going to previous stages with upgrades you get later on (Shadow's Fire Ring needing air shoes, magic gloves need Sonic's Fire Ring and Bounce Bracelet, Mystic Melody for Knuckles and Rogue are hidden in their first stages and require digging or the ability to break iron crates). Even some of the chao boxes or rare animals might require these upgrades. Same thing with later missions for each stage (Sunglasses and Treasure Scope are hard required for some hard mode missions). There's so much intertwined with required upgrades and replaying older levels that it made you explore the stage because it was fun.
I grew up studying the guide for this game until the pages wore away and I had to find a new copy. I play this game as a fun randomizer for a few years now because all the secrets and required upgrades make it a fun puzzle.
Chao Garden is also amazing, but that would double the length of this comment.
I can tell you why.
The story was banger, it never treated its audience like an idiot , sonic wasn't a dank meme.
You got to play as the main heroes and villains.
It introduced shadow the hedgehog a staple of the franchise.
It had some of the coolest boss fights and an iconic soundtrack.
It had it all, memorable stages , loveable characters the whole 9 yards.
But you wanna know the real creme de la creme.
Chao world, a pet simulator that has been now expanded on by moders and still remembered by long time fans.
That's why it's a fan favorite, that's why it's considered the goat.
Also not a buggy messy , none of that bs.
The game still stands as one of the best, it took the first adventure game and expanded on it.
Multiple playable characters with different playstyles.
The story was pretty interesting by 2001 standards
Some people consider SA2 to be one of the best soundtracks in the franchise.
The Chao Garden had a lot of depth, considering it was just side content
If you weren't there in 2001, it's hard to put I to words the chokehold this game had on children that summer. And that opening cutscene leading i to the best opening level in the hero story...chefs kiss
- Shadow
- Rouge
- Best Chao Garden
- Best story - all of the characters feel like the best versions of themselves in this game, to me, except for Amy I guess
- Best music
- Perfected gameplay experiments from SA1
- Levels are twisty turny crazy branching pathways, extremely few straight cut hallways
- Everyone (even Tails & Eggman kinda) is FAST but still easy to control
- Stage resource (ring/animal/drive collection) into Chao Garden gameplay loop is addictive and incentivizes challenge completion
- Chao Garden complexity rivals (clears?) Pokémon in terms of scale and replay-ability in it’s digital pet gameplay
- Very few cutscenes interjecting stage gameplay- you are always in control. This adds immensely to replay-ability and imo no cool factor is lost
- Nostalgia
I’ll be the first to admit the Battle port is graphically inferior to Dreamcast but it’s still the best version of the game due to the expanded Chao Garden & multiplayer.
It introduced me to Sonic after not playing it since Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles.
I'll give my perspectived as a Teenerger who played it on the gamecube.
(played this before Advancetuire 1 as it came out later ont he gamecube)
Shadow was cool too teenerger me.
Sonic seems much more apeaking to Teenager me, like he grew up with me.
Knuckles semed really develioped and was intresting.
Chao Garden kept me playing, meaning after beeting it I felt like there was a reason to stick around.
Music was really cool, and I honestly used the the music player as a standing for not having a sterio in my room.
Was cool how the game could connect with Gameboy Advance and I could bring my Chao with me to school or on vacation.
I had very few games at that time where It was simpol yet fun to speedrun a levle, (although I most likely sucked at it)
The story was not too over the top but just intresting enouth to keep me hooked.
It felt like Eggman was the bad guy but the suprice playing it the first time that it was a larger than him issuce was cool!
This was my first introduction to Sonic after being away from the franchice for a logn time, and the game that gets you hook on a franchice always seem to have a huge meaning for them, (everyones first zelda game is usally their favorite or 2ed favorite regardless of how bad it was just a pattern ive noticed)
Did I mention cool music!
Back then you got a new game ever 3-4month, so you was stuck with the same game for a long time, so I remember spending time looking for secrets and powerups I hvane't collected.
On the topic of exploring, becauise guides and forums wasn't as huge for most people You just explored around on your onw trying to find secrets and cool stuff
I'm sure I have more thoughs if I was thinking about ut, but overall these are something of the things that comes back to me
Adult me:
I still play this ever so oftem, but I tend to hop in, play City Escapce, and Speed Highway, do a bit of chao garden and then quit, so I guess those things are what meant a lot to me, + story and music.
Story is goated, music is goated, character development is goated, animation was pretty good for a 00s game, and a lot more reasons that I would write down but I'm busy as shit
Chao Garden
It made the games repeatability worth it, the more emblems you collect the more things you can buy with sonic games now you can beat the game but there’s no real replay value in it unless you’re a completionist and even when you collect all of the emblems you can still explore the different types of chaos, chaos chao, power, swim, speed, flying, and any mixture of the last 4. I could go on about it but I’d be typing all day.
Speaking as someone who first played the game in 2022:
Sonic levels are fun and fast
Raising little goobers is neat
The plot is completely deranged in the best way. More mascot platformers need characters with backstories like “my family was killed during a botched ATF raid on grandpa’s compound”
I mean, just look at this artwork to answer your question. In all seriousness, though, I think the reason why it was so popular is it told a consistent story throughout while giving us characters people love (i.e. Rogue and Shadow). It also made all characters important to the story in some way versus them just being there as filler. Now is it the best story ever told? No. But it's fun. Top all that off with some truly memorable levels and an amazing soundtrack and you have a cult classic.
Because A) it’s Shadow and Rogue’s debut, B)Because it’s got amazing music like [City Escape](https://youtu.be/5WcyVvWZJU4?si=cAQ841AszoWMlZix) here C) a decently dramatic story and D) a reasonably fun Chao raising system for those into that.
Like a thousand reasons lol. But here are a few:
1. Introduction of fan favorite characters Shadow & Rouge
2. Introduced rail-grinding & it was arguably at its peak in this game.
3. Chao Garden & it was arguably more complex than Pokemon at the time when it was released.
4. Amazing soundtrack as per usual for Sonic games.
5. First Sonic game on a Nintendo home console. And it was a pretty good updated port (despite some cutscene issues or graphical textures).
6. You get to play as Eggman.
For me It's the story, you can choose to see things from the hero or evil side, the story of this "project shadow" Sonic being arrested because the police are color blind
Such a solid game packed with extras and hours on hours of challenging completion objectives. Not to mention the chao garden. This is an all time classic and one of my most nostalgic childhood memories now.
I absolutely loved city escape and then the lore caught me. I FUCKING LOVE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, I KNOW HIS DESIGN IS EDGY BUT IT'S STILL GOOD, I also loved his evolution throughout the game. Last but not least, soundtrack, the soundtrack is one of the things that I absolutely loved, both the rhythm and the lyrics are important and reveal feelings, situations and pieces of lore, pure genius
In retrospect there's a lot of flaws with the game or things that SA1 does better but SA2 has a ton of good on offer and makes an excellent first impression.
Mech handling and the treasure radar in SA2 suck ass but them finally getting an entire campaigns worth of new and unique stages is massive. Especially compared to SA1s combined 3 and 3 quarters unique stages divvied up among non-Sonic chars
Game itself has much improved presentation in terms of chatacter expression, exciting set pieces, and cutscenes as a whole. It also has a ton of content compared to the average sonic game. Nearly every stage has a couple of gimmick missions, an alt goal ring (lost chao mission), and hard mode. Chao Garden is its own entirely separate gameplay loop that uses resources from the main game that you can spend ages in and is honestly ridiculously complex.
Playing as Eggman in a main story was undoubtedly peak
For me it features the whole cast and makes them playable too, drives me crazy that they don’t use all the characters that everyone loves more like Sonic is cool duh but his friends and enemies are too and they deserve to be in the story and playable
My guess is nostalgia or it being the last game before Sonic '06 came along.
While SA1 was my first Sonic game I didn't get to play SA2 until about 10 years ago. After playing most of the previous games all the sequential ones I do not see what's so special about it.
basically what everyone here said about story, rouge and shadow and the music. loved 2p mode and chao garden too. for personal reasons it was my first sonic game and what made me a fan. it's not only my favorite in the franchise but my favorite game ever.
Can you feel life movin' through your mind,
Ooh, looks like it came back for more!
Yeah yeah yeah!
Can you feel time slippin' down your spine,
Ooooooh, You try and try to ignore!
Yeah!
But you can hardly swallow,
Your fears and pain.
When you can't help but follow,
It puts you right back where you came.
Live and learn!
Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,
Live and learn!
From the works of yesterday.
Live and learn!
If you beg or if you borrow,
Live and learn!
You may never find your way.
Whooooa, yeah!
Can you feel life tangle you up inside?
Yeah, now you're face down on the floor!
Oh!
But you can't save your sorrow,
You've paid in trade!
When you can't help but follow,
It puts you right back where you came.
Live and learn!
Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,
Live and learn!
From the works of yesterday.
Live and learn!
If you beg or if you borrow,
Live and learn!
You may never find your way.
Hey, whoa, whoa,
Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeah!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
There's a face searching far, so far and wide.
There's a place where you dream you'd never find.
Hold on to what if?
Hold on to what if?
Live and learn!
Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,
Live and learn!
From the works of yesterday.
Live and learn!
If you beg or if you borrow,
Live and learn!
You may never find your way.
Live and learn!
Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,
Live and learn!
From the works of yesterday.
Live and learn!
If you beg or if you borrow,
Live and learn!
You may never find your way.
Best story in the series by far and shadow is a fucking badass but the only games that utilized him well were SA2 and 06, archie did far better with the character than sonic team
Sonic/shadow stages were some of the best in the series
Soundtrack is easily the top5 best in the series with live & Learn being one of the most iconic video game sound songs of all time
SA2 due to it being the first mainline sonic gaming to be released outside of sega consoles was also many people's introduction into the franchise, this game was also widely successful on the GameCube selling the equivalent of 10% of the entire consoles sales although I am extremely curious why sega decided to release the games on the 2 poorest selling systems of that generation, if it released on the ps2 and Xbox it would have easily sold 7 million + units
They made the game in 9 months and the plot was a disaster grab bag of concepts, BUT those concepts where absolutely amazing and provided a really good new characters, fresh lore and some ideas we still use to this day.
It introduced Shadow and Rouge, you get to play as Eggman, it has good music, and it had a decent story.
It wasn't the gameplay, that's for sure. Everybody's slower and clunkier than they were in SA1, especially the Mechs. The stages themselves are fine, excluding Rouge's of course, but the controls feel so much less smooth than the first game.
It's the most authentic characterization for Shadow in the franchise in my opinion. Among many other reasons that people have probably already mentioned.
It was the first sonic game that a lot of people played since this game marked the end of sonic being exclusive to Sega consoles. Honestly, I enjoy the game, it’s just the Tails stages haven’t aged that well and the radar in the Knuckles stages isn’t ideal (but I still like Knuckles’ gameplay). The story is pretty cool when you’re a kid, and although I think Shadow’s arc is good, there are some obvious plot holes, but I still commend the effort. Also, the chao garden has as much content as the actual game
Produced some amazing characters for the series, with connections both old and new to the current cast.
The chao system was fully realized here (Technically in SA2 Battle.) Which caused the replayability to explode.
You get more knuckles. more of the world, and it just introduces tons of concepts that add alot of depth to the world.
It has great characters and writing with a bit of early 2000s charm. It also has a great soundtrack ( ❤️crush 40 ) with tight high action stages, entertaining Mecha stages and fun treasure hunting stages.
It’s got a fun story, memorable stages, a killer soundtrack, a Chao Garden, and some of the best gameplay in the series. It improved upon the best parts of Adventure 1 and did away with the weaker aspects. And it’s still probably the most replayable Sonic games on account of the emblems, random nature of treasure hunting, the Chao, etc.
Fan favorite characters introduced. Amazing music (shoutout to Knuckle’s levels). Meme worthy cut scenes and audio cues. Chao garden side game is the most refined it’s ever been. IMO this is the greatest 3D Sonic game ever made
1) Titty Bat
2) Shadow
3) Large playable character range
4) Looks a lot more impressive
5) Characters get a lot more personality
6) Has a decently complex story
7) Pure nostalgia
It introduced two characters that became fan favorites, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge, has one of the best final boss themes (Live and Learn), gave us some iconic lines (the whole "faker" dialog), has some banger levels with an equally banger ost. Not to mention a massive expansion on Chao Garden mechanics compared to the first game
There's too many good things with SA2 that they got right, its kinda cheezy sometimes but thats completely fine for me. The only thing that SA2 could have done better is... I like the "open" of Sonic Adventure 1. even if it was bare bones i like being able to travel to different locations and interact with the hub world and find secrets
sonic gameplay feels better in SA1 im not sure how to explain it but in SA2 he feels a bit more "janky"
SA2**B** feels a lot better than SA**DX** though and those are by far the more available versions.
Yeah I really loved it, too. Fond, FOND memories of the early 3D era with the colors and exploration being brand new. Finding secrets, Chao eggs, the calming music... Damn, I can only hope the new generations get their own incredible nostalgia.
SA2 also gave us another of the francise’s best themes, Escape from the City! Overall, the whole game soundtrack is just fantastic, and iconic.
When it came out, the idea of in depth story-based content was new for this series. Before adventure 1, it was mostly the pixel games which have a general narrative, but no dialogue so this and the one before felt like a huge evolution, giving the characters more personality and depth. Also the music slaps.
Keys The Ruin is fantastic and no one is talking about it.
I think, for a lot of people, it was their first Sonic game, either because they never owned a SEGA console before, or because they were too young to have owned any console before. As such, being there introduction, it left a strong impression. Had SEGA released Adventure 1 before Adventure 2 on the Gamecube, I suspect it would be more of a fan favourite, though equally there is Shadow to consider, a character who was immediately popular simply because he managed to capture the zeitgeist of what was cool at the time it came out in a way the series hadn't since Sonic himself.
It’s a favourite among me and my friends and we started with the sonic 2. It held well for long term fans just as well.
I probably would've ignored it more honestly. I previously had played Sonic games, but I never got into them hardcore. Child me always getting stuck in the water levels aside. SA2 made the story the center focus. Do we get to pick between good and evil exactly like how the back cover advertised? No. But that duality in the story and gameplay peaked my interest more than a regular Sonic on the cover ever did. And the presentation of music and everything else involved rewarded my time. You could feel the effort put into every nook and cranny. And that's on top of having a solid impressionable opening, a solid landing, and high stakes the whole way through. I love SA too, and it's got a lot to love. But SA2 was much more focused and streamline. Even though I was sad that Amy wasn't playable, everyone served a better purpose in the story. And the stage mechanics were more enjoyable even if I do love running around Mystic Ruins.
My first console was a Sega Genesis but we only had Ecco the dolphin. My first sonic game was SA2 for the GameCube
The general story and feel of the game. Sonic is always been the Hedgehog with attitude, but this took it up to a whole new level. The rail grinding, the soap shoes, the music, it all blends into a general feeling of awesome
Live and learn to find out
It introduced two instant fan-favorites: Rouge's boobs! 😁 Oh yeah, also Shadow and Rouge herself 😜
Don't forget another two fan favorites: live and learn!
and escape from the city
And their counterparts; living and edge!
Rouge's One Polygon lmao🤣. Hey, I don't blame her. Rouge was built like Chel from Road to El Dorado.
Nah she was built like prime Kate Upton.
I CANT BELIVE YOUR TITS ARE ONE POLYGON
breasts
Badonkers
Bro got too horny :3
Nah for the 1st one you watch sonic X
First Sonic game on a Nintendo console. Show of hands, how many people here actually played the original release on the Dreamcast and not the Battle port?
My old ass is 35 and I've been a fan since Sonic 2, so I played the hell out of SA1 on the Dreamcast and SA2 was my most anticipated game of all time. I already knew City Escape like the back of my hand before the game came out because I watched videos of the demo that came with PSO over and over again.
Another Hunter who found sa2 through that! This was how I discovered sa2. Demo disk in the back case of pso ver1
I had both. Though on my Dreamcast I played Shuffle more.
I have, and bless my parents, they scoured far and wide through many stores at the time to find a single shop selling a copy of SA2. It was one of my greatest birthday gifts :D
My mom would hog and rarely ever play the gamecube years ago. A classmate let me borrow SA2:B, so I got to sneak it for a few hours after school. She even gave me a GBA link to add to the experience. I already had like two chao on the tiny chao garden of Sonic advance and Sonic Advance 2, and had no idea about the CG on the adventure games.
I originally played SA1 on Dreamcast, but not SA2. The Dreamcast version of SA1 is massively better than the GameCube version. For SA2, it’s not nearly as noticeable of a difference. Having played both versions now, I do still prefer the Dreamcast version. But I don’t think you’re getting a gimped experience if you play the GameCube version of SA2. I can’t say the same about SA1.
I was all about the Dreamcast. I played SA2 before the Gamecube was released here in NA. When I was told that Sega was dropping out of the console business I was devastated. And then I got a Gamecube because the Sonic games were coming out on it lol.
Own both, the Dreamcast game actually runs better imo but the extra content in the gcn version makes up for it. Been playing Sonic games since Sonic 3 I grew up back when Sega did what nintendon't 🤘
As someone who has been in the fandom since Sonic's inception in 1991 as a literal child, for me, it was the last time that Sonic as a franchise were being true to themselves with their final game on their final Sega console. It's not a perfect game by any means but Sonic and crew as characters were at their absolute peaks here. SA2 was building on top of those big mainline games that came before it (Sonic 3 & Knuckles -> Sonic Adventure). A high focus on action and cinematic plot, introducing a "dark Sonic", a sexy bat character, AND you could play as freaking Dr. Robotnik??? This stuff also hit all the right notes at the height of Y2K youth culture at the time. Edgy stuff was coming up like The Matrix movies, Linkin Park, Dragonball Z, nu-metal music, etc. If you were growing up at the time and feeling different than the rest of the kids and mildly artistically inclined, oh boy was this franchise easy to latch on to. With the rise of DeviantART at the time, It's no coincidence that Sonic fan artists appeared and started self-inserting their goth/emo/alt selves into the fandom, uploading their OC's, filling their artworks with song lyrics, and effectively creating what later became the meme of " the hedgehog" (I know because I took part in all of that). And I blame SA2 completely for it, because SA1 had none of this welcoming energy for edgy sh\*t.
In my opinion, something got lost in translation when they went multiplatform after the Dreamcast's demise. It makes sense, since they no longer could appeal to the Sega crowd but literally needed to regress a bit from the edginess so they could appeal to more people. Which makes SA2 even more of an anomaly since it was also the first Sonic game on a Nintendo console, the Gamecube - as a result many, many kids' first Sonic game. Personally it confirms to me this particular edginess, at this particular time, is more timeless than what they've been trying to do ever since. :D
Sonic Frontiers has finally been bringing back some of that IMO, and it's currently one of my favourite Sonic games, lol.
Edit: I didn't even mention the legendary OST - something I still haven't heard any other game before or since pull off: Every character had their own musical genre and identity, and every level theme took that into account. *Chef's kiss*
>. Edgy stuff was coming up like The Matrix movies, Linkin Park, Dragonball Z, nu-metal music, Damn straight, you had to live it to understand !
this was the most concise capture of this experience. Growing up and until recently, hardly anyone I know had played it or knew of it. I found myself brought to tears (which I never expected sonic to bring me to tears in any context) when the symphonic orchestra showed up on my ig feed playing Escape from the City, with the whole auditorium singing along. I had no idea it had such a cult following. my household was one of the last in my neighborhood to give in to “video games at home,” and so Sonic was my first game on my first console in 2003, and it absolutely blew my mind. I haven’t found any game on any system that I return to as often as I do SA2 lol. The soundtrack and its personalizations were so iconic. Was definitely one of those kids that found the storyline and art direction just riveting too. I kept my GameCube til it gave out, kept my disc and was so thankful I did when Wii appeared. I think something else that made it great was the versatile play options and flexible game breaks. You could switch modes pretty easily without losing progress. I loved that the mini games didn’t feel like mini games, but instead felt so well rounded and fun. I am a Chao Garden enthusiast, I am always hoping someday we’ll get a reboot of this format. I was really new to games and didn’t play with much guidance (ie help books/sites) and if I got stuck at a level outside my play level, I could practice by repeating my favorite levels (and songs LOL) I remember discovering the races and karate through the waterfall after having the disc for ages, realizing I had a whole new motivation (return to fave stages and power up my chaos.) even though I couldn’t get past the insane zero g levels as a late stage gamer (still can’t beat them tbh 🙃) I genuinely am still searching for a game that is that much fun for me, haven’t quite gotten there. Such an excellent example of world building just because you CAN and that’s a beautiful thing. I do hold out hope we’ll get a comparable game or a remaster for the Switch, bolstered a bit by the fact that they are supposedly drawing on this storyline for the latest Sonic movie. 🤞🏻 EDIT: It was also so full of options at like a $40 flat price point, the value was so well worth it for us as a low income household. We got literal decades of gameplay out of this game over multiple generations of cousins 😹
It’s a good game
This is what I was going to write
Because people enjoyed it and still enjoy now. It’s that simple. Also chao gardens.
Because it's a good game. The "only 1/3 of this game is good" argument is bull. It improves on almost everything Adventure did.
I honestly really disagree with the idea that it improves on everything Adventure did. Now this is all a matter of preference, but I think Adventure did most things better. I prefer the speed, shooting, and treasure hunting stages in SA1. Sonic’s levels are more open and less linear, Gamma’s movement is far less clunky and the countdown timer was an interesting gameplay twist, and Knuckles levels weren’t so sprawling and allowed you to use all 3 radars at once. I also really like the presence of adventure fields in SA1, it gives the levels a sense of place; you can really see how they’re all connected. Now to be fair, Big’s levels were shit, and Tails and Amy’s were fun distractions at best, but I think that the stage types that were brought over to SA2 were downgrades over their SA1 iterations. Obviously the Chao garden is better in SA2 as well. I prefer the SA1 garden designs, but mechanically SA2 was a big improvement. I like the final episode better in SA2 as well. I don’t blame anyone for preferring SA2. It does a number of things better than SA1, and I know it’s more nostalgic for a lot of people in a certain age group. And I’ll admit that to me personally, SA1 is more nostalgic than SA2. But I think it’s a massive exaggeration to say it does everything better than SA1. I’d sum it up like this: SA1 has higher highs and lower lows. SA2 is more consistent throughout. But if we’re taking the average, I’d put SA1 above SA2.
I can see where you're coming from, but to me I've always liked the simple level select since I've found the open hubs to be gimmicky and empty, I like that knuckles stages are way bigger (though I do agree on the radar being worse, it doesn't hurt the experience nearly as much as everyone claims), and I prefer the clunkiness of the mechs since it makes them feel more realistic. I hear a lot of people say they prefer tails in SA1, but honestly I didn't like that his levels were just "race sonic in the same stage, but with boost rings". I also just find the story in 2 to be way better. I like SA1, but to me, SA2 has way more highs, and I prefer the consistency of it.
I think improves everything adventure did is a strong statement. The mech levels are definitely better than gammas. The hunting stages can be fixed with the radar mod. Though I feel double the hunting and double the mecha outstay their welcome a bit. The speed levels are more linear but more frantic so I’d chalk that down to preference. At the time I genuinely missed the racing levels with tails, Amy’s slower puzzle platforming and bigs fishing.
I can see where you're coming from with some levels overstaying their welcome, but the level design is so damn good that I didn't mind (except mad space, screw that stage) and I was never bothered by the changed radar, but it is a downgrade in that respect. I would have liked to see tails SA1 gameplay as maybe a mini game, cause I don't like his levels in SA1. And while I can see the preference for more open levels, I prefer them a little more linear since I find it more fun to go through as fast as possible. I didn't mind Amy too much in 1, but I never missed the fishing, it was just too clunky, slow, and annoying, though I wouldn't mind an improvement to it.
Disagree. The treasure hunting stages are worse, and I think the Sonic stages are better in SA1 overall. They're just better designed.
The levels themselves in my opinion are better for treasure hunting, but the new tracker absolutely ruins them. Sonic adventure 2 went from like one of my top 5 games to my favorite game with just a few mods on pc, mostly the addition of the sa1 tracker and action remap so I don’t keep dying over cliffs trying to do a light speed dash. I feel if sega did a rerelease with these fixes, and some other stuff too, it would be seen a while lot better.
The Sonic stages are NOT better.
Better than adventure 1 my ass did you even play the first one? Someone probably said it already but i aint readin allat
Damn good music, City escape may be the best sonic level ever (debatable of course], Introduced fan favorite characters, and the story is excellent and makes use of everyone.
Cause it's peak
Because it’s perfect. The series at its peak.
its not perfect
from what i remember, people love it for introducing shadow and rouge, it having one of the best sonic stories ever, and having sonic levels people really love
Chao Garden.
In my opinion the characterization of almost everyone is right on the money in SA2. The story of the game isn't the best but I think the interactions that the characters have with each other at least sort of make up for it. Not to mention the soundtrack being one of my favorites in the entire series.
Because... It's a great game? Plus it's also instantly iconic, like this game introduced us to City Escape, Shadow, Rouge, and has one of the best Stories in the series, I think it's easy to see why it's such a fan favourite.
Aesthetic masterpiece with bangin music
im desperate
Play it.
Because Shadow. With a side of Rouge and making Eggman "deep". And because Sonic's friends got nerfed to keep "main attraction" Sonic unique and on top, even though that was why the series fell. Adventure 2 fans have either no clue (Sega's fault) or no taste (their own fault). At least the Chao Garden was done well. EDIT: Oh, yeah, and some great boss music, City Escape and an interesting idea with the level music.
1. Music 2. Characters 3. Chao Garden 4. Story 5. Memes 6. Gameplay 7. Nostalgia
https://i.redd.it/755k3f9rwa6d1.gif
Best game with more than just Sonic as a playable character.
Okay imagine you’re between 5 and 10 and then you hear city escape for the first time and sonic snowboards down San Francisco after jumping out of a helicopter and you tell me it’s not in the top 5 coolest things you’ve ever seen in your life at that point. Like what else is there. it’s this, goku going super saiyan and the green ranger.
A portion of it is definitely Generational impact. A more refined 3D entry after Adventure, during the peak of the Dreamcast - arguably some of Sega’s best days… for a lot of kids it was huge. …And for a lot of those very kids who are now older, their time in the nostalgia light is now. I never quite clicked with it, but that doesn’t really matter - it was time for a different era.
it's an amazing game ! Even if it have its flaws (and even more now, it didn't aged well) it's still a beautiful games with lots to offer gameplay wise, scenario wise (not translation tho, they really did a bad job at translating the game !) and music wise ! It's not my first Sonic game, but it's still a game that I have deep love for it.
First Sonic game on a Nintendo console, introducing a whole new generation to the series. And despite the story having many flaws, it's cool and edgy enough for kids to automatically love it.
Set a really high bar for story, 3D gameplay, and side content that Sega is having a lot of trouble reaching again
1. Introduced Shadow and Rouge 2. Gave Eggman a glock 3. Gave us one of the coolest Final Boss battles up to date.
https://preview.redd.it/c72j6vlkac6d1.png?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e334d4a8c09038d42179ba79dd2436b8a33828a4 The first time I played I really didn't like it much, seriously, the Tails/Eggman and Knuckles/Rouge stages were very stressful for me at first, there were also other things that I didn't like at first. But after playing for the third time I started to really enjoy this game, the stages, the story, the Chao Garden, I also learned a little bit about playing these stages after researching on the wiki how to get rank A, now I'm trying to get rank A in all the stages.
Tis the best in the series
It's a good game and a lot of us haven't been affected by the historical revisionism that is this game's Identity. This game was very beloved when it came out. It might not have aged the best but.. most games from that era didn't. I'm sorry but this isn't a Sonic exclusive problem.
Basically it is the most loved because it is the only one that presents a decent story instead of focusing so much on the gameplay like most Sonic games, basically it is as if it were a Sonic anime (which is the fantasy of many fans)
Because the storyline is really good, the gameplay is super fun, all of the “missions” are challenging and rewarding, the multiplayer is 👌🏻, and chao garden is also 👌🏻 I still, to this day, hop on my GameCube to play this game because of all the good memories it holds as well! (+ Shadow is 👌🏻😆)
Because Sonic’s gameplay on this one is still peak Sonic gameplay. Also, the game was a terrific platformer in its own right. The edgy aesthetic was also really in tune with the times.
The story line is top tier. Drama, action, intense, with a good plot and lots of side stories all building up into one story. It’s like a movie that played like a game. They actually mastered that recipe and for no good reason abandoned it.
Amazing gameplay and a very well made captivating story.
https://preview.redd.it/pho6oz7rbe6d1.png?width=1101&format=png&auto=webp&s=85eaa1ed07ab53302439b20483826bf40fd9171d
Ahem... Introduced Rail-grinding Had arguably the best Rail-grinding Introduced Shadow Playable Eggman OST is one of, if not the best, in the Series Made Knuckles literally black The story is the best and still is at least in the top 2 of Sonic storylines (Frontiers standing either right above or below it) Chao Garden Eggman peak moment Super Shadow
shadow
The story?
My nostalgia for this game is through the roof. Playing the port on Xbox is awful though. I'm not sure if the camera movement and controls were as crappy on the GameCube, but that might be because it's the port from the one on Dreamcast, not sonic adventure 2 battle for GameCube. Idk. But I don't remember having a hard time playing it when I was a kid.
Music
Still prefer Heroes and Adventure 1 , fight me
Nostalgia plays a massive part. Most people played it when they where kids.
A lot of people grew up playing this game, so there's also a nostalgia factor in addition to other sentiments
I like it but had Sonic's stupid soap shoes.
It introduced two of the best characters in the franchise, has a great story, and it's really fun to play.
Remaster when?
Even though the acting is kinda cheesy, the story is quite well written, and the writers did an amazing job at making Eggman a terrifying villain.
Personally, it's my favorite because it has the best chao garden, late 90's - early 2000's Sega aesthetics, Rouge, oh yeah and Shadow I guess
Because zoomers played it when they were kids. They got a GameCube when the price dropped to $99 and I remember getting this for under $20 at GameStop. So you’re a kid with limited funds for games and 100% the game takes hours and hours so your childhood was spent playing 200 hrs getting the right Chao to get 100%.
It’s mostly nostalgia honestly (don’t get me wrong I’ve played it but didn’t grow up with it) the game is clunky in some stages, but it’s also one of the best sonic stories where it built on lore we hadn’t seen since the genesis and stuff that’s still being talked about today the ark,Maria,the chaos emerald origin,the master emeralds power, chaos control so it’s a double edge sword
Introduced fan favorite characters, controls are nearly perfect, it streamlined the Adventure style, the music is amazing, the story is great (if a bit convoluted), the multiplayer is fun, and the Chao are even better than Adventure 1, not to mention it was the first Sonic Game on a non-Sega console which opend up a whole new group to the Sonic Fandom.
Great game + chao
I wish I could explain it. Part of it for me is perhaps the timing. You just had to be there. Many great memories with others also enjoying this game. It was the first time as a long time Nintendo fan to this day that I really got to dig into this fun series and I fell in love with it. It also has had an influence on my musical taste. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I feel like it still controls better that most of the boost era for sure.
City Escape
An amazing story that took itself seriously without trying so hard (unlike Frontiers), with great cutscenes only held down by the voice volume mixing and timings. Amazing gameplay with the introduction of the rank system which rewards people for using everything within a stage for the best performance (though I prefer the treasure hunting from SA1). I love the rail grinding. Banger soundtrack, probably the best in the series. Lots of good side content to keep you busy for HOURS e.g. Chao Garden, Missions, 2 player battle and boss rush. Sorry for the ramble: Best one depictions of the characters yet. Sonic is impatient, upfront and overall COOL with an attitude like he was originally designed to be whilst also being down to earth when needed (as seen when he said goodbye to shadow and gave rouge the inhibitor ring). Even when tails spoiled the fake emerald plan, he didn't lose his cool and still encouraged tails to protect amy. Shadow wasn't an edge lord like he is now and had a reason for all of his behaviours, even shedding a tear after Amy reminded him of his promise. Knuckles is good, determined to get the emeralds, sadly nothing too special. Same with rouge. Tails was brave and heroic, helping sonic escape from prison leading to him also getting chased by gun and even trying to make sonic proud by defeating eggman on the ark after he spoiled the plan. Eggman was menacing which was a really great side of him to see even if I prefer the more comical sonic unleashed eggman. Even Amy was depicted great here despite not having her gameplay segments anymore. She had a crush on Sonic and also did her part to help out like setting sonic free and convincing shadow to help out. Would've liked to see a more SA1 approach where she actually does something though. The game is honestly a near peak sonic experience for me. And I wish that Sega could go back to the standard of quality Sonic had before 2011.
Part of it is it basically repeated some of what made Sonic popular ten years earlier: it introduced an edgy character with an attitude who was seen as cool and appealed strongly to young kids and teenagers. This led to a lot of nostalgia when they grew up.
The soundtrack of that game is amazing
Shadow
because it's epic
Play it and find out for yourself, youtubers have done insane damage to its image To keep it short though INSANELY FUN
Live and learn. You’ve heard Us.
For me and this is just my opinion it's the sense of style. Getting to the end is fun but looking cool while doing hell yeah hitting those grind rails/ramps just right is so satisfying the tricks work so well. The summersault jumps make me all tingly. This is how I picture Sonic he's the coolest guy in the entire universe and he needs to show it.
Three words: Shadow. The. Hedgehog.
I think one of SA2 biggest credits is it's soundtrack. Sure we're all talking about live and learn but literally every character save tails have a stage that's an absolute banger, and the breadth of genres meant that there was something for almost everyone. Knuckles had an awesome hip-hop soundtrack, with rouge getting a much jazzier ensemble. Even Eggman got a pretty good track in the secret base stage. Sonic OST's are usually pretty good(even if they come from a game that isn't) but SA2 was one of the few that had a truly excellent OST
Personally it's my favorite because the ranking system is so strong, It require both a mastery of each game play but also knowledge of the entire level, compared to today ranking which only require you to go as fast as possible without taking the time to learn the level. In other words you had to understand and master SA2 for a max rank, today you just bang your head against the level until you get it.
Because it genuinely fun, has a good story, and amazing soundtrack. I didn’t even grow up with it and it’s still my favorite Sonic game.
Cause the story is epic.
It was a lot of people's first Sonic game. Had I not been exposed to the old PC port of CD, it would have been mine. Shadow and Rouge. Period. Everything about them both. Chao Garden and everything that was expanded upon it from Adventure 1. The OST in general. There is a lot to like there. Even after all these years it's still in my top 3 Sonic games, and in my top 20 of all time.
SA2 had peak story but imho SA1 had better gameplay, had better Sonic stages, better treasure hunting and mech stages, had exclusive tails stages that felt like Sonic + flight, Amy got 3 of her own stages which were ok but slow aaaand we were perfect, yep, we had no one else to ruin it, yep yep yep, we also had Super Sonic secret stage where all characters give Sonic chaos emeralds but then one just fell out of the sky, weird, maybe they planned one more character to give Sonic last chaos emerald but oh well. Really if they could just perfect SA1 Sonic stages formula we'd have perfect transition between 2D Sonic formula into 3D. They had so many cool shortcuts, although half of it was only possible due to how strong spindash was, strong spindash was half the fun of exploring the stage!
It was many peoples first Sonic game because this was the first Sonic game to be released on a Nintendo console.
Throughout the whole game, it felt like it was a consistent great quality that knew exactly the feel it was going for. I love the stages, the design, layout, and music for each stage is unmatched by later games. Especially when you consider stages tend to have a Hero/Dark counterpart that are in the same area but don't just copy and paste the level for both sides. (Mission Street/Radical Highway, Final Rush/Chase, Sky Rail/Pumpkin Hill, etc.) The "Secrets" found in each stage are insane too. Three Chao boxes can be found to get a key to the garden (which is amazing for us as kids to find), a bunch of animals, and then a legendary animal. And then you have even more animals scattered through out the stage with some being rare and harder to find without a guide. Even upgrades can be secrets. Some are a bit more obvious and mandatory so they'll shove it in your face to progress in the stage/story. But they will have upgrades that aren't needed but can be found by going to previous stages with upgrades you get later on (Shadow's Fire Ring needing air shoes, magic gloves need Sonic's Fire Ring and Bounce Bracelet, Mystic Melody for Knuckles and Rogue are hidden in their first stages and require digging or the ability to break iron crates). Even some of the chao boxes or rare animals might require these upgrades. Same thing with later missions for each stage (Sunglasses and Treasure Scope are hard required for some hard mode missions). There's so much intertwined with required upgrades and replaying older levels that it made you explore the stage because it was fun. I grew up studying the guide for this game until the pages wore away and I had to find a new copy. I play this game as a fun randomizer for a few years now because all the secrets and required upgrades make it a fun puzzle. Chao Garden is also amazing, but that would double the length of this comment.
It’s fun, replayable, amazing music, Shadow/Rogue, but most importantly, Chao.
*Chao garden* 🥹
I spent more time in the chaos garden than playing the actual game as a kid 😭😭
I can tell you why. The story was banger, it never treated its audience like an idiot , sonic wasn't a dank meme. You got to play as the main heroes and villains. It introduced shadow the hedgehog a staple of the franchise. It had some of the coolest boss fights and an iconic soundtrack. It had it all, memorable stages , loveable characters the whole 9 yards. But you wanna know the real creme de la creme. Chao world, a pet simulator that has been now expanded on by moders and still remembered by long time fans. That's why it's a fan favorite, that's why it's considered the goat. Also not a buggy messy , none of that bs. The game still stands as one of the best, it took the first adventure game and expanded on it.
It was my first
Chao garden
Multiple playable characters with different playstyles. The story was pretty interesting by 2001 standards Some people consider SA2 to be one of the best soundtracks in the franchise. The Chao Garden had a lot of depth, considering it was just side content
If you weren't there in 2001, it's hard to put I to words the chokehold this game had on children that summer. And that opening cutscene leading i to the best opening level in the hero story...chefs kiss
- Shadow - Rouge - Best Chao Garden - Best story - all of the characters feel like the best versions of themselves in this game, to me, except for Amy I guess - Best music - Perfected gameplay experiments from SA1 - Levels are twisty turny crazy branching pathways, extremely few straight cut hallways - Everyone (even Tails & Eggman kinda) is FAST but still easy to control - Stage resource (ring/animal/drive collection) into Chao Garden gameplay loop is addictive and incentivizes challenge completion - Chao Garden complexity rivals (clears?) Pokémon in terms of scale and replay-ability in it’s digital pet gameplay - Very few cutscenes interjecting stage gameplay- you are always in control. This adds immensely to replay-ability and imo no cool factor is lost - Nostalgia I’ll be the first to admit the Battle port is graphically inferior to Dreamcast but it’s still the best version of the game due to the expanded Chao Garden & multiplayer.
cuz it is GOOD
This game rules although my goal of getting all As died a long time ago.
It introduced me to Sonic after not playing it since Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. I'll give my perspectived as a Teenerger who played it on the gamecube. (played this before Advancetuire 1 as it came out later ont he gamecube) Shadow was cool too teenerger me. Sonic seems much more apeaking to Teenager me, like he grew up with me. Knuckles semed really develioped and was intresting. Chao Garden kept me playing, meaning after beeting it I felt like there was a reason to stick around. Music was really cool, and I honestly used the the music player as a standing for not having a sterio in my room. Was cool how the game could connect with Gameboy Advance and I could bring my Chao with me to school or on vacation. I had very few games at that time where It was simpol yet fun to speedrun a levle, (although I most likely sucked at it) The story was not too over the top but just intresting enouth to keep me hooked. It felt like Eggman was the bad guy but the suprice playing it the first time that it was a larger than him issuce was cool! This was my first introduction to Sonic after being away from the franchice for a logn time, and the game that gets you hook on a franchice always seem to have a huge meaning for them, (everyones first zelda game is usally their favorite or 2ed favorite regardless of how bad it was just a pattern ive noticed) Did I mention cool music! Back then you got a new game ever 3-4month, so you was stuck with the same game for a long time, so I remember spending time looking for secrets and powerups I hvane't collected. On the topic of exploring, becauise guides and forums wasn't as huge for most people You just explored around on your onw trying to find secrets and cool stuff I'm sure I have more thoughs if I was thinking about ut, but overall these are something of the things that comes back to me Adult me: I still play this ever so oftem, but I tend to hop in, play City Escapce, and Speed Highway, do a bit of chao garden and then quit, so I guess those things are what meant a lot to me, + story and music.
Story is goated, music is goated, character development is goated, animation was pretty good for a 00s game, and a lot more reasons that I would write down but I'm busy as shit
Chao Garden It made the games repeatability worth it, the more emblems you collect the more things you can buy with sonic games now you can beat the game but there’s no real replay value in it unless you’re a completionist and even when you collect all of the emblems you can still explore the different types of chaos, chaos chao, power, swim, speed, flying, and any mixture of the last 4. I could go on about it but I’d be typing all day.
Eggman playable
How can anyone ask this question while also attaching one of the most beautiful pieces of promotional artwork ever made for a Sonic game?
Shadow
Why wouldn’t it be?
Because SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG IS A BITCH ASS MOTHERFUCKER
Nostalgia
My favorite line: "You're comparing yourself to me? HA! You're not even good enough to be myI will make you eat those words"
Speaking as someone who first played the game in 2022: Sonic levels are fun and fast Raising little goobers is neat The plot is completely deranged in the best way. More mascot platformers need characters with backstories like “my family was killed during a botched ATF raid on grandpa’s compound”
Crush 40 music probably
I mean, just look at this artwork to answer your question. In all seriousness, though, I think the reason why it was so popular is it told a consistent story throughout while giving us characters people love (i.e. Rogue and Shadow). It also made all characters important to the story in some way versus them just being there as filler. Now is it the best story ever told? No. But it's fun. Top all that off with some truly memorable levels and an amazing soundtrack and you have a cult classic.
Chao Garden
I'd say it's the best 3d sonic game, but there are many issues
Because A) it’s Shadow and Rogue’s debut, B)Because it’s got amazing music like [City Escape](https://youtu.be/5WcyVvWZJU4?si=cAQ841AszoWMlZix) here C) a decently dramatic story and D) a reasonably fun Chao raising system for those into that.
Shadow and Rouge are pretty awesome
The chao garden
The introduction of Shadow & Rouge, Level design and music are peak, and the Chao Garden is just so fun!
This game had the best first level of any platformer prior imo. And the fact that it had a banger track to go with it...chefs kiss 🤌🏾
2 things: Shadow the Hedgehog and, Live and Learn!!!
Shadow Rouge Kickass music Chao garden
Like a thousand reasons lol. But here are a few: 1. Introduction of fan favorite characters Shadow & Rouge 2. Introduced rail-grinding & it was arguably at its peak in this game. 3. Chao Garden & it was arguably more complex than Pokemon at the time when it was released. 4. Amazing soundtrack as per usual for Sonic games. 5. First Sonic game on a Nintendo home console. And it was a pretty good updated port (despite some cutscene issues or graphical textures). 6. You get to play as Eggman.
because it's good
For me It's the story, you can choose to see things from the hero or evil side, the story of this "project shadow" Sonic being arrested because the police are color blind
Such a solid game packed with extras and hours on hours of challenging completion objectives. Not to mention the chao garden. This is an all time classic and one of my most nostalgic childhood memories now.
the story and characters are timeless
Chao Gardens.
I absolutely loved city escape and then the lore caught me. I FUCKING LOVE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, I KNOW HIS DESIGN IS EDGY BUT IT'S STILL GOOD, I also loved his evolution throughout the game. Last but not least, soundtrack, the soundtrack is one of the things that I absolutely loved, both the rhythm and the lyrics are important and reveal feelings, situations and pieces of lore, pure genius
Good game but overrated AF in my opinion.
https://preview.redd.it/e3e880gdhd6d1.jpeg?width=929&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7543a40c5b86bcfc4d81041ed64ce2e5bc52f248
Because Dream cast will always be the best. And because we lived and learned.
In retrospect there's a lot of flaws with the game or things that SA1 does better but SA2 has a ton of good on offer and makes an excellent first impression. Mech handling and the treasure radar in SA2 suck ass but them finally getting an entire campaigns worth of new and unique stages is massive. Especially compared to SA1s combined 3 and 3 quarters unique stages divvied up among non-Sonic chars Game itself has much improved presentation in terms of chatacter expression, exciting set pieces, and cutscenes as a whole. It also has a ton of content compared to the average sonic game. Nearly every stage has a couple of gimmick missions, an alt goal ring (lost chao mission), and hard mode. Chao Garden is its own entirely separate gameplay loop that uses resources from the main game that you can spend ages in and is honestly ridiculously complex. Playing as Eggman in a main story was undoubtedly peak
For me it features the whole cast and makes them playable too, drives me crazy that they don’t use all the characters that everyone loves more like Sonic is cool duh but his friends and enemies are too and they deserve to be in the story and playable
My guess is nostalgia or it being the last game before Sonic '06 came along. While SA1 was my first Sonic game I didn't get to play SA2 until about 10 years ago. After playing most of the previous games all the sequential ones I do not see what's so special about it.
A fan favorite is sonic 1
basically what everyone here said about story, rouge and shadow and the music. loved 2p mode and chao garden too. for personal reasons it was my first sonic game and what made me a fan. it's not only my favorite in the franchise but my favorite game ever.
Can you feel life movin' through your mind, Ooh, looks like it came back for more! Yeah yeah yeah! Can you feel time slippin' down your spine, Ooooooh, You try and try to ignore! Yeah! But you can hardly swallow, Your fears and pain. When you can't help but follow, It puts you right back where you came. Live and learn! Hanging on the edge of tomorrow, Live and learn! From the works of yesterday. Live and learn! If you beg or if you borrow, Live and learn! You may never find your way. Whooooa, yeah! Can you feel life tangle you up inside? Yeah, now you're face down on the floor! Oh! But you can't save your sorrow, You've paid in trade! When you can't help but follow, It puts you right back where you came. Live and learn! Hanging on the edge of tomorrow, Live and learn! From the works of yesterday. Live and learn! If you beg or if you borrow, Live and learn! You may never find your way. Hey, whoa, whoa, Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! There's a face searching far, so far and wide. There's a place where you dream you'd never find. Hold on to what if? Hold on to what if? Live and learn! Hanging on the edge of tomorrow, Live and learn! From the works of yesterday. Live and learn! If you beg or if you borrow, Live and learn! You may never find your way. Live and learn! Hanging on the edge of tomorrow, Live and learn! From the works of yesterday. Live and learn! If you beg or if you borrow, Live and learn! You may never find your way.
Best story in the series by far and shadow is a fucking badass but the only games that utilized him well were SA2 and 06, archie did far better with the character than sonic team Sonic/shadow stages were some of the best in the series Soundtrack is easily the top5 best in the series with live & Learn being one of the most iconic video game sound songs of all time SA2 due to it being the first mainline sonic gaming to be released outside of sega consoles was also many people's introduction into the franchise, this game was also widely successful on the GameCube selling the equivalent of 10% of the entire consoles sales although I am extremely curious why sega decided to release the games on the 2 poorest selling systems of that generation, if it released on the ps2 and Xbox it would have easily sold 7 million + units
*epic synth drone*
Shadow. That is all.
They made the game in 9 months and the plot was a disaster grab bag of concepts, BUT those concepts where absolutely amazing and provided a really good new characters, fresh lore and some ideas we still use to this day.
 Mr. Frog's in it
Because it's one of the best games ever made.
Nostalgia, chao gardens, city escape, shadow, soap shoes and rail grinding
It introduced Shadow and Rouge, you get to play as Eggman, it has good music, and it had a decent story. It wasn't the gameplay, that's for sure. Everybody's slower and clunkier than they were in SA1, especially the Mechs. The stages themselves are fine, excluding Rouge's of course, but the controls feel so much less smooth than the first game.
Great story, good gameplay, best chao gardens
The story
Chao Garden
It's the most authentic characterization for Shadow in the franchise in my opinion. Among many other reasons that people have probably already mentioned.
Music, nostalgia, story, performance, appearance, etc.
Its one of the best Sonic games because of its gameplay and Stages and Storytelling
It was the first sonic game that a lot of people played since this game marked the end of sonic being exclusive to Sega consoles. Honestly, I enjoy the game, it’s just the Tails stages haven’t aged that well and the radar in the Knuckles stages isn’t ideal (but I still like Knuckles’ gameplay). The story is pretty cool when you’re a kid, and although I think Shadow’s arc is good, there are some obvious plot holes, but I still commend the effort. Also, the chao garden has as much content as the actual game
Produced some amazing characters for the series, with connections both old and new to the current cast. The chao system was fully realized here (Technically in SA2 Battle.) Which caused the replayability to explode. You get more knuckles. more of the world, and it just introduces tons of concepts that add alot of depth to the world.
Iz ghuud.
City Escape and Live and Learn
Because it’s literally Sonic Adventure 2
It has great characters and writing with a bit of early 2000s charm. It also has a great soundtrack ( ❤️crush 40 ) with tight high action stages, entertaining Mecha stages and fun treasure hunting stages.
It's fun.
Suris did a whole video on this game. That will explain all you need
cuz it's fuckin' awesome and there's the chao garden
LIVE AND LEARN!!!!!
It’s got a fun story, memorable stages, a killer soundtrack, a Chao Garden, and some of the best gameplay in the series. It improved upon the best parts of Adventure 1 and did away with the weaker aspects. And it’s still probably the most replayable Sonic games on account of the emblems, random nature of treasure hunting, the Chao, etc.
the story the gameplay the soundtrack and introduced the best characters especially shadow
BECAUSE!!
Fun
Fan favorite characters introduced. Amazing music (shoutout to Knuckle’s levels). Meme worthy cut scenes and audio cues. Chao garden side game is the most refined it’s ever been. IMO this is the greatest 3D Sonic game ever made
Cause boobs the bat that’s why
least glitches best characters best mystery story was intact sound track was the main hit.
1) Titty Bat 2) Shadow 3) Large playable character range 4) Looks a lot more impressive 5) Characters get a lot more personality 6) Has a decently complex story 7) Pure nostalgia
https://preview.redd.it/y05fekqqle6d1.png?width=598&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=255df7bba8166cac32476fa278c7fe16bdef6f78 These little guys
Because it’s a classic