The Sonic Experience

The graphics in Sonic Adventure are nothing short of breathtaking which is surprising for a first generation game. Although the textures only have the same detail as a PC game, the color richness as well as the aesthetic and artistic layout of the levels make Sonic Adventure pure eye-candy. Just check out these screenshots and videos.

The Yamaha audio chip really works its wonders with Sonic Adventure. Although the music is most likely stored in an XG MIDI format, the freedom of the XG format's 676 musical instruments and 2MB for other audio samples creates CD quality sound; some of the character themes also have vocals! Technical achievements aside, the music in Sonic Adventure is also surprisingly good with the quality of a Hollywood soundtrack rather than merely game music. A welcome feature of Sonic Adventure is the Sound Test menu, which lets you listen to all the in-game music at your leisure.

Turning the corner

Look at the pretty lights

Mini Games

Taking a cue from recent games such as the Final Fantasy series, Sonic Adventure includes many mini-games as well as a completely optional game Chao Adventure. Some of the Mini-Games include a StarFox like arcade flight sim, a snowboarding game, and even a hover car race. Once a mini-game is successfully completed, you can replay the game as many times as you like through the main menu. Since the first instance of a mini-game is often directly related to the storyline, the second time you play through these levels will often be different from the original.

Footprints on the beach

Sega's most famous mascot

The most ambitious mini-game that's a completely optional endeavor is the A-Life system called Chao Adventure. The shortest description of this game is that it's just like a Tamagotchi or Giga-pet. Chao Adventure let's you hatch, raise, interact, and mate teardrop like creatures call Chao's. The way you care for them affects their physical development as well as their behavior. These Chao creatures are kept in special, protected gardens in the game. "But wait!" you ask, "Didn't you mention these Chao's when talking about the VMU?" In addition to the in-game Chao Adventure, you can also take your Chao for a walk on your VMU. As your Chao goes for his or her walk, it'll likely have its share of accidents such as tripping and falling down; your Chao is counting on you to help him out. Occasionally, you'll run into a big, bad, evil Chao. So, it's time to battle. The battle involves your Chao's stats as well as some skill in pressing the button at the right time. If you win, you can earn a random fruit from a treasure chest that will increase your Chao's stats. If you want to get a fruit and you don't want to wait for a bully to approach you, you can also play a game of Memory/Concentration. You are shown a small grid filled with pairs of fruit for a few seconds, and you have to match the cards in less in less than three tries. The better you do, the better the prize you get.

Sonic Adventure is a game that every Dreamcast owner should have. It has great gameplay as well as gorgeous graphics.