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by pmlamotte 1644 days ago
> [0] Even more controversial opinion: Sonic '06 is also better than Sonic Adventure 2.

Having never played either but having watched gameplay of both, I'm very interested in your thoughts on that.

I also agree that Sonic Adventure 1 holds up surprisingly well despite the jank. A lot of Dreamcast era games have a certain aesthetic to them that feels distinctly different from other games. Sega really had some wild ideas and while they didn't always hit they were still exciting because of how fresh and unique they felt. The lack of polish adds to that aesthetic; the games weren't following a cookie cutter formula like lots of modern open world games, they were spending their time really experimenting because designing for 3D and internet connectivity was still so new.

1 comments

It's pretty subjective, honestly. For context, I played Sonic Adventure when it first came out. I played Sonic Adventure 2 (DC version) less than a year ago because it had a reputation for being a fan favorite. I hated it. I played Sonic 06 recently it had a reputation for being terrible and I found I actually kinda liked it because it made me laugh.

'06s reputation for being terrible is objectively overblown. It is definitely rushed, has long loading times, and is jank as hell, but it is otherwise a pretty mediocre game. I've definitely played a lot worse and I think the general "someone's free Unity game" feel helps it to not be taken too seriously. It is also occasionally completely hilarious. For instance, during the Shadow story fight with Silver, I got trapped in a notorious "It's no use" loop getting shot straight upwards. This was a little frustrating, but then Shadow's corpse fell into the ground head first and got stuck in it like a lawn dart and I laughed my ass off.

By contrast I think a lot of what put me off of SA2 was how seriously it seemed to take itself. It's a lot more polished than '06, but still has enough jank to cause frustration and is otherwise just as mediocre in the gameplay department. A lot of my gripes about SA2's gameplay are actually shared by 06, but I guess I just kind of expect that from a buggy unfinished mess so it is more easily forgiven.