(DISCLAIMER: This is my first real blog entry and it may be a mess grammar-wise or whatever and if it is I'm sorry! It's also worth mentioning I am NOT a huge Sonic fan, but I do have fond memories of him and will treat each game fairly).

Hey, guys! So every couple years or so I get a huge Sonic the Hedgehog craving. A week ago it happened again for the first time in a couple years and I found myself replaying Adventure DX, Adventure 2 Battle HD and Sonic Generations in about a week. I'm also a little ways into Unleashed (which is okay!) and have Heroes on the way in the mail. The goal with this blog series is to give a sort of mini-review for each game and at the end after I've played every single one of them (including 06, which I've never ever played!), give you my favourite to least-favourite. I hope you enjoy! This first blog will be focusing on Adventure 1 DX solely, 'cause if I focused on all 3 I've played thus far, it'd just go on for way too long.

Sonic Adventure DX was the first Sonic game I had/beat I believe. I have a lot of nostalgia for it, but after replaying it, I'm not entirely sure why I loved it so much. It's actually pretty horrible.....But I still find it enjoyable? Let's get into it.

The Story (2/5)

I consider the weirdly over-the-top and sometimes serious storylines to be a pretty big part of 3D Sonic games, and this is where it all began for that stuff. You begin as Sonic fighting some weird blue blob monster in front of city hall, and things get pretty crazy from there. From seeings visions of the past to battling an almighty god, the game tries to go pretty big, for better or for worse. You play through the story through the perspective of six characters, some definitely more crucial than others, as you try to piece everything together. After you complete all six character's stories, you're treated to a final story the wrap up everything in a pretty cool way. The story really does try, but it could have done a lot more, and the terribly animated cutscenes don't help it out too much. Some characters get barely any screen time or development and others just seem downright pointless to the whole picture. It's all kind of a mess, but it's still appreciated and adds to the mood of the game.

The Gameplay (2/5)

I remember the gameplay being FAR better than this. Then again, kid me also loved games like Seven Samurai 20XX, sooo. Anyway, the game has six characters, who all have different abilities, upgrades, stories, etc. There's Sonic,whose ability is, you guessed it, homing attacks and super speed, and his levels are mostly just classic 3D Sonic platforming. There's Gamma, whose levels are mostly just third person shooting (not the kind you're thinking of) and boss battles, Big the Cat, who focuses on a crappy fishing mini-game in all his levels, and a few more. Sonic's levels are by far the most enjoyable in the game, but even his aren't great. The controls feel clunky and mess up most of the time, and the level design isn't fantastic. In fact some stages are just downright horrible. All the stories are only an hour or so long with the exception of Sonic so you don't have to put up with the other characters that much. Overall, the gameplay is not great. The inclusion of hub areas are a nice touch, and the graphics are good, but that's about all the really good things about it. Oh, there's also a little " animal " raising mini game called the Chao Garden. It's pretty cool too, I guess. Music is also nice.

Final Thoughts (2/5)

The game is far worse than I remember it being, but it's still fairly enjoyable if you're looking for a short-ish game and go into it knowing it's kind of a clunky mess. It still holds a special place in my heart and I'll most likely play through it another few times in my life and enjoy it somehow.

Anyway, that was my first entry in this blog series that I may or may not continue. I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading~!

That whole thing where you revisit a childhood game, only to find out that it's not all that great today is always a horrific nightmare. I mean, I haven't played Sonic Adventure, but that game just seems like something that just hasn't aged all that well. That's especially considering that a lot of people seem to like the hell out of some Sonic Adventure, so you were probably right to like that game as a kid.

I don't buy-in entirely to the whole "kids are dumb and they don't know good games from bad games" thing, though I feel like that very same thing somehow justifies why I feel like playing that Karate Kid game on the NES from time to time. I mean, it was stupid hard and as it turns out, no one else really liked that game either but like... I still kinda like it despite all that? Nostalgia is a dumb thing, man.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, you should check out Jeff and Ryan revisiting the XBLA version of Sonic Adventure. The whole video is really great, but skip to 10:55 if you just want that part.

I used to have a Dreamcast and a demo disc that had the first level of Sonic Adventure on it and, naturally, I thought it was a lot of fun back then. Never actually bought the game until years later when I found the DX version at a GameStop. Turns out that, indeed, the game is kind of a piece of crap. Maybe two fifths of the game is tolerable. (And by that I really just mean some of the Sonic and Tails levels.) For whatever reason I decided to buy it again on XBLA and... HD and 60fps doesn't make a sucky game not suck.

I do, however, have nostalgia that's rooted too deep for me to not love Sonic Adventure 2. (I uh... bought it for 4 different platforms and may or may not be planning on getting the PC version the next time it's on sale...) I mean, that game sucks too but it holds up a hell of a lot better than the original. (but again, only like two fifths of the game are good.)

But yeah, nostalgia is a blinding bastard.

Sometimes you just can't go back. Sonic games often fall victim to this.