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Sonic Comparison Part I: Who would have ever though that Sega’s mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, would one day be played on the same console as Mario, Nintendo’s main man? Well, in today’s day and age, we have not just one Sonic game on the Nintendo GameCube but two. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle has recently reached player’s choice status, and Sonic Adventure DX may soon get there. But, which of Sonic’s quests reigns supreme? Both have similar aspects, but which is the better of the two? Let’s take a look in this 4-part feature… (Contains spoilers!) PART 1 – For Eyes and Ears OnlyTITLE: Might as well start with the basics. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle forms an interesting acronym, SA2B, which is pretty much recognized by any gamer. Sonic Adventure DX is SADX, in short, and the X makes it look cool and, well, eXtreme. But that’s an absurd and very picky point of comparison. However, SADX’s whole name does bother me. Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut. Now, doesn’t “DX”, short for deluxe, already signify that this version of the game is different from the original? Then why does it need the “Director’s Cut,” which basically means the exact same thing? The redundancy is a little ridiculous. WINNER: SA2B; short and sweet. GRAPHICS: SA2B looks rough and boxy at times. In SADX, the characters look a lot smoother, and lighting effects are really good. Just look at Sonic or Knuckles in Casinopolis. Or, look at the spin graphics when Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails jump. You would never see beauty like that in SA2B. WINNER: SADX; full of pretty pictures. PRESENTATION OF GRAPHICS: SADX may be nicer in pure visual quality, but it’s all executed pretty sloppily sometimes. The frame rate has been appalling to some, and sometimes things tend to jump when standing at a bad angle. SA2B is the smooth one now. WINNER: SA2B; not as glitchy. CAMERA: Even in the hunting levels, where the camera will most likely change position often, you’ll usually always see yourself in SA2B. I can’t remember ever having a serious camera problem in that game. But, SADX is a TOTALLY different story. Put bluntly, the camera sucks. It often likes to get lost, making your character impossible to find. Other times, it won’t cooperate or it changes angles violently on you. Again, very sloppy on SADX’s part. WINNER: SA2B; complete with a professional cameraman. MUSIC: Sonic’s games have always contained good music from the beginning, and his move to today’s systems has only made the musical quality better. Both games contain songs that aren’t ordinary videogame music. You hear jazz, rock, hip-hop, plus other genres. Hey, some even have vocal parts. Despite SADX’s lack of singing, it’s about up to par with SA2B in music quality. However, SA2B seems to be a more musical experience. There always seems to be a new song, unlike how SADX will go from a new song, back to the field song, to another new song, and again back to the field’s theme. Plus, SA2B has a new sound for every level, unlike how SADX shares levels, and therefore their themes too. WINNER: SA2B; good music AND diversity THEME SONG: Live and Learn vs. Open Your Heart, SA2B vs. SADX. Now, in my opinion, you have more time to let Live and Learn grow on you. It’s the intro theme, the theme of almost every menu, the stage select theme,… yeah, you get the picture. And then you finally hear the whole song with words during the final battle, and you say “WOW!” and it plays again for the ending. Open Your Heart only plays for the intro, the final battle, and the ending. On top of that, it’s only in the background for part 1 of the last battle. It doesn’t really stick. WINNER: SA2B; livin’ and learnin’. VOICE ACTING: Both games have some sort of problem with the voices. In SADX, voices are, well, a little bad. Characters take too long to say two sentences, being that they’ll take a major pause in between. And then, another character will take so long to respond with a reaction that you forget what they’re answering to. Sometimes a character’s mouth isn’t even close to their speech, and in Tails and Sonic’s final scenes, their mouths move and there are no words. And Eggman doesn’t move his mouth for the whole game! Very sloppy. SA2B, on the other hand, is smooth. Really smooth. A little TOO smooth. Voices are in sync with the mouths, but the characters have a habit of talking over one another, sometimes responding before a statement is completed. A little sloppy. But you could argue that they are just being cut off. WINNER: SA2B; more is better than less. Hmm, looks like SA2B has the advantage… NEXT TIME - The Plot and Related Elements Posted:
12-3-03
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