Sonic Comparison Part III:
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle vs. Sonic Adventure DX
Written By: AJ Middleton

PART 3 – Non-Adventure Goodies

CHAO:

SA2B, no contest.  What does SADX have for your A-life pets?  Three gardens, animals, the Black Market, and Chao races.  SA2B has all of that, PLUS Chao Karate, Chao Kindergarten, Chao drives, you name it.

WINNER: SA2B; the home for Chao raising.

AFTER-ADVENTURE EXTRAS:

The main thing to do outside of the adventure in SA2B is the Stage Select.  By going back to completed levels, you can try 1 of 5 missions.  Every mission for every stage is the same, with a few exceptions for the cart levels.  But you can usually always expect you have to collect 100 rings and clear hard mode.  You can also try completed missions again, hoping to get a higher letter grade.  But that whole process gets tedious fast.  Other extras include multiplayer, boss replay, a racing mini-game, and Chao activities.

But SADX blows 2B away.  You can also reselect stages in order to complete them in 2 more ways.  But unlike in its sequel, almost everyone has different objectives in their level replays.  And when you’re done with those, there is a TRUE mission mode.  Although SA2B’s missions can be stupid at times (Put the main in this circle!) you cannot deny that they add loads of extra stuff to do after the adventure has been cleared.  Plus, completing missions unlocks a plethora of old Game Gear Sonic games.  You may find yourself throwing the SADX CD in only to play an oldie like Sonic Chaos!  Oh, SADX also has the minigames, boss battles, and Chao stuff to keep you occupied.

WINNER: SADX; MUCH more than an adventure.

EMBLEM COMPLETION:

Gather all of SADX’s 120 emblems and you get to play as Metal Sonic.  Get all 180 in SA2B and you get new carts for racing, new outfits for multiplayer, and a chance to play the FIRST Sonic level ever, Green Hill Zone, in full 3D.

WINNER: SA2B; a bigger prize for a harder feat.

MULTIPLAYER:

SADX has multiplayer?  Give me a break; controlling an almost useless Tails in Sonic’s stages doesn’t count.  Nor does being able to have two players play one of the Game Gear games.  SA2B has that B in it for a reason- Battle mode.  And those stages are probably some of the best and most unique multiplayer stuff that I’ve ever seen.  Hours of fun!  No exaggeration!

WINNER: SA2B; no competition

The numbers may say differently, but those little after-adventure extras hold a lot of weight…

NEXT MONTH - Overalls (not the pants!)

Posted: 12-26-03