Everything runs at 60fps (dunno how the GC handled it, but the DC dropped frames plenty of times, especially during cutscenes). But everything does not come in 16.9. All CG cutscenes are still 4.3 and some non-CG ones were left at 4.3 as well.
I had not played this game in literally 10 years and thus it feels considerably more difficult than I last remember it. Well, if I'm not mistaken, when I was enveloped in it on the Dreamcast, I was trying to get an A rank for all missions - didn't happen. Probably A ranked a lot of them, but not all of them. The overall challenge in the game is fairly fair. Fairly fair? Yes, because this is the Sonic Adventure series where the collision is downright terrible. I had collision that reminded me of SA1 where you're running through a long narrow curve, run into the side of the wall and your char is literally running in circles from colliding with the sides.
I'm unaware if there were any improvements made to the game (1-player only), and if there were, I'm oblivious to them.
Before I dive into my "adventure" running through the game from Hero to Last, I want to say that while I found most of the game fairly challenging, the most challenging thing that I had to do back in the day... only cost me 1 life (Shadow vs Biolizard) and it wouldn't have cost me any lives (and maybe not even any rings) if I was aware that you could lose a life sitting in the water. Haha, I don't remember that ever happening before in the past. For the record, I want to point out that particular battle in all Sonic games that I've played feels iconic. It's a battle that literally stood out from the entire game where you have the usual David vs Goliath theme, but the track during the battle, is EPIC. The lyrics (hard to hear during the actual game FOR ONCE, granted it's the song that does that) are literally telling Shadow's turning point in this silly story. It's a really nice touch. That and the final battle are similar in that regard. It's such a powerful presentation that helped the game end on such a high note.
Throughout the game, nothing's really changed, I mean, I can point out that after you finish a stage with Sonic, instead of showing off his profile, he's staring at YOU (former was better, IMO - the latter just reminds me how wrong the in-game artwork was for him). The Sonic & Shadow stages for the most part are still the best and I MIGHT even speed run a Sonic and Shadow stage. White Jungle is easily my favorite Shadow stage thanks to it's EPIC MUSIC, the sense of SPEED you get from watching Shadow swing on vines. With Sonic, my favorite is Final Rush, and if you know how I enjoy playing Sonic by now, then you would know that Final Rush is probably simultaneously the fastest and the slowest Sonic stage. Rail grinding in this stage is SO AWESOME, and it tends to be high risk/high reward. I really dislike how Sonic runs in this game and spin dashing is so derpy with the herp derp collision. (Side note: I realized Sonic's voice in this game sounds similar to his current Japanese voice.) Oh, and unlike Generations, you get to use all sorts of Sonic's moves through the main stages! Rouge & Knuckles' stages... either I got lucky a few times (finding emeralds that weren't on the radar a few times) or it wasn't as annoying as I remembered. My scores were low, but I was expecting a 20 minute run in Meteor Herd, but did it in maybe 5. One small thing that I didn't get to experience before was the exclamation mark that pops up when you're pretty much next to the Emerald Shard. Still, not very replayable. I do very much enjoy the presence of Knuckles and Rouge in this game, but this gameplay design... if not just the level design itself, sometimes comes off as a bit extreme. Last but not least, Tails/Eggman stages. To some extent, I've enjoyed this gameplay, granted the targeting does seem a bit nerfed from SA1. It might just be me, but I found some of the stages to be too drawn out and it doesn't help that the gameplay itself is pretty linear. It's not always easy, though. Even though I may be able to target enemies quickly, I often forget that the ones with projectiles/or long range attacks are targetting me and I can't just sit and point and shoot.
And YES. PLENTY OF CAMERA ISSUES. Overall, I don't regret getting this game, but I've run into a bit of a problem. You see, I have gotten into raising Chao and doing that requires simply playing the game and there's not a lot I want to do. I just might find myself not playing the game for some time again, but now that I think of it... I just might have a solution to this issue. Last but not least, I hope this game outsells Sonic 4 Episode 2. Why? Just for the lulz... seriously. I don't want Sega to go back to Adventure style gameplay because everything that's wrong with the Sonic/Shadow gameplay just makes me want to play Unleashed and Generations more because Unleashed and Generations - make sense!
Oh, shoutouts to Sachiko Kawamura... PLEASE HAVE MY BABIES... if not, I'll be your lover forever - I just want to watch you draw Sonic. :3
Overall, SA2 is still mediocre at best. It has it's highs, but it has it's lows which are just as prominent and unfortunately more frequent. Speaking of highs and lows, why the hell didn't Sega fix the volume? The music plays over the voices, especially Shadows and Eggmans.
I almost want to play Sonic Heroes. Apparently, I don't think I've ever mentioned that game in my blog as I haven't labeled it. Honestly, that was... the 2nd worst Sonic game I've ever played (Ep1 being the worst). No, I think I'm just curious or retardedly nostalgic... or both. It must be this Adventure gameplay I've been diving into lately. Before SA2, I was playing SA1 for a bit (which reminds me, SA2 doesn't make me feel like shit, unlike SA1). So I suppose my brain is just reminding me of what was next in line. I still own Heroes on the PS2, but I think I would rather play the seemingly better XBOX version of the game... providing I can find it. Probably not worth it. There is nothing wholeheartedly memorable about Heroes.
My tone in this blog has shifted. Been feeling more energetic lately, but - that's for another blog~
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