I think this game has a bit of an unfair reputation for being not very good. People think “Why does this game have trains in it? Trains have nothing to do with Zelda! It must be bad” and “It looks like this game is just Phantom Hourglass again, it must be bad” and I don’t feel they give it a real chance.

First, I want to talk about the most controversial aspect: the trains. Personally, I love the trains. The game’s world is made up of several different areas which are all connected by a large railway system. This completely changes the way you travel across Hyrule and I find it quite refreshing. You use the touch screen to tap things you want to shoot with the train’s cannon or to pull a rope to blow the whistle (which you occasionally need to do). There are some little boss battles that you do while in the train and sometimes you need to use it to deliver goods or to give people lifts between different destinations. Something about driving these trains is hugely satisfying. The only problem with the trains is that they aren’t used often enough. I hope a future game will make further use of them.

Another new exciting feature is the addition of Zelda as a semi-playable companion with Link. Near the start of the game Zelda is essentially killed and is left as a ghost. As a ghost Zelda can possess big phantom enemies which are then required to solve certain puzzles. The whole game is controlled with the DS touch screen, however, and I feel this makes this mechanic a little needlessly difficult.

The game also makes use of the DS microphone and this is another way that I feel the game has been hindered by its need to use controls other than buttons. This time Link has a musical instrument again (a pan flute) and to play it, you move it around on the screen while blowing into the microphone. Usually, this is fine, but sometimes it just didn’t seem to work at all. Twice I actually started to feel lightheaded because I had to blow into the microphone so much (since it just wasn’t working.)

I also feel the game is let down by its dungeons and storyline, which both felt a bit ‘generic Zelda‘. Link is a regular guy training to be a train driver, when he gets caught up in the events that leave Zelda as a spirit, so he has to help collect certain items so he can help defeat the evil that caused this, and so on. The villain, by the way, felt to me like a poor stand in for Ganon. The dungeons, meanwhile, never felt like something new.

But don’t get me wrong, this is a good game. It moves the series forward in ways that I like a lot, but I feel that it was held back by its need to maintain certain staples of the Zelda series… Staples that are not necessarily bad, but which feel rather unoriginal here. It’s the good things, however, that I remember fondly; a more prominent role for Zelda (with some lovely interactions with Link) and an absolutely wonderful new train feature. Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss my latest article for Rice Digital!)

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

With two solid 3D Sonic games made so far, it was only natural for the series to continue in this new style. Sadly, however, the high quality of the two Sonic Adventure tites wouldn’t carry over into Sonic’s third 3D game: Sonic Heroes. The game is generally fun, but it certainly does have a lot of problems.

This time around there are twelve playable characters, but you always play as a whole team of three at once and these teams are: Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails and Knuckles), Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge and Omega, a new character), Team Chaotix (Espio, Vector and Charmy, some returning classics) and Team Rose (Amy, Big and Cream, who is making her first 3D appearance). Right away, we have a problem with the game. You essentially control one of the three at a time (the other two just follow) and every team has a ‘speed’, ‘power’ and ‘flying’ character and you regularly need to switch between them in order to get through any level. In a hurry, the switching around is awkward and can often unfairly lose you a life. It just feels like a like a bad idea they added to try and make it unique.

Also, each different team has their own storyline and all the stories tie together, but other than a few cutscenes, there’s very little focus on story this time, which is a shame with the last two console Sonic games having excellent stories. What’s also annoying is that with the four teams, you’re essentially going to be just playing through all the same levels (albeit with slight differences) four times. A lot of the levels aren’t that great either, with many sections where you’ll run off a ramp or something and then miss the platform you’re supposed to land on for seemingly no reason. The whole game is full of sections that don’t work properly, which can make things very frustrating, when you keep dying because of things that are out of your control. I also struggle to understand why any of these levels exist within the fictional universe, they all just seem to be for the gameplay and have no real justification.

Remember how I said that you have to do the same levels four times? Well, that will only be the case if you’re really lucky. To actually get to the game’s final boss and ending, you have to collect all of the Chaos Emeralds, and to get all of the Chaos Emeralds you have to find these keys hidden in levels, then not get hurt at all until you win. This alone is pretty hard, but then after this you have to win an extremely difficult ‘special’ stage, The ‘special’ stages have you running through these weird tubes in order to catch a Chaos Emerald (which, for some reason, is flying away from you) and you have to go as fast as you can (collecting speed orbs and avoiding spike bombs) to get it. It sounds easy, but it’s really hard because it’s so horribly glitchy that you’re going to need to try so many times and, to be clear, you have to win a level with a key every single time you want another try at the ‘special’ stage…

So, that’s about it. It’s not all bad (parts of it are good) but it is still quite bad. Probably worth trying if you know you like Sonic, but not if you aren’t very familiar with the series and certainly not as your first exposure to it. Also, I played the Gamecube version of the game and, sadly, the other versions are even worse (in terms of glitches).

Rating: 6/10

Buy it for Gamecube here.

Buy it for Xbox here.

Buy it for Playstation 2 here.

Buy it for PC here.

(Don’t miss my latest article or Rice Digital!)

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

With Sonic Adventure being really good, it was only natural that it’d be followed up with a sequel. Most significant about this game is probably the fact that it introduces us to the character of Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow is polarising with fans, but I am on the side that likes him very much. He’s a troubled, mysterious character and a few hints about his backstory are given to us as it goes along. I certainly appreciated this very much.

Sadly, the story has very little to do with its exceptional prequel, but its plot does still stand on its own merits. Eggman has broken into a military base in order to obtain information about the abandoned space colony ARK which his grandfather was involved with because he hopes that he’ll be able to use it on his way to achieving his goal of world domination and building Eggman Land. While there, he runs into Shadow. Sonic, meanwhile, has been mistaken for Shadow and arrested (despite being a world-renowned hero), so he escapes his captors but then has to avoid the military.

Like last time there are six playable characters, but sadly only three different play styles. There are two stories, the ‘Hero’ story and the ‘Dark’ story which, as you may be able to guess, tell the story from either the point of view of the heroes or the point of view of the villains. The ‘Hero’ story has you play as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles; Sonic has regular, speed-based levels, Tails (in his transformed aeroplane) has third person shooter type levels and Knuckles explores giant levels looking for shards of the broken Master Emerald. The ‘Dark’ story has you play as Shadow, Eggman and Rouge the Bat (I find Rogue rather annoying). Shadow plays pretty much the same as Sonic, Eggman the same as Tails and Rouge the same as Knuckles.

I think it’s quite a shame that they made all of the characters match up like that, as it spoils the diversity that the first game had. Notably, the speed levels with Sonic and Shadow run a lot more smoothly than the ones in the last game (barely any glitches) but while this is an improvement, Tails and Eggman feel like worse versions of Gamma (from the last game) and the levels that Knuckles and Rouge have to explore are far too big, they’re huge and mostly without interesting features, making them quite boring. Sonic Adventure 2 also lacks any kind of hub world, which I think is a shame; the levels simply play one after another with cutscenes in the middle. The upside of this is that it allows for a different kind of storytelling and a narrative with a greater sense of tension. On the subject of tension, things get a lot darker this time; for once I actually fond Eggman threatening (I normally just love him as a comical, ridiculous villain).

A Chao Garden is featured again and I believe that it has been improved. A Chao will now change physically depending on who raises it; a Hero character will make Chao look white and angelic, whereas a Dark character will make a Chao look black and demonic. There are more mini-games for the Chao to play and it just feels generally expanded. This time, in order to access it, you just have to collect a Chao Key in the middle of a level, which means you are taken there automatically and so will probably go there more often (prompting you to use this feature more). As always, the Chao are extremely cute.

Like the first game, Sonic Adventure 2 also features an enhanced Gamecube version entitled Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. I have to admit that I’ve actually only played the Gamecube version, but they’re not too different from each other so you shouldn’t worry about which version you get. The game has a small multiplayer mode (where you can race or battle another player) but it’s nothing special and this was expanded slightly for the Gamecube. The Chao Garden can also be linked to the Gameboy Advance Sonic games with this version. The only real downsides of buying that version is that the Dreamcast one had several hidden cameos from Big the Cat, and these were removed (for some reason) from the Gamecube one.

The game may not be quite as good as the first one, but, I still like it very much. Rating: 8.7/10

Buy it for Gamecube here.

Buy it for Dreamcast here.

(Don’t miss my latest Finger Puppet Show!)

(Don’t miss my latest article for SmartDating UK!)

Sonic Adventure is the first fully 3D game in the Sonic series and it certainly did very well with the transition. It’s a well-rounded game with a variety of play styles, an exciting storyline and a beautiful soundtrack which really sets the tone.

There are six playable characters, all of whom end up caught up in Eggman’s latest plan to take over the world; this time using a water based creature called Chaos (with a hugely interesting backstory). You can play through as each character (all of which play uniquely) and watch the story unfold from their different points of view (something I like very much).

First, you have Sonic. When you play as Sonic, you get what you’d expect: levels that you can get through by running very quickly. Then you have Tails. Tails’ levels are the same as Sonic’s, but each time you’re racing Sonic and beating him is the goal. You also have Knuckles. Knuckles, after the destruction of the Master Emerald, has big levels to explore in order to find and restore its broken shards. Amy Rose is playable too. Amy’s levels are slower paced and she is always pursued by an evil robot called ZERO. Two new characters were introduced as well, and I like both of them very much. One character is Big the Cat; Big is a fairly comical character and his levels are all fishing based as he attempts to catch his missing pet Froggy. Finally, you have E-102 Gamma, one of Eggman’s robots. Gamma’s levels are slightly slower paced (like Amy’s) and adopt a third person shooter play style. The downside of all of this is that controls can feel a bit glitchy at times (leading to the occasional unfair death) but it’s never a huge problem.

Seeing the story from these six different perspectives was a very good idea, narratively speaking. All the characters are quite likeable and there’re lots of scenes of them interacting. It may be hard to believe from a light-hearted series like Sonic but it can be quite emotional at times. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this game contains one of the saddest scenes I’ve ever experienced in a video game. But it can also be fun and upbeat! I get a lot of enjoyment out of Big and Eggman especially. A pair of hilarious characters there. What’s also nice is that you don’t just go from level to level, all of the levels can be found on a hub world and I certainly appreciated this. Some areas are nice and mysterious, making them prime for exploration, especially when you want to take things slow and not just rush to the next stage.

Another thing I really like are the Chao. This is the first game in the Sonic series to include the Chao which are a race of small baby-like creatures which you can take the time to look after between levels. The Chao are probably the cutest creatures I’ve come across in the world of gaming and I find caring for them in the Chao Gardens extremely fun and rewarding. You find animals in the action levels and then, when a Chao interacts with them, it can copy their abilities and you use this to make them more powerful for a series of mini-games they can take part in. I like it all because it’s enjoyable and because they’re completely adorable.

There is also a slightly enhanced version of the game called Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut, I’ve played both it and the original. DX is essentially the same experience but with minor graphical improvements and two significant additions; the first is the ability to unlock twelve Game Gear Sonic games, which is very nice and the option to do some additional ‘missions’ after the game’s story has been completed. The missions are fun, but nothing substantial. DX is probably the definitive version of the game, but you won’t be missing much if you get the normal edition.

Overall, a fun, varied game (regardless of version). Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here for Dreamcast.

Buy it for Gamecube here.

Buy it for PC here.