Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega Media: GCD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Platformer
Graphics & Sound: Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut is a fun game that puts the speedy hedgehog and several of his friends in a 3D environment as they attempt to stop the evil Dr. Robotnic from collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds. And this time the Eggman has a side kick, Chaos - the god of destruction who grows more powerful with every emerald that the round doc collects. The worlds and levels that Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose must travel through are filled with many highly detailed obstacles and objects. The detail put into the game's graphics were definitely above par. They weren't the typical blocky models and scenery that has become common on the GameCube. One aspect of Sonic Adventure that really impressed me was the music. It wasn't the basic bells and whistles that I have come to expect from some games, but the music in Sonic DX fit the levels and was of high quality. For example, the first time I traveled to The Mystic Ruins, I was shocked to hear a lot of percussion and chanting that made me feel like I was at some ancient temple deep in a South American jungle. The sound was a big plus for me. In most games, I found that I could play without the music and not have any problems, but this was the first game in a long while that made me want to turn up the sound.
Gameplay: Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut continues the story of the fastest hedgehog and his friends as they foil Robotnic's plans. This time, the evil doctor has taken control of Chaos itself and has the blue creature doing his bidding. Every time Robotnic collects one of the seven Chaos Emeralds and gives it to the Chaos creature, it gets more powerful. Your mission as Sonic and his pals is to collect the Emeralds before Robotnic can get them. Sometimes he will take them from just under your nose and you will be forced to face the big baddy just after he gets stronger. Generally, this is a quick battle and consists mostly of jump attacks and collecting rings. As you progress through the game, you unlock the other characters that make up Sonic's band of heroes. You will gain access to Tails, Knuckles, Big the Cat, Amy Ross and Gamma. Each of these people has their own Mission Level where you are required to finish some task. Along the way, you will also find special items for each of the characters that will help that person's special attributes. An example of this is the Shovel Claw for Knuckles that allows him to dig and collect items. You can also connect to Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2 to transfer your Chao, a small creature that you can raise and watch as they develop different abilities, from one game to another, as well as different items that you can buy to keep the creatures happy. With the connection, you can also open up mini-games that use the Chaos.
Difficulty: The difficulty isn't that high for Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut. You can get through most of the levels in the Adventure mode without any problems, though I found it hard to complete the some of the timed challenges in the game.
Game Mechanics: The menu system is a pain for Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut. I got lost a few times just going around getting a feel for it. It seemed to be overly complicated and really took away from the enjoyment of the game. However, in general as far as the control scheme is concerned, it is really intuitive. I rarely had problems getting used to the controls. When I approached a completely different scenario, like Sonic turning into a pinball and gaining over controls of the paddles in the Casino level, it wasn't hard to adapt to the new system. When I got a hold of one of the character's special items, Sonic's Light Speed Shoes for example, it was easy to adapt my game style to the new controls and integrate the added abilities into gameplay. Basically, Sonic Adventure is an all around good game. Its menu system leaves something to be desired, but once you get into the game, you can have a lot of fun. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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