Theme music for this part of the game.
WHOA. Hello, -textures-. And big blocky buildings. And trigger camera controls. And ... Man, did we put up with a lot on the Dreamcast. This was cutting edge and I lived through the period where it was cutting edge. Eesh.
This is, honestly, where I started to become a fan of the series. I played and liked and was -terrible- at some of the 2D Sonic games, but the 3D era is where my love bloomed, for some reason. Sonic Adventure really is where it started, too. Much of what I love is in this game: The ridiculous plotlines, the intensely hammy voice acting (Robotnik/Eggman here attempting to EAT EVERY SCENE HE'S IN, WHOLE using only the power of his voice), the big sprawling 3D stages.
Well, they seemed really big once. When I was younger.
Ah yes, hello Tails. This is where I learned to think of him as a seven year old girl of a boy, too. That voice acting sounds like he's trying out for a role in any given Charlie Brown production. "And that's what Christmas is all about, Sonic."
Poor Tikal/floating hint mote. She, on the other hand, sounds like they locked her voice actress in a closet and had her narrate through the door. "SONIC! Mmmfm mmfm mmf city mhh sewers!" Thanks, Tikal. Whatever you said. Sure it wasn't important. I'll just wander around for an hour and a half clutching this Wind Stone and trying to remember where to stick it. Maybe you are suggesting places in there. I would not blame you.
Runrunrunrun HELLO CASINO ZONE. Hello, NiGHTS Pinball. Goodbye, rest of game. AFK forever playin' pinball.
Oh god. Tails screaming "COME ON, SONIC, WE NEED TO GET BUSY!" I have the toy from this page and it yells that when you push the button. Tails is kind of adorably derpy looking when he says it, which just adds to the "awww".
Ah, the Sonic Adventure hint system. "Use the Ice Stone in the Mystic Ruins!" There's an ice stone in the mystic ruins? I'll go there. "Didn't you see an ice stone somewhere?" Well, NO, actually, that's why I came here... Turns out the ice stone is in a disused back alley somewhere in the city. Young, Stubborn Me wandered around for HOURS ON END looking for these things. Old, experienced me turns to goddamn GameFAQs as soon as things get ambiguous.
Nngh. This GAME. My feelings are SUPER CONFLICTED. Like, I'll be all playing through the snow level like "Well this is KINDA OKAY but really muddled level design and aimless..." and then there's THAT SNOWBOARD CHASE SCENE with the Crash Bandicoot camera that swings around into a full downhill run, and suddenly I'm having a BLAST playing this game all over again.
Nobody in this game has the common sense god gave CHEESE, do they.
Oh, god. Alt-tabbing out to answer my IMs has left the game without any visible textures, just white and gray polygons moving around. I can barely make out a damn thing. It's not like I can beat the Chaos Form 4 boss fight from muscle memory without taking a hit or anyth-- oh, I guess I can.
Guys, I may have HORRIBLY MISSPENT MY YOUTH. M'just sayin'.
Oh, hey! I forgot that this came with a chunk of Panzer Dragoon in it, when you get in Tails' biplane that shoots GODDAMN LASERS for some reason and fly it around! Wow. Tails was the best fox when I was younger.
The first thing Sonic does after landing from a plane crash is snark at a little girl. "YOU'RE not who I'm looking for!" Geez, Sonic, it's not her fault. Do not take your lack of knowledge of airplane safety out on the small child. Buy a seat belt.
"Now you can play with Amy!" Or you can take this nail file and slide it repeatedly into your nostrils. It will actually hurt less. Okay, that's uncharitable, but I never liked her at ALL. At least her plot in this game gives her a reason to show up that isn't "OMG SONIC ATTACH TO LEG AND CUDDLE". We'll cover that plot when I -do- play as her, I guess.
Also her theme song is hilarious and wonderful. Also to cover later.
Amy aside, though, I think Twinkle Park is my favorite level in the game. GREAT level music, it's fun to go through without being a complete pushover, it's got that fun bumper car section at the start, it's just a delight all around. SO MANY SMILES going through this section.
Then, suddenly! SPEED HIGHWAY. Why are we on Speed Highway? What purpose does this serve? Does this further the plot at all? SHUT UP RIGHT NOW AND RUN DOWN THIS SKYSCRAPER. Oh god this is so good.
And then Amy was kidnapped and we never saw her again. C'est la vie.
... *tap fingers* OH ALL RIGHT I guess I'll go after her. To the mountains! With the Light Speed Dash! Huzzah!
...why do I have an inventory full of pink elephants? Is that a thing you do here? Collect those? I have totally forgotten WHY.
I keep forgetting Red Mountain is a stage Sonic has to do. I think of it as Knuckles Land for some reason. It's not very memorable either way I guess.
Tails shows up in a biplane THAT TRANSFORMS INTO AN X-WING. Which STILL SHOOTS LASERS. Yay for Tails! He is still a pretty okay fox. Even if I really couldn't tell what gender he was for most of my young life. And even if he forgets what LANDING GEAR is, he still lands the damn thing by whumping it into the Egg Carrier. Good show Tails. Claps all 'round.
God I love how Sonic's head randomly BULGES when he talks, like something inside, perhaps his brain, is trying to ESCAPE.
I remember the Sky Deck of the Egg Carrier UTTERLY DEVASTATING a younger me who was BAD at how 3D perspective worked. The entire stage would flip over sideways, and the camera would take this sickly dutch angle, and suddenly Young Sqrl was LOST. "How do I perspective? Where I jump? Why I fall off ship when jump? GRAVITY WHERE AND HOW? WHAT WHAT WHAT?" I would ask, clutching my face and laying on the floor as the camera whirled around me Hitchcock-style.
Older Me is all like "OMG this is SO QUAINT they're rotating the stage for extra difficulty! :D" and then my brain just... makes the adjustments and plays through. BUT AT THE TIME THIS STAGE WAS HORRIBLE AND HARD, OKAY? I'M NOT CRAZY. i'mnotcrazy.
E102-Gamma. A -great- idea for a one-off character... and then they kept bringing back the "robot who turns against Robotnik" character idea over and over again. Oh well. (Yeah, I am complaining at Sonic for re-using character ideas. I know, they never do that.)
There is a boss fight. Big and Knuckles stand around during it. ... I know nobody likes Big. I like Big. I like fishing minigames whenever they happen. I am not a Big -fan-, but I am fond of Big.
The Lost World is where I die the most, because HA HA WATER TEMPLES, AM I RIGHT? ... *awkward silence* Yeah whatever. I die a lot.
Then we get a big drop of Tikal's backstory, whee. Tikal is oddly, inexplicably popular as far as I can tell, and... I'm not sure why. Her role is "Be a signpost, then be dead" and the dying part took place -thousands of years ago- in the games, but people still ask if she's coming back when a new game is announced. I guess I can kind of understand why... Sonic Team took a big jungle trip and designed her based on that, so she's kinda "Authentic" feeling in a way that a lot of characters since aren't...
Oh well. It is PROBABLY not worth fretting over what the fandom thinks. They are insane people.
Final Egg! Not so tough. Egg Viper, AKA the last boss... THIS is kinda tough. I remember the patterns ("Get a load of this! Get-a-get-aloadathis!") but I keep flubbing. About ten lives later, though... ENDING! END CREDITS!
Huh. There's a guy in the "vocals" list named "Dread Fox". That is awesome.
Okay! Well, that's Sonic's storyline down. It's 2 AM, 1/1/13.
Tomorrow I will push through some of "And the rest".
This entry was originally posted at http://xyzzysqrl.dreamwidth.org/319705.h