Sonic Adventure 2

Development History
   The ten year mark is a milestone in GameLand. Very few "mascots" are even remembered that long, and even fewer remain active after reaching such a ripe age. Sonic's only equal in terms of sheer charisma is Mario. While everyone loves Pac-Man and Mega Man, it can't be denied that both icons have failed to evolve significantly. Bubsy, Gex, and several others who I shall not mention are best left forgotten. PaRappa and Sonic Team's own NiGHTS have potential, but have yet to prove their ability to withstand the test of time. Solid Snake and the Chocobos have been around for awhile, but have only gained mass popularity in recent years. Lara Croft, Crash, and Pikachu are taking the path of the passing fad. Buncha sissies. If there ever were doubts as to Sonic's mascot qualifications, they have surely been quelled and forgotten.

   Ah, but you don't need that pep talk if you're reading this. We've all stuck by our hedgehog hero through the darkest hours (X-Treme, 3D Blast, etc.), all we have to do now is sit back and reap our sweet "told you so" rewards. The next twist in this roller coaster is Sonic Adventure 2, developed by the newly-formed Sonic Team USA.

   What's up with Sonic Team USA? Initially formed for the localization of the original Sonic Adventure, Sonic Team USA consists of twelve members of Sonic Team. (Ironically enough, not one is American.) After ironing the bugs out of the rushed Japanese version of Adventure, and adding English dialogue along with English, French, Spanish, and German text, Team USA built the domestic landing pad for ChuChu Rocket!. Rumors of a sequel to Adventure in development by "Sonic Team USA" began circulating just weeks after the US Dreamcast launch, but were quickly shot down by PR. Gee, we should've known better than that...

Sonic Team USA

   With the man himself at the helm, Sonic Team USA has been working on Sonic's second major Dreamcast outing for about a year now. The game is being shown behind those elusive "closed doors" at E3 2000, but early version screenshots have been tossed to the mass public, so that we may viciously fight over them like the starving dogs we are. Check 'em out here.

   Note the city depicted in the screenshots is quite reminiscent of San Francisco. All the character models are predictably based on the original Sonic Adventure set, only Sonic's quills seem to be even more streamlined. Knuckles will be returning for certain, and -- of course -- everyone's favorite evil genius appears to be the mastermind behind the latest catastrophe. (Go Robotnik! Ganbaru, Eggman!) Those adorable Chao will be returning, although whether they'll play as big a role in the sequel as they did in the original remains to be seen. One screen depicts Knux swimming (he can swim, too?) in a sunken city of sorts. Hm...if Sonic Adventure 2 can successfully combine the style and speed of Adventure with the depth and sheer size of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles levels, then this may indeed be an evolution that was ready to happen, and not just the cash-in it sounds like upon first blush.

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Information compiled and arranged by Jared "Green Gibbon!" Matte. But make no mistake, NEO GHZ is a part of SonicNEXT. All Sonic related materials are copyright Sega Enterprises. SonicNEXT is created by Zifei Wu. Space provided by VGHQ.com.