I really wanted to like Sonic Adventure. I never actually owned the game for Dreamcast but Nickle Nickle an old arcade near me had some Dreamcasts set up in the back row rigged as arcade machines and I played it a few times there. Now the classic Dreamcast game is back and ported to Xbox Live Arcade. I was thinking about buying it just to support the rerelease of more dreamcast games but I decided to pass. I was hoping the port would be given more care like Rez was, actually redone in 16:9 full smooth HD, instead it feels a bit sloppy with blue bars on the side forcing you to play in 4:3. Although Sonic Adventure isn't really a "hardcore" game it was interesting to see how much easier games have gotten in the decade since its been released. I died on the part where you do a few loops in the first level, I figured there would be more leeway but it seemed like you really had to spin the sticks around in a few circles to make it past that part, todays games would let you make it by just holding the stick one direction for sure. I thought I was automatically collecting those little critters you save from beating the enemies too, but no you really need to make an effort to collect them otherwise they are goners.
It was interesting to play Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light right after checking out Sonic. I noticed both games string loot along a path through the level to guide the player. Some loot is there just to show you where to go, and others reward exploration. Lots of games use this mechanic, and Sonic obviously wasn't the first. The critter mechanic was unique to Sonic though, and I think more games could use this. Rather than just killing nameless enemy number X, they could have a reason for being there.
15 years ago
