Browsing Tag
Sonic Adventure 2
Back in the late 90’s, Dreamcast owners could hop online via their console to surf the web and download various things to their VMU including free DLC. That’s right, not only did SEGA offer DLC in the late 90’s, it was free! Continuing our Sonic 23rd birthday celebrations, Liam aka TrackerTD of the SEGAbits This Is Saturn YouTube series put together this great showcase of most of the DLC offered in Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2. Celebrate New Years, the Dreamcast launch, Halloween, and more in the many fun additions made to these memorable Sonic titles.
Remember that weekend deal on Steam where every Sonic game was 75% off? Well, that deal is back as a daily deal during the Steam Summer Getaway Sale. Games on Steam include Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic Generations, Sonic CD and fan-favorite (sigh) Sonic Adventure 2. There’s also a collection with all Sonic games on Steam which is still the cheaper option, though it hasn’t been priced off. Click here for the sale.
Besides this, SEGA also added Steam Trading Cards to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which you can get by either playing the game, trading them or by buying them on the Steam Community Market. Valve has put up this handy page that tells you how these trading card things work.
Seasons greetings, dear Retro readers! Last night, jolly old Santa Claus visited the Retro HQ, ate all our cookies and milk, and didn’t leave us a damn thing. Fortunately, we managed to pull his bag off his sleigh as he tried to escape from our armed pursuit, and in his wonderful bag of gifts, we found a hundred pounds of solid gold ingots. We promptly sold all the gold, and I’m happy to report that all of the Retro staff slept on mattresses made entirely out of cash last night. In the spirit of the Christmas season, we thought we’d pass our frankly tremendous fortunes on to you, so today we’re holding a giveaway for a Sonic Franchise Steam Bundle. This bundle includes every single Sonic game available on Steam (see complete list below), and only one lucky reader is going to walk away with the whole thing. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post before 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on December 31st, 2012, and include an email address we can contact you at in case you win. Make sure to read the rules below as well. Good luck, and may you enjoy these games as much as we are enjoying our endless pits of money.
Complete List of Games Included:
- Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
- Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
- Sonic 3D Blast
- Sonic Adventure DX
- Sonic Adventure 2 (with Battle DLC)
- Sonic CD
- Sonic Generations (with Casino Night DLC)
- Sonic Spinball
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II
Contest Rules
- Sonic Retro staff are barred from entering. Yes, me, that means you.
- You must not already own more than three of the games on Steam. We will need permission to view your Steam profile to verify that you meet this requirement. This is so that people who don’t already own these titles have a chance to get them.
- Entries must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST on December 31, 2012, and must have supplied a valid email address.
- Only one entry per person. Trying to skirt this rule may result in all of your entries being disqualified, not just the additional entries.
- The winner will be chosen
whenever we feel like itbetween January 1st and January 7th, 2013.
Clarifications:
- You do NOT need to put your email address in the text of the comment, just use the email field provided for you.
- You do not need to put your Steam profile in your comment. We will email you and request that information when and if you are picked as the winner.
- DLC, such as the Adventure 2 Battle DLC or Generations Casino Night, does not count against the three game limit from rule two. Games will be considered as listed above.
PC owners that absolutely NEED their Sonic Adventure 2 fix can finally begin throwing their money toward their local Steam client. No, it’s not time for the yearly flogging of the wallet from Steam sales so much as Sega has finally confirmed via Twitter that SA2 and its Battle DLC will be touching down on the client on Monday, Nov. 19.
While the game offers little change from its original presentations other than proper widescreen support and some touched up textures, that’s sure to keep some fans of the game quite happy. No word on the cost or what online functionality the PC version will have, but we’re hedging our bets on the usual $9.99 price for the game and $2.99 for Battle, with leaderboards only as the online functionality.
Be sure to check out our review to see if you want to go for the PC version or remain loyal to your Dreamcast or Gamecube discs.
(SPOILER WARNING: This review contains unmarked spoilers. The game is over a decade old and well-known amongst our readers, so we deemed it unnecessary to refrain from spoilers. If you’ve never played the game before, you’ve been warned.)
In a franchise like Sonic that has been on such a rollercoaster of quality for the past twenty years, Sonic Adventure 2 somehow sticks out in the franchise as possibly the most polarizing game in the series. To one part of the fanbase, it’s the pinnacle of Sonic. Because it was the first major Sonic title on a Nintendo platform, many people cite SA2 as their introduction to the franchise. And yet to others, the game symbolizes the start of everything that nearly killed the franchise forever. So as I review Sega’s recent digital rerelease of Sonic Adventure 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, I feel it’s necessary to frame the game in context.
Outside of the broader fanbase context, I – like many others – have my own personal relationship with SA2. I was but a wee child when it first came out for the Dreamcast in 2001, and I spent a frightening number of hours engrossed in the game. It wasn’t my first exposure to the series; that title goes to Sonic 2 on the Genesis, whose predecessor and sequels received a similarly obsessive amount of my attention. In fact, the sole reason I asked for a Dreamcast for Christmas in 2000 was so that I could play the original Adventure. So, being the fanatic little child I was, Sonic Adventure 2 earned a special, fuzzy, nostalgiatastic place in my heart. The question, then, is: eleven years later, can it keep it?
No doubt some of you earlier today who have accounts on PSN were quick to snatch up Sonic Adventure 2 in its long-awaited optimization into high definition. At long last, fans can relive the exciting adventures of Sonic and friends going up against Dr. Eggman, the enigmatic Shadow the Hedgehog, and the too-subtle-for-Rated-T Rouge the Bat in the ultimate showdown between good and evil in glorious HD!
However, we happened to have gotten our hands on the game a little earlier by way of our inside tipster in Sega of America thanks to a press-exclusive review copy. Now that the non-disclosures are over, let’s show it off!
In less than a week, the seas part and Sonic Adventure 2 arrives on XBLA and PSN to save the series from the current complaint of the time period. Since its reveal at Sonic Boom 2012 in July, very little has been seen of the game, aside from a one-level demo for PAX Prime attendees.
While this trailer hasn’t made its way to Western shores just yet, we can grab our first substantive looks of gameplay, as well as a few oddities. Off the bat, some will notice that some scenes are depicted in 16:9 display and others in regular 4:3, black bars and all. We’re not exactly sure what’s up with the inconsistency, but it may be a sign that work was still in progress or some cutscenes cannot be modified without camera clipping issues cropping up, or in the case of CGI scenes, being re-rendered entirely.
Otherwise, the trailer offers little new in details. Expanded multiplayer and Chao Karate will be added in through separate Battle DLC, and while the game has some improved texture work in places, it also gives it a strange diluted look to it. Overall, this is Sonic Adventure 2 as you truly imagined it.
Watch live video from vidyaretro on www.twitch.tv
Later today the Retro crew are going to be hosting a Sega Heritage Collection showcase. We’ve been in contact with Ben K. as to when we can show the games off, and he was kind to let us know that we can go ahead and show off all three games as of this week.
We’ll be taking a look at Nights into Dreams, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 2. You can expect our fond recollections of all three games and an exploration of each game’s features before their release date. Well, except for Jet Set Radio, you can get that now on Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. But if you’re still on the fence about any of these titles, be sure to check out our livestream later today at 4PM. You can also check back here for a direct link to the feed as well.
Mark your calendars: the HD ports of Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS into Dreams will be coming your way in early October. PSN users can expect to pick up Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS on Oct. 2 for $9.99 each while XBLA users can get their turn on Oct. 5 for 800 Microsoft Points.
On top of that, SA2’s Battle DLC, which adds more multiplayer maps, characters, and Chao Karate, will be available on release for an extra $2.99/240MSP. Those who purchase NiGHTS will get access to the original Christmas NiGHTS extra content at no additional cost. It’s unknown if this will include the Sonic portion of the game, but all signs from the PS2 port of NiGHTS point to very unlikely.
[Source: SEGA]