Why people are still praising this game?

[Ikagura]

I mean, the game has aged both in gameplay and graphics and the levels not being played by Sonic and Shadow are tedious.

I just want to know why this game is still so-called "the best" or just "the last good Sonic" by fans.

[The Pest]

Watch Ruby of Blue's breakdown of ProJared's review. ProJared completely botched the game with unnecessary and some even untrue statements/misconceptions.

Or moreso to answer your question, look at J's retrospective on the series. You can most likely just look up Sonic Adventure 2 review and this would be the first thing to show up

[Ikagura]

Originally posted by My OC Wafflenuts:

Watch Ruby of Blue's breakdown of ProJared's review. ProJared completely botched the game with unnecessary and some even untrue statements/misconceptions.

Or moreso to answer your question, look at J's retrospective on the series. You can most likely just look up Sonic Adventure 2 review and this would be the first thing to show up

I've never talked about Jared...

But let's be honest: the Treasure Hunting and Mech Shooting stages are just there to make the game artificially longer and weren't that good.

[NBOX21]

City Escape proves just how much attention to detail went into this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlz-K3tRVxQ
Not to mention it is bar none the most replayable game in the entire franchise thanks to the ranking system. Getting all A's took me about 70 hours on GameCube.

[Ikagura]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

City Escape proves just how much attention to detail went into this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlz-K3tRVxQ
Not to mention it is bar none the most replayable game in the entire franchise thanks to the ranking system. Getting all A's took me about 70 hours on GameCube.

And then there's this video https://youtu.be/-kE9BR24XIw?t=807


Also the ranking system isn't that good...

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by Ikagura:

Also the ranking system isn't that good...

You really underestimate the ranking systems of these games. Look at these TAS runs of both City Escape and Seaside Hill, where despite going through the level as fast as possible, they skip a lot of the level and don't really interact with the design much, thus only getting a B or C respectively:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5CD6432rSk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzI2q_JelrM
Then look at Green Hill Zone act 1, notice how you can consistently get the best scores by barely interacting with the levels and just getting through them as fast as you can, thus losing all its replay value:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zMHaHPXqqg

[EnderCatCore]

people like the game because they have opinions. now stop trying to "trigger dumb sonic fans hahah"

[Sixtyfivekills]

Because you wouldn't hang around with us if we didn't.

[cat burger sunday meal]

just because aging has made it bad doesnt mean it was never good before. that especially doesnt matter to the "last good sonic game" claim, i mean i dont agree with that at all, but still.

people like this game because, back then, they really enjoyed it. people like it now because they really enjoy it. thats all there is to liking video games, not sure where you are confused?

i can easily criticize this game to pieces, sometimes unfairly because its like 2 decades old, sometimes fair (mech stages arent fun at all to me), but what truly matters is sitting down, playing, and seeing what you think. we can analyze games and pick them apart like essays but in the end the only gauge of goodness is whether or not a lot of people enjoy it. even then its not necessarily bad because someone else doesnt enjoy it.

[Ikagura]

Originally posted by kevin the almighty 1997:

I can easily criticize this game to pieces, sometimes unfairly because its like 2 decades old,

The age argument isn't really an excuse.

[cat burger sunday meal]

Originally posted by Ikagura:

The age argument isn't really an excuse.

How so? Things like fundamental game design don't get an excuse for age, but things like some jankiness, graphical error, sound error, length, themes, etc. all can easily get a pass. It's a game from 2001 ported like 3 times to steam over the course of years. Not to mention only being the second true 3d sonic installment.

[Ikagura]

Originally posted by kevin the almighty 1997:

Originally posted by Ikagura:

The age argument isn't really an excuse.

How so? Things like fundamental game design don't get an excuse for age, but things like some jankiness, graphical error, sound error, length, themes, etc. all can easily get a pass. It's a game from 2001 ported like 3 times to steam over the course of years. Not to mention only being the second true 3d sonic installment.

Games that came out before this one were better and had less problems.

[cat burger sunday meal]

Originally posted by Ikagura:

Games that came out before this one were better and had less problems.

Okay? At this point it just seems like you're trying to win an argument based purely on subjective opinion. To many, the shortcomings of this game don't get in the way of them loving it. To you, it does. That's okay. But what are you trying to prove? Whether or not you believe the game is genuinely bad or good doesn't change people's opinions

And, to respond to your very first question, people like this game because they think its fun and has a great story. You don't have to agree, not everyone likes it. Even I don't like it as much as the original

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by kevin the almighty 1997:

Okay? At this point it just seems like you're trying to win an argument based purely on subjective opinion. To many, the shortcomings of this game don't get in the way of them loving it. To you, it does. That's okay. But what are you trying to prove? Whether or not you believe the game is genuinely bad or good doesn't change people's opinions

That, and I've played games that came out before that had more flaws or less polish than this but are still held in high regard. Heck, Final Fantasy 7, one of my favourite games, lacks polish in a lot of areas and doesn't hold up nearly as well as this game does. But I would much rather a game that's much more interesting and memorable with a few flaws here and there, like Sonic Adventure 2 and Unleashed, over something that's more technically refined and polished but nowhere near as interesting or fun, like Sonic Generations and Forces.

Originally posted by kevin the almighty 1997:

And, to respond to your very first question, people like this game because they think its fun and has a great story. You don't have to agree, not everyone likes it. Even I don't like it as much as the original

Adventure 2 is one of those low skill floor, high skill ceiling kind of games, the kind of experience that can be fun for beginners to play through casually, but highly replayable for experienced players. The ranking system especially drives players to always try their absolute best no matter what. However, this kind of experience is not for everyone.

[cat burger sunday meal]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

Adventure 2 is one of those low skill floor, high skill ceiling kind of games, the kind of experience that can be fun for beginners to play through casually, but highly replayable for experienced players. The ranking system especially drives players to always try their absolute best no matter what. However, this kind of experience is not for everyone.

Yeah, I don't think that was for me. That's probably what caused me to enjoy Adventure more. Still I love a lot of what this game stands for, especially in it's presentation.

[endtimes]

Honestly, there are good and bad aspects of it. I'd say compared to some newer sega games it's actually aged relatively well, but it would be stupid to deny that it can be glitchy and unpolished in many areas. Some people really like the tank levels! There is something fun about stringing long combos together. Though I personally don't like them, I think whether those are good or not is entirely subjective.

Some good things this game did:
- ranking system is rewarding despite being based on points
- a clear amount of love and care was poured into the game, especially looking at the detailed level design and many routes that can be taken
- the gameplay itself makes good use of sonic's abilities. You can still go fast and platform in the same level
- the soundtrack. enough said
- the chao! people tend to not like them because the gameplay is so far from what you traditionally expect from sonic, but you can tell tons of work was poured into their ai and raising them can be very rewarding.
- the story! this is subjective as well but sa1 and sa2 both have well thought out stories. being able to play both good and "evil" characters is still a really refreshing touch

Bad things this game did:
- glitchy, you can throw yourself off the stage
- (i don't know if it's just the port) rail grinding is frustrating and it's far too easy to just throw yourself off the stage
- lock on attacks (sonic and shadow) are strange and hard to predict sometimes
- unfair enemies in some places
- the chao. it takes forever to raise one. i had to install mods because it was so frustrating.

it's not the perfect game by any means, but honestly compared to many others it's aged pretty well. I only wish that sega kept polishing the adventure formula instead of pursuing other things. what can you do, right?