Twenty years ago, a little blue hedgehog gave a plumber a run for his money and changed my life entirely. That blue hedgehog’s name was Sonic. Of course, the route Sonic has taken to this day has definitely had some bumps and has been far from perfect after his Blast Processing days on Sega Genesis. But one game in his 3-D adventures really stood out and made a lasting impression on fans of Sonic the hedgehog and a ruler to what all-future Sonic games would be measured by: Sonic Adventure.

Sonic Adventure has been released on many consoles over time, starting with the Dreamcast, then the GameCube and now Xbox Live Arcade. The Xbox Live Arcade version also had an upgrade download for Sonic Adventure DX, the Director’s Edition, which is what I am reviewing. The game is basically a clear port of the GameCube version.

Sonic Adventure has a bit of an open-world setting in which you go around this world and entered stages. The game consists of six playable characters that all add a bit of variety to the gameplay, and each one helps develop the story deeper each play through. The story is pretty basic due to Eggman just wanting to take over Station Square, but for once, the story has a bit of depth with Chaos, Eggman’s right-hand man. This was such a breakthrough for Sonic, and I remember just being mesmerized by this game; what’s insane is it came out over a decade ago, yet to many, it is still the best Sonic game made.

Due to many playable characters, the game does have its differences with different characters. Sonic and Tails levels tend to consist of pure speed and a bit of platforming, with controls tight and very enjoyable. My biggest complaint is that Sonic at full speed can be a bit hard to control due to loose controls, but I have noticed this in all Sonic games to date; Sonic’s speed is good for straightforward movements and not tight turns or precise movements. Knuckles stages consist of searching for pieces of the Master Emerald with blinking radar showing you basically if you are hot or cold to the location. Amy’s missions are similar to Sonic and Tails but consist of more platforming than speed. E-102, the robot, is definitely a speed level like Sonic’s, just with a missile launcher available at your disposal. I must admit I really liked the addition of E-102.

The last character is Big ... and all I have to say is Big does not belong ... period. His levels consist of fishing! When did Sonic Team think, “Sonic fans enjoy the speed, beautiful graphics, small platforming sections, but you know what Sonic is missing? FISHING LEVELS!” Seriously, guys?! Big’s story has a lot to do with the overall story, but fishing was just such a terrible choice after burning through a level as fast as you can. The controls in this also were so terrible.

The game was a great jump for Sonic — maybe so good it crippled future installments. The game also added virtual pets in the game called Chaos. You could raise them by feeding them animals you saved from the levels and then racing them in events and so forth. On Xbox, there isn’t much reason to visit this, but during the Dreamcast and GameCube times, it was popular. You could take the little guys and store them on a Visual Memory Unit or your Game Boy Advance and level them up or battle them against your friends’ Chaos. It was very fun — especially since during this time, Tamagotchis were popular.

If there was ever an issue, it was the addition of the 360 cams, which could be controlled by the left and right triggers. The addition wasn’t a bad idea; it was just the first time they used this idea, and at times, it crippled the view due to cramped areas. However, most games at this time struggled with 360 cams, and the gameplay definitely made up for all this, making cameras issues forgiving.

Sonic Adventure DX is absolutely amazing graphically, and that has always seemed to be a trademark for Sonic games. Even for its time, if you look at the graphics now, some games don’t even come close to looking this good. Sound and voice acting is stellar. To be honest, the voice acting in this game set up what would become future wars over the voice of Sonic. To many, this game had the best voice actor ever for Sonic. I would say it had its flaws in the voice acting, but it never bugged me, and I still hold this game very high in my heart.

Honestly, Sonic Adventure was Sonic’s biggest stamp. It really set the standard and has lived long enough to see quite a few remakes. It is definitely one of my favorite Sonic titles, and that shines over to me owning every copy of it for every console it debuted. It is really easy to come across for Dreamcast or GameCube, and of course, it is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 via download. If you are a fan of Sonic and you have never played the game, you MUST download it or pick up a copy, and if you are curious about it just from reading this review, it is well worth the price you can get it. Pick up a copy, and Happy 20th, Sonic!

Check out TreavorClark's video review at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOQbGekX_cQ .