Year released: 2002 (Gamecube)

Number of Players: 1-2 simultaneously

Eggman just freed what is supposed to be the ultimate life form, and it's willing to do his bidding!

Graphics: Some things look a bit squared off, but on a whole, pretty good. Not exactly the best stuff you'll ever see, though. Everything is quite visible and such. Oh, yeah, whenever a character performs a special attack (when in boss mode or in two-player mode), they shout out their attack while standing in front of a bunch of moving lines. This takes up the whole screen, but momentum and location is preserved.

Play control: Move around in 3D by using the control pad. Varying degrees of speed exist depending on how far you push the control pad, but mostly you just shove it forward. Also, the longer you move with it shoved forward, the faster you get. Jump with A, attack with B. For most of the cast, jumping counts as an attack. Everything is pulled off wonderfully, except when the camera gets screwy (which doesn't happen often, and is easily rectified).

Sound: Wheee-haw! The music uses modern instruments to make music you wouldn't be surprised to be accompanied with songs. Many of the songs are very enjoyable and speedy, though they change to fit the mood of the gameplay.

Challenge: If you thought Sonic Adventure was easy, meet Sonic Adventure 2. To get through both stories (yeah, there's two), it'll take two weeks or so, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Even after that, you still have 147 more challenges to meet (33 emblems for beating the story modes, whereas the game has 180 emblems in all). Such challenges revolve around doing different things in the stages. Most stages follow the same formula: finish it, get 100 rings, find the Chao, beat it within a certain time, and beat a harder version of the stage.

Gameplay: Same old ring collecting deal--get hit, you die, but if you have rings, you live and simply drop the rings.
The stages many people will be interested are the Sonic/Shadow stages. You run through pretty linear stages overcoming obstacles in the form of gaping holes and enemies, just trying to get to the end. Action is fluid and fast. When you really play a stage in order to realize its full potential (get the highest score possible), you realize that it is built just so that Sonic or Shadow can turn the progression of a stage into an art. For example: you could run along, jumping and sliding into enemies. Or, you could grind on that rail, hop off, jump from enemy to enemy without touching the ground, and then hit the B button, allowing Sonic or Shadow to instantly run along a string of rings that are suspended in the air. That's just 1/3rd of the game, though.
Next are the Knuckles/Rouge stages. These stages are awful until you get the hang of them--you have to search for emerald pieces. You get a radar to trace how close you are, but you have no idea where to go. There are hint monitors, which help out a lot, but they also detract from your score. If you have the faintest memory of the stage, its looks, and its layout, using the hints and your ability to cover terrain will lead you to the emerald with a good score. These stages almost become an art, too. Playing the Knuckles stages in Sonic Adventure helped me to get used to the system, as those stages are a lot easier.
Finally, you have Tails/Eggman stages. Unlike the ring deal explained above, if you get hit, your health meter goes down regardless. If you collect enough rings, your health meter will restore itself partway. Tails and Eggman ride in mechs (think of robotic stilts with guns on the front of them) and shoot at everything. The biggest obstacles in these stages are bottomless pits, but you can't forget to watch your health meter. The more things you shoot at once (hold down B button to shoot out a red laser, which tracks enemies--move the laser in front of enemies to lock on, then release B to shoot every enemy locked on to--but the laser only stays up for a few seconds), the more points. Though it's a bit of a stretch, this point-gaining method also becomes an art.
Boss battles revolve around using your character's attack abilities. These battles often stink, and even I find them easy. I'm not exactly a boss battle person, though. It's a shame these couldn't be turned into an art of sorts, too, like Sonic Team did with NiGHTS for Saturn.

Bottom line: The Sonic/Shadow stages are really awesome, definetely timeless. However, you have to put up with 20 other stages. The Tails and Eggman stages aren't bad, but they just aren't superb. If someone's looking for something different, or wants to try a variety at once, then this is your game. Oh, yeah, the cutscenes are great!
However, the game really shines if you sit down to appreciate it after you've seen the ending scene. Going back and playing through the stages and finding all the ways to gain points is what Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle) is all about. A drastic change from Sonic Adventure. If you love platformers, go for it. You see, Sonic Adventure 2 gets good when you go for a high score. Just like in NiGHTS, the game isn't about completing it--it's about doing better and pulling off a better show each time. It's tricky to decide whether or not you like this element just from reading about it. If you told me about this aspect before I bought the game, I would have edged away. After the experience, I love it.
Hope I didn't ramble on too long there.

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