I have been a long time fan of Sonic, way back since the first game was released. It even guided my choice to get a Genesis or wait for the SNES. Sonic and I have the same birthday for god's sake!!! I have enjoyed the series immensely over the years. When the Dreamcast was released, Sonic made the official jump into the third dimension with Sonic Team's original Sonic Adventure. Despite it's problems, I still found the game enjoyable.

Fast forward a couple years to the first Sonic game released on a Nintendo home console, the sequel to Sonic Adventure, and port of the Dreamcast Sonic Adventure 2. Adding "Battle" to signify the added multiplayer features as well as being the first game to take advantage of the GameCube to GameBoy Advance link cable gives this version of the game a few advantages over the original Dreamcast title. I happened to have a budget crunch when the Dreamcast title was released, so it made sense for me to pick up the newer Gamecube one.

I am happy I did wait, however, since people say that this version is improved over the DC original. I surely would have smashed the Dreamcast version if this is truly the case. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is probably one of the most unevenly constructed video games I have played in a long while. The things I like about the game I really enjoy and the things I don't like I loathe with the fury of woman scorned by Sega. I can't really imagine what Sonic Team was thinking half of the time, or actually, 2/3 of the time.

The game features around 30 levels, spread out between the Hero and Dark storylines, and then further among the 6 different characters in the game. People who hated Big the Cat and Amy in the first game can breath a sigh of relief, they are gone. Replacing them are the three "Dark" characters: Eggman, Rouge and Shadow. Each character directly correlates to their "Hero" opposites. Shadow = Sonic, Eggman = Tails and Rogue = Knuckles. The Hero and Dark games are virtually identical. It's akin to playing the same levels from a slightly different point of view. It's a novel idea that I enjoyed, but some people who can't stand gimmicks like this which extend gameplay without completely built from the ground up original content.

The game features pretty decent graphics for the most part. You can still see how much of this game is ported from the Dreamcast version. Some textures are blurry while others look stunning. Color is used extremely well and is generally a characteristic of Sonic Team games. The levels feature many diverse locales, from a city that seems to resemble the original Crazy Taxi to a lush forest and everything in between. It's always nice to see a mix like that, even though some of the levels tend to not work as well as they should.

I particularly enjoyed the sound aspects of the game, not due to their technical merits, but more because of the quirky style and familiar Sonic sounds. Collecting rings sounds just as good as it always had and the music is just so goofy that I can't help but enjoy it. Knuckle's level rap songs are just too ridiculous to hate in my book, however I'm sure I am in the minority with this one. Many people will despise the music and I'm left feeling curious about how more traditional music would have sounded. The voice acting generally sucks, but, given the nature of all of the other quirkiness, they fit in. Even though I liked the quirky, I'm hoping for large changes in the next Sonic Adventure.

I loved the Sonic/Shadow levels of the game. They play and 'feel' fast and feature a lot of classic Sonic style goodness which makes it feel like a wild roller coaster ride. These are the things that have made Sonic games so enjoyable in the past. If the game was nothing but Sonic and Shadow running around, it would have fared much more favorably in my book. The game really starts to fall to pieces when you enter into the other levels with the rest of the playable cast. Eggman and Tails battle through platform jumping and blasting levels where they ride around in small mechs. Tails used to be a lot fun given that he could fly and was nearly as fast as Sonic. having Tails in a mech based shooting game may seem like it should be fun, but it loses its luster pretty fast in the game. The shooting aspects tend to be a little simplistic featuring a lock on blasting system similar to a Panzer Dragoon style but not quite as complicated. The levels just feel tedious after you do it a few times. Camera problems also tend to really get in the way in the slower mech levels which just causes even more annoyance.

The part of the game that I want to like the most, but completely fear playing are the Knuckles and Rogue levels. Knuckles was one of the best supporting characters ever made in a character based game. Many people even feel that he rivals Sonic in his design and likability. His punch attacks and abilities to climb, glide and burrow should make for a lot of fun. The key word in that sentence was "should." I was completely disappointed and then frustrated by the levels where Knuckles and Rogue were involved. Knuckles and Rogue engage in a 'Find the pieces' quest for the Chaos Emeralds. Each level they embark on have three shards of the crystal which you need to locate and dig up. Sounds easy enough, right? Well... it's not, and it's not really any fun either. The camera tends to get in your way more often then not (and keep in mind that they improved it for the Gamecube version) and the radar used for locating the emerald pieces is suspect at best. I have actually wandered around for 5 minutes while the radar was blinking off the hook, unable to locate the exact position of the emerald, while other times locating one by accident with barely a blip from the radar. The radar only works as well as 'hot or cold' locator as it is. When it fails at that, you have problems.

Intermixed within the levels are such distractions as a kart racing level and things like Sonic escaping from a lunatic 18-Wheeler via a 'street surf board.' It sounds a little non-sensical, but so is the rest of the game. There are fun little diversions that break up the game a bit, but wouldn't stand up on their own legs as a stand alone game.

The problems of the game wouldn't be so pronounced if it wasn't for the bad levels accounting for most of the game. You spend the least amount of time with Sonic and Shadow and I even found myself holding back a tear as I saw another Knuckles/Rogue level appear. The camera problems really do take away from this game, and anyone saying otherwise is really lying to themselves. I am a diehard Sega fan, and admitting how crippled this game is due to the flaky camera hurts, but at least I'm being honest with myself.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle features a greatly enhanced Chao raising game. By far the quirkiest addition to the Sonic series, (which saw its roots in the classic Saturn title, NiGHTS with its Nightopians), the Chao have been an enjoyable experience for me as a gamer. Basically, you take little cute creatures that you hatch from eggs, and raise them to blow past their friends in the Chao races or pummel them in the really twisted Chao Karate game. A little cock fighting never hurt anyone apparently. The level of depth in the Chao raising game is actually quite impressive. You can level up your Chao using items you snag from defeated enemies in the main levels of the game, as well as by letting them come into contact with different little animals that you collect. In addition to the increased stats, a Chao will absorb some of the animal's characteristics, like their ears or a tail, etc. It allows you to really customize your Chao as well as help him to evolve into even more interesting forms depending on what you do or do not let him have contact with.

The Chao raising portion of the game is the first game to utilize the GBA link cable. With the GBA and cable in place, you can transfer a Chao to or from the GBA Sonic Advance title. In addition to that, you can even upload rings from the GBA Sonic game, a welcome feature since it's a little easier to collect rings on the GBA on the go. In addition to all of that, Sonic Advance's "Tiny Chao Garden" allows you to buy unique Chao eggs which aren't found in the main Sonic Adventure 2: Battle game. The Chao from the eggs do not really do anything but look differently, but it's a nice feature nonetheless. It is also easier to raise a Chao's stats in the Tiny Chao Garden, so it comes in handy quite often in the Chao raising process if you have the means.

The Chao raising mini-game really saves this title in my eyes. Thankfully, you can go back and play just the levels you like in the main game, sparing you the suffering through another search for emerald shards. If you can look past the uneven gameplay, quirky music and laughable camera, you might enjoy this title more. What is good is great, however, and the Chao raising can be a lot of fun, but you will most likely end up weeping over having to play through yet another mech blasting level when you should be running at break neck speeds through lush landscapes and Eggman secret bases with the big blue hedgehog. I'd highly suggest renting this title if you are a fan of the series to make sure you want it since only die hards should apply. I couldn't really recommend this title to a casual gamer looking for a decent 3-D platforming romp.