Its hard to believe that its been 25 years since Sega’s iconic Sonic Adventure 2 game appeared on the Dreamcast console. Sonic Adventure 2 was the sequel to the original SA title from ’98 and featured the return of familiar faces along with new playable characters. The story for the Sonic Adventure 2 was split into to parts where players could select the Hero team featuring Sonic, Tails and Knuckles or the Dark team which included Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat and Dr. Eggman. Both teams had different endgames the Hero team wanted to save the world while the dark group wanted to conquer the world. Being able to play an action-adventure game from the perspective from the heroes and the villains is what made Sonic Adventure 2 very interesting. Shadow the Hedgehog as a character was well-received by Sega fans mainly because he was the dark villainous counterpart of of Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow rivaled Sonic in both speed and attitude. Rouge the Bat was a jewel obsessed treasure hunter and was pretty much Knuckles dark counterpart when came down to searching for pieces of the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2.

Dr. Eggman the recurring antagonist of the Sonic series was actually a playable character Sonic Adventure 2 and his levels were similar to Tails stages where he had to use a mecha to destroy enemies. The story for Sonic Adventure 2 felt darker than prequel because it centered around revenge. Shadow the Hedgehog wanted to take revenge on the human race because he felt his only friend Maria Robotnik was killed by G.U.N. Soldiers about 50 years prior to setting of Sonic Adventure 2. Also, Dr. Eggman’s grandfather Gerald Robotnik was a mad scientist who intended on weaponizing the Space Colony ARK to destroy the earth following the death of his granddaughter Maria. Gerald Robotnik was not only obsessed with destroying humanity but he also double-crossed his grandson Dr. Robitnik by turning his quest for power into a potential catastrophic disaster. If Gerald Robitnik’s plans came to fruition Dr. Eggman along with millions of others would have been all casualties leading to an enormous death toll along with the destruction of Earth.

In the end Sonic and Shadow team up in their super forms by using the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds to stop the Biolizard created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik from colliding with the Earth and destroying it. What makes the story for Sonic Adventure 2 even more tragic was that Dr. Gerald Robotnik was already dead by the start of the game after being killed by G.U.N Solidiers. Sonic Adventure 2 had more than 30 different stages which were divided among the playable characters in the game. Sonic Adventure 2 had some of the most iconic theme songs within the entire franchises including “Live & Learn”, “Meteor Herd” “Fly Into Freedom”, “Pumpkin Hill” and “Mad Space”. Sonic Adventure 2 had better graphics and was more challenging than its prequel in terms of gameplay. Sonic Adventure 2 also felt darker in tone and had a greater sense of urgency in comparison to SA1. Sonic Adventure 2 was memorable because despite how dark it was the game had strong Y2K aesthetic and vibes that captured the tone of 2001 perfectly.

Sonic Adventure 2 quite possibly had the darkest story in the entire franchise and since its release Sega never released an official Sonic Adventure 3. Its quite possible that Sonic Adventure 2 set the bar so high that Sega has been unable make a proper sequel that could follow it. One of the biggest tragedies about Sonic Adventure 2 is that it came out after the Dreamcast console got discontinued. Sonic Adventure 2 could have sold more if the Sega was not saddled with financial woes. The Dreamcast being discontinued in 2001 was heartbreaking similar to the ending of Sonic Adventure 2 where Shadow seemingly died after helping Sonic save the earth. Sonic Adventure 2 is an action-adventure was probably one of best video games to come out of the 2000’s decade. The cult following that Sonic Adventure 2 has gained over the past two decades is undeniable and its legacy still lives on to this day.