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Sonic Adventure DX: Director's CutFrom Sonic Retro
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut is an enhanced port of the Sega Dreamcast game, Sonic Adventure, with many added features and updated graphics. It was first released in the US, Japan, and Europe for the GameCube and was later also released for the PC in Japan and Europe and also had a limited US release. Unfortunately, it didn't do quite as well with reviews as its Dreamcast predecessor did.
Synopsis/CharactersThe game is fixed on the history of Chaos, a mysterious liquid lifeform who was released from the Master Emerald by Dr. Eggman. Eggman planned that if he gave Chaos the seven Chaos Emeralds, he would become a powerful monster. Together they would destroy Station Square and turn it into Eggmanland. Sonic who was visiting Station Square encountered Chaos. Tails appeared in the city and he and Sonic ran into Eggman in the Mystic Ruins. Eggman revealed his dastardly plan to the two and he grabbed their Chaos Emerald and fed it to Chaos who transformed into Chaos One. Sonic and Tails now are venturing off to find the other emeralds before Chaos gets them. Meanwhile, Knuckles is searching for the lost pieces of the Master Emerald, after Chaos shattered it. And he is also trying to solve the mystery of the destruction of his ancestors. Amy Rose gets caught up in the madness, when Eggman's flying fortress, the Egg Carrier, flies over Station Square and a Flicky falls into Amy's arms. She names the bird Birdy and has to protect him from one of Eggman's robots, E-100 Zero. Newcomer, E-102 Gamma, an artillery robot built by Dr. Eggman for evil purposes is sent to collect a tailed frog, but ends up changing his programming and life forever, when he meets Amy and Birdy. He betrays his master and goes to save his fellow E-100 Series. After destroying E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon and E-105 Zeta, Gamma has to face his robotic sibling E-101 Beta. Gamma wins, but Beta damages Gamma and the two explode and are destroyed, releasing the birds within them. Big the Cat, also a newcomer to the series, gets mixed up in the adventure. Big is a peaceful cat who lives in the jungle with his friend Froggy. But when Froggy gulps down part of Chaos, grows an odd tail and swallows Big's lucky charm (which is actually the yellow Chaos Emerald), Big has to leave his peaceful home to save his best pal from Chaos. As these six heroes go about on their own missions, a mysterious echidna girl named Tikal teleports them to the ancient past and, through enigmatic flashbacks, shows the history of Chaos, herself and the Chao. Chaos eventually gains all seven Chaos Emeralds and becomes Perfect Chaos and destroys Station Square. Perfect Chaos destroys the Egg Carrier 2, and it is up to Super Sonic to bring down Chaos, who sees that the Chao are alive and then he and Tikal disappear, presumably to a higher plane because they are now at peace. The world is saved, and Sonic is quickly off on another adventure. Story StructureThe story is told through the perspective of the character chosen and this results in the stories divulging at certain points based on the character arc. Each character has their viewpoint of a certain scene, so the dialogue between versions tends to be different. This perspective also justifies the different outcomes of certain encounters, for example, when Sonic faces E-102 Gamma on the Egg Carrier, through Sonic's perspective Sonic is about to destroy Gamma, through Tails' perspective Tails is about to destroy Gamma and through Gamma's perspective, Gamma is about to kill Sonic. GameplayThe game is divided up into two stages: Action Stages, and Adventure Fields. The division of Action Stages and Adventure Fields was a serious departure from all previous Sonic games. Action StagesAction Stages are basically playable levels. This is the only type of area where Sonic or any of his companions will encounter enemies (most boss battles take place in the Adventure Fields, but they are actually in Action Stages designed to look like the Fields.) There are eleven Action Stages, accessible by different characters. However, unlike previous Sonic games, Action Stages are not made up of Zones and Acts. Instead, the game plays more like each Adventure Field is a Zone and the Action Stages are the Acts in the Zone. The Action Stages have separate areas that could be considered "Acts", but they are not separate levels, like in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. In stages where both Sonic and Tails are present (i.e. Windy Valley, Ice Cap, Sky Deck) Tails can be controlled separately if a second controller is plugged in. The only major downside to this secret is the fact that the second player will have to accurately keep up with player one, as the camera only follows player one and does not form into a split-screen. Adventure FieldsAdventure Fields are non-linear game stages, generally designed for (light) puzzle solving, exploration, and plot advancement. They contain very few items (enemies, rings, etc.) Every Adventure Field links to the other two Fields and a Chao Garden, where you can raise Chao. They also have four Emblems each. They are each packed with various power-ups for different characters. There are three Adventure Fields:
Real World InspirationsSonic Team traveled to many places to compile footage for and get ideas for designing the stages, including Chichen Itza, Cancun, Tulum, Tikal, Cuzco, and Ica. Many of the textures for the ancient ruins located in the game were created from real photographs the team took during their trip. It's also stated that Yuji Naka became very ill during one of these trips. Changes Between Dreamcast and GameCube VersionsMain Game
Chao Garden
Included Game Gear GamesSeveral Game Gear games are included as unlockables. This also marks the first time Sonic Drift and Tails' Skypatrol were released in the US and Europe.
Manuals
Also Released On
Production CreditsFor a complete list of the games production credits please click the following link: Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut credits ResourcesScansGameCube Version
PC Version
2
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