Contents History PastFour thousand years prior to the main events of the, the ruled a city on the site of what would become Mystic Ruins. The Clan chieftain, attempted to remove the from the ancient shrine on the outskirts of the city.
This angered their guardian, who destroyed almost the entire Knuckles Clan civilization in vengeance. The Chaos Energy backlash from Chaos' attack lifted the Emerald Shrine (along with a vast chunk of land) out of the ground: producing. The few surviving Knuckles Clan Echidnas, stranded on this floating landmass, went into terminal decline– himself being the last descendant of this once-great civilization.Some remnants of the echidna city remained on the surface, where they were gradually overrun by the encroaching jungle flora. It is this swampy, ruin-studded rainforest which forms the modern-day Mystic Ruins.Sonic Adventure. See also:Mystic Ruins Adventure Field map from Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut.The Mystic Ruins first appeared in.
In this game, a group of archaeologists have gone to the Mystic Ruins to explore those ruins of the 's city which remained on the planet's surface. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for the crash landing of. Some of the archaeologists have gotten themselves lost in the maze of the thick jungle that surrounds the, while the others who had stayed behind, near the Mystic Ruins Train Station, built a log cabin to make camp.
The archaeologists who built camp are constantly worried about their friends but are to afraid to go in the jungle to find them. If Sonic and his friends find any of the archaeologists that are lost in the forest they will state that they cannot find the ancient shrine or their way out, they however kindly refuse the help of the heroes saying it would not be very adventurous.During the events of, Angel Island crashed back to the surface of the planet, on the shoreline next to Mystic Ruins; but it floated away again after the was restored.Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
See also:Sonic in Chronicles' swampier Mystic RuinsIn, the Mystic Ruins again features as a game area, although the characters visit a more swamp-like section than those seen in Sonic Adventure. Mystic Ruins is home to many wild animals, such as,. Toxic, malodorous gases are emitted into the air by the 's forces, in a bid to clear the area of soldiers. The gas is only passable by.Mystic Ruins now hosts one of abandoned bases. Said base has been taken over by the 's forces, who are using it as a prison to hold captive.Later, can be seen here when you begin your search for Dr.
Eggman, and also unintentionally helps you on your quest in.Sonic ForcesThe restored Mystic Ruins as it appears in.In, after getting the, tested its power on Angel Island, seemingly restoring 's village to what it looked like thousands of years ago. When and noticed the village, Silver saw something rise from the Master Emerald. Knuckles told him that it was just, and that it was harmless.
Much to the contrary though, Chaos proceeded to punch Knuckles, prompting the echidna and Silver to battle Chaos. When Silver caught Chaos in his telekinesis while Knuckles delivered the final blow however, Chaos suddenly disappeared, along with Pachacamac's village, leaving Knuckles bewildered.
Points of interest. (removed). (temporarily). Mystic Ruins Jungle Area /Station Area. Big's House. Mystic Ruins Temple (destroyed). Mystic Ruins Station Area /Jungle.
Boat Dock. East Cave. Chao Garden Bound Trolley Car /Truck.
Eastern Cave. Jungle-Bound Trolley Car /Truck.
Mystic Ruins Station /Station. Waterfall. West Cave. Windy Cave. SeaIn other media Archie Comics. Main article:The Mystic Ruins in Sonic X.Knowing the transportation of Angel Island to Earth, the advisors plan to turn Mystic Ruins into a tourist attraction in order to boost the economy. Mystic Ruins was seen in '.
Knuckles finds the in, and a policeman says it was a glowing object that fell from the sky, Knuckles and the police go inside and look, and find a piece of the. Knuckles picks the up, but is transported to a version of Mystic Ruins 4000 years ago. Knuckles walks around and finds a echidna named with her father,. Tikal begs her father not to seize the Chaos Emeralds, but as her father ignores her, Chaos absorbs the power of the Emeralds' to destroy Pachacamac and his clan, which is their punishment.References.
See the various cutscenes in for the full story., Codex entry for Angel Island. With the Knuckles Clan devastated, the was then able to flourish. However, their civilization was later pulled into the, in an (apparently) unrelated disaster. ↑. ↑.
Map: Mystic Ruins. Retrieved on 19 July 2016. Map: Mystic Ruins. Retrieved on 20 July 2016.
Stratton, Bryan (17 June 2003). 'Knuckles The Echidna's Adventure Fields and Action Stages'. Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. P. 76. ↑.
↑. Map: Mystic Ruins. Retrieved on 19 July 2016. Playable characters.Non-playable characters (, ). (, ) Action Stages Sub Games Enemies Bosses Moves/TechniquesPlayable characters NPCs Gimmicks and obstacles ObjectsGeneral (, ) (, ).
The Mystic Ruins is an that appears in. It takes place across the, which is the ancient homeland of the. The Mystic Ruins can be accessed with a watermill raft/ramp on the and the train station in.
To create custom display modes using the Custom Resolutions feature, follow the steps below: Open Radeon™ Settings by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting AMD Radeon Settings. Select Display. Click Create, located in the Custom Resolutions menu. Feb 22, 2017 I don't believe you can create an application specific resolution from within AMD Crimson. Global custom resolutions can be created from the Display Tab, under 'Create Custom Resolution'. You then select a monitor and create a resolution for that monitor, but I believe it is active as soon as you create it and is not tied to a specific application. There is a method which works for AMD cards by suiken2mieu at WSGF forums. You must edit the DALNonStandardModesBCD1 binary data in the registry. Open this keyHKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlCLASS. Search for the value DALNonStandardModesBCD1. Once found, edit its binary data. Each row represents a resolution. Custom resolution on amd. How can the answer be improved?
From this Adventure Field, a number of and events can be reached.The epicenter of ' attack millennia ago, the Mystic Ruins is all that is left of the Knuckles Clan civilization. In present-day, once crashed on the shoreline next to Mystic Ruins; but it floated away again after the was restored. Also made several trips through this area to halt ' return to power. Contents DescriptionMap of Mystic Ruins: (A) Station Area, (B) Angel Island, (C) Jungle Area.Like the other in, the Mystic Ruins is comprised of a number of distinct areas and a.Area A - Mystic Ruins Station AreaMap of the Station Area: (1) Mystic Ruins Station, (2) Boat Dock, (3) Angel Island, (4) Jungle-Bound Trolley Car, (5) Windy Valley, (6) Eastern Cave, (7) Chao Garden Bound Trolley Car, (8) Tails' Workshop, (9) Sea.The Mystic Ruins Station Area (or just Station Area for short) is a large grassy plateau with some buildings and trees.
One side leads to a steep cliff into the ocean, and on the other side is a mountain with various caves. A hill is located in the eastern part.The southeastern corner of the Station Area contains the Mystic Ruins Station /station, a tall wooden building built to serve the archaeological sites, with stairs that lead to a stone bridge where the player can take a train to. Northeast of there is Windy Cave which contains. Other areas accessible from here are Angel Island/Mystic Ruins Angel Island through West Cave, the Jungle/Mystic Ruins Jungle Area by the means of the Jungle-Bound Trolley Car /Truck, and the East Cave which holds the Chao Garden Bound Trolley Car /Truck to the and the Eastern Cave.
In Eastern Cave lies another doorway leading to the and the.Other points of interest are the Boat Dock, a platform below the station, accessed by a ladder, which eventually allows passage to the crashed in the Sea, and Tails' Workshop /Tails's Work Shop, a small two-story house on a hill. 3ds max 9 download blogspot. The latter has a long biplane runway with two rows of palm trees leading out into the ocean. The workshop is apparently connected to a cave beneath the house, where Tails works on his. Up north is the Waterfall that feeds a small lake beneath it, which is then drained by a river leading into the ocean.
A silver can be found on a ledge in the Waterfall. To obtain this egg, a near the Waterfall's base must be pushed.
This retracts the ledge and drops the egg into the pool.Area B - Mystic Ruins Angel IslandMap of Angel Island: (1) Station Area Entrance, (2) Ice Cap, (3) Emerald Altar.Mystic Ruins Angel Island (or just Angel Island for short) lies within the borders of. After Angel Island crashes near Mystic Ruins, most characters can access this area through the West Cave in the Station Area. The main area is a long tunnel that leads to a large area where the 's shrine can be found.When playing as Sonic, this area become accessible through a cutscene where the West Cave is blown open.
Inside this cave is a wind tunnel (like the one in Windy Cave) that leads to the Station Square Entrance in the West Cave on Angel Island. Along the following tunnel is a frozen doorway, through which the Ice Cave lies, a frozen cave with a lake where the is found.
The area outside the tunnel contains the guarding, the, and an old wooden bridge leading to the Emerald Altar /. The ancient altar is where the reside, but is now broken and worn down due to extreme age. It stands on a small piece of ground which is separated from the rest of the island.
Only by flying or using the bridge can the altar be reached. In Tails' storyline, this area is blocked by a doorway.Area C - Mystic Ruins Jungle AreaMap of the Jungle: (1) Station Square Entrance, (2) Sand Hill, (3) Pyramid, (4) Big's House, (5) Location of the Final Egg.The Mystic Ruins Jungle Area (or just Jungle for short) is a maze-like area of lush, thick jungle with many paths through it and several ledges hanging over it. Several archaeologists are lost there, wandering among the trees.
As it happened to the archaeologists, the player can easy get lost in this area without the aid of a map.The Jungle is accessed via the Jungle-Bound Trolley Car in the Station Area and leads to this area's Station Square Entrance on a cliff. The Jungle holds the Pyramid / which is a large mayan-like shrine that used to be the holy site of the, the location of the at the northern's cliff's edge, and a cave holding. This area is also the location of a small wooden structure that is 's House. Also, within the thick jungle lie two alcoves containing which Knuckles must up and enter with.The Jungle holds a number of. On a ledge above Big's House is the, and below Big's bed in his house lies the. Two may also be found around the Jungle.Mystic Ruins TempleSet in the past, the Mystic Ruins Temple encompasses a great city where the live.
The player is brought here. Whether this is an illusion or actual time travel is unknown, as characters can talk to the locals and Tails even finds the here.The whole city is surrounded by mountains with the 'back' of the city facing the great jungle. The city is or in appearance, and in the center lies the pyramid-like, still in its pristine state. The only exit to the city is a cave which leads to the Shrine of the Master Emerald. Before its ruin, this place was ruled by Chief. Sonic is the only one who cannot visit this place.In the western section of this area lies the Rhythm Badge for Tails.Shrine of the Master EmeraldSet in the past, the Shrine of the Master Emerald consists of the area outside the Mystic Ruins Temple.
The player is brought here. Whether this is an illusion or actual time travel is unknown, as characters can talk to the locals.At the end of the road there lies a great stone bridge (most of this bridge is left over during modern times as part of Angel Island) that leads up to the. While still just as old, the altar is not in ruin as the altar will be on.
The seven surrounding pillars hold the with the at its center. The altar also has water flowing from it; whether this is a fountain or something magical is unknown.StoryDuring the incident, a group of archaeologists were sent to Mystic Ruins to seek out the, although it is revealed by talking to one of the group that the first group sent into the jungle had become lost, and plans were being made to send in a second team.OverviewIn gameplay, the characters can walk around and enter various Action Stages in the Mystic Ruins. The Mystic Ruins contains six Action Stages, several bosses, and a Chao Garden:Action Stages.: Eggman's large tower base, where he keeps his.
This is the base where the first of the E-100 series was created. The base is heavily defended and has three sectors. The first is simple pathways with spinning iron, spike balls and grinding mechanisms. The second drastically changes from the first, being basically a large shaft that leads downwards, three tunnels lead to different levels and at the bottom there are more spinning masses. The last is similar to the first, except for three large rooms containing exploding crabs as well as pitfalls. This Action Stage is playable as Sonic, Amy and Gamma, and can be entered via a long tube in the location of the Final Egg.: A cold, snowy mountain with many caves which contains a frozen lake and a large number of satellites. The second part of Icecap consists of a long hill for snowboarding.
The slope is used for skiing. This Action Stage is playable as Sonic, Tails and Big, and can be entered using the ladder in Ice Cave.: An Action Stage set inside the. It is extremely large, and one part features an underground section that looks nothing like the jungle. The temple also contains various booby traps such as a giant rolling stone ball and gravity panels that move on the wall. The center of the temple contains a mural of Perfect Chaos. This Action Stage is playable as Sonic and Knuckles, and can be entered through the Ancient ruin.
Whereas Sonic can enter Lost World directly, Knuckles needs the and to open the Ancient ruins' portal.: Another mountain of Angel Island, except this one is volcanic. It is surrounded by smaller mountains–most of them are connected by metal bridges.
There is also a large network of underground tunnels and caves which are flooded with lava. This Action Stage is playable as Sonic, Knuckles and Gamma, and can be entered through the gate in the Watch Ape's place, which will only open when the Watch Ape is destroyed.: A long desert slope with various ruins which burst from the ground. This Action Stage is playable as Tails only, and can be entered through the Sand Hill cave to the left of the Station Area Entrance in the Mystic Ruins Jungle Area.: A windy where tornadoes easily form. The second part of the stage consists of floating paths high above the clouds.
This Action Stage is playable as Sonic, Tails and E-102 Gamma, and can entered through the updraft in Windy Cave.Bosses. Character conflict: Sonic and Tails battle Knuckles, while Knuckles battles Sonic. This fight is set just in front of the Waterfall.: Sonic, Tails and Knuckles fight powered by four. It is fought in the lake at the Waterfall.: Sonic and Tails fight piloting the. This boss is fought on the field west of Tails' Workshop.Miscellaneous.: A on the side of a mountain. There is a lake and several large rocks lying about. The lake is connected to a larger one which is above the Waterfall.
It is accessed with the Chao Garden Bound Trolley Car/Truck in East Cave.: A mini-game where Sonic and Tails chase the Egg Carrier in their plane, shooting down enemy robots. Sky Chase Act 1 uses the, while Sky Chase Act 2 uses the upgraded. The Egg Carrier itself is also fought as a boss in Act 2. It can be accessed from Tails' Workshop.Trivia. If the temple in the center of the jungle area is approached from outside its render distance at high enough speed, one can see the stone sphere on the left side transforms into a statue of an Echidna whenever it is loaded.
The sphere on the right is broken, so its ability to transform if any is unknown. Eggman's Hidden Base in the Jungle Area only spawns for those meant to explore it, meaning it will not appear in Big or Tails' story modes. Knuckles is an exception to this rule. Although the entrance to Eggman's base appears due to being part of a cutscene, the entrance door will not open for Knuckles, leaving the base inaccessible.Gallery Models.
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Contents History Ancient Times Earlier VisitsSonic and his allies visited the Mystic Ruins numerous times during their respective adventures involving and the. At one point, Sonic was guided into the ancient temple by the spirit of so that she could show him the mural depicting. Also had near the jungle, where the Egg Carrier would be docked when not airborn. When fell from the sky after the was shattered, it landed back into where it originally laid thousands of years prior as a part of the ruins landmass. (: SA/SADX)In the reset version of reality brought about by the second, Sonic and had arranged to go exploring in the Mystic Ruins, before the fox was ambushed and captured at his home. (:,: )Scenery of DestructionSonic and Tails blazing through the rainforestSonic and Tails returned to the Mystic Ruins to search for, after the duo had recently been effected by the Super. The duo ran into, who Sonic was confused to see there, considering the giant cat was residing in as a member of when they last met, something which Big had no memory of.
Regardless, Big happily guided Sonic and Tails to the, where Rotor was at work, before the heroes where attacked by a group of under the command of. Rotor showed up to aide his friends in beating back the badniks, where he blasted Silver Sonic with a cannon. After catching up aboard the Sky Patrol, Rotor was given back his memories of the previous timeline upon touching. The large walrus was noticeably disorientated by what he's just experienced, but he carried on nevertheless, providing Sonic and Tails with information on the locations of the respective. (:, )As Sonic and Tails tracked down each of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, they each went to the Mystic Ruins to board the Sky Patrol. Thun vit soft shope crack. After finding her undercover in the, Sonic and Tails accompanied to the airship, where she was reunited with her husband Antoine who'd recently arrived himself. Bunnie received her old memories from the original timeline and, shaken up, found comfort in her husband.
The whole group had finally been gathered in the Mystic Ruins after the recovery of,. Sally and Amy where the last to have their memories returned, leaving Sally distraught over her memories of being. Once in perfect working order from the memory restoration, Nicole was able to determine that the Super Genesis Wave had caused the multiverse to collapse in on itself and reboot, leaving the remaining energy from the wave piled on the Prime Zone: as a result, the whole planet broke apart. Where Freedom Fighters watched from the Sky Patrol above as the whole Mystic Ruins was split by a crack in the earth. (:, )Locations. (formerly)Background Information. The Mystic Ruins is a location introduced in the SEGA Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure.
The Dreamcast has fans dreaming of Sonic adventures, so here's an update for. Sonic Adventure in Japan.As last reported in GamePro (see special feature, 'Sonic Returns for the Dreamcast,' November '98), in addition to its supersonic running action clocking a blazing 60 frames of animation per second, Adventure will sport a variety of gameplay built around six playable characters. Included in Sonic's crew are familiar cohorts-Tails, Knuckles, and Amy-and new guys, Big the Cat and the robot, E -102. Though you'll be able to play with any character on any level, each level will emphasize a particular characters strengths. Sonic's levels will feature classic ringgathering, while E - 102s level will be a 3D shooter.Sonic will get additional assistance this time. You'll capture creatures and, using DNA acquired during the game, evolve them into other helpful forms.
Sonic also sports new skills, including the ability to climb structures, run up walls, and pop a spin dash that homes in on targets.Sonic Adventure sounds like a blast-too bad U.S. Gamers must wait a whole year to play.
Don't count the Dreamcast out just yet-especially if you're a Sonic fan. Sonic Adventure may just change your mind entirely, perhaps inspiring you to start saving up for a Dreamcast purchase come this fell.
Oot of the BlueOnce you plug in this game, you're immediately swarmed by some of the best graphics you'll ever see on a home console system. Gone are the clipping, fogging, and bad polygon-meshing evident in the last Sonic game. Sonic R for the Saturn.
We revi e w e d the Japanese version of Sonic Adventure in our April issue (see 'ProReviews'), and with its outstanding graphics, rich environments, and speedy-Sonic pace, it's likely to be one of the darlings of the show. Old-timers will remember that Sonic was the flagship title for the Genesis. But sometime during the mid-'90s, Sonic games hit a lull; and (ugh) Sonic R really tarnished the brand. So Sega is smart to release the hedgehog's newest tide with the high-quality graphics and action-oriented gameplay that return Sonic to his roots.Basically, the game has Sonic and his friends racing around and gathering rings and Chaos Emeralds. But unlike past Sonics' visuals, the 3D backgrounds lend a depth to the game that's breath-taking to behold. Nuances like out-of-control camera angles and amazing water effects should push the game to greatness, while hidden areas, power-ups (such as faster shoes and invincibility), and flawless character design should guarantee long-lasting playability.
If Sonic Adventure's release coincides with the Dreamcast's, make it your first purchase. You can't have a Sega launch without rolling out the spokeshog. Sonic Adventure puts Sonic the hedgehog in a wild velocity-busting adventure with some of his old friends (such as Tails and Knuckles) in seven levels of all-out 3D platform-style mayhem. Sonic really pushes the Dreamcast into eye-blitz territory with spectacular graphics and amazingly fast gameplay that includes a wild ride inside a tornado and an avalanche run during which a giant snowball chases you. You won't have a minute to spare (or a finger without a callus) after tearing through the game's challenging worlds-one even focuses entirely on pinball machines.Although already out in Japan, Sonic Adventure has undergone some minor changes for its American debuc For instance, the camera angle has been slightly tweaked. While most changes were based on American tastes, the Japanese version had strong voice talent for Knuckles and Sonic that will hopefully be duplicated (although we could live without Tails's ridiculous voice).Regardless of the changes, Sonic will be the most fun you'll have with your Dream cast If you're looking for a game with depth and stamina, Sonic will fit the bill perfectly. OverviewI’m something of a latecomer to the Sonic games.
I’d played a few times on friends' systems, but didn’t have a Sega of my own. A couple of months ago I picked up a used Genesis along with Sonic I, Sonic II,. Since then I’ve been avidly playing through any Sonic game I could lay my hands on and loving every minute, so when I got the chance to take his first Dreamcast adventure out for a spin I was pretty excited. Fans of the series will find plenty to like—all the high-speed action is still there, along with an involved storyline and gorgeous 3D world to explore.All the favorite Sonic characters are back, along with all their moves and tricks.
Of course, there are new characters to interact with as well as new tricks and moves for Sonic and friends. Robotnik (a.k.a.
Eggman) is using the power of seven magic Chaos Emeralds to create an indestructible monster and destroy Station Square. Sonic and company are on a quest to outwit the evil doctor and find the missing emeralds before it's too late. Along the way they will have to flee from a killer whale along a tropical beach, snowboard down icy peaks, race through mysterious ruins, fight their way through a flying fortress, and fly through a giant tornado—all in a day's work for our heroes. GameplayUp to now Sonic has been (mostly) limited to 2D— Sonic Adventure changes that completely.
This 3D makeover retains the sensation of speed found in previous titles and merges the classic Sonic gameplay with breathtaking 3D landscapes and an involved adventure-style plot line.The game opens with a brief battle against Chaos (a liquid creature created by Dr. Once Sonic defeats the monster, he takes a break at the pool until Tails crashes an experimental plane onto a nearby beach. Tails convinces Sonic to follow him to his workshop, where the two run into Robotnik again.
After he steals the Chaos Emerald which Tails had been using to power his plane, Sonic and Tails start off on a quest to stop Robotnik’s plans to use Chaos to destroy Station Square and raise his own robot city in its place.The gameplay splits between adventure sections where you have to solve puzzles and explore for clues, and action stages which are more along the lines of earlier Sonic games. As you progress through the adventure stages, new action areas are unlocked. Completing each action sequence in turn allows you to explore more of the adventure areas. Each action stage sees Sonic (or one of the other characters) racing around vast landscapes, often at a frantic pace. Most action stages are fairly linear, but some of the later stages offer several branching paths to completion.
All the familiar Sonic moves are present—spinning to kill enemies, bouncing off springs, and collecting rings have transitioned to the 3D world beautifully.Each character has its own style in the action stages. Sonic and Tails are geared toward racing through at top speed, while getting Amy or Knuckles through a level may take more thought and planning.
I found the levels with Big to be the most annoying in the game. Generally he must use his fishing pole to hook and reel in his missing friend Froggy. While this premise isn’t bad, the implementation is awful.
It takes forever to get the stupid frog hooked on the line, and then it’s a several-minute fight to try and reel him in. Often as not the stupid frog will slip off the hook and you’ll have to try all over again. After several attempts to get through even the first level with Big in any reasonable amount of time, I gave up and switched to a different character.
The biggest problem I had with the adventure sections of the game was the choppiness of the storyline. I started playing as Sonic and ran through all his levels first. Playing this way left me somewhat confused about the storyline, as it seemed to leave huge gaps in the plot and sequences that didn’t connect to anything else that was going on. After playing the other characters it started to make more sense, as each reveals different sections of the overall story. After several character switches I finally began to figure out the overall plot line, but there are still some sections that don’t make sense, even after several days of playing.The game also suffers from several bugs. In many areas the characters will fall right through what should be solid floors. I’ve had cases where a character can walk across a section of floor, turn around and go back over the same spot and fall to its death.
Characters also seem to get stuck in areas where there aren’t obstacles. These problems didn’t happen too often, but often enough to become annoying. The game also will not allow you to skip the cut scenes.
I restarted my game a couple of times and found that even though I had already seen a scene and wanted to skip ahead to the action, the game forced me to sit through the entire sequence.The problems are not overwhelming—I enjoy this game a whole lot more than it annoys me and plan to keep playing for a long time. There are lots of secrets and twists in the levels to keep you playing over and over again, as well as extra touches that boot the fun factor. One cute addition to the game is the A-Life system. You can find eggs throughout the game that will hatch into Chaos characters that can be raised in special garden areas. You can even load the Chaos into the VMU (Virtual Memory Unit) and play a mini virtual pet-style game to train them.
Once trained, they can be loaded back into Sonic Adventure and entered into races that can win you special bonuses and awards. Graphics & AudioI’m mainly a PC gamer—I like my high-end 3D card and top-end sound card. Until now, I’ve not found a console system that could match it for overall quality and impressiveness.
Dreamcast has changed that. Sonic is the first (and so far only) game I’ve played on the new system, and I was blown away. The 3D modeling and lighting and smoke effects rival anything my Voodoo card can do, and the textures throughout the game are sharp and beautifully rendered. From brilliant explosions to water effects that actually look wet, the visuals are mind-blowing. Some sections of the game look better than others (the game uses a slightly lower resolution for high-speed sequences where display speed is more important than full visual quality), but overall the game is more than a match for any 3D game—console or PC.There are a few problems with the graphics, particularly with the game’s camera.
As you race around the levels there are many places where it gets stuck behind walls or other objects, making it impossible to see what the character is doing. This is always frustrating, and sometimes deadly—several times I walked off ledges or was killed by enemies I couldn’t see. Also, there are times when the camera angle switches perspective, but the game does not take this into account when dealing with the controller. You can be barreling along the track just fine, only to have the camera angle switch and suddenly the direction that was forward on your controller is now backward or sideways—perhaps a minor nitpick, but very frustrating nonetheless. Additionally, there are areas of the game where the frame rate slows down a bit—usually when there are a couple dozen or more enemies on screen at the same time. In my opinion this is less forgivable on a console system where the designer knows exactly what hardware the game will run on than it is with PC games where you can always upgrade the system for more speed.The music throughout Sonic includes a little of everything. From hip-hop to tribal, techno to ethereal, the soundtrack blends well with the action onscreen.
My favorite tracks are the wind chimes found in the ice caverns, but all the tracks are great. Each character also has its own theme song—I particularly like Amy’s 'My Sweet Passion' and the theme for E-102 (the robot). The only problem I had with the soundtrack was that in some sections I found it overpowered the game action—an option to set the music volume would have been a plus.
Sonic Adventure 2 Mystic Ruins
If you have a Dolby surround system you can hook up to your Dreamcast, I would highly recommend it—the music is even more impressive when it comes from all directions. The sound effects throughout the game are very effective. Classic sounds like the ring pickup chime and the whine of Sonic spinning up to speed are still there, along with a host of new clangs, honks, and explosions to fill out the audio scene.
My one complaint is with the voices of the characters in the cut scenes. The English version is lackluster—the voices themselves are great, but the pacing of the dialog is off, making the characters sound less than excited about what’s going on. I ended up switching the audio to Japanese and toggling on the English subtitles—I didn’t understand the speech, but the characters sounded more involved with the story. Bottom LineSonic Adventure is a great game that provides tons of fun and lots of replay time—Sonic has made the transition to a 3D world with style.
All the fun of the original Sonic series is here and, while it does have some glitches, at the end of the day it’s a superb addition to the Sega family. With its magnificent visuals and fast-paced gameplay, it will stay on my play list for a long time.
While other games on Dreamcast look promising, this one alone has made the new system worthwhile in my book.
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