Sonic Adventure DX is the apparent Directors Cut of the Dreamcast original, one that was touted to be Sega’s rival to Mario 64, and the one killer app for Sega’s console. Sadly, the original was never hailed as a classic due to some obvious flaws that shot Sega’s hopes down in flames. With a re-release 4 years after its debut, any sane developer would try to amend these foibles to keep up with today’s competition. Directors Cut? If only…

Sonic Adventure was a major departure for the series, splitting the game into Adventure Field and Action Field. Action Field is a 3D revival of the MegaDrive/Genesis Sonic games, and is essentially the main area of the game. Sadly, these areas have been diluted with the Adventure Field sections - essentially a hub section that gradually opens up as you progress, with cut scenes and boss fights interrupting the exploration. With the stakes in the 3d platformer genre being raised with the likes of Mario Sunshine, Sonic Adventure's hub world seems static and interactivity is kept to an absolute minimum. Mystic Ruins and the Aztec Village remain some of the prettiest places to visit in your virtual tour of the Sonic land, yet all remain just that - a pretty view. There is no real interaction with the scenery, and nothing to explore. Hidden areas are few and far between, and very few surprises will show up while in Adventure Field mode.

With six characters to choose from, the main plot is seen from the different characters' viewpoints, reminiscent of how Resident Evil introduced the intertwining plots, but with a cutesy slant on the dialogue. Each character has their own control system and objectives to complete. For example, Sonic usually has to simply get to the end of each level, whereas Knuckes has to obtain three emerald shards, and Big the Cat has to catch a certain quota of fish. Naturally, most players will choose Sonic to begin with, and here is where the game really shines.

With levels set inside whirlwinds, NiGHTS-themed pinball tables, and scorching beaches to traverse, each Sonic level is equally as strong as the others, and picking a favourite is no mean feat. Each stage throws up a new gameplay feature, like the floating Dodgem cars on the Twinkle Park level, the Killer Whale chase and the unforgettable Snowboarding level. With such breathtaking moments as these, the game should be a classic. Yet many of the faults from the original remain unfixed, and some even made worse.

The original incarnation suffered from occasional slowdown (especially with lots of smoke on the screen), but moments of serious framerate problems were few and far between. In both the game and film industry of late, the phrase “Bullet Time” has become synonymous with action games, and Sonic Adventure DX has implemented its very own version. Sadly, this wasn’t an intentional feature, and just goes to show how lazy this port is. For a game ported from a less powerful system, faults like this spell almost certain death for a supposedly ‘updated’ version. Even many of the textures appear to be at a lower resolution than the ageing Dreamcast version.

The original was also flawed with a camera that failed to comply with any commands it was given, or to follow the player like a free-roaming camera should. This is one fault that Sega have actually attempted to rectify. Popping into the pause menu allows the player to switch to “Free Cam” mode, giving a Mario Sunshine style of camera movement on the C-stick, albeit with much less finesse than Mario’s cameraman. However, another feature pops-up in the guise of the camera automatically switching back into normal mode, confusing the player immensely.

Directors Cuts’ always feature additions, and this comes in the form of the Challenge Mode in DX. Here, the player is given a multitude of tasks to complete, such as moving a person from one place to another, or popping balloons in hard to reach areas. The missions are all fairly straightforward, and with an already massive task of collecting all one hundred and thirty emblems to complete, it’s very unlikely that a player will go back to complete the Challenge mode as well. Collecting these emblems unlocks some of the original Game Gear Sonic games, such as Sonic Drift, Sonic Spinball and even the original Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog game. At least a small incentive is given to those who are willing to put the time in.

Sonic Adventure DX is a revival of an almost classic game, which fails to hit the mark on so many levels. With an update, the game should have fixed the roaming camera problems, the clumsy character control, the poor dialogue, and the small bugs that plagued the Dreamcast title. Instead, we get a version that is identical to the original, with added faults, and a couple of superfluous additions. When designing this title, someone at Sega had got their priorities wrong, and instead of yet another sub-standard port, Sega could have had a hit on their hands. As it is though, Sonic Adventure DX will go down in the annals of gaming history as a lame attempt to revive the Sonic franchise, and a rushed cash-cow of an attempt at that. It’s a shame, as this could have been regarded as Sega’s true answer to the unrivalled Mario 64. At least they left the great music alone.