Chaos is a better final boss than Finalhazard and I’m gonna tell you why.
Like, okay. Finahazard is actually a much better boss FIGHT, but Chaos is a much more nuanced character and you spend the whole game learning what his deal is and he ends up becoming an increasingly sympathetic figure even as he becomes more imposing to the point of being pretty terrifying. And he starts out (when he has no Emeralds) as a vaguely Mobian-sized character. He’s cool!
Having all the characters (except Shadow) have to team up for a level and then have the other character (Shadow) have a boss fight right after is kind of the perfect concept for this kind of game. And it’s hard as HECK which feels right for a final challenge. So, yeah. Big ups there.
And I do really love the scope of the final boss fight, and the fact that Shadow and Sonic are both in their Super forms just feels right. I know pretty much all these 3D games escalate to a fight where Super forms are used, but I still think it’s rad as heck and this one blew my mind when I was a kid. And I love that it has the badass “Live and Learn” by Crush 40 blaring the whole time.
Alright, with all that out of the way, it’s time for me to bitch about a few things.
Imagine being Knuckles and seeing Sonic go Super with Shadow instead of him even though he’s standing right there. Hmm. Guy who’s become a hard-won ally and who has a steadfast sense of duty? New guy who tried to kill me a bunch? Hard choice, that! I mean, yeah. It fits the entire structure of the game for it to be Sonic and Shadow, and I like seeing them fight together. It’s just kinda funny when you zoom out and think about it for a second.
(Heck, why not zoom back to the control room and share your super form with ME. I’m by far your most trusted comrade here. And it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.)
So, yeah, okay, that’s a half-serious complaint because it doesn’t quite track if you think about it from the characters’ POV, but I kinda understand why it HAD to go this way in this particular game, regardless of whether it makes sense from our POV.
What REALLY gets me is the ending credits.
I kinda like the whole, have everyone talk during the credits thing. I think that’s pretty great, honestly. And most of the pairings of people talking together make sense. EXCEPT FOR ME AND EGGMAN??? Like, first of all, okay WOW you’re gonna give Sonic and AMY screentime together, but not ME and Sonic??? REALLY?????? And the one person you DO have me have a conversation with is Eggman??? The guy who’s kidnapped and/or tried to kill me on countless occasions, tried to kill Sonic on countless occasions, and just tried to kill Sonic right in front of me???? And I’m on FRIENDLY TERMS with him???? Because he helped ONCE???? C’mon, guys!!!! This ain’t it!!!!!
I know this is a very small part of a much larger game, most of which I happen to love, actually. But WOW does it ever irritate me!!
But, yeah. Like I said, in spite of all the reasons I like this one a little less than Sonic Adventure 1, I really do love it. So, yeah. As is customary, let’s close by ranking some stuff.
I’m only gonna rank Sonic and Shadow’s stages, because it’s kinda hard to compare the others and those will be the ones that will fit the most neatly into my big ratings of all the rest of the games which of course you know I’m gonna do when I finish this lmao. I’ll do everyone’s bosses, though, because why not.
Oh, and I don’t hafta rank Amy’s theme this time because they just reused her SA1 theme even though the rest of us all got new versions! Because even the soundtracks knows “fuck Amy,” I guess XD. (Look, again, I love Amy on a good day but these games are VERY MUCH NOT HER FINEST HOUR. Did I mention she TRIED TO TRAP MY HEDGEHOG INTO MARRYING HER? Who DOES that?)
One thing you’ll notice in these rankings is that there are a lot of stages that are way more highly rated than in SA1! This game was way more polished and had way more memorable stages on the whole. Like, I’m still tempted to say that it’s a better game even though I like SA1 better for deeply personal reasons, but also idk. It’s such a different experience, and I really do think having each character’s story be a separate, coherent story worked so well that it’s just hard to compare them. Like, SA2 feels like one long game, and SA1 kinda felt like you got to play a bunch of separate games. It’s just a totally different experience so they’re hard to compare.
Oh, since I’m not ranking Knuckles’ stages, let me also just say: PUMPKIN HILL RULES I LOVE IT SO MUCH IT IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS IN ANY OF THESE GAMES IT IS SO COMPLETELY MY AESTHETIC AAAAAA I LOVE IT.
Zones
City Escape (S-Rank)
Radical Highway (S-Rank)
White Jungle (S-Rank)
Green Forest (S-Rank)
Final Rush (S-Rank)
Cannon's Core (S-Rank)
Final Chase (S-Rank)
Pyramid Cave (A-Rank)
Metal Harbor (A-Rank)
Sky Rail (B-Rank)
Crazy Gadget (B-Rank)
Bosses
Finalhazard (S-Rank)
Sonic vs. Shadow 2 (S-Rank)
Tails vs. Eggman 2 (S-Rank)
Sonic vs. Shadow 1 (A-Rank)
Egg Golem (Sonic) (A-Rank)
King Boom Boo (A-Rank)
Biolizard (B-Rank)
Knuckles vs. Rouge (B-Rank)
Hot Shot (B-Rank)
Bigfoot (B-Rank)
Flying Dog (B-Rank)
Tails vs. Eggman 1 (B-Rank)
Egg Golem (Eggman) (B-Rank)
Soundtrack
Live and Learn (S-Rank)
Won't Stop, Just Go! (Green Forest) (S-Rank)
A Ghost's Pumpkin Soup (Pumpkin Hill) (S-Rank)
Escape from the City (City Escape) (S-Rank)
E.G.G.M.A.N. (Eggman’s Theme) (S-Rank)
Highway in the Sky (Final Rush) (A-Rank)
The Supernatural (Final Chase) (A-Rank)
This Way Out (Prison Lane) (A-Rank)
Masters of the Desert (A-Rank)
It Doesn’t Matter (Sonic’s Theme) (A-Rank)
Space Trip Steps (Meteor Herd) (A-Rank)
Mr. Unsmiley (Sky Rail) (A-Rank)
Suitable Opponent (A-Rank)
Vengeance Is Mine (Radical Highway) (A-Rank)
Believe in Myself (Tails’ Theme) (A-Rank)
On the Edge (Eternal Engine) (A-Rank)
Trespasser (Lost Colony) (B-Rank)
Crush 'Em All (Weapons Bed) (B-Rank)
I'm a Spy (Security Hall) (B-Rank)
Soarin' Over the Space (Cosmic Wall) (B-Rank)
That's the Way I Like It (Metal Harbor) (B-Rank)
GUN Mobile (B-Rank)
Cooperation (Cannon's Core) (B-Rank)
Scramble for the Core (Cannon's Core) (B-Rank)
Deep Inside Of... (Cannon's Core) (B-Rank)
Throw It All Away (Shadow's Theme) (B-Rank)
Deeper (Death Chamber) (B-Rank)
Rumbling HWY (Mission Street) (B-Rank)
Kick the Rock! (Wild Canyon) (B-Rank)
Fly in the Freedom (Rouge's Theme) (B-Rank)
Unknown from M.E. (Knuckles’ Theme) (B-Rank)
Rhythm and Balance (White Jungle) (C-Rank)
Shut Up, Faker! (C-Rank)
Chasing Drive (Kart) (C-Rank)
Way to the Base (Sand Ocean) (C-Rank)
Down in the Base (Hidden Base) (C-Rank)
34°N, 12°E (Mad Space) (C-Rank)
Dive Into the Mellow (Aquatic Mine) (C-Rank)
For True Story (C-Rank)
Supporting Me (C-Rank)
Unstable World (Crazy Gadget) (C-Rank)
Keys the Ruin (Pyramid Cave) (C-Rank)
Lovely Gate 3 (Egg Quarters) (C-Rank)
Remember Me? M.F.M. (Iron Gate) (C-Rank)
The Mad Convoy Race (City Escape) (C-Rank)
Can't Stop, So What? (Metal Harbor) (C-Rank)
Bright Sound (Dry Lagoon) (C-Rank)
