A Sonic the Hedgehog game on a new Nintendo system before a Mario platformer? Just a year or so ago, who would have thought anything os the sort would occur? Well the reality is that Sega is now a multiplatform developer, so such oddities should cease to surprise us from now on. Regardless, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle is here and is so far the GameCube's best platform title.

I was a big fan of the original Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, but felt somewhat disappointed with Sonic Adventure 2. In SA2, the Sonic and Shadow levels were amazing old school-style roller coaster rides, with barely any time to bother with "adventuring". But then they threw in those pace destroying Tails/Robotnik, and Knuckles/Rogue levels. Do you remember Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles for the Genesis? Back then, both new characters still progressed through a level like Sonic, but with a few additional abilities. What use is a fox with 2 tails that can hover like a helicopter, if he is always piloting a clunky mech and shooting enemies? Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, despite the many additional 2-player battle modes, unfortunately has the same issues.

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the GameCube is for all intensive purposes, Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast. There are some very minor differences in the Story Mode, the additional 2-player levels and characters, and a slightly tweaked Chao mode, but most will be hard-pressed to tell the difference at fight sight. The GameCube version, visually, appears near identical to the already great looking Dreamcast original. The ability to use a component cable and enable progressive scan mode (by holding B at the GameCube logo upon startup), does push the quality a bit higher. Textures are crisper than crisp, and I have not been witness to a single bout of slowdown in the 60fps framerate. The camera still likes to fight you in some of the same tight areas, and gets anooying more than a few times, but it is bearable.

Sonic and friends control great with the GameCube control pad, with the exception of the trigger camera controls. You must push down way too far to activate the button and rotate the camera view. Sonic games have always used a simple control scheme, and the GameCube pad is setup just right for the occasion. The decent control does not fix the usually boring Knuckles and Tails levels however. It might have sounded fine on paper, but forcing Knuckles to always play hot potato, and Tails to play in that mech, was not a good idea. Gamers play Sonic games for the speed, classic platforming elements and great level designs, not to spend 20 minutes looking for a crystal buried under the ground somewhere.

Audio also sounds identical in every way. The music still rocks, and the famous Sonic "ring chime" and level ending tunes are there as well.

The additional two-player "battle modes", are the real addition to the GameCube version. Those who coud care less about that aspect in any Sonic game, would probably feel the same about this addition. For those who loved the competitive levels, Sonic Team has provided a ton of cool modes and characters for you. If you happen to have a Game Boy Advance, a copy of Sonic Advance, and the GBA - GC link cable, you can access the Chao raising features of Sonic Advance. It is very similar to what was found on the Dreamcast VMU, although a lot more interactive and much, much nicer to look at.

Sonic Team tried to include something for everyone in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, but in the end all that variety ends up altering what made Sonic games so special to begin with. For those looking for an all around good platform title for the GameCube, Sega's Sonic Adventure 2 battle should work well... at least until the next Mario or real Sonic the Hedgehog game comes along.