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131-563: Sega Studios USA chose to make a game featuring Shadow to capitalize on his popularity and resolve plot mysteries that began with his introduction in Sonic Adventure 2 (2001). Shadow the Hedgehog was written and directed by Takashi Iizuka and produced by Yuji Naka , with music by Jun Senoue . Iizuka strove to attract an older audience; Shadow's character allowed the team to use a darker tone and elements otherwise considered inappropriate for

262-557: A Sonic game. Senoue began writing in April 2000; he worked closely with Sonic Team USA regarding Adventure 2 's structure, design, and characters. Half the music was produced in the US, while the other half was produced in Japan. Like Iizuka, Senoue considered Adventure 2 his favorite Sonic game to work on, as he found working with a small team in a new environment invigorating. Senoue wanted

393-484: A vinyl version of the soundtrack including interviews with Senoue and Iizuka in 2018. Sega released a port of Sonic Adventure 2 as a downloadable game for the PlayStation 3 (via PlayStation Network ) and Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade ) on October 2, 2012, and for Windows (via Steam ) on November 20. The port followed a similar reissue of the first Adventure in 2010 and was branded as part of Sega Heritage,

524-483: A "continue countdown" screen, in which the player has a limited amount of time (usually 10, 15, or 20 seconds) to insert additional coins in order to continue the game from the point where it had ended; deciding not to continue will result in the displaying of a game over screen. The continue feature was added to arcade games in the mid-1980s due to arcade owners wanting to earn more money from players who played for longer periods of time. The first arcade game to have

655-525: A 2012 initiative in which Sega rereleased popular games from its back catalog on modern consoles. The rerelease features high-definition graphics and widescreen support, though some cutscenes are still presented in 4:3 . Otherwise, it is mostly identical to the original versions; it lacks the Dreamcast version's online features and the GameCube additions are paywalled as downloadable content (DLC). In 2017,

786-417: A bat, who became Rouge. Sonic Team saw Shadow as a one-off character who would not appear in subsequent Sonic games. Iizuka summarized Sonic Adventure 2 's development as "trying to make the impossible possible", as Sonic Team USA had to overcome the challenge of creating a game comparable in scope to the first Adventure with less than a tenth of the staff. Despite this, he considered Adventure 2

917-404: A character, he used Adventure 2 as an opportunity to revise him to suit his tastes. Among Sonic Team's unimplemented Adventure concepts was a black hedgehog who rivaled Sonic's coolness . The idea was revived during Adventure 2 's brainstorming sessions. The rival was initially villainous, but Iizuka decided to appeal to American audiences with an antihero , a popular archetype in

1048-481: A continue feature was Fantasy , and the first home console cartridge to have this feature was the Atari 2600 version of Vanguard . As a result of the continue feature, games started to have stories and definite endings; however, those games were designed so that it would be nearly impossible to get to the end of the game without continuing. Salen and Zimmerman argue that the continue feature in games such as Gauntlet

1179-509: A day, while Gioeli wrote the lyrics. Senoue then sent a demo to Gioeli to record his vocals. Takeshi Taneda  [ ja ] played bass and Katsuji Kirita of Gargoyle and the Cro-Magnons played drums. Poley wrote and performed "Escape from the City", the first level's theme. He found writing video game music different, as "you have to have a lot of action and alliteration. It creates

1310-552: A different genre and divided the work by which genre each composer was most interested in. For instance, Knuckles' stages feature rap music composed by Ohtani, who wanted to focus on a new musical element. Tokoi said the soundtrack explores more genres than the first game's, and other genres include pop-punk , glam metal , and orchestral arrangements. Singers featured in the soundtrack include Johnny Gioeli of Hardline , Ted Poley of Danger Danger , Tony Harnell of TNT , and Paul Shortino of Rough Cutt . The soundtrack

1441-424: A form of health; when he is attacked by an enemy or takes damage from the environment, ten of his rings bounce away from and form into a circle around him. When Shadow has no rings and takes damage from an enemy he dies, loses a life and goes back to the last checkpoint, which also serve as teleportation devices, allowing Shadow to return to different sections of the current level. Each level is completed by undertaking

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1572-505: A high-security Guardian Units of Nations (GUN) facility to revive it with a Chaos Emerald . The weapon—Shadow, a black hedgehog who proclaims himself the "Ultimate Lifeform"—offers to help Eggman conquer the world, telling him to rendezvous at an abandoned space colony, the ARK, with more Chaos Emeralds. Shadow has vowed to fulfill a promise he made to his friend, Eggman's cousin Maria , before she died;

1703-462: A million copies worldwide. Cumulative sales reached 1.7 million, and by July 2006, it had earned $ 44 million in the US. According to Next Generation , it was the 42nd-bestselling game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, or Xbox between January 2000 and July 2006 in the US. It is one of the bestselling GameCube games and the bestselling third-party GameCube game. Sonic Adventure 2 received "generally favorable" reviews. Critics appreciated

1834-553: A mission, and each mission is labelled "Hero," "Dark," or "Normal". The "Hero" missions involve completing tasks for the Sonic series' heroic characters, or Doctor Eggman on one occasion, and the "Dark" missions involve completing tasks for either Black Doom or Doctor Eggman. The "Normal" missions involve reaching the Chaos Emerald or Goal Ring at the end of the stage. Examples of non-neutral mission objectives include killing all enemies in

1965-477: A powerful healing spell may affect anyone within a certain range of the caster (often only if they are a member of the caster's party ). Some games also have what are referred to as "aura" abilities that will affect anyone in the area around the person with the ability. For example, many strategy games have hero or officer units that can improve the morale and combat performance of friendly units around them. The inclusion of AoE elements in game mechanics can increase

2096-436: A significant improvement. Kotaku appreciated the other characters' levels for their immersion, despite their poor quality. Additional criticism has been directed at the camera for obscuring enemies and platforms, poor voice acting and audio mixing , and the story. The audio mixing, in which characters' dialogue in cutscenes frequently overlaps, has been described as infamous. The Escapist and VentureBeat called

2227-502: A specified area. For example, in the role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons , a fireball spell will deal damage to anyone within a certain radius of where it strikes. In most tactical strategy games artillery weapons have an area of effect that will damage anyone within a radius of the strike zone. Often the effect is stronger on the target than on anything else hit. See also: Splash damage Area of effect can also refer to spells and abilities that are non-damaging. For example,

2358-540: A standalone game rather than a sequel to appeal to a broader audience. Heroes became the first multiplatform Sonic game when it was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in late 2003. Another 2003 Sonic Team game, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg , uses an updated version of the Adventure 2 engine, and Ohtani, who first composed Sonic music for Adventure 2 , became the series' sound director with Sonic

2489-606: A team of 11—significantly smaller than Adventure 's team of 120—to begin working on Sonic Adventure 2 after they spent six months localizing Adventure for the West. As with the first game, Iizuka directed Adventure 2 while Yuji Naka , the Sonic franchise's co-creator, produced it. The development lasted around a year and a half. Shiro Maekawa, who wrote portions of Sega's Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998) and joined Sonic Team during Adventure 's production, conceived and wrote Adventure 2 's story. Maekawa accepted

2620-473: A total of around 500,000 copies worldwide. The Escapist wrote that these numbers were impressive given that the Dreamcast had already been discontinued. The GameCube version was significantly more successful. In Japan, it sold almost 50,000 copies during its first month, and had sold 192,186 by December 23, 2002. In North America, it was the bestselling GameCube game between January and August 2002, selling 465,000 copies. By August 2002, it had sold more than

2751-512: A trailer premiere behind closed doors and a press release. Game Informer reported that it was 40% complete at that time. Sega released the trailer online when it launched Sonic Team's website on June 30, and allowed journalists to play a demo version in December. Early copies of Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online , released in Japan in December and worldwide in January 2001, were bundled with

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2882-503: A whole mood and there's no time for breath—the song is over in a minute and a half, and it's intense." The rapper Hunnid-P performed Knuckles' level themes. Senoue made a demo for each track using an ADAT system to track guitars or vocals and a Yamaha digital console or Mackie analog mixer for mixing . He edited tracks with his Macintosh before testing them in-game. Once Senoue was satisfied and received Sonic Team USA's approval, he finished sequencing and sent demos to prepare for

3013-417: A worthy sequel to Adventure . However, journalists have characterized Adventure 2 as divisive, and the 2012 rerelease received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic. Some fans regard Adventure 2 as the franchise's pinnacle, but others find it unfocused—"a jack of all trades, master of none", as The Escapist wrote. According to The Escapist , "depending on who you ask, [it] represent[s]

3144-749: A year and a half, with Takashi Iizuka directing and Yuji Naka producing. Developed during a tumultuous period in Sega's history , Adventure 2 had a significantly smaller development team than the first game. Sonic Team USA streamlined the design to emphasize faster, more action -oriented gameplay giving each character roughly equal gameplay time. The levels were influenced by American locations such as San Francisco and Yosemite National Park . The soundtrack—composed by Jun Senoue , Fumie Kumatani, Tomoya Ohtani , and Kenichi Tokoi—spans genres including pop-punk , glam metal , hip-hop , jazz and orchestral arrangements, and features several metal singers. Sonic Adventure 2

3275-467: Is divided into level-specific tracks and character themes, with leitmotifs similar to professional wrestler entrance music . Senoue reused most of the character theme lyrics from the first Adventure , but wrote new music. As Crush 40 , he and Gioeli recorded the main theme, "Live & Learn". Senoue recorded the introduction for the Adventure 2 demo ; he worked on the rest later and completed it within

3406-600: Is flawed, but argued this was negated by its merits. Nintendo Life said Adventure 2 's many "bizarre design choices" made it endearing, and Kotaku said it "felt equal parts triumphant and bittersweet... Adventure 2 has plenty of flaws, but you can tell Sonic Team was working hard to build off the best parts of its previous Adventure and play out Sega’s home console era with style." Following Adventure 2 , Sonic 's critical standing began to decline, which VentureBeat attributed to Sega "depending on stupid gimmicks to sell their most iconic property" following

3537-490: Is set in one of three specially designed stages and uses a vertically split screen to separate each player's view. Each player chooses one of the available characters—Shadow, two metallic versions of him, and palette-swapped variants of each. The combatants attack each other and steal each other's rings until one is eliminated. Additionally, in single-player mode, a second player may take control of Shadow's hero sidekick characters (you cannot control Doom's Eye or Dr. Eggman) in

3668-467: Is the military of Earth's government, the United Federation, and is directed by the G.U.N. Commander, who harbors a personal hatred of Shadow. When completing "Hero" missions, Shadow usually helps G.U.N. and heroic characters from the Sonic series, including Sonic , Tails , Knuckles , Amy , Rouge , Omega , Vector , Charmy , and Espio . Their aim is to protect Earth from both Doctor Eggman and

3799-417: Is this new 'adult' interpretation of Sonic painfully dumb, it’s also ill-advised and almost feels like a betrayal to longtime fans." Eurogamer staff writer Tom Bramwell felt that "the game's other selling point – its darker edge – [is] not really meant for us." G4 's X-Play and GameSpy staff writer Patrick Klepek thought similarly. In contrast, Nintendo Power staff writer Steve Thomason rated

3930-490: The Terminator series —would make the story darker and allow for elements, such as vehicles and weapons, otherwise considered inappropriate for a Sonic game. Naka stated in an interview with GameSpy that he wanted to use Shadow as the game's main character due to his popularity among fans and being the best fit for a "gun action" game. The game features several animated cutscenes produced by Blur Studio . The music of Shadow

4061-629: The Atari 8-bit computers of the late 1970s and 1980s, the term attract mode was sometimes used to denote a simple screensaver that slowly cycled the display colors to prevent phosphor burn-in when no input had been received for several minutes. Attract modes demonstrating gameplay are common in current home video games. Also aim-assist . Also bunny hopping . Also backfilling . Also achievement . Also banhammer . Also beta testing . Also story mode and campaign . Also character select . Also clutching

Shadow the Hedgehog (video game) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4192-789: The Game Boy Advance (GBA) game Sonic Advance (2001), facilitated through the GameCube – GBA link cable . Visually, Battle features texture resolution increases, though some textures are blurrier, while colors are brighter. Battle was released in Japan on December 20, 2001, in North America on February 11, 2002, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. The Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure 2 sold more than 84,000 copies during its first week in Japan (a franchise record), and

4323-471: The Master Emerald . Their search is guided by radar and puzzle -based clues from harmless robots. Knuckles and Rouge can glide, defeat enemies with punches and kicks, and scale walls, digging into them to find power-ups . Adventure 2 has the health system found in many other Sonic games. The player collects rings scattered throughout the levels; being hit by an enemy while holding rings causes

4454-522: The Sonic Adventure entries, and the 2001 sequel really amped up the action." In February 2014, IGN' s Luke Karmali called Battle his tenth-favorite game of all time. In a video interview with Sonic Team studio head Takashi Iizuka, he says Sonic Adventure 2 is his favourite game in the series. Development on the next game, Sonic Heroes (2003), began at Sonic Team USA shortly after Adventure 2 's completion. Iizuka chose to develop it as

4585-427: The Sonic the Hedgehog series since 1993, targeted a younger audience with previous Sonic games and wanted to attract an older audience with Shadow the Hedgehog . The game's development team wanted to make a game featuring Shadow to resolve plot mysteries that began with the character's introduction in Sonic Adventure 2 . The team felt that Shadow's design—inspired by films such as Underworld , Constantine , and

4716-524: The amnesiac Shadow interprets the promise as one of revenge. Shadow steals a Chaos Emerald, and GUN arrests Sonic after mistaking him for Shadow. Knuckles encounters Eggman and Rouge, a government spy, attempting to steal the Master Emerald . He stops them by shattering it and searches for the scattered shards to repair it. Rouge follows Eggman to the ARK, where Shadow shows Eggman the Eclipse Cannon, another weapon created by Gerald. Shadow plans to charge

4847-630: The anime series Sonic X (2003–2006) and the live-action film Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024). Sonic Adventure 2 is a 3D platform game divided into two campaigns: Hero and Dark. In the Hero campaign, players control Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, who fight to save the world; in the Dark campaign, players control Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Eggman and Rouge the Bat, fighting to conquer it. Each campaign cycles through levels of its three characters, telling different sides of

4978-405: The bestselling GameCube games and the bestselling third-party GameCube game. Following Adventure 2 , Sonic became a multiplatform franchise, beginning with Sonic Heroes (2003). Sonic Adventure 2 introduced Sonic to a wider audience with its GameCube port. It originated characters and elements used in later games; Shadow became one of the most popular Sonic characters and featured in

5109-608: The recording sessions . The soundtrack was recorded across five sessions in Los Angeles, New York City and Tokyo. While he enjoyed studio work, Senoue described the last three months as chaotic, as he had to travel between Tokyo, San Francisco and Los Angeles within weeks to write and record music. Senoue finished the soundtrack in February 2001, after which he worked on the sound effects. Sega announced Sonic Adventure 2 at E3 in May 2000 with

5240-548: The "Ultimate Life Form." To that end, Robotnik designed Shadow to harness the powers of the Chaos Emeralds. To his horror, Shadow witnessed G.U.N. raid the ARK and shoot his best friend and granddaughter of Gerald, Maria Robotnik , killing her. Shadow was presumed dead at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 , his first in-game appearance, but he returned in Sonic Heroes and suffers amnesia . The Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.)

5371-438: The "stupid level design", saying that "[j]ust because they dazzled players six years ago does not mean that Sonic Team can copy and paste exactly the same loops and spins into each new franchise iteration and expect everyone to be happy with the outcome." GameSpy observed that "the areas are much less open than in previous Sonic games, but the level designers haven't taken advantage of the constraints." Nintendo Power singled out

Shadow the Hedgehog (video game) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5502-590: The Biolizard, a colossal lizard and prototype Ultimate Lifeform. Knuckles deactivates the Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald, but the Biolizard fuses with the cannon to continue the ARK's collision course. Sonic and Shadow use the emeralds to transform into their super forms , destroy the Biolizard, and put the ARK back into a stable orbit. This depletes Shadow's energy and he plummets to Earth, content in fulfilling his promise to Maria. The people on Earth celebrate as

5633-556: The Black Arms' leader, contacts Shadow and tells him of an old promise made to bring the Chaos Emeralds to him. Stunned that Black Doom knows his name, Shadow searches for the Chaos Emeralds to learn about his past. The game progresses through the Westopolis level and five more levels from the different paths Shadow may take. As missions are completed, Shadow learns more about his past and regains memories. He can choose to help Doctor Eggman,

5764-501: The Black Arms, an army of various related alien species that invade Earth from the Black Comet. Black Doom, the leader of the Black Arms, sends an extension of himself called "Doom's Eye" to watch Shadow and help him complete missions. When completing "Dark" missions, Shadow helps either Black Doom or Doctor Eggman, each of whom wants the Chaos Emeralds for himself. In one "Hero" mission of Sky Troops, Shadow assists Doctor Eggman in battling

5895-413: The Black Arms, or G.U.N. and the series' heroic characters, or he can choose to help neither and keep the Chaos Emeralds for himself. The missions completed determine which one of ten possible endings will be seen after Shadow collects all the Chaos Emeralds and defeats one of the game's final bosses. The possible ending events range from helping the heroes destroy the Black Arms or to help Black Doom destroy

6026-472: The Black Arms. Shadow suffers from amnesia, only able to remember two things: his name and his attempt to escape the Space Colony ARK with his creator Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter Maria , who was killed by G.U.N. soldiers. While Shadow is trying to remember what happened in his past outside the city of Westopolis, an alien race called the Black Arms drops out of the sky and invades the city. Black Doom,

6157-448: The Black Arms. Shadow resists Black Doom's control, and Black Doom transforms into a giant beast form called Devil Doom; in response, Shadow uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Shadow and confronts Devil Doom. During the battle, Doctor Eggman confirms to Shadow that he is the original and not an android. Shadow kills Devil Doom and uses Chaos Control to teleport the Black Comet back into Earth's orbit, where he obliterates it using

6288-480: The Black Knight 's (2009) swordplay, were not. Sonic Adventure 2 's first level, City Escape, has been described as one of the best opening stages in a video game. The level, which serves as a tutorial, depicts Sonic as he escapes GUN and features sequences in which he snowboards through streets and outruns a murderous truck. Red Bull said it was "unquestionably Sonic 's finest hour since

6419-585: The DC didn't go out with a bang, but with a sonic boom." In 2022, IGN named it one of the best Dreamcast games. The camera was largely panned. Shahed Ahmed of GameSpot criticized the "cardinal sin" of 3D platform games: forcing players to jump to an out-of-frame platform. Although players can re-orient the camera with the trigger buttons, it reverts when the character moves. According to Chau and Liu, this made searching cramped sections of Knuckles' and Rouge's levels frustrating. Edge found camera problems permeating

6550-417: The Dreamcast hardware made it possible. He felt that by then, Sonic Team had "gotten to the point where we can tap the full power of the console and deliver a much better experience to users". Sonic Team USA gave Sonic more abilities, such as grinding on rails, to add rhythm to ensure the gameplay was not only about speed. Sega collaborated with Soap , a company that produced shoes with plastic concavities in

6681-408: The Dreamcast version, the GameCube version released six months later received mixed reviews: respective Metacritic and GameRankings scores of 73 percent and 72.33 percent. Critics generally felt that it was not significantly improved from the Dreamcast original. However, Shane Bettenhausen of GameSpy saw Battle as noticeably superior; in addition to its upgrades, its action was better suited to

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6812-426: The Eclipse Cannon. His friends are elated, as are people at G.U.N. headquarters. Shadow is then seen in the ARK's observation deck holding up a photograph of Maria and Gerald. Recalling Maria's last words to him, "Goodbye forever... Shadow the Hedgehog", Shadow discards the photograph and walks away. "Shadow the Hedgehog has a much darker personality than Sonic the Hedgehog. In Sonic the Hedgehog , your typical mission

6943-417: The GameCube's controller than the Dreamcast's. Sonic Adventure 2 received several accolades, including the 2001 IGN's Editors' Choice Award. ScrewAttack called it the fifth-best Dreamcast game , and GamesRadar rated it the tenth-greatest Dreamcast game out of 25: "Despite trailing off significantly in recent years, the 3D side of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise had a surprisingly stellar start with

7074-479: The Hedgehog (2006). Sega's discontinuation of the Dreamcast made Sonic Adventure 2 the last Sonic game that Sonic Team—which had worked with Sega hardware teams to take advantage of their consoles—produced with the benefits of first-party development. Whereas Adventure 2 had been made using proprietary software , Sonic Team USA partnered with Criterion Software to use RenderWare so Heroes could be programmed and ported across platforms. Iizuka described

7205-402: The Hedgehog games, the player completes levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. Outside the main gameplay, they can interact with Chao , a virtual pet , and compete in multiplayer battles. After the release of Sonic Adventure (1998), Sonic Team was downsized and a portion of the staff moved to San Francisco to establish Sonic Team USA. They worked on Adventure 2 for

7336-538: The Hedgehog was composed by Jun Senoue , with additional work by Yutaka Minobe, Tomoya Ohtani , and Mariko Nanba . Lost and Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax is a video game soundtrack album released on CD on February 22, 2006. The album contains seven vocal songs from the game, one of which is a remix rather than the original. Another soundtrack, Shadow the Hedgehog: Original Soundtrax ,

7467-455: The Hedgehog , Miles "Tails" Prower , and Knuckles the Echidna attempt to save the world, while Shadow the Hedgehog , Doctor Eggman , and Rouge the Bat attempt to conquer it. The stories are divided into three gameplay styles: fast-paced platforming for Sonic and Shadow, third-person shooting for Tails and Eggman, and action-adventure exploration for Knuckles and Rouge. Like previous Sonic

7598-403: The Hedgehog , and each pathway is individually named. New gameplay features distinguish Shadow the Hedgehog from previous Sonic games. For example, Shadow can pick up and use guns to fight enemies. Parts of the scenery, like traffic signs , can also be used as weapons. Another new feature is the ability to drive vehicles, such as motorcycles and an alien aircraft. Although Shadow can outrun

7729-623: The March 8, 2005 inauguration of Sonic the Hedgehog into the Walk of Game . Sega formally announced development of the game for the GameCube , PlayStation 2 , and Xbox video game consoles on March 23, 2005. The same year, Sega released the game in North America on November 15, 2005, in Europe on November 18, 2005, and Japan on December 15, 2005. Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka and series co-creator Yuji Naka led development, with Iizuka serving as writer and director and Naka as producer. Iizuka, who had worked on

7860-567: The PlayStation 3 version was made playable on the PlayStation 4 and Windows via the cloud gaming service PlayStation Now , and the Xbox 360 version was made backward compatible with the Xbox One . Sonic Adventure 2 is frequently ranked among the best Sonic games. GameSpot and Kotaku deemed it a satisfying conclusion to Sonic 's run on Sega hardware, and Game Informer considered it

7991-528: The Sonic and Shadow levels; retrospective reviewers have criticized the other characters as frustrating and cumbersome. Game Informer found Tails and Eggman's levels fine, but Knuckles and Rouge's annoying. Nintendo Life disagreed, writing Knuckles and Rouge were "entertaining enough" while Tails and Eggman were "rubbish". To TechRadar , the gameplay variety meant the quality of levels fluctuated more than it did in Adventure , though Sonic and Shadow's levels were

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8122-486: The US by the end of 2000 to remain a viable platform, but Sega fell short of this goal with three million units sold. Moreover, Sega's attempts to spur sales through lower prices and cash rebates caused escalating financial losses. On January 31, 2001, Sega announced it was discontinuing the Dreamcast to become a third-party developer, although it remained committed to releasing first-party Dreamcast software through 2001. The third-party transition made Adventure 2 one of

8253-541: The US. He cited the Image Comics character Spawn as an influence. Maekawa struggled to develop the concept until writing lines for a scene in which Sonic confronts the hedgehog for impersonating him. Maekawa settled on a delicate, pure character who would refer to himself using the more humble Japanese pronoun boku ( 僕 ) . He was originally named Terios the Prisoner, but was renamed Shadow after another new character,

8384-433: The [Genesis] days", and Destructoid called it a perfect introduction to modern Sonic gameplay that encapsulates the strengths of the Adventure games. USgamer wrote that Adventure 2 is remembered more for City Escape than anything else, and Polygon said that it "represents the epitome of Sonic the Hedgehog . It's fast-paced, full of secret pathways, and more than a little absurd." Palette swap Since

8515-440: The cannon with the Chaos Emeralds and use it to take over the world. Rouge offers her services and gives Shadow and Eggman a Chaos Emerald to gain their trust. Tails and Amy infiltrate GUN's base and rescue Sonic, while Rouge retrieves three emeralds from the base before Eggman destroys it. Eggman makes a global broadcast in which he threatens to destroy the planet if he is not accepted as Earth's ruler within 24 hours. He demonstrates

8646-526: The cannon's power by destroying half of the Moon. While avoiding GUN forces, Sonic, Tails, and Amy meet up with Knuckles and use a Chaos Emerald to track the others to the ARK. Knuckles separates from the group and finishes repairing the Master Emerald. On the ARK, Tails gives Sonic a counterfeit Chaos Emerald to destroy the Eclipse Cannon. As Sonic is about to use it, Eggman captures Tails and Amy, forcing Sonic to return and rescue them. Sonic tries to trick Eggman with

8777-407: The characters; for example, a Chao which likes Tails will gradually become more heroic. Playing with Chao increases affection, and when a Chao becomes fully Hero or Dark, it assumes that form permanently. Although Chao eventually die, if they receive enough affection during their lives they reincarnate. Adventure 2 has 180 emblems, earned for a variety of tasks. Each level has five missions; only

8908-462: The conflict between good and evil. Sonic Team USA gave Chao the ability to socialize and interact, which Naka felt "took [them] a step closer to a real artificial life form ". Sonic Adventure 2 's soundtrack was composed by Jun Senoue , Fumie Kumatani, Tomoya Ohtani , and Kenichi Tokoi, with Senoue as the lead composer and sound director. Senoue, Kumatani and Tokoi returned from Adventure , while Ohtani made his first contributions to

9039-407: The demo. It features the opening cutscene and level, ending with a trailer showcasing later levels. Sega showcased Adventure 2 again at E3 2001. On June 13, Archie Comics published a brief adaptation in its Sonic the Hedgehog comic book, written by Karl Bollers and penciled by Patrick Spaziante . According to Ken Penders , one of the series' writers, the creative team was unable to adapt

9170-434: The difficulty of the missions that require the player to locate objects. Critics praised the game's replay value, applauding the many possible paths that a player may take through the game. GameTrailers stated, "this choose-your-own-adventure style gives the game replay value that many platformers lack." The Australian publication Herald Sun , Nintendo Power , and Official Xbox Magazine thought similarly. GameSpot praised

9301-409: The emeralds were used, a retaliation against the government for condemning his research and killing his colleagues, including Maria. Everyone but Shadow works together to access the cannon's core and neutralize the ARK using the Master Emerald. Amy pleads for Shadow's help, and he remembers that Maria really requested for him to help mankind. Shadow joins Sonic and Knuckles in the core as they encounter

9432-485: The experience while retaining Adventure 's "bulkiness". They removed the hub worlds in favor of linear level progression more in line with the older Sonic games, and divided action and exploration sequences among the characters rather than mixing them. Each level was tailored for its character, and unlike Adventure , in which some playable characters had short campaigns, all six Adventure 2 characters have roughly equal gameplay time. Iizuka said Adventure 2

9563-410: The fake emerald, but Eggman deduces the plan and jettisons him in an escape pod rigged with explosives. Sonic uses the power of the fake emerald to escape; Shadow is sent to intercept him. Eggman sneaks away with the last emerald and arms the Eclipse Cannon. The entire colony suddenly starts falling, and a prerecorded message from Gerald is broadcast globally: he programmed the ARK to collide with Earth if

9694-664: The first is required to continue the campaign, and other missions include completing a harder version of a level and collecting 100 rings. The player earns emblems by completing missions and other tasks, many related to Chao raising. Collecting all the emblems unlocks a 3D version of the Green Hill Zone stage from the original Sonic the Hedgehog . The game has several two-player modes. Players may race on foot through new (or altered) levels, have shoot-'em-up battles in mechs, hunt for Master Emerald shards or race in go-karts . A few characters are playable in these modes, but not in

9825-509: The franchise at its best and at its worst." Common elements of retrospective praise include Sonic and Shadow's levels, the Chao Garden, and the soundtrack. GamesRadar+ felt Adventure 2 's increased speed and emphasis on spectacle positively influenced the series. Conversely, its focus on multiple characters with different gameplay styles has been divisive. While IGN praised the gameplay variety, Kotaku noted that many only like

9956-462: The full two-disc soundtrack album , Multi-dimensional Sonic Adventure 2 Original Sound Track , on September 5. Tokyopop released a soundtrack in the US on February 5, 2002, ahead of the GameCube version's release, featuring 26 tracks selected by Senoue and US-exclusive remixes. On November 30, 2011, Sega released the soundtrack on iTunes via its Wave Master label to coincide with the franchise's 20th anniversary. Brave Wave Productions released

10087-447: The game and coming in clutch . A common term in video games for the option to continue the game after all of the player's lives have been lost, rather than ending the game and restarting from the very beginning. There may or may not be a penalty for doing this, such as losing a certain number of points or being unable to access bonus stages. In arcade game s, when a player loses or fails an objective, they will generally be shown

10218-515: The game 8.0 out of 10, stating, "this darker take on the Sonic universe succeeds for the most part, giving the series a bit of an edge without going overboard on violence." In addition, Official Xbox Magazine reassured readers, "Don't worry, Shadow the Hedgehog isn't half as 'urban' or quite as 'gangsta' as it first seems." Helgeson panned the game's "laughable" plot, saying it "makes no sense," and that various Sonic conventions undermined its attempts to be "mature" or "edgy". Reviewers also noted

10349-412: The game is not being played. Originally built into arcade games , the main purpose of the attract mode is to entice passers-by to play the game. It usually displays the game's title screen , the game's story (if it has one), its high score list, sweepstakes (on some games) and the message " Game Over " or "Insert Coin" over or in addition to a computer-controlled demonstration of gameplay . In

10480-410: The game was commercially successful, selling 2.06 million copies by March 2007. Shadow the Hedgehog is a platform game that incorporates elements from the third-person shooter genre and elements from the action-adventure genre. Like previous games in the Sonic series, basic gameplay involves running quickly, collecting rings , tricky platforming and destroying enemies. Shadow collects rings as

10611-444: The game's controls, especially Shadow's homing attack causing unexpected character deaths. Game Informer ' s Matt Helgeson complained that the attack "frequently sends you careening off into nothingness, resulting in cheap death after cheap death." Nintendo Power , X-Play , Eurogamer, Official Xbox Magazine , and GameSpy agreed. Other complaints focused on the mechanics of weapons and vehicles. Greg Mueller of GameSpot felt that

10742-475: The game's multiple playing styles. According to Edge and reviewer Four-Eyed Dragon of GamePro , the core game's three styles and bonus features such as Chao gardens made the game engaging. Johnny Liu of GameRevolution praised its replay value of multiple playing styles and 180 different goals. Anthony Chau of IGN called it one of the best Sonic games: "If this is the last Sonic game in these declining Dreamcast years, it's satisfying to know that

10873-523: The game's vehicles, the latter have unique capabilities, such as crushing enemies and traversing otherwise impassable acid-covered areas. As in most Sonic series games, the Chaos Emeralds play a major role; they help Shadow remember his past and allow him to perform Chaos Control and Chaos Blast. Chaos Control allows Shadow to move more quickly in levels and slows time in boss battles, and Chaos Blast creates an explosion that destroys or severely damages all nearby enemies. Shadow can perform Chaos Control after

11004-436: The game, with no significant improvement from Adventure . The visuals received positive reviews. Liu called them "sweet, sweet eye-crack". Four-Eyed Dragon wrote that the game "is simply jaw-dropping beautiful," citing its detailed backgrounds and scenery and the characters' extensive color palettes. According to Chau, the game had "some of the best textures ever seen" and was one of the most beautiful Dreamcast games. Edge

11135-491: The ground to uncover treasure and Master Emerald pieces. Separate from the main campaigns, the player can raise Chao as virtual pets . They have five attributes (Swim, Fly, Run, Power and Stamina) and a moral continuum from Hero to Dark. From the moment they hatch, their stats can be increased with Chaos Drives or small animals, found in the main stages, which empower them to compete in karate and racing minigames . Their alignment gradually changes based on their affection for

11266-646: The group returns, and Sonic bids Shadow farewell. Sonic Adventure , the first 3D platformer in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, was developed by Sonic Team and released for the Dreamcast in Japan in 1998. Although the game was a critical and commercial success, Dreamcast sales struggled to meet Sega's expectations. The Adventure team was downsized, and in 1999, 12 Sonic Team members, including Adventure 's director Takashi Iizuka , relocated to San Francisco, California, to establish Sonic Team USA . Sega directed

11397-417: The guns were nearly useless because of a lack of a target lock or manual aim, combined with an ineffective auto-aim. IGN staff writer Matt Casamassina , 1UP.com staff writer Greg Sewart, Game Informer , X-Play , GameSpy, and London 's The Times also criticized the mechanics of Shadow's weapons, vehicles, and other aspects of the game's controls. However, Thomason said that "blasting Shadow's foes with

11528-526: The large levels with the likely appeal of these stages to 3D Sonic gamers, particularly those who had enjoyed Sonic Heroes . GameTrailers found that "the levels are either dark and urban, or bright and psychedelic. Either way, they fit in well to the Sonic universe. They are loaded with speed ramps, loops and an assortment of other boosts that rocket Shadow like a pinball." Bettenhausen included "the classic run-like-hell roller coaster design philosophy" of some stages in his limited praise. Casamassina disliked

11659-464: The last major Dreamcast exclusives and the final Sonic game for a Sega console. In April 2001, Sega announced Sonic Team was working on a game for Nintendo 's GameCube . Sonic Team kept the project a secret until its reveal at Nintendo Space World in August. Naka liked the GameCube hardware, and advised Sonic Team fans to purchase GameCubes. Shortly before Space World, Sega confirmed rumors that

11790-551: The loss of first-party development benefits as the greatest challenge of the third-party transition, as his team "no longer [had] the ability to control what we need[ed] to make our games". Naka said he had mixed feelings about Sonic as a multiplatform franchise, and departed to form his own studio, Prope , in 2006. Shadow quickly proved popular among fans, so Sonic Team USA retconned his apparent death in Adventure 2 's finale to include him in subsequent Sonic games, beginning with Heroes . After Heroes , Sonic Team USA

11921-502: The main game; Tikal and Chaos from the original Sonic Adventure are playable in the treasure-hunting game, as are Amy Rose and Metal Sonic in the foot-racing levels and mechs piloted by Chao and Big the Cat (replaced by a Dark Chao in Battle ) in the shooting levels. Doctor Eggman learns of a secret weapon from the diary of his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik , and infiltrates

12052-410: The most fun Sonic game to develop, as the small team meant "we were able to condense all the good elements from the previous game, and deliver a story and game that was satisfying to players everywhere". Due to the smaller staff, Sonic Team USA split Adventure 2 into two campaigns featuring character teams instead of Adventure 's format of six starring individual characters. Adventure 2 uses

12183-535: The music "an eclectic mix of orchestrated masterpieces, guitar tunes, and melodic hip-hop voices" that "gracefully fill the game's ambiance to a perfect pitch." Reactions to the voice acting were divided; according to Ahmed, "the voice acting, and the lip-synching in particular, is executed quite well," and Liu and Chau found the English voices inferior to the Japanese ones. The plot was derided, although its presentation

12314-497: The occasion in its marketing. In Japan, Sega offered a limited edition "Birthday Pack" for two days that included the game, a gold disc containing Sonic music , a commemorative gold coin, and a 17-page booklet detailing the series' history. On June 30, Sega held a celebration at a Software Etc. in San Jose, California , where attendees could have birthday cake, partake in giveaways, and receive Naka's autograph. Sonic Adventure 2

12445-484: The origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry , the players , and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. Also isometric graphics . Also triple A . Also badge , trophy , medal , cheevo . Also aim down sights . Also control stick and thumbstick . A term used in many role-playing and strategy games to describe attacks or other effects that affect multiple targets within

12576-426: The original Sonic the Hedgehog 's first stage. Iizuka liked the idea but expected the rest of the team to object, so he, the artist, and a programmer spent a week working on it separately. Among Sonic Team USA's goals were a frame rate of 60 frames per second (FPS) to make the gameplay feel faster and a multiplayer mode. Achieving 60 FPS required some design tweaks, but Naka said Sonic Team's experience with

12707-455: The paralysis, Shadow confronts Black Doom, who reveals Gerald had promised him the Chaos Emeralds to complete his plan in exchange for his blood, which Gerald used to create Shadow. He attempts to use this physical connection to mind control Shadow. The Chaotix discover and play a message Gerald recorded for Shadow, revealing he created the ARK's Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet as atonement for working with Black Doom, asking Shadow to stop

12838-462: The planet. Completing all ten endings unlocks the game's true ending. After collecting all the Chaos Emeralds, Black Doom uses Chaos Control to bring the Black Comet to the Earth's surface. Black Doom explains that the Black Arms intend to use humans as an energy source, and the Black Comet begins to release a nerve gas into the Earth's atmosphere that causes total paralysis to those who inhale it. Immune to

12969-506: The player fills the Hero Gauge by defeating Black Arms soldiers (or by doing other heroic acts such as; putting out fires and healing wounded soldiers), and he can perform Chaos Blast after filling the Dark Gauge by defeating G.U.N. soldiers (or other evil acts such as; healing the enemies or destroying scenery). The game includes a two-player mode that retains the single-player mechanics but

13100-550: The player to drop them all, while being hit without rings causes them to lose a life . Tails and Eggman have health bars, which are slowly refilled by collecting rings. Dying with no lives results in a game over screen. The characters can obtain permanent upgrades that grant them new abilities; for example, one upgrade allows Sonic and Shadow to dash along a sequential trail of rings to reach distant platforms, one gives Tails and Eggman hover jets that slows their descent to cross large gaps, while another lets Knuckles and Rouge dig into

13231-450: The project was a port of Sonic Adventure 2 , subtitled Battle . This marked Sonic 's first appearance on a Nintendo console, which GameSpot called "an unbelievable milestone of epic proportions". Sonic Team left the single-player gameplay mostly unchanged, but added multiplayer options such as new maps and characters. Battle replaces the VMU's implementation with connectivity with

13362-512: The remix included new scenes with Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog was the first Sonic game to use the 4Kids cast from Sonic X following the death of Doctor Eggman's previous voice actor, Deem Bristow. This cast continued to be used until late 2010 when all but Mike Pollock were replaced before the release of Sonic Free Riders . Unlike most Sonic games, Shadow the Hedgehog 's dialogue features mild profanity, including damn and hell . The decision to include profanity and firearms

13493-480: The role after he learned did not need to be an artist to create a story or storyboards . Because Adventure 2 would be the first Sonic game released during the 21st century, Maekawa wanted a substantial portion of the story to take place in space. The rest of Sonic Team was apprehensive, but Maekawa convinced them. Maekawa drew influence from the manga and anime he had enjoyed since childhood, including Please Save My Earth (1986–1994). As Maekawa disliked Sonic as

13624-403: The role of strategy, especially in turn-based game s. The player has to place units wisely to mitigate the possibly devastating effects of a hostile area of effect attack; however, placing units in a dense formation could result in gains that outweigh the increased AoE damage received. Also display mode and show mode . A pre-recorded demonstration of a video game that is displayed when

13755-514: The same game engine , with improved texture quality and collision detection . Sonic Team designed Adventure 2 as faster and more action -oriented compared to the slower, more story-focused Adventure . Whereas Sonic Team had tried to include as much content as possible in Adventure , for Adventure 2 they concentrated on the elements they deemed necessary. Iizuka noted that players who prioritized action found much of Adventure 's content pointless, so Sonic Team USA sought to streamline

13886-506: The series. Shadow the Hedgehog was revealed at the March 2005 Walk of Game event. It was released for the GameCube , PlayStation 2 , and Xbox in North America and Europe in November 2005 and in Japan in December. It received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, who criticized its controls, mature themes, level design, and addition of guns and other weapons to traditional Sonic gameplay. However, some praised its replay value , and

14017-456: The sole for rail grinding, to have Sonic wear a pair of Soap shoes rather than his traditional boots. Soap product placement appears throughout the game as well. Like Adventure , Sonic Team USA included Chao to add replay value . Iizuka described the Chao as a "relatively neutral entity" in Adventure , so in Adventure 2 , Sonic Team USA added the ability to raise "Hero" and "Dark" Chao to reflect

14148-444: The soundtrack to stand out rather than merely serve as background music. He was not entirely satisfied with the first Adventure soundtrack, feeling some tracks did not fit, and sought to compose music that suited the atmosphere of each area. He said the music team made a pact "to write songs that promoted the game's speed and situations while keeping the best tempo of the stage". They decided to compose each character's level themes in

14279-514: The spin-offs Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and Shadow Generations (2024). Adventure 2 remains popular among Sonic fans and was rereleased for the PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , and Windows in 2012. Its first level, City Escape, is considered one of the greatest opening stages in a video game. Adventure 2 has been ranked among the best Sonic games, although it has been characterized as divisive, particularly for its emphasis on multiple characters. Its story has been adapted in media including in

14410-487: The stages, destroying an aircraft flying to the end of the level, or activating or destroying objects in the stage. All enemies attack Shadow regardless of the mission chosen. The mission types selected affect the plot, the levels played, and the ending received out of ten possibilities. Each level features cutscenes that advance the story, and seven levels also feature boss battles . There are 326 possible paths to take in Shadow

14541-407: The stages, however this feature isn't in the Xbox version of the game, it only appears in GameCube and PlayStation 2 of the game. Shadow the Hedgehog, the protagonist, was created fifty years before the game's events by Prof. Gerald Robotnik in an orbital military research space colony known as the ARK. Robotnik was trying to unlock the secrets of eternal life on the government's orders and create

14672-504: The story in full due to Sonic Team's desire for secrecy; they were only able to work from the demo and a few screenshots. Penders said they considered adapting the story in a separate Super Special issue, but Archie had ceased publishing one-shots at the time. Adventure 2 was initially set to be released in February 2001, but was delayed to June 19 in North America and June 23 in other countries. The worldwide release coincided with Sonic 's tenth anniversary, and Sega marked

14803-415: The story nonsensical, Destructoid said it "almost feels like work to get through", and Vice jokingly compared it to a Bob Books take on Armageddon . Nintendo Life felt the plot would have been interesting were it not for the plot holes caused by events playing out differently across campaigns. However, VentureBeat praised the good-vs.-evil presentation as clever and adding unexpected nuance to

14934-793: The story. Levels have a variety of themes (such as cities, jungles, desert pyramids and outer space), with some followed by boss fights. The two campaigns' stories occur in parallel; completing both campaigns unlocks a final story with all six characters, culminating in a final boss fight. Sonic and Shadow play fast-paced levels, emphasizing platforming. Their homing attack can lock on to robots created by Eggman and GUN, and they can grind on rails. Tails's and Eggman's levels are slower and oriented towards multidirectional shooting ; they are confined to mechs in which they can jump short heights, hover and shoot enemies. Knuckles's and Rouge's levels are open and feature action-adventure gameplay with treasure hunting; in each level, they must find three shards of

15065-517: The team vacationed) and the San Francisco Bay Area . Iizuka said they did not intend to "create a simulation of San Francisco" but rather to reflect the influence of their surroundings. The staff frequently received parking tickets from authorities; as a joke, they included the authorities' cars in a level where Sonic could destroy them. The month Adventure 2 was to be released to manufacturing , one artist suggested adding Green Hill Zone,

15196-500: The third-party transition. The Escapist wrote that subsequent Sonic games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog , Sonic Unleashed (2008), and Sonic Forces (2017), attempted to replicate the Adventure 2 format of varied gameplay styles, but failed because they did not develop each style fully. VentureBeat said Adventure 2 's alternate gameplay styles were natural additions to Sonic whereas those in subsequent games, such as Unleashed 's Werehog segments and Sonic and

15327-458: The variety of alternate endings, but concluded that "the gameplay isn't fun enough to warrant playing the game through multiple times." Bettenhausen thought that the morality system felt artificial, but said that it extended the game's replay value. Sonic Adventure 2 Sonic Adventure 2 is a 2001 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega for the Dreamcast . It features two good-vs-evil stories: Sonic

15458-435: The villains' motivations, and Rock Paper Shotgun said the story was one of Sonic 's best despite some melodramatic moments. They highlighted the scene in which Eggman destroys the Moon as considerably more impactful than his schemes in later games. VentureBeat wrote that Adventure 2 did not hold up to modern standards, finding its camera and reliance on trial-and-error design outdated, and Destructoid said it

15589-425: The wide variety of weapons at his disposal is just plain fun." The level design received mixed comments. Mueller called some levels "extremely frustrating". Helgeson stated that the fast-paced levels are "poorly designed", and Andrew Reiner, who wrote a second-opinion review for Game Informer , called the level design "disastrous". Official Xbox Magazine was more mixed, balancing the possibility of getting lost in

15720-442: Was designed to have "more of an American flavor" than Adventure , since it was developed in the US. The art director, Kazuyuki Hoshino , noted Sonic was a character designed to appeal to Western sensibilities, and working in the US allowed Sonic Team USA to capture an American atmosphere more successfully. The levels, drawn from Maekawa's story and setting, were inspired by American locations such as Yosemite National Park (where

15851-418: Was impressed by the texture detail and draw distance , and Chau, Liu and Ahmed praised its 60-frame-per-second rendering speed. Senoue's soundtrack also received positive reviews. According to Ahmed, the music was an improvement over Adventure 's "campy glam-rock and J-pop soundtrack", with less emphasis on lyrics, while Liu appreciated its more "understated" approach. Four-Eyed Dragon called

15982-500: Was later released as a part of three budget lines: Greatest Hits and Platinum Range for the PlayStation 2 (representing sales of at least 400,000 in North America and Europe, respectively) and Player's Choice for the GameCube (250,000 in North America). Many critics derided the game's sense of maturity for a Sonic game, especially the addition of guns and other weapons. Game Informer staff writer Matt Helgeson said, "not only

16113-479: Was made early in development to create a more mature tone. The ESRB ultimately assigned Shadow an E10+ rating for "fantasy violence" and "mild language". Shadow the Hedgehog on GameCube received "mixed or average" reviews while the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions received "generally unfavorable" reviews from critics on review aggregator Metacritic , many of which were highly critical of its gameplay mechanics and differences from other Sonic games. However, it

16244-440: Was only redeemed by how engaging the Chao Garden was. A Vice writer, while playing Adventure 2 for the first time in a decade, said that "[I've] been forced to reconcile my nostalgia with the harsh reality that it is not a terrific game". VentureBeat wrote that it was more worth remembering for its historical significance as the last Sonic game for a Sega console than it was worth replaying. Others conceded that Adventure 2

16375-408: Was released during a tumultuous period in Sega's history . Amidst competition from Sony Computer Entertainment 's PlayStation 2 , a lack of support from important third-party developers , and conflict within Sega, Dreamcast sales failed to meet Sega's expectations. Peter Moore , the president and chief operating officer of Sega of America, said the Dreamcast would need to sell five million units in

16506-672: Was released in June 2001, coinciding with the franchise's tenth anniversary. It was the final Sonic game for a Sega console, released in the months after Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and transitioned to third-party development . Later in 2001, it was ported to the GameCube as Sonic Adventure 2 Battle , the first Sonic game for a Nintendo console. Adventure 2 received positive reviews, with praise for its gameplay variety, visuals, and music but criticism for its camera , voice acting, and plot. Although reviews of Battle were more mixed, it sold 1.7 million copies worldwide, becoming one of

16637-455: Was released on the same day. It contains both vocal and instrumental tracks from the game. In Japan, Shadow the Hedgehog was promoted through a collaboration with Japanese hip hop group M-flo , whose song "Tripod Baby" was remixed and featured in the commercial under the title "Tripod Baby (Shadow the Hedgehog Mix)". In addition to this, an alternate music video for "Tripod Baby" featuring

16768-593: Was renamed Sega Studios USA. Their next project was Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), a spin-off starring Shadow that continues plot threads established in Adventure 2 . The division developed Nights: Journey of Dreams (2007) before it was merged back into the Japanese Sonic Team in 2008. Iizuka became the head of Sonic Team following the merger. Marvelous Entertainment released a collection of Sonic Adventure 2 songs, Cuts Unleashed Sonic Adventure 2 Vocal Collection , on August 18, 2001, before releasing

16899-457: Was to go out and beat the bad guys, but in Shadow the Hedgehog , it gives the players a choice to either take the side of the good guys or to take the side of the bad guys, giving the player the option to choose in the game." Shadow the Hedgehog was developed by Sega Studios USA , the now-defunct United States division of Sega 's Sonic Team , and published by Sega. Sega first revealed the game and its tagline ("Hero or villain? You decide.") at

17030-531: Was voted the best game of 2005 in the Official Jetix Magazine Reader Awards and named the "Best Platformer" of 2005 by Nintendo Power readers (receiving more votes than the staff's choice, Sonic Rush ). Shadow the Hedgehog was also a commercial success: Sega reported 1.59 million units sold from its release to March 2006 and 470,000 units sold in the U.S. from March 2006 to March 2007, for total sales of at least 2.06 million. The game

17161-515: Was well received. Ahmed wrote, "Throughout the game the plot becomes more and more scattered and lackluster," not focusing long enough on one element to execute it meaningfully. Although Liu agreed that despite the game's ambitious scope and themes it failed to advance the series' core plot beyond the Sega Genesis Sonic games, Edge appreciated the story's presentation from both perspectives: hero and villain. Despite high review scores for

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