Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut

 GameCube
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Jun 18, 2003
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 333 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 225 out of 333
  2. Mixed: 84 out of 333
  3. Negative: 24 out of 333
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  1. ohaiKendyl
    May 20, 2011
    6
    Sonic Adventure DX doesn't fix any of the original's problems, but overall, Sonic fans of all ages will enjoy having the best-selling DC game on their GCN. Pros: Fast, fun, and 3-D gameplay; fantastic visuals; glossy soundtrack; variety of Game Gear games to play. Cons: Doesn't have many improvements at all; frequent framerate issues; poor camera; too many cheap deaths; some annoying characters.
  2. VideoGameCritic
    Jun 26, 2003
    8
    A much more creative game than it's sequal, with cool levels, etc. Very few improvements were made from the Dreamcast version, making it seem rediculously obvious that SonicTeam only really released this to make profit after seeing sales skyrocket for Battle. It's an awesome game, and some improvements (REAL IMPROVEMENTS) from the Dreamcast version would make this game a 10.
  3. Tomic-Hedgehog
    Jun 22, 2011
    7
    Sonic Adventure DX is the edition of Sonic Adventure that most people own, with reason: nobody owned a Dreamcast. Is this game worth your money? Sonic Adventure, on it's own, played like a classic Sonic game in 3D. It even had momentum based gameplay, which is seen as a novelty for even 2D Sonic games these days. But this does have it's flaws. It's sometimes extremely annoying and can makeSonic Adventure DX is the edition of Sonic Adventure that most people own, with reason: nobody owned a Dreamcast. Is this game worth your money? Sonic Adventure, on it's own, played like a classic Sonic game in 3D. It even had momentum based gameplay, which is seen as a novelty for even 2D Sonic games these days. But this does have it's flaws. It's sometimes extremely annoying and can make you loose all control. The collision detection is poor - for a game that came out in 1999, it would be acceptable. But this edition came out 4 years after it's predecessor. A little tuning would have been nice. What's bad about the collision detection is that you will hit something and you will stop, even if it looks like you're nowhere near a wall or a tree. Sometimes, the player on screen will go into spasm and again, control will be lost until you find a way out of the collision detection's bad work. And what's really annoying is that you sometimes phase THROUGH a wall. It's not a regular occurrence but it does happen at least once on your first playthrough, and more times when you replay for speedruns and goodies. Level design is generally great. There's a great combination of platforming and speed and this is one of the reasons why I replay the Sonic stages of this game. Sonic Adventure introduced new playable characters each with their own missions and goals. Sonic and Tails are the most fun. Amy and Knuckles are not amazing, but won't scold you. Gamma's gameplay is mediocre at best and Big the Cat is an awful, awful AWFUL piece of work and the excuse for extreme frustration. Overall, this is a nice idea but some of the core things of the classic games are missing, such as more platforming based gameplay for the Knuckles stages, and not lockon-mediocre shooting levels like Gamma. The camera is a total mess and using it will break you. Don't you dare use the R or L buttons or else you will cry. Let the camera do it's own thing, even if it is extremely spazzy and incredibly annoying. A terrible camera for a good game. Music for this game is superb. Every track feels dreamy and a delight to listen too. The main theme, Open Your Heart, is a total earcandy and will - well, open your heart! The graphics are... a mess. The original Sonic Adventure had good graphics, but 4 years on and there's hardly any change. The only major difference is the shininess of the models, and let me tell you this: it's nice at times, but I can't escape the fact that Sonic looks like he's had a condom stretched all the way over him. I really do think the textures could have been updated and the shapes made less square. A poor effort here, Sega. Sonic Adventure DX added some extras to the original title. You can now unlock Master System games such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Drift. While I think these are a nice addition, I really don't find them as a great reward and don't really fit well on the GC. Overall, Sonic Adventure DX is a good game, and I would recommend you try it out. It's not everyone's cup of tea and there will be some WTF moments in here. But trust me, you will feel a sample of some of the Dreamcast magic through this game. A 7/10 from me.… Expand
  4. RyanM.
    Jun 3, 2004
    6
    the actual game isn't as bad as all the amount of glitches i fell into. I got stuck into the environment, i fell through solid floors, and the lagging is ridiculous. We have a good remake here, but it's a shame the game doesn't work...
  5. HonestyIsthebestpolicy...T
    Dec 2, 2007
    8
    Ok. This game was not perfection. However, it was not terrible. The chao garden was ok, and the missions were ok. But Big? I understand your want to have diverse levels, but no fishing. It was just insanely boring. Now, voice overs could have been worse, but just try harder. I actually confused the moving mouths of the characters with early mouth speak animations. It was a good game, but Ok. This game was not perfection. However, it was not terrible. The chao garden was ok, and the missions were ok. But Big? I understand your want to have diverse levels, but no fishing. It was just insanely boring. Now, voice overs could have been worse, but just try harder. I actually confused the moving mouths of the characters with early mouth speak animations. It was a good game, but it was just a bit boring to me. But hey, thats just my opinion. Also, they should have tried to update the graphics. That would have bumped up my score.… Expand
  6. AshR
    Oct 24, 2008
    7
    Mmm.... This game strays far from the 2-D games which is unfortunate. It is a little faster than Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and the graphics are smoother, but it is missing something. This may be due to the lacking story and replay value. True the story has something to it, but it seems just like another recycled excuse to look for the Chaos Emeralds. Once you go through the game, there is Mmm.... This game strays far from the 2-D games which is unfortunate. It is a little faster than Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and the graphics are smoother, but it is missing something. This may be due to the lacking story and replay value. True the story has something to it, but it seems just like another recycled excuse to look for the Chaos Emeralds. Once you go through the game, there is nothing much left to do but play mission mode or chao garden. Both of which don't provoke much excitement. The level designs are something to be proud of, however, and the music is nice to bob your head too I suppose. But then again, maybe I'm being too liberal.… Expand
  7. KendylKlownfish
    May 5, 2011
    6
    DX Director's Cut is a bit of a disappointing port of a fantastic DC game, but aside from some flaws, it's still the Sonic Adventure we played years ago. Pros: Fast, fun gameplay; excellent level design; additional features such as the Game Gear games are handy. Cons: A lot of camera issues, framerate issues, and glitches ruin an "almost solid" port.
  8. Zilcell
    Nov 6, 2011
    8
    It is nonstop fun. Dr. Eggman is up to his old tricks again but now he has Chaos to help him. By collecting all the chaos emeralds, Chaos will reach his perfect form. It's up to Sonic and his friends to stop Eggman. The game is fast and exciting, with some fun game modes to make it even better.
  9. Edork
    Nov 5, 2012
    7
    Sonic Adventure: DX, the first 3D platformer I ever owned, how does it hold up now? Well, pretty well if you ask me. The Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles stages are a lot of fun, the music is awesome ("It Doesn't Matter" was my anthem growing up), the story is engaging and never talks down to the audience/gamer, and the cutscenes are fun and campy. I also like the voice acting, though KnucklesSonic Adventure: DX, the first 3D platformer I ever owned, how does it hold up now? Well, pretty well if you ask me. The Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles stages are a lot of fun, the music is awesome ("It Doesn't Matter" was my anthem growing up), the story is engaging and never talks down to the audience/gamer, and the cutscenes are fun and campy. I also like the voice acting, though Knuckles and Big are pretty lifeless and boring (Seriously, Knuckles always sounds like he's narrating! It's actually kind of funny). As great as these things are, there are a few things that bothered me. The camera is pretty frustrating, it's easy for a character to get caught on walls when running down narrow pathways which breaks your momentum (very annoying). The hub worlds feel like padding and the "unlockables" you get from doing missions are nothing but a bunch of crappy Game Gear games. The real salt to the wound is Big the Cat, quite possibly the most useless waste of animation ever put in a game! His voice sucks, the character sucks, his gameplay (fishing) sucks. He just shouldn't exist at all imo. Amy and Gamma's stages are also pretty dull as well, but their stages don't really last too long. Overall, this is a fun game and I recommend it for anyone. Just be prepared to be bored a small percentage of the time.… Expand
  10. RageofNess
    Jul 17, 2013
    8
    Overall it's a good game. Sonic and Tails' stages are AMAZING as are Knuckles' and Gamma's. Bigs stages aren't fun but when I played them each stage took under a minute or so, they're very easy. The only bad part of the game is Amy's story, blunt and to the point, it sucks. She's slow and has a terrible way of attacking people. The final boss is half easy and half hard, without spoilingOverall it's a good game. Sonic and Tails' stages are AMAZING as are Knuckles' and Gamma's. Bigs stages aren't fun but when I played them each stage took under a minute or so, they're very easy. The only bad part of the game is Amy's story, blunt and to the point, it sucks. She's slow and has a terrible way of attacking people. The final boss is half easy and half hard, without spoiling anything. Overall a very good game.… Expand
  11. PringleDringus
    Mar 13, 2015
    7
    While this game may not be a masterpiece by any standards, it still provides some fun platforming challenges and has plenty of content for those who look for it, including a myriad of game gear games. Definitely worth trying if you're curious, but don't expect perfection (especially concerning the story, the cut scenes are some of the worst I've ever seen).
  12. VidyaBum
    Mar 8, 2014
    8
    Surprisingly good game.

    I entered this as my first 3D Sonic game expecting the s*** mountain to blow up in my face and was very pleased to see that no, this isn't bad. It's not even poor. Not even mediocre. It's pretty great actually. Really great in some parts. It does have a lot of flaws though. The Good: Sonic Adventure is divided into 7 play styles and stories. Some are great,    Surprisingly good game.

    I entered this as my first 3D Sonic game expecting the s*** mountain to blow up in my face and was very pleased to see that no, this isn't bad. It's not even poor. Not even mediocre. It's pretty great actually. Really great in some parts. It does have a lot of flaws though.

    The Good: Sonic Adventure is divided into 7 play styles and stories. Some are great, some are totally worthless or plainly bad. The best parts are usually the longest ones though, so that's the good thing. You play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, E-102 Gamma(an Eggman robot) and Super Sonic.

    Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and arguably Gamma make the good part of the game to me.

    Sonic's control emulates perfectly the feeling and control of the 2D Sonic games. It's precise, it's fast, the acceleration feeling is really great at all times.
    Additionally, the level design of most of the Sonic stages is gorgeous, especially some somewhat flawed but exhilarating levels like Sky Deck, Lost World(except the awful snake section), Windy Hill, Emerald Coast, Final Egg...some are less good like Twinkle Park and Ice Cap, but they're clearly the minority. Most of the levels are incredibly fun and have the perfect Sonic mix of speed, platforming, and making you want to go fast while at the same time keeping you in danger and under thrills of all flavors.

    The Tails Stages are pretty much Sonic stages, but less fun. Sonic Adventure has a problem with difficulty in the sense that it's way too easy. Tails stages are even easier than Sonic stages, he's always the easy mode of the games and it hurts him here.

    Knuckles Stages are less good than Tails stages. They're more varied and are a different kind of gameplay where you have to find items following a sonar's directions. It's not very fun, but the control is fine and you can get helped by Tikal(this game's unofficial ghost voiceover) to find your way to them. Nothing fancy or all that fun, but playable and not really a big deal.

    Gamma Stages are shooting everything around you and reaching the boss at the end of the levels. It's a pretty fun gameplay, but if SA is overall too easy, this is even easier. Everything save for the final boss can be beaten without any effort.

    Sonic has 10 levels, Tails and Knux have about half of that, and Gamma has only 4.
    Super Sonic has only a load of cutscenes and one final boss, but it's a pretty great final boss so I have no complaints with his part being short.

    On more good things, the music is just excellent, very varied, memorable and gives so much identity to the levels.
    The visuals as a whole are quite great for a 1998 game too.

    The Bad: Amy Rose, Big the Cat, and Camera the Awful. And the hub worlds and storytelling. Actually, almost anything that isn't pure in-level gameplay is laughably bad in this game.

    Amy Rose is a slow, boring, worthless Sonic. Her presence in this game is just due to the fact that the dev team wanted a 7-stories thing because there's 7 Chaos Emeralds...talk about flimsy.
    Big the Cat is the same but arguably even worse because his gameplay centers on fishing, which is neither fun nor has anything to do with the story.
    These two could well be THE reason to not play Sonic Adventure as they're mandatory to finish the game. They only have less than 4 levels each though, so it's not that bad.

    The camera is just terrible. The homing attack was probably created because they couldn't make a good one. You often have foreground objects blocking you or such. You can't see everything you want, the movement isn't very good and it will often just not be able to tell you where you are, which can lead to many deaths in stages such as Sky Deck where you're standing above 10000 feet.
    The homing attack itself, while a bit gamebreaking, isn't an awful thing, but it clearly is a cop-out. A simple lock on target like OoT and then evaluating and jumping the distance yourself would've been preferable.

    The Hub worlds, while some like Station Square and Egg Carrier do give a nice atmosphere and presence to the game, are usually quite useless. And Mystic Ruins is a labyrinthic mess I hate to travel through.

    Lastly, the storytelling is atrociously, painfully, hysterically laughable. I really felt my brain melt during this, but never in a mean way. It's simply a story written by a 5 year old. Several times keys and magical stones you need to go forward in the levels will magically fall out of thin air. Tikal interrupting the game to tell you unconnected bits of her life story makes no sense, Eggman's motivation and reasons are just laughably simplistic, Sonic's actions are sometimes irrational as he forgets about Tails being maybe dead and goes to chase after Amy, Gamma's story has no connection with...the laughter never ends at this awful story. Also Chaos looks like a generic alien.

    Ultimately, it's an extremely fun and flawed game. If you can overlook the hideous side of SA, it's truly a very fun and unforgettable game.    … Expand
  13. samninja64
    Aug 29, 2014
    8
    This game is better than the critic review says it is. The gameplay is fast and fun (barring Big the Cat!) and its story is not bad. Also, by gaining emblems, you get to play original SEGA GameGear games such as Sonic Chaos and Sonic Spinball. Admittedly it's not perfect - the camera and collision are not great, but no more than any other game of its time - but it's not enough to justifyThis game is better than the critic review says it is. The gameplay is fast and fun (barring Big the Cat!) and its story is not bad. Also, by gaining emblems, you get to play original SEGA GameGear games such as Sonic Chaos and Sonic Spinball. Admittedly it's not perfect - the camera and collision are not great, but no more than any other game of its time - but it's not enough to justify the score of 57 this game has from critics. Finally, each and every piece of music is fantastic. This game is very good and its difficulty curve is perfect.… Expand
  14. PanSakhno
    Nov 27, 2016
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Сюжет 8/10, геймплей 8/10, музыка 9/10, атмосфера 10/10. Это моя первая игра на пк не от алавара. Мне очень понравилось, что здесь есть открытый мир и можно играть за разных персонажей… Expand
  15. MoCBallyhoo
    Dec 11, 2017
    8
    This game is actually a good game overall, though the games is janky and Amy and Big the Cat's gameplay, physics, and fun are the worst parts of the game. If you just cheat the game so you don't have to play them it becomes much better.
  16. FighterBro
    Aug 18, 2021
    9
    Sonic Adventure has to be one of the best Sonic games I have ever played (my favorite in the series). I appreciate everything it has to offer. The story starts with Sonic meeting Chaos 0 and facing him and then figuring out that Dr.Eggman is behind this trying to use the 7 Chaos Emeralds to transform Chaos 0 into Perfect Chaos to take over Station Square and it's up to Sonic and hisSonic Adventure has to be one of the best Sonic games I have ever played (my favorite in the series). I appreciate everything it has to offer. The story starts with Sonic meeting Chaos 0 and facing him and then figuring out that Dr.Eggman is behind this trying to use the 7 Chaos Emeralds to transform Chaos 0 into Perfect Chaos to take over Station Square and it's up to Sonic and his friends to stop him. You play as 6 different playstyles throughout the game. Sonic which is about speed and platforming, Tails is about flying to reach higher objects, Knuckles who glides around hunting for the pieces of the Master Emerald, Amy who is similar to Sonic but has a puzzle type levels going around, E-102 Gamma which is about shooting your way to the end of the stage by destroying enemies, and Big who basically fishes for Froggy (which is the worst playstlye out of the 6). Most of the playstyles you're offered is probably the best in the series. Sonic adapts the classic playstyle and makes it into 3d making it based on Momentum rather than the Boost in the later games. Every other playstlye expands on the Sonic levels and makes them unique like how Tails is able to use his tails to reach higher distances that Sonic can't reach and how Knuckles can glide in the air and dig in the ground to find secrets that Sonic can't find. I enjoyed every single of these playstyles and how it's different from the last. The only playstyle I dislike about this game is Big's fishing levels and how hard it can be to collect anything underwater but when you kinda get used to it, it still isn't the best but it's managable. I also like how all the characters stories are connected into one for the true final fight which is against Super Sonic and Perfect Chaos. One of my favorite fights in the series by far and just shows how much Sonic has grown to the point he can beat Perfect Chaos in base form in Generations. Since this is the DX version it does have more flaws than the DC version but from my personal playthrough I haven't experience any these problems other than some weird camara angles but it wasn't often (not denying any of the problems that do occur from other players). Overall one of the best Sonic games of all time. This is the game that captures the Sonic gameplay just right and hopefully for Sonic 2022/Rangers they adapt this playstyle and expand on it. 9/10… Expand
  17. LittleSticker
    Aug 26, 2022
    9
    my favorite sonic game of all time
    only thing bad about this game is the big the cat levels like actually what were they thinking when they made those levels
    i wanna run around and throw my body at things not fish
    i still love big the cat tho :)
  18. ErikTV
    Aug 4, 2014
    10
    I really like this game.
    Sometimes it does get hard, and I don't really like it.
    But except that, it's AWESOME!
    It's 2014. We like a 2003 game.
    Logic much?
  19. SonicReturns
    Nov 23, 2010
    7
    The game's not bad but it's not the best Sonic game like most fanboys will tell you. Sonic & Tails levels are all about the speedy platforming that made the series famous in it their first attempt at 3D. It's nowhere near the quality and fun of the originals but it's not bad. Be cautious when buying this game though, there are 4 other characters that will force you to go into these poorlyThe game's not bad but it's not the best Sonic game like most fanboys will tell you. Sonic & Tails levels are all about the speedy platforming that made the series famous in it their first attempt at 3D. It's nowhere near the quality and fun of the originals but it's not bad. Be cautious when buying this game though, there are 4 other characters that will force you to go into these poorly made alternate gameplay styles that will make you wish they had just more of the WELL DONE speed levels. Knuckles is reduced to a treasure hunter, Amy is a slow Sonic that must escape from a robot, Big's level are about fishing(yes, fishing. What were they thinking?) and Gamma's levels are bland mech shooters. I don't know what they were thinking making alternate gameplay, but over the speedy Sonic levels are the majority of the game, thankfully.… Expand
  20. MinouBean8
    Oct 9, 2020
    10
    Don't play this game, honestly, sonic adventure is AMAZING, but the DX port just hinders the experience at a constant rate, play the pure Dreamcast version through an emulator, or buy the Dreamcast port and use the Dreamcast conversion mod
  21. BVGNOfficial
    Sep 25, 2012
    8
    Sonic Adventure is a game released in 1999 and is the best selling game on the Dreamcast. This was also Sonic's full jump to 3D. This story of the game is that Eggman is on another Chaos Emerald hunt but this time he is looking to create the ultimate monster to take over the world. There is nothing too wrong with the story but the gameplay is amazing.Not only do you have improved SonicSonic Adventure is a game released in 1999 and is the best selling game on the Dreamcast. This was also Sonic's full jump to 3D. This story of the game is that Eggman is on another Chaos Emerald hunt but this time he is looking to create the ultimate monster to take over the world. There is nothing too wrong with the story but the gameplay is amazing.Not only do you have improved Sonic gameplay, but you can play as Tails who's gameplay is similar to Sonic's except he can fly and is a little slower, Knuckles who glides around the stage collecting missing pieces to the Chaos Emeralds, Amy Rose who is like a slow paced version of Sonic's gameplay, and then there are the other 2 characters who get me PO'd every time I play as them. That is Big the Cat's gameplay in which you have to press random buttons to reel in fish and there is an overrated character named E 102 who is basically one of Eggman's robots who decided he did not want to be an evil robot. His story seems pretty cool, but the gameplay is bad. While the level designs are good, the lasers and missles seem broken. On top of that, the game has unnecessary time limits and if you don't beat the time limit, you blow up. Yeah, that makes sense. While I love the rest of the character's gameplay, I feel that 1/3 of the game is broken. But the other characters' gameplay is so well done its hard to give this game a mixed score.… Expand
  22. T.J.
    Aug 3, 2003
    10
    XISMZERO, you're the idiot!! Shut your damn mouth and find some other game to critisize.
  23. DavidC
    Jan 9, 2009
    10
    this game is really realy good. this game deserves a better score!! i passed the whole game and everything was just awesome!!!!
  24. RyanT.
    Jul 7, 2003
    10
    What the hell are the critics talking about? This game kicks ass. I totally love it. Don't bother renting this game cause it is so good, just buy it. Sonic fans will really love it. Great.
  25. JacobP.
    Aug 10, 2003
    9
    This is one of the best sonic games ever made it's much better than sonic adventure 2 battle
  26. A.O.
    Apr 4, 2004
    0
    This game sucks arse. Sonic 1 on Master System is a LOT more playable and entertaining.
  27. DanyleC.
    Jun 23, 2003
    10
    Better than sonic adventure battle 2 this is a great game and one of the best ever ignore the retards above it is defintly worth its 40$ price tag.
  28. AshleyS.
    Jul 26, 2003
    10
    Its 1 of da best games around.
  29. SoulCalibur2
    Sep 6, 2003
    4
    Good sound, graphics, and music, but the hairy idiots who rated this a ten should stay away from whatever they ate that morning. This is a sad, repetitve game, and it would do little more than collect dust at the bottom of your trash can. Terrible camera angles. Personaly, I would leave this game to rot in the fiery pits of hell...o, but that's just me...
  30. UnhappySonicFan
    Apr 17, 2005
    0
    What were they thinking when they made this awful excuse for an 'adventure!' Go back to the Mega Drive sonic, much better!
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Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Best GameCube Game of 2003
3
#3 Most Discussed GameCube Game of 2003
7
#7 Most Shared GameCube Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 27
  3. Negative: 6 out of 27
  1. Village Voice
    70
    Thrilling and refreshingly buoyant, Sonic Adventure DX-Director's Cut actually justifies '90s nostalgia.
    Read full review
  2. GMR Magazine
    70
    The game alone is worth the price of admission, but this version features an all-new Mission mode that, while fluff, is nonetheless fun, plus 12 entirely cool Sonic games taken wars and all from the Sega Game Gear. [June 2003, p.72]
  3. Eurogamer
    50
    It's a straight port, with a few minor alterations, and in this day and age it just can't stand up to the competition.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »