Sonic Adventure 2 Battle will not disappoint any Sonic fan, let alone any fan of traditional platforming.
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle incorporates three different styles of gameplay: speed, hunting, and shooting. From the start, you will be able to choose your team: Hero (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) or Dark (Dr. Eggman, Rouge, and Shadow). The storyline follows Shadow who suspiciously resembles Sonic. Eggman is once again on a quest for world domination, while Sonic and friends try to stop him. Sonic and Shadow's gameplay is made up of speed levels. You'll be running through different environments at high speeds, bouncing off of springs, and more. The speed elements are undoubtedly the most fun parts of the game.
The hunting levels are played as Knuckles and Rouge the Bat, where you must use a radar to find lost pieces of the Master Emerald. Although these levels can be frustrating and/or boring, they do provide a fair amount of fun, especially with some of the larger enviroments.
The shooting levels are played by Tails and Dr. Eggman. Tails uses his plain, the Tornado, as a mech that can lock on to enemies and fire missiles/bullets/etc. Eggman uses a mech of his own, and uses the same weapons Tails does. These levels are usually slow and require you to be aware of your surroundings. These levels are also fun, but pale in comparison to Sonic and Shadow's speed levels.
The game is a fair length between the two stories (Hero and Dark), but once you have completed the story, you can enter the Chao Garden, and raise a "Chao." These creatures are supposed to be like children for Sonic and friends, and you can raise them, feed them, teach them, and enter them in races. Depending on whether or not this holds your attention, it may or may not add replay value to the game.
Graphics:
This is a port from the original Dreamcast game, so the graphics aren't impressive. They are improved at some points, but for the most part keep the same look it had on the Dreamcast. Animation is fairly fluid, but character models are rough around the edges, and the cutscenes aren't exactly pretty. Of course, one of the perks of every Sonic game is that it has beautiful environments that you cannot explore because you are stuck on a straight path to the end of the level.
Sound:
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle suffers from poor voice acting. Most of the voices are corny and either force emotion, or completely be emotionless (such is the case with Knuckles, who seems un-phased by the exciting moments in the game).
The soundtrack is quite good, and has several songs made just for the game. The rock music fits with the game's modern approach, and works most of the time. One point where it doesn't work is with Knuckles, whose levels are Hip Hop-influenced. The lyrics to these songs are simply corny, even if they do fit Knuckles' attitude.
Value:
With the Chao gardern, and plenty of other missions to complete on the game's 30+ levels, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle offers great replay value. The Chao breeding alone lasts forever, and simply replaying your favorite levels can be a blast.
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle will not disappoint any Sonic fan, let alone any fan of traditional platforming. Those who were never able to enjoy the original would do well to give Battle a try, and fans of the original will welcome the extras given to the port.