The first PS2 Sonic game proves one thing: YUJI NAKA HATES US SONY GAMERS. But hey, it's still Sonic, right?
The game really isn't as bad as I'm making it out to be though. It's very close to the oldschool games, mainly focusing on speed over collecting and stuff. The musical score by the legendary Jun Senoue is quite awesome, though the sound is still kinda subpar, its not his fault. He doesn't control voice acting. It's pretty bad when Robotnik has the best actor in the game. Why couldn't they make the switch the the 4Kids actors then? (Yes. I do like the 4Kids Voice Actors. You have problem?) Still, all your classic Sonic sounds are still in there, and Mr. Senoue's soundtrack is what makes this game tolarable without headphones!
The graphics are a bit... eh... lame at best. But at least Shadow doesn't have a freakin' unibrow anymore.
Gameplay is a double edged sword. Sure, the team based play is fun and it worked out quite well, but theres some contact issues for sure, especially on rails. (I'm lookin' at you Mystic Mansion) And whoever had the bright idea of making the O button the selector... Come here, cause I got a nice backhand waitin' for you.
The storyline is good and in a way, loosely follows the Sonic Anime that was released in 1999. Metal Sonic has been unleashed and Sonic has to stop him from destroying the Earth... or is it Mobius? I'm not sure on the games. Anyways,Take that storyline, throw in the Chaotix, my boy Shadow and his dumb friends (yeah... Shadow was the only reason anyone used Team Dark), and The kindergardeners with the retarded cat, and you've got this game in a nutshell.
My biggest problem is the difficulty. MAN, TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH! Another one is the fact that you have to collect the emeralds in special stages again... and not the good stages either. The crappy race stages. This makes it extremely frustrating trying to get to the final, final boss.
Like I said before, I''m glad Sonic Team got their rage against Sony out in this one. It wasn't a horrible game, but it could stand to be alot better... Maybe they woulda been better off giving us the Sonic Adventure ports we all crave?