Sonic Adventure 2 Spoilers
Shadow is a more laid back version of Sonic, and Rouge is a sly spy with more than one side. There are other characters like the President, Marie, the Secretary, Robotnik's father, and more which all contribute to the storyline, which was pretty interesting. The cinematics are good with lots of action and great graphics to add to the intrigue.. ...the role Robotnik's father plays in the scheme of things is definitely not what you'd suspect. The dying Marie has a significant impact as well.
Miles "Tails" Prower, with his home-made transforming bi-plae, is the sworn enemy of Dr. Eggman who, in one of his own robotic contraptions, is out to track down and capture one of his grandfather's top secret experiments-gone-walkabout. This genetic creation is a hedgehog which calls itself "The Ultimate lifeform", known to us as Shadow, is out to avenge the death of his creator's beloved niece.
Knuckles' level starts off with a fairly long cutscene, in which Knuckles and Rouge are fighting over ownership of a jewel. However, along comes Dr. Robotnik to claim it, and Knuckles destroys it to make sure baldy doesn't get it. Knuckles therefore has to begin a quest to find the three pieces of the jewel, and players will explore a distinctly Egyptian-feeling temple to do so. Another slow-paced level, players can gain clues from monitors, and dig their way into solid rock to uncover various items. Knuckles can also fly, which lets him explode floating rocks. His climing and flying abilities lead him outside of the temple via strong air currents, and an even larger area awaits exploration. We found the crystal pieces easily enough, but it's apparent that there's a whole lot in this level to find and explore.
Knuckles finds himself in a mountainous region looking for the pieces of the Master Emerald. There are many mines as well as strange-looking pumpkins in the mountains. The backdrop of the mountainous mines is a sunset. Strange rocks, pumpkin fields and shaking tombs. This is a terrible but pleasant stage.
Tails begins his level in style -- sitting in a big mech. Players have to navigate him through a series of locked gates, destroying enemies in the process. Holding down the A button picks out targets, and letting go fires rockets at the bad guys. By lining up more than one target, players can earn a bonus for taking out multiple enemies in one rocket flurry. There's a lot of jumping around with some platform fun, and the feeling is definitely slower than Sonic's speed-based level. Boss: Robotnik/Eggman
The military is constantly after Tails... Tails is caught in a terrible whirlwind, but breaks through the city streets to elude his enemies! The battle rages through the city streets... heightening the atmosphere of this stage! Tails also finds his captures battling him on the expressway. Dodge the police cars, military fighters and guard robots that attack from the buildings and find your way out! Beware of the earthquakes, your foothold may crumble at any time... no time to loose your focus!
The Sonic level is the same as the demo. Sonic has to get through a cityscape that looks suspiciously like San Francisco, knocking out robots and picking up coins while he's at it. We didn't notice any differences, really, so we'll just move on. Boss: F-6t Big Foot
When you start off the Green Forest level, you have eight minutes to complete the stage before it blows up! Yeah, we don't know who the heck would decimate a forest (well, besides corporations like Exxon), but if Sonic has to run, no problemo! The Green Forest level is a pretty dangerous level as one bad jump will send Sonic down to the watery depths... and as we all know, hedgehogs can't swim. The level design of the Green Forest is fantastic as it follows the true principle of any Sonic level; while you can get through the game carefully, there's always a faster path that allows you to zoom by the level even faster... so long as you have the skill to do it! I really implore you dear readers to check out the movies as they really demonstrate how the level design of the Green Forest is made for our favorite turbo-charged hedgehog. Also, The Green Forest is the two-player battle level for Sonic and Shadow where both characters are trying to out race each other to the Goal Ring!
Sonic has been falsely accused and imprisoned for crimes he's not committed... He gets help from his old friends Tails and Amy to escape his captors from the military facility. Metal Harbor is the military facilities built on the shores of Prison Island. The military jet fighters try to stop Sonic flying in low-attack flight patterns.
Rouge fought with Knuckles over the crystal, and her quest is also to uncover the location of the three shards. Her level isn't an Egyptian temple, but rather a jungle fortress overrun with tanks and robots, for some reason. But she does have the same skills -- floating, digging, and climbing.
Rouge has secretly followed Eggman and entered his secret base undetected. She must first collect the keys to the three doors before she can enter the base. This place is protected by an all new production version of E-102 Gamma called the E-1000 series robot.
Shadow looks like a dark version of Sonic, and his level plays very similarly. It kicks off with the skate-wearing character flying down a suspension cable on a large bridge, and players will skate through enemy robots and fly through loop-de-loops on a quest to reach the goal. Cool bits here include lifts that will raise Shadow to new heights, and rockets that he can take to fly from one side of the level to another. Some of the cooler elements of the fast-paced game are in this level too, including timing jumps while spinning around a horizontal bar, and rolling under obstacles to continue. Boss: B-3x Hot Shot
Much like Tails' quest, Dr. Robotnik must blast his way through a maze-like area while controlling a large mech. This time around, though, he doesn't have to destroy guards to open gates, he needs to blow up planted dynamite to knock down pillars that will then let him cross various expanses. It's another slow-paced level, with more wandering than shooting, but the temple-like environment still looks good.
Dr. Eggman breaks through the besieging army to return to his secret base hidden in the desert. He must jump, destroy the huge stone pillars using Dynamite packs and cross the dangerous seas of quicksand.