When Sega was getting ready to launch their Dreamcast console, they were also developing what would become the first fully three-dimensional Sonic title, Sonic Adventure. The game became a launch title for the Dreamcast and was released alongside the console in 1998 and 1999 as the Dreamcast rolled out in Japan and elsewhere.
With the transition to 3D gaming, Sonic himself gained a new look, becoming overall much taller and lankier with longer spines as well. The idea was to redesign him so that he would look better in 3D, as the original short-and-stout Sonic had been designed to be seen from the side for the 2D platforming generation.
The game followed Sonic as he faced off against Doctor Robotnik once again, who this time has learned about and decided to manipulate an ancient being known as Chaos. Chaos had been imprisoned within the Master Emerald following a conflict with a tribe that had sought to steal the power of the Emeralds. Robotnik releases Chaos from its imprisonment and tries to use it to collect the Chaos Emeralds and take over the world.
Sonic Adventure allowed players to control one of six characters as they each traveled through the world in their own stories, occasionally overlapping with one another. Sonic’s goal is simply to reach the end of the stage, occasionally facing off against bosses along the way; this provides the truest Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay experience. Tails also must finish each stage, but can only pass a level by finishing before Sonic (essentially creating a ‘Time Trial’ style of gameplay). Knuckles’ story is more exploration-based, as he must collect the shards of the Master Emerald in order to finish a stage. Amy Rose, like Sonic, must simply get to the end, but has to keep moving as she’s being chased by one of Robotnik’s goons. The two characters with more unique styles of gameplay were Big the Cat, who engages in fishing levels in order to recapture his pal Froggy (who has swallowed a Chaos Emerald), and Gamma, one of Robotnik’s former bots who fights his way through levels and has the highest amount of action.
Sonic Adventure became the bestselling title on the Dreamcast and propelled the sales of the system itself. A sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, arrived in 2001, introducing the popular characters Shadow and Rouge. Though it received positive reviews, it didn’t sell as well as its predecessor, and couldn’t help the Dreamcast’s declining sales; the Dreamcast itself was discontinued in March 2001.
