Sonic Adventure 2 is back with a fan-made remake, and it’s got some new playable content you can check out now. Sonic Adventure 2 is basically the platonic ideal of 3D Sonic. It was released in 2001 for the Dreamcast, although, if you’re like me, you didn’t play it until it got a GameCube port the following year.
Featuring a split hero/dark campaign, different gameplay styles for each of its characters, and, of course, the iconic Chao Garden, there’s a lot to love about Sonic Adventure 2. If you’ve been looking for a way to revisit it without playing through the same exact game for the thousandth time, then Sonic Adventure 2 Redux is the project for you.
Sonic Adventure 2 Redux is exactly what it sounds like: a remake project for Sonic Adventure 2 made entirely in Unreal Engine 5. It’s not complete yet, but the developer JeliLiam has now released a third demo, which includes three new playable levels: Sky Rail, Pyramid Cave, and Pumpkin Hill (spotted by Dark Side of Gaming).
This is in addition to the new levels and demos added by the first two demos. The third demo also adds two new boss levels to the mix (VS Hot Shot and VS Egg Golem), and that’s not to mention some of the other new features coming to the remake: the introduction of Knuckles/Rouge-style treasure-hunting gameplay, a story mode that lets you run througn all the levels available, story animatics, stat tracking, and more.
Whatever you think about Unreal Engine remakes in general, it’s hard to deny that Sonic Adventure 2 Redux looks great. I appreciate how the developers haven’t shied away from the more cartoonish aspects of the original game’s art style in an effort to make the project look “realistic,” instead recreating them with faithful higher-definition textures and immersive lighting.
While lots of classic games of the late 90s and early 2000s have gotten the remake treatment recently, Sonic the Hedgehog, as a series, has been unusually resistant to the trend. Last September, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka told the BBC that the team would rather “make a brand-new game instead. I think the team is really interested in taking that same amount of time and energy and effort to really bring a new experience to the players.”
That’s all well and good, but it comes at the cost of classic Sonic games’ availability for modern platforms. Sonic Adventure 2 is actually one of the better ones in terms of availability, since it is on Steam along with the original Sonic Adventure, but it’s still good to see fan-led efforts to keep these games alive.
You can download the remake via GameJolt if you want to check it out for yourself. It’s a worthwhile distraction for any Sonic Adventure 2 fan, and one to keep an eye on as new demos and features are released.
- Released
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June 19, 2001
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Sonic Team USA
- Engine
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The Hedgehog Engine
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer