Sonic Adventure (DC) Retro Review

The 35th anniversary of Sonic continues, as does SuperPhillip Central's look back at the series in both good and bad forms! We're moving on to Sonic Adventure, and this is notably not just for being Sonic's first fully 3D adventure, but also being for SPC's very first Sega Dreamcast review! I know, I know--we just got under the buzzer on that one! At any rate, here is a retro review of Sonic Adventure.

"Can't hold on much longer..." 

I never had the pleasure or privilege of owning or even much less playing a Sega Dreamcast growing up. The system might have had an early demise due to a one-two punch of various fumbling by Sega, as well as the PlayStation 2's launch, but even in its short lifespan, the Dreamcast certainly left a positive impact on gaming. 

My experience with Sega's lead mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, dates back to the blue blur's debut on the Sega Genesis, but I wouldn't get to dabble with the 3D version of the franchise until Sega went third party and released Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on Nintendo's GameCube. I recall greatly enjoying my first full-fledged 3D Sonic that I played; even going as far as getting all of the emblems in that. Then, a year or so later, Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut hit the GameCube, and I remember liking that, too, though not as much as its sequel. 

My point in traveling down memory lane and talking a bit of my past experiences with Sonic the Hedgehog is that opinions change over time. Call it youth naivete or whatever you'd like, but back in the day, I found Sonic Adventure, at least on the GameCube, to be a competent enough game. Now, that I played it on its original version on the Dreamcast, well... I refer back to my previous statement of "opinions change over time."

You can't have a screenshot of Sonic Adventure without this set piece on display.

Sonic Adventure is comprised of six individual campaigns, though you start with only Sonic's unlocked. As you play through his story, the other five characters' campaigns become available. The campaigns themselves are interrelated, crossing over with each other multiple times. You'll consistently see familiar scenes, but you'll get the perspective of the other characters, or learn some backstory and character motivations.  

There are three hubs or Adventure Fields in Sonic Adventure: Station Square, Mystic Ruins, and the Egg Carrier. These connect the game's numerous stages together and are able to be explored. Needless to say, while these Adventure Fields offer some nice ideas, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I feel it's a great thing that most future Sonic games trimmed the fat, so to speak, and removed these entirely. 

Sonic gets the most amount of action stages in his campaign, coming in at ten total.

As for the individual campaigns, Sonic's story is understandably created as the longest in the game, made up of ten stages. He does get top billing after all. Sonic's stages are speedy thrill rides through obstacle-laden, loop de loop-filled, enemy-infested romps where the goal is to simply make it to the end of the stage. This was before the boost formula made its way into the 3D series. There is no boost gauge to be found. It's running around at the speed of sound... if the speed of sound isn't too terribly fast by comparison to future games, and jumping and spin dashing your way through stages. The homing attack debuted here, and it doesn't always hit its intended target--like the Sonic series itself, there were some growing pains involved. 

The intermittent boss battles are mostly harmless, but the ones that stink (not pictured) really stink.

The stages themselves offer plentiful shortcut opportunities, though a lot of these can be difficult to pull off on first blush. Part of that, and this is no matter the campaign you play as, is because the camera is absolutely atrocious. While it's intended to be left untouched--serving as an automatic camera of sorts, where it follows along the player and gives you its opinion of the most ideal camera angles--sometimes you have to turn it with the shoulder buttons, or else you're really at a disadvantage, needing to make ridiculous blind jumps. Unfortunately, upon doing this, you'll discover the camera loves to fight you, forcing itself back into position when all you want to do is get a proper view on where you're going.

Another playable character with his own campaign is that of Sonic's trusty friend and sidekick Tails. Tails has the power of flight, though its not infinite flight unlike the cutscenes he's featured in would have you possibly believe. Tails' version of stages are races against Sonic, who no doubt is holding back to give his foxy buddy some confidence. Sonic's a good pal with a good heart through and through. Tails plays through a given section of Sonic's stages instead of the entire stage itself. This is pretty much true for every characters' campaign in the game when they venture into locales already ventured by Sonic. 

Though in his final stage of his campaign, Tails is in a race against Eggman (and time, for that matter).

Knock-knock, it's time to talk about Knuckles and his campaign. The watcher of the Master Emerald, when a mysterious creature shatters the oversized green emerald into pieces, Knuckles glides and otherwise wanders about to find three pieces in each of the stages he visits. These are essentially scavenger hunt games of "hot and cold" where there is a beep as Knuckles gets close to a Master Emerald shard. The closer he gets to one, the more the beeping intensifies. These were nice changes of pace, instead of just rushing from point A to point B like most other characters' stages--moving about an open, non-linear area in search of Master Emerald shards.

Search high and low for those Master Emerald shards, Knuckles.

Next, we have Amy Rose, whose stages see her pursued by a giant green mech who seeks to capture her--or at least the Flicky bird she's taking care of. Her stages have her running away from this mech at intermittent intervals, evading her chaser while making progress through the levels. Amy--as well as the other two characters--get an exclusive stage venue within the Hot Shelter, a place Sonic doesn't get to explore in his campaign. Amy's Piko Piko Hammer is meant to not only bonk foes that stand in her way, but she can also run and slam it down in order to somersault, giving her the ability to reach higher places.

Amy and her Flicky friend can hardly get a moment's peace from their mechanized stalker.

The penultimate character is that of E-102 Gamma, an Eggman robot who comes to question its programming upon seeing its fellow robots destroyed by Eggman for their mission failures, as well as meeting Amy Rose. Its levels see Gamma marching through stages, having the player hold down and release the action button to target and launch missiles at enemies respectively. The more targets that are hit, the more seconds are added to the level timer which unlike every other campaign in the game, it counts down instead up. If it hits zero, the stage is failed. It is pretty difficult to fail stages this way, but it changes things up all the same.

Finally, and coming in with just four or so stages mercifully, is that of Big the Cat. Like the aforementioned Adventure Fields, there's most likely a reason Big's focus on fishing for his campaign was not made as a requirement for future Sonic games. Heck, it wouldn't even be a gameplay mechanic again until Sonic Frontiers, though as something optional. Big's stages feature fishing. You slowly saunter around as Big, avoid the minimal amount of enemies in each level, and cast your line to attempt to fish up Froggy, Big's friend. I appreciate the mechanics being there and capable enough--having to pay attention to the tension of the line and how fast or slow you reel--it's just not fun and not what I want as mandatory to do in a Sonic game.

After the initial six campaigns are completed with credits rolled for each--by the way, I did not particularly care for having to sit through the credits six separate times since you can't skip them (nor any cutscene, for that matter)-- you unlock the final campaign, that of Super Sonic's. This wraps up the individual stories and puts Super Sonic against the final boss of the game. It's quite a spectacle of a boss, and one that I can't say failed to impress me, especially when considering the time of the game's release. Sure, like everything else in the game, there's plenty of jank in this battle, but it's fun all in all. Having Super Sonic rushing along Station Square's flooded city streets, collecting rings, evading the boss's attacks, and boosting with enough speed into the boss makes for some cool moment-to-moment action, and ends the game on a fairly nice note. 

When the battle is done, Tails unironically (at least the voice direction makes it come across that way, in my defense) utters, "I guess all's well that ends well!" This is all the while as Station Square is now a flooded wasteland, and who knows how many of its denizens perished from the now-defeated boss's arrival. Then, of course, the unskippable credits roll for the seventh time. The final "FIN".

Even still, while the Adventure Mode was complete for me, I periodically entered into the Trial mode, which gives new takes on each stage and characters' missions. Whereas each character's Mission C is simply to complete their respective stage, and this is done within the Adventure Mode itself, other missions, B and C, are more challenging. For Sonic, his B and C missions require him to collect 50 rings while reaching the goal and clearing a stage within a strict time limit respectively. 

Time to go up and down and all around in Speed Highway.

Each mission completed earns a Sonic Emblem, of which there are 130 total to earn and collect. However, unlike Sonic Adventure DX, which added an incentive to do this, there really is nothing earned from collecting all 130 Emblems in the OG Sonic Adventure. I'd say other than a job well done, but it's less that and more... "a job well done for not throwing the game in the garbage after suffering through the game so much." Because it's through these missions and attempting to clear them where the biggest flaws and worst aspects of Sonic Adventure come shining through. I'm talking about the junk camera, jank platforming, buggy glitches, and having to contend with the Chao Garden and its pain in the patootie races--the latter of which are horribly explained within the game.

Sonic's bouncing about at Emerald Coast.

After 17 hours and 115 Emblems, I definitely had my fill of Sonic Adventure. Heck, I feel a bit vindicated in my opinion after playing through the game much more than I had to, if only because it furthered my thoughts that--at least with this Dreamcast original version of the game--Sonic Adventure is a terrible offering. 

Where Mario jumped into the realm of 3D with absolute grace, Sonic failed and performed a faceplant in the process. There is a lot to love about Sonic Adventure, to be fair--the ideas are well intended and somewhat clever, the music is some of the series's absolute best and one of my favorite soundtracks in gaming, and the presentation, especially for 1999, is terrific--but as a cohesive package, the game flails and otherwise fails. Sonic the Hedgehog said a mouthful when he uttered, "that's NO good." He wasn't talking about Sonic Adventure, of course, but if the red sneaker fits...

[SPC Says: D] 

Top Ten Dreamcast Games

Twenty years ago on one of the best release dates for anything ever--9/9/99--the Sega Dreamcast launched. While Sega exited the hardware market shortly after, in just two brief years, the Dreamcast managed to amass a library that consoles that have been on the market much longer can only dream about. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast, SuperPhillip Central takes a look at some of the best games to ever grace the system and--since many of these have been ported elsewhere--other systems as well (though that just shows how strong the legacy of the Dreamcast really is!).

After you've checked out, SPC's picks, which Sega Dreamcast games are your favorites?

10) Power Stone 

Capcom showed a competent amount of support for Sega and its Dreamcast, and one of its most beloved titles on Sega's final home console was Power Stone. This arena brawler was less of a traditional fighter and more of a game where you beat your opponents senseless with character attacks, objects strewn about the 3D arena environments, and items that occasionally dropped in to the playing field. Collecting the fabled "Power Stones" in battle meant your character charged up immensely, ready and able to deliver some devastating damage to your opponent's or opponents' life bars. A sequel would release, bringing more of the same to the series and Sega's system, but I have a soft spot for the original Power Stone.

9) Hydro Thunder

A launch title for the Dreamcast--and later ported to the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64 down the road, though the Dreamcast original remained the best way to play it on a home console back then--Hydro Thunder was a high-speed, high-octane aquatic racer where you piloted futuristic speedboats across rocky waters in a bevy of exhilarating locations. Carving a path through the waters with your speedboat felt so fantastic, and the speeds at which you did so was nothing short of jaw-dropping. Hydro Thunder packed a lot of entertainment within its courses, its boosting-based gameplay, and phenomenal tracks.

8) Crazy Taxi

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, YEAH!" Any fan of Crazy Taxi has those initial lyrics and notes engrained deep in their virtual taxi-driving brains. Having roots in arcades, Sega created and ported a lot of its arcade hits to its home consoles, and that tradition continued with the Dreamcast. Such a defining example of a proven arcade hit and putting it on the system was Crazy Taxi, a game where you drove your yellow, checkered limousine and chauffeured passengers to their desired destinations around a closed-in city setting. Performing--ahem--crazy stunts and tricks while getting your passengers to their destinations in quick fashion awarded more in tips during your timed sessions racing around town.

7) Jet Grind Radio

Paint the town up with graffiti as you skate, jump, and grind your way through colorful, cel-shaded, open environments in Jet Grind Radio (future releases would establish the brand of the game and series as Jet Set Radio, in line with the international releases). As a fierce fighter to anyone who would degrade the cel-shaded art style, due to his heavy love for it, Jet Grind Radio brought with it the goal of tagging specific spots on maps before the game's timer ran out. Of course, the MAN (aka the authorities) would just have to make this mission of your inline-skating, graffiti-tagging gang member more challenging. The controls, favoring simple button presses as opposed to something slightly more complex like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, allowed for a level of accessibility for beginners while also granting a great deal of depth for masters of the game to unleash some killer moves and nail insane shortcuts in the game.

6) Sonic Adventure 2

It was a bit of a struggle to pick between Sonic Adventure or Sonic Adventure 2 to be the representative of Sonic the Hedgehog's Dreamcast debuts, but in the end, I had to go with the game that trimmed a lot of the fat that the original Sonic Adventure possess--that being the hub worlds and plodding extraneous gameplay types like Amy Rose, Gamma, and of course, Big the Cat. While there are some lesser parts to Sonic Adventure 2, the more streamlined approach, excellent Sonic and Shadow levels, okay to good Tails and Dr. Eggman vehicle levels, and passable Knuckles and Rouge emerald fetch quests made for one of Sonic's most memorable adventures to this day.

5) Shenmue

After almost two decades of waiting, the next chapter and the third installment in Ryo Hazuki's adventure, Shenmue III, will finally be available later this year to fans who have been with Ryo since the very beginning. And that beginning was on none other than the Dreamcast and from the mind of Yu Suzuki. Combining small open world areas, fighting segments, quick-time events, and an insanely obsessive amount of detail in the actual game world, Shenmue is a fantastic quest that showed just how ambitious Sega was during its final generation as a console manufacturer.

4) Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Capcom took players for a ride not just with the Power Stone series, but also with Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which the Dreamcast version is deemed one of, if not the best of the versions of the game. This second ultimate crossover between the superheroes and supervillains of Marvel Comics and the video game star power of Capcom brought accessible 2D fighting game action to the Dreamcast with its simple to pick up and play combat, flashy visuals, gorgeous colors, and supersized cast of characters. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 remains a fantastic fighting game that fans of one or both companies come back to on a regular basis, even if it's not the most balanced fighter out there.

3) Phantasy Star Online

During its time as a console manufacturer, Sega brought so many important innovations into the gaming sphere, and one of the most notable of these was bringing about and helping to popularize online play on home consoles, a sector of gaming that the PC had a hard monopoly on. With the release of Phantasy Star Online, Dreamcast owners had the ability to step foot on the planet of Ragol, explore its wondrous world, and do battle with its dangerous creatures with a party of up to four players online. It's something we of course take for granted nowadays, but even still, the Phantasy Star Online series remains popular, with part of the big news from Xbox's E3 2019 showing being that Phantasy Star Online 2 was coming to Xbox One. We can thank the original Phantasy Star Online for its mark on gaming, and just for remaining a solid and addicting game today.

2) Skies of Arcadia 

Dreamcast owners had no shortage of excellent RPGs to play on their system, and my pick for the absolute greatest of the bunch comes from Sega's now defunct Overworks team. It's none other than Skies of Arcadia. So many RPGs coming out of Japan have similar medieval settings or futuristic locations, but none are as original as Skies of Arcadia's literal skies... of Arcadia! From taking your starting small fry airship and exploring floating islands, featuring cities and dungeons to explore, to eventually earning a massive vessel to face off against other ships in aerial battles, Skies of Arcadia made a mark on this JRPG fan when it originally released. While the GameCube re-release brought with it many sizable and notable improvements, the original Skies of Arcadia still remains an impressive feather in the Dreamcast's cap.

1) Soul Calibur

We take the Soul Calibur franchise for granted nowadays (after all, the sixth numbered installment seems to have come and gone already without too much fanfare), but it can't be understated just how awesome and amazing an arena fighter Soul Calibur was. No doubt Soul Calibur fans know of the series's arcade roots with Soul Edge, but the arrival of Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast brought with it an immense following from fighting game fans and just lovers of weapon-based battles. Whether beating your opponent to the pulp with the blade your character wielded or knocking your foe out of bounds for a ring out, the soul burned strong for this excellent and exquisite Dreamcast launch title.

Top Ten Video Game System Launch Lineups

The PlayStation 4 launches officially at midnight, and the Xbox One a week after. The gaming world is in a frenzy, and perhaps as a gamer you care nothing except getting these systems as soon as possible. But wait! We have a special top ten list to share with you! With every new console or handheld comes a wide array of launch titles to enjoy. We're seeing with at least the PS4 launch that a lot of the most anticipated games are coming off as a little disappointing. That has us down, but to put us in a greater mood we've come up with a list of better console launch lineups. No, not just better-- the best! From Super Nintendo to Xbox 360, this list has the cream of the system crop. (Note that these are the North American launch lineups we will be representing on this list.)

10) PlayStation 2

Something we've noticed about the PlayStation brand-- at least the home consoles-- is that they launch with a rather underwhelming lineup. Of the three current home consoles released now, the PlayStation 2 was the one with the best launch lineup. There was really no ONE game that sat on store shelves yelling, "BUY ME AT ONCE!" but there were several titles worth checking out. Such games include TimeSplitters, SSX, Dynasty Warriors 2, Midnight Club: Street Racing, Ridge Racer V (the series is a mainstay of most PlayStation system launches), and Tekken Tag Tournament. As you can see, nothing that was a true "killer app", but enough games that made the whole lineup work.

9) Wii U

The Wii U actually had a wonderful launch lineup, especially if you hadn't played many of the ports it received from other platforms. The Wii U offered a brand-new and high quality 2D Mario with New Super Mario Bros. U, a collection of Nintendo-centric mini-games that each brought an interesting take on using the new GamePad with Nintendo Land, one of the scariest games of all time, and still one of the best uses of the GamePad with ZombiU, and you had several ports that were mostly fantastic, such as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Skylanders: Giants, Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition, Darksiders II, and Mass Effect 3: Special Edition.

8) Wii

The Wii craze started off with a marvelous mix of software at its launch that featured many genres. The top titles were, of course, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports. The latter of which was the game that made the system hard to track down, as it was sold out literally everywhere. However, let's not forget the impact of having a freaking Zelda game at a console's launch. There was something for both the core and casual consumers. Meanwhile, you had intriguing uses of the Wii Remote with games like the awesome arcade racer Excite Truck, Ubisoft's Red Steel and Rayman Raving Rabbids, Activision's Call of Duty 3, and finally, Trauma Center: Second Opinion.


7) Xbox 360

There was some disappointment with the 2005 launch of the Xbox 360. A lot of the cross-generation games didn't look that differently from their past generation counterparts. However, the titles that were built from the ground up on the Xbox 360 looked quite nice. Now, we'll get a lot of criticism for this, but we really enjoyed Perfect Dark Zero. The campaign was cheesy as all get out, but we liked the objective-based mission structure. The multiplayer was the system's best for a good while. It's still a blast to play. Then you had another Rareware title, Kameo: Elements of Power. Alongside those two games were Condemned: Criminal Origins, Call of Duty 2, Quake 4, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Amped. A diversified lineup definitely!

6) Xbox

If you ask someone about the game they liked most regarding the original Xbox launch lineup, they'll probably mention Halo: Combat Evolved. However, that wasn't the limit of the Xbox's lineup at launch. No, we saw a handful of truly terrific titles that made us reconsider our thoughts about Microsoft's first entry into the video game home console race. There was Dead or Alive 3, Project Gotham Racing, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, the cel-shaded Cel Damage, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X, bringing back many classic stages of the first two Tony Hawk games and even Xbox-exclusive content. If your only memories of the first Xbox are all about Halo, you must have missed out on the other notable launch titles that came out when the big, bad, black box released.

5) Super Nintendo

The Super Nintendo didn't launch with 15+ games like so many platforms do nowadays, but Nintendo's 16-bit beauty went with quality over quantity. You had the best 2D platformer in gaming history launching with the console, Super Mario World. (You're free to argue against that.) You had two Mode 7 wonders with the start of the fantastic futuristic racing franchise F-Zero and the debut of the Pilotwings series, and you had the phenomenal manic shooter Gradius III and the famous SimCity series appearing on Nintendo's systems. Not a bad launch at all, as you had five great games to choose from that still play terrifically today.

4) Nintendo GameCube

One of our most loved underrated consoles is the GameCube, and the system started out rather strong with some nice launch titles. The GameCube bucked the trend of a Nintendo system launching with a Super Mario game. Instead, Luigi took center stage with the charming Luigi's Mansion. Launch GameCube systems owners also enjoyed the technically sublime and still to this day jaw-dropping Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, the start of a great arcade franchise in Super Monkey Ball, a classic Dreamcast game put on Nintendo's system in Crazy Taxi, a wet and wild racing game in Wave Race: Blue Storm, and our favorite skateboarding game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. It was a diverse lineup that was filled with some very unique and very entertaining games.

3) Game Boy Advance

We were so astounded as younger versions of ourselves when we had what was essentially a portable SNES in our hands. (Just imagine our reaction now that we're playing PS3-caliber portables!) The Game Boy Advance launch had a plethora of great software to play. We enjoyed a portable version of Super Mario Bros. 2 with Super Mario Advance, sped through futuristic tracks in F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, laid the smack down on sorry souls with Fire Pro Wrestling, raced with several classic Konami characters in Konami Krazy Racers, shredded things up with a visually impressive take on the Tony Hawk series with the isometric Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, went all Metroidvania with Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and had memories of middle school with Super Dodge Ball Advance. The Game Boy Advance launch lineup was the gift that kept on giving as we dove deeper into what the system initially had to offer.

2) PlayStation Vita

Evidence that having a stellar launch lineup means very little (read: squat) in the long run, Sony's PlayStation Vita had an incredible arsenal of games available on launch day. You had a portable entry in the Uncharted series that played and looked almost as well as its bigger brothers, you had the technical showcase and fast, frenetic fun of Wipeout 2048, you had a new entry in the excellent Hot Shots Golf series, you had a tremendous port of one of the greatest platformers of the seventh generation, Rayman Origins, and you had many other games like Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, Ultimate Marvel VS. Capcom 3, Dynasty Warriors Next, and Lumines Electronic Symphony. The PlayStation Vita had plenty of lovely software at launch. It's a real shame how much it is struggling.

1) SEGA Dreamcast

After struggling mightily with the Saturn, SEGA went all out with their 9/9/99 launch of their final home console, the Dreamcast. The sheer number of excellent games available at launch signaled to plenty of people knew that SEGA meant business. The first console of the sixth generation, the Dreamcast impressed with its power, its speed, its technical proficiency with games like Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, and delighted with fun games like The House of the Dead 2, Hydro Thunder, Power Stone, and Ready to Rumble Boxing. The Dreamcast may have had a sad and premature death, but its launch is still one of the best.

Top Ten Platforms Released in the Past Twenty Years

EDGE Magazine recently released a list of the "best" consoles from the past twenty years. We definitely did not agree with their order of the consoles. The list did give us inspiration for our own article. "Hey, let's just take EDGE's idea and do it SuperPhillip Central-style!" That's exactly what we did. Many gaming platforms, both handheld and home, have been released in the past twenty years. Our list does its best to encompass our favorites and give our rationale as to why we have placed them where we have. From 1993 to 2013, here are our picks for the greatest gaming platforms to have released during that time. What are your favorites?

10) Dreamcast

The Dreamcast was an innovator in the online field, including a modem that was built into the system and allowing online play. One of the greatest titles available to play through the internet with friends was the fantastic Phantasy Star Online. The Dreamcast had a bounty of other brilliant titles, including the game that made cel-shading popular, Jet Grind Radio, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Skies of Arcadia, Power Stone 1 and 2, Crazy Taxi, Soulcalibur, Samba de Amigo, Shenmue, and many more. The Dreamcast was when Sega's internal studios seemingly could do no wrong. A system that was truly ahead of its time, Sega's swan song console, the Dreamcast, kicks off our countdown.

9) Xbox 360

Microsoft's second attempt at taking marketshare from Sony was their Xbox 360. However, there are several things that hold the Xbox 360 from greatness. For one, the initial systems were all prone to overheating, leading to the infamous Red Ring of Death fiasco. Next, Microsoft's first-party studios do not hold a candle to those of its competitors. Third, while competitors had free online play, the Xbox 360 held online multiplayer behind a paywall, and you were still bombarded with ads. That said, the Xbox 360 pioneered achievements, brought forth the best online experience available on home consoles (though, as stated, for a price), and was a third-party paradise. While the Xbox 360 started off well with exclusives (games like Rare's output, Halo 3, Tales of Vesperia, Lost Odyssey, etc., Microsoft seemingly abandoned their target market with the appearance of Kinect, throwing scraps to the user base that made the Xbox 360 so successful. You can sort of see why we're not amazingly keen on the Xbox One yet, can't you?

8) GameCube

While obtaining the title of third place in the sixth generation of gaming consoles, coming a few million shy of Microsoft's Xbox, Nintendo's GameCube was still highly profitable for the company. That said, the GameCube was a fantastic little system that actually started out with a grand amount of third-party support, even getting some exclusives from Capcom in the form of many Resident Evil titles and the then-exclusive Capcom Five. It also gained support from Sega who put longtime rival to Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, on a Nintendo system for the first time ever. Nintendo's output wasn't too shabby. Sure, we don't really care for Super Mario Sunshine (but we do appreciate its willingness to change up the gameplay by a good margin), Nintendo gave us The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and F-Zero GX. The publisher also delivered new franchises such as Shigeru Miyamoto's Pikmin, Custom Robo, Animal Crossing (for the first time in the West at least), Chibi Robo, and more. The Nintendo GameCube might have been the only sixth generation home console without a dedicated online system, and third-parties might have shied away from the system later in its life, but overall, the system is a remarkable reminder of Nintendo making a system that competed in power with its competition.

7) PSP

Despite being outsold by the Nintendo DS, the PlayStation Portable, Sony's first foray into handheld gaming sold a respectable amount. It's an amount that many platforms would love to reach worldwide. There's a good reason for it selling well, too. It had the games that appealed to many. Well, mostly pirates in the West, but what are you gonna do. Regardless, the PSP had an abundance of titles in many genres, featuring many classic and all-new series. For classics you had Final Fantasy, Ratchet & Clank, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Ocean, Tactics Ogre, Metal Gear, God of War, Hot Shots Golf, Kingdom Hearts, Ys, and the list goes on. All-new series that either debuted that generation or exclusively on PSP included LittleBigPlanet, Resistance, Patapon, Jeanne D'Arc, Gods Eater, LocoRoco, and the one that made the system do extremely well in Japan, Monster Hunter. Some claim the PSP's lineup is made up of a variety of ports, but as you can see, there's tons of original content, one of the greatest collections of RPGs on any platform in the seventh generation of systems, and games aplenty to play.

6) Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 isolated a lot of third-parties from Nintendo due to its continued reliance on expensive cartridges. That notwithstanding, the Nintendo 64, all droughts disregarded, delivered some of the most memorable games of all time. Nintendo and Rare's relationship was never better, and this allowed said droughts to not occur as often. Games like Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007 (which made it clear that first-person shooters could work somewhere besides PCs), Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Blast Corps, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, among others. The Nintendo 64 was also a local multiplayer fan's dream come true, offering four controller inputs for games like Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Bomberman 64, Mario Golf, Star Fox 64, Super Smash Bros., GoldenEye 007, and a load of other titles. The Nintendo 64 gave us some of our most cherished gaming memories, and it delivered some spectacular titles, showed how 3D gaming should work with iterations of Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda transferring well into three-dimensions splendidly. It was a choice of getting in or getting out, and we definitely were happy to get in with the Nintendo 64.

5) PlayStation

Many third-parties abandoned the Nintendo ship when the company revealed it would be using cartridges for its new system. These companies flocked to Sony's new machine, the PlayStation. Without a doubt the most varied software lineup for the fifth generation of gaming consoles, the PlayStation possessed games from a multitude of genres, platformers with games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Tomba!, and Mega Man; a paradise of RPGs with games like Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics, Dragon Warrior VII, and Star Ocean: The Second Story; and a myriad of other genres. As stated many companies abandoned ship with Nintendo, and their series followed. Capcom gave Sony Mega Man and created an all-new series called Resident Evil. Squaresoft gave PlayStation owners Final Fantasy and the sequel to Chrono Trigger. Konami introduced the Metal Gear series to Sony console owners with Metal Gear Solid. All-in-all, the original PlayStation was a tremendous way for Sony to enter the gaming console market space, containing games for the widest audience possible.

4) Wii

There is no denying the impact of this next console. The Wii introduced millions of new gamers across the world to our hobby, and contrary to popular belief, most Wii owners continued to purchase games other than Wii Sports. Just look at attach ratios for proof. Regardless, competing against the HD twins that shared a lot of games with one another, the Wii had a much more varied lineup of titles. Sure, it still had the shooter genre represented, but the main draw of the Wii was Nintendo's own software, which featured some of the company's best efforts. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are easily some of the best games ever created. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword introduced competent motion controls for combat, justifying their use totally. Mario Kart Wii sold incredible amounts, New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought cooperative multiplayer to 2D Mario, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was a love letter to Nintendo fans, Punch-Out!! was a beaut to look at and play, Donkey Kong Country Returns made us giddy with excitement, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption showed us that pointing and shooting with the Wii Remote was much better (to us) than old dual analog controls. In addition to all of the games both popular and overlooked, Nintendo implemented a Virtual Console, a collection of retro titles from the original NES to the Nintendo 64. The Wii deserved its sales without a doubt, as it had the games, it had the content, and it had titles that appealed to everyone.

3) PlayStation 3

Our favorite console of the seventh generation of the video game console cycle, the PlayStation 3 had a very rocky start. A price announcement of five hundred and ninety-nine dollars will do that to a system. Despite this, the PlayStation 3 has eventually gone on to become a must-have system for any self-respecting gamer. This generation alone Sony's first-party studios have turned the dial up to 11 in their output, creating many new IPs like Resistance, LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and inFamous. They also continued support for past franchises, like Ratchet & Clank, God of War, Killzone, Twisted Metal, and Sly Cooper. Third-party support was excellent as well, giving the majority of the same games that the Xbox 360 received. Then, there's the online, allowing players to freely play multiplayer with friends and total strangers. With the optional PlayStation Plus, Sony has delivered an amazing value by giving subscribers cloud storage and free digital games every month. Is it any wonder why the PlayStation 3 is our favorite current gen console?

2) Nintendo DS

It's purely coincidental that the top two systems on our list are also the best-selling ones of all time. Nonetheless, that isn't our reason for picking both of them. In the case of the Nintendo DS, it contained some of the greatest games we've ever played. It also has an immensely varied library, offering platformers, RPGs, action games, puzzle games, sports, and more. The addition of two screens, with the second being a touch screen, was ingenious, and gave us many wonderful gameplay sessions. This was used to great benefit in games like Kirby Canvas Curse, Yoshi Touch and Go, both Legend of Zelda games, Soul Bubbles, Metroid Prime Hunters, Meteos, or used as something as simple as a map in Mario Kart DS. The Nintendo DS gained a lot of third-party support, bringing their heavy hitters to the system. The handheld was also Nintendo's first (read: archaic) attempt at an online infrastructure of some type. Despite the method being a headache, we cannot help but still love the Nintendo DS, purely for its amount of fantastic software for both beginning gamers and veterans to our hobby.

1) PlayStation 2 

The greatest console released in the past twenty years might not surprise you. It's the PlayStation 2, a console which sales made its competition look like student films in comparison. It also possessed a hugely diverse lineup of software. The system had everything-- epic RPGs like Final Fantasy X, Dragon Quest VIII, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and more; platformers like Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper; action games like God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Onimusha, and Devil May Cry; and sports games like Madden, Hot Shots Golf Fore!, Sega Soccer Slam, and FIFA. The system gained hallmark titles like Grand Theft Auto III, Gran Turismo 3, and the aforementioned God of War. To say that the PlayStation 2 was popular would be an understatement. Its successor has been out for years, yet the PS2 is still receiving new games. It's a system that just won't call it quits, and frankly, it doesn't need or have to. It deserves to have as much time in the sun as possible. It's that masterful of a system.

19 More Terrific Gaming Commercials

Time for some more nostalgia and memories! Exactly a week ago I posted a story concerning what I perceived to be the better gaming commercials out there -- my personal favorites. Since I couldn't possibly fit all of my favorites into just 21 selections, I'm at it again with 19 more gaming commercials that left an impact on me and that I enjoy. It's no secret that a good ad is important in getting some mind share about your game and getting people who haven't been following it to show some interest. These commercials do just that by either having a lot of gameplay in them, being funny and/or clever, or simply being awesome. Just like last time, I have two notes to add:

Note: These commercials are all from the States. Feel free to share commercials from outside the U.S. 

Note 2: To save everyone from lots of loading, the actual videos are linked to as opposed to embedded on this site. Click the name of the ad to get to the video. I apologize ahead of time for YouTube comment sections.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

This commercial is absolutely out of this world. It shows human beings on a large planetoid, just like one found in the Super Mario Galaxy series, with their heads pointed upwards towards a fabulous-looking starry sky. In the meantime, Mario, riding Yoshi, soars among the stars. The mix of gameplay with the footage makes for an appealing advertisement that made the week wait for Super Mario Galaxy 2 all the harder. It turned out that Galaxy 2 would become one of my favorite games I have ever played, and that list of played games is exceptionally lengthy.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)

A truly chilling commercial showing various people from various countries from various continents all watching an ominous moon in the sky. If you aren't familiar with The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask's story, the land of Termina is suffering from an apocalyptic problem. An evil moon is set to crash into the land within 72 hours, and only a boy named Link can save it with the help of four giants. Seeing the hopelessness that is on the faces of the people portrayed in the commercial displays one of Nintendo's darker commercials, but I can't help but enjoy it.

PlayStation 9 Advertisement

A positively sublime commercial delving into what the future of the PlayStation line could possibly be, putting the player into the game with full virtual reality and using retinal scanning, a mind control system, holographic technology, and more. Though perhaps future Nintendo thought of those ideas first as well and Sony is merely borrowing and improving upon them? Don't get your pants in a bunch; it's just a joke! Calm down! Step away from the keyboard and take deep breaths!

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)

The only caveat I have towards this commercial is that it is completely computer-generated. There is no gameplay to speak of at all. I sometimes wish games would let their gameplay do the talking and not some fancy graphics. Despite this, this is a really humorous and cool commercial. There is a rocking cover of "What a Wonderful World" (originally recorded by Louis Armstrong, of course) as Ratchet runs through a bright and cheery metropolis planet (the first in Tools of Destruction) as he demolishes multiple robotic and mutant pursuers. I love the comedic nature of the commercial, and the catchy song just improves my opinion of it.

Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)

Now, this commercial is the antithesis of the last commercial. It is full stuff from the Kingdom Hearts II game. New characters, new worlds, new gameplay -- it's all here to ogle as the English version of Passion (Sanctuary) by Utada plays. If you can get beyond the dreaded lore and convoluted story Square Enix shoehorned into the series, you'll get nostalgic by the numerous Disney references and cast. I wouldn't mind if more commercials took the more gameplay and less filler approach.

Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)

"Prepare to meet the light!" Throwing in CG Pit battling Medusa and her pet Twinbellows, this commercial for Kid Icarus: Uprising (one hell of a 3DS game, might I add) excites and amazes. But all that is only half the equation. The second portion of the ad shows some fast and frenetic flying and ground action, a mere sampler until players get their hands on the game to enjoy it themselves. Some found the controls to be a little difficult to handle, but that didn't stop me from thinking the game deserved its 9.25 score.

Golden Sun (GBA)

What starts off as an innocent orchestral performance ends with the female conductor facing off against a dragon in the form of a chandelier. The music grows more and more dramatic as the action becomes just as ardent. Skeletons in the audience on the balcony, a cymbal being thrown like discus, and violin bows being used to shoot fire at enemies are just some of the intense-in-action imagery being shown.

Metroid: Other M (Wii)

This beautifully done live action Metroid: Other M ad shows a Zero Suit Samus walking through flashbacks of her past. Her encounters with Space Pirates, Metroids, and arch-nemesis Ridley are shown as she marches by them. The story of Other M might have been a mess, but the actual gameplay was fast, smooth, and relied heavily on reflexes. An easy target to hate on, especially if you take gaming stories too seriously, but I enjoyed Metroid: Other M just as I enjoy this commercial.

Jet Moto 2 (PS1)

From epic to humorous, this classic Jet Moto 2 ad has the beginning of a race not going well for one of its drivers. Idling before the starting line as the other drivers speed through the course, the driver of the still vehicle finally snaps and breaks the fourth wall, facing and yelling at the player. The player turns out to be an elderly woman without much gaming experience. And for goodness sake, turn off that blinker!

Sega Dreamcast

One of my biggest gaming regrets is that I never have owned a Sega Dreamcast. It's not so bad now that a good portion of Sega's classic Dreamcast games have been making the rounds on PSN and XBLA for a much lesser price. This commercial shows the cast of launch game characters for Sega's 9/9/99 release date standing around, ready for gamers to enjoy them. Sadly, bad business decisions led to Sega's unfortunate fate to go third-party, and the quality of their games has never been the same.

Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)

This commercial like Kingdom Hearts II before it is wonderful because it is all footage from the game Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. This was my favorite game in the trilogy because it didn't try to be cool or gritty like the sequels did in a pitiful fashion. Collecting precursor orbs, doing some serious platforming without the open world sandbox approach, and the bright and cheerful worlds made for a game that I enjoyed, and one that I am sad Naughty Dog never attempted to create again.

LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

It's obvious that fun matters. You don't have to make a commercial about that. But what makes this LittleBigPlanet spot so enjoyable is that it shows exactly what kind of fun players can experience. Outside of the floaty platforming fun, there's the sensational ability to create your own levels or simply experiment with the toys given to you. It's your world, and it's your imagination. It's your LittleBigPlanet.

Kirby: Canvas Curse (DS)

This commercial is too cute and so sweet that it must give the watcher cavities. The ad follows the daily exploits of Kirby and his protector, a finger. From laying down over a manhole for Kirby to cross over him to pushing Kirby on a swing, the finger assists Kirby's day-to-day life. The final shot of the two walking towards the sunset puts a smile on my face, but who can resist the charm of Kirby? Not to mention that Canvas Curse is just a splendid game that showcased why the touch screen of the Nintendo DS was such a great idea in a non-tech demo form.

Viva Pinata (360)

What do you do for a pinata that longs to be free and promises you that he will fulfill your wishes if you free him? Why, of course you let him go. But then the bastard turns around and says he was just acting. Oh, Horstachio, you clever little minx. I will lure you to my garden, force you into a false sense of security, and then beat the chocolate and candy out of you. Viva Pinata and its sequel reminded me of the charm that the old Rare under Nintendo had. It was a nice change of pace and a lovely game.

Sonic Heroes (PS2, GCN, XBX)

You know what makes me feel old? When people say they were born in just before the new millennium and this was their first Sonic game. Then they wax nostalgic about how the PS2 generation was the best for reasons people my age think fondly of the SNES generation. Regardless, when the world is in trouble and there is no one to turn to, you can't have a bunch of old geezers out of their prime to help. No, you must have 12 Sonic all-stars who split up within four teams to save the day. The part of the commercial where the knight's helmet is too heavy for his head to hold up and he falls into the table is my favorite portion of this goofy spot. 

Sonic Generations (PS3, 360)

What's cooler than one Sonic? How about two? That is exactly the point this TV spot for Sonic Generations hits home. While Classic Sonic focused on 2D gameplay, Modern Sonic focused on 3D and 2.5D gameplay. Along with Sonic Colors, Sonic Team has shown some proficiency with their once floundering character. After the disaster that was 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog, it's nice to see the Blue Blur get his groove back.

Pikmin 2 (GCN)

A flurry of little people dressed as multicolored Pikmin might not be politically correct or whatever claim people with sticks in their butts have to say, but this TV spot is golden. The posse of Pikmin have an order, and that is to get a hotdog. Accomplishing their goal (and weird-ing out the vendor in the process) the Pikmin return to their master. The only problem is that he wanted mustard. Thus, the Pikmin rush with a new goal in mind, mustard for their master's hotdog (and no, there is no euphemism intended, you sick goose).

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN)

We're at an airport terminal where a pristine ride with two carts turns nasty with the lead cart rider tossing whatever she can scrummage from her purse and suitcases. The driver and lady throwing the items switch places, properly showing what Mario Kart: Double Dash's primary new gameplay mechanic is all about. But you ever throw stuff back at me, lady, and I'll send a blue shell up your ass.

Animal Crossing (GCN)

Obviously spoofing The Real World, this series of Animal Crossing advertisements show the life of four roommates trying to make ends meet within their village. Using fully costumed characters, the commercials deal with all sorts of amusing situations. There were a handful of different TV spots, and the majority of them, especially looking back, portray the feel of the Animal Crossing series remarkably well. And no, I would never trade my UFO for some wallpaper either.

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That concludes this second instance of showing off my favorite video game commercials from the U.S. Discuss which ones you found as your faves in the comment section.