Everything Good about Sonic Adventure 2's Cutscenes!
So here we have the most charming opening sequence in all of Sonic. GUN is taking Sonic to prison in a helicopter called SA2 (subtle), but somehow, he breaks out, he’s ” taken out everyone aboard, ” and he jumps out of the helicopter, breaking off a part of it to use as a snowboard, and jumps off the helicopter and into the city to escape.
This cutscene not only immediately grabs the audience’s attention because Sonic is being treated like the bad guy for once, but is also an awesome moment because it shows Sonic escaping the helicopter effortlessly and proceeding to snowboard down a sloped city street on a piece of a government helicopter. Sonic’s theme starts playing as soon as he escapes from the helicopter, and it’s cheery and upbeat electric guitars.
Now we come to Shadow’s introduction, one of the best cutscenes in all of Sonic history. Seriously, you want a contender for the most badass villain entrance scene in all of Sonic, this is it. I love Shadow’s theme, Throw It All Away, both the music and even the sad singing and guitarless interlude that reflects his tragic backstory. It’s so perfect for him as a villain, especially one who just showed up and is shrouded by mystery.
You hear it and see him as this strange being that appeared out of nowhere and is mysterious, but at the same time, is very powerful, calling himself the vague title of, ” the ultimate life form. ” I love how the music starts playing only after a few seconds of silence with Shadow staring at Sonic, because the silence makes you pay attention, and makes hearing Shadow’s theme for what’s probably the first time, all the more impactful. Shadow’s lines are great in this game, perfectly suited for a villain.
” It all starts with this… a jewel containing the ultimate power… ” And his voice actor’s acting is mostly perfect in this game, even better than the voice for Rouge. I’ve always thought of David Humphrey or however you spell his name, as the Shadow Villain Voice. It suits him as a villain, but not as anything else. It’s perfect for this game, at least. Sonic’s voice is also markedly improved, being at its best in this game.
As Shadow picks up the green Chaos Emerald (so was it powering Big Foot?), Sonic is shocked, and actually gets angry taking things seriously for a change, saying that the military has mistaken him for Shadow, and runs at him furiously while calling him a fake hedgehog. ” My name is Shadow… I’m the world’s ultimate lifeform… There’s no time for games… FAREWELL! ”
I really love how when Shadow says, ” Farewell! ” he teleports away with a cool animation at the same time, and Sonic flinches from the bright light looking vulnerable, and then wonders, ” What is he? “ something that the audience would be wondering as well if they started with the Hero Story.
Now we get Rouge’s introduction scene, where Rouge and Knuckles are arguing over the Master Emerald, and Rouge is calling the emerald hers. Knuckles says, ” What are you talking about, that emerald’s mine! You got that? ” and reveals that the Master Emerald neutralizes the power of the Chaos Emeralds, something that will come in handy later on in handy foreshadowing.
Eggman steals away the Master Emerald with a crane from his Eggmobile and Knuckles makes a smart and pragmatic decision by shattering the emerald and scattering its pieces around the world rather than let Eggman get all of it at once again. I LOVE Rouge’s scream when he shatters the emerald, it’s hilarious! And it’s so melodramatic, too, which perfectly suits her character.
Rouge grabs him and shakes him while he looks comically dazed and complains about what he did to the emerald. I love how Knuckles says, ” I did that to prevent the Master Emerald from getting stolen, you idiot! ” I love how he calls her an idiot! The way the line is delivered there is just perfect, and it’s pretty funny, while also making Knuckles a likable and relatable character from the very start. Rouge says, ” All the world’s jewels are MINE to keep! ” which is a great establishing character moment for her.
This cutscene can have one of two music tracks over it, Knuckles’ track and Rouge’s theme, depending on what story you’re playing, and I definitely think Knuckles’ version of the cutscene is the best one because of how perfectly suited to the scene it is.
Its jazzy music sounds comical, highlighting the situation where Rouge is claiming the Master Emerald is hers and Knuckles is calling her an idiot, and the way the music has the saxophone playing at the exact time that you hear the Master Emerald shining while Knuckles is explaining its special powers, it perfectly matches up with what he’s saying and what the camera is focusing on, emphasizing the mysticalness of the emerald. I never thought a saxophone could make something sound mystical, but there you go.
I love Knuckles’ voice in this game, and I especially love how he talks to Rouge. He has the best lines when talking to Rouge in this game. In fact, I’d say his interaction with Rouge is the source of his most entertaining and sympathetic dialogue and behavior in the entire series! So it’s all downhill from here. After this, he’s back to being an unlikable jerk and even gets Flanderized into an unlikable idiot as of Sonic Advance 2.
I just love how Knuckles is so deadpan and snarky with Rouge, having the clear moral high ground, and isn’t just shouting like an idiot who I wouldn’t relate to at all. Instead, he’s a Deadpan Snarker to her for being a jewel thief, being very relatable as he says what the audience is thinking. Knuckles is at his best here. This is the only game where I not only don’t hate Knuckles, but actually like him, more than Tails and Eggman!
I really wish he kept this characterization as the serious Deadpan Snarker. Just because Shadow is one doesn’t mean Knuckles shouldn’t be. He can be the serious one reprimanding Sonic for not being cautious all the time. As for Rouge, she has the best voice in this game, perfectly suited to her character as a materialistic feminine jewel thief who likes to tease people. And I don’t mean tease as in, she’s the tease, I mean that she teases people in a charming and funny way, like a big sister would tease her little brother.
I love how she teases Eggman and the spot-on delivery of that line. I love the way she talks in this game and the way she sounds. I don’t find her being feminine, offensive and weakening to her character. If anything, it makes her even more charming! She’s a competent spy who’s confident in her skills and her confidence isn’t unfounded. Her interaction with Eggman in this game is where she’s at her best. I admit it, I like Rouge as a character, in THIS GAME. All the life was sucked out of her after this.
So, this cutscene is the perfect Establishing Character Moment for both Rouge, and Knuckles in this particular game. Knuckles is at his best arguing with Rouge because he’s a Deadpan Snarker saying what the audience is thinking, making you actually respect Knuckles for once, and Rouge demonstrates how she’s a feminine jewel thief with the personality you’d expect with her every line, and I love the way she talks.
In the next cutscene, Tails is flying in the Tornado-2 (the best-looking of Tails’ planes to me) to reach Prison Island. At least it’s explained why Tails knows where to go to find Sonic, in a brief throwaway line they could’ve not given us about satellite TV. Tails has a much better voice in this game because he actually sounds sympathetic. We also hear Tails’ theme for the first time, playing on an Indian sitar, and I actually like it. It suits him. I hated Tails’ theme in the previous game, so this is a vast improvement.
Then, Tails transforms his plane into a badass battle mech to fight the Egg Walker, and engages in a fight with Eggman to prevent him from kidnapping Amy. So Amy finds Sonic in a cell walking back and forth impatiently (good characterization display there), and releases him. She tells him immediately, ” Keep your voice down, ” showing that she knows it’s a serious situation, and then says cheerfully, ” Have no fear… Amy Rose is here! ” and spins around to show that she’s not intimidated by the situation.
Amy playfully asks, ” If I tell you, will you marry me? ” and when Sonic bluntly says, ” No way! ” she’s like, ” I thought I had you this time! ” and then tells him anyways, showing that she was just joking around with him. And yet in Sonic Heroes, she tries to fight him for not marrying her? Flanderization at its finest. In this game, she’s at least sympathetic.
Amy tells Sonic that she saw Shadow with Eggman, and then asks if Sonic wrote the writing on the cell’s walls (drawing attention to it to show that it’s important/yet another Chekohv’s Gun). That writing is apparently Gerald Robotnik’s writing, as is revealed later. Sonic leaves while Amy is talking about it, and she complains about Sonic leaving and says, ” He’s such a brat sometimes, ” showing that she at least knows that Sonic isn’t perfect. She may be madly in love with him, but she’s not idealizing him.
And the fact that she says this also means the story itself is portraying Sonic as not being perfect, because there’s no indication that she’s wrong about saying this. Good, Sonic’s not a Gary Stu in this game! Don’t get used to that. After Metal Harbor, Sonic reaches Green Forest, and he has the iconic, ” I found you, faker! ” cutscene.
I actually like how Sonic’s line overlaps with Shadow’s at the end because it makes perfect sense that an impatient and confident guy like Sonic would interrupt Shadow while he’s in the middle of insulting him. The scene would feel weird without the interruption. After the boss fight ends, Eggman calls up Shadow and warns him that the island’s going to blow up soon, and Sonic and Shadow rush to escape the island. To carry on the tension into the gameplay, Green Forest has an 8-minute time limit, making the tension feel more relevant.
Sonic says that he’s gotta get out of Prison Island, ” and find Amy and Tails right away! ” getting intimidated by the situation taking it seriously right from the very first line. ” Blows up?! ” Don’t tell me you wouldn’t say that exact same thing! That is a realistic and relatable reaction to a freaking island you’re on about to explode.
After beating Pumpkin Hill, it cuts to Eggman making a global broadcast somehow, I guess by taking over satellite TV using his robots and hacking skills up on the ARK, so even the people who are standing outside in cities around the world are able to see his broadcast by looking up at the building that the telecaster is on. This is the cutscene where Eggman announces his plan for world domination and uses the Eclipse Cannon to blow up half the moon!
This freaked me out as a kid, and it’s a genuinely badass moment for Eggman, making the villain actually intimidating for once. Eggman’s screen has written messages praising him in the background, ” I am genius, I am brilliant, I am Eggman, ” as he makes his message, which not only adds humor and lightheartedness to balance out the grim seriousness of this cutscene, but also reflects his arrogant characterization rather well. After this, Tails shows off his character as the genius by making a smart plan.
He says that the Chaos Emeralds ” are like magnets. They have the power to attract each other. I can use that to find out where Eggman is. ” Again, just like at the end of SA1, Tails is showing that he understands the Chaos Emeralds. Foreshadowing! Tails says that he’s not getting a signal from the other six emeralds, and is smart enough to figure out that Eggman took them into outer space. Another smart realization from Tails!
He turns his mech into a go-kart, and races after the limousine so that he can use his technology skills to trace the call and find out where Eggman is. See, I like the plot of this game. It makes fantastic use of Tails’ intelligence, and at the same time, he’s not arrogant about it once, so he remains a sympathetic character. So, the president is having a video conference with Eggman to find out his demands.
I really like how the video of Eggman is of low quality or whatever, because it really makes it look like he’s transmitting the signal all the way from outer space. He asks what he wants, and Eggman threatens to destroy the country in 24 hours if he doesn’t surrender to him. Again, a genuinely threatening moment for Eggman. Then, Sonic and Tails show up, with Sonic running alongside the limo, and they jump into the limo through the hole in the roof.
There’s great and inspiring music here as soon as Sonic shows up, playing his theme to let you know that everything will be alright. Sonic sends Knuckles to find the key to progress in the base. He’s genuinely nice to him, calling him, ” The world’s greatest treasure hunter! “ And the complaining about finding the keys suits his character as someone who’s not a team player. After King Boom Boo, Knuckles complains, ” That was pretty rough. ” You said it, Knuckles. Fuck that boss.
When the space shuttle gets hit by a meteor, Knuckles gets worried about the Master Emerald pieces falling out of the back of it, a good character moment for him. Tails is discussing what he knows about the ARK, saying it was shut down after a terrible accident. Well, he is an engineer, so it makes sense that he’d be full of trivia about technology like space shuttles. Tails makes a plan to destroy the Eclipse Cannon from the inside, being shown as the brains of the team.
He actually made a fake Chaos Emerald that would do the trick, with the same wavelength and properties as a real one, but less powerful, and capable of blowing up the Eclipse Cannon by reversing the energy in it. Now, this is easily one of Tails’ most competent moments, as you can tell by Sonic’s amazed look when Tails is nonchalantly (thankfully) explaining his accomplishment. Tails making a fake but still powerful Chaos Emerald is his most glorious moment of genius in the franchise, and he’s not even arrogant about it.
And it got tons of foreshadowing beforehand that makes it believable that Tails could know enough about Chaos Emeralds to make a fake one. Remember when he figured out that Perfect Chaos used the negative power of the emeralds, and positive emotions projected by cheering could reenergize the emeralds that were drained of their power? Remember in this game when he said that emeralds are like magnets and can attract each other, and he can locate other emeralds this way?
He clearly understands Chaos Emeralds quite well, so it makes sense that he’d be able to make a fake one. Not sure what materials he made it out of, but whatever. He probably used the yellow Chaos Emerald he already had to make it, infusing its power into the fake one. I really like how Tails gets to be the smart guy a lot in this game, being at his most competent here, and is nonchalant about it instead of an insufferable brat like in later games, so he continues to be sympathetic.
Just before Sonic puts the fake emerald into the Eclipse Cannon, Eggman hacks into the communication system Tails was conversing with Sonic with and tells Sonic that he kidnapped Amy and to meet him in the research facility. This is Eggman being a competent villain, with Sonic taking the situation seriously to back that up. That gets you invested in the story. ” Long time no see, treasure hunter! Did you find MY emerald? ” ” Your emerald? That’s a good one. Talking to YOU is a waste of TIME! “
The next cutscene, I really love. There’s so much UST between these two in this game. Knuckles and Rouge are panting in exhaustion, and both demand the Master Emerald from each other. Rouge and Knuckles argue again. I like how Rouge insults him for ” attacking a lady? Shame on you! ” and Knuckles just says, ” What kind of lady goes around stealing gems, anyway? ” having an intelligent response to that. Again, saying what the audience is thinking.
Rouge missteps and falls off the narrow platform and starts falling towards the lava below, and ends up having her wrist grabbed by Knuckles, who pulls her up to safety because he’s a hero like that. The two gaze into each other’s eyes for a second or two, before Rouge pulls away and yells at him for holding her wrist.
She teases him with a smile, saying, ” You just wanted to hold my hand, didn’t you? THAT’S why you saved me! You’re such a creep! ” I just love the performance of that line! Knuckles insists that he was saving the Master Emerald (because Rouge had some pieces on her). Rouge gives the audience an Aside Glance, rolls her eyes and says with the great performance, ” No matter WHAT you say, it SOUNDS CRAZY! ” and gives him the pieces she has, with the excuse that, ” They stink like echidnas do! ”
I love how Knuckles instantly snarks at her, ” If that’s what you thought, you should’ve given them to me in the first place! ” Then Knuckles puts the Master Emerald back together, and Knuckles actually apologizes to Rouge for fighting with her, saying, ” I’m sorry… if I hurt you, ” and then leaves. The fact that Knuckles apologized at all is heartwarming.
Rouge reveals a soft side as well by smiling afterwards, saying in a clearly distracted tone that implies she has a crush on Knuckles, ” We should get going… ” and looking back at him before flying away. It goes without saying at this point that I love everything about this cutscene. The performance, the lines, the body animations, generally what happens in it, it’s all perfect! It never fails to make me smile.
However, I think Rouge’s version of it is the best because it has Rouge’s theme playing, a pleasant and happy theme that is much better suited to the cutscene where Rouge begins to get a crush on Knuckles. I love the UST between Knuckles and Rouge. I love the way he interacts with Rouge. He’s sarcastic in a relatable, witty and funny way, being a Deadpan Snarker who comes off as actually intelligent, saying what the audience is thinking. Knuckles doesn’t annoy me.
He has great lines, a great actor, the perfect voice for his role as the serious Deadpan Snarker, and his characterization is perfect compared to all the other portrayals of him; serious, sarcastic, cares about his friends enough to search them out and tag along with them on an adventure as soon as he’s done fixing the Master Emerald (instead of just returning to Angel Island and staying there like in SA1), he can make pragmatic and smart decisions like shattering the Master Emerald to save it, and he doesn’t try to hurt Sonic or insist that he’s better than him.
He’s not gullible, he doesn’t try to beat up Sonic as usual, and he’s not irritatingly proud. He’s cool, suave, and relatable. I miss this Knuckles. The game starts the cutscene where Eggman traps Sonic in a capsule and sends him into space because he found out on his own that Sonic was going to give him a fake Chaos Emerald. This is one of Eggman’s only moments where I can accept him as an actual threat.
I also like how he lets Tails think that he tricked him into revealing the truth, saying, ” Because you just told me, fox-boy! ” instead of explaining how he actually knew. It’s in-character for Eggman to be a dick like that and make Tails blame himself for what could happen to Sonic.
Sonic is in the capsule as it’s falling with appropriate music to it and remembers Tails saying that the emerald has the same wavelength and properties of a real emerald, and he actually shows depth to his character by showing insecurity rather than being cocky, something you’ll never see in any Sonic game like Sonic Colors. ” But… can I do this? ” I like how the cutscene doesn’t have Sonic explicitly state that he plans on doing what Shadow does with the Chaos Emerald. It keeps it a surprise.
It makes sense that he’d be able to use Chaos Control with a fake emerald. Not only because it has the same wavelength and properties as a real one (somehow), and not only because it’s still powerful by itself, but also because Sonic’s been exposed to Chaos Energy for five whole years by this point. He’s so familiar with it that not only could he be able to figure out how to do Chaos Control, but chaos energy might have actually seeped into him over the years from all the times he’s used the Chaos Emeralds.
Just think about all the new abilities Sonic’s gotten since he first used them in Sonic 1. Abilities that can outright defy the laws of physics, like a Chaos Emerald can. You can’t tell me that the homing-attack doesn’t defy physics. And with Sonic being able to beat Perfect Chaos in Generations without a Super Sonic form, it’s canon now that Sonic has been getting stronger as he’s gotten older. And it’s not just because age brings experience. It’s the chaos energy seeping into him and making him stronger, giving him new abilities and so on.
It makes sense that by this point, Sonic would be able to use Chaos Control with a less powerful version of a Chaos Emerald, because he has chaos energy in himself to draw from as well. Besides, he’s already seen Shadow do it, and Shadow shows all the same abilities that he has, so it’s only logical that Sonic would think that maybe Chaos Control is yet another ability shared between him and Shadow. Amy’s acting for crying over Sonic, is perfect, especially when she’s crying out his name. It actually makes you feel sorry for her!
Tails holds back his sadness and attacks Eggman with his mech like a badass. Meanwhile, Sonic appears next to Knuckles because he used Chaos Control. They actually act as friends for once in this scene!
When Knuckles sees Sonic lying on the floor, he’s genuinely worried and checks to see if he’s okay, and when Sonic stands up all woozy, he lets Sonic have one arm over his shoulder to balance himself and asks, ” Are you okay? ” in a worried tone. Considering what a jerk Knuckles is to Sonic usually and how rude Sonic is to him in later games, it’s really heartwarming.
Sonic says to him, ” I’m worried about Tails and Amy. I hate to ask, but, could you help them? ” showing that he takes the situation seriously to get the audience invested, and that he still has a rivalry with Knuckles being reluctant to ask him for help. Now we get to the cutscene where Sonic and Shadow meet up. I love the music playing here, with the dramatic trumpets perfectly suiting Shadow’s role as a villain in this game. Shadow says, ” Your adventuring days are coming to an end! ” I love his performance of that line.
Shadow’s acting performance in this game as a whole is excellent. You could argue that he sounds monotone, but it perfectly suits a character with his personality who’s experienced such a traumatic backstory so recently from his own point of view. A creepy villain like him, speaking with little emotional inflection? That suits him perfectly! Same goes for Knuckles. He sounds like he’s talking in monotone sometimes, but he’s characterized as a serious person, so of course he sounds all deadpan!
In the Hero Story, Sonic destroys the Eclipse Cannon with the fake emerald. Tails says, ” Sonic, I did it, ” into the walky-talky. He says it unhappily because he feels like he had a hollow victory, and it is a genuinely sad scene before Sonic tells him he did an awesome job and cheers everyone up, the music swelling to change the mood to a happy one full of relief as the cannon blows up.
One of the reasons SA2’s story is so good, aside from actions having consequences and a balance of action and drama, is that it starts out with an interesting role reversal that instantly captivates your attention. Most of the time, Sonic’s chasing down Eggman being the hero. Here, Sonic is being chased down like he’s a villain, while Eggman is infiltrating a GUN building, shooting around in the Egg Walker getting involved in the action himself.
Usually, it’s Sonic involved in the action, but here we have Sonic getting chased and Eggman involved in the action, and not even action related to Sonic. It’s captivating from the very beginning, regardless of what story you’re starting out with, not to mention it’s badass of Eggman, or so I’ve heard. So, yeah. Eggman breaks into a military facility of GUN’s and mentions that his grandfather’s diary talked about GUN sealing away a top secret military weapon because they feared it.
He breaks in shooting with the Egg Walker, with his theme playing, and the stage begins. I like the atmosphere of this cutscene with the echoing female announcer saying, ” Intruder alert! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! ” and the red sirens going off. Eggman puts in a Chaos Emerald and a capsule rises in a dramatic entrance.
I love the dramatic and creepy villain music that plays here for Shadow’s entrance, with the violins and trumpets, and it combined with the camera panning around and Shadow’s acting performance and lines, makes this a perfect villain’s opening scene. ” My name is Shadow… Since you were so kind to release me, my master… I will grant you one wish… Behold, the true power I possess! ” I love it! So Shadow teleports away and into a room where the next boss is.
Eggman asks what Shadow meant when he said he would grant him a wish, and Shadow answers with the non-answer, ” Bring more Chaos Emeralds, ” implying right away that he has his own agenda and is manipulating Eggman for his own purposes. ” I’ll be waiting for you… in the central control room, on the space colony ARK. “ We cut to Shadow standing high up near a grind rail leading to the entrance to Radical Highway. He looks down on the people below and calls them pathetic. Typical villain stuff.
Then, you hear his theme playing, and in something that shocked the audience back then, instead of Shadow doing something awesome when his theme plays, he has a flashback of him running through a corridor from these soldiers with a human girl, and he cries out in anguish, ” Maria! “ showing that he cared about someone other than himself. Then we cut to him being in a space capsule about to be sent to the earth, with Maria making it tragically clear that she’s not coming with him. This gives you sympathy for a villain for once.
I like Maria’s voice. It’s in a whispery tone in this scene, and it adds tragedy to it, really making it sound like she’s saying goodbye to him forever. ” Shadow, do it for me, for all the people who live on that planet… ” There’s a silence, and she says, ” Sayonara, Shadow, the Hedgehog… ” I really like how there’s a comma between Shadow and the rest of his name, because again, it adds to the tragedy of the scene.
And she says goodbye in a different language to add more emotional impact to her saying that word by being surprising; even in the Japanese version, she says, ” Adios, ” rather than sayonara, making it clear what the intent was. Since she never explicitly states what she wants Shadow to do, this creates the implication that Shadow forgot what she said, or maybe Gerald Robotnik reprogrammed him with a serum or something to forget so that his PTSD and grief-stricken anger would let him believe that she wanted him to take revenge like he wanted.
Shadow shocks the audience (at the time) by saying that he promised that girl something and is doing something for her. A stereotypical villain, he is not! He shocks the audience again by saying that, ” I promised you… REVENGE! ” making some wonder if Maria actually wanted that and wasn’t just this innocent little girl. And I love how the music cuts out seconds before he says, ” revenge! ” because it makes you pay close attention from noticing that the music is gone, making the word all the more impactful.
The flashback has another layer of tragedy because the audience back then wouldn’t know that Maria was going to get killed. For all you knew, Maria was going to get captured and imprisoned. The soldiers were just after the ultimate life form! They wouldn’t kill a little girl! Right? Right?! And it makes it all the more shocking and tragic when Gerald’s diary reveals, that they DID. You can’t truly understand just how impactful this story was when the game first came out if you found out from the internet instead of by playing the game.
It’s a story full of mysteries and tragedy, and you try to believe that it’s not as tragic as it could be, and then the Last Story hits you like a ton of bricks. This is a game that does drama well. You start out thinking Shadow is just the typical villain, an evil Sonic, and then this cutscene shows up, and turns all of that on its head. And you can’t even say it came out of nowhere because the password Eggman used to awaken Shadow was, ” Maria, ” and now you know who Maria is! AGAIN, MORE FORESHADOWING!
Aside from the Maria model, everything about this cutscene is perfect, especially the music, the way it goes from energy-filled Shadow theme to being sad and tragic like a final goodbye when Maria shows up. If you didn’t feel anything from these scenes when you first saw them, I’m sorry, but you have no soul, because whether it’s a cartoon hedgehog or not, the fact remains that this scene is tragic and moving.
In the introductory cutscene, Rouge says into an invisible Bluetooth or whatever, ” This is Rouge. I’ve located Eggman’s base, and will proceed to enter it now… I hate to say it… I guess I’m going to have to find that KEY first. ” I like the performance given to when she complains about having to find keys. So Rouge recognizes the space transporter of Eggman’s base on sight, and apparently knows that ARK was shut down 50 years ago. She’s pretty well-informed. Well, she does work for GUN.
She says that it’s her mission to find out what Eggman’s up to. I love the performance of the line, ” It’s MY MISSION to find out what he’s up to! ” She’s so confident. Shadow’s best villain scene is here. He introduces Eggman to the Eclipse Cannon, and says to manipulate him that he can bring the world under his rule by putting Chaos Emeralds in it and threatening to destroy the world with it.
Everything about this scene perfectly creates the atmosphere, from the dramatic music to the camera panning out and around, to the visual effects after Shadow puts the Chaos Emerald into the cannon with an evil smirk. Everything about this scene is great. It’s really captivating, and I love the lines Shadow has and the performance of the actor. Shadow as a villain is the best villain in all of the Sonic games by far, much more interesting than Eggman, that’s for sure.
Everything about this scene from the creepy music to Shadow’s smirking and performance and lines to the way it looks and the dynamic camera angles, it’s just perfect! Then, Rouge appears from the ceiling saying, ” Do you really think it will be that easy? ” like she’s going to oppose them, only to instantly smile sweetly at Eggman and say she’ll help him. Talk about obviously manipulative. But that’s her character, and I like it.
I love the performance of her lines in this scene. ” I’VE got a GREAT idea! HOW ’bout MAKING a DEAL? ” She sounds so condescending and manipulative of Eggman, it’s great! She says she has an idea of where the other Chaos Emeralds may be. She mentions that she knows Eggman used a radar to find the Master Emerald. ” Now if you’d just let me borrow that radar, I may be able to HELP you! ” I love the performance of that line! She’s so condescending of him, but in a likable feminine way!
I also like how when she says, ” do you know that I am a treasure hunter who specializes in all kinds of jewels… ” she pulls out a Chaos Emerald right at the end of her sentence. The cutscene presentation in this game may not be perfect, but it’s such a massive step up from SA1. Eggman looks at Shadow, who nods, and he agrees to let her join him. Rouge flies down and says, ” I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m Rouge the Bat! But you can call me Rouge. ”
Rouge brings Eggman and Shadow to a forest in Prison Island where she knows from her, ” intelligence reports, ” that there’s Chaos Emeralds there. I like the music that plays here, it’s very suited to the atmosphere. I like Eggman’s line, ” Having to come back to earth so soon isn’t MY idea of a VACATION! “ I just love his interaction with Shadow and Rouge as his subordinates. I also love how sassy Rouge is to him, saying while making a gesture I like, ” Well, BELIEVE what you WANNA believe. “
Eggman makes a plan, saying that he’ll go in first and distract the military and will send Rouge to get the emeralds from Security Hall. He says in a nice way that she’ll be able to handle that task, and I really like Rouge’s gesture in response to that. Eggman plans to blow up the whole island before GUN knows what hit them, and he sounds really excited about that, which is pretty amusing and a good character moment for him.
Cut to Shadow walking in the forest. He gets a call from Rouge, who says, ” I’ve got a slight problem… ” I like her performance here. She says that she’s trapped in a locked safe with Chaos Emeralds. ” I guess I won’t be able to call myself a treasure hunter anymore… ” Suddenly, Shadow has flashbacks of Maria, making it clear without words what’s going through his head; he already lost one female friend of his, he doesn’t want to lose another. But if he destroys the world, he’ll lose Rouge anyways, won’t he?
Again, it really goes to show you how upset he is that he’s so determined to get his revenge that he won’t notice the potential consequences for him. He says in a typical Anti-Hero fashion, ” Shoot! Troublemaker! ” it’s a good scene helping establish that Shadow is not pure evil in this game. We have a flashback where we get to see how Maria was like before she got hunted down by the soldiers. She’s a nice little girl saying, ” Shadow, what do you think it’s like on Earth? ”
Instead of properly responding to her rhetorical question, Shadow says, ” The professor said his life was dedicated to, all those who live down there… He once said that the reason for his existence was, making people happy through the power of science. Maria, I just don’t KNOW anything anymore. I often wonder why I was created, what my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there, I will FIND the ANSWERS, maybe… ” He sounds so genuinely sad and insecure when he says, ” maybe. “
I just love this flashback. The piano music playing, Maria being innocent and curious, and Shadow showing that he wasn’t always the way he was in this game, showing insecurity and wondering what his purpose is, it really helps to make Shadow a sympathetic and interesting character in this game. ” Why so melancholy? ” Again, Rouge is pretty smart, she uses a ” big word ” casually. Is that a big word? Whatever. She says with a smile that his ability to use Chaos Control ” certainly comes in handy! ”
I like how Shadow has a classic Tsundere moment saying, ” I didn’t come to save YOU. I came back for the Chaos Emeralds! ” and Rouge is smart enough to see through it and say, ” Yeah, yeah, yeah, but THAT’S not the whole story, is it? ” while a throat-clearing sound is heard, I guess from Eggman walking into the room, that seems to suit the humor of the scene.
Eggman decides that now is the time for him to make his worldwide announcement threatening the planet, and Rouge is unsure, saying, ” Are you sure? We only have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, you know. ” I love Shadow’s performance of the line, ” That’s MORE than enough for the demonstration! So, let’s get this SHOW on the ROAD! ” He sounds so uncharacteristically happy and cheerful, it’s pretty humorous. You’d NEVER expect to hear Shadow say that past this game.
This next scene is pretty humorous. Everyone in the team is bickering with each other like they’re turning against each other, with Eggman throwing a tantrum and Shadow nagging him in a deadpan tone, ” you’ll need ALL SEVEN Chaos Emeralds… ” and Eggman complaining to Rouge out of nowhere, ” WHERE in the WORLD have you BEEN? “ I just love Rouge’s teasing of Eggman in this cutscene!
Instead of getting nervous when he asks where she’s been, she’s nonchalantly asking, ” Something happen? ” and after getting the answer, she teases Eggman like a big sister, ” Throwing a tantrum like a little kid! How TOTALLY embarrassing! ”
Eggman asked where the seventh emerald is, saying, ” We had a deal! ” and without even getting nervous, Rouge says in a very condescending and humorous manner, ” Here you go, I FOUND THIS! ” while giving Eggman a newspaper, and he immediately says, ” Why didn’t you show me this before?! ” which is pretty funny. See, as drama-filled as this story is, it still does humor, and rather well at that!
The newspaper reveals that Tails was given a Chaos Emerald for saving Station Square, this game actually bothering to have a Continuity Nod from a previous game that factors vitally into the plot. Shadow says, ” Soon enough, Maria… ” and leaves. Rouge tells her boss while alone that she has yet to confirm whether Shadow is the ultimate life form or not, and she reveals that another part of her mission is to get information on Project Shadow. ” Don’t forget about my, jewels… ” I love that line and her performance of it!
So is GUN paying her in jewels? Or are they giving her a paycheck and bribing her with jewels at the same time? Maybe they hired her because as a jewel thief, she’s a prodigy at sneaking into places and people wouldn’t expect her to be hired by them as a spy to take advantage of that. This implies that GUN is looking the other way as a member of GUN steals jewels and even bribing her with them. This could show that Shadow has a point by not trusting GUN since they’re corrupt even in the present day.
Rouge calls up Eggman from the room with the Eclipse Cannon. ” What do you mean they escaped? ” She sounds annoyed. Is that good acting on her part? She’s a good liar. She lies in a sly way, ” I will go after them myself, ” and asks him for the password to get some information on Shadow. ” Tricking that old doctor is just too easy! ” I love the performance of that line! She then finds out something shocking that is revealed later, setting up a plot point for later rather than it coming up out of nowhere.
Eggman sees on a screen that there’s energy readings from two Chaos Emeralds, rather than it never being explained how he knew that there was a fake emerald. So the Dark Story gives you an extra cutscene where Eggman kidnaps Amy. He actually succeeds in looking menacing, like his actor’s performance of, ” If you value your life, you will tell me where Sonic and Tails are! ” and Amy actually sounds frightened.
Rouge acts like she’s going to steal the emeralds in the Eclipse Cannon, saying, ” I have six of them! They’re mine! All mine! ” while Rouge’s theme plays. Shadow finds out Rouge is a spy, and as Shadow and Rouge are bickering, you hear the happy and pleasant Rouge’s theme playing making this scene look like comical harmless bickering. It’s like the scene is telling you not to take it seriously. Since Rouge doesn’t actually suffer any consequences and it was shown already that Shadow cares about Rouge, the music here is actually fitting.
Then, we get to the good part. The music stops entirely to make you pay attention, and Rouge flies in front of Shadow holding an article about Project Shadow that shows the Biolizard. So that’s what she was so shocked about before! I love how Shadow’s theme starts playing after Rouge asks, ” … then just who, or what, is standing in front of me? ”
The music that plays during the flashbacks with Maria plays when Eggman calls up Shadow telling him that there’s not much time left before the cannon fires again, and this sad music keeps going as Rouge talks to Shadow some more. Shadow says, ” If you wanna live, leave the Chaos Emeralds where they are! The fake emerald is good enough for you. ” Instead of reacting to that empty death threat, Rouge is fearless enough to not care and ask in concern, ” Do you actually believe that you’re the real Shadow? ”
Shadow instantly says confidently, ” No doubt! “ And then Rouge says, ” Even your memories may not be real! ” being accidentally right. This is good because the plot is foreshadowing to what’s revealed in the Last Story’s Japanese script about Gerald Robotnik, ” I ALSO completely control his memories. ”
And when told that he and his memories might not be real, instead of spending two entire games angsting about it, Shadow says (in a sympathetically insecure tone), ” Even if my memories aren’t real, it’s still me, Shadow! And I will fulfill my promise to Maria! That’s the only thing that matters to me now… “ I really love how Shadow is acted with those lines. He actually sounds sad, and unsure of himself, and it makes him more sympathetic. This cutscene is just fantastic.
The final cutscene of the Dark Story is Eggman putting the yellow Chaos Emerald from Tails’ boss fight into the Eclipse Cannon, saying, ” This completes my plan to take over the world! ” and then the camera pans away from him as a red tint flashes through the room, and then it shows a Warning sign on the screen in front of Eggman, foreshadowing perfectly what the first scene of the Last Story will be.
After all, a Warning error message wouldn’t be appearing if the Eclipse Cannon was about to do what it was originally intended to do, which foreshadows the cannon’s override in the Last Story. So, Eggman tries and fails to fire the Eclipse Cannon. It’s humorous hearing him growling, ” WHY DOESN’T the CANNON FIRE? “ in subdued frustration. The screen in front of him goes from having the word, ” Warning, ” on it as in the Dark Story’s ending cutscene, to showing a picture of, ” my grandfather… Gerald Robotnik! ”
This must have been a pretty shocking twist back in the day, that not only does Eggman have actual family members being acknowledged in the games, but one of them was a brilliant engineer like him, and actually created Shadow. Even more shocking, and disturbing, is that it’s a video of Gerald Robotnik in a straitjacket or something with chains around his body as he’s sitting down on a chair, clearly just about to be executed and making his final speech, a speech that will now get broadcast to the entire world.
And that speech, is disturbing. With dramatic music playing for the right atmosphere, you see scenes of the humans of various countries in the world being scared as a man with a Russian accent says, ” This is a death sentence to every human being on Earth… “ explaining that the space colony ARK will collide with Earth soon, and, ” All of you will be destroyed, along with your beloved planet Earth. ” And then you see the space colony ARK hurtling towards Earth, with a trail of fire behind it to really seal the deal.
” I plan to give you a taste of my revenge once the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once this timer activates, it cannot be disabled. ALL of you UNGRATEFUL humans, who took everything AWAY from me… will FEEL my LOSS, and DESPAIR… “ Suddenly the ARK starts vibrating, and you hear Gerald Robotnik’s echoing voice repeating in an intimidating way, ” All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss, and despair! ”
Whoever did the performance for Gerald Robotnik did an incredible job of showing his anguish, sadness and bitter resentment in those lines. Rouge enters the room, and says sadly showing depth to her character beyond a selfish jewel thief, ” It’s all over for us! I just received a message from my boss. The space colony ARK, is currently approaching the earth, at terminal velocity. It eventually… will impact Earth. ”
Amy says in a frightened tone after hearing Gerald Robotnik’s speech, ” What’s going on here?! ” at hearing what Gerald said, which is meant to get the audience more invested from proper character reactions to the villain’s speech, from important characters who aren’t random humans.
Everyone is taking the situation seriously, with Knuckles getting furious at Eggman and the other characters focusing on figuring out how to save the world with Tails worrying, ” It may be too late! ” later on. This is good to complement the tension. This is a good climax. Rouge finds Gerald Robotnik’s diary, and reads it unhappily as dramatic music plays.
It’s fantastic that they have the diary at all because it establishes more of the sympathetic side of Gerald Robotnik that we only got hints of in Shadow’s flashback, and the exposition we get here is done in a way that is both visually interesting and does all the right things to establish the right ominous tone to make it captivating. I love what they do in this scene.
They show blurry white words reflecting what she’s reading appearing on the screen, and eventually covering it as the characters listen on reacting to it with Amy being horrified, and you go from hearing Rouge read it, to hearing Gerald reading it. Again, the voice actor for Gerald Robotnik did a fantastic job here, perfectly conveying the amount of anguish and sanity slippage he was going through at the time. It works much better than just hearing Rouge read it. This works as a tearjerker every time!
” I don’t know what happened or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the ultimate life form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind… but then the military troops stormed the colony that day. They were sent to destroy the project that I had been working on. My colleagues in the ARK, my granddaughter Maria, I hope you are all safe. The colony was shut down- ”
And then Gerald’s voice says, ” The colony was shut down, probably to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. The colony was shut down, under the premise, that there had been an ‘ accident… ‘ “ ” If you wish, release, and awaken it, to the WORLLLD- ” ” If you wish to fill the world with destruction… ” Rouge says instantly.
This is an instance where the lines overlapping each other actually contribute positively to the scene, making it feel surreal when it’s already supposed to be creepy and surreal. You go from Gerald speaking in pure anguish to a creepily pleasant and at peace tone, like he’s gone from grief-stricken despair to peaceful at coming up with a plan to destroy the world. He also speaks in a creepy way, elongating some of the words.
Rouge shows another sign of intelligence when she comes up with the plan before Tails does, saying, ” We have to use your Emerald! You’re the one who told me that the Master Emerald has the power to stop the Chaos Emerald! ”
It’s great that she has a smart plan moment since Tails got enough of those already, and it’s great that she actually remembered what Knuckles told her about it in the first cutscene she was in when that cutscene implied she didn’t care what the emerald’s powers were and just thought it was pretty, and it’s even better that the Master Emerald is actually being used for something in the plot instead of being just a MacGuffin that Knuckles never does anything with like in all the previous games.
Amy is walking around alone in the ARK, and says my favorite line from her, ” Ooh, I hate it when they leave me behind! ” I love the delivery of that line. After this, Amy is finally useful, for the second and last time in the whole series. She reminds Shadow of what Maria wanted. Then, Shadow has the complete Maria flashback, my favorite one, with Shadow’s theme playing to really make the scene perfect.
That energy-filled music with Maria saying, ” Shadow, I beg of you! ” actually works for a tragic moment by reminding us that she’s saying this in panic before she gets shot. ” Shadow, I beg of you, do it for me! For a better future!… ” And then the music gets sad. ” For all the people who live on that planet, give them a chance, to be happy!… Let them live out their dreams. Shadow, I KNOW you can do it! That’s the reason you were brought into this world… Sayonara, Shadow, the Hedgehog… ”
The instant she finishes saying, ” Sayonara, Shadow, the Hedgehog, ” Shadow says, ” That’s what I promised her… and I will keep that promise… That’s what Maria wished for… ” in a sad tone. Shadow’s actor is definitely the best in the game. I really love this next scene. I love how the pulsating egg-things or whatever seem to pulsate in perfect tune with the dramatic music with the piano and drums, and that really does a good job of creating an atmosphere for the Biolizard that Rouge talked about to show up.
It’s clearly a prototype, to the point where it needs neck tubes, being on life support in order to survive, and is a primitive mammal. Considering that they devoted an entire cutscene to Rouge saying Shadow might not be the real ultimate form based on a newspaper photo of the Biolizard, this was foreshadowed. Biolizard was one of the MANY things foreshadowed in this plot before happening.
Suddenly, 3D holograms showing Gerald Robotnik get projected outwards and you hear echoing and off-sync, ” All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss, and despair! ” to create a surreal atmosphere of panic, and the Biolizard drops from the ceiling just as Gerald had planned. This is such a badass villain introduction scene! Then, Shadow shows up to fight the Biolizard, and tells Sonic and Knuckles without explanation to get the Chaos Emeralds while he fights it.
I’m glad they forgive him so quickly instead of being suspicious and rude. Knuckles uses the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds by reciting the chant that Tikal told Tails, being actually useful for once while also having yet another instance where a Continuity Nod to a previous game vitally factors into the plot.
I like how he sounds unsure when he’s saying it, struggling to remember what the chant is. It humanizes him. It adds depth to his character, rather than having him be proud all the time. Maybe it gives him some leniency. It makes sense for him to get the chant wrong because he’s under pressure and unfamiliar with saying it. After Shadow beats the Biolizard, it uses its magic-infused Chaos Control organ to warp away.
Knuckles has a relatable Deadpan Snarker remark when he asks why the ARK is still falling to Earth if he’s stopped the Chaos Emeralds, saying what the audience is thinking. It’s good that they pointed this out and explained it right away with Eggman. Eggman announces with an echoing voice over the intercom that the prototype is still alive, and has ” become one with the space colony, and is determined to keep it on its collision course! “
The ARK starts falling towards the Earth in a fiery blaze, and Shadow remembers Maria’s promise as tense music plays, reminding the audience in a well-done way why Shadow’s doing this and how he’s grown. Sonic and Shadow both use Chaos Control at the same time, which makes the ARK disappear on a screen showing people all over the world cheering.
Shadow falls to earth, saying in a sad way, ” This is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you, ” and vanishes, which was tragic at the time, especially considering that while this is happening and the sad music plays, we see civilians cheering, ironically, to drive the tragedy home. Sonic comes back to the ARK holding Shadow’s bracelet unhappily. The final cutscene is rather touching, with the sad music playing and the character talking as the credits play, the calm after the storm.
Sonic is considerate enough to think to give a sympathetically grieving Rouge the bracelet of Shadow, and she wonders if Shadow was really created to destroy all life on earth. Sonic makes it clear that he’s forgiven him by saying, ” He was what he was, a brave hedgehog who gave his life to protect the planet. “ That is heartwarming, and shows that Sonic himself has undergone Character Development in this game by growing so far from when he was calling Shadow an, ” it. ”
Knuckles implies that he’s gotten more friendly with Rouge by cheerfully asking if he’s back to stealing those ” jewels you love so much? ” and Rouge says, in a tone that implies she isn’t lying, that she’s going to give up stealing jewels because it’s ” too much work for too little pay. ” Knuckles says in a friendly way, ” If you say so. ” It’s heartwarming.
Eggman explains to Tails that when he was a child, he looked up to his grandfather. ” He was my hero! And I wanted to be a great scientist like him. But… did he really mean to destroy us? “ At least Eggman was nice enough to respond to Tails’ naïve and missing the point response with, ” You’re right, ” in a pleasant tone, which is heartwarming. Maybe he doesn’t hate the kid as much as we’re led to believe. They are both Gadgeteer Geniuses after all.
Seeing what looks like Sonic wiping his eyes with his hands while characteristically looking away to try to hide it, Amy asks him, ” What’s wrong, Sonic? ” Sonic is shown to be genuinely sad and mournful, and Amy is shown to be comforting and considerate. None of this ever happens in any game that comes after it.
Everyone leaves, and before leaving, Sonic says gently, ” Sayonara, Shadow, the Hedgehog… ” unintentionally echoing what Maria had said. I like that, it’s touching. Then, the sad music continues to play until it stops, and different music plays instead. And thus ends Sonic Adventure 2.
