My very first experience with the Dreamcast took place at a crowded Toys R Us demo kiosk, the system launch being mere weeks away and with a poster for Sonic Adventure having caught my eye.
I picked up the controller to find myself in some sort of futuristic bumper car hall. Momentarily confused as to what to do, I did what all little kids do when they’re stuck in a video game; I had Sonic jump around aimlessly until he hijacked one of the bumper cars and drove it out onto an outer space race track.
Simply put, my mind was blown, and the Twinkle Park stage became one of my favorites in the series, a place that it still holds to this day.
I was in for another surprise in the final product, when I got to play the Twinkle Park stage on my own TV with the sound up. The music, an epic remix of Panic Puppet Zone Act 1 from Sonic 3D Blast, was incredible. Crazily enough though, despite being a remix, the Sonic Adventure version unquestionably takes on a life of its own and fits the game just as well as an original track would have, if not better.
Sonic Adventure made several major changes to the series, there’s no doubt about it. But the game also had many nods to the character’s past, all integrated seamlessly into Sonic Adventure’s next generation shell.
To hear the original Sonic 3D Blast version of the song, hit the jump.
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Sonic Adventure had lots of good tracks.
I also loved the shoutout Windy Valley (the segment of the stage that comes after the tornado) made to the first level of Sonic 3D Blast.
Yup Windy Valley was another one.
Back then it felt so effortless. These days the callbacks to earlier installments almost feel too self-conscious to me. Same with Final Fantasy.