sonicmenu | Why Knuckles Rapping Is Important Or: Why Sonic Adventure 2 Is The Apex Of Sonic Games
Sonic, despite the questionable quality of many of the series' games, holds a special place in many people's hearts. Even outside of games there is something to be said about a character that resonates with so many. Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, and 3 have hit theaters, and it's almost as if we're back in the ‘90s with how Sonic-mania has peaked.
In truth, the games never stopped selling, in spite of Sega being saved from death by a billionaire, division betweeen Sega of America and Japan, and some colossal neglect of the franchise’s comics. More recently, Sega’s Like a Dragon series, Persona franchise, and other series like Total War have really come into the global spotlight. With the announcement that the company is reviving its various franchises with a “Super Game” initiative and making them into movies as well as AAA games, Sega just may be able to live up to its ‘90s persona.
What is the most important Sonic game? While Sonic Mania came and went, Sonic X Shadow Generations brought together the best elements from various franchise entries into a cohesive whole, and, of course, the original Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy set the tone for all the games to come, I think there's actually another answer to the question I’ve posed. Sonic Adventure 2 is a game that's remained culturally relevant in the decades since its release, even if it isn't held up on a pedestal like Super Mario 64 is. I'd even go as far to say that if Sega would like the franchise’s critical reception to match the sales and fandom reverence for Sonic — and maybe even manage to rekindle a rivalry with a certain mustachioed-plumber — revisiting this game is key.
Sega isn't unaware of this fact, if that crossed your mind — Sonic Unleashed’s original concept was Sonic Adventure 3. Many of the Sonic games afterwards follow Sonic Adventure 2’s format of multiple campaigns that may feature a “team” of characters, and a “final” campaign that requires characters that can't stand each other to cling together. While much of this was present in the original Sonic Adventure, many games suffered in the transition to 3D for various reasons, and it showed in the original game’s “horrendously buggy” nature. Sonic Adventure 2 (and the later Sonic Adventure 2: Battle) was able to run where Adventure 1 walked. While most people would recognize Shadow the Hedgehog as the biggest takeaway from Adventure 2, the game is still remembered fondly by many. And it isn’t just coasting on fan nostalgia — as with some of the more recent entries like Mania and X Generations, it’s an actual good game. The game is even still played in speedrunning communities and has more than 10,000 recorded runs as of writing. If that’s not enough for you, below I will detail a number of elements that I feel make Sonic Adventure 2 one of the most important Sonic games even today.
1. Knuckles Rapping (No, Really!)
Playing Sonic Adventure 2, I challenge you not to find Knuckles, who is somehow rapping about the quest he’s currently on, quite charming. Writer, rapper, and producer Hunnid-P brings Knuckles’ seemingly Sisyphean journey of recovering the Master Emerald from an annoying average video game task to an affirmation of conviction. Oftentimes games may flirt with the genre by licensing milquetoast songs, or having a guest artist spit a few bars, but rap doesn’t often appear outside of sports games and rarities like Def Jam: Fight for NY. Rap has made its way into other kinds of games, but even then has been misunderstood. Rap isn’t alone in this, either, with many players rejecting Marvel vs Capcom 2’s music to the point it was more often than not modded out. Luckily, these opinions aren’t en vogue anymore, with the “DK Rap” being praised and present in 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Movie and Ed’s theme from Street Fighter 6, “König oder Feigling”, rapped by well-known German artist Blumio. Additionally, it almost seems silly to attack Marvel vs Capcom 2’s jazzy and frenetic soundtrack now with it inspiring Skullgirls’ music as well as the entire “Free MVC2” movement.
Hunnid-P doesn’t hold back much in Knuckles’ verses — while they are primarily about Knuckles’ journey for the Master Emerald, he also sticks in lines about Rouge, calling her “sexy and smooth” and confessing that he’s “feelin’ her in mysterious ways”. But as a man — er, echidna — who stands on business, Knuckles delivers the ultimatum “give up the Emerald or die, I don’t love you!” Players may find the lyrics helpful, to boot: there are hints at navigating the levels in the songs such as “skulls that burn, they trying to cut me off”,“Hand tracks be trackin’ me to different doorways, in a maze”, and “I know we’ll need a key”. The songs for Knuckles’ stages are not only descriptive, but provocative, like any good rap track should be. When I find myself saying “did he really just say that?” with a slight smile on my face, I know I’m enjoying hip-hop.
Consider Sonic’s roots as an “edgy”, cool character who wags his finger at the player on the opening screen and, if they put down the controller, even deserting the player due to impatience after a point, causing a game over. The music on Knuckles’ stages encapsulates this perfectly without being too risque or blunt, hinting just enough at those elements to make the songs enjoyable without risking an M rating.
Of course, there’s also the memes. From Hunnid-P himself reposting “Space Trip Steps ...for Meteor Herd” dancing remix memes to interesting interpretations of “Echidona” (most likely Knuckles’ name in katakana), and lyric replacements such as “A ghost tried to approach me and got Larry”, it’s okay to laugh. An anthropomorphic echidna who is chasing a Catwoman-esque figure and somehow rapping at the same time can’t be taken one hundred percent seriously, after all. In the game, we even get to hear a conversation between Knuckles and Sonic where Sonic uncharacteristically says “You’re damn right, Knuckles!”
It isn’t just Knuckles’ stage themes that make the game special, however. Sonic had always been well known for its music, to the point of attracting the late Michael Jackson to work on Sonic 3. While the more modern games have stuck with vocal rock songs for the titular character, usually featuring game composer Jun Senoue’s band Crush 40, the Adventure series tried to differentiate itself by giving characters unique themes. By doing this, Sega gave the game a singular identity and mix of genres. I’ve discussed Knuckles’ music selection in Sonic Adventure 2, but there’s also Rouge with her jazzy vocals courtesy of Tabitha Fair, Eggman’s hard-rocking selection sung by Paul Shortino, Everett Bradley’s drowned out vocals in Shadow’s industrial anthem, and Tails’ wistful pop punk theme with Kaz Silver. While some would say the game may be dated by taking so much influence from the music of its time, that is not always a bad thing. I find many of the tracks in Sonic Adventure 2 worth going back for, in part because they have a unique identity from the early 2000s. As a teen, I found myself listening to remixes of the songs, and even today, I’d welcome more.
While Sonic as a series hasn’t always had the best music, as I’ve grown up and heard more of it, the sheer breadth of it is astounding. I do not question why Michael Jackson or Brad Buxer found themselves drawn to the series, because I can feel the effort that was put into the music. It isn’t a mistake that Sonic Symphony is changing $70 for tickets to experience this music with others in a live setting. In fact, I think Sega has missed many an opportunity to incorporate a wide variety of music even further by not continuing what was really last seen with Sonic Adventure 2. This is not the only element, but it’s definitely one of the biggest, especially considering how other Sega properties like the Persona and Like a Dragon series have become musical staples in the gaming world.
2. One Of The First “Avengers Moments” In Gaming
While I won’t be bold enough to say this was the first “Avengers Moment” in gaming, it definitely was one of the most hyped. In Sonic Adventure 2, you’re tasked with playing as members of “Team Hero” (Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles) or “Team Dark” (Eggman, Shadow, or Rouge) and completing their campaigns, which happen in parallel. Whether you want to save the world from Dr. Eggman’s yolk-based ambitions or help him crack the world and serve it over easy, you’ll find there’s more going on. While you may expect to have to fight a creature like Chaos again, having each character have a “rival” (Sonic and Shadow, Tails and Eggman, Knuckles and Rouge) gives the game a bit more stakes than simply pursuing the main antagonist. What it also allowed the player to do was get perspectives from each of the characters, especially because Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat were completely new to the series at that point. Then, upon completing both sides of the plot, you learn there’s much more to the story. Both sides end up working together to prevent someone with a mind rivalling Eggman’s from enacting revenge from beyond the grave. The characters must join forces even though they’re far from friends, culminating in the player finding out Shadow can go into a Super Shadow form like Sonic’s and saving the world. The only other touchstone I can think of in a similar light is Kingdom Hearts, where depending on the chosen difficulty level, you must complete a number of objectives beyond just finishing the game to unlock a secret cutscene and/or boss fight hinting at what’s next in the series. Both games launched in 2002 in America, so it was probably just a matter of luck which I encountered first, but they each created an expectation for me for games later in the series. While I’m never going to be thrilled about playing as Big the Cat, collecting 100 coins on Meteor Herd, or dealing with a particularly fussy camera, Sega created an expectation that getting through this segment of the game would be worth it at the end, and in this game, it definitely delivers.
3. Sonic’s Most Interesting Story
Despite some very weird messaging from Sega recently about Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Adventure 2 borrows tropes from media like Dragon Ball Z to give us a great story. While the game wasn’t necessarily breaking new ground, when I played it as a teen, I found it compelling, and I still think it’s one of the best stories of the Sonic franchise because it introduced new and pivotal elements to the series. Shadow the Hedgehog is the biggest one of course, and even today his popularity is dwarfed only by Sonic himself.
In Sonic Adventure 2, Dr. Eggman seeks out a secret weapon from his grandfather Gerald Robotnik (also a new character), which turns out to be Shadow the Hedgehog, who proclaims to be the “Ultimate Lifeform”. While it isn’t unusual for Eggman to look for a weapon powerful enough to defeat Sonic, or even try to emulate the blue blur’s likeness, Shadow is different for a number of reasons. He wasn’t even the result of Eggman’s work, so what exactly makes Shadow — and possibly by extension, hedgehogs — the Ultimate Lifeform? While we’re used to dark doubles in media, and Sonic has had rivals before, what separates Shadow from the rest?
Before Sonic and Shadow, there was Goku and Vegeta. The parallels between Dragon Ball Z and Sonic go deep: enemies turned friends, seven Chaos Emeralds, the Super Sonic state. Much like Vegeta, Shadow operates much differently than Sonic. Shadow does not run like Sonic, but uses some sort of technology to “skate” around. Shadow never smiles (one of Shadow’s songs in the game is titled “Mr. Unsmiley …for Sky Rail”) and seemed to really measure up to Sonic, even having an ability we hadn’t seen before — Chaos Control. Shadow uses this Chaos Control ability to even get a leg up on Sonic, at least for a while. This may seem to position Shadow as better than Sonic, but various hints are given throughout the game that he may be compensating with Chaos Control and his technology to keep up with Sonic’s raw talent. While Shadow initially shows loyalty to Eggman, he remembers he made a promise to his friend Maria, and later chooses to stand for humanity instead of against it. Even more mysteriously, while he considers himself the Ultimate Lifeform, the player must defeat the Biolizard, a prototype Ultimate Lifeform — and a creature very unlike Shadow. This culminates in the final battle of the game’s true ending where Shadow has trouble maintaining his Super form with all seven Chaos Emeralds. The parallels to Dragon Ball’s Vegeta don’t end there, with the last cutscene of Sonic Adventure 2 showing Super Shadow falling to the Earth, while Super Sonic has no issue staying afloat.
Shadow’s story simply wasn’t “I’m a dark Sonic”, and leaves many questions I found very interesting: What made Biolizard different from Shadow if they’re both “Ultimate Lifeforms”? Does that also make Sonic an ‘Ultimate Lifeform’? What more can I learn about Chaos Control? What else did Gerald Robotnik do, and did he know more that we could learn in future games? I know some of these questions, for better or worse, were answered in later games that I did not play, and I know the decision not to kill Shadow off in favor of further exploring his backstory means his character resonated with more than just teenage me.
Rouge is also another very interesting character, who if introduced today would probably be another talking point in the ongoing culture war. Premiering in Sonic Adventure 2, Rouge the Bat is not an unfamiliar character in that she’s the Black Cat to Knuckles’ Spider-Man. While I don’t think she gets all that much more depth beyond this game, I find it so interesting that she’s been widely accepted, as she is a bit risque. She’s made a joke calling Sonic “Daddy” in one game, and made a female cop blush with her comments in the anime. She also unwaveringly has Shadow’s back as she outgrew her rivalry with Knuckles. As annoying as some Sonic characters get, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that not just Shadow is a standout character in this game.
Dr. Gerald Robotnik I find interesting as well — to learn that Eggman wasn’t just a genius out of the blue, but that it might even run in the family is fascinating. While I’ve described a lot of what he did in this article already, I would like to emphasize here that he made a weapon capable of stopping Sonic, and even outsmarted his grandson, Eggman, by booby-trapping the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Earth. He wasn’t always evil, but the United Federation pulled funding after one failed project, which resulted in the death of his granddaughter Maria Robotnik and caused him to lose faith in humanity. He also brainwashed Shadow, all in hope that the humanity that abandoned him and Maria would be wiped from existence — his disturbing last will and testament. While I admit some of this may just be for the convenience of the plot, Gerald is one of the most interesting characters we’ve been introduced to. Instead of just having Sonic essentially be in an isekai or start over every game, Sonic Adventure 2 built upon what was already there and was all the better for it.
4. The Chao Garden
Returning from Sonic Adventure, the Chao Garden is both a break from the more intense gameplay sections and a fun minigame. Chao are very cute critters that can be raised by players by gifting them small animals rescued during completion of the main stages. While their stats can be increased, they can also be influenced to be “Heroic” or “Dark”. Chao can compete in minigames, and will eventually evolve based on a number of parameters. Chao Garden was a great addition to Sonic Adventure 2, and one I think Sega would do well to bring back. While players originally accessed Chao Garden via the Dreamcast’s VMU, a modern version wouldn’t even require an actual Sonic game, and could be a phone app, like Pokémon HOME. Collection has always been a big part of gaming, and I feel like every Sonic game which does not have this feature is missing out on an easy crowd-pleaser. Also, the Chao song was really weird and dank. I really believe Sega has done itself a disservice by not revisiting this since Sonic Adventure 2 (though Sonic Advance 3 did have a partial version). I think combining Sonic characters and cute critters is highly marketable, and would do great with the current generation of young gamers, who just need an excuse to hang out in a virtual place.
Sonic Adventure 2 is fondly remembered, and not just through the lens of nostalgia in fans’ minds. In 2003 Sonic X aired, retelling of much of Sonic Adventure 2. 2011’s Sonic Generations and the followup, 2024’s Sonic X Shadow Generations, let players once again revisit locations like Space Colony ARK, Radical Highway, and City Escape. Additionally, 2024’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie retold much of the story of Sonic Adventure 2. It is clear Sega recognizes the importance of this game and what it brought to the table. While revisiting the original Sonic versus Shadow story clearly makes for a compelling piece of media, that isn’t the only way to use this property. There are other elements I’ve brought up that Sega would do well to implement in the next Sonic (or Shadow) game. Musical leitmotifs, cute Chao, a story that brings new light to characters new and old, and story payoff in cathartic ensemble moments are all things that would make for a better Sonic entry. And with that being said, maybe Sega will reconsider giving me something I’ve wanted for a long time: Sonic Adventure 3.
