What can I say about Sonic Adventure 2: Battle? Well, I enjoyed it, and in my opinion, this is the best 3D Sonic game, though I'm sure some people may disagree with me there. But why do I say this is the best game for Sonic in 3D?

For one, the story. While it may not revolve around Sonic a lot, it certainly is captivating in its own way. Sonic is arrested by G.U.N agents after a robbery, and he later discovers an evil hedgehog who looks exactly like him, going by the name of Shadow. Eggman tries to conquer the world with the help of Shadow and a female bat named Rouge, Sonic and Tails try to stop them and Knuckles tries to find pieces of the Master Emerald… again. The story may sound like a typical Sonic plot, but the story is in actual fact a lot deeper than what my description of it sounds like.

You get to choose between the hero side or the evil side, enabling you, for the first time ever, to play as Dr. Eggman and the two new baddies. Regardless, both stories will need to be beaten to unlock the final story and fully complete the story mode.

The gameplay works very well in its own ways; there are three types of gameplay within the main story. The speed levels are your standard 'speed-through-the-levels' that Sonic had in the first Sonic Adventure game, and it sticks to his style well, with you running fast, grinding rails and hitting springs. You play the speed levels not only with Sonic, but with dark counterpart Shadow as well. They work well enough and I haven't encountered a lot of problems, bar a couple of camera issues which aren't even that big of a deal in this game. This type of gameplay is easily the best one in the game and the one you'll likely find yourself returning to a lot using the stage select.

The shooting levels are played by Tails and Eggman, and work just like Gamma's levels in the first Sonic Adventure game. You ride around in mechs (which is somewhat disappointing as Tails cannot roam around and fly like he did in the previous Adventure title), shooting enemies and hovering across gaps to get to various areas.

The third type of gameplay is played using Knuckles and Rouge – the treasure-hunting stages. Admittedly, these are my least favourite of all the stages, as you basically look around for Master Emerald shards, Chaos Emeralds or keys. Sometimes it can be easy, sometimes it can be hard, but always is it dull, in my opinion. However, those who like scouring an area searching for things will like the gameplay with these two, as they can glide, climb walls and dig into areas.

There's more to this game than just the story mode; the game has an excellent multiplayer, expanding on the three types of gameplay within the story mode, as well as the extra kart racing. You can one of four characters per category, each with their own stats so they don't all feel the same – for example, while Sonic and Shadow are fairly evened out, Metal Sonic is the fastest but cannot perform special attacks, whereas Amy is the slowest but can perform attacks on a more regular basis. The best part is, nearly all of the levels are available once you've beat the game.

The game also is bulked out with, in single player, a kart racing feature, enabling you to pick one of the six playable characters and do a kart race much like two certain levels in the story mode, and a boss mode, enabling you to fight all the bosses in the game that you've faced.

Let's not forget the Chao Garden either, enabling you to raise cute little creatures in a nice garden environment, and when they're strong enough, enter them into races or karate tournaments. You can build up their stats with Chaos Drives and animals, helping them grow stronger in areas of running, swimming, flying and power.

The graphics may not look that brilliant, but they're decent enough if you remind yourself that this game is a port of the Dreamcast original, hence the graphics may not live up to the graphics expected of a Gamecube title. The music is pretty decent and well-varied, with some rap music (though I keep wondering why), rock music, pop music, some soft jazz occasionally. It's all well-done and the theme songs are incredibly catchy and decent adaptations of the original versions in Sonic Adventure.

Of course, the game's not perfect. It does have its fair share of glitches, though fortunately most of them aren't ones that will kill you. It is, however, a game that offers a decent challenge, a decent story, and fun gameplay. Definitely look into this one if you're interested. It's not for everyone, but in my opinion, this is the best 3D Sonic game, and that is saying a lot.