The Definitive Way to Play Sonic Adventure 2

[@chaomix]

Pro tip for rail grinding in the ports of Adventure 2: Instead of holding down the analog stick to lean into turns, try rapidly tapping in the direction you're trying to go.

[@prestonanderson1719]

How?

[@Nightcaat]

Common chaomix W

[@sonicadv27]

Or.... instead of leaning at all, try tapping the crouch button on turns. The sharper the turn, the longer the intervals between taps. Doesn't really kill your momentum and it's much simpler.

[@chaomix]

@Cosmo Yes

[@0n1c420]

@@chaomix oof shit, but petition for chaomix adventure 2

[@richbichrich]

I’ve never played anything besides the 2012 port so your explanation of how that version’s analog sensitivity is totally broken for rail leaning makes a ton of sense

[@Limit02]

I wish every game had a “definitive” mod guide video like this one, incredible work

[@BinglesP]

Unfortunately not every game has a modding scene though I searched for mods for Ed Edd n' Eddy: The Mis-Edventures and I found absolutely nothing, and that game isn't even that obscure or bad

[@moshikong3961]

@@BinglesP Licensed games, sadly, don't always have modding scenes. I was looking for 'definitive version' mods for some Pixar games (Wall-E, Toy Story 3, Cars 1 and 2) and the Steam version of Disney Infinity 1.0 and didn't find a lot. (Granted, the Cars 1 modding scene had things like adding new characters, and Disney Infinity 3.0 is the one that gets mods).

[@Hysteria98]

Hell, we could even start with the likes of: "Don't risk buying any games on console, even Indie games". The amount of indie games I buy that end up having been so terribly ported to console is fucking ridiculous, and it's not even that the likes of the Switch being underpowered is the problem, it's that third-party port companies only see the money where it's unwarranted and horribly optimise a game for a console it clearly shouldn't be on if it can't handle it, much less them being able to actually make it run properly in general (which is more so the case, see Ion Fury). Nobody talks about how unplayable Slime Rancher, a very popular farming game, is on the PS4. The PS4 is a VERY powerful console, so there's no blame to be had on Sony's part, it's that the developers on the fundamental level couldn't or didn't make the game match the hardware specifics or whathaveyou to run consistently, because once you actually have a developed farm, the game lags so insanely that the entire point of the game becomes redundant. No game is worth playing on console anymore, because the risk you take in discovering that the game is inherently inferior on such a disproportionate scale to PC is dime a dozen too often.

[@shaddatic]

Your video on SADX was actually the inspiration for me to buy the Steam versions, which led to me starting to mod SA2, and the rest I suppose is history! It's an honor to be featured in this video, SA2 Volume Controls was a pain to make and research for to say the least, but it was more than worth it; I'm really glad it's helped so many, including yourself, enjoy this game more! Thank you for making these videos and bringing these games love that they really do deserve! It's easy to forget that, despite it's issues later in life, this game was once someone's passion project; mods help us get back to that original passion, either with the game's original vision or a brand new one entirely! 💜

[@gruffdonaar]

Hello there! Thank you for the mod, it's very helpful, and a great addition to the game. Quick question: Even with the SA2 Volume Controls mod turned on, and prioritized above the Cutscene Revamp mod, some cutscene music is still very low. Is there any way to fix this? It really hampers the mood, especially in the LAST Story cutscenes.

[@DrMecha]

There's also Chao World Enhanced for those who wish for a more improved Time Sink; but outside of that, It's a great video on how to make your own ideal SA2 experience.

[@THEnicholasvancosky]

Would that mod conflict with any of the mods in this and where should it be in the order of mods?

[@redstreak9430]

Your SADX video was one of the reasons I started playing PC games. Can’t wait to see the mods recommended here!

[@ShadowTheLight]

Not too long after this video came out, a big mod called "SA2 Render Fix" released, superseding High Quality Textures, Eggman Lighting Fix, and No Model Tinting. It also includes many other visual edits and fixes which is nice. Sorry if someone said this already but I wanted to make sure this was in the comments since this video is a great place to point people wanting to play SA2 in 2024 and beyond!

[@diegovargasdiego]

Comment to raise this one higher

[@MTCesquire]

Bump

[@Azelf89]

Regarding the grind rail leaning system problem, i believe that’s an extension of a much larger problem with the pc version of SA2, which is that the deadzone for controller analogue sticks is much larger than it should be by default, causing things like characters not being able to move in increments to the side why moving forward. You’re gonna have to manually adjust the deadzone range of your controller through Steam’s controller settings in order to fix it. Luks_18 has a video regarding the problem and how to fix it.

[@captainrick4513]

I can easily do that on a Steam Deck! (Just stating the obvious, don't mind me.)

[@supermaro2349]

There was also a gamebanana tutorial that shows how to fix it on steam as well

[@exist4046]

Holy shit yeah that's a huge problem for me too

[@sanglish18]

Yeah, the issue about rail grinding really comes down to how terrible the deadzone is in HD versions, GC already implemented one but they increased even further in later ports. I don't know what's up with Sega ALWAYS adding stupid deadzones to every re-release they do, it's like there is some stupid internal rule that they must follow because I can't believe everyone would deliberately decide to make input less precise.

[@sanglish18]

@@supermaro2349 Yeah I'm the one who made the video and also the post on Gamebana lol

[@BlamedAxis]

Another QoL mod that I highly recommend would be the "Action Remap" mod by Michael Fadely- it remaps the Lightdash to the Y Button (Triangle on PS) instead of the B button. We've all had that moment where we either somersault or bounce to our death instead of lightdash because we didn't press the B button in the exact spot the game wanted, so this mod alleviates that problem!

[@ScapeVEVO]

There's actually an even better version of that mod by someone else called Sonic New Tricks, I highly recommend checking it out

[@TheFakeMakotoYuki]

i’ll never get used to it not being on L3 it is just so easy to use

[@orchideqvinox765]

​@@ScapeVEVO I came here to say this

[@KnoxCarbon]

Is there a mod that remaps the controls for the mechs? I'd love for the Vulkan cannon on the X button, Homing Missiles on Y, and melee attack on B.

[@kda9x]

This was a really great inclusion, don't know why it was left out.

[@b_e_p_i_s_m_a_n6212]

For those wondering, most mods should run fine under Proton, which is Steam's Linux compatibility layer for running Windows games, and is what the Steam Deck uses. While I don't exactly have a Steam Deck myself to verify, I do have an Arch install I use as a daily driver (the Steam Deck's distro is also Arch-based, to my knowledge).

[@polar-star64]

As a heavy Steam Deck user who played modded Sonic games, yes the mod loader works. It's a pain to get set up and going, but it works (mostly).

[@CrowFGC]

Can confirm, no issues

[@lucasm20]

Only note to bring up is if a mod uses a DLL to inject into the game, you'll need to use the WINEDLLOVERRIDES environment variable to tell Wine to pick up the DLL instead of only using the builtin. Also there are some command line tricks to getting Steam to launch different EXEs, you can sh -c a command after sed'ing it to change the exe name of the %command% for example.

[@nanopone]

silent's website explains how to do use dll patchers on proton, so all of them should work flawlessly

[@TaxiCabCole]

still find it hilarious how he called wine a windows emulator when it literally stands for "wine is not an emulator"

[@Sanojavi512]

Just as a note for new people coming to this video, Rail Grinding has finally been restored thanks to the SA2 Input Controls mod and most of the port problems have been fixed with SA2 Render Fix, the only changes needed for the order would be to disable No model tinting, Highest Quality Textures and Eggman Lighting fix (Since those are included in render fix) adding SA2 Render Fix at the top (Just make sure to disable the White Jungle setting, maybe the emblem settings too, if those aren't working correctly for you) and finally enable Input Controls at the bottom (Disable the modern grinding option in Hedgepanel).

[@frobonetic]

Eggman Lighting Fix & Highest Quality Textures are also within SA2 Render Fix too fyi

[@Sanojavi512]

​@@frobonetic You're right, I'll mention that.

[@Juanpvcool]

Note that SA2 Input Controls and SA2 Render fix are two separate mods, just found that out haha.

[@CoolBeanSoup]

@Sanjavi512 We need to have your comment pinned! Since a lot of stuff has been improved and updated and that the SA2 Input Controls has been added to the mod scene! A lot more people need to see this. :)

[@gmaster2647]

I read a comment on GameBanana that Cutscene Revamp screws up everything if paired with Render Fix. Is this fixable or is it just not compatible with that mod yet?

[@RaphaelDrewBoltman]

ill be saying this till my dead day: this game surprisingly doesnt have a Dreamcast Conversion or a “BetterSA2B” modpack and thats a pack WE need, same for Sonic Adventure having “BetterSADX” before (and now a better project called SADX Mod Installer) and Sonic Heroes having SH Essentials. these types of videos are really useful so people can play SA2 in a definitive way, probably as close as possible to the Dreamcast port i want to thank you for making this video as this is something i always look for if i get myself on playing SA2 (when before i only played with essential mods, DC Characters and Character Select Plus.. along with many other) but ill be honest to ya that i never used HedgePanel until i visually saw how useful and fun it is! side note i see you dont have Sonic Heroes👁 nor im believing you dont have a definitive way to play the game on PC…👀 maaaaaaybe i could present you SH Essentials which is, in short, a project/modpack made to make the PC port of SH the superior of the rest with new and amazing stuff. but thats your criteria, and i really wanna see you talking about Heroes sometime

[@BlazeHedgehog]

I known there were ways to mod the PC version of Heroes to clean it up, I just don't know if I care enough about the game itself. It's fine but I'm not in love with it. I'm okay with just emulating the Gamecube version there

[@LsAdventurer]

@RaphaelDrewBoltman Does Widescreen Revamp require a patched widescreen resolution exe file to run or does the mod itself make the game widescreen?

[@RaphaelDrewBoltman]

@@LsAdventurer i highly discourage the use of “”patched”” exes that make the game with 16:9 resolution. your way for the exe is using vanilla with NoCD and Win10x fixes, or a modded with every PCGamingWiki fixes (and of course NoCD and Win10x included) the way to have 16:9 or 21:9 resolution freely is using Graphics, a tool for Reloaded II, which also contains other options for you to mess with from that tool you can manipulate your resolution as much as you want and the enabling Widescreen Revamp below Graphics (so you know both are meant for widescreen :p) hope this helps you!

[@-bruhfunny-]

THE WALL

[@DarkMSG]

what's the difference with BetterSADX and SADX mod installer?

[@gorofujita5767]

I gotta say, the slow, step-by-step, well-considered way you approach modding for newcomers to PC gaming _(or even experienced users who may just not be acquainted with how modding works in a specific game)_ is excellent. It would be great if you did a video like this about SRB2, considering how not-easy it may be for someone not used to doom engine ports to become acquainted with how it works, in regards to how to get 3d models (and how 3d models always have their sprite equivalents) and fan levels outside the campaign. Or even the new 60fps+ builds. I feel like there would be a lot to cover, and it would be very interesting and useful for the sonic community at large

[@BBWahoo]

The fact you assed yourself to make nearly an hour long video about a definitive edition to a game you feel doesn't have one, gives me newfound respect for you.

[@FullHitPoints]

Thanks for going to great detail of how the rail grinding is *supposed* to work. Coming off from later 3D titles first, I genuinely had no idea how grinding on rails in SA2 worked, and it was a great source of frustration and confusion for many years. Heck, I assumed for the longest time that there was no graceful way to switch rails, so when I first played through the final Sonic stage, which is grind rail central, I had to do it by jumping and attempting to maneuver Sonic to the rail I needed to be on. Needless to say, I died an awful lot doing this.

[@Nastara]

Bruh I only beat Final Rush as a kid by making a daring fall into the bottom of the long rail

[@dbnet_]

ran through the SA2 ModLoader and didn't even mention MainMemory.. :( She's done so much to support the modding community for this game, she really deserved a solid shout out.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

You're right. And in truth, I actually had a bit of internal debate about this, because the shoutouts section was kind of a late addition. I was feeling the pressure of trying to get this done "quickly" (I originally wanted this video out before Christmas) and that's one of the things I could have been better about.

[@0n1c420]

more female dominance because mainmemory was classified as a member of the female species.

[@fabionoronhazampieri7639]

​@@BlazeHedgehog Can i create a mod which modifiys the sa2 sonic model to look like movie sonic just basically adding blue arms and a new polygon to conjoin the eyes

[@CaptainStage]

I always sorta had a hunch that you were supposed to lean into your turns when grinding, but given that I only ever played the HD versions, it never felt graceful to do, so I always assumed I was still doing something wrong. I actually didn't know until today that it was any easier in the Dreamcast version but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[@ORLY911]

Same.

[@HopscotchBackup]

Saying SA1 didn’t look good for the time is the wildest hot Take I’ve heard in a while lol.

[@rexthesheep]

YESSS I am so ready for this! I still use your SA1 video as a reference when talking to friends about that game.

[@David_prod-eNGee]

Good lord, this video is very professionally structured and put together. Well done.

[@Syogren]

Thank you so much for making this video, BlazeHedgehog. Sonic Adventure 2 is my favorite game ever made, but thanks to the various issues later versions of the games have, a lot of people really do not get the experience with it that they were supposed to have. I can't really blame them, as that's on the teams that ported the game, but for the reasons you explained in the intro, I can't really blame the porting teams that much either. Sonic has always had a rough development history, and the people developing and porting Sonic games have always had to make compromises they may not like to make sure they release on time. And that's just an unfortunate part of doing business. It's endlessly frustrating that we still have not yet reached the point that my favorite game has a truly definitive way to play it, though I can't really blame the modders either? Sonic Adventure 2 is apparently much weirder than Sonic Adventure under the hood, and modding the game is even now still in its infancy. Luckily, I think this means that some day we will have a mod that fully fixes the grinding system, which would be great given how many people have played the broken versions of the game and assume the grinding is supposed to be like that. Because the thing is, I too am a stickler for the grinding system in Sonic Adventure 2. Even in its broken state, I still vastly prefer it to the more streamlined versions present in future Sonic games, and I think it's a shame that people still can't use it the way it was meant to be used. But I still hold out hope that one day, it will happen. Amazing video as always, BlazeHedgehog. Always love your work. And yeah, those textures you made are pretty good, you should be proud of them.

[@DaL1tleGr4vy-prod]

Your voice is strangely comforting. quality video, as well. Thanks for that (and SAGE! love it), I'll be watching your videos from now on, cheers

[@aortaplatinum]

I'm surprised so few people know how to grind properly. But I guess that's what I get for poring over the SA2B manual a TON as a kid

[@TechBlade9000]

There's also the lack of audio visual feedback If they added a unpleasent metal grinding noise if your leaned bad that'd aliviate all the issues

[@TepidBlack]

Jfc I was literally thinking to myself about an hour ago completely randomly about potential SA/SA2 remakes and the HD remaster of 2 and l was struggling to remember if I’d ever seen one of these “definitive” videos for SA2. Just opened KZbin and literally it’s right here lmao, the algorithm is reading my mind

[@hedgethewedge]

Fun fact: The reason dialogue goes over each other many times is because while dubbing the game, they put the English audio in the exact same places as the Japenese audio, which sometimes says words shorter than English, therefore making the lines overlap.

[@Gna-rn7zx]

15:00 "These changes also affect grinding control" Me: "Oh man ... I never understood grinding, so I probably won't get this part "...and I've heard most people never understood grinding, so I'm going to start by explaining it" THANK YOU!!!!

[@superbro6413]

This video is going up there with the classics like your "Definitive Way to Play SA1" guide. Excellent work all around! My thanks to the modding devs, and you for compiling the core essentials for us here. Cheers

[@koopanique]

Very clear and precise editing... impressive video, it makes me want to replay SA2

[@ThePurpleCheeseMan]

I was literally looking for something comprehensive and easy to understand on SA2 modding at the start of this week and didn't really find much. Thanks so much for this video!

[@WiIliyum]

Let’s go I can’t wait for my sa2 experience to be better

[@Alhedgehog]

Great video! I love how thorough you were without getting bogged down in too many details. I'm totally with you on all of those mods. Also good on you for crediting everybody. Not all KZbinrs do and it's a shame. These guys put a lot of love into this game.

[@supermaro2349]

Another mod that’s helpful is either the action revamp mod or sonic new tricks mod. The action revamp changes the lightspeed dash to be on a separate button so you don’t have to worry about accidentally bouncing or somersaulting when you mean to light dash. And sonic new tricks also does that with some extra fun features like SA1 jump ball

[@SlickEvan]

Small tidbit, The enemy boune height depends on how much you've held your jump before initiating the homing attack and how much you've held A during your enemy bounce. Just like last time thank you for this video, to help us all experience Sonic Adventure 2 in one of the best ways possible.

[@Pinkanator]

This is really appreciated man. I probably should have left this on the Adventure video but, I suffer from a lot of anxiety, and tend to find a lot of modding stressful and overwhelming when trying to figure it out myself. Your scripts and delivery are always really very calming and help make things digestible, and I really appreciate how encouraging you lay it out? Probably rambling a little but, really, it's very helpful.

[@inkredibill6352]

Blaming your anxiety is a cope.

[@rexthesheep]

​@@inkredibill6352 What do you hope to gain from speaking to people this way?

[@vxcvxmcrposfdsdfulpdfg]

homeboy can't download a computer file without having an anxiety attack you people are not real

[@no.402]

Average Reddit user

[@zemchia]

@@vxcvxmcrposfdsdfulpdfg I'm not sure you realize how many virusus and malicious software are out there that pretend to be something else. It's perfectly fine to be skeptical of such files, and having anxiety probably does not help.

[@ThundagaMage]

My brother i never expected a SNHU sponsorship lol, i just graduated from there

[@tachyontwo]

Congratulations!

[@kyanoang3l0_old]

RIP, my first and last Sega console. Kinda. Was surprised to find out not too long ago that the Dreamcast was-and still is-being kept alive by a homebrew community. The latest DC game release was just last year.

[@MathewRYF]

There is still a reason to boot up the Gamecube version, but ONLY IF you're deep into the Chao raising gameplay. Namely, if you have both SA2B and either Sonic Advance or Sonic Advance 2 with the Tiny Chao Garden. It's the only way to legitimately get some rare chao varieties you can't get in the Black Market. Also if you have Phantasy Star Online, the version of the Tiny Chao Garden you can download to your GBA is the only way to get a legitimate Tails Chao.

[@cay7809]

*2 legit ways

[@thatguyknownaswill8180]

7:58 So you’re telling me that Sonic Adventure 2 had 150 developers, and 22 years later Sega couldn’t be bothered to give Sonic Frontiers more than 60 developers?

[@sahmedrb]

Yeah, its sadly true

[@CHMernerner]

Speepshighway is a living legend.

[@TheGag96]

Hey, thanks for mentioning my emerald radar cheat code!! I'm glad you mentioned the Better Radar mod as well. My code was just a golden one-liner - no match for something that featureful. Also, don't forget about Chao World Extended!! Very cool mod.

[@rexthesheep]

I finally came back and watched the video. Thank you Blaze! It's been a while since I've touched the game on PC but I'm definitely gonna have to check out some of these mods and some others people have suggested in the comments. Unlike SA1 I've never played SA2 on Dreamcast; grew up with the GameCube version personally, so all that really felt off to me with PC 2012 at the time was the stage lighting. Since then, I've learnt things could be a lot better, but I never really got around to checking out what I could do with mods.

[@S.A.B294]

Dear goodness, this was one of if not the best definitive Sonic tutorials I’ve ever watched. Thank you very much for the video and for those who made the mods, thank you too, you are all great hard workers.

[@aurafox1]

I know it's obviously not the focus of the video, but Chao World Extended is a huge factor of the game for me. Literally the primary reason I got the steam version of SA2 in the first place.

[@megasoniczxx]

Had no idea about the rail leaning being broken but I guess that explains a lot of the funky behavior with the rails. Kind of used to it at this point but it is nice to know.

[@marinaoops7130]

Great video! Just finished playing SA2 but after watching this, I might replay it with the mods installed to play the game the definitive way, the way I was supposed to. Would love to see more videos like this one, especially one about Sonic Heroes, because I truly believe mods could make the game way more enjoyable than it already is!

[@twyx6928]

After having been disappointed by the PC version I wrote off the game completely and I thought only nostalgia was making me think the game was good when I was younger. I installed the mods and it's a night and day difference between the modded and unmodded game. Now it is like what I remember playing in primary school. Thanks for the video!

[@edwuano7]

I started SNHU in May. not in game development, but its a good school. Also, you're not crazy with the sound stuff😂

[@Andrew-ww1hz]

This video is a dream come true for those of us who still consider this game one of the best 3D Sonics. Thanks for your thorough explanation of all the enhancements that are available.

[@Adamwinters]

That Blaze Hedgehog again, of all places!

[@antiherorecords]

I'm from NH, that's cool SNHU sponsored you, congrats and great vid. Gives me a lot of nostalgia for one of my fave GC games :)

[@divertedgamer1050]

Thanks for the great video. Been a fan since you started the definitive way to play series, so much detail and so helpful. I hope you get more attention for your channel.

[@chibie3384]

I’m glad SA2 modding has gotten to such a level where we can have a semi full Dreamcast experience with a bunch of fixes, my personally I use better radar to follow how it worked in DC by disabling the multi radar and extra colors in the config and putting true on the removable of the exclamation point icon as I think the stages have a lot more going for them by following the hints to a tee

[@ikeshrafter]

This video was how I found out Sonic Adventure 2 isn't supposed to feel like that. Booting up the Dreamcast version after all this times feels like night and day. Thank you for making this video

[@Boothenson]

Thanks for making this man, I wanted to replay both games this year and I watched your old video for SADX and it was extremely helpful for me. SADX runs amazing with mods and was super easy to get a PS4 controller working. I've since beat SADX and was going to get going on SA2B soon but I found it more difficult to mod as the quick set up from SADX wasn't available. I managed to get it working, but it was still very janky and I knew there was some work I needed to do. Luckily this was recommended to me now my game runs smooth like butter. Very easy to follow and your video editing skills are great. Thanks again!

[@Essu_]

The Battle Mode DLC didn't contain the multiplayer as a whole. Just the additions made to the Gamecube port. Buying the game on its own gave you SA2 as it was released on Dreamcast, the original title screen, main menu, and even the original opening cutscene. (though it still contained the Chao Garden improvements made in the GC version)

[@Type3Diabeto]

Great video, I've been modding the game for years and didn't know about a few of these mods. Your passion for the game is obvious and appreciated

[@ArcadeStriker]

It is great to see a compilation of all the tweaks you can do to enhance SA2 PC; I haven't played Adventure 2 in forever so I would have to debate with myself whether I would simply want to take the Dreamcast version since it is the most faithful and quick version to setup, or take the PC version for achievements and all enhancements possible, but if I do get around to try them out, this will be really useful for that purpose. While it is unexpected that there isn't a fix to restore the Dreamcast rail grinding issue, I have the feeling that this video might end up prompting someone to go and make a mod just for that, and the same could be said about the "no modpack for all fixes" deal.

[@Defox.]

I plan to complete Sonic Adventure 2 100% with all emblems and I want to do it in the most correct and best version of the game. Thank you for saving me days or even weeks of searching for mods to restore SA2. The usefulness of this video cannot be overestimated. Great job!

[@adenjamieclements6305]

Can confirm mods work on the Steam Deck. Got both SA1 and SA2 working :)

[@Cainb23]

ok, youve convinced me, i stood firm on only playing GC version and even now no one has convinced me to switch even tho i have a good pc but this video finally did it, by the end i was adding funds to my steam wallet

[@spongebobfan78]

39:55 Nice. I can play as the Sonic series' brand ambassador. That aside, mods are the only thing that is actually making me play SA2 these days, tbh.

[@captainfordo1060]

I wanted to play Sonic Adventure 2 on Steam as my very first sonic game and I gotta say, this video helped me tremendously with making the experirece better! The video was very easy to follow, especially for someone who rarely downloads mods for games. I got it mainly cause my gf used to play this on the gamecube and I wanted to enhance the game as much as possible, Thank you so much!

[@CassiusStelar]

For the steam deck, install the game and mod it on your PC while both devices are connected to Wifi. Valve's Cloud sync will automatically mod it on the steam deck. (This is also how you put non steam games on the steam deck, just sneak them in in another game's files, switch the steam deck to desktop mode and take them out, then add that game to steam from the virtual desktop to play in game mode)

[@MayomeSanz]

SA2 does not have cloud saving on Steam

[@CassiusStelar]

@@MayomeSanz I found out you can just mod it on the steam deck itself through desktop mode

[@nibli]

Thank you! Your Sonic Adventure video encouraged me to play that game for the first time, and this one is doing the same for Sonic Adventure 2. I appreciate the presentation and analysis of the changes between the original game and re-releases.

[@jimworld7070]

One of my favorite mods that I almost always play with is, funnily enough, SA2 Randomizer. I genuinely never used it for its intended effect though, instead I used it to do challenge runs where I'd play the entire game as one character, since Randomizer includes edited level designs that make it possible for everyone to beat them. It also has a feature where it will randomly pick skins from a folder for each character, and this is probably my favorite part about it honestly lol. People make like... 50 cool Amy models a day on gamebanana, and I don't know how anyone is expected to use even a quarter of them without the randomizer letting you shuffle them. I wish I could recommend it, but as it is mainly made as, well, a randomizer, there's a lot of stuff that I just kind of have to deal with. Such as the Chao Garden having a 50% chance of crashing, having all the Chao stats randomized without a way to turn it off, natural incompatibility with the other character select mods... If anyone in contact with the SA2 randomizer team is reading this, please beg them to release the level changes and the skin shuffling parts separately! Until then, I would honestly still recommend trying it out if you've truly run out of things to do. Playing Amy Adventure 2 is a lifechanging experience.

[@KoivoCartoonik]

I love this video and I've used most of these mods to enhance my playing experience on the PC. Like you I also have a particular nitpick that unfortunately no mod exists to fix. It's not much but it really changes your very first experience with the game and that is not being able to crouch on the snowboard in City Escape. It really lessens that first thrill of hitting that first ramp and launching into the air at full speed and doing a trick mid-air. It also reduces the high score you can obtain in that first level. Again, it's a nitpick but that first play through where I felt the anticipation as Sonic crouched down and quickly picked up speed before flying through the sky to the first lines of the "Rolling around at the speed of sound" single handedly renewed my love for the games and I've been playing them ever since. Hopefully in the future, someone else will get the chance to feel that too with these versions. Again, great video.

[@hispookyburrito]

Good video. The way I would grind rails is only possible for the gamecube version, I used to mash the left and right analog stick and somehow that keeps sonic going much faster than only holding down the b button. In actuality I think 80% of the game's rails including the multiplayer, you're just better off letting go of the stick entirely and hold down the B button because in very few cases in this entire game you never fall off of them, which is the only reason you should ever even consider holding down a direction to lean them just so you don't fall off and die. Also one mod I suggest is the chao world extended mod. It makes chao garden better, all that needs to be said really and the mod loader has cheats to cut down most of the grinding. Unless you're on a journey to get an all S chao or something and need an easier method than cheating, both chao extended and the modloader cheats are good enough on their own. I also recommend downloading a completed save file for chao garden and having easy access to the stages and content. I also keep infinite lives and because I have actually done this game a hundred percent on the gamecube and not only is it not worth it, but most of the emblems tied to ranks are going to be a nightmare without a guide.

[@Keihart]

Amazing video, i've always complained about SA ports but people tend to look at me like im making shit up. Had no idea of all this mods since i still hook up the DC when i wanted to replay SA2, thanks.

[@Sparkette]

I think DSP actually stands for Digital Signal Processing. But "Digital Sound Processor" works too, because that's the main thing DSP tends to be used for, at least in consumer hardware.

[@JustMLC]

Yep

[@CoolBeanSoup]

Thank you so much for this video! I finally have the time to mod SA2 and was looking for the definitive video on what mods I should install. This video was perfect for that! Thank you for breaking down on what each mod does, etc.

[@chubbyninja975]

It’s crazy that we live in a time economically where the actual companies who should be doing these quality of life improvements can’t afford to do so because they’re trying to impress shareholders and cutting corners to stay afloat, and most likely it’s college students that are doing them in their free time unpaid just out of love for the game.

[@DARKSEID76]

^^^ This.

[@Dredrick]

I appreciate you just biting the bullet and putting this together. I'm at a place where I'm going to play the game now, and I want to play the best version of it that I can. This was the best resource I found for what that looks like today in 2024. Thank you

[@PhredLevi]

The hardest thing about understanding rail grinding is that the mechanics seem totally different in huge, yet entirely unexplained, ways between SA2, Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog

[@ChaosXeloc]

Very informative video, thanks! I consider SA2 my favorite Sonic game, but haven't played in a couple years at this point. I was a kid when I first played, so I didn't notice a lot of the issues, but I did also understand all the nuance to rail grinding, so I'm surprised that so many others apparently don't. If there were 1 mod I could imagine wanting, it would be an expanded control scheme where so many actions didn't overlap onto the same couple of buttons. As for the mods you detailed here, there were a lot of amazing sounding improvements! It's been a while, but I'm not sure if I noticed the poor implementation of grinding in the 2012 port. Still, it's good to know that it can be tempered a bit. And the costumes, wall bumping, plus other enhancements... I definitely need to get the game downloaded again and enable these to get a better experience out of it.

[@macuser7048]

Sonic Adventure 1 should have been a Saturn game. Sonic Adventure 2 takes full advantage of being on the Dreamcast because that was the system it was designed for.

[@astreakaito5625]

Honestly people who just want to play SA2 should just emulate the DC version. You'd be surprised at how well it hold up today. But it's nice that ppl fixed the HD port.

[@kyanoang3l0_old]

"But the thing that shocked me is that most people don't understand the leaning system whatsoever." Same here, actually. I thought I was one of the few noobs who didn't understand it. Lol. And it seems that the GameCube/PC version that I played a lot of confused me even more. Didn't know the leaning is that sensitive. And I do vaguely remember discovering the ducking mechanic in Heroes, which I thought most people knew. And about Unleashed afaicr: If you've been tinkering with the physics file, you might end up with Sonic struggling to balance on curved rails when boosting as seen in the E3 trailer, _unless_ you're leaning to the right direction. The same even goes for Generations if you enable Unleashed-Style Grinding Animations. I wonder if there's a way to implement a full leaning system, where you have to lean when boosting on curved rails or risk falling off, to add a bit more engagement to grinding.

[@ragnarockerbunny]

I personally would hate to see this leaning system return, unless it does it the way Lunistice does, with all the UI bells and whistles to make it clear what anything is even doing at all times, and not having a "fall off" state at all since that kind of stuff can needlessly frustrate little kids and adults never even see that state for the most part. Low skill floors, high skill ceilings.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

The more I've thought about it after finishing the video, the more I feel like the leaning system is actually just bad. Even by Sonic Heroes, leaning had no bearing on your ability to accelerate. They knew people did not understand it and it did not make the game better and it's never really come back.

[@keyblader1985]

Can't say I was expecting a Golden Boy reference, but I'm not complaining

[@justrobYT]

I always understood the grinding system (except that you could swap, TIL) but the problem is... You really don't need to interact with it at all. Just hold B and that's enough.

[@LukemDakuwa]

I bought SA1 and 2 4 times and I love the pc version the best. This video is why. Thank you for the information!

[@furious_pie466]

It’s funny how the PC versions of SA1 and 2 are somehow the worst and best versions of the games

[@Gecklo]

While the video is stellar, I'm amazed and disappointed that you didn't mention any Chao Mods whatsoever in your bonus suggestions. For many people, Chao is a significant element of the Adventure-era experience, and the culmination of more than a decade of work in Chao World Extended and it's more recent sister mod, Chao World Enhanced, is a community triumph at the forefront of passion for a lingering niche. The depths to which these mods alone evolve the capabilities of Chao is something that more people should be aware of, especially if something like Modern SA2 is worth mentioning in video. These mods are the very reason a Chao Community exists at all to this day, and their importance to the modding scene of SA2 deserve recognition.

[@G_Spindash]

Dude, TYSM for this!! This video & the SA1 vid/guide have been a godsend! You're a legend!

[@reversalmushroom]

I saw the Patreon was at $99 and decided to make it an even hundred.

[@kiwirocket64]

Damn, I never knew I could switch rails so easily. I thought I literally had to jump onto another rail manually but now I can just snap to different rails that makes it 10 times more easier

[@AlphaZeroX96]

There's a new version of the mod manager that's an upgrade over the one in this video.

[@lemonadesnake]

13:16 if this is a mistake, its an amazing one. It makes it seem as if Sonic is truely angry at Shadow for insulting him, so he interrupts Shadow and starts the battle

[@BlazeHedgehog]

It's because all the cutscenes were made with the Japanese dialog in mind. There are dialog timing errors in a lot of English language cutscenes for this reason, even in scenes where characters are alone.

[@MatrixEvolution17]

I love how deep the grinding mechanic was in SA2, it's so satisfying once you master it and you can tell a lot of thought went into it. Grinding in Frontiers just feels so boring and simplistic by comparison, which is sad considering how many grind rails there are in that game

[@ThatOneDudeWhoPostsStuff]

It's wild how this guide is outdated just 1 year out because - there's a new mod loader that works for Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (SA Mod Manager) - 1 mod that replaces all of the rendering fixes and higher quality textures (SA2 Render Fix) - and a mod for fixing the grind rail controls (SA2 Input Controls) If you find the time, I recommend coming back to this video to see how much of it needs to be updated, perhaps a much smaller part 2/adendem video

[@Shadownnico]

i never really noticed leaning being broken, and that's partially bc i learned to lean in a totally different way! the way i lean is by, instead of holding a direction, mashing that direction briefly on the stick. i first learned this playing the PC version, but it works on dreamcast as well! also another broken thing you didnt mention is the chao garden! normally on gamecube the black market only gives you a certain pool of colored eggs you can buy, to incentivize trading eggs and chao with other people. besides not being able to trade, the PC version also breaks the selection algorithm, making it so that it's the same unobtainable eggs on every single file of every single game. another thing broken is a specific breed of chao (shiny two-tone chao specifically) which just totally fail to render and come out bright white :c

[@TommFoolery]

YEEEEESSSSSS! I have been waiting for this video! Thank god!

[@GottaBGlitches]

Personally I don't like premiers. They get me extremely excited and I usually see them early so I end up waiting for at least an hour (In this case I think it's 2 days)

[@javierbarron8605]

Always love to see a new vid from you❤

[@mguymario]

You should update this and the SADX video or at lest make a follow up video since there is a new mod loader for the SA games simply called the SA mod loader

[@BBWahoo]

Your voice is so calming

[@IkinBBfromAnthologyOfTheKiller]

Hey, about the framerate problem you mentioned, i have the opposite problem. My computer is 60hz but the game runs slower no matter what i do. It's not even lag, it's just like, 50% slower. Does that option you mentioned help with this?

[@TombstoneTT]

extremely good video my guy. well done.

[@rocketanimations1980]

This is a hot take. While I see why people wouldn't like SA2's radar, I think it's better, when you find an emerald that's not on radar it gives you a better score than if you were to follow as intended, and I find it really cool.

[@megasoniczxx]

Yeah, about the only stage I actually mind the gimped radar on is in Death Chamber since the layout funnels you so bad that it can take the fun out of exploration. I used to be firmly in the camp that liked SA1's radar better but I honestly like this one more now since it forces you to actually engage with a lot more of the stage if you don't already know what your doing.

[@ragnarockerbunny]

This is a cold take but I think I prefer it when the game doesn't waste my goddamn time playing treasure hunting stages I already don't like which are holding the rest of the game hostage.

[@edensfolly8955]

Hi! Loved your video.. I just wanted to say as I couldn't see it mentioned in the comments, regarding the 'lower bounce sometimes' when doing chain enemies, which gives all max bounce from HedgePanel, - The bounce mechanics are actually really clever you don't need a mod to 'fix' them, the reason you get shorter bounces, is when you leave the floor to start a homing attack chain, in some areas, the enemies step up slightly in the more challenging ones, unlike say, metal harbour which they all stay the same level (relevent in a moment) Essentially when you start a jump to homing attack, the time you take on the initial jump and the range up to your max jump is essentially preserved through your homing bounces, and will max out just the same, so to effectively hit a chain that especially ascends, you have to account for your max jump allowance and hit that chain AS SOON as you can after leaving the floor, using only a slice of your max jump climb on each homing bounce. If used correctly you can smash all those sections quickly, get max points and know you hit it like a pro ^_^ I recently played for the first time in January and got all A's in a fortnight, I grew up on the OG games and have an eye for how the creators want you to play, and SA2B has immediately become one of my favourite creations in terms of level design and grind ability ^_^ Hope this inspires you to replay and try this mechanical thinking :D

[@edensfolly8955]

Lastly, best place to test this mechanic quickly would probably be radical highway hard mode - the first step up of enemies vs the crate is impossible I found without knowing this, try it now if you couldn't before you'll get that last enemy to get up :P

[@CarlosGabriel-pv4dn]

something that I noticed is that sonic bounces and tilts a lot more in the pc/ gc version while ruinning than the original version. I don't know if that happens due to analog mapping problems but it might be 🤔

[@YabaiModding]

You can actually skip the grind rail mod with something that a friend told me and actually tested myself: You can quickly tap the crouch button on turns, and that will allow you to go even faster than actually using the leaning system correctly. Works on ALL platforms.