Saturn tribute in Dreamcast game on the PS3 (!)

Something rather wonderful has happened as a result of my recently accquired PS3. I've just downloaded, played and completed Sonic Adventure in two days! I've had lots of copies of this game on the Dreamcast over the years, but never played it further than the first level. I've always admired it for it's visuals and thought of it as one of the best looking game on the Dreamcast. But it never grabbed me and I've dabbled with Sonic Adventure 2 loads more in the past.

But for some reason, the idea of having Dreamcast games on my next gen consoles really appeals. I've had Ikaruga and Rez off XBLA, (and Powerstone and Crazy Taxi on my PSP) even though I've had copies for my Dreamcast for years. But Sonic Adventure has held me captivated all weekend in way that none of those other ports have.

Sonic and Sega Allstars Racing kicked off the latest Sega revival in my gaming tastes, (not that it takes much for me to get Sega-obsessive, but the strength of my passion comes in waves). Sonic Adventure is the first and only Sonic game I've ever played to completion - although I've dabbled with many of them. Others have been abandoned when they got frustratingly hard, but thanks to the convenience of having this on the PS3 hard drive, and with a bit of free time on my hands, I saw it through to it's conclusion!

The game left me swinging in opinion, somewhwere between feeling it is a masterpiece (visuals and music) and a catastrophe (story, gameplay, camera, voice acting). It had moments of beauty, but it also got me swearing a lot! I loved the soundtrack, most definitely some of the best gaming music ever to accompany a Sega title. Check out the NiGHTs '90s house remix'!

I nearly had an orgasm when I played the NiGHTS pinball machine in Casinopolis. So much Sega/Saturn fan service crammed into one level! It was the first time I had seen the Saturn tribute and I was left close to tears by the beauty of this gesture from Sonic team to it's Saturn predecessors.

As we all know, NiGHTS is now scattered far and wide from titles as divergent as Sega Superstars Tennis, to the Wii Nights sequel, in Sonic Pinball on the GBA, and is probably right now trying to sell his psychedelic concoctions to impressionable minors in a Chao garden near you! But this must have been pure joy to those Saturn nostalgics who had begrudgingly swapped there big black Sega boxes for a slightly smaller off-white one and were patiently awaiting Dreamcast sequels to great games like Burning Rangers, NiGHTS, Clockwork Knight, and Manx TT Super Bike.

I have to say, Sega did as shocking a job of porting the title to it's new incarnation on the PS3, as it did when it rush released it for The Dreamcast. It's flaws are absolutely hideous. No attempt has been made to tidy up the games bugs and glitches, which I would have to admit is slightly annoying. And there's no way to get your Chao onto a PSP or online to race against other owners. Come on Sega!

But I'd reccomend this title to all you Sega junkies with shiny PS3s/360s if only for the Saturn fan service alone!