Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Adventure 2

Developers
	Sonic Team
Windows	Sega of China
Publishers
	Sega
Release dates
Windows	November 9, 2012
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Adventure, Platform
Vehicles	Automobile, Track racing
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure
Subseries of Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic Adventure DX	2003
Sonic Adventure DX (2011)	2011
Sonic Adventure 2	2012
Sonic Adventure DX (Steam)	2014

Sonic Adventure 2 is a cartoon third-person platform game developed by Sonic Team, published by Sega, and released for PC on November 9, 2012. It is a part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and the sequel to Sonic Adventure.

The original game was first released for the Dreamcast in North America on June 18, 2001, and the rest of the world on June 23. The game was later ported to the GameCube in 2002 as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle as an updated version of the game, featuring an expanded multiplayer mode and readjusted gameplay elements. This PC port is based off the GameCube version, with the expanded multiplayer and Chao Karate content being locked behind a separate DLC purchase.

Initially, it wasn't made available in Japan, but Sega later announced that the game will be available in Japan on January 23, 2024 alongside Sonic Adventure DX, marking the debut the PC version of Sonic Adventure 2 in Japan.

The game's physics and speed are tied around 60 FPS, meaning slowdowns on lower end machines and speedups with high refresh-rate displays. Various mods are available to restore original features from the Dreamcast version and address issues with the PC version; see Modifications for recommendations and how to setup MainMemory's SA2 Mod Loader to ease the installation of mods.

General information

Sonic Retro - A huge fan site for everything Sonic the Hedgehog. Mods for all the games can be found here

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Humble Store
Steam
GamersGate (unavailable)
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Publisher website (unavailable)

All versions require Steam DRM.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
SONIC ADVENTURE 2: BATTLE	Unlocks the Battle Mode, extra versus characters and maps, and Chao Karate.

Essential improvements

Bypass launcher

Use the -q command line argument
If configuration files are missing, it will load the launcher regardless of the command line argument.

Skip company logos and intro cutscene

Enable Skip Intro in SA2 Mod Loader
See instructions for installing SA2 Mod Loader here. Go to the Options tab, and check Skip Intro from the Misc. section. Click the Save button to apply the changes. The game should now boot directly into the title screen upon launch.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Config\Keyboard.cfg <path-to-game>\Config\UserConfig.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/213610/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\resource\gd_PC\SAVEDATA\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/213610/pfx/

Chao Garden is saved to the file SONIC2B__ALF.

Game progression is saved to numbered SONIC2B__S## files; one file per slot.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In game general settings. Options clockwise starting from the bottom: Vibration, Save/Load, Erase save, main menu theme, speech language and Stereo/Mono.

Launcher general settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			A few cutscenes are pillarboxed to 4:3; use the Cutscene revamp mod to remove the black bars.
Multi-monitor			Use Flawless Widescreen to fix spanned HUD.
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use SA2 Mod Loader.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Force in GPU control panel. Nvidia users can force SGSSAA in Nvidia Profile Inspector without any compatibility bits. Do not force FXAA, see the talk page.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Always enabled. Every loading screen needs to run at monitor's refresh rate or else it will crash.
60 FPS		The game must run at 60 FPS as game speed is tied to frame rate.
120+ FPS		Fullscreen Mode is capped 60 Hz. See Run the game at screen refresh rate. If the display runs higher than 60 Hz in Windowed mode, use SA2 Mod Loader and enable Lock framerate under its Graphics settings.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Launcher control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Mouse not used at all.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput only. Controller must be selected from configuration launcher.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Controller buttons cannot be remapped, however a mod exists to change the placement of context-sensitive actions.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts		Xbox 360 variant. See Better Buttons for an alternative or Xbox One Buttons for Xbox One prompts (if using HD GUI: SA2, set Button Prompts Style to Vanilla+Custom within SA2 Mod Loader).
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		Not supported natively. Use Steam Input as a workaround.
PlayStation button prompts		See the DualShock 3 variant of Better Buttons for DualShock prompts (if using HD GUI: SA2, set Button Prompts Style to Vanilla+Custom and Compatibility Mode to True within SA2 Mod Loader). for DualSense Button use this DualSense Button Mod
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth) V2 controller tested.

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging		Only for the selected input input device from the configuration launcher can be hotplugged, otherwise the game will prompt a "Reboot Now/Later" to change devices. If the controller was not plugged in from the initial launch of the game, it will switch to keyboard instead and request a reboot of the game.
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Only for the selected input input device from the configuration launcher is usable when launching the game.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Based on system configuration; otherwise not configurable. Tested with 7.1 surround sound. No centre and LFE channels, just a 4.0 quadraphonic mix.[citation needed]
Subtitles		On by default. Subtitles during pre-rendered cutscenes are not available.
Closed captions		Idle Chatter mod is not captioned, however, Retranslated Story Complete features captions for idle chatter.
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Text language is selected from launcher, dialogue language is selected from in game settings.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Dubtitles only. Use Retranslated Story Complete if playing with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
French				Dubtitles only. Use French Retranslation if playing with Japanese audio and French subtitles.
German
Italian
Japanese
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation of the "Sonic Adventure 2 Retranslated" mod. Mod created by «Luks_18»
Russian				Fan localization by «Sonic and all Characters/Joker Studio».
Spanish				Castilian.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		2	Other player can use keyboard or controller if enabled in the config file. "Battle" DLC adds 21 battle maps to multiplayer.
LAN play
Online play		2	Use Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Network.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision

Issues unresolved

Menus don't render

On AMD cards, menus won't render if the resolution exceeds 4579 x 3965, on either axis.^{[citation needed]}

FXAA breaks the game

Forcing FXAA through the graphics card control panel will cause the game to stop responding.^{[citation needed]}

Game freezes and hardlocks when trying to load a stage

This issues is related to the SA2 Mod Loader. Rebooting the computer with the mod loader uninstalled seems to help temporarily. An issue ticket can be found on the Mod Loader's GitHub repo. Another potential solution is to to launch SA2 Mod Loader, click "Uninstall loader" to disable the mod loader, launching the game normally via Launcher.exe and exiting the game, and then re-launching the Mod Loader and clicking "Install Loader" to re-enable it.

Issues fixed

Game crashes after the Sonic Team logo

Use DXVK[citation needed]
Go to DXVK's project page. Download the latest release. Open it using a ZIP program, and go to the X32 folder. Copy d3d9.dll and paste it into <path-to-game>

Use ForceD3D9On12[citation needed]
Download the latest release Open it using a ZIP program, and go to the x86 folder. Copy d3d9.dll and paste it into <path-to-game>

Fixing crashes[citation needed]

If the game is crashing only in fullscreen mode, an easy workaround is to use a borderless fullscreen tool to make windowed mode fill the entire screen. The SA2 Mod Loader offers an option to do that. If the game is crashing in both fullscreen and windowed mode: Disable any framerate limiters; Sonic Adventure 2's loading screens rely on uncapped FPS in order to load properly.[citation needed] Disable any overlays (e.g. Steam Overlay, GeForce Experience). For Nvidia cards, open Nvidia Control Panel, click Manage 3D Settings, Program Settings, and add sonic2app.exe. Set V-Sync to On and set Preferred refresh rate to Application-controlled, then click Apply.

Game freezing for few seconds randomly

Fixing crashes[citation needed]
For Nvidia cards, open Nvidia Control Panel, click Manage 3D Settings, Program Settings, and add sonic2app.exe. Set Power management mode to Prefer maximum performance, click Apply.

Missing or broken graphical effects

Some effects such as rain, fire, smoke, footprints, and dirt from digging as Knuckles or Rouge are missing on integrated graphics with application optimization mode enabled.

Disable Application Optimal Mode from the integrated GPU control panel

Run the game at screen refresh rate

Fullscreen mode is limited to 60 Hz, even if the screen refresh rate is set higher than that.

Set screen refresh rate and 60 FPS cap[citation needed]
Download Special K. Copy SpecialK32.dll to the installation folder. Rename SpecialK32.dll to d3d9.dll. Start the game and then exit. Open d3d9.ini in the installation folder. Change TargetFPS to 60.0. Change RefreshRate to 0.

Launcher crashes when trying to start the game, No resolution options available

Manually create config files

Go to the configuration file(s) location. If no files are present, create files named Keyboard.cfg and UserConfig.cfg. Copy and paste following to files. Keyboard.cfg: <?xml version="1.0" ?> <Setup Layout="0" /> <Players> <Player InputWay="1" Vibrate="0"> <key index="83" /> <key index="65" /> <key index="73" /> <key index="79" /> <key index="5" /> <key index="52" /> <key index="56" /> <key index="54" /> <key index="25" /> <key index="16" /> <key index="37" /> <key index="23" /> <key index="4" /> <key index="37" /> <key index="27" /> <key index="67" /> </Player> <Player InputWay="0" Vibrate="0"> <key index="22" /> <key index="18" /> <key index="0" /> <key index="3" /> <key index="102" /> <key index="98" /> <key index="101" /> <key index="99" /> <key index="66" /> <key index="104" /> <key index="37" /> <key index="76" /> <key index="105" /> <key index="37" /> <key index="28" /> <key index="111" /> </Player> </Players> UserConfig.cfg: <?xml version="1.0" ?> <Configs FullScreen="1" Display="0" Res="22" Width="640" Height="480" RefreshRate="60" Language="0" Analytics="0" /> Start the game from <path-to-game>\sonic2app.exe. If everything works, then change the values in UserConfig.cfg to desired ones. Bypassing the launcher is also recommended afterwards.

Planted Trees in the Chao Garden appear as saplings despite being fully grown

This fix requires SA2 Mod Loader.

Instructions
Download and install SA2 Mod Loader. Download the Enhanced Chao World mod. In the mod manager, tick and enable the mod, then click Configure and toggle any preferred features of the mod. The tree scaling fix is not listed as it is a part of the mod.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	3.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Modifications

This section may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. The specific problem is: Needs a serious trim. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.

Modding essentials

How to install SA2 Mod Manager

Download SA2 Mod Manager from here. Extract the contents of SA2ModLoader.7z to <path-to-game>. Run SA2ModManager.exe, click the Install loader, then go to the Options tab and adjust settings as desired. Notes Eases installation and configuration of mods without replacing installation files. Adds optional tweaks such as skipping intro videos and splash screens, locking the framerate for higher refresh rate displays, and disabling loading screen animations which also speed up loading times.

Featured websites

• MainMemory's mods - Features a number of useful mods, including models converted from the Dreamcast version.
• GameBanana - Hosts a large number of user-created mods for Sonic Adventure 2.
• SF94's Sandwich - Features a small number of mods such Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Network.
• Sonic Community Hacking Guide on Sonic Retro.

Featured mods

Bugfixes/improvements:

• Action Remap - Remaps the "Light Speed Dash" to the Y button, preventing unintentional use the "Somersault" and "Bounce Bracelet" when using the "Light Speed Dash".
• Subtitles Fix - Fixes various typos and grammar issues in the subtitles, and improves the French translation.
• Level Oddity Patch - Fixes misplaced level objects, making "Perfect" ring collection possible.
• Black Market Sound Fix - Replaces the duller sounding menu sounds from the Chao Garden's Black Market with ones that sound closer to the GameCube version.
• Improved Waypoints (Chao Gardens) - Permits chao to wander around more of the Hero and Dark gardens.
• Menu Overhaul - Overhauls and revises the menu system of the game while removing unnecessary clutter and discrepancies. This mod however causes some of the main menu descriptions to not properly reflect the rearranged menu options, but an unofficial fix is available. Only English and Japanese localizations are currently supported.
• HD GUI: SA2 - Updates many GUI and HUD elements with higher resolution ones, along with optional tweaks. Recommended with Menu Overhaul.
• Better Buttons - Replaces the stock Xbox 360 prompts with ones from Sonic Generations. A DualShock 3 variant is also available.
• SA2 Error Message Fixes - Removes the prompts to restart the game when a controller is disconnected or the internet connection is lost.
• SA2 Render Fix - A collection of fixes for addressing rendering errors introduced in the GameCube version while restoring missing smaller details from the Dreamcast version, replaces stock textures with their highest quality equivalents from different versions of the game, and unstretches the ARK portion of the Stage Select screen.
• Tails Cyclone Fix - Fixes Tails' model at the end of Route 280 to appear more accurate to his in-game model.
• Tikal Stance Fix - Fixes Tikal's default pose to appear more accurate and less buggy.

Audio/visual enhancements:

• No LoD Models - Disables level of detail models for Sonic and Shadow in singleplayer and multiplayer.
• Volume Controls - Adds configurable volume settings for background music, sound effects, and voice overs, while fixing the poor sound mixing of the PC version by restoring the original Dreamcast volume levels, fixing sound effect errors, and implementing 3D positional audio.
• Dreamcast Characters - Dreamcast character models converted for the PC version. This results in consistent model quality between cutscenes and gameplay when used in conjunction with Cutscene Revamp, as most cutscenes use these models by default in the vanilla game.
• Dreamcast Characters and Effects - Similar to the above but also restores visual effects from the Dreamcast version used by each character.
• Dreamcast Shield Hunters - Restores the original Dreamcast version of the G.U.N. Hunters and Shield Hunter enemies.
• DC+ Models - Versions of the higher-quality GameCube models edited to give the characters pointy ears, like Yuji Uekawa's original artwork.
• Rouge's Eye Animation Fix - Fixes a bug with Rouge's eye texture when climbing along walls sideways.
• Cutscene Revamp - Overhauls the game's Story Mode cutscenes by fixing various issues, importing assets, and workarounds so they appear closer to the original game. This also features tweaks such as 16:9 widescreen cutscenes and restoring the Dreamcast intro.
• Cutscene Revamp Music Fixes - Fixes some music issues with Cutscene Revamp.
• Transforming Scene Volume FIX - Corrects the volume levels for the transformation scene's music in the Final Story when using Cutscene Revamp.
• HQ Chao Sounds - Replaces Chao sound effects with higher quality recordings from Team Sonic Racing and adds some other music improvements.
• Crispy Green Hill - Integer upscales Green Hill's textures (with some cleanup), to give a point-sampled aesthetic akin to that on the SEGA Saturn.
• Dreamcast Credits Images - Restores the original credits screenshot images from the Dreamcast version while using the higher poly GameCube models.

Miscellaneous:

• Disable Upgrade Models - Disable or show upgrade items on characters.
• Retranslated Story Complete - A complete retranslation of the game's Japanese script that also includes subtitles for SFD videos, Last Story cutscenes, idle chatter, victory quotes, and menu themes. Subtitle timings have been adjusted with unused timestamps restored for some story scenes.
• President Scene in Dark Story - Adds a cutscene involving Dr. Eggman negotiating with the President from the Hero Story into the Dark Story.
• E0022 After Knuckles VS. Rouge - Rearranges the cutscene involving Sonic in the Ark's control room to play after defeating Rouge to improve the flow of the Hero Story.
• Restore SOAP ads - Restores the various references to SOAP in City Escape, Radical Highway, Downtown Race, and the kart racing stages, without adding incidental GameCube button prompts.
• No Battle - Removes the "Battle" branding from the game if the Sonic Adventure 2: Battle DLC is installed and reverts the menus and intro cutscene to the original Dreamcast version.
• Higher Draw Distance - Increases the rendering draw distance for most objects. Not recommended for gameplay.
• Idle Chatter SA2 Edition - A port of the similarly named Sonic Adventure DX mod for Sonic Adventure 2 that adds the ability to hear what the player's character has to say about the current stage. The function is mapped to Right on the D-pad due to the Input Mod not being available for Sonic Adventure 2.
• Chao World Extended - Adds new contents to the Chao Garden, while bringing back unused contents and adding a variety of ways to get a new kind of chao. HD GUI for Chao World Extended can also improve the resolution of its GUI elements.
• Enhanced Chao World - Another mod that includes its own fixes, quality-of-life improvements, restorations, and configurable features for the Chao World. Can be used in tandem with Chao World Extended.
• SA2 Animation & Physics Oddities Fix - Changes animations and physics in game to fix bugs and be more "predictable".
• Discord Rich Presence - Adds Discord's Rich Presence features into Sonic Adventure 2 when playing the game.

Co-op Story Mode

By using Cheat Engine after launching the game, two players can play the Story Mode co-operatively.

Address 0043D6EB must be set as 3D898989898989, Address 00439703 as 9090 and Address 01934BE4 as 1 for having Shadow as P2 (or : 0 - Sonic / 1 - Shadow / 2 - Mechless Tails/ 3 - Mechless Eggman/ 4 - Knuckles/ 5 - Rouge/ 6 - Mech Tails / 7 - Mech Eggman)

SA2 Save Utility

A utility designed to modify save files for the game. Can be downloaded here.

SA2 Save Converter

A utility that can convert main game and Chao Garden save files from the GameCube, Xbox 360/PlayStation 3, and PC versions to another platform. Can be downloaded here.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3000+	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	3 GB	6 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8600 ATI Radeon HD 3650 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible
Sound (audio device)	DirectX compatible