Sonic Adventure 2/Hero Side

The Hero side is the story of the three playable "Good" characters, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, as well as the non-playable Amy Rose (who still has a major role in the story.) and their struggle to stop Eggman, who is once again trying to take over the world. It begins with a cutscene of Sonic, being held prisoner in an aircraft, who suddenly breaks out and leaps through a door into the air. He grabs a metal board and begins riding. After this video, the playable levels begin.

City Escape (Speed)
This first level starts out exactly where the cutscene leaves off, with Sonic falling out of the sky on his makeshift board. After a few seconds, he hits the streets of what looks to be San Francisco, and starts "snowboarding" down the hills. During this sequence, pressing the button will cause Sonic to brake, while the other controls act as normal. Cars appear on the street as obstacles, and running into them will cause Sonic to slow down as well. Additionally, ramps will appear as you move down the hill, and by performing a trick off of them by pressing at the right moment, you can score lots of points and potentially hit a few high-flying item boxes. As you descend down the hill, the cue that this sequence is going to end is a trolley. It's practically unavoidable, so just ram into it. After this, you'll lose the board and begin the regular portion of the level.

Once you land, start moving to the left. Be careful as you pass under the covered section, because a robot enemy will drop down. Follow the flow of the level until you hit two boxes stacked on top of each other blocking the way. To break them, perform a somersault. Once through jump on the rail and start grinding. Another opportunity to score points is by jumping from one grind rail to the next without touching the ground, so try this whenever possible. At last, head to the left once more and pass through the save point nearby, so you won't have to go through the boarding part again. The next segment of the level is much like the first, except this time instead of boarding, sonic is running. Use the same techniques as before, but note that you no longer have the ability to brake. After this sequence, you'll pass through a doorway. Be sure to jump as you pass through to hit the spring, which will make your grinding much faster. Once you run out of rails, pass up the ramp and you'll see several springs. Run to the one sticking off the edge of this ramp to progress. You should land near the next save point.

Follow the flow of the level once more until you come to a giant loop. You're about to start running headlong down this vertical building. This part is mostly done for you, so sit back until you bounce off the springs at the bottom. These springs will cause Sonic to launch forward and grab hold of a horizontal pipe. You will be swinging around it, and occasionally see a red afterimage. When this happens, press to release. If performed properly, it will launch you again into the air. If you manage to do this, you'll land on an upper platform, and to the right will extend a string of enemies. Perform homing attack after homing attack to reach the end. If you fail, don't despair, because there are floating hexagonal platforms that can be used to progress also. At the end of these is a spring to lead you to solid ground once more. Pass through the doorway, but watch out for the robot enemy dropping down again. Jump on the rail and start grinding away. At the end of the grind rails, go up the stairs (or alternatively use the afterimage technique to launch yourself there.) and hit the last checkpoint. There is a place to somersault under. Be careful, as this leads to the final stretch of the level, a chase scene.

The music changes, and suddenly a massive truck appears behind you! the camera is facing backwards so that you can see the truck, but you can't see what's coming at you as you run away. To help, a series of rings first appears in the right lane, then the left, and then on the left side is a ramp. Perform a trick off it to gain some extra ground from the truck. Another series of rings appears on the left, then right, then left again, immediately before another ramp. After those, there are more rings in the center. Finally, the truck rams into a bridge as Sonic passes under it with ease. A few speed boosters will launch you into the pit where the goal ring is located.

Boss Fight: Sonic vs. Big Foot
A GUN combat walker (mech, much bigger than Tails' or Eggman's, however.) has caught up to Sonic and is going to attempt to recapture him. First things first, grab a few rings, but not all of them; you'll need some saved up in case you should get hit and lose them. Big Foot immediately hovers into the air and begins flying around like a mosquito. Ignore it while it is in the air; you can't attack it. He will fire several gunshots as he strafes back and forth, destroying most of the wooden boxes in the process. Avoid these easily visible shots and keep moving. After 2-3 passes, he will be emboldened enough to attempt landing. This is your opportunity; hit him as fast as possible. He fires tracking missiles out while on the ground, so you'll need to be careful not to get hit by them while you try to attack (though a fast player can hit him before he even has a chance.) You can only deal one hit per landing, so once that's been done stay away. After three hits (it takes four to destroy him), his behavior changes slightly; he tends to spend more time in the air. So, take full advantage when he finally does land and blow that piece of junk sky high.

Wild Canyon (Treasure Hunting)
After several cutscenes, the action starts again. Knuckles and Rouge, arguing over the Master Emerald, have it stolen by Eggman. To prevent this, Knuckles destroys it, and both hunters decide to go after the shards of it for themselves. This first level is very easy; compared to the later ones, it's quite tiny, and so the number of possible locations for shards are few. Try not to use the hint monitors, as they will lower your score rather drastically, but if it starts taking too long, don't hesitate to get one. Unless you start off with a green (or higher) reading on a shard, immediately glide out into the wind current raising from the center of the stage. This will take you to the upper level of the stage, and this is where the emerald shards are most commonly located. They can be underground, hidden in debris, inside enemies, floating in the air, or even moving around. If you start to lose your reading, immediately return to where you were and start going in the opposite direction. If that doesn't help, try climbing a wall. Since this level is small, it's relatively easy to find a green signal.

Boss Fight: Tails vs. Eggman
This is the first time you get to play as Tails, and they start you off with a boss fight! No problem, Eggman is a simple boss. Just spam the Volkan Cannon (by pressing repeatedly) and it should be over in no time. Be sure that the laser is pointed at your enemy, however. If you do run into trouble, hold it down to lock on and face towards the rear of the stage (where you started from) and fire. It should hit a health box, which will bring Tails' Health to full, regardless of how low it is.

Prison Lane (Shooting)
The first shooting stage. To open many of the doors here, including the first one, it is necessary to destroy all enemies currently on the screen. The best method to do this is by locking on to them all so that you can also obtain a healthy bonus. When it seems that there is a dead end, stand near the end of the path and usually, a lift will take you up. After three doors, the enemies needed to open the door tend to be harder to find. On the fourth door, be sure to lock on to the floating enemy that just passed in front of the screen. Keep moving down the hallways until you come to a large pile of wooden boxes. Use the Volkan Cannon to destroy them and pass through. A robot enemy will drop down from the ceiling, and it must be destroyed before you can continue. Step on the lift, head down the hall, and you'll see a floating enemy in it. This enemy can be targeted multiple times, so try to hit as many pieces as you can before destroying it for extra points. Be careful as you pass through this hall, as flying enemies will swoop in and ram you. Once past them, turn left to see a save point. Hit it, and immediately destroy the robot sitting in front of it. The door will open so that you may continue. There are two more doors right after this with obvious enemies locking it.

Once past these, stand on the lift and move up. On the other side are four flying enemies, so lock on and blast them all. The next door will open. After two more flying enemies, there is a boiler-like tank blocking the way. Unlike the wooden boxes, this obstacle must be locked on to. There are 3 lock on points, so hit them all. Keep moving to a room with a platform that raises itself up a wide shaft. Flying enemies are all over in the empty side of that room. Lock on to as many as possible as you move up for extra points. At the top is the next save point. Hit it, and continue through the next door after clearing out the rest of the flying enemies. Destroy the boxes to reveal a locked door and the Robot enemy behind it. Lock on to it and the three flying enemies behind it, and keep moving. Stand next to the locked door and soon the robot that needs to be destroyed will drop from the ceiling. Ignore the lift on the right side and destroy the wooden boxes so that you can continue down the hall.

Another enemy that can be targeted several times is in front of a wide door. Blow it up and proceed on to the lift on the left side. Step from one lift to the next, then get ready for another of the multi-part enemies. As you continue, you'll notice a locked door to the left. Turn around, facing toward the right corner of the platform, and lock on to a distant robot. The door will open, and Tails can pass down the hall. When you next run into wooden boxes, do NOT destroy them. Instead, use them as steps to get up to the next platform. On this one, step to the lift at the far end and keep going. Two robots await you at the top, so be ready to lock on. Head to the right and down that hallway, but first take out the five flying enemies that can be seen through the bars. Turn down the path again and hit two robots to unlock the next door. Head to the right and take out a robot and a Flying enemy to get through this one. As you exit the hall, be careful of the robot that jumps down. Hit this next save point and lock on to two far-off robots in the locked hallway ahead. The door will open, and then immediately start locking on again to hit three flying enemies behind a wide door. Once those have been defeated, stand where they were and turn right to hit three robots that fall from the ceiling. They will open a side gate. Head through there and stand on a lift to see the final enemy in the room, a flying one high out of reach. Lock on to it and the correct door will open. Jump off the lift and use the other to proceed. Lock on to three more robots as you head down this hallway, and you will see the goal ring behind a locked door, guarded by many enemies of all kinds. Don't worry about locking on to as many as possible, just destroy them quickly or their combined firepower will tear your mech apart. Once every enemy guarding the Goal is defeated, the door will open and you can walk on through.