Friday, January 9, 2026

Arguments For And Against Theorized Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 Remakes

 

 
Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2 are unarguably some of Sega's biggest and most ambitious Sonic games to date. Sonic Adventure was also Sonic's big step from 2D to 3D. It seems crazy to me that you can't play these games properly on modern consoles such as Xbox Series X, PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2. So far if you don't have a Dreamcast, (or Nintendo Gamecube) the only way to actually play these games legally are on either Steam or Xbox Live Arcade, which is just a different port of the Steam version, which dates back to about 2010. Sonic Adventure is just a compressed adjustment of the 2003 Gamecube version, Sonic Adventure DX - Director's Cut, and while Sonic Adventure 2 on PC can include Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, the performance on Steam is very poor, buggy and glitchy. Sonic Adventure 2's Xbox Live Arcade version is a slight improvement but it still features very excessive bugs and control input lag issues. 
 
Back in 2019, Sonic Team Director Takashi Iizuka, expressed interest in remaking Sonic Adventure and the entire internet went into a frenzy. There was loads of high profile rumors that at the time Sega were already developing a Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 remake, but things may have been scrapped for one reason or another, or it was just being considered heavily at the time.

Somehow along the lines, Iizuka's preference of a Sonic Adventure remake has changed, speaking to Shack News back in 2025, 
 
“I am really appreciative of everyone who likes the Sonic Adventure series, but when I think about what it would take to bring that game up to the standards and expectations of what the modern gaming audience would want, I think it would be about as much time and energy as it would to make a new title, so part of me is thinking maybe I should just make a brand new title and that’s why there are currently no plans.”
 
To me this comment doesn't make any sense, especially coming after the successful release of Sonic X Shadow Generations. It is a shame because Sega don't have to actually remake Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 to please people, they could port the games to modern consoles in a new collection. 

I will share some good points as to why Sega should and should not consider doing something like this. 
 

For: Long time fan demand 

A Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 remake would please many Sonic fans and also introduce a brand new generation of young fans to these games. It is crazy to me that at such historical value these games are not included on any modern console properly. For years many fans asked Sega to bring back Classic Sonic. They did this with games like Sonic Generations, and Sonic Mania. When can it be the 3D era fans turn, Shadow Generations received several levels from Sonic Adventure 2, as did Sonic Racing Crossworlds. So they still acknowledge these games slightly in some way.
 

Against: Story Element Changes 

Judging by the recent release of the Sonic x Shadow Generations remake there was several story element changes that weren't in the game before, and many found them to be unnecessary. It is worrysome to think that if Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 ended up getting full scale remakes one day, that the story would be updated by Ian Flynn to suit today's standards.
 

For: Graphic Upgrades

See Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy for example, how great these games look now in modern graphics from the ground up. Sonic Adventure 1 & 2's graphics are heavily outdated. When they made the Sonic Adventure DX port in 2003, there were more graphical downgrades than upgrades. The game also suffered from compression issues, many cutscenes in the game looked worse than the original Dreamcast version and the rendering textures to the characters look bad. It would be really awesome if they make a Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 remake with the graphics and gameplay style of Sonic x Shadow Generations. With that same engine, they could do that easily. Even Sonic Generations was released back in 2011, for a Sonic game is still graphically outstanding. It would be great if Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 would look something like this one day.
 

Against: Music Changes 

There would be many music changes needed for a remake of Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 to happen. Unfortunately, Sega don't own a lot of the music rights to the old Sonic games, especially many songs from Sonic Adventure 1 & 2. Just ask the Crush 40 singer Johnny Gioeli who tried to sue Sega recently for unpaid loyalties and ownership of the song "Live & Learn". The courts didn't Live & Learn and dismissed Gioeli's lawsuit, which now leaves  the ownership of the song "In Limbo". I imagine that if a Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 remake ever were to happen one day, the songs would have had to be heavily remixed like on Sonic or Shadow Generations.
 

For: QOL Improvements

Even the 2010 Xbox Arcade and Steam version of Sonic Adventure is still in 4:3 and you can't change any of the aspect ratio background designs. You can't alter the graphics to Dreamcast or Gamecube versions. It's Sonic Adventure DX but with a more compressed input. (You can change graphics in games like Halo The Master Chief Collection from the original to new graphics) It even looks worse on Steam than it does on Gamecube. SA2 has some graphical problems on steam as well. It would be great to play these games in proper Widescreen mode instead of the graphics being pushed in. It would also be great if you could fix the sound levels between the game and music. They could even add an AI option for this and I wouldn't care. Just let us fix some of the audio levels between the music and voices. Even a straight up port could fix things like this up easily.
 

Against: Voice Cast Changes

Knowing Sega, they probably wouldn't go back to using the original voice actors from Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 to re-record gameplay dialogue if a remake of those games ever happened. Instead they would use the modern voice cast for the Sonic Games and that just wouldn't be as good or memorable as the original. If they would be straight up ports they could fix things up and use the old voices and not change too much other content. 
 

For: Take Advantage Of Modern Gaming Features

An Online mode for Sonic Adventure 2 Battle would be insane. The fact that it's 2026 and yet you can't play Sonic Adventure 2 Battle's multiplayer mode on Xbox with online friends is a true crime in itself. This would really work well if Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 would be ported to Switch Online for the Nintendo Switch 2 (I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do this for the upcoming 35th Anniversary of Sonic). Unfortunately it would just be the Nintendo Gamecube versions, but still, they're better than the current Steam version.
  

Against: Leave The Classics As They Are 

Yes, everyone might be yelling at Sonic Team to do a Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 remake. We have been doing this for years. But sometimes I think maybe it is best left the way they are. These games are by no means perfect, but they are just enjoyable and remind me of the great time that I had with these games. Maybe a full blown remake would ruin the experience.
 

For: Just Port Them! 

Instead of remaking the games, Sega could just port them to Switch, Xbox Series X or PS5 in a pack just like they did with Shenmue 1 & 2. They don't have to be brand new upscaled versions or anything, i'd be happy with a proper port of these games, one that's better than the Xbox Live Arcade versions! 
 
Anyway those are my thoughts as to why I think Sega should and Shouldn't remake Sonic Adventure 1 & 2. I think they are all valid reasons.  
 
  
 
 
 

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