Sonic Adventure was first released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast and marked Sonic the Hedgehog's initial foray into a 3D game. Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut is the same game, plus a few extras, but now available for the Gamecube.

Sonic starts things off by helping the S.W.A.T. team dispatch a baddie in the middle of the street. This little introductory incident makes it clear that Sonic's old nemesis, Dr. Robotnik, is up to no good and will be taking out his frustrations on the kind folk of the city. Once the premise it out of the way it's time for the usual running, jumping, ring collecting and baddie-bumping. At times it's very much like the Sonic of old, with lots of high-speed spinning and scenery whizzing by. The rest is typical jumping around to avoid the bad guys and collecting rings for more points.

Right from the get-go, this game will remind you of the old Sonic games. The music, the cutesy lines during cut scenes and the overall style of the presentation are unmistakable. In that sense, you get the good along with the bad. The levels are pleasing to the eye, from sunlight effects to leaving footprints in the sand. The story scenes, however, are packed with silly, pointless dialogue and are pretty longwinded for what is supposed to be light-hearted entertainment.

As the game progresses you'll add to the list of playable characters. Each time Sonic finds one of his friends they're unlocked for your use. There are six total; Tails, Knuckles and Big the Cat among them. Each also has their own side adventures, new to the DX version, which you can put off for quite a while - until you want to unlock absolutely everything in the game. Collecting emblems in these missions and the rest of the game allows you to unlock the other new feature for this version of Sonic Adventure: All of Sonic's old Game Gear games. Depending upon how fondly you remember those, the extra work might be worth it.

Carrying an "E for Everyone" rating and crammed full of vibrant colors and cute characters, both good and bad guys, means kids can enjoy Sonic Adventure DX along with you or even by themselves. Like any jumping collection game it involves a fair amount of trial and error and hand-eye coordination that might be beyond some young kids. But if they're patient they'll probably do fine. As a frame of reference, my friend's five year-old, Miles, was having a blast once he realized he had to just go ahead and try something and see if it worked. Let's just say he wasn't happy when I wrestled the controller away and leave it at that.

Surround sound helps bring Sonic Adventure into the new century, and it's worth noting that the music used in Sonic games, including this one, is a significant high point. It's distinctive and doesn't get annoying as quickly or as often as many game soundtracks do. It does what background music should: It helps create an identity for the experience but stays in the background.

The real drawbacks to Sonic Adventure DX are things that could have and should have been fixed for a new version on a new console. Sonic and his buddies get hung up on scenery far too often and have trouble hitting what should be solid objects. Characters shouldn't fall through the floor for no reason. Add to that a camera that goes behind buildings and other parts of a level far too often, and an occasional slowdown when Sonic should be at his fastest, and you've got an unacceptable list of fundamental flaws in a game that's been on the shelf for four years.

If you love Sonic from back in the day and didn't play this game when it first came out, you'll no doubt enjoy Sonic Adventure on the Cube. But for everyone else: Sorry, no points here just for having a recognizable video game character. Presentation isn't everything but in this case it's very telling. Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut looks exactly like what it is: a thoroughly standard platform game from four years ago. It just doesn't hold up well compared to other games of its kind and if you already played it on the Dreamcast, you definitely aren't missing anything.