Although IGN had this interview on their IGN Insider, they have released the interview to the public! check it out.
IGNDC: Will there be online features for Sonic Adventure 2?
TI: Right now we’re still in the planning stages of our online features, and while it hasn’t been completed yet, basically the player will play the game and once they complete a stage or level, they’ll receive a certain ranking. And through the Internet, they’ll be able to upload their score and see how he ranks against other players on a worldwide basis.
IGNDC: Having played through the game numerous times, we’ve been able to see the big changes in Sonic Adventure 2 in terms of the faster gameplay and improved frame rate. What other major improvements have been made in Sonic Adventure 2 over Sonic Adventure?
TI: (laughs) There are so many, it’s pretty hard to answer that. Obviously we wanted to make Sonic Adventure 2 run at 60 frames per second and design the stages so that when you play the game, you feel like you’re going a lot faster. And then, the two-player versus modes was the next big benchmark after we established the 60 frames per second.
And for the future of Sonic’s actions, instead of blazingly running through a stage, we’ve given him more actions so he’s not just constantly running. So he’ll run, he’ll grind on a rail, then he’ll spin dash into an obstacle, etc. It’s not just about running fast; we wanted to create a “tempo” for the action.
IGNDC: Speaking of the two-player mode, right now in our preview version, there are three versus games – Sonic Vs, Shadow, Tails Vs. Dr. Eggman, and Knuckles Vs. Rouge. Are there any more mini-games planned and will other characters be able to battle each other (i.e. Sonic Vs Tails)?
TI: Ahh… well, that’s your preview version (smiles). For that preview version, we’ve only included one stage per versus game. With the full version, you’ll see a lot more stages for each versus mode. I really can’t say too much about the versus games yet, but there are two other versus modes we’re thinking about incorporating outside of the three that you’ve played.