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@OddHunter: Controls and camera angles in 3D games have improved with time, I believe that is something that can be attributed to trial and error, Sonic Adventure was released during the"transition era". 3D games were a new frontier like motion gaming, they didn't know better. The controls and camera in SA1 and 2 are outdated, that's why critics pan it now even though they praised it when it came out. Look up Gamespot and IGN's reviews of the Dreamcast versions they're both in the 9s if memory serves.
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Just because the controls were new and scary then it doesn't mean they could ever be considered "good", especially not now.
I don't judge the graphics of older games because the technology was literally not good enough for anything better.
But they were clearly capable of producing full 3D games at the time SA1 was released. The technology was evidently there, they just were unable to implement it in a good way - they only got away with it because there was nothing to compare it to at the time.
Besides, even then people noticed:
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To further the problems caused by this lack of consistency, the cameras for Sonic Adventure, though they have been cleaned up considerably from the oftentimes painful Japanese release, are still incredibly frustrating at points. Slowing down only manages to be such a pain because the abrupt camera switches you normally don't notice because you're flying by them are all now painfully apparent, and the controls have a nasty habit of being dependant on he viewpoint. So much so, in fact, that you've got my personal guarantee that they will kill you more than you're lack of gameplay skills, or Anoop will eat his copy of Pen Pen.
I just can't tell you how many times I cursed at the screen like a sailor due to some sort of visually impaired demise. There is nothing more annoying than busting your ass for 20 minutes to get through a level only to bite it right before the next checkpoint because the camera has just swapped the absolute definitions of left and right at your expense. The sad part is, as much as I loved the game, it got so frustrating that I just had to walk away. The checkpoints seem so few and far between, and the most ill-conceived angles always found a way to crop up a good 10 minutes into an area, right after a seriously demanding sequence of jumps and maneuvers. What resulted was yet another visit to the better parts of a good 50% of the game's levels, and regardless of what anyone will tell you, this is not fun after about the 30th time.
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One of the biggest complaints in the Sonic Adventure, camera control problems, has been fixed... somewhat. When you play in Sonic and Shadow's games, there aren't many viewing problems and as far as I can remember, camera angle problems didn't surface when playing the shooting sequences of Eggman and Tails. But once you get into the adventure (AKA item searching) games of Knuckles and Rouge, you'll definitely encounter some annoying camera control troubles. When searching for items, large open areas are quite easy to navigate. It's the small areas, cramped corridors, and other hard-to-view rooms that make camera control a real chore. While there's not a whole lot of enemies to encounter in the Knuckle/Rouge games, it's aggravating when you're trying to grab an item by "guesstimation."
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As a side note, camera controls have been an issue with Sonic games for a long time; up until about Unleashed, I reckon.