Sonic Advance 3

"The perfect game for 2004, and I'm not talking about the year"

When I got Sonic Advance, I was disappointed with the game. Sure, it was full of puzzles, but it didn't seem to have the speed that made Sonic games great. When I received Sonic Advance 2 for Christmas, my mood changed when I heard that the game's focus was on speed. Little did I know that my thumb would get numb from holding the pad in the eastward direction for most of the game. The bosses were a bunch easier, and the special stages were a headache to get to. Sure, the special stages are even harder to access in Sonic Advance 3, but that's what makes the game so great: A perfect balance of speed and strategy.

Story: 10/10
In the previous titles, the threat was always the same. Dr. Eggman always created an ultimate machine that was supposed to take over the world. This machine is either defeated by Sonic or defects, goes against Dr. Eggman, and is defeated by Sonic. This game is no exception. Dr. Eggman is out for the chaos emeralds again, and his reason for collecting them is the same as most Sonic games. He needs all the chaos emeralds to bring full power into his latest creation: Gmel. This new robot is based off of Emerl, a robot found by Dr. Eggman in Sonic Battle. This new robot is supposed to be more powerful than the original one. When Dr. Eggman collects all of the emeralds, he will have the power to rule the world alongside his robot creation (yeah, riiight). Sonic and his best bud, Tails, have to stop Dr. Robotnik yet again. Later on they will meet up with three other characters that you can play with later on. The main objective is to collect all of the chaos emeralds to stop Dr. Eggman from creating the ultimate robot and ruling the world.

Game Play: 10/10
Remember Sonic Heroes for the Nintendo Gamecube/Playstation 2/Xbox? This game has some similarities with Sonic Heroes in reference that it isn't like the other Sonic games in the Advance series. When you start out the game, you will pick a main character to play with, but you are also required to choose a second character. You can't control the second character, but the second character can help you out in many ways. If you choose Sonic as the main character, you can use Tails' abilities to your advantage. If you need to reach a high area, you just hold the tag team action button, charge it up, and release it when you're on the ground. Then Tails will shoot you high in the air. If you happen to be in the air when the button is released, then you can fly around! Just keep pressing the jump button and you'll be able to fly for a short time. On the other hand, if you have Sonic as the secondary character, you can get an instant boost of speed as if you passed by a speed booster. Along with these new additions, the classic ones are still there. You can still jump, can still spin dash, and you can still look up and down. If you stop and do nothing for a while, Sonic and Tails will go into their waiting poses.
What I like about the game play now is the fact that the stages are different. Sonic Advance 1 had its stages mainly focused on strategy. There were plenty of puzzles to be solved, but the game didn't have the speed element that makes Sonic games so great. Realizing their mistake, Sonic Advance 2 was made, and thus another mistake was born. This game's stages focused on speed, but it didn't make the player think. In many of the levels, all I did was hold right and jump occasionally. The strategy element was totally stripped from the levels, although the bosses had some. The bosses were different, though--you had to defeat them by running and jumping. These involved strategy, but it provided some with headaches and left others unsatisfied. As they say, "third time's the charm", and they were right. Not wanting to make another mistake, Sonic Advance 3 was created. The levels had the speed element, which allowed the player to go at top speeds, and they had the strategy element as well. In other words, you couldn't hold right throughout the whole stage; if you did, you'd most likely die, especially in the later levels. The bosses were changed as well. Not too many people liked the whole "run and fight" method, so the original strategy was integrated back into the games. These bosses are much harder than the bosses of the other Advance games, though, which provide people with more satisfaction after they beat them.
To sum all of this up, the game play of this game is marvelous. Controlling the characters has never presented a better challenge before. You have to not only master the timing of jumps now but also the cooperation and skills of your second player. The bosses now are harder than ever, which will give you a headache (in this case, that's a good thing). If you are looking for a solid game with great game play, this one takes the cake.

Graphics: 10/10
Just when you thought the graphics couldn't get any better, this game comes along. The character animations are pretty much the same from the other Advance games, only better. When running with Sonic, the formation of his spikes seems to change, which adds to the feeling of speed. When you touch a speed booster with Sonic—or you touch a speed booster while Sonic is your secondary character—you'll see the shadow of the character behind the main sprite. The scenery of the levels is also greatly improved. When you jump on something, it actually looks like it could be real. The interaction with the character and the level goes so well; there are hardly any glitches at all. I have never fallen through the floor nor have I escaped getting squashed by finding a glitch in the graphics.
The backgrounds of these levels are magnificent. In previous levels, all you would see is a couple graphics, but in these levels you see...well...the level. Sometimes these backgrounds can get distracting due to the craziness of it all, like balloon constantly rising and colors moving all about like some sort of rainbow asylum. It gets even more chaotic when you enter a special stage for a chaos emerald. It's understandable that you have to go through chaos to get a chaos emerald, but I never expected anything like this. These special stages are a combination of Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic Advance stages. The goal is to collect the required ring amount. In the first few stages, this is simple, but the later stages can prove to be quite difficult. Enough about the stages' purpose, time for the evaluation. The top part of the stage is related to Sonic 2 because it looks like a half-pipe, only hollowed. The bottom part is related to Sonic 3 because it looks like the same bottom part used in Sonic 3 special stages. The fact that you have to collect rings to get the chaos emerald is...well...actually, that isn't just related to Sonic Advance but for most other Sonic games as well. When playing in these special stages the graphics are never out-of-place, rather they are perfectly in-place. The special stages are vibrant and alive with color and insanity, which provides for some "jolly good fun."
The graphics of the bosses have also been greatly improved. These bosses are now highly detailed and move way more than the bosses in the older Advance games. After a boss is defeated, the animation of it blowing up is both spectacular and hilarious. I don't think the developers of this game could have done any better with the bosses' design. After defeating a boss, you are "transported" to this warp area. You'll get to see your characters running through what appears to be a checkered ground and a rainbow sky. Such graphics give a pseudo 3-D feeling to the game, which makes it feel even more advanced than I originally thought. Overall, the graphics of this game go beyond my expectations.

Sound: 10/10
Watching the intro alone is enough to make a person tingle. The sound doesn't sound like random beeping anymore; it actually has some form to it. The intro sounds pretty good, as do the levels. Plus, each Act of each Level has different music to it, but it keeps the general tune. The boss music is simply fantastic, almost making it sound like it's from a soundtrack instead of GBA music. When you enter a special stage, the music is loud and "in charge." It is a mixture of a little kid's tune and the loudness that teens enjoy.
Most of the same little tidbits of sound are still there. When you jump, you are greeted with that familiar jumping sound. When you collect a ring, you hear the same sound as if you were back in Sonic 1. The spin dash, in my opinion, has been improved to a small degree but is, nevertheless, as good as the original. When getting the speed shoes, the music speeds up, and when you hit an invincibility box, you can feel your invincibility as you zoom through the stage. To put it clear as crystal, the sound in this game rocks.

Controls: 10/10
Most of the controls in this game are simple, yet complicated. There's a button to jump, a pad to move you in the corresponding direction, and a button to pause, all of which are simple. There's a combination of buttons that allow you to do a special attack, which can be complicated if you don't know what you are doing. These combinations are easily learned and can be performed without thinking after they have been practiced. Controlling Sonic, or any other character, isn't difficult when he is in normal mode. Add in speed shoes, and it can be quite the challenge not to fall off a complicated stage. Add in 300 rings, and you'll be nervous about losing those rings, thus making Sonic harder to control. Add in invincibility, and you'll be going faster, but you'll still be easy to control. Add in a shield, and you'll be worried that the shield will break. Add in speed shoes, 300 rings, invincibility, and a shield, well...such things can happen in a game as crazy as this.

Challenge: 10/10
This challenge in this game, when compared with other Advance games, is astronomical. The levels aren't a simple "hold right" type anymore, oh no--you have to master the timing of jumps, figure out puzzles, and find 10 chao. Finding all 10 chao allow you to start finding the keys that hold the opportunity at a chaos emerald (and these chao are HARD to find). The bosses are now smarter than before, and some of them are even totally random, which makes planning a strategy difficult. The special stages are really easy in the beginning but are almost impossible in the end. The levels themselves aren't a "walk in the park" anymore; completing each one of them with a time that gets you a gold medal will take you as long as a short RPG. I must admit, the developers of this game did a good job with the challenge, maybe almost too good.

The Bottom Line: If you liked Sonic Advance 1 & 2, you'll absolutely love this game. If you disliked Sonic Advance 1 & 2, you'll absolutely love this game. If you don't like Sonic period, this game should still be considered. If you're absolutely "Sonic crazy", I suggest asking a teacher before playing this, because you will probably miss some school. In my opinion, this, next to Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, is the best Sonic game ever created.

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/04