Sonic Advance 3

"A great addition to the 2D Sonic series, despite a flawed teamwork gimmick"

Sonic Advance 3 is one of the few 2D Sonic games that attempts to put a different spin on the classic gameplay. While this is met with mixed results, the game's core is as ripe with fun and excitement as any of Sonic's other adventures.

Like all 2D Sonic games before it, the premise is pretty simple. You navigate your character through seven maze-like Zones, each a central hub, three Acts, and a boss battle, at break neck speeds. And since the speed at which your character travels is the main draw of the series, the game throws many roller coaster-like elements at you, such as loop-de-loops, spiraling road, and routes that have you running on the ceiling itself. You'll also have to contend with a multitude of traps that try to use your speed against you. If you're moving too fast, you won't catch that bed of spikes that waits at the end of the path in time to jump over it. Couple this with some clever enemy placement and tricky platforming, and you have some pretty complex level design.

This is where Sonic Advance 3 really shines: it's level design. It's some of the best in all of 2D Sonic games. The levels have various routes for the player to choose from, and do a very nice job of balancing out the amount of running with the amount of platforming. The game doesn't skimp on any elements that make Sonic levels so much fun to traverse, but they aren't so complex to where you are unsure of where to go next, ala Knuckles' Chaotix.

And now for the meat of Sonic Advance 3: it's new teamwork gimmick. Most Sonic games have the player's character and an NPC playing “follow the leader,” but more often than not this serves no real purpose. Sonic Advance 3 took this element and evolved it into something that, on the surface, seems useful. You choose one of five characters to control, and another to be your partner. Your choices are Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream. Every combination yields critters with different abilities. Pair Sonic up with Knuckles, and both characters will have a different move-set than they would have had if you paired them up with Amy, for example.

The problem with this is that a lot of the different moves are quite useless. Using the example above, Sonic gains a worthless bounce attack when partnered with Knuckles, and the echidna loses his trademark glide and wall climb techniques in favor of some stupid air dash. This plethora of pointless attacks and techniques makes pairing up characters less fun than it could be. Since Sonic and Knuckles' abilities leave much to be desired when together, you are opted to choose a partner for Sonic that you aren't really fond of. Granted, in single player, being this picky is more about cosmetic reasons, but it will come into play when you choose 2-player mode. You will probably get stuck with a move-set you don't want, unless you and your friend can compromise. Fortunately, every character is able to retain their classic move-list, provided they are paired up with the right partner. Obviously, when Sonic and Tails are partners, they keep their traditional abilities. Pair Knuckles up with Cream if you would like Knuckles to be able to glide and climb walls, without any of that fancy stuff to get in the way.

The other benefit that two characters over one grants is the ability to work together for Tag Actions. These basically involve your partner performing one of their abilities while you tag along for the ride. You have two available to you: one on the ground and one in the air. These are always the same, regardless of who the leader is. That is to say, each character has specific Tag Actions that they will perform for the leader. If Sonic is the leader and Tails is his partner, performing the tag action while on land will have Tails launching Sonic into the air for a sort of super jump. Performing the Tag Action while airborne will allow Tails to use his propeller flight ability while Sonic holds onto his hands and gets a lift. These actions are purely optional; they don't really contribute to the levels or compliment them. They are just there to make life easier, as now Sonic has the ability to reach those places that he never could on his own. Exploring the level is easier now, but getting to the end won't be affected in any way.

One other minor annoyance about the new team play is the AI of your partner. To be blunt, it sucks. You won't even see your partner for 90% of any given level, and it's like they don't even exist. As far as I can tell, it's because they react too slowly to your actions. They start running too long after you started, and jump too long after you did. Unlike Tails in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, they don't catch up with you immediately either. Not a particularly important thing, but to one who was looking forward to watching Sonic and Knuckles fight side-by-side, I found it very irritating. Having a human control your partner is probably very entertaining, but you have to talk them into buying the game first (this type of play requires 2 cartridges).

Looking at this teamwork angle as a whole, I can't tell whether it succeeded or failed. It sounds good on paper, but once you experience it, you'll see that all it boils down to is choosing the moves for the character you control, the majority of which are pretty worthless. Perhaps if pairing up the characters in different ways had no affect on what moves they are able to perform, and the player was able to switch between control of each character on the fly (you can't do this at all, by the way), it would have been more enjoyable. As it stands, it's just a way of fooling people into believing that it adds another dimension to Sonic gameplay, when in reality it changes nothing.

Moving off of gameplay, pretty much everything else about Sonic Advance 3 is top-notch. The graphics are fantastic, just like Sonic Advance 1 and 2 before it. The animation in particular is very impressive, as every move is very detailed and has many frames. Watching your character pick up speed from a walking pace, to a jog, into a full run is particularly enjoyable to watch. The levels are also very colorful and contain lovely backgrounds. Fans of the series will really appreciate Sunset Hill, the second level, as it's the first Green Hill styled zone taking place at a different time of day, accompanied by a beautiful sunset (not to mention the fact that it's not the first level). Sonic Advance 3's soundtrack isn't too shabby either. It's a huge improvement over Sonic Advance 1, at the very least. It goes back to the Genesis era, capturing the same sort of up-beat, catchy melodies of certain level themes and dramatic, melancholy themes of others. While not quite matching the quality of the Genesis games' soundtracks, Sonic Advance 3's is still nothing to scoff at and should appeal to those who hold the old Sonic music in such high regard. Did I mention that SA3 features some amazing remixes of Sonic the Hedgehog 1's Green Hill theme? Any self-respecting Sonic fan will be giddy when they hear them. All the more reason to love Sunset Hill Zone. Sound effects: typical Sonic stuff. Nothing I really need to point out. Well, there is a little bit of speech, like an announcer and a few short sentences said by the characters, but it's nothing important.

As far as play time goes, Sonic Advance 3 should occupy your time long enough. The Chaos Emeralds are present and collectible, a task that will increase the life of the game ten fold. To even get into the special stages, you first have to find and rescue 10 Chao hidden across all three Acts of each Zone. After that's done, you have to find a special key randomly placed in any Act of that Zone for every time you plan on attempting the special stage. A huge pain in the butt. You may even opt to pick up a strategy guide to help you in your hunt, because the little buggers are hidden pretty darn well. Chaos Emeralds aside, Sonic Advance 3 is not a particularly long or challenging game, so you'll be able to finish it fairly quickly. However, the very nature of the game will probably have you popping it into your GBA for a few quick romps through your favorite Zone long after you've completed it.

Last of all is the story. I mention it now because it doesn't seem to exist. The instruction manual says something about Robotnik using Chaos Control, but that's pretty much it. Nothing unfolds while you progress through the game, so who really cares?

And now, my final verdict: rent or buy? It is in my opinion that Sonic Advance 3 is quite worthy of your $30. If you're a Sonic fan, rest assured that this game won't disappoint you. You came for great level design, fast gameplay, and a great soundtrack; you got ‘em. If you're a fan of platformers in general, or are just looking for a fun game that doesn't demand a lot of your time, then Sonic Advance 3 is the game for you.

One final note: In case you're wondering, no, there is no Chao raising. You rescue them, and that's it. That's all they ask of you.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/04