Sonic Advance
Reviewed by Dogg
Well Tekken Advance surely surprised us because it
actually brought the good old franchise to a system
that's well pretty small. Well that was Tekken and
this is Sega. Ever since Sega announced that it would
make games for all consoles I knew it was a good
thing. But what will happen to Sega's favorite
mascot, the one that they call Sonic. Well Sega will
bring Sonic to the smaller corner and that is on
Nintendo's side. The first Sonic game for a Nintendo
console or a handheld now comes at the hands of Sonic Advance.
Sonic Advance at most looks exactly like the Genesis
titles that started Sonics career long ago. However,
thanks to the technology stir the Game Boy Advance
can make a Genesis title seem like a good old SNES
title and that is definitely a good thing. Sonic
Advance features enough features for a Sonic game,
but for some small reasons the game distinguishes
itself and gets lost somewhere in the process. Also
in a way Sonic Advance is definitely no Sonic the
Hedgehog 4 because like those old Sonic games, Sonic
Advance is nowhere near perfect and nowhere near the
caliber in which those games achieved. Sonic Advance
also has its ups and down, its warms and its colds,
its share of wealth and its share of dexterity and
problems.
Sonic Team at best however, did a good job and the
move on bringing back the good old roots of Sonic was
at least successful. The story follows a common theme
that seems to keep on circling around the Sonic
games. Dr. Robotnik steals all the Chao emeralds and
goes to eliminate Sonic and his friends with his
newest plan. While yes it lacks innovation, but the
game play surely makes up for it. Throughout the game
you can play as 4 different characters who have all
had a small tie within Sonic the Hedgehog's past.
These characters include Sonic himself, Miles ÒTails"
Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose. Each one
of these characters is balanced differently and each
one of these characters has a special move that no
one else has. For example Tails can fly easily to the
air thanks to his tail, while Knuckles can make a
soaring jump and then if he hits a wall he won't get
off till he reaches the top. Sonic Advance offers up
7 zones and 2 acts are available for each zone
(except the final zone). Once you beat the second act
of a zone you will then fight against a boss. Bosses
are all different even though Dr. Robotnik is the
boss of every one (and Knuckles who happens to be the
boss of one as well). Each boss encounter is always
something different. At times Robotnik will use his
machine and a big mallet to try to take you out,
while in other levels he will simply try to stomp and
land right on top of you.
The game play in this game is very irrelevant to the
old Sonic Sega Genesis games. Simply run around to
the end of the level while collecting many rings,
avoiding all sorts of hazards, beating the boss, then
you will free the citizens (or animals if you
propose) captured by Robotnik. The way each level
each played is varied half of the time. This is
because it all depends on which character you play.
Thanks to their abilities more and more parts of a
level can be found and the way of finally passing a
level will come down to a simple degree of you
collecting as many coins as possible. The levels in
this game are also a joy. Each level is wonderfully
mastered and wonderfully created that you can
actually see how much work Sega put into this part of
the game. Each level has its own twists and turns,
its own ups and downs and this at the heart of the
game proves that Sonic Advance is truly an exact
replica of Sega's own creation. While the levels are
splendid there happens to still be a problem. That
problem is that this game has too few levels, is too
easy, and at the end Sonic Advance will prove to be
no challenge. At times I simply just ran to the end
of the level, jumped when I saw an enemy, collected
the rings, and then I beat the level in under half a
minute. Where's the challenge? Where's the share of
depth that I was supposed to experience by playing
this game.
Sonic Advance to be put simply sounds and looks
really good. The graphics in this game at best
resemble the graphics seen in past Sonic games,
except these look better. The character models and
the levels themselves are well designed and
good-looking. The characters in this game not only
are animated well, but their abilities furthermore
are done very well. At best SA's graphics are warm at
heart and good by temptation. The music in the game
should surprise players of the Genesis games even
more because many of the tunes (or melodies) are
taken right from those games. Also the familiar
themes of you getting hit by something or the
reaction to when you power-up is also very well done
and in a way well composed. In a way both the
graphics and the music in this game will not only
surprise and delight, but in a way they are a
comfortable fit of what people have come to like in
these Sonic games.
In addition to a beefy and well-rounded single player
mode Sonic Advance offers up some more things that
can both please and delight. There is a Vs. Mode
where you and an opponent race to the end of the
level through link cable play and there is also a
Mini Chao Garden in which you raise little monsters
called Chao and then you must play mini games with
them in order to get more rings and in order to take
care of your Chao and further develop it. This mini
Chao feature also is used in connectivity with the
Nintendo Game Cube in which you trade Chao to each
games appropriate garden and things like that. There
is also a Time-Attack Mode in this game, which
challenges you time and time again to beat your
existing time record for an area in which you
cleared.
Sonic Advance also offers up a nice amount of replay
value. Despite that the game is short, Sonic Advance
should be played over and over again thanks to its
character selection and its own-barraged modes.
Overall Sonic Advance is a strong entry in the
platform genre as it is a strong entry in the GBA
library. Its colorful graphics, nice sound, and
overall above average game play make this game both a
surprise, if not a delightful experience.
Pros
+ Above average game play
+ Sweet looking graphics
+ Nice selection of tunes and a nice music score
+ Choose from 4 of the best characters in Sonics career
+ Tons of modes which can expand the game play
+ Each character shares their very own abilities
Cons
- Too easy
- Too short
- Enemies can be really cheap at times
- The ending is nothing worth recommending
Overall: 8 out of 10