Sonic News Network:Sonic Level Tournament/Week 8

Today begins the eighth week of the Ultimate Sonic Level Tournament! Inspired by the Sonic News Network's extremely popular Ultimate Sonic Character Tournament held in 2010, the Sonic Level Tournament has chosen a total of 256 stages, and you, the judges, will narrow down the competition until only one stage is crowned the most popular stage in the Sonic the Hedgehog series!

This week we continue our duel between Sonic Advance vs. Sonic Battle and begin our duel between Sonic Advance 2 vs. Sonic Advance 3. ''Note that each stage represents every appearance they have had in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog series. Please vote accordingly.''

You have one week! Vote below!



“Your World ends in 5 minutes!” Egg Rocket is the twelfth stage and 6th zone in the original Sonic Advance. Somewhere in a barren Canyon where many Robotic Towers build by Eggman lay, the stage starts off with you running into a robotic tower. Not too soon after the ground starts to shake and then abruptly stop. From intrigue alone you then check to see what that was, only to find out that the tower was actually a rocket and that you have 5 minutes to ascend the rocket before you die. Just as Security Hall from SA2, Egg Rocket is heart-pounding intense and is guaranteed to make you sweat like you went on a run going as fast as Sonic. In order to make it to the top of the rocket you must have speed, precision and skill, all things that are not easy to have in a game as hard as this. One sad slip up and you’ll be going in circles. Not to mention having a theme famous for being incredibly epic and fitting for the intensity of the stage. After all is done your treated to the final stage of the game, Eggman’s space station Cosmic Angel Zone...

“Chao Ruins, heh…that’s an odd way of spelling Mystic Ruins” Chao Ruins is Knuckle’s stage in Sonic Battle. This arena is located at Holy Summit. The arena has small open areas with ancient stone pillars located in the corners and sticking out into the middle of the stage. These stone pillars also have some sort of Chao hieroglyphics on the sides of them highly reminiscent of certain area in Sonic Adventure (*cough* *cough* Mystic Ruins). On another note the whole stage does do a good job in describing Knuckles in a level form, the stone pillars looking similar to the ones found on Angel Island and the forest type level being associated with Knuckles since S3&K. With lively metal music the stage does a good job of what it’s supposed to be, a forest type level where Knuckles is found.

Which is the better stage? Egg Rocket Zone Chao Ruins



Cosmic Angel is the seventh level of Sonic Advance and acts as the second act of the previous level Egg Rocket Zone. It is a gigantic space station that Dr. Eggman plans to use to take over the world. There are tons of Badniks patrolling the whole area and there are also numerous pits that the heroes could fall into. Being in space, this level has several parts where the gravity forces Sonic and his friends to walk on the ceiling instead of on the floor. Eggman mech this time is the Egg Snake, a cylinder shaped vehicle with spikes on the bottom that travels along a bridge of spheres. Eggman tries to ram the spikes into the heroes, so they must flip the Eggman right side-up in order to hit the cockpit. When this mech is beaten, the heroes chase the doctor into space...

Metal Depot is an arena from Sonic Battle and it works as Gamma's territory. It is located in Dr. Eggman's base for the game, Gimme Shelter which, itself, is located in Night Babylon. This arena is a long weapon depot full of upper sections that makes it easy to get lost, especially for slow, heavy fighters.

Which is the better stage? Cosmic Angel Metal Depot



Amy's Room is an arena in Sonic Battle and works as Amy's territory. Basically, this is the place where Amy lives in this game, with lots of drawers with pictures of her on them (which can be used as platforms)and there is even a Chao rug and a Sonic rug. It is located on the west side of Central City.

Battle Highway is an arena from Sonic Battle and works as Shadow's territory. It is a wide open highway located in Central City where Shadow likes to hang out. There are numerous walls placed around that are used as upper-sections and it is actually possible to hide behind them to deliver a surprise attack.

Which is the better stage? Amy's Room Battle Highway



Leaf Forest is the first level of Sonic Advance 2. Like most first levels in Sonic games, this one is a lush green field that is similar to the Green Hill Zone. Leaf Forest differs from other with it's weirdly shaped mountains in the background. Aside from that, there's really not much to talk about. The first boss in this game is the Egg Hammer Tank 2, an upgraded version of the Egg Hammer Tank from the previous game. This one has a hand used to keep Cream the Rabbit hostage. Once Sonic beats Dr. Eggman, Cream becomes playable.

Sunset Hill is the second level of Sonic Advance 3. This level is another Green Hill Zone look-alike level, except this one is not the first level. The one thing that sets this apart from the other look-alikes is the beautiful sunset background. Aside from that, it's just another Green Hill Zone-like level. Dr. Eggman's mech this time is the Egg Ball No.2. This mech is just a giant ball that rolls around with one weak spot. Once beaten, Knuckles becomes playable.

Which is the better stage? Leaf Forest Sunset Hill



Hot Crater is the second level of Sonic Advance 2. It is a wide volcanic area that Dr. Eggman took over in order to harness geothermal energy to use as resources. Not only there's lava around, but there are also tons of machines being patrolled by numerous Badniks. The layout of this level is very similar to the one from Red Mountain from Sonic Adventure. Dr. Eggman's machine of choice for this level is the Egg Bomber Tank. It is a large tank than can shoot bombs at the heroes. The method of defeating it is pretty self-explanatory.

Route 99 is the first level of Sonic Advance 3. It is a wide urban city set under a nice blue sky. This a bit odd since most Sonic games start in a green nature field, but it is a nice place to run around. Sonic and Tails must begin their adventure here to undo all the damage Dr. Eggman as done to the world. Speaking of the good doctor, the machine he decided to use to hinder Sonic and Tails' progress is the Egg Hammer 3, the successor of the Egg Hammers 1 and 2 from the previous games. This one is a big hammer that swings left and right and tries to crush our two furry heroes.

Which is the better stage? Hot Crater Route 99





Toy Kingdom is the fourth zone in SA3, and is the zone where Amy becomes playable. This zone appears to be a theme park aimed at small children. It also contains elephant slides and panda teacup rides. There are also. The toys that live here can either be gimmicks or enemies, such as a spring box that can either help you or hurt you. This zone is probably considered to be Disneyland of the Sonic franchise.

Which is the better stage? Music Plant Toy Kingdom



Ice Paradise is an icy level in Sonic Advance 2, and it follows Music Plant, and precedes Sky Canyon. The level is full of ice and snow, and the background shows a town of some sort, which lights are coming out of, into the night sky. The players that are able to play this level are Sonic, Cream, Knuckles, Amy and Tails. There are walls are yellow and white, which players are able to climb up. The boss in this level is the Areo Egg.

Twinkle Snow is the fifth zone in Sonic Advance 3, and it similar somewhat to Ice Paradise. They both have similar Ice themed environments, but the main difference between the two levels is that Ice Paradise takes place near a city, while Twinkle Snow takes place in the middle of a frozen wasteland with caves filled with crystals. Aside from the slightly different setting, however, both levels are pretty much the same. Dr. Eggman machine of choice for this level is the Egg Chaser. It's a machine that chases the heroes all the way up to a large ice tower. When this boss is defeated, Amy becomes playable.

Which is the better stage? Ice Paradise Twinkle Snow



“A leap of Faith into the other half of the game” Sky Canyon is the fifth zone in Sonic Advance 2 and the tenth stage. Now by this point in the game you’re wondering when it will get a little harder. After all the game’s about half way done and so far you’ve been breezing through SA2 going fast, doing the occasional jumps. However within the first 20 seconds, maybe even 10 if you count foreshadowing you know you’re in for something “different”. For starters the bottom of the screen is covered by clouds so for the most part you’ll be making leaps of faith which is a problem because Sonic Advance 2 is a platformer. This stage is notorious for being extremely frustrating especially on your first try. This is the part of the game where players either put the game down in frustration or face the extreme challenge presented to them. With simple and peaceful music this stage either turns the game into a monster or the player into a very brave challenger.

“Oh dear…Knuckles what have you done!?” So we all knew that Knuckles isn’t the best at protecting Angel Island or even the Master Emerald for that matter, but I don’t think anyone would have guessed it would ever get this bad. Chaos Angel is the “last” zone of Sonic Advance 3 which is Angel Island that has now been corrupted by Dr. Eggman. Fitting as the game’s climax you must speed through the corrupted ruins of what used to be Sonic 3 & Knuckles to get to Eggman in time and take back the Master Emerald. Full of tons danger and incredibly high stakes, the intense rage for Eggman for destroying all of S3&K and the “Final” everything vibe just gets you to keep trying, life after life until you reach the very end. Then just before all of it ends you’re faced with dueling against one of the most notorious and infamously challenging bosses in the entire game, The Egg Gravity. With some of the best and most climactic music ever creating on the GBA, Chaos Angel will be a stage that is a huge challenge and is certainly one you will not forget.

Which is the better stage? Sky Canyon Chaos Angel



Techno Base is the sixth level of Sonic Advance 2. It is a massive technological base full high-tech gadgets with lots of colors and also with loads of lights. It is easily the most colorful base that Dr. Eggman as ever made. As anyone would expect from our dear doctor, this entire facility is full of tricks and traps, including spikes, pits and lots of Badniks. The doctor's mech, this time, is the Egg-Go-Round. It is a cockpit equipped with an energy ball shooter and four platforms that spin around the mech. Two of them have spikes, two of them don't. The heroes must jump on the safe platforms to attack the cockpit.

Cyber Track is the sixth level of Sonic Advance 3. This level is extremely similar to Techno Base, as it is also a massive technological base of colors. In terms of looks, the main difference between Techno Base and Cyber Track is that Cyber Track as a bright white background. In terms of level design, the only real difference is the sudden change of gravity in certain parts. Dr. Eggman's machine for this level is the Egg Pinball. It's a floating vehicle that shoots blue orbs in the air and the heroes must knock the orbs back at him to attack him. Beating this level unlocks Cream as a playable character.

Which is the better stage? Techno Base Cyber Track



Egg Utopia is the seventh level of Sonic Advance 2. This level takes place in outer space where the heroes must chase Dr. Eggman up to his new space satellite to rescue Vanilla the Rabbit. This level is very similar to the Death Egg from Sonic and Knuckles, with lots of places where the gravity changes and the heroes must adapt to it in order to proceed. The mech that Eggman uses this time is the Egg Frog, a machine that can take full advantage of the gravity changes as it bounces around the floor and the ceiling. After that, it's time...

Ocean Base is the third level of Sonic Advance 3. This one is another base built by Dr. Eggman, but this one is built underwater. As you would expect from Dr. Eggman the water here is polluted. This place is filled with traps like crushers and conveyer belts made to seal our heroes' fate. It is also quite a big maze. Dr. Eggman's machine to fight is the Egg Foot. It's another large mech that bounces around. The heroes must avoid the legs in order to attack.

Which is the better stage? Egg Utopia Ocean Base