Sonic Advance

"Sonic is back to save the world!"

- Tagline

Sonic Advance (ソニックアドバンス) is a platforming game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series released for Game Boy Advance handheld console in 2001, developed by Sonic Team and Dimps. It was published and released by Sega in Japan, while publishers THQ released it in North America and Infogrames in PAL regions. Sonic Advance stands out as first notable game to be released on a Nintendo console, as both Sega and Nintendo were well-known rivals on the console market throught the 1990s.

Sonic Advance features four playable characters and marks the first playable appearance of Amy Rose on a 2D title. The gameplay borrows elements from the original Sonic the Hedgehog titles for the Sega Genesis, but with the post-Dreamcast artstyle for the characters introduced in Sonic Adventure. The game also includes multiplayer features and mini-games.

Plot
Dr. Eggman has hatched another evil plot to built his Eggman Empire by capturing Animals and turning them into robots. As the doctor is having thoughts about gathering all seven Chaos Emeralds as well and gain unimaginative power, Sonic and his friends Tails, Knuckles and Amy enter the scene to stop Eggman's actions.

Fighting Eggman across multiple Zones, the heroes corner him in the X-Zone where the doctor flees to the moon. If the player has not gathered all seven Chaos Emeralds for Sonic by then, he falls down to Earth and is caught by Tails in the Tornado. If the player has all the Chaos Emeralds however, Sonic will turn into Super Sonic and defeat the doctor in a battle on the moon. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy wonder what happened to Sonic, so Tails goes searching for him. A few days later, Tails finds Super Sonic flying through the sky, and comes in to meet him.

Gameplay
Sonic Advance is a sidescrolling platformer game with four playble characters to choose from: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose. The goal is to reach the end of each Act of a Zone (a level in the game) in ten minutes. Each playable character, excluding Amy (who moves revolve around the usage of her Piko Piko Hammer), can utilize the same basic moveset as in earlier Sonic titles, such as the Spin Jump, Spin Attack and Spin Dash, with the addition of more melee-orientated moves, many of which are based on those in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. Each character also wields their own exclusive moves which they can use to attack, gain extra speed or travel through Zones. When saving the player's contents, the game saves the specific character's process, while the Chaos Emeralds they characters have collected will be "shared" between all of them.

Many traditional items from other Sonic titles appear in the game. Rings are found all around the Zones and have the basic attributes; they give an extra life after collecting 100 of them, grant points and protect the player from taking damage. If a character is damaged, they will drop all their Rings, though some can be recollected before they disappear. Taking damage without any Rings will cost the player a try. A character will also lose a try if they spend too long underwater without replenishing air supply (air underwater lasts for 18 seconds), fall into a bottomless pit, or run out of time. Losing a try makes the player start from the last Checkpoint they passed, or from the beginning of the Act if they have not passed any Checkpoints. If a character loses a try when the number of tries remaining is zero, the game will end. Besides Rings, Sonic Advance also includes Item Boxes with the basic power-ups, such as Super Rings (grant either five, ten or a random amount of Rings), Barriers (protect from damage), Magnetic Barriers (attracts nearby Rings), Speed Boots (increases running speed shortly), Invincible (grants temporary invulnerability) and extra lives.

The level designs are very similar to previous main 2D Sonic titles, each with different types of gimmicks and layouts that may vary between Zones; in Egg Rocket Zone, the player must progresses upwards rather than straight forward. Across the Zones, Act 1 is cleared by passing the Clear Panels, and Act 2 is cleared by destroying the boss at the end and opening a Capsule dropped by Dr. Eggman and releasing the Animals trapped inside it. Beside the game's main goal, the player can also collect the Chaos Emeralds by using one of seven Special Springs in the Zones to enter a Special Stage and get a Chaos Emerald. Collecting all seven Emeralds and completing the X-Zone with all four characters will unlock the final Zone for Sonic and the game's good cinematic ending.

Other moves

 * Water Surface Movement: Only available for Knuckles in Ice Mountain Zone. When falling into the water, Knuckles floats on the surface and can move left and right. Moving down makes him submerge.
 * Grinding: Initially introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance is the first 2D title to feature Grinding, a technique where the character automatically slides down a Grind Rail they stand on. Pressing in the opposite direction on makes the playable character slow down. Only Sonic and Amy are able to grind though.

Items

 * Rings
 * Item Boxes
 * Super Rings (5, 10, ?)
 * Barriers
 * Magnetic Barriers
 * Extra Tries
 * Speed Boots
 * Invincible
 * Checkpoints

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (playable character)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower (playable character)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (playable character)
 * Amy Rose (playable character)
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Mecha Knuckles
 * Chao
 * Animals
 * Seal
 * Koala
 * Gorilla
 * Peacock
 * Rabbit
 * Lion
 * Penguin
 * Swallow
 * Deer
 * Mole
 * Parrot
 * Sea Otter
 * Elephant
 * Skunk
 * Kangaroo
 * Flicky (cameo)
 * Ricky (cameo)
 * Pocky (cameo)
 * Picky (cameo)

Bosses

 * Egg Hammer Tank
 * Egg Press
 * Egg Ball
 * Egg Spider
 * Mecha Knuckles
 * Egg Snake
 * X-Zone bosses
 * Egg Mobile-H
 * Egg Mobile-D
 * EGG X
 * Super Egg Robot

Zones
Sonic Advance consists of nine Zones, most which are split into two Acts. At the end of second Act (or first Act for the Zones with only one), the player normally has to fight a boss, which is Dr. Eggman in one of his vehicles. To enter The Moon Zone, the player has to have gathered the seven Chaos Emeralds and clear the X-Zone again as Sonic. The Zones in their order are:


 * 1) Neo Green Hill Zone
 * 2) Secret Base Zone
 * 3) Casino Paradise Zone
 * 4) Ice Mountain Zone
 * 5) Angel Island Zone
 * 6) Egg Rocket Zone
 * 7) Cosmic Angel Zone
 * 8) X-Zone
 * 9) The Moon Zone

Special Stages
Special Stages are extra levels where the players can gather the seven Chaos Emeralds. These Stages can be accessed through Special Springs somewhere in the Zones. Each normal Zone contains one Special Spring, except for Ice Mountain Zone which contains one in each Act. Jumping onto these springs sends the player to a Special Stage.

In each Special Stage, the playable character skysurfs through a large chute filled with Rings and bombs. The objective is to collect the requisite number of Rings to pass each checkpoint. Press to perform a quick foward dash and pass through otherwise unpassable bomb formations, and  to perform an aerial trick that momentarily expands one's radius to snatch clusters of Rings. Also featured are floating Chao which grant Continues and golden Trick Points that earn the player extra Rings. Amass enough Rings to cross the second checkpoint and earn a Chaos Emerald. Only one Emerald is awarded per Special Stage, so the same Stage cannot be repeated for multiple emeralds. Unlike most other classic 2D Sonic games, the Emeralds are "shared" between all the characters.

VS
VS mode is the multiplayer component of Sonic Advance and allows multiplayer gaming for four players in total. In order to play, four players are required to have a Game Boy Advance, a copy of the game and three Game Link cables attached together. For two to four players with each one having a copy of the game, players have to select "Multi-Game Pak Play" or with players with one of them having single copy, players have to then select "Single-Game Pak Play". There are three multiplayer modes of the game available.

In two modes available for after choosing "Multi-Game Pak Play", players have given option to choose or not having "Team Play" to set three or four players on teams. Each playable character can aid his/her partner with special abilities:


 * Sonic performs Spin Dash to give his partner a burst of speed.
 * Tails carries his partner during flight with the similar way the second player can do it in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 &amp; Knuckles.
 * Knuckles carries his partner while gliding or climbing.
 * Amy can launch her partner high and away with a smack by using her Piko Piko Hammer.

Collect the Rings
Collect the Rings is the only mode available for choosing the "Single-Game Pak Play". The goal for players is to collect most amount of Rings during the three minute time limit in the separated Neo Green Hill Zone Act. Players can hit each other and each damage done by player's basic, melee-oriented attack or obstacle takes ten Rings from the counter.

By performing basic and melee-based attacks can steal opponent's Rings as well and breaking Item Boxes with question marks can make Spikes appear beneath the opponent. When the timer reaches the zero, the player with most Rings wins the round.

Race
Race is mode available by choosing the "Multi-Game Pak Play". The goal is simple, players have to race to the end of each Act of the Zone within ten minutes in the scenario game, with each Act having Clear Panel. All two-Act Zones are available from the start. Each players location is pointed for each other with the different colored cursors. Alongside of traditional Item Box items, there are three different power-ups which affect on opponents called Confusion, Warp and Brake. When the first player reaches the end of Clear Panel, other players have one minute to reach to the end, as otherwise they are disqualified after getting Time Over.

Chao Hunt
Chao Hunt is mode available by choosing the "Multi-Game Pak Play". In this multiplayer mode, the goal is to find the most hidden Chao under the certain time limit (three minutes for melees and five minutes for team matches). This multiplayer mode features four Zones with alternate level layouts: Forest Chao Garden (Neo Green Hill Zone), Factory Chao Garden (Secret Base Zone), Pinball Chao Garden (Casino Paradise Zone) and Space Chao Garden (Cosmic Angel Zone).

When the player manages to catch one, Chao will keep following him/her constantly, but opponents' attacks can steal the player's Chao. There are three Item Box power-ups which can affect the situation: Confusion, Blind and Transparency. The player who has the most Chao as the time runs out, wins the round.

Time Attack
Time Attack is Sonic Advance ' s Time Attack feature which allows players to replay previously cleared Acts with the aim of getting the fastest record possible. The Zones available here depend on how far the player has gotten in normal gameplay. The best times are recorded in the game's data and can be viewed in the "Records" menu.

Options
Options is the settings menu for Sonic Advance which holds the following options:
 * Player Data: Enter the name to be used in records or view the results of VS mode games. Names can have up to six letters.
 * Level: Changes the difficulty level of the game. There are two levels, "Normal" and "Easy" (Easy mode decreases the hitting points of bosses from eight to six).
 * Time Up: Select whether or not running out of time causes characters to lose a try.
 * Sound Test: Listen to the various music tracks and sound effects used in the game.
 * Language: Change the language of the messages to be displayed between "English" and "Japanese." In Japanese version though, the Japanese language is the only option, while on PAL releases "French," "Spanish," and "German" are added to the option. Also, the language setting becomes the first option when the player starts off the game for the first time.
 * Button Config: Change the functions of and . "Normal" is the default functions, and "Reversed" switches the function.
 * Delete Game Data: Delete all game data (Note: The Tiny Chao Garden cannot be deleted).

Tiny Chao Garden
Tiny Chao Garden is simulation mini-game featured in Sonic Advance and it is also available for many other Sonic the Hedgehog-themed games released for the Game Boy Advance. When the player enters this mode for the first time, only a solitary egg will be found. Tapping on it will hatch it into a Chao. Use rings collected in levels and mini-games to buy fruits and items for your Chao to help them gain stats. Also, link between Sonic Advance and the GameCube version of either Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut or Sonic Adventure 2: Battle to transfer your Chao to their gardens and to participate in races. In Sonic Advance, the mini-games are Card Matching and Rock Paper Scissor.

Music
Music tracks of Sonic Advance are composed by Hironobu Inagaki and Atsuyoshi Isemura, while the music and sound design is done by Wave Master with sound creators Tatsuyuki Maeda and Yutaka Minobe. Masato Nakamura, the composer of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, is credited as composer and for arranged remodeling. Sonic Advance features several Game Boy Advance renditions of Nakamura's music tracks: Scrap Brain Zone is heard in the Options menu, Star Light Zone is heard on the "Delete Game Data" menu, Invincibility theme titled as "Power Up" is featured while picking up the power-up during the game, multiplayer rendition of Emerald Hill Zone is heard on "VS" mode menu and boss themes from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are heard during battles of Egg Mobile-H and Egg Mobile-D.

Reception
Sonic Advance received generally positive reviews from critics and journalists with Metacritic scoring an 87 out of 100 based on 22 reviews and GameRankings scoring 83.32% based on 36 reviews. IGN praised the gameplay, level exploration, the Tiny Chao Garden and multiplayer modes of the game, as stating: "it covers every possible base on system: it's graphically excellent, it sounds great, it puts the link cable features to outstanding use, and its GameCube connectivity opens up potential never before available."

Jason D'Aprile of GameSpy praised the game's impressive speed, great visuals and GameCube link features, as stating the game being "Easily the best Sonic adventure in quite a while, proving that sometimes 2D is best." Ricardo Torres of Gamespot praised the graphics, music and multiplayer modes, but gives his criticism for cheap shots from offscreen enemies/hazards and the control scheme of Special Stages, while concluding the review: "While it lacks some polish, Sonic Advance is still a strong entry in the GBA library. Its connectivity to the GameCube and retro gameplay definitely make it a game that Sonic fans and GC owners can appreciate." Jamie O'Neill of Nintendolife states that "There is an enjoyable vibrancy to the backgrounds, as well as charming animation and audio that flows well alongside the classics of the series. Add multiplayer to the mix, as well as the Tiny Chao Garden that links to the Gamecube, and Sonic Advance is a treat for Nintendo and SEGA fans alike."

Official Nintendo Magazine ranked Sonic Advance as the 75th greatest game ever released on a Nintendo console in March 2009. By July 2002, the game has sold over one million copies worldwide.

Similarities to Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure shares many similarities with this game:
 * The first zone in Sonic Advance is Neo Green Hill Zone, while the first zone in Sonic Pocket Adventure is Neo South Island.
 * The first bosses both are moving vehicles with large hammers; in fact, many boss concepts in this game and the sequel originated in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.
 * The second zones in both games are "Secret industrial" zones. Sonic Advance has Secret Base, while Sonic Pocket Adventure has Secret Plant.
 * The third zones are both casinos. Sonic Advance has Casino Paradise, while Sonic Pocket Adventure has Cosmic Casino.
 * Both of the fourth zones have water and on the fifth zone of Sonic Advance, a robot copy of a character is fought. Knuckles himself is fought on the fourth zone of Sonic Pocket Adventure. In addition to that, Mecha Sonic is fought in the fifth Zone of Sonic Pocket Adventure.
 * The "climax" zones, Egg Rocket Zone (Sonic Advance) & Aerobase (Sonic Pocket Adventure) are both one act zones that lead to Eggman's main space station (Sonic Advance) or in the case of Sonic Pocket Adventure, the Aerobase's interior.
 * The final zones in both games have the name "Angel" in it. Cosmic Angel is in Sonic Advance and Gigantic Angel is in Sonic Pocket Adventure.
 * In the normal ending for both games, space stations explode with red/gray chunks of metal flying and Tails rescues Sonic.
 * Finally, before the beginning of both of the Extra Zones, Eggman's space stations, seemingly, do not explode and are apparently abandoned.
 * Both games seem to return to Sonic's 2D gameplay.
 * Both games were released on systems not made by Sega, both of which happened to be handhelds.

Cheat Code

 * There is a cheat code in the game that allows Sonic to be followed by Tails like in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. To activate the cheat code, press up, right, down, right, L, right, R, right and A in the character select screen. The cheat will work if a ring chime is heard afterwards.

Trivia

 * Sonic Advance is the last game for long time to feature many old recurring elements from the series. Signposts and Sonic's leg spin animation would not be feature again until the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, yellow Springs would first appeared again Sonic Generations, and the Capsules, (while seen in a mini-game of Sonic Advance 3) did not appear again before Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
 * This is the first 2D game to feature collectible Animals from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 who are also kept inside Badnik and Capsules like the original Animals in earlier games. Notably, several of the original Animals, including Flicky, are seen alongside with new ones in the game's good cinematic ending.
 * Each character moveset changes the difficulty of the game. Sonic's is the hardest, Knuckles is a middle ground and Tails' is the easiest. Amy is a unique challenge which is easier than Sonic's playthrough for the most part.