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[Theanine3D]

It's my favorite 2D Sonic. Love the music, especially in the ice stages. The game was insanely replayable too

People often say that going third party killed off SEGA's creativity but this and several other fantastic games SEGA released after the Dreamcast's death are proof that it isn't true. They still had "it" for a good while after.

 

[gelf]

As a person who has played Sonic Advance 2 to death that isn't true, especially on the boss fight as you would just get killed.

While Advance 2 does embrace the speed element of Sonic, you have the option to reaching higher ground with the trick mechanic.

You are holding right a lot of the time though, it just didn't feel engaging to me compared to more traditional platformer Sonic. And I can't say I enjoyed the running boss fights. Advance 2 felt like a game made from people whose only knowledge of Sonic came from the gotta go fast memes. Not what I want to play at all.

It's my favorite 2D Sonic. Love the music, especially in the ice stages. The game was insanely replayable too

People often say that going third party killed off SEGA's creativity but this and several other fantastic games SEGA released after the Dreamcast's death are proof that it isn't true. They still had "it" for a good while after.

I'd say good Sega games not selling while anything with Sonic on the box still being successful regardless of quality killed their creativity unfortunately.

 

[RK128]

It's my favorite 2D Sonic. Love the music, especially in the ice stages. The game was insanely replayable too

People often say that going third party killed off SEGA's creativity but this and several other fantastic games SEGA released after the Dreamcast's death are proof that it isn't true. They still had "it" for a good while after.

I would argue that SEGA their creative spark well after the Dreamcasts death until maybe early the PS3/360 generation.

Its just that they focused so much on Sonic to make money, that other creative IP/New IP were pushed in the back-burner. They had some strong out put last generation (with VC's, Binary Domain, the Platinum Games deal, some strong Sonic's like Colors and Generations, All Stars Racing Series, some XBLA/PSN re-releases of older titles, ect).

 

[jax]

An underrated and often forgotten classic. Definitely in the top 5 best Sonic games of all time. SEGA really needs to look hard at this games cross-platform functionality with the 25th anniversary title. Imagine a proper current gen Chao garden with connectivity to a Chao garden mobile/3DS/NX game.. Would be incredible.


I also wouldn't mind seeing Sonic Advance on the 3DS VC this year.

Great write up as always!

 

[cyborg009]

I say this all the time. Sonic Advance is probably my favorite sonic game. It was like the best of Sonic 3&K with the best of Sonic 2. And playing through the game as Amy Rose was nearly like playing an entirely different game.

This was the last good 2D sonic game, I really do put it on par with Sonic 3 & Knuckles, if only because the condensed experience had less downsides than the full experience of S3&K.

Sonic Advance 2, however, was bad. Sonic Advance 3 was better, and the heart and effort was clearly there, but none of them were as well designed as Advance 1.


This game series is the easiest way to see how a focus on pure movement speed impacted the level design. It wouldn't be good until Sonic Rush.

TBH fans cried because of lack of speed and thats when they made it all about the boost. But sonic was much more a platformer.

 

[BassForever]

Advance 1 >>>> Advance 3 >>>>>>>> Advance 2

Advance is what all 2d sprite based sonic games should have tried to do going forward and felt like a natural evolution of the series after S3&K

 

[RK128]

An underrated and often forgotten classic. Definitely in the top 5 best Sonic games of all time. SEGA really needs to look hard at this games cross-platform functionality with the 25th anniversary title. Imagine a proper current gen Chao garden with connectivity to a Chao garden mobile/3DS/NX game.. Would be incredible.


I also wouldn't mind seeing Sonic Advance on the 3DS VC this year.

Great write up as always!

Thank you ! Loved my time with the Advance series and I look forward to covering Advance 2 & 3 once I make the Ristar and Billy Hatcher threads .

 

[DavidFoundation300]

I have real good memories with sonic advance. I remember being way younger and trying to beat it & how bummed I was when I lost the cartridge.

 

[MulderYuffie]

Great Sonic game most of the handheld games are though.

 

[Imbarkus]

I skipped Rush Adventure. After Rush I was like "really? Double down on the adventure part?" But it sounds like I should go back and hit it.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I skipped Rush Adventure. After Rush I was like "really? Double down on the adventure part?" But it sounds like I should go back and hit it.

The level design is better but it's interspersed with terrible Wind Waker sailing and stylus-controlled jetski racing and all sorts of stupid bullshit.

Colours DS is back to straight platforming and has the best level design of the 3 DS games.

 

[Azure Dream]

Edit: Eh, nevermind.

Advance 2 is my fav of the trio, but Advance 1 is to be respected. (3 is sadly several steps back.)

 

[balladofwindfishes]

The Real Sonic 4.

Glad I'm not the only one

Sonic Advance is the true Sonic 4, and one of my favorite games in the series.

 

[Trigonometrize.]

The Advance games are criminally overlooked. I played 2 so much as a kid and it holds up decently well, especially in light of the series' amazing ability to not hold up.

 

[nded]

This game's alright by me.

 

[Balb]

It's not a bad game but I feel the levels get pretty frustrating later on. It's been many years since I've played it but I remember the game being filled with pits and/or spike beds in certain stages.

 

[Fahzgoolin]

LOVED sonic advance! Still have a copy.

 

[Imbarkus]

The level design is better but it's interspersed with terrible Wind Waker sailing and stylus-controlled jetski racing and all sorts of stupid bullshit.

Colours DS is back to straight platforming and has the best level design of the 3 DS games.

I LOL'd. Colors it is then m8

 

[MagnesD3]

God I love the sonic advanced games, they are my fav sonic games for sure. Sonic Advance 2 being my fav, love the speed, platforming, music, variety, bosses and new techniques.

 

[Exodust]

The Sonic Advance games were very underrated.They're not the same style as the classics but they're very good side scrollers in their own right.

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Great game, and my favorite of the Advanced series. It was like playing a new Sonic Genesis game! And I spent far more time in that Tiny Chao Garden than was called for.

 

[Oemenia]

Felt more like Sonic CD but more linear and punishing.

 

[Marow]

My favorite 2D Sonic game. Great sense of pacing, four varied characters that all change the way you tackle the levels and avoids most of the pitfalls from the Genesis trilogy (no annoying enemies, not overly reliant on pitfalls and other stuff). It also had Chao Garden which made it quite nice. Played this game a ton.

My memory of the sequels, particularly 3, is vague. I remember 2 being the prelude to Rush and 3 being some half-awkward, half-success combination of 1 and 2.

 

[MAtgS]

The Real Sonic 4.

Truth. It even had Sonic's insta-shield.

It only recently occurred to me how weird it is that Amy can't roll/spin dash in this game considering that she's, ya know, a hedgehog. If anything she has more reason to that kind of ability than a fox.

 

[JackelZXA]

SAdvance 1 was really good, SAdvance 2 was way better and along the lines of what Sonic Rush became. SAdvance 3 was terrible though. Platforming in the sense of "Blocks floating above pits" in a momentum based movement engine are TERRIBLE. That shit NEVER works unless you have a much more fixed movement system like Mario or Castlevania or Mega Man. Sonic is slow to get going and slow to stop and his jumps don't really make sense for aiming at tiny platforms. The fun of a Sonic game is the physics, not carefully jumping and stopping and walking slowly along a flat terrain. If it ain't got no slope it ain't no fun. I might as well just play as Tails at that point. (Amy is actually interesting in SAdvance 1 because she's set up more for platforming. Even Knuckles is better for it because of his climbing and his Momentum-Canceling Glide.)

Truth. It even had Sonic's insta-shield.

It only recently occurred to me how weird it is that Amy can't roll/spin dash in this game considering that she's, ya know, a hedgehog. If anything she has more reason to that kind of ability than a fox.

The instashield had none of the functionality that it had in 3&k, and just felt like something for sonic to do after he jumped. (Also, I think the instashield made 3&k really easy, what with the iframes and increased hurtbox)