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More speedy, Sonic-fun on Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Advance 2 was an extremely solid title, earning a solid 8.9 from myself when I reviewed it last year. A year and a few months later, Sega, Dimps and THQ are back it with an even more refined adventure.
As with any Sonic title, Dr. Eggman is planning some sort of plan in which he sort of dominates the world. While there are numerous characters in the game, it is truly up to Sonic to save the day. That said, Sonic now has more friends to help him accomplish his task.
The hook of Sonic Advance 3 is that you can control five characters. You’ll get Sonic and Tails right from the beginning but you can unlock other characters like Knuckles, Cream and Amy. You’ll use two characters at one time, and any of the five characters can play the lead (which you control). The secondary character is controlled by the AI for the most part and is mostly there to help you beat some enemies and collect additional rings. Additionally, you can occasionally use the second character to help you out. Have Sonic as your assistant and he’ll give you speed boosts, have Tail and he’ll let you jump higher. It’s quite fun to mix and match the characters to see which set works best for you. If you don’t care for them you can still have Sonic as your primary and run through the game.
When it comes to level design, it is safe to say that if you have played one Sonic game, you have played them all. Sonic Advance 3 still features all the corkscrews and loops that made the series famous to begin with. You’ll still jump off poles and slide off rails. There are still large stretches of open space so you can pick up speed. That said, Dimps and Sega added to the level design to give them some depth. There is now an overworld that ties the various levels together, for example. Also, the levels have hidden chaos thingies which you need to explore to collect. This gives you some incentive to play through to the level with different people, since you can collect more chaos.
The link cable is put to good use, as previous Sonic Advance titles did. If you are linked to another player, he/she can control the secondary character. Furthermore, there is a four player mode which utilizes only one cartridge. In this mode, you go about collecting the chaos. If you have multiple cartridges, you can play through race through the levels.
The game’s visuals are typical, Sonic-style. The game is incredibly vibrant and colorful featuring a lot of loopy architecture and of course, the animation and frame rate always keep up with the game. The audio is peppy and cheery, and you’ll find occasional voice samples from the characters.
Sonic Advance 3 doesn’t revolutionize the franchise but the new multi-character system allows it to keep it from being redundant and allows for an enjoyable experience. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Jun 17, 2004
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