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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       1st April 2002: Sonic Advance  Sega takes their mascot back to his roots with this great 2D platformer for the GameBoy Advance Posted by Marc Hull - Game Boy Advance - UK and Europe Although the concept of having a Sonic game on a Nintendo console was initially a bit weird, there was no doubt as to whether it would be good or not. After all, while some have complained about the blue hedgehog's 3D adventures, there's little to find fault with his 2D, Megadrive ones, and games like Mario Kart had proved that the GameBoy Advance was certainly capable of surpassing the 16-bit consoles in terms of power. However, now that the game's finally arrived, the real question isn't "is it good?", but instead "how good is it?". Anyone who has played any of the old Sonic games should feel right at home when they first switch on the console - the first level, "Neo Green Hill Zone", is a tropical paradise full of palm trees and loop-the-loops, and as you'd expect the game moves very fast. All of Sonic's old moves have returned; by holding Down and tapping A you can make him Spin Dash (first seen in Sonic 2), or by tapping A during a jump you can turn him invisible for a fraction of a second (ala Sonic 3). However, these are accompanied by some new moves, such as the ability to grind down rails, which was only introduced in his latest 3D outing, Sonic Adventure 2. As you progress through the levels you'll no doubt encounter more Sonic set-pieces from the past, such as the pipes which whisk you around the level (seen in the Chemical Plant Zone of Sonic 2) and the gravity-reversed sections in which you have to play with Sonic upside down (found in the Death Egg Zone of Sonic and Knuckles). The levels themselves are also reminiscent of the older games in that there's a tropical one, an ice one, an industrial one...etc, but all are completely new, and are huge, taking a good five minutes to beat each act on the later levels. After each pair of two acts, there's also a boss encounter, where Robotnik (aka Eggman) tries to destroy you with his latest invention. These are usually pretty nice bosses, some of which have two stages of attack which will surprise you the first time you play, however there are a couple that fail to impress by being both unimaginative and too easy to beat. Even so, the final zone of the game (which contains just bosses) is a real trip down memory lane, and a great finale! One area which Sonic Team seem insistent on using for their Sonic games is the multi-character feature, which is manifested in Sonic Advance by the ability to play as Knuckles, Tails and Amy as well as the famous blue porcupine. Unfortunately, these characters don't have their own levels, but simply allow you to play through the same seven zones taking slightly different paths. Each of the characters has some unique moves, such as Knuckles can glide and punch, Tails can fly and Amy can hit things with her mallet, but overall the characters play quite similarly. While completing the game with one character is pretty easy (you should manage it within a few days of buying the game), and the other characters only take another week, the real challenge is to collect all the Chaos Emeralds in the game. These are obtained by locating a special spring on each level, which will take you off to a Special Stage where you are air-surfing down a long tunnel and have to collect a certain number of rings. These sections use a nice 'behind the character' perspective similar to the half-pipe stages of Sonic 2, and are very tricky to complete. Fortunately, even if you beat the game and collect all the Chaos Emeralds, there's still the Chao Garden mode, in which you get to raise a virtual pet similar to the 3D Sonic games, a VS mode where you can challenge a friend over the GBA link cable and a Time Attack mode where you can try to get a better completion time on each of the game's many levels. More modes are also promised to open up when the game is linked with Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the GameCube; such as the ability to swap virtual pets between the two, although we haven't been able to try out this feature yet. Graphically, Sonic Advance is a mix of bright colours, great detail and lots of speed. The parallax backgrounds look at least as good as those in the old Megadrive games, and the foregrounds are constantly animated with snow falling in the Ice Mountain Zone or lights flickering in the Secret Base Zone. Musically, the game contains some nice tunes and some not-so-nice ones. There are a few in there which have been directly taken from the old games, but the GBA just doesn't seem to cope with some of them, so they end up sounding quite tinny. Overall, Sonic Advance is a great little game, which any Sonic fan should be very pleased with. My only real gripe with it is that the extra characters should have been traded for more levels, but other than that this is getting close to 2D Sonic perfection! Marc Hull             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Sonic Advance takes loads of inspiration from the old Megadrive Sonic games, and to great effect. The GameBoy Advance has no trouble recreating the sheer speed, loop-the-loops and great background detail that made the blue mascot's previous 2D outings so good, and the GameCube link-up should open up more possibilities later on. The only problem is that the other playable characters seem slightly redundant, but otherwise this is well worth buying.  Related Games:  Sonic Advance for Game Boy Advance  7  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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