Sonic Advance

by THQ

Product Features

• Classic characters
• tons of levels
• awesome power-ups
• new graphics
• four-player action via link cables

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005MO5G
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 4, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,907 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Although the game will seem very familiar to Sonic fans, Sonic Advance is an entirely new creation that's been built from the ground up. The gameplay, graphics, and sound borrow from the classic Sonic games on the Genesis and are successfully translated to the Game Boy Advance. The game's single-player modes are relatively short 2-D platform rounds--each run takes two to three hours--but replay value is added through the game's various characters. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy each have different abilities that make getting through the game a unique experience.

The real star here is the game's link capabilities. The Chao Garden allows you to raise your little critters and upload them to the GameCube via the link cable and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Having one cartridge lets up to four GBA players compete in one minigame. Gamers can play two additional minigames if each player owns a cartridge. Although the single-player game is quite good, the link options give the title tremendous value.

The only notable problem stems from the series itself: There are still entirely too many cheap deaths resulting from the title's high-speed gameplay. You'll find yourself zipping along a level only to be hit by an obstacle you had little chance of seeing, let alone avoiding. Ultimately, the only way to get past these hazards is to memorize where they are. This minor flaw doesn't detract from the game's excellent value, though. Sonic Advance offers a very good single-player game and some of the best link options of any GBA title. --Raymond M. Padilla

Pros:

• Classic Sonic gameplay
• Outstanding link options
• Four characters add to replay value

Cons:

• Classic Sonic cheap deaths
• Single-player runs are short

Product Description

With so many corporate mega-mergers having gone down in recent years, can it come as much of a surprise to Sega's own figurehead finding a new home on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance? Wipe that shocked look off of your face and prepare to join the speedy little critter on an all-new adventure that fits in the palm of your hand. New graphics give the SONIC series a welcome overhaul, and there are four playable characters in this version. The gameplay takes elements from the classic series namely the side-scrolling, power-up system, and collection of items and combines it with a party game atmosphere, allowing four player in on the action at one time. If you're new to the series, the action revolves around a noble (and awfully fast) little hedgehog that has to traverse worlds and levels, picking up items and battling enemies. This installment adds a "grind" maneuver to Sonic's standard jumping ability, and there are tons of new faces to get franchise fans excited.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well Deserved 2D Sonic Comeback, February 2, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sonic Advance (Video Game)

How could this game get any better??? I mean, the original Sonic games were great, but this one tops them all.
What's neat is, you don't have to be sonic the whole game. Knuckles, Amy, and Tails are now playable. That's what got it one of the five stars.
Like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, you can take care of Chao in Chao gardens. This gives you something to do if you are stuck in adventure mode. There's the second star.
All you need is a link cable and some friends with a GBA to play some multiplayer. You're friends don't have to have Sonic Advance to play with you. Yep, the third star.
Sonic Advance gets it's fourth star because it can hook up to the Nintendo Gamecube game Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and trade Chao data and Chao themselvs.
The last star is for all-out game play. It's another running, jumping, spining, dashing, rolling, gliding, flying, hitting, smashing Sonic Game. How could you not like it???

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonic Advance, January 9, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sonic Advance (Video Game)

Fans of the Genesis Sonic titles are in for a real treat. Sonic is still as fast as he ever was on the Sega Genesis system, and the same goes for Tails and Knuckles, as they are just as fun to play as in the olden days. The best part of this game is that each character has his or her own way to play. Sonic has blistering speed and spin dashes, Tails can fly, Knuckles' ability to glide and climb walls, and Amy is slow but has her big mallet. In fact, Amy's levels aren't nearly as bad as I had expected.They're actually pretty fun. Then there's the awesome ability to trade Chao creatures between Sonic Advance and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the Nintendo Gamecube via the upcoming(it may already be out)Game Boy Advance/Gamecube link cable. If your a classic Sonic fan, or if you're looking for a great 2D platformer on the Game Boy Advance that is faster paced than a Mario title, Sonic Advance is a definate buy.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonic Has NEVER Been Better!, March 12, 2002

By 

John Bell (Larchmont, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sonic Advance (Video Game)

Sonic is now at a new level that has never been reached before! You can play 20 different levels with four different characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all with their own different speical abilities. Your job with these characters is to defeat the evil Dr. Robotnik and to collect of the emeralds that he stole. Levels include a casino, a winter wonderland, and a huge warehouse. All these levels contain power-ups, loop-the-loops, and little enemies that try to stop youre hero along the way. As you collect rings through out the game you can raise your Baby Chao in the Tiny Chao Garden by giving it food, playing mini-games with it, or buying another egg that will hatch into a friend for your Chao to play with. Plus, if you have GameCube/Game Boy Advance Link Cable you can trade data back and forth from the two systems. If you are having trouble with a level or just want to find an easy way to get coins, there is the Time-Trial mode. In this mode you play any level of your choice in no particular order to make a record-setting time. *NOTE* You keep all the coins you collect in Time-Trial mode for your Chao Garden. If you didn't think all of this was enough, you can hook up and play Versus mode with up to 4 players with only 1 game pak. In Versus mode, you try to have a combination of both the highest time and the most coins. The more coins you get and the faster the time is, the more points you will get and the player with the most points is the winner.

This game never gets boring. I have owned it for almost two months now and I'm playing it every day. There is always a secret pathway I can find in Adventure mode or a new way to make my Chao babbies grow in Tiny Chao Garden. This game not only has the greatest replay value of any game on the Game Boy Advance but it has the greatest graphics and incredibly smooth play control that I have ever seen on a handheld game system. My advice is to buy this game, it's great for all kinds of gaming fans and it's fun and appropriate for people of all ages.