Sonic Advance (Review)

The first Sonic game to be released on a Nintendo system and quite possibly one of the last great ones. As opposed to most of the post-Sonic & Knuckles 2-d outings in the 90s whose stages were nothing more than a linear rush to the finish, this game emulates the refined gameplay of the Genesis games, and does it very well. All the basics of a Sonic game are are in place: run around to the end of the level while collecting many rings, avoiding all sorts of hazards, beating the boss, then freeing the animals captured by Robotnik. It may not be quite as fast, but the fact they achieved so much is praise worthy. Just like the classic Genesis titles, Sonic Advance is heavily reliant on pinball physics and multi-tiered level design. Running through any stage, it was surprisingly easily to find at least two alternate paths to the end of the level.

While the levels are splendid there happens to still be a slight problem. That problem is that this game has only a few sparse levels and the game has relatively little challenge. At times I simply just ran to the end of the level, jumped when I saw an enemy, collected the rings, and then I beat the level in a minute or two. Luckily, the game has a bit of replay value in the form of additional characters to play as and the standard hunt for the chaos emeralds, which unlike most Sonic games, is actually kinda fun to do. The Special Stages, amazingly enough, are actually playable and I actually got all 7 Emeralds which I wasn't planning on doing. Sonic Advance is one of the more successful attempts of recent years to capture the spirit of what made the franchise so much fun. If you like Sonic, and especially if you been disappointed in his 3d outings, it's definitely worth checking out.