Sonic Advance 2

 Game Boy Advance
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Mar 9, 2003
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 104 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 69 out of 104
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 104
  3. Negative: 9 out of 104
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  1. E102Gamma
    Aug 8, 2023
    7
    Attempts a new format of gameplay surrounding a new mechanic called "boost mode". Visuals, music and character animations are a sizable step up. Unfortunately, the gameplay is a slight step down due mainly to the Gameboy Advance's limitations. This was the fastest game in the series at the time though the Gameboy Advance's screen is too small for the player to see much coming. DespiteAttempts a new format of gameplay surrounding a new mechanic called "boost mode". Visuals, music and character animations are a sizable step up. Unfortunately, the gameplay is a slight step down due mainly to the Gameboy Advance's limitations. This was the fastest game in the series at the time though the Gameboy Advance's screen is too small for the player to see much coming. Despite this, the levels don't take advantage of this oversight too often for it to ruin the game entirely. As a matter of fact, the new boost mode mechanic makes this one of the most influential and important games in the series as it would pave the road follow up games would follow. The bosses are the best of the Advance series with three exceptions: Aero Egg, Egg-Go-Round, and Eggrobo Z. Special Stages are the worst in the series especially since the Chaos Emeralds are not longer shared among characters. Would recommend primarily for its influence on nearly every game in the series going forward.… Expand
  2. Yojimbo2015
    May 7, 2023
    7
    More hedgehog-based, speedy, colourful and not-quite-as-good-as-Mario platforming fun.
  3. tjspells
    Dec 31, 2022
    4
    Ever wanted to play Sonic Forces in 2d with the last 3 levels entirely consisting of beginners traps. Well here you go.
  4. OmegaChase1002
    Dec 13, 2022
    5
    It's literally hold right to win. It's more autopilot than Sonic Forces.
    The Special Stages are really annoying to unlock, and the later half of the game then starts getting cheap with hazard placement. The game is so easy it's boring in one half, and insanely frustrating in the later half, with absolutely no in-between.
    Why even get the Emeralds, anyway? Vanilla never gets kidnapped if    It's literally hold right to win. It's more autopilot than Sonic Forces.
    The Special Stages are really annoying to unlock, and the later half of the game then starts getting cheap with hazard placement. The game is so easy it's boring in one half, and insanely frustrating in the later half, with absolutely no in-between.
    Why even get the Emeralds, anyway? Vanilla never gets kidnapped if you just don't go for Super Sonic.    … Expand
  5. FeelStar
    Nov 25, 2022
    5
    Sonic Advance 2 is the perfect example of hold right to win gameplay. The game tries to do the SA2 styled speed stages in the 2D space and it's way less good because of it. The game has it's moment so of fun with the first half and continuing to have banger OSTs and good graphics for the GBA. But the go go go idea the game has make it the worst in the Advance trilogy and stands as simplySonic Advance 2 is the perfect example of hold right to win gameplay. The game tries to do the SA2 styled speed stages in the 2D space and it's way less good because of it. The game has it's moment so of fun with the first half and continuing to have banger OSTs and good graphics for the GBA. But the go go go idea the game has make it the worst in the Advance trilogy and stands as simply an average game.… Expand
  6. DreedDerEchte
    Aug 15, 2022
    3
    Das Spiel tut weh beim Spielen. Das Movement und die Steuerung sind echt flüssig und spaßig. Aber das war auch alles positive. Das Level Design ist unterirdisch grauenhaft. Manche Level bestehen aus 90% bottomless pits und einem Level Design was darauf aufbaut, dass du mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit konstant runterfliegst. Manche Level sind echt sehr hässlich, wie Techno Base. Die Bosse sindDas Spiel tut weh beim Spielen. Das Movement und die Steuerung sind echt flüssig und spaßig. Aber das war auch alles positive. Das Level Design ist unterirdisch grauenhaft. Manche Level bestehen aus 90% bottomless pits und einem Level Design was darauf aufbaut, dass du mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit konstant runterfliegst. Manche Level sind echt sehr hässlich, wie Techno Base. Die Bosse sind auch ultra nervig und unintuitiv. So oft stirb man, obwohl man das Selbe macht, wie die letzten 10x. Es macht auch keinen Spaß, dass man immer bei Act 1 starten muss, wenn man beim Boss der Welt game over geht. Bei Sonic Advance 1 und 3 ist das nicht so, also wieso hier? Sonic Advance 2 ist unfair und nervig.… Expand
  7. MetalReviewer
    Mar 7, 2022
    4
    A god-awful excuse for a sequel with no substance. Sonic Advance 2 takes the first game, and throws out any of the good parts and invites some of the worse parts in. "Hold right to win" has never applied more than here, this one is a miserable waste. Skip it.
  8. ibblue07
    Oct 30, 2021
    9
    Sonic Advance 2 is a vast improvement over the original game. I consider it to be the best game in the trilogy.
  9. Mutty99
    May 25, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Evident improvement from the first Advance title. Better music, better stages, Cream the Rabbit makes her debut, and the boss mechanic changes into an unique experience: On the run, with pinch phases.
    The only issue this game has it's the process to unlock the Extra Zone, which I found way too time consuming: to unlock true Area 53, you have to beat the game and get every Chaos Emerald, with ALL 5 CHARACTERS. It'd have been better to share the unlocked emeralds, to not play the stages over and over again just to unlock those coloured diamonds.
    Apart from that, if you're willing to go through a challenging and hard adventure (I think this is the hardest out of the Sonic Advance games), you'll have a fun time with this title.    … Expand
  10. DistH
    Feb 28, 2021
    3
    This game destroyed Sonic advance 1. Sonic Advance 2 was made more on Speed than 2d classics which is BS. now I can't glide as Knuckles and skip tough the first zone. oh and of course they needed to add more Bottom less pits from Angle Island F**k I hate that. the only Good level in this game is Music Plant Zone hell it wasn't that good it was just fine. they added a new character that isThis game destroyed Sonic advance 1. Sonic Advance 2 was made more on Speed than 2d classics which is BS. now I can't glide as Knuckles and skip tough the first zone. oh and of course they needed to add more Bottom less pits from Angle Island F**k I hate that. the only Good level in this game is Music Plant Zone hell it wasn't that good it was just fine. they added a new character that is just a Tails copy. I rather play Sonic Jam for the Tiger Games.com than this S**t. the music is not as Good as the first game it's fine I guess. the Good thing a bout this Game is this game is better than Sonic Advance 3. Sonic Advance 2 is a Bad Game Don't Play it.… Expand
  11. GameDudeGuy
    Feb 4, 2021
    9
    If i was a critic i would give this game a 95 but since i am not i cant but hey its better than the prequel its just good
  12. SpotBox
    Sep 17, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a good sequel to a game that I love. You can play a lot of levels and you can choose 5 characters. I like how the game also introduced a new character! The music is fire, the graphics are wonderful, the controls are OK. The reason I like this game better than the first is that you can make the characters faster and the game seems more fast-paced, but both games are awesome! I also think that the fact that the characters have their own unique powers (some of the characters) are amazing. Sonic has super speed, Tails can fly, Knuckles has super strength, Amy doesn't really have a special power besides swinging at things with her hammer, and Cream can also fly. My favorite character is Knuckles because he can glide so he can just skip most of the levels just by gliding and that's it but then again, that actually makes the game boring. But he can also punch things. It may be useless as you can just spin jump on the robots, but it can also be useful at times when a robot is coming for you and you are in a tight space. Knuckles can also climb up stuff such as loops in case there are coins there and then when he jumps off, he can glide. (man, he can do a lot of things). I like this game a lot. It is very dope and there is so much fun stuff you can do in this game!… Expand
  13. Luigichief
    Aug 26, 2020
    7
    The level design is excellent and well diversified. And some worlds are really challenging. The game is full of new controls compared to its predecessor. The difficulty of the boss's fights is one of the biggest in the franchise (at least like normal Sonic). Now you can also select the levels and change your character between them at your discretion. One of the first Sonic films to haveThe level design is excellent and well diversified. And some worlds are really challenging. The game is full of new controls compared to its predecessor. The difficulty of the boss's fights is one of the biggest in the franchise (at least like normal Sonic). Now you can also select the levels and change your character between them at your discretion. One of the first Sonic films to have cutscenes, but they are very few and barely add. The story is the same as always.… Expand
  14. BM30
    Jun 29, 2020
    8
    Sonic Advance 2 is a great game! But in my opinion I think SA1 is better. Although the gameplay feels better, I do think the levels in advance 1 is better. 8/10
  15. JPK
    Aug 19, 2018
    9
    Once Again
    Sonic Advance 2 Has Everything That Made The First One Good But Has New Tricks And Some Surprises.
  16. nullsolaris
    Jun 30, 2018
    7
    Cool game with some major flaws.
    tl;dr: It's very fast, looks good, sounds good, handles nicely, but it has poor level design, getting into special stages sucks, and a lot of unlock requirements are awful.
    For the most part, the game is a straight upgrade from Sonic Advance 1, with more speed, better graphics, better music, better presentation, it's just an impressive game all around.    Cool game with some major flaws.
    tl;dr: It's very fast, looks good, sounds good, handles nicely, but it has poor level design, getting into special stages sucks, and a lot of unlock requirements are awful.

    For the most part, the game is a straight upgrade from Sonic Advance 1, with more speed, better graphics, better music, better presentation, it's just an impressive game all around. It's a very slick game.

    The controls are pretty solid. Sonic's physics aren't quite as good as Advance 1's, but the increased speed and R-button trick system really help smooth things out. It's a shame that the B-button attacks are still basically useless... beyond Cream's, which I'll get to in a bit.

    The sense of speed the game provides is its biggest highlight, with a "mach barrier" speed boost that happens when each character runs at their normal top speed for an extended period of time. The trick system gives Sonic and friends way more air control after springs and other launchers, and it's brilliant.

    Unfortunately, the stage design is really rough at best.
    Blind launches over pits, enemies placed directly in the way, lots of little "react or get hit" sections, etc. It's rough.

    Still, when the game flows, it's brilliant, and you can feel all the little additions made to the game to keep it feeling fast just click.
    When it doesn't... yikes. Sky Canyon is a terrible stage that exemplifies all of the issues with the level design in this game. Music Plant is fun, but it has a few parts that just kill your flow completely. Egg Utopia is pretty good, except sometimes you're just flung into the void and you've got no idea why you just died.

    Getting into the special stages is obnoxious too. You have to find seven special rings in each stage, and the stages are not designed for exploration or backtracking, you need a pre-planned route to get to them. At least the Mode-7 style special stages themselves aren't too hard.
    Some of the unlock requirements are maddening.
    You need all emeralds to enable the Chao Garden (which was available at the start in Advance 1).
    Two emeralds to enable sound test (seriously, what was going on here?).
    Boss attack is unlocked after getting all the emeralds with three characters (at least you can just play XX, since it's just a boss rush anyway).
    Getting all of the emeralds with all four starting characters unlocks Amy (it's not worth the effort, she's a pink Sonic here that's slightly worse -- as many issues as Advance 1 Amy had, she was still interesting to play as, although I probably wouldn't be so hard on her here if the unlock requirements weren't so onerous).

    Running bosses are a mess.
    Sonic's double-tap forward dash almost makes them tolerable, since it makes it much easier to catch back up to the bosses, although some are still a bit obnoxious.
    Cream trivializes every single boss, up to and including the final boss, just by pressing B. Her B-attack targets any single enemy on screen and hits it. Repeat until the boss is dead.
    The rest of the characters have to slowly approach each boss, desperately hope they don't get hit, and try not to miss. Whatever happens, you're probably going to have to slowly run up again. Also, if you did get hit, your rings fly off. The stage loops around after a point too, so you'll probably run out of rings to collect if you take too long. Running bosses are a cool idea, but they're marred by the rough execution.

    In conclusion, the game is fast and sleek, but has a bunch of issues. It flows quite well, except when it doesn't, and it often doesn't. It looks and sounds great, and it's really polished... except for the actual stage design being really rough.    … Expand
  17. MrTacoBob
    Aug 30, 2017
    9
    Again sonic advance succeeds! Still I don't know why people hate this game? Heck I think the sequel is a bit better than the original! But there are few flaws. But anyways it passes for me!
  18. Untitled94
    Aug 16, 2017
    7
    Enjoyable when playing it casually, but when trying to complete it...still OK. It did improve on some things from the first SA, but it has the same problem from Sonic 2, where Sonic went too fast in the game. The biggest problem I have with this game is you have to collect all 7 chaos emeralds in a really stupid way with all characters! It's a good game, but there's just stuff that makesEnjoyable when playing it casually, but when trying to complete it...still OK. It did improve on some things from the first SA, but it has the same problem from Sonic 2, where Sonic went too fast in the game. The biggest problem I have with this game is you have to collect all 7 chaos emeralds in a really stupid way with all characters! It's a good game, but there's just stuff that makes it not as good as the first one.… Expand
  19. AmyRoses
    Nov 27, 2016
    8
    Sonic Advance 2 is a major step down from Sonic Advance. The basic gameplay is the same, but, unfortunately, there are some key differences that ruin some of the fun. It's not a bad game by any means, but Sonic Advance is just much better.

    The story is pretty much the exact same as Sonic Advance 1, so no points for originality. However, as I said in my review of the first game, it's the    Sonic Advance 2 is a major step down from Sonic Advance. The basic gameplay is the same, but, unfortunately, there are some key differences that ruin some of the fun. It's not a bad game by any means, but Sonic Advance is just much better.

    The story is pretty much the exact same as Sonic Advance 1, so no points for originality. However, as I said in my review of the first game, it's the gameplay that counts. It's a Sonic game.

    Sonic Advance 2 does everything Sonic Advance does. Like Sonic Advance, the game goes back to the roots of Sonic, taking gameplay from the Genesis trilogy, and moving it to the Gameboy Advance. The main mistake this second iteration makes is it's over-reliance on speed. Sonic Advance 1 sacrifices some speed in order to keep the game fun and simple. Sonic Advance 2 goes over the top with speed, and as a consequence, the controls are much less tight. This wouldn't be a problem if the stages were built around speed. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, as another place where Sonic Advance 2 steps down from the original is level design. The first 3 or so Zones are fine, but after that, the number of cheap deaths via bottomless pits is unbelievable. That said, the Zones are generally still enjoyable, you just have to slow down. This focus on slowing down in later Zones just ruins the whole 'fast' thing.

    The Special Stage access is also a severe downgrade from Sonic Advance, which is saying something. Instead of the only slightly annoying spring system, Sonic Advance 2 forces you to look through the level for special rings. These rings will never be picked up by accident. You have to actually take time to look around the level, which yet again, makes me wonder why they tried so much to focus on speed.

    The graphics, however, are yet again brilliant. They even took the time to create new animations for all of the characters, which is greatly appreciated. The zones are also even more beautiful than Sonic Advance's, most of them being colourful and fun to look at.

    This game, once again, features four playable characters. The four characters that this game features are Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Cream, a new character. Cream is essentially an 'easy mode', with Cheese easily taking out bosses without effort at all. This is fine and all, but where's Amy? Amy is actually a secret fifth playable character this time around, and you must obtain all 7 Chaos Emeralds as all 4 characters to unlock her. This sounds like a joke, but it's true. This is a choice I just can't comprehend. Why is she only playable after putting yourself through literal torture? Who thought that Amy Rose, of all characters, was something people would put this much effort into unlocking? If that wasn't bad enough, they changed Amy's moveset into a Sonic clone. No longer does she have a unique way of playing through the game.

    The music in this game is a step up from Sonic Advance. Every track is memorable, my favourite being both of Music Plant Zone's tracks. Not only is the music itself amazing in this zone, but the sound effects from the various objects in each act make it the most memorable Zone in the entire Sonic Advance series.

    Overall, Sonic Advance 2 is a good game, but it doesn't quite reach the level of the original. It's essentially Sonic Advance with worse level designs and faster speed. It's still really fun, but I'd recommend playing the first game over this one.    … Expand
  20. GamecubeLover
    Aug 6, 2016
    10
    The 2nd one is amazing with better levels, better bosses, more characters, more variety, more addicting, and more entertaining and combine those and you get a great game.
  21. RodrigoMan636
    Mar 20, 2016
    6
    A game that sometimes makes the gameplay a little uncomfortable and while annoying.This game is not bad or good, it's a decent game.I like is the level design is very colorful and lively and that makes it go higher rating
  22. Dylan707
    Nov 24, 2015
    8
    This was the game I grew up on. The levels seem more wacky than Sonic Advance.Dislike the emphasis on speed and the chaos emerald system, which to me is the worst of the advance series. The special stages are generic and it's a chore to get to them.
  23. SonicDude
    Oct 16, 2015
    10
    Sonic Advance 2 is better than Sonic Advance in every way!Positive: Better Music, better graphics, a lot faster than before since you go really fast, A great new character, super fun zones fun but challenging bosses , The fact that you have to unlock characters, a story plot, Awsome tricks , new moves, more ways to do a level and more! Negative: Very hard and annoying ro get special ringsSonic Advance 2 is better than Sonic Advance in every way!Positive: Better Music, better graphics, a lot faster than before since you go really fast, A great new character, super fun zones fun but challenging bosses , The fact that you have to unlock characters, a story plot, Awsome tricks , new moves, more ways to do a level and more! Negative: Very hard and annoying ro get special rings for special stages, A few bad acts and no choa garden. Overall this game is a must get for all gba owners or emulator owners.… Expand
  24. Luigithemetal64
    May 16, 2015
    8
    Could be better than the first game. The game is what you expect from other Sonic games from the Genesis. This game introduces Cream the Rabbit, who is one of my favorite Sonic characters. You rescue your friends as Sonic in one of the zones.

    This game can be hard in 4 directions. It bugs me on how the Special Rings counter doesn't even tell you what S Ring did you get. You'll probably    Could be better than the first game. The game is what you expect from other Sonic games from the Genesis. This game introduces Cream the Rabbit, who is one of my favorite Sonic characters. You rescue your friends as Sonic in one of the zones.

    This game can be hard in 4 directions. It bugs me on how the Special Rings counter doesn't even tell you what S Ring did you get. You'll probably get either the 3rd or 4th ring without even knowing that you missed the others ones. Assume that that there are 4 rings before the checkpoint, check every place find them. But, there is no coming back once you passed the rails, cannons, or large gaps where you'll be able to fly back. Try to remember where you can find those in an Act in each Zone that is easy for you.

    The Special Zones can put you at risk. make sure you get any ring, streak of rings or the 5 rings, you find to maximize your multiplier to get the Chaos Emeralds. When trying to run from the robot that is close to you, do a jump so you'll bounce ahead off the robot to accelerate.

    The most annoying part of the game is that when you pause an quit, you are not taken back to the level select, it takes you back to the main menu. You'll lose those extra lives. When trying to find the Special Rings, realizing you missed a few, it'll take about 6 seconds to go through the menu, select your character and get back to the main game. Sonic is the hardest because he doesn't have any flight moves.

    The bosses are quite the challenge unless have extra lives. Cream is your best character for this. She can throw her Chao, Cheese, into the bosses without getting hurt. This is why Cream is character that you will love as a character and a fighter.

    You can spend hours trying to find the Special Rings to get the Emeralds, and fighting Eggman. Tails, Knuckles, and Cream is who you can rely on in this game.    … Expand
  25. therealarien
    Oct 5, 2014
    9
    Sonic Advance 2 sits snugly between 1&3 as the standout entry on the GBA. Faster than 1 and less gimmicky than 3, it really nails that feeling of speed and is simply more fun to play. Using the R button for mid air moves is a joy and the rails are much more than a tacked on feature like in the first entry. The later levels are subject to cheap deaths where you'll plummet to your doomSonic Advance 2 sits snugly between 1&3 as the standout entry on the GBA. Faster than 1 and less gimmicky than 3, it really nails that feeling of speed and is simply more fun to play. Using the R button for mid air moves is a joy and the rails are much more than a tacked on feature like in the first entry. The later levels are subject to cheap deaths where you'll plummet to your doom and earning the final secret zone is OBSCENELY difficult, but overall i'd say this is the quintessential sonic experience on a handheld. Holding down "right" never felt so right… Expand
  26. rhaynes7
    Nov 23, 2013
    9
    After making the excellent Sonic Advance, how on Earth would they make Sonic Advance 2 better. Well, in almost every way. The music and sound quality is better. There's little animations before you start your zone that make the game feel more lively as well. With new tricks added to grinding, ramps, and bumpers, it adds a new layer of precision to objects that used to fling you aroundAfter making the excellent Sonic Advance, how on Earth would they make Sonic Advance 2 better. Well, in almost every way. The music and sound quality is better. There's little animations before you start your zone that make the game feel more lively as well. With new tricks added to grinding, ramps, and bumpers, it adds a new layer of precision to objects that used to fling you around where you had no input while you were flying by.

    This game is better, stronger, and faster than the first Sonic Advance. It leads the game to feel more epic and thrilling, and the running boss fights are an excellent addition, but also quite challenging.

    Probably the only thing that has always bugged me was how difficult finding the special rings are. It's particularly difficult as you will likely fly past one without realizing, and you must make a certain path to each one. Some are intuitive to find, but others are so far off the beaten path. I've spent hours in a zone searching, and that's just not fun. Still, the extra boss is great and was worth the torment.

    Overall, this game builds upon the first and makes it much better. On the other hand, must won't see the whole game through because of how difficult finding those special rings are.    … Expand
  27. ModernRetroMan
    Dec 27, 2012
    7
    I love Sonic and this game does the hedgehog justice. I will talk about the good first and then the bad. The animation of the characters are fun and will make you smile. There are obstacles in the level that are fun and different for each level and do not feel like a gimmick. This music is fun as with any good sonic game. Also the music level is a joy to play and very creative.The wholeI love Sonic and this game does the hedgehog justice. I will talk about the good first and then the bad. The animation of the characters are fun and will make you smile. There are obstacles in the level that are fun and different for each level and do not feel like a gimmick. This music is fun as with any good sonic game. Also the music level is a joy to play and very creative.The whole game reminds me of Sonic 2. However there are some major and minor problems. The two major problems are bad convenance and some bad level design. Both of which are in the sky canon level, what the gamer doesn't know is sonic has many more attacks then one would expect, so one would never test it out. There is one small problem with that, there is a certain jump Sonic has to make in sky canon 1 using a trick that the player does not know unless he/she looks at a walkthrough or reads the book of all the attacks. If Sonic doesn't make this jump, he goes down a path that only a flight character can make, and dies. Of all the other moves sonic has (8 last I counted- 9 if you count "running') only about 2-3 are needed, and when trying to use all these moves to complete a level, the player will do moves he doesn't want to do, making gameplay a little wonky. The way to fix this is rather going "mega man X" and giving sonic very little moves with tight controls or "yoshi's island" a medium amount of moves with non-annoying tutorials. The final small complaint is the level enemies, there are too few and too easy, some jump out of your way.
    If you made it this far, great! I will end this by saying even though I focused on the game's problems, it is small when compared to the good. This is a well designed game. Everything was thought out and it feels like a classic Sonic game. The game is not too easy and not too hard. A well planned game that can stand up against its old rival Mario any day of the week    … Expand
  28. Tokyochuchu
    Mar 19, 2012
    6
    Sonic Advance 2 is a decent addition to the franchise. It has a great sensation of speed, and although the earlier levels involve a bit too much mindless running, the latter stages are quite memorable. The game also has a high quality soundtrack, that fits well with other Sonic games. The running boss battles... Well... They're very much a love-it-or-hate-it type of affair, as they breakSonic Advance 2 is a decent addition to the franchise. It has a great sensation of speed, and although the earlier levels involve a bit too much mindless running, the latter stages are quite memorable. The game also has a high quality soundtrack, that fits well with other Sonic games. The running boss battles... Well... They're very much a love-it-or-hate-it type of affair, as they break from series tradition. I certainly fall on the former, with the bosses being the undoubted highlight of the game. I must say, though, that the bosses do represent huge difficulty spikes and are not balanced well with the action stages that preceded them. All in all, Sonic Advance 2 is a solid title with a good amount of content. But beware the Egg Utopia boss... That guy means business!!… Expand
  29. Luigibarqs
    Nov 28, 2011
    4
    Sonic is back in action for the second time on the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced Console. The music and sound effects are unique and varied and a joy to listen to. There are four game modes, The main game, Time Trial mode, link cable multiplayer racing and chao garden mode which is an unlockable.
    Both the multiplayer racing modes and the Chao Garden are limited distractions/minigames which    Sonic is back in action for the second time on the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced Console. The music and sound effects are unique and varied and a joy to listen to. There are four game modes, The main game, Time Trial mode, link cable multiplayer racing and chao garden mode which is an unlockable.
    Both the multiplayer racing modes and the Chao Garden are limited distractions/minigames which distract from the main experience temporarily but don't add much to the replayability factor of the game as a whole. The sense of speed you get in this game is absolutely amazing but with this in mind it come at a cost. The level design feels empty and bland for the most part and enemies like to be right in your way stopping you speed and momentum or hovering over a pit waiting to knock you into it. The level designers have a guilty pleasure of removing the ground out from under you while you are going at top speed and sending you frequently tumbling into bottomless pits which is not only frustrating, it shows a lack of quality in the level layouts from the stage designers. All Red Rings in a stage need to be collected to play a special stage which is fustrating as your speed and momentum (or sometimes the lack of it) make it difficult (or in Sonic's case) next to impossible to get it if you miss it the first time which forces you to replay the stage yet again. If you thought getting to the Special stage is hard enough, completing it is just as bad if not worse, with needing to approach rings at a specific angle to get the highest amount and avoiding a fast robot with will attack you and make you lose a large amount of the rings you are carrying. There are a large amount of unlockable characters with different abilities and play styles which give uniqueness and replayability to the game. The boss battles feel more like a chore than actual fun (except one unlockable character which can spam projectiles but that makes them far too easy). A Chao Garden mode can be unlocked which is compatible with transferring with your Chao Gardens from your Sonic Gamecube games if you have them and a GBA Controller cable. I tried playing this game on a Nintendo DS Lite console to see how it played and I found the button placement changes made the game next to unplayable, especially in the more complex later portions of the game which require near perfect reflexes down to the seconds to avoid plummeting into bottomless pits. Overall, when it comes to this game, it proves that a great sense of speed isn't everything in a Sonic game, sloppy stage layouts and poor design decisions makes the game much more difficult and lot less enjoyable than it could have been otherwise.    … Expand
  30. ohaiKendyl
    May 20, 2011
    9
    The fastest of the Sonic Advance trio, and arguably the best. Pros: Excellent graphics, control, and sound; witty level design; lots of new moves and characters to play. Cons: Bad boss battles; secondary multiplayer.
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Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2003
10
#10 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2003
7
#7 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Eurogamer
    90
    It takes a tried, tested, and thoroughly flogged old genre and injects some more speed and ingenuity into it, and there's a heck of lot of replay value here, even if the game's levels can probably be beaten in a few hours.
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  2. Gamestyle
    80
    Slight negativity aside, Sonic Advance 2 represents Sonic at its best - fast, slick, looking great and offering yet more of those bonus features (now unlockable, however). Whilst technically there have been better Sonic games, none have managed to quite capture the frantic essence of speed and style like this does.
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  3. AceGamez
    80
    People looking for a good side-scrolling game will enjoy it and Sonic fans everywhere will be delighted at another chance to return to the old-school roots that made Sonic so great back in the day.
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