Sonic Advance

 Game Boy Advance
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Feb 3, 2002
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 131 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 131
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 131
  3. Negative: 7 out of 131
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  1. DarknessDudeTOB
    Apr 24, 2012
    4
    Don't read any of the reviews here. Only trust reviews below 6 for this game. It's terrible for me. Why? I'll explain it to you.
    Sonic Advance is supposed to be basically what everyone calls "itz awsme, lik Soonic CD". I don't agree with any of that. This game is like an insult from Sega, telling everyone to screw off until next time. Why do I say this? Because the level design is    Don't read any of the reviews here. Only trust reviews below 6 for this game. It's terrible for me. Why? I'll explain it to you.
    Sonic Advance is supposed to be basically what everyone calls "itz awsme, lik Soonic CD". I don't agree with any of that. This game is like an insult from Sega, telling everyone to screw off until next time. Why do I say this? Because the level design is terrible. The first two levels were enjoyable. But that's the issue, it's ONLY those two levels. While it makes sense that the later levels are supposed to get harder, it already loses my patience, reaching the "maximum ragequit" mode. You want a collection of hates? Here you go.
    First of all, the spikes. They. Are. EVERYWHERE YOU SEE. And plus, they place them at the rudest places ever. There's a spike where you are going to land. There's a spike where you are running. There's a spike where you are stopping at. There's a spike near your rings/items. There are so many freaking spikes, there is no way you can speedrun this game without dying at LEAST once. Another thing is the new enemy, the robot mole thing. It's exactly like spikes, except you can destroy it. And the level design has so many of these guys, like the spikes. I don't need to go through the same rant of how they are everywhere. And also, near the final levels, there is an overkill of enemy spawns. It's like the TMNT game for NES, where every house has hundreds of enemies on your screen. That's what the final levels do. What, are Sega the inventors of that game too? Are they trying to bring back "classic" frustration?
    Now let's get on with good things. You can become the awesome speedy guy that you saw in the older games. No, not those terrible older ones. I mean the classic Genesis ones. Those ones were fast. So is this game. That's a good thing, children! But the overkill of enemies of the levels just limit the speed, because you have to keep stopping, and then you go. The original Sonic games never wanted you to stop, you could keep going! Nope, not with Advance. And the extra moves for the characters don't help. Sonic has a roll attack thing like he does in Sonic Adventure. He also has an extra jump attack if you hit the A button twice. What help does an extra jump do?
    Oh, did you hear me again too? If you are a grammer person, that's right. MULTIBLE CHARACTERS. It was bad enough in Sonic Adventure. It was even worse in Sonic Adventure 2. Don't tell me you're gonna screw up classic Sonic with this. You have the following characters. Tails is basically the clone of Sonic, except it's a tiny bit slower but he can fly. Knuckles is an EXACT clone of Tails, and his punching moves don't help at all. Amy is useless, and the hammer doesn't help.
    Now the final two things I want to talk about are VS. mode and Tiny Chao Garden. VS. mode is the multi-player mode for this game, and it's fun. At least, if both players are equaly skilled. And the level design is terrible with all the stupid loops everywhere. What it is, explaining. You and a partner try to kill each other with loops and stupid power-ups. Done deal. The rings kind of take out the fun though.
    Tiny Chao Garden must be the main reason this game was created at all. To use it, you must BUY a GameCube and BUY Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. Then you BUY a GameCube-to-Gameboy Advance cable and get some Chaos and other stuff in the GameCube version. Connect the two games. Do something that I can't explain. You have your Chao in Sonic Advance. The thing is that you can basically raise him on the go on Gameboy, send him back on GameCube, and his upgrades are there. The thing is, the only way to raise him is get food, and the food is crazily expensive. And the two minigames have the most stupidest amounts of points you get when you win. Not worth the time.
    If you see this game, find it for a price of free, or at least $1 buck. Don't get this game at all on any of other price. The game is frustrating, stupid, and is NOT like Sonic CD at all. Don't even try calling it the masterpiece it was. Get the 2nd or 3rd, those two were so much better than this. Nope, don't even reach for this game because it has Tiny Chao Garden. Not for VS. mode either.    … Expand
  2. BobRichardsin
    Oct 7, 2012
    0
    No platforming what so ever. THis game features four characters to play as and the only interesting one in Amy Rose.....wow. Why is there no platforming. This game basically took everything cool about Sonic and took it away
  3. MMPP99
    Nov 20, 2022
    4
    Unpopular opinion: This game is literally garbage. Most of people will say this game is great for a nostalgic reason, but to be honest, this game is not a big deal. You can beat this game in less than 1 hour, also in order to get a good ending, you need to collect 7 crystals which it is really painful. Special levels are terrible, it's a horrible genesis pseudo 3-D stage. Stage levels areUnpopular opinion: This game is literally garbage. Most of people will say this game is great for a nostalgic reason, but to be honest, this game is not a big deal. You can beat this game in less than 1 hour, also in order to get a good ending, you need to collect 7 crystals which it is really painful. Special levels are terrible, it's a horrible genesis pseudo 3-D stage. Stage levels are confusing and ugly. The good part of this game is the animation is good and the music are tolerable.
    If you want to play a good sonic, I recommend to play the Sonic Adventures 2, Sonic 1-3( genesis version) and Sonic Mania.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2002
6
#6 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2002
8
#8 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2002

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Nintendophiles
    100
    What really shines, even on top of the great graphics and sound and gameplay, is the replay value.
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  2. Pocket Games
    95
    It looks, sounds and plays like a cartoon, and most importantly, it's just damend fun. [Spring 2002, p.30]
  3. Games Radar
    92
    Despite the 12 years since his debut, it's as captivating, exciting and, more importantly, as fun as it ever was - but of Sega, we'd expect no less. [GamesMaster]
    Read full review
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