Sonic Battle

 Game Boy Advance
  • Publisher: THQ
  • Release Date: Jan 5, 2004
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 56
  3. Negative: 4 out of 56
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  1. JeffB.
    Apr 6, 2004
    8
    Screw plot and Theme, all I wanted to do in this game was kick some shit out of people with emerl. Like other GBa sonic games, this one had little plot. The fighting is fun, and the graphics are decent, I didn't like how emerl died in the end, it was also hard to gain experience, but once you got good there was no stopping you.
  2. KameronS.
    Feb 15, 2004
    10
    This game rocks!!! one more thing. Clarke Middle School Is AWESOME!!!!
  3. MarkB.
    Jan 16, 2004
    8
    I think a lot of reviewers were unfair to this game. The plot is excellent, and all the characters are shown how they really are. Sonic is over-confident, tails is shy, knuckles just wants to fight, etc. Plus, some very good voice clips are sprinkled in the game. I think its good, and my main complaint is that training emerl can take a lot of training.
  4. Luigibarqs
    Nov 28, 2011
    6
    Sonic Battle is a Party fighting game for the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced portable gaming console. The audio in my opinion is very hard on the ears and not very enjoyable while the sound effects and voice clips are pretty generic overall. All of the characters have various different moves and abilties which makes every fighter unique. A fighting robot character is also included in which youSonic Battle is a Party fighting game for the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced portable gaming console. The audio in my opinion is very hard on the ears and not very enjoyable while the sound effects and voice clips are pretty generic overall. All of the characters have various different moves and abilties which makes every fighter unique. A fighting robot character is also included in which you can customize the movesets, stance, abilities and colour palette to your liking based on what you have unlocked which brings replaybility to get all abilities and to try different combinations of moves. The stages usually consist of a bland flat map with a few cube-like figures to stand on and have music that vary from addictive to forgettable but the annoying instrument choices make it hard on the ears for some. The modes in the game consist of Story mode where you can complete for each individual character, Challenge mode in which you aim for the highest score while completing all the battles successfully under a selected difficulty, minigames which are all multiplayer over a link cable except for one which is a Knuckles themed minesweeper game that can be played in single player, single matches either with AI opponents or with friends over a link cable with one to four fighters and editable settings like lives, teams and stages. The storyline consists of Eggman trying to take over the world with robots that can mimic the abilities of who they watch and one of these robots manages to get into the hands of Sonic, his friends and his rivals. The battles can vary from extremely easy to extremely difficult and almost random intervals which leads to a really strange difficult curve. The battling system consists of simple combos, attacks to launch enemies airborne, air attacks that can harm and/or slam them into the ground with amazing force, running attacks, a healing/charging ability and three special signature moves of the types "Trap" which is a special move which plants a trap in the arena, "Air" which is a special move done in the air and finally "Ground" which is a special move done on the ground. The game will start out extremely difficult unless you grind experience points and abilities for your customizable robot character. You will realize after awhile that the AI opponents are extremely stupid. If you get far enough away from one, they will sit there and charge energy until you come within their range, on a rare occasion, they may come after you after a certain time period expires. They are also easy to lead around the arena and lead face first into your incoming attacks. AI opponents usually refuse to block or get out of the way or block when launched by an upward strike which can lead you to easily juggling them with the same upward strike until they lose their current life and respawn or are eliminated form the match if on their last life. You can also spam your special move that they aren't resistant to for easy KOs. The game overall is decent if playing solo and even better with friends to play with on multiplayer, its limited and flawed in areas while amazing and varied in others.… Expand
  5. KendylKlownfish
    May 1, 2011
    7
    It's not going to win any fighting game awards, however, kiddies will obsess over the excessive amount of cartoon violence jammed in their GBA. Pros: Fantastic graphics for the GBA; basic control; variety of characters and 3-D action boards. Cons: The repetitive button mashing will turn some gamers off; imbalanced character roster; poor soundtrack.
  6. ohaiKendyl
    May 19, 2011
    7
    It's far from exceeding the Super Smash Bros series, but the truth is that Sonic Battle is an OK fighting game with lots of multiplayer value. Pros: Fantastic graphics and 3-D fighting arenas; a surprising amount of depth in strategy during Battle; Emerl's ability to use Skill Copy is almost limitlessly customizable; lots of multiplayer value. Cons: Limited roster; Battles require lots ofIt's far from exceeding the Super Smash Bros series, but the truth is that Sonic Battle is an OK fighting game with lots of multiplayer value. Pros: Fantastic graphics and 3-D fighting arenas; a surprising amount of depth in strategy during Battle; Emerl's ability to use Skill Copy is almost limitlessly customizable; lots of multiplayer value. Cons: Limited roster; Battles require lots of repetitive button-mashing; fighting with 2-D sprites in a 3-D environment results with often unresponsive controls; "hit-or-miss" soundtrack.… Expand
  7. lolmyname
    Oct 29, 2013
    8
    AI's a moron.
    Everything else is great.
                                                                                          
    150 characters? Really?
  8. Shadow1
    May 15, 2016
    7
    This is best Sonic game on GBA and one of the best game on GBA . Normal Graphics for GBA and Very good storyline . Best Fighting game on GBA with Tekken Advance . This game very interesting and this game even better than Sonic Advance 1 , 2 . Sonic Advance 3 is suck . 7/10 . Very very good for GBA .
  9. GamecubeLover
    Aug 4, 2016
    10
    This game aged very well and has addicting gameplay and simple storyline. The game is one of the best fighting games to be on the gameboy advance for sure.
  10. shadowhedgehog
    Oct 3, 2016
    10
    one of the best sonic games ever you can play as sonic tails knuckles shadow rouge amy cream emerl chaos or gamma and beat the crap out of your opponents i enjoy this game immensely and play it a lot
  11. Knuckles123
    Jan 13, 2018
    9
    Knuckles is playable but there's not enough knuckles to chuckle which leads to 9/10
  12. ZXSth
    Feb 27, 2023
    7
    A surprisingly deep and interesting Sonic game that throws a wrench in what one might expect from a Sonic game. While certainly full of arbitrary 'padding' (and unnecessarily lengthy as a consequence), the gameplay is above average for what could be reasonably expected of a fighting game on the GBA, and plays like an isometric Smash Bros. game with some light role-playing mechanics. WhileA surprisingly deep and interesting Sonic game that throws a wrench in what one might expect from a Sonic game. While certainly full of arbitrary 'padding' (and unnecessarily lengthy as a consequence), the gameplay is above average for what could be reasonably expected of a fighting game on the GBA, and plays like an isometric Smash Bros. game with some light role-playing mechanics. While not necessarily excellent and occasionally frustrating, Sonic Battle is a reasonably enjoyable fighting game that inches towards excellence, but reaches something just shy of it.… Expand
  13. mugzo
    Aug 18, 2019
    3
    The game is pretty cool at first, but after battling the same guy twice in a row, making extremely uninteresting challenges, and still having multiple Long Stories for each character that barely differ, makes it one of the most challenging games for me in the Game. Boy advance.
  14. BM30
    Jun 30, 2020
    7
    The plot is very interesting and I really like it but I find the gameplay very boring. At the start it's pretty fun but later it becomes pretty stale.
  15. E102Gamma
    Nov 15, 2021
    3
    Sonic Battle was the first game on the Game Boy Advance I ever owned and it was fine at first but once I started playing the story modes I gave up once Rouge kidnapped Emerl. The difficulty spikes in this game is the biggest problem. The AI of your opponent never improves. The game's challenge is beating the same character over and over. Sometimes under a time limit, sometimes with aSonic Battle was the first game on the Game Boy Advance I ever owned and it was fine at first but once I started playing the story modes I gave up once Rouge kidnapped Emerl. The difficulty spikes in this game is the biggest problem. The AI of your opponent never improves. The game's challenge is beating the same character over and over. Sometimes under a time limit, sometimes with a handicap. The fight itself isn't challenging unless you're playing as Emerl. The combat is clunky and unsatisfying and the RPG gimmicks are starting to feel very stale in these post - Saturn Sonic games. The 3D environments might have looked impressive for the time and the art style is indeed very neat. It's just a shame that this game is such a bore and sometimes a frustration to play.… Expand
  16. MetalReviewer
    Mar 7, 2022
    8
    A simple enjoyable beat-em-up with a surprisingly great plot behind it. If you enjoy simply flinging characters into walls, this one's up your alley.

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2004
14
#14 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2004
26
#26 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 28
  3. Negative: 3 out of 28
  1. Weekly Famitsu
    70
    7 / 7 / 7 / 7 - 28 [Vol 782]
  2. AceGamez
    90
    A charming game with a riveting plot and, most of all, a fun and challenging engine at heart.
  3. GBA Central
    50
    Won’t last long as a single player game - combat’s a little simple and the gameplay modes on offer are just too dry to provide any lasting entertainment.
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