Sonic Advance (Retro)
User Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): February 3, 2002
- Release Date (EU): March 8, 2002
- Release Date (JP): December 20, 2001
- Publisher: JP: Sega, NA: THQ, EU: Infogrames
- Developer: Dimps, Sonic Team
- Genres: Platformer, action
- Also For: Nintendo Wii U
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
Review Approach:
Reviewed on WiiMednafen, a multi-system homebrew emulator for the Nintendo Wii, and Lakka, a multi-system emulator for the Raspberry Pi 4.
Also before the review, I felt like mentioning that this is the first review I've ever written. Because of this, I ask that you please leave a comment on how I can improve.
Sonic Advance is a 2D platformer released for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance in 2001 and 2002 for Japan and all other regions respectively. Despite what the credits may imply, the game was primarily developed by the Dimps corporation, with Sonic Team serving as the supervisor. As the title implies, this is the first entry in the critically claimed Sonic Advance series, which was the first traditional 2D Sonic instalments since the Genesis/Mega Drive classics (the Neo-Geo Pocket Color's "Sonic Pocket Adventure" not withstanding). As stated before, the game was met with universal critical acclaim, with a solid 87 on Metacritic. In a 2002 review, Nintendo Life gave the title 8 out of 10 stars, good enough for a good on their scale. IGN agreed, giving the game a 9.1, which is an amazing on their scale. Is Sonic Advance really worth the high praise it garnered around release, or is it starting to show it's age?
Sonic Advance opens with a cutscene, which instantly showcases the game's four playable characters and the only plot details you need to know until the end of the game; Eggman's a bad guy, go stop him. Because of this, the developers were able to put all focus on a straightforward, streamlined gameplay experience. With that out of the way, time to discuss mechanics. The physics are a pitch-perfect replica of the Genesis/Mega Drive classics, which is to say that they are some of the best I've ever felt in a video game.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles have absolutely perfect acceleration, deacceleration, and top speed. The action performed when pushing down will change depending on the terrain you happen to be on at the current moment. While moving, your character will roll, which may sound simple, but when rolling down hills, you will gain speed significantly faster. When pushing down without being on any special terrain or without any momentum, the player will simply duck. When pushing the jump button while crouching, however, the player will being to charge up a spin dash. When letting go of down, the player will perform the spin dash. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles would then take off rolling at a quick speed. Jumping is also different than most games. When jumping, the player will curl into a ball and roll, just as the characters curl into a ball when rolling on the ground. When curled up, the player can hit any enemy or object. There are plenty of other abilities that can be performed from these base mechanics, such as the badnik bounce, but I will not spend much time discussing any of those. All of that is only concerning the returning playable characters, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. First introduced in the 2D series in this game is Amy Rose from Sonic CD. Amy cannot roll, and by extension, cannot defeat enemies by jumping into them. Amy is also significantly slower than the other characters. "How does she work in this game?" you might ask. That's where Amy's trusty piko-piko hammer comes in handy. By pressing the B button, Amy will swing her hammer. This is used to take out enemies, interact with various stage obstacles such as springs, and to perform the hammer jump, which is activated by pushing down and b. While many players find her lack of speed and her significantly different mechanics off-putting and against the core principles of the franchise, I personally find her gameplay refreshing and fun, and I will come to discussing why later. That's not saying that the other heroes are identical to each other, as all three have a unique action performed when tapping A in the air, all returning from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Sonic performs the Insta-shield, which is a quick burst that quickly surrounds Sonic and extends his hitbox. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it could also protect Sonic from almost any hazard, but all of the protective applications have been lost in Sonic Advance, which is disappointing. Sonic can also perform this strange maneuver where he stops all previous momentum while instantly giving him a burst of speed if used correctly when landing on a platform. While this may sound very situational and not very useful, it comes in handy surprisingly often. Only problem is that instead of using the triggers, which would work wonders for this ability, it makes the player double-tap a direction on the d-pad, which can lead to cheap falls. Tails able to fly for a short period of time, I think around 8 seconds or so, which is plenty, and his limitations are made clear to the player. Knuckles is probably the most unique as he can glide through the air. When gliding into a wall, he will stick to it and can climb up the wall and jump onto other walls. Knuckles can also float to the top of bodies of water, which really comes in handy in some cases, as we will see later. Not only that but the characters also have unique attacks performed by pressing the B button, but I will not waste any time on these because they are completely useless. So now that we have general mechanics and controls out of the way, lets move on to the levels proper.
Unfortunately, the level design doesn't take advantage of the mechanics to their full potential. The level design isn't quite as speedy as it's 16 bit predecessors or the Adventure games. Yes, there are loops and other speedy set-pieces, and the occasional shortcut or optional path that puts the physics system to use, but these are few and far between. Do I think this brings the game down though? Well, that's a tough one. On one hand, the level design doesn't make me feel like I have to be playing as Sonic, which is especially noticeable with the game having a more traditional playable character, Amy Rose. On the other hand, the more traditional level design allows for Amy Rose to go through the levels, which brings a ton of replay value to the overall experience, as it brings a vastly different gameplay experience. The shift in focus also allows the game to feel significantly different than most other games in the franchise. The amazing controls also never hinder the overall gameplay experience.
Even with that, however, I still wouldn't declare Sonic Advance as accessible as a Mario or a Kirby. The game's definitely rough around the edges in a lot of areas, which is most pronounced with the difficulty design. While the difficulty progression is pitch-perfect, the difficulty design is often very cheap. While bottomless pits are quite as repetitive or numerous as many of Dimps' later entries, they are still too common and often not telegraphed well. Enemy and hazard placement fares much worse. The game often flings the player strait into unpredictable obstacles that just serve to slow down the pace. With that said, any difficulty spikes stand out enough to where you'll remember them on a repeat playthrough. And, luckily, this is a game that encourages replays in a franchise that encourages replays, as the star character's main ability, going super fast, demands this. I do want to say that the focus of any game excuses the game's issues, but it allows the game to still shine through.
The emphasis on replayability also brings up the game's biggest problem: the forced replays. So, each character has their own campaign, and in order to unlock the final story, which became a trend in these games since Sonic Adventure, (which didn't end until 2008's Sonic Unleashed) you MUST BEAT ALL OF THE CAMPAIGNS, IN ADDITION TO COLLECTING ALL CHAOS EMERALDS. Even with the emphasis on replayablity, the devs shouldn't force the player to play the same thing multiple times. The player should be encouraged to replay, not forced to. If anything, forcing (I need to stop saying "force) this on the player does discourages the player to replay the game, and this isn't even mentioning the special stages, which we'll get to in a bit.
So how's this last story? Well, just a Super Sonic face-off against a mech by Eggman, taking place on the moon. All you're really doing is charging at the boss and collecting rings. Then a cutscene plays, showing Sonic saving the day, and then going off for a few days. Then, while flying the Tornado, Tails comes across Sonic falling through the sky and catches him, then proceeded by the "Thank's For Playing!" message. The cutscene is surprisingly sweet, but definitely not enough to forgive the forced replays and the special stages, which we'll get to now.
To access the special stages, you must seek out the blue spring high up in every level. The special stages are a free-fall down a strait tube where you must collect rings. The stages are awkward and clunky. The biggest problem is depth perception and draw distance, but I won't waste time on these, as you'll instantly tell by a 30 second YouTube video.
The graphics are superb, and some of the best on the system. The animation is very smooth, art design is great, and it does a good job selling the locations. I'm really not equipped to talk about the game's visuals technically, but I can say that it is artistically appealing. It's also worth noting that the game adopts the updated character designs from Sonic Adventure. I would go into more detail on the visually, but you can get everything from a YouTube video, similarly to the music.
On the topic of music, it's below the quality standard of the series. With the exception to Egg Rocket, it's mostly forgettable. While the GBA doesn't have a good reputation sound-wise, the instrumentation is pleasing (again, I'm no expert). It's serviceable, but nothing special.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles have absolutely perfect acceleration, deacceleration, and top speed. The action performed when pushing down will change depending on the terrain you happen to be on at the current moment. While moving, your character will roll, which may sound simple, but when rolling down hills, you will gain speed significantly faster. When pushing down without being on any special terrain or without any momentum, the player will simply duck. When pushing the jump button while crouching, however, the player will being to charge up a spin dash. When letting go of down, the player will perform the spin dash. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles would then take off rolling at a quick speed. Jumping is also different than most games. When jumping, the player will curl into a ball and roll, just as the characters curl into a ball when rolling on the ground. When curled up, the player can hit any enemy or object. There are plenty of other abilities that can be performed from these base mechanics, such as the badnik bounce, but I will not spend much time discussing any of those. All of that is only concerning the returning playable characters, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. First introduced in the 2D series in this game is Amy Rose from Sonic CD. Amy cannot roll, and by extension, cannot defeat enemies by jumping into them. Amy is also significantly slower than the other characters. "How does she work in this game?" you might ask. That's where Amy's trusty piko-piko hammer comes in handy. By pressing the B button, Amy will swing her hammer. This is used to take out enemies, interact with various stage obstacles such as springs, and to perform the hammer jump, which is activated by pushing down and b. While many players find her lack of speed and her significantly different mechanics off-putting and against the core principles of the franchise, I personally find her gameplay refreshing and fun, and I will come to discussing why later. That's not saying that the other heroes are identical to each other, as all three have a unique action performed when tapping A in the air, all returning from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Sonic performs the Insta-shield, which is a quick burst that quickly surrounds Sonic and extends his hitbox. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it could also protect Sonic from almost any hazard, but all of the protective applications have been lost in Sonic Advance, which is disappointing. Sonic can also perform this strange maneuver where he stops all previous momentum while instantly giving him a burst of speed if used correctly when landing on a platform. While this may sound very situational and not very useful, it comes in handy surprisingly often. Only problem is that instead of using the triggers, which would work wonders for this ability, it makes the player double-tap a direction on the d-pad, which can lead to cheap falls. Tails able to fly for a short period of time, I think around 8 seconds or so, which is plenty, and his limitations are made clear to the player. Knuckles is probably the most unique as he can glide through the air. When gliding into a wall, he will stick to it and can climb up the wall and jump onto other walls. Knuckles can also float to the top of bodies of water, which really comes in handy in some cases, as we will see later. Not only that but the characters also have unique attacks performed by pressing the B button, but I will not waste any time on these because they are completely useless. So now that we have general mechanics and controls out of the way, lets move on to the levels proper.
Unfortunately, the level design doesn't take advantage of the mechanics to their full potential. The level design isn't quite as speedy as it's 16 bit predecessors or the Adventure games. Yes, there are loops and other speedy set-pieces, and the occasional shortcut or optional path that puts the physics system to use, but these are few and far between. Do I think this brings the game down though? Well, that's a tough one. On one hand, the level design doesn't make me feel like I have to be playing as Sonic, which is especially noticeable with the game having a more traditional playable character, Amy Rose. On the other hand, the more traditional level design allows for Amy Rose to go through the levels, which brings a ton of replay value to the overall experience, as it brings a vastly different gameplay experience. The shift in focus also allows the game to feel significantly different than most other games in the franchise. The amazing controls also never hinder the overall gameplay experience.
Even with that, however, I still wouldn't declare Sonic Advance as accessible as a Mario or a Kirby. The game's definitely rough around the edges in a lot of areas, which is most pronounced with the difficulty design. While the difficulty progression is pitch-perfect, the difficulty design is often very cheap. While bottomless pits are quite as repetitive or numerous as many of Dimps' later entries, they are still too common and often not telegraphed well. Enemy and hazard placement fares much worse. The game often flings the player strait into unpredictable obstacles that just serve to slow down the pace. With that said, any difficulty spikes stand out enough to where you'll remember them on a repeat playthrough. And, luckily, this is a game that encourages replays in a franchise that encourages replays, as the star character's main ability, going super fast, demands this. I do want to say that the focus of any game excuses the game's issues, but it allows the game to still shine through.
The emphasis on replayability also brings up the game's biggest problem: the forced replays. So, each character has their own campaign, and in order to unlock the final story, which became a trend in these games since Sonic Adventure, (which didn't end until 2008's Sonic Unleashed) you MUST BEAT ALL OF THE CAMPAIGNS, IN ADDITION TO COLLECTING ALL CHAOS EMERALDS. Even with the emphasis on replayablity, the devs shouldn't force the player to play the same thing multiple times. The player should be encouraged to replay, not forced to. If anything, forcing (I need to stop saying "force) this on the player does discourages the player to replay the game, and this isn't even mentioning the special stages, which we'll get to in a bit.
So how's this last story? Well, just a Super Sonic face-off against a mech by Eggman, taking place on the moon. All you're really doing is charging at the boss and collecting rings. Then a cutscene plays, showing Sonic saving the day, and then going off for a few days. Then, while flying the Tornado, Tails comes across Sonic falling through the sky and catches him, then proceeded by the "Thank's For Playing!" message. The cutscene is surprisingly sweet, but definitely not enough to forgive the forced replays and the special stages, which we'll get to now.
To access the special stages, you must seek out the blue spring high up in every level. The special stages are a free-fall down a strait tube where you must collect rings. The stages are awkward and clunky. The biggest problem is depth perception and draw distance, but I won't waste time on these, as you'll instantly tell by a 30 second YouTube video.
The graphics are superb, and some of the best on the system. The animation is very smooth, art design is great, and it does a good job selling the locations. I'm really not equipped to talk about the game's visuals technically, but I can say that it is artistically appealing. It's also worth noting that the game adopts the updated character designs from Sonic Adventure. I would go into more detail on the visually, but you can get everything from a YouTube video, similarly to the music.
On the topic of music, it's below the quality standard of the series. With the exception to Egg Rocket, it's mostly forgettable. While the GBA doesn't have a good reputation sound-wise, the instrumentation is pleasing (again, I'm no expert). It's serviceable, but nothing special.
Verdict
What I Liked ...
- Perfect controls
- Tight level design
- Tons of variety
- Good instrumentation
- Amazing visuals
What I Didn't Like ...
- Music isn't very memorable
- Cheap enemy and hazard placement
- Occasionally bumpy level design
8
Gameplay
Controls are perfect, level design is mostly good, but enemy placement is often cheap, and there are plenty of other bumpy moments, but the game is still good fun.
7
Presentation
This game's visuals are absolutely superb, although the presentation is held back by the forgettable music.
7.5
out of 10
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