Gaming Target - Game Boy: Sonic Advance 2

Written by Tim McGrew on April 25, 2003

Review: It's like running at full sonic speed head first into a wall

The most disappointing aspect of the first Sonic Advance on the GBA was that it was a carbon copy of an already established, albeit old, Sonic title, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Although to some that is a wonderful thing, seeing as how the last Sonic game that was in 2D was released on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, but it was hardly as great of an outing on the Gameboy Advance as one would have hoped. For starters, the game's graphics were hardly up to par with games already being released that same year and zooming through levels on the handheld just didn't feel as fun as they should have seeing as how the game was done with the absolute minimal amount of effort utilizing so very little of the system's hardware. It was obvious that the GBA is a viable platform for future Sonic games given the success of Sonic Advance and it was a certainty that handheld lovers would see Sonic in a new adventure eventually. Sonic Advance 2 is the fruit of that idea.

With that lengthy introduction out of the way, let's get down to what makes up Sonic Advance 2 - difficulty. You readers are probably saying УDifficulty? In a Sonic game? Dear boy, you must be joking!Ф Hardly. In fact, this is the most difficult 2D Sonic title to date. Although it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out just how difficult the game is from a couple of trial runs on some of the later levels, the description of said difficulty can only be compared to as Сfair.' It's not really the enemies that are difficult or even the levels themselves, but the bosses are. In this particular Sonic game, each boss battle is fought while in motion. Sonic, for example, has to run as fast as he can just to catch up with Robotnik's vehicles and leap into its vulnerable sections to cause damage, but as you fall back from the initial hit, you'll have to run up to it and repeat the process. While doing so, Robotnik will toss out several different obstacles for you to deal with including spikes, enemies, explosives, and other items that will tick off any hedgehog. Although that sounds like something that is terribly evil, it's actually a whole lot of fun. Especially since the levels have never really been approached in this fashion and it's a refreshing take on the series.

The bosses aren't the only difficult part of the game. Hidden in each level are seven special rings that need to be obtained in order to acquire chaos emeralds. Before, acquiring 100 standard rings and completing the level was more than enough to suffice, but this time around, rings simply serve as health and point fillers, nothing more. This is a huge change that will actually shock players as these special rings are rarely ever easy to collect and they are necessary to have in order to unlock extras later in the game. Although the rings can be collected entirely by one character, far too often, particularly as Sonic, players will just zoom right on by a special ring that is just off screen by a quarter of an inch and never realize it was there. This means that players will have to use each character and their special abilities to really scour these massive levels inch by inch.

Speaking of special abilities, one of the new features of Sonic Advance 2 is that each character actually has a great deal of variety in how you use them to complete the zones. That probably sounds passщ as no two characters are exactly alike, but each level actually utilizes each character to a different degree, similar to how they are played in the Sonic Adventure games. Using Knuckles ability to climb walls will come in handy when players fall to the bottom of a level, but it will also help if you can climb a wall and reach a special ring that is just out of reach of Sonic's jumping range and Tails' flying range. Simply put, gaining access to the Chaos Emeralds is the key to unlocking features and characters, but it's necessary to use the hidden characters in order to obtain every special ring to unlock the rest of the features in the end. It's a nice, yet difficult, way of making the player truly progress to earn every extra feature.

As most players can attest to, it's rarely ever a priority to memorize level design in a Sonic title. Chances are, as soon as the level starts, all the player will remember is that it said Zone 1 or 2 of whatever area they're in and then bang, they're off and half way through the entire stage in a matter of seconds and they're never coming back. Sonic Advance 2 actually breaks that mentality making memorization something that pays off to those who utilize it. Memorizing an item location or the location of a special ring or seven will pay off in the end as missing all too important jumps and avoiding the hasty rush off into the sunset actually rewards players a great deal as they'll more than likely locate those coveted special rings through a bit of trial and error.

Although that may sound tedious to many of you regular Sonic fans out there, you'll be pleased to hear that if the secrets don't concern you at all, you can still blaze your way through each stage without stopping. In fact, even in the later levels, it's still very conceivable that you'll spend less than three minutes on each zone even if it's your very first run through and still reach the end unscathed. Although it's a possibility, it's hardly recommended as the extras are far more important as you reach the end game and complete it with Sonic. That's when you realize all that's left is Cream Cheese and a load of darkened characters you can't select because you neglected those special rings.

If you really take the time and earn those Chaos Emeralds, you'll be rewarded with the tiny Chao game that has changed quite a bit from the version in the first Sonic Advance. For starters, there's a wide variety of Chao that can be bred and a great deal of items and toys that can be purchased for them. After a hard days work of breeding and playing, players can also whip out that GBA to GCN link cable and transfer the Chao over to Sonic Advance 2's big brother title, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and the Gamecube. Although it's hardly new if you've played the original version with the first Sonic Advance, it's still a nice distraction for those who have not and is another vaunted extra that will surely please any player.

Probably the biggest improvement to Sonic Advance 2, other than its myriad of gameplay enhancements and additions, come to its graphics. Repeating what was said in the opening paragraph of this review, the original Sonic Advance was lackluster in its visual effects, but seeing as how this is a sequel to that already well established title, the bar must be raised. Well, raised it has been. For starters, the animations for each character are beautiful. Sonic himself is host to a number of different animations from standing still, to somersaulting, and from banging into an enemy and to landing on a couple of spikes. It's astonishing to see how improved the game looks with a sense of speed that seems even faster than the first Sonic Advance, if that was even possible. In addition to Sonic, each character has been upgraded with new animations, but many players will be shocked to see how many subtle improvements there truly are. If you own the first Sonic Advance and were going to pick up this title, do yourself a favor and rip through the first four zones and two boss battles in the original and then do the same in Sonic Advance 2 and just take in every little improvement. It's quite amazing.

One area the game hasn't necessarily improved on is the music which has, much like the music from Castlevania: Circle of the Moon to Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, taken a nose dive in quality. Familiar themes can only be heard during the title screens and character select screens, but rarely ever in actual levels and that will disappoint die hard Sonic fans, but the music is fine in its own right. It's not bad, but it is lacking that Sonic feel.