I have to admit, Sonic Advance made me nervous
when I first saw it. To be fair, Sonic Team has had some incredible games over
the past couple of years, notably including Phantasy Star Online and Chu Chu
Rocket. However, I've been less than impressed with their treatment of their
namesake, Sonic the Hedgehog, since the Dreamcast was released in late 1999.
However, Sonic Advance looked to be more true to the original vision of Sonic
than the lackluster 3D "Adventure" games he'd been relegated to, so I decided to
take a chance, and rented it at the local video store. I must say, I am
pleasantly surprised.
In case you came to gaming after the Sega Genesis bowed out of stores, Sonic the
Hedgehog was essentially the game that kept Sega from being completely beaten
down by Nintendo's Super NES. The game was more of a roller-coaster ride than a
platform game; it moved so fast that, half the time, you found yourself holding
on for dear life rather than actually controlling the action, and that speed and
frenetic pace was what made the game so darned fun to play.
Sonic Advance actually holds true to the spirit of the original Sonic games, and
creates a brand new adventure in that vein that's actually a lot of fun to play.
Basically, you pick a character (more on this in a minute) and then hang on
tight. The element of speed, arguably the most important element of a Sonic
game, is done very well here; given the right launch, the level will seem to
whiz by at a lightning pace, and there are actually paths you can happen upon
which will leave you covering most of the level in a matter of seconds, which is
an element that was present in the original games and noticeably absent in Sonic
Adventure.
One interesting aspect of the game is that you can choose from four different
characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, all of which have appeared in
previous Sonic games. All of them are functionally similar, with the exception
of Amy, who does not have a spin jump. Needless to say, this is a significant
absence, as spin jumping is how one battles 90% of the enemies in a Sonic game,
so playing through the game with Amy requires the veteran Sonic player to
rethink their technique, which adds a bit of variety to the game. Other than
that, though, the other three characters are essentially the same; sure, Tails
can hover and Knuckles ca glide, but that really doesn't make that much of a
difference in the later levels. What would have been nice would be something
like the level setup in Sonic and Knuckles for Sega Genesis, where Knuckles and
Sonic traversed the same stages, but had to take completely different paths as a
result of their different abilities.
Another mark in the plus column for Sonic Advance is the save-game feature;
after you complete a given level, the game records that you've completed it, and
then can start from the last level you haven't beaten yet. Given that, as I'm
fond of saying for handheld games, a car ride can come to an end at any time,
it's nice to know that you'll be able to pick up where you left off from. What
would have been extremely nice would be a one-time save which was deleted when
you next loaded up the game, so you could even stop mid-level, but the levels
generally aren't so long that it's really necessary.
Control, as is standard for classic Sonic games, is quite simple. The d-pad
moves Sonic around, and A jumps. New to Sonic Advance is the special attack,
executed with the B button, which is essentially a horizontal punch or kick.
It's a nice addition, but a rather unnecessary one. All in all, though, if
you've ever played a 2D Sonic game before, you'll be able to jump right in here
with no problems whatsoever.
Graphically, while Sonic Advance doesn't necessarily take advantage of
everything that the GBA has to offer, it still looks quite slick and is able to
keep up with Sonic's speed. The characters seem more cartoonish than the old
Genesis ones did, but this is a good thing, since they are also more expressive
in the process. Sonic Team uses this more cartoony style to put more personality
into the characters, and the effect works well.
Unfortunately, the sound doesn't work quite as well as the graphics do. First,
the good: all the Sonic sounds you remember, from collecting rings to passing a
checkpoint to getting invincibility, are all here and transported over
perfectly. I'll admit to getting a wee bit nostalgic when I heard those ring
sounds once again. The problem, however, isn't with the effects but with the
music. Even through headphones, the music is scratchy and fairly uninspired.
I've heard what the GBA can do musically, in games like Castlevania and F-Zero;
Sonic Advance, for coming far after these launch titles, doesn't even begin to
compare.
All in all, Sonic Advance is a fun trip down memory lane for the old-school
Genesis gamers. It may be worthwhile to wait for the price to come down, unless
you're also planning on buying Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for GameCube, as there
will be some interconnectivity between those two games via the
soon-to-be-released GBA Link Cable. Other than that, though, while this is an
excellent 2D Sonic game, being able to save after every level, while having its
advantages, also detracts from the replay value dramatically, and the extra
characters really aren't different enough to make up for that. My advice is to
rent first, and see if Sonic Advance has enough old-school gaming goodness to be
worth your $40.
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Sonic
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