I’m no stranger to the Sonic games. Starting my Sonic journey with Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Game Gear I’ve never really liked the 3D Sonic games or some of the modern takes on 2D Sonic. But Sonic Advance is the most fun I’ve had playing a Sonic game since the days of trying to beat the game before the Game Gear drained another 6 AA batteries.
Given the option I always play as Sonic. Well it is called SONIC The Hedgehog after all. But this time I played as Knuckles and holy cow it’s an entirely different game. Sonic is limited to a spin dash and that’s it. But in Sonic Advance Knuckles can glide, climb and even fight. That’s as well as the usual spin dash.
The levels are as well designed as any old-school Sonic game. Starting out easy and ramping up the difficulty stage by stage. In usual Sonic style there are multiple ways of reaching the goal with low, mid and high paths to take with secrets to find in almost every level. With each stage culminating in a boss battle that is tricky but not overly difficult. Mostly.
None of the levels give you much trouble except for the last one. It’s long, very long and easy to get lost in and run out of time. The game manages to stay challenging without becoming frustrating though.
So if you have the means to play this game you absolutely should. It won’t take long to beat it once. But you will definitely need to play through it multiple times to find everything this game has to offer.
Reviewed via emulator on a PS Vita
Where to play in 2023
Since the closure of the Wii U eShop Sonic Advance is only available on the GameBoy Advance. The loose cartridge will cost around £14 with boxed copies selling for around £35.
The Chao Garden is an aesthetic.
Always made me feel weird no one has really tried to replicate that again.
The game gear was awesome, but I totally forgot about the battery struggles. Thanks for the review. I’m excited to try it out.
Counter argument: Sonic Advance 2
I got a lot of hours out of that game, and like someone else said, the Chao garden was a great minigame addition.
Great mini review! I loved Sonic Advance and played it more than any other Sonic game.
It won’t take long to beat it
I’ve never been able to beat it. 😭 I can’t even get a single chaos emerald! 😆
My nostalgia reminds me that this game fucking rocks
Knuckles had the glide and climb since his debut in Sonic 3. It’s an interesting mechanic that can be helpful in a number of situations.
Now head on to Sonic Advance 2, I think you’ll like it more, I certainly enjoyed it back in my teens
I thought you needed Sonic and Knuckles to play as Knuckles in Sonic 3.
You can play with him on the 2-player mode. It’s not much, but it’s something
Sonic Advance 3 was my introduction to sonic. Loved it. Didn’t realize you don’t unlock new characters unless you play the game AS sonic so I spent 3 years in elementary school trying to figure out how to unlock knuckles.
I loved this game ! Great memories indeed, so glad to see someone enjoying it today.
This game always looked beautiful to me, those neat sprites really stuck on me.
