Sonic Advance 3 Review

By Justin Speer - Posted Jul 07, 2004
Justin Speer

Is Sonic Advance 3 speedy fun or just quick to bore you?

The Pros
  • Blow through well-designed stages fast enough to give you a velocity high
  • Mixing up your team never hurts gameplay
  • Nice audiovisual experience
The Cons
  • Difficulty can flare up unexpectedly
  • So-so boss fights
  • Unlocking extra content is more annoying than challenging

So, have you met Sonic the Hedgehog? If you haven’t, you may have some reservations about picking up his third Game Boy Advance title. It’s understandable. But take it from the gang at X-Play, this fleet-of-foot mascot may be a little over the hill popularity-wise, but hey, the incline just makes him run that much faster.

Sonic Zoom 

Sonic’s motivation for moving at breakneck speeds through huge, open courses loaded with obstacles is to keep a rotund scientist named Dr. Eggman from using chaos emeralds and a big red button to do something mean and nasty. Your motivation for this is simply to have fun. It can be quite a kick running fast enough to plow through loops, graze over the surface of water, and scoot along the ceiling in zero gravity. The areas are large enough to explore and have enough enemies and spikes (no Sonic stage would be complete without spikes) to keep you challenged.

Running as a Team Sport 

After hopping around in a sort of commons area for your particular zone and choosing a level to tackle, your two chosen members of Sonic’s speed-freak posse get a running start on their search for the goal. You’ll get a slightly different experience based on what character you choose, and who you run actually defines who you are. Aside from assisting you directly with tag moves like a high toss into the air or homing attack, you can’t help but be influenced by who you hang out with.

For instance, Knuckles the Echidna (another species not known for setting speed records outside video games) is very much the brawling type. Looking to his partner Tails, a fox that uses his several tails to helicopter through the air, Knuckles is inspired to leap into the air for a flaming uppercut and make long gliding double jumps. With five characters to mix and match, there are quite a few different ways to play. Some teams may be better suited to certain situations, or just flat-out better than others, but you can clear any stage with any combination.  

The Finish Line

Sonic has a good bit of high-speed action to offer, giving you about 21 short and sweet levels. They’re challenging to keep you from blowing through them on your first run, so the game should keep you occupied for a while. Shaving off the seconds in time attack isn’t for everyone, however.  The game might let you down during uneven boss fights that simply fail to impress, or you find you need to slow down and search every nook and cranny to unlock extra levels. In other words, when the speed stops, the fun stops. Otherwise, Sonic Advance 3 moves fast, looks and sounds good (Sonic fans will certainly groove to a remixed tune or two), and has a few multiplayer options to boot.