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Sonic Advance is a 2001 side-scrolling, action-platform video game developed by Dimps and originally published by Sega, THQ, and Infogrames for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). An installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it was the first game in the franchise released on a Nintendo platform, and was produced in commemoration of the series' tenth anniversary. The story follows Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles as they journey to save South Island and stop Doctor Eggman from taking over the world. Controlling a character, players are tasked with completing each level and collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds.

Development of Sonic Advance began after Sega shifted their focus to third-party software development, due to the underperformance of the Dreamcast. The company recruited Dimps—a Japanese development studio consisting of former Neo Geo Pocket Color programmers—to lead development, with the assistance of longtime series developer Sonic Team. While the game follows a similar style of gameplay to the Sega Genesis Sonic games, certain concepts and designs were re-used from newer titles such as Sonic Adventure. The game has been ported to a number of platforms since its release, including Nokia's N-Gage and the Wii U via the Virtual Console.

Upon release, Sonic Advance received positive reviews from critics, who praised its graphics and favorably compared it to the original Genesis games. The game was also a major commercial success, selling 1.21 million copies and is among the the GBA's best-selling titles. The game is the first in the Sonic franchise developed by Dimps, who would return to the series many times in later years.

Gameplay

Sonic Advance is a side-scrolling, action-platform game reminiscent of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games released for the Sega Genesis. Players journey through the fictional South Island to defeat Doctor Eggman, who is attempting to capture the island's animal population to turn them into evil robots. At the game's start, players select one of four characters, each with their own unique set of moves. Sonic the Hedgehog is the fastest and can perform an "insta-shield" that protects him for a split second; Tails can fly or swim for a short amount of time; Knuckles the Echidna can glide through the air and climb walls; and Amy Rose can destroy enemies using her hammer. With the exception of Amy, each character can defeat enemy robots by jumping and curling into a ball, or by performing a spin-dash on the ground to gain speed. By entering a cheat code, players can also control Sonic and Tails simultaneously, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

The game takes place over six levels called zones. Each zone is split into two acts, in which the player must guide their selected character past enemies and obstacles such as spikes and bottomless pits to reach the end in under ten minutes. Scattered around acts are springboards, boost pads, and golden rings, which serve as a form of health; players survive hits as long as they have at least one ring, but their rings will scatter and disappear after a short period of time. Players can also collect canisters that contain power-ups such as speed shoes, elemental shields, and invincibility. The first act ends when players pass a signpost, while the second culminates in a boss fight with Eggman; after hitting him eight times, Eggman will flee and drop a capsule of captured animals. Each character starts the game with a limited number of lives, which are lost when the player is hit with no rings in their possession, is crushed, drowns, or falls in a bottomless pit. If the player loses all their lives, they will receive a game over.

Special springs can be found near the top of certain acts. By jumping onto these springs, the player can reach a special stage, where they are sent falling down a tube on snowboards while trying to earn enough rings to complete the target amount. By completing the stage, the player receives a Chaos Emerald. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds unlocks the game's true ending. The game also features minigame called the Tiny Chao Garden, in which players can raise Chao. Players can transfer their Chao between the Tiny Chao Garden and the Chao Garden from the GameCube versions of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. The game also features a competitive multiplayer mode, where players can race to the end of a level or to find Chao.

Development and release

Sonic Advance was developed for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld console

In January 2001, Sega, facing financial troubles with the underperformance of their Dreamcast console, shifted from first to third-party software publishing, with Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance (GBA) being their primary focuses. A team of developers was formed to begin development on Sonic the Hedgehog Advance (later renamed Sonic Advance), a Sonic title for the GBA that would commemorate the series' tenth anniversary. Development was led by Dimps—a team formed by several former Neo Geo Pocket Color developers and funded by Sega, Sony, and Bandai—with assistance from Sonic Team. Several of the team members had previously worked on the critically-acclaimed Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999) for the Neo Geo.

The developers decided to return to a gameplay style similar to the original Genesis Sonic games, which producer Yuji Naka described as "refreshing". Despite this, they also included concepts that were incorporated in the Dreamcast games, such as the ability to grind on rails and character designs. As the Sonic games released for the Dreamcast allowed players to download the Chao Garden minigame onto the VMU, the development team decided to expand upon this idea by implementing a similar minigame that was compatible with the GameCube's GBA link cable, thus making Sonic Advance one of the first games to make use of the cable. The game's musical score was composed by Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda.

Sega first announced Sonic Advance and two other GBA titles, ChuChu Rocket! and Puyo Puyo, on January 30, 2001. A short video containing footage of the game's first level was featured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May 2001. A 70% finished demo version of the game was showcased at the Nintendo Space World convention in August 2001. The game was also featured at the Tokyo Game Show in October. Sonic Advance was first released for the GBA in Japan on December 20, 2001, followed by a North American release on February 3, 2002 and in Europe on March 8, 2003. Sega published the game in Japan; THQ and Infogrames handled distribution in North America and Europe, respectively. A port for Nokia's N-Gage, titled SonicN, was released on October 7, 2003. In 2005, it was compiled with ChuChu Rocket!, Sonic Pinball Party, and Sonic Battle. On November 25, 2011, it was re-released on Android exclusively in Japan. Most recently, it was released in emulated form on the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan on February 18, 2016.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	87/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
AllGame
Electronic Gaming Monthly	7.8/10
GameSpot	7.9/10
IGN	9.1/10
Nintendo Life
Nintendo World Report	8/10

Sonic Advance's announcement was met with shock and excitement from the video game press, as it was the first time a Sonic game would appear on a Nintendo system. Upon release, the game received positive reviews from critics, according to review aggregation website Metacritic. Selling 1.21 million copies, Sonic Advance is also one of the best-selling games for the Game Boy Advance.

The game's presentation was well-received. Electronic Gaming Monthly considered Sonic Advance the best-looking 2D Sonic game. GameSpot praised its detailed scenery and animation, calling them solid and faithful to the original Genesis games. Nintendo World Report described its use of graphical techniques such as Mode 7 and rotation as elegant, praising its anime-inspired character animations, and favorably compared them to Super Mario World (1990). The game's music and audio was also praised; GameSpot called it comfortable and catchy, while IGN described it as "great". Critics also praised the gameplay, with many favorably comparing it to the original games. IGN admired the clever new ideas, such as the ability to grind on rails, and determined that Sonic felt better on the GBA, rather than the Genesis. GameSpot offered similar praise, calling it a "satisfying experience". AllGame felt the game relied too much on nostalgia, but felt this was still a "winning formula" and called the game enjoyable. The game's use of the GameCube link cable was widely praised; IGN praised the replay value and variety it offered, and GameSpot called it "cool feature".

Certain elements gained a more mixed response. GameSpot felt that Sonic Advance lacked polish, and criticized the hard-to-master special stages. IGN's only criticism was the presence of problems from prior titles, such as "an inviting stretch of roadway that begs to have your character blaze across it at top speed, only to have a spike strip jab you in the feet somewhere in the middle". Nintendo World Report thought the game was too short and criticized the exclusion of the Super Sonic replay mode from earlier games. Reception to SonicN was mixed; GameSpot criticized its choppy frame rate and encouraged readers to instead buy the superior GBA version. IGN agreed and felt the ported version was damaged by the N-Gage's vertical screen and lack of connectivity. Regarding the game as a whole, critics felt Sonic Advance was a solid entry in the Sonic franchise. Nintendo World Report felt the game was not perfect but was still a game that "deserves a spot in your GBA case". IGN agreed, and stated the game successfully re-captured the spirit of classic Sonic gameplay while taking advantage of the GBA's capabilities. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine named it among the best games ever produced for a Nintendo platform.

Legacy

The release of Sonic Advance signified the end of the console wars, a notorious rivalry between Sega and Nintendo that lasted throughout much of the 1990s. The two companies would work closer together in subsequent years, collaborating for the first time in 2003 with F-Zero GX and, in 2007, both Sonic and Nintendo's mascot Mario would feature in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Sonic Advance was the first game in the Sonic franchise that was developed by Dimps. The studio would return in subsequent years to create many games in the series, including two sequels to Sonic Advance—Sonic Advance 2 (2002) and Sonic Advance 3 (2004). Dimps also developed the Nintendo DS games Sonic Rush (2005) and Sonic Rush Adventure (2007), as well as handheld versions of Sonic Colors (2010), Sonic Generations (2011), and Sonic Lost World (2013).