Pros: new character, nice graphics, harder to beat
Cons: can be VERY hard to beat
The Bottom Line: Last year, this would have been game of the year. But this year, there are so many great games coming out, that it is a jewel, but not the shiniest.
vadimio's Full Review: Sonic Advance 2 for Game Boy Advance (GBA)
A few months back I wrote a review about Sonic Advance. I mentioned that Sonic Advance 2 was just released in Japan at that time, and that a US release would probably occur soon. Well, I was right because Sonic Advance 2 came out in the first part of the US. I picked up a copy of this game about two weeks ago because I enjoyed the first Sonic GBA game a lot.
The story in this isn't very deep but since this is a platformer, most people won't mind. This time Eggman has captured Sonic's friends and Sonic must rescue them one by one. The first noticeable thing about this game is the fact that when you first play, you can only play as Sonic. In the previous version you could play as any of the four characters right away. After rescuing you friends in this game, they will be unlocked and then you can play as them. A new character has been added - apart from Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles, Cream the Rabbit is introduced. He is a goofy looking character. Cream is the easiest character to beat the game with because he has not one but two awesome moves. Cream has hover in the air, like Tails, but for a shorter amount of time. He is also has a critter friend named Cheese, and by pressing the B button, Cheese is thrown toward an enemy, thereby killing him.
Sonic is the well-rounded character just like in Sonic Advance, Tails can still hover, Knuckles has her hammer and Amy (who can only be unlocked by completely beating the game) clings to walls. A new move has been added to this game. By pressing on the R button, which is a shoulder button, during a jump, your character will perform a 'double jump', which can get you to places you have never been to and is very useful.
The boss battles have been altered a bit, and this definitely makes the game a lot more challenging. Bosses now take more hits to kill, there are smarter, but the main difference is the fact that you are not in one place, you must constantly move and follow the boss at high speeds while attacking him and dodging hits, which is hard. To make the game even harder and even more frustrating, if you die, you must start the Stage, not the Act, all over. You see, the games consists of seven stages, and each stage has two acts. After act two, there is a boss battle, and if you survive, you beat the stage. In Sonic Advance, if you died during Act 2 or a boss battle, you would start Act 2 or near the battle once again, but in this game, if you die, you are returned to the beginning of the whole stage, which is REALLY frustrating.
The levels are huge this time around! They are larger and more complex than in Sonic Advance, and exploration is rewarded, if not necessary. There are 7 SP rings located on each Stage, and if you collect them all, which is really tough to do, you are taken to the bonus stage. This has been altered from the other game. The object this time is to collect 300 coins in a limited time span, and you must have strategies for this or else you will not do well. If you succeed and get the 300 coins, then you will be rewarded with a Chaos emerald. If you collect all of the Emeralds, then you have truly beaten the game. When you beat it, the chaos garden is unlocked, which is just like last year's version, which I do not enjoy playing because it is virtually a mini-Tamagotchi.
The sheer amount of loops, things that speed you up and such is mind-boggling. This game is even faster than the previous, and sometimes you can go through a large part without stopping at all. The amount of random spikes that make you lose your coins is less this time through, and this is welcome. Just like previously, if you get hit by an enemy or spike, your coins that you have gather are sprayed in every direction possible. You should recollect them quickly. If you have zero coins and get hit, then you die.
The graphics are just as superb as in the previous ones. The backgrounds are really colorful and the background music interweaves well with the backgrounds to create great levels. The character sprites are well sized and they are fairly detailed. A new graphic has been added. When you are going full speed, you will see something that is like a mini-shadow, and this tells you that it is impossible to speed up. The music is great, and you probably won't turn off the volume. The in-game sounds are pretty good too, and you will recognize the chime made when you get a coin, or the jumping sound. When you beat the game, the area where you can listen to all of the tracks are unlocked.
Overall, Sonic Advance 2 is a great game. I think that this is better than the original because of larger levels, harder to beat, extra character and move, better visuals and more insensitive to beat. If you like platform games, then this is a definite must buy! However, if you are looking to buy a game and haven't purchased one recently, I would buy Pokemon or the second installment of Golden Sun.
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