Sonic Advance 3 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is by far the best Sonic GBA outing ever. Whereas SA1 felt too linear and cautious with the stage design, and SA2 concentrated almost entirely on an uneven mix of speed and exploration, SA3 feels a lot more like the old-school Sonic games on the Sega Genesis.
Clearly responding to negative feedback to the previous SA games, Sega have taken the insane 'superspeed', tricks and character animations from SA2 and the intricate level design from Sonic & Knuckles. The game is much longer than SA1 and 2, featuring 7 zones and 3 acts to each zone, as well as 'hub' levels, where you can select to play the acts in any order you wish (and also play/unlock minigames). Glitches like grinding in SA2 have been fixed, and special stages are much easier to reach.
A new element introduced is the 'partnership' system, where you play with a partner, either a friend or AI, enabling you to perform new 'combos': for example, with a Sonic/Cream combo Sonic can breathe underwater and use Cream's homing attack, while with a Knuckles/Amy combo Knuckles attacks with Amy's hammer. 20 combinations are available, each with their own advantages, although it is possible to complete the game by just leaving your partner behind (albeit harder).
The acts themselves feel much like the Genesis Sonics (taking out the massive ebdless pits from SA2), and feature many classic Sonic signatures, like popping bubbles for air, slippery waterways and bouncy flagpoles (and cheap deaths:P). Badnik design has improved, with some enemies who 'do the unexpected', like a piggybank that drains you of your rings. Thankfully, Sega have abandoned the 'running' boss battles of SA2 and returned to the 'static' bosses, each of whom need some getting used to. An improved version of the Phi robot from Sonic Battle also features, and as you fight him throughout the game he gains more attacks and becomes harder to beat. The game is far from easy, and the final acts (and the final boss) are really quite difficult, hard to get past without losing a life or two.
Sound is excellent, featuring the usual cheery tones of the Sonic games with a few twists (ie Sunset hill, with the remix of the original 'Green Hill' theme from Sonic 1). A new addition is the voice acting from Sonic battle, so deaths are no longer signalled by the "bong!" but with a "whoa!". Which is sometimes annoying, especially on the harder stages, but Eggman/Robotnik's "You're going to pay for this!" makes up for this.
Overall Summary:
Graphics 5/5: colourful stages, great character animations
Sound 4/5: cheerful music, voice acting can get on nerves
Gameplay 5/5: most of the level and boss designs are perfectly executed and timed
Lastability 4/5: many charcters and combos to try, gotta find all the Chao!
Overall 5/5: a return to roots for Sonic Team, with all the problems that plagued SA2 smoothed out. Welcome back Sonic!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sonic Advance 3

Product Description:
Sonic Advance 3 lets you save the world as the world's fastest hedgehog. Sonic's archenemy, Dr. Eggman, has used his Chaos Control to break the world into 7 pieces. While Tails and Sonic work with friend to put the world back together, Dr. Eggman builds the ultimate fighting robot to stop them once and for all.

Want to read more honest consumer review about Sonic Advance 3 now ?