The Sonic Advance series from the early 2000’s were arguably some of the most underrated entries in the history of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The very first Sonic Advance game from 2001 came out on the Game Boy Advance the same year Sonic Adventure 2 appeared on the Dreamcast console. Sonic Advance was such a big deal when it came out because one of the first major 2D Sonic games that we got to see since Sonic & Knuckles from 1994. Even though, the quality for Sonic Advance was not exactly like the classics from the Sega Genesis era from the 90’s it came pretty close. Some would argue that the sprites and graphics for the Sonic Advance was better than the older Sonic game from the Genesis console. Also, Sonic Advance was probably the first 2D Sonic game where players had an option of choosing Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose. Each character had their own abilities as players used them to complete various levels throughout the game including Ice Mountain, Casinopolis, Angel Island, Cosmic Angel, Egg Rocket and X-Zone. There were also Special Zones throughout the game where players had to overcome various obstacles and collect a certain amount of rings in order to obtain a Chaos Emerald. Gathering all seven Chaos Emerald would allow Sonic the Hedgehog to transform into Super Sonic in order to defeated Dr. Eggman’s gigantic robot in the end on the Moon stage. While the Super Sonic transformation was impressive and made the player seemingly invincible it depleted the rings they gathered which could cause them the perish if they run out. Sonic Advance was the closest thing that we got to a spiritual successor in relation to the 16-bit Sonic titles from ’91-’94 and it did not disappoint. In fact, some would argue that Sonic Advance was better than its 2002 successor Sonic Advance 2 in terms of overall gameplay experience.
Gaming Hearts Collection 