Sonic Advance: Good, but could've been better
jpcalandhobb
80% score
I just purchased this game along with a GBA, and for the most part, I am satisfied. First off, this game has pretty good graphics for a handheld, it has great animations, and it runs at a slick framerate that never slows down. Also, the idea of having 4 characters instead of the normal 2(for a handheld that is)was a good one. But, with the 4 characters is also one of my complaints. If there are multiple players, then why not have 4 different story lines? Every character plays the same exact zones as the one before. While playing the same acts with 4 characters is fun at first, it gets a little old after a while. This also brings up another letdown. This game is short. There are only 6 zones with 2 acts each, not including the final zone (which I havn't found yet). The music isn't that great either. But, I'm sure it will sound better through headphones, or with it hooked up to a stereo, because the GBA speaker just can't handle a lot of volume. But on the plus side, the sound effects are pretty good, with a lot of them being the same as they were on the Genesis. Another nice addition is the Tiny Chao Garden. Here you can raise a Chao (sort of) and transfer the data to a Gamecube later. There are also a couple of mini-games here, but they get old pretty fast. Overall, if you're a Sonic fan, this is a nice addition to your library. But if you're just a casual gamer trying Sonic for the first time, you might want to play someone else's first before you justify a purchase. But in my opinion, buy it.
