'' is a Platform Game in the Sonic The Hedgehog series, developed by Dimps and published THQ for Game Boy Advance . It was first released in North America on June 7 , 2004 , later in Japan on June 17 , 2004 and finally in Europe on June 18 , 2004 . The game uses elements from '' Sonic Advance '' and '' Sonic Advance 2 '', as well as adding a new feature called tag action. It lacks the Chao Garden Mini game that the previous two games had, but includes Chao Gardens that serve a different purpose. It is likely that this game took place after the events of Sonic Battle, hence the fact that Gemerl was constructed from old parts of Emerl.
Dr. Eggman tears the Earth apart and Sonic is separated from Knuckles, Amy, and Cream and is stranded with Tails. The two begin to search for their friends and the source of the trouble (which is the separation of the chaos emeralds). But like always, Eggman is making everything from doomsday devices to kooky contraptions and is trying to vanquish Sonic once and for all. The most dangerous of these is Gemerl , a super fighting cyborg made from the remains of Emerl , a slight "replica" of Gemerl.
- Sonic The Hedgehog is playable from the start.
- Miles "Tails" Prower is playable from the start.
- Knuckles The Echidna can be unlocked by completing Sunset hill (Zone 2), Act 3 with Sonic as team leader
- Amy Rose can be unlocked by completing Toy kingdom (Zone 4), Act 3 with Sonic as team leader
- Cream The Rabbit can be unlocked by completing Cyber track (Zone 6), Act 3 with Sonic as team leader
- Dr. Eggman is not playable except in multiplayer mode for 2P in Nonaggresion. He found Emerl 's parts and turned them into Gemerl .
- Gemerl is not playable. He is a cyborg rebuilt by eggman and at the end of the final story, he is reprogrammed by Tails to be like Emerl again.
- Vanilla The Rabbit is not playable. She makes a small appearance in the ending artwork when the player finishes Nonagression.
Basic gameplay is identical to ''Sonic Advance'' and ''Sonic Advance 2''. This time however, ''Sonic Advance 3'' introduces a new game feature called tag action. Tag action is similar to '' Sonic The Hedgehog 2 '': the player picks two characters and controls one while the other will just follow along controlled by the computer (or player two in multiplayer mode)
Additionally, in a feature first seen in '' Knuckles' Chaotix '' the teammate can be brought into the character's arms by holding R, and then be released for team action.
- Sonic - Gives a super burst of speed, as if walking over a speed booster.
- ---Only having Sonic as a partner (or being Sonic) will let the characters run as fast as they do in Sonic Advance 2.
- Tails - A super high jump aided by Tails. (ground action)
- --- - Tails can fly around while holding his partner à la Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (air action).
- Knuckles - Can be thrown forward at enemies. (ground action)
- --- - Glides forward with his partner riding on his back. (air action)
- Cream - Cheese becomes a character chao and can used by the player in the same way Cream uses Cheese. (ground action)
- --- - A small double jump, which can be made into an abnormally high bounce if the player times it right. (air action)
- Amy - A super high jump aided by Amy's hammer. Can be used repeatedly to escape deep water.
Besides the Character actions, a partner effects the way the leader acts, for example, Amy will act similar to the way she did in Sonic Advance, but when teamed with Sonic, she will play the way she did in Sonic Advance 2, with an automatic Spin Attack and a Spin Dash. Each teamup will be given a categorization showing it's strength. Either Flying, Power, or Speed.
Anyone partnered with Sonic makes a speed team, anyone except Sonic partnered with Knuckles makes a power team, and any combination of the remaining three (Tails, Cream, Amy) will make a flying team.
- Sonic partnered with:
- ---Tails - Similar to Sonic Advance.
- ---Knuckles - Sonic gains some aerial moves, such as a downwards bounce, and an upwards dash. His somersault attack also becomes fiery and more powerful.
- ---Cream - Sonic gains a forward dash attack similar to the fire shield dash from Sonic The Hedgehog 3, and the homing attack in later games - it seeks a nearby foe if there is one, and also has unlimited air underwater, via a bubble that surrounds him, much like the bubble shield's effect from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
- ---Amy - Sonic's ground attack becomes a hammer attack, Sonic does not curl up into a ball when he jumps and must use his air attack to curl up. Amy's animations change to reflect her crush on Sonic. Sonic grinds rails on a Snowboard.
- ---Eggman - Only available in the NonAgression zone as SuperSonic. SuperSonic charges Eggman as a fireball, similar to the Kamehameha wave. The strength of the attack varies according to how long the button is pressed.
- Tails partnered with:
- ---Sonic - Tails behaves the same way he does in Sonic Advance 2.
- ---Knuckles - Tails' ground attack becomes a tornado spin attack. Tails gains an aerial instant shield attack like Sonic's. Tails flight becomes a gliding attack like Knuckles'.
- ---Cream - Tails flies with his tails underneath him, he flies for a shorter time and gains more height per press of the A button similar to Cream's flight.
- ---Amy - Tails' ground attack becomes a hammer attack, Tails does not curl up into a ball when he jumps, and must use his air attack to curl up, Tails also flies holding his hammer, which can be swung without interrupting his flight.
- Knuckles partnered with:
- ---Sonic - Similar to Sonic Advance, except his gliding ability becomes a head first aerial dash (similar to his forward trick ability from Sonic Advance 2).
- ---Tails - Knuckles' punch attack becomes an uppercut, Knuckles also takes a small jump before gliding, and glides with his fist extended forward.
- ---Cream - Knuckles behaves the same way he does in Sonic Advance.
- ---Amy - Knuckles' ground attack becomes a hammer attack, Knuckles does not curl up into a ball when he jumps, and must use his air attack to curl up, Knuckles gains his downward punch attack from Sonic Advance 2. After gliding into a wall, Knuckles can dash up walls in a similar style to a spin dash.
- Cream partnered with:
- ---Sonic - Instead of a homing attack, Cheese dashes forward a short distance for an attack.
- ---Tails - Instead of flying, Cream pulls out an orange umbrella and floats.
- ---Knuckles - Cheese by default flys defensively in circles around Cream.
- ---Amy - Cream's ground attack becomes a hammer attack. Cream does not curl up into a ball when she jumps, and since her aerial attack is to throw Cheese, she cannot curl into a ball while jumping.
- Amy partnered with:
- ---Sonic - Amy behaves the same way she does in Sonic Advance 2, but with an aerial forward dash added.
- ---Tails - Amy behaves the same way she does in Sonic Advance, she can glide slowly down with balloons, and her aerial hammer attack gives her an extra upward boost.
- ---Knuckles - Amy's hammer becomes huge. Amy has a forward dash similar to her Sonic Advance 2 spin dash, but she does not curl up into a ball when she uses it.
- ---Cream - Amy behaves the same way she does when partnered with Tails, but her aerial hammer attack gains her no extra air.
- Route 99 Zone-
A highway type level by the bay of a large city. A nice change from the usual island type levels that usually start Sonic games. Grab a pulley to get an upward boost, or roll down slopes for extra speed!
- Sunset Hill Zone-
A tribute to Green Hill zone from the very first Sonic game. The music is even similar. Hourglass-like structures can spring you in an upward direction.
- Ocean Base Zone-
Eggman's base under the sea. Watch out for the waterfall ridin' sharks! You can climb waterfalls similarly to climbing sand columns in the Sandopolis Zone from Sonic & Knuckles .
- Toy Kingdom Zone-
A happy land filled with toys, balloons and castles. Jump on balloons for extra hight similarly to the Carnival Night Zone in Sonic 3 . One badnik can even "suck in" your rings after taking a hit, so be careful.
- Twinkle Snow Zone-
The northern lights can be seen above as you dash through this cold zone. All three acts of this zone have water. With this boss, there are platforms that fall and if you fall off, you are DEAD!
- Cyber Track Zone-
Go inside Cyber-space to try and stop Eggman. Disappearing platforms and gravity switches will try and trip you up.
- Chaos Angel Zone-
Possibly the only final zone in a Sonic game to not be either in space or in one of Eggman's high-tech factories. Angel Island is in turmoil!
- Altar Emerald Zone-
Sonic and Co. Confront Eggman and Gmerl at the Master Emerald Shrine.
- Nonaggresion-
Gmerl uses the Chaos Emeralds to transfrom, and Sonic and Eggman must team up to stop him!
- Sunset Hill Zone is a tribute to the original '' Sonic The Hedgehog '', as the background theme design is similar to the original Green Hill scenery. The zone's background music is a remix of the Green Hill Zone music (with different variations between the three Acts)
- When Gemerl gets reprogrammed by Tails, it's similar to Metal Sonic .
- The background music of the main menu was taken from '' Sonic Adventure 2 '''s Chao Race. The Chao Race music has been remixed.
- Many of the songs in the game are remixes of songs from ''Sonic Battle'': Route 99 is a remix of Tails' Lab, Altar Emerald is a remix of Holy Summit, and Nonagression is a remix of Emerl's theme. This also reinforces the belief that this game takes place after ''Sonic Battle'' and that Gemerl is really Emerl from the previous game.
- In the Japanese version's manual, it states that Sonic's favorite food really IS Chili Dogs . The reason that this is of any importance is because this fact was believed to be an American concept, not from Japan where the series was originally produced.
|
