The enemy Advances

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:23 pm

So I got Sonic Advance 3. To make a long story short, it's exactly what I was expecting: slightly above mediocre, quite a far shot from good.

Dimps has indeed, believe it or not, addressed nearly all of the major complaints with Sonic Advance 2, but I guess the thought of making a good game was too much for them to handle, so they found a whole slew of new ways to screw up.

The biggest new complaint is that Sonic's acceleration is based on how many Rings he's holding. Apparently this was also true of Advance 2, but I never even noticed it there, and here it's painfully obvious. At the beginning of the stage, Sonic controls like a wet sack of manure, and when you do finally collect enough Rings to embue him with some semblance of maneuverability, he moves too fast, which makes platform jumping situations trickier than they should be. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but I really prefer it when my character's maneuverability doesn't shift everytime he takes damage.

The next big issue are the visuals. Goddamn, but this may well be the ugliest Sonic game ever, and that includes G Sonic. I look at a stage like Toy Kingom and I start realizing that this series has lost something it's never going to get back. The seizure-inducing graphics aren't made more bearable by the fact that everything's super sized. Much like Sonic & Tails on the Game Gear, you can never see enough of your surroundings to be comfortable.

The pair system is, as expected, just a gimmick. Basically, your teammate gives you access to a unique move or two, but it's not hard to decide who you should bring along: almost all the new moves are impractical and useless. All you have to do is find the partner who gives your character the same moves he's always had. Or you can just team up with Cream who gives you the ability to fling Cheese. It's hard to imagine why anyone would want to pair up with Amy, who takes away your ability to automatically spin when jumping.

On the bright side, the horribly dysfunctional rolling bosses are gone. The new ones still manage to be too frustrating, but the good news is you don't have to finish Act 2 every time you want to play them again, plus you only ever have to defeat each one once. (There are only a couple of them I think I'd ever get the urge to fight again.) The new robot, Gmerl, is totally redundant. Basically, you encounter him 4 or 5 times over the course of the game, and he's got the same basic, Mecha Sonic-esque attacks every time, plus a new one. Either way, he can be trashed in two seconds flat if you're willing to lose your Rings.

We're back to 3 Acts per Zone now, which is definitely a good thing, and there's even musical variations for each one, but I wish there some visual differentiation as well. One of my favorite things about S&K is that things changed between Acts, so you could tell you were still in the same Zone, but there was visual differentiation to keep it fresh. The level design, by and large, is better than the previous two Advance games, but still suffers from poor object placement that results in alot of cheap hits. The spike traps are out of control, now. It isn't clever design to place a set of spikes, as Squirrelknight put it, "everywhere it makes sense to stand." Also, the early Zones are alright, but by the time you get to level 5 or so, the possibility of falling to your doom makes you afraid to run at max speed. It's especially bad in Chaos Angel, which otherwise would probably be the coolest, most appealing new stage in the game.

I am, however, extremely pleased to see the return of the various devices that littered the lands in Sonic 3. Each Zone has a few unique speed or momentum-gaining contraptions, and it's usually pretty obvious just by looking at them how you're supposed to use them. Kudos to Dimps for that, at least.

Also, the new enemies possess rather impressive evasion skills. Usually it's no trouble just to bop or roll through the badniks without breaking your stride, but I find myself usually just letting these guys live. They contain only Rings, no helpless animals, so I feel no guilt.

I haven't actually played any Special Stages yet, but I still think the "find the Chao" entrance system is the best idea they've had since Sonic 3's "find the giant Rings." Like the puzzle mode in Sonic Pocket, it gives you reason to go back and explore the stages, plus, since every Chao you find is saved permanently, it's significantly less frustrating than the 7 emblems bullshit of Advance 2. Frankly, I even like this better than the "have 50 Rings at the end of an Act" gig.

The hub areas between stages become a nuisance very quickly. It's easy to keep lives stock-piled by playing the not-fun mini games accessible from these areas, but I would've rathered if your player count was simply recorded in your save data like it used to be.

All in all, while I think there's alot to be said for losing the pin-point precision system employed by Advance 2, Advance 3 still lacks the depth and creativity of the 16-bit days. It isn't as out and out frustrating as its predecessor, but it still just isn't a whole lot of fun, and I think three chances has been plenty enough to get it right.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:00 pm

About the visuals, I think they really slacked off there. All the stages look the same, but with a different color scheme. It seemed like all the floors and walls were just different parts with nails in them.
<img src="http://www.livaudaisnet.com/Cory/ctrack.jpg"><img src="http://www.livaudaisnet.com/Cory/shill.jpg">
Well, at least for the level selection area.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:01 pm

Since you have the Japanese version, I'm assuming there still is an option to switch to English text but not the English voices, am I correct?

Also, isn't there a 2-player co-op mode in which the second player fully controls another character in the game as long as they have another cart? Actually, that part sounds like fun.

Hoom...I still have to ask myself, why Sonic Team never bothered to make the Advance games themselves if Naka seems so interested in making another 2D Sonic game?

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:22 pm

Since you have the Japanese version, I'm assuming there still is an option to switch to English text but not the English voices, am I correct?

Yup, but Jon St. Jon still does the narration at the title and character select screens.

Lakwren · Post by **Lakwren** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:14 pm

I thought it was quite fun finding all the different combinations and attacks.

The music was pretty cool in some of the stages, too.

-wyvern · Post by **-wyvern** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:41 am

Is this a game worth buying, though? I can't spend all my time emulating sonic 3+K to get my sonic fix, man!

Post by **Esrever** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:06 am

That's weird... I never noticed the whole ring/acceleration thing.

Is it worth buying? Well, Gibs says slightly-above-mediocre but not good. I say good but not great, but I think maybe I just have lower standards. It's not a perfect game, and it's not a pretty game, but I still had fun with it. It's the only Sonic Advance title I've liked enough to purchase, for whatever that's worth.

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:16 am

My biggest peeve is the loss of Sonic's insta-shield. He now has NOTHING to make him better than the other characters. It was especially frustrating with the Chaos Angel boss where you had to hit the weak point dead on in order to damage the thing without getting hurt. About a dozen various time I'd land what looked like a good hit, but turn out to just one fraction of an inch too far to the side and lost all my rings. If I had my insta-shield that problem wouldn't exist.

And don't tell me about Sonic's amazing spring-kick thing. The number of bosses with springs available is a lovely zero. SA3 made Sonic the crappiest character of the bunch (except Amy, of course) and that really sucks.

BlazeHedgehog · Post by **BlazeHedgehog** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:21 am

InstaShield's still in there, it just depends on who you pair Sonic with (I think you get it by pairing him with Knuckles).

I dunno if it's the visual style, or what, but I still don't think this is better than Sonic Advance 2. I look at things like the grass in Sunset Hill and I just think, "Shit, that's just plain lazy".

WhoopA · Post by **WhoopA** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:29 am

Surprisingly, Amy+Sonic actually make a good pair. Just make sure to put Amy on point, and you have a spin jump and close-range hammer.

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:35 am

BlazeHedgehog wrote:InstaShield's still in there, it just depends on who you pair Sonic with (I think you get it by pairing him with Knuckles).

Really? Damn. Could've saved myself a lot of frustration in that case.

Titan · Post by **Titan** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 6:59 am

I think he gets a more powerful Insta-Shield when paired with Cream as well.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 8:02 am

Hey, who the fuck edited my message?

Post by **Segaholic2** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:03 am

What? What got changed?

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:02 pm

How the hell do you pronounce that guy's name anyway? Would it be "Jon Saint Jon" or "Jon Sinjin"?

I didn't write that.

Post by Bo » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:07 pm

Wasn't me. I think it's "John Saint John", though.

Post by **G.Silver** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:13 pm

It wasn't me, but maybe some other mod missed the Quote button and hit Edit instead? Maybe they need to be seperated.

Post by **Pepperidge** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:23 pm

Oops, that would be me. Sorry about that.

Post by **Esrever** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:56 pm

Hahah! Pep is funny, let's laugh at him.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:41 pm

NO EXCUSES. *snaps his fingers* 20 lashes. From Zeta.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 6:04 pm

Yes sir! Should I be traditional and use a whip? Or use something else?

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 6:33 pm

Twizzlers!

plasticwingsband · Post by **plasticwingsband** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:17 pm

Did anyone ever see the "Variety Show" episode of the Simpsons? I distincly remember Smithers singing, "Crack that whip.... Licorice Whip! Spank it!" to Devo's "Whip It". And he was wearing a cowboy outfit.

Just an idea, Zeta.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:48 pm

Yep, it looked like Lisa had grown a bit too.
<i>(It's a joke!)</i>

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 4:01 am

I take it all back! With the insta-shield the Chaos Angel boss was piss easy, and not frustrating at all. It's still no Genesis era, but it's a better game in my book knowing that.