This is what happens when Sonic Team does Sonic right.

User Rating: 8.5 | Sonic Advance GBA
Sonic is back in 2-D for the first time since the Genesis days, and for the first time ever he's on a Nintendo system: The Gameboy Advance. And it proved to Sega they could still make good Sonic games even though they no longer made consoles.

Story: Sonic is good. Dr. Eggman is bad. 12 levels are in your way. Beat them and him. Take your friends with you.

Characters: Sonic is the hero, the fastest of the characters, and the one who has the hardest time attacking enemies. Miles "Tails" Prower can fly to give him the best vertical ability, and is the best for getting where you're not supposed to go. Knuckles has perhaps the easiest time attacking since he can punch quickly, and has the best horizontal move in his glide, plus the climb wall ability, and unlike previous 2-D games his jump height and speed are equal to everyone else (Except obviously for Sonic's speed). Amy is new to the 2-D realm as a playable character, and provides a totally different experience since she can't spin with her jump or spin dash, she relies on her hammer to attack enemies and her slightly higher jump to navigate high slopes. Dr. Eggman also appears at the end of every level controlling a robotic boss, as well as in the last few boss-only levels. Other then that the only characters are the many robots you fight, quite a variety of them.

Gameplay: Run through levels as you blast through robot enemies. There are 12 normal levels, one boss level, and one hidden boss level, for a total of 14. Rather few for a Sonic game but not too bad. You journey through every level past various enemies and objects to reach the finish, in every level 1 it's a sign with Eggman's face on it and level 2 has a boss followed by a giant captured animal box. The levels are themed, which changes the background, music style, and gimmicks in every level, for example the slightly slippery floors, falling snow, and white color of the snow themed levels. Enemies are present in every level, but can be defeated in a single attack and typically aren't too hard. Some just wander around while others will follow you or fire projectiles.

Your health is determined by rings, which are found almost everywhere in each level. If you get injured by an enemy or spikes without rings you die, but if you have one or more rings you'll drop them all when injured. Some things kill you instantly, like being crushed, falling off of a bottomless cliff, staying underwater too long without air, and running out of time (If you set the setting in options), but they're generally easy to see. If you die you can return to the start of the level, or a checkpoint if you've passed one, as long as you have an extra life, which can be gained by either collecting 100 rings in a level or finding it in an item capsule. Ring count is reset if you die or if you beat a level (You gain points for each ring at the end of a level).

Bosses (There are 10 total) are themed based on the world they're in, and feature a gimmick (Giant hammer, high-bouncing spring, warp tubes, etc.) that they use as a weapon, often accompanied by other attacks. With the exception of a few in the final levels they all have eight health, which isn't really too much. All your health in a boss fight is determined by the rings you gathered in the level earlier, there are none laying around the fight itself.

Play modes: There's normal story as you progress through the game in order, the main focus of the game. There's time attack, which plays a lot like story except all levels must be played in story by the character you wish to use before you may play that level. Also, there are no extra lives, and only the main six levels are allowed, not the final level. There's a multiplayer mode that lets you race through the levels, and finally there's Tiny Chao Garden, which lives up to its name. It plays like a miniature pet simulation, letting you play with a small chao, buy it three different toys, pick weeds, buy it food, pat it on the head, and play two mini-games for rings to buy items with. I've heard rings you gather in story mode/time attack count towards Chao Garden currency, but it doesn't seem to be true. Tiny Chao Garden is exceedingly simple, but it's really nothing more then a simple diversion.

Unlockables: All characters are available from the start, no secrets there. More levels are hidden, including the bonus one. Three sound test tunes are hidden. And that's pretty much it.

Difficulty: Not very hard. The game itself is easy, there are a few points you have to be pressing the correct button or you're dead, but they're rather uncommon and easy to remember (Maybe three or four in the last few levels and that's it). Playing as Tails first is best to figure out these instances because he can fly, allowing him a way out of many tight spots. Playing as Amy is a challenge because she has no spin dash, making getting up many ramps quite a feat.

Chaos Emeralds: Chaos Emeralds are a major part of every almost Sonic game, and are typically unique from each other and from the rest of the gameplay. In Sonic Advance there are seven to collect, and they are found by finding the special stage spring found in most of the levels (1 each in every world except for world four, which has two), bouncing on the spring, and then entering the special stage. In the special stage you are falling down a long tube on a hoverboard, and must grab the rings that appear while dodging mines. The perspective is 3-D as the rings appear in the distance, starting small nearer the center of the screen and getting larger/closer to the outer edge as you get near them. Since this is a Gameboy Advance game the perspective is weird, and causes a problem with guessing where things are.

Other items in the special stage tubes include orange circles (Do a trick immediately after hitting them to gain 15 rings), springs (Bounce you forward, usually towards a line of rings), and Chao (Gain continues). Continues in this game are useless because they let you restart a level, which you already can do after dying except you must go by way of the title screen, meaning the continues save you a full 30 seconds or so each time you use them.

Technical Details: The graphics in the main game look great, classic 2-D sprites and backgrounds, and a greatly rendered layer system (Falling snow in the foreground for example). The Chao garden is a bit on the boring side but it's really only a diversion to the main game. The Chaos Emerald stages are a low point with their poor rendition of 3-D, but it gets easier with time (And repetition). The music is classic and unique in every level, and a couple of hidden tunes in sound test are actually remakes of tunes from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 (Six total). The sound effects are almost identical to the ones from Sonic the Hedgehog 2; from ring collecting to getting killed (Though testing it out to see if I'm right isn't advisable).

Multiplayer: Racing a friend(s) through the main twelve levels. I've never tested it though.

Replay Value: Beating the game, collecting the Chaos Emeralds, and beating both final zones takes quite a while, and after that you can play with your Chao for a few minutes. But the main thing to do after the game is over is replay it.

Final score breakdown:

Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sounds and Music: 10/10
Fun: 9/10
Replay Value: 7/10
Speed: 8/10

Pros

Great retro feel
Plenty of character variety
Beating the game takes a while
Music is fun to listen to

Cons

Not enough stages
Chaos emerald stages have poor depth perception

Overall: 8.4/10 It wasn't very long, but was totally fun the whole way through. It played and acted like a sequel to the Genesis originals, and that gameplay style still holds up today.