Sonic Advance - The Forgotten Series?

[#EndyGate]

Gemerl was in Eggman's mechs essentially as a co-pilot, so I guess he and Eggman had their own little team dynamic going on to counter whatever duo they were facing. Also, I think I read somewhere that Gemerl's moves were based on recovered data from after Emerl was destroyed, which makes sense when you consider Gemerl's use of a Chaos Control esque teleportation move.

 

Though I still hate how nothing was done with Gemerl, he could've turned out to be a pretty cool addition to the cast, especially when considering his connections to Emerl and the development possibilities stemming from that. Hell even as a quirky butler/protector of the Rabbits that does his best to keep Cream out of harm's way would've been nice. Plus an inevitable confrontation between him and Metal Sonic would've been so cool. But nope, he's stuck playing chess with Choacola in Cream's closet

 

oh and Sonic Advance 3 has amazing level design

 

[Solkia]

Gemerl was the dumbest thing ever.

 

"Hey! Let's recolor Emerl and make him the villain!"

 

"Okay.. what do we call him"

 

"Uh.... Gemerl?"

 

"...That's about as bad as Cinos."

 

"Just do it or you're not getting paid"

[Soniman]

I liked Gemerl :_:

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I did too. Honestly, calling him dumb from his rename alone is just silly. And there's not much else to criticize either since the Advance games always shorted out on story and you wouldn't even pay much attention to whatever narrative it had anyway.

[Spin Attaxx]

Gemerl was the dumbest thing ever.

 

"Hey! Let's recolor Emerl and make him the villain!"

 

"Okay.. what do we call him"

 

"Uh.... Gemerl?"

 

"...That's about as bad as Cinos."

 

"Just do it or you're not getting paid"

 

That same year....

 

"Hey, we have a new purple cat character called "Blaze" for our DS Sonic game. Seeing how she's Sonic's counterpart from another dimension, it's only fitting that we should give her an Eggman equivalent."

 

"OK, so how about a thin, clean-shaven nerdy guy who flies a sports car?"

 

"Pfft, you small minded fool! Recolour Eggman of course!"

 

"... but, what'll we call him?"

 

"Oh, let's just call him Eggman NEGA! 'Cause he's Eggman from another dimension, you see."

 

"B-but Sonic and Blaze look nothing alike! Why should we make Eggman and his counterpart look the same?"

 

"Oh, and let's make him more evil, insane, and an all around more competent villain than Eggman."

 

"B-B-BUT WHY?!"

 

"'cause my fans on DeviantArt want it to. And little effort is required."

 

"... I hate you so much..."

 

"Oh, that reminds me: I made a villain for our next-gen Sonic game. Y'see, his name is Mephiles..."

Edited December 30, 2012 by Spin Attaxx

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

And that has what to do with the Advance series exactly? Or even Battle, which is at least loosely connected to Advance 3 through Gemerl?

Edited December 30, 2012 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[SuperLink]

Pretty sure Gemerl is a fan name anyway; I have no idea where it came from but I neva really liked it and it's not mentioned in the game's context so it's not really important.

 

I always just imagined him as the finished Phi prototype.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Eh, I just went with the name since it didn't have one at the time.

[Broken Down Chemical Plant]

The first level in Sonic Advance is Neo Green Hill Zone, so does that mean Dimps used a zone name from a Sonic 2 prototype (the Simon Wai one to be exact) in Sonic Advance? Kinda strange. Maybe not, though.

Edited January 1, 2013 by ItIs42

[MugiMikey]

I liked the first Sonic Advance; it was a fun little game and I still feel like going back to play it from time to time.

 

Sonic Advance 2 was my favorite. I really enjoyed it and I played the hell out of it for about a straight year.

 

Sonic Advance 3 is the one I could never really get into. The formula was just too different from the previous two, and not in a good way (I didn't like the whole tag-team concept, and I didn't like it in Knuckles' Chaotix either). I didn't like the hub world it had going on, either... It was irritating and kind of confusing. I tried playing this game again after years and years of not playing it to see if my opinion would change, but it didn't.

 

I also enjoyed the Chao Gardens in these games, too! If it weren't for them, I probably never would have been able to get my Chao's stats high enough for the emblems in SA2B and SADX.

[Kamakai]

Every time someone says Advance 3 has good level design I throw up in my mouth a little.

 

Every time someone says Advance 3 has good level design I die a little on the inside.

[MegasonicZX]

Soooo, I guess im the only one here who didn't think advance 3 had bad level design *looks out into audience* *sigh* great.

[Milo]

It would be nice to see the Advance trilogy to get 3DS VC re-releases...or even better, a 3DS compilation release ("Sonic Advance Collection") with enhancements to the original games and some extra/unlockable content among other things. It would even make sense for the hypothetical latter suggestion to be one of the three Nintendo-exclusive Sonic games.

[Jolt_TH]

I would totally buy that! I missed Advance 2 so my GBA collection is incomplete :/

[Chaos Incarnate]

I'm one of the few people to say this, but Advance 3 is tied with Advance 1 as my favorite of the trilogy. Advance 1 us enjoyable to me because Amy is fun to play ass, the physics are pretty damn close to the classics ( or at least more close than Sonic 4's), and while the level tropes aren't exactly original, they are pretty damn fun to play through. Honestly, Advance 1, in my opinion, is the true Sonic 4, as it features similar enough tropes and physics to the classics, and introduces a new playable character, just as each numbered installment before it introduced new playable characters.

 

I know I'll get a lot of shit for this, but Advance 2 is my least favorite of the whole trilogy. I don't understand how people can criticize Advance 3's level design by calling it dickish, but turn a blind eye to the bottomless pits in this game. To be fair, Advance 3 had its numerous share of bottomless pits, but it's way worse in Advance 2 when you're running incredibly fast. The trick system helps a little bit, but they never teach you how to do it in the actual game. I had to use an internet guide. I can't stand the bosses either. Running bosses always take me forever to complete, and it's annoying having to catch up to a boss and hit them. I can only enjoy them as Cream, but that's because she pretty much rapes every boss in the game with her chao, cheese. Look guys, I have fun making a game easy as much as the next guy, but Cream is way to over powered. Seriously, if you want to have an easy time playing Advance 2, just stick with Cream.

 

Advance 3 is tied with Advance 1 as my favorite. Look, I know the level design can be dickish with crushers, spikes, enemy placement, and bottomless pits, but at least you don't go too fast when you suffer cheap deaths. Once you fall victim to these, you should have your mistake memorized, and learn how to avoid those obstacles. Look, I know it's trial and error, but once I had the level design memorized, I had a fun time. Besides, the main aspect of gameplay, the partner system, more than makes up for it. Depending on who you're paired with, the person you're playing as will perform differently, adding a huge amount of replay value. All my problems with Cream are almost completely gone, because she isn't as powerful when played with certain characters, and you unlock her late in the game. Bosses are really fun to fight as well. You can choose how to tackle them depending on your partner combo, and they aren't running bosses anymore, so thank god for that. 

[famicommander]

I am replaying the Advance games right now. Already beat Sonic Advance (including the ridiculous Special Stages and final ending) and am now tackling the daunting task of unlocking Amy Rose in Advance 2. I've done it all before, but it's been awhile.

 

I think Sonic Advance is the best of the three, and probably the second best Dimps Sonic title overall. My favorite would have to be Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, despite it being on the short and easy side. I am also a fan of the Rush games, but I think Colors is their best work on DS from a level design and gameplay standpoint. But again, short and easy.

 

Sonic 4 was certainly a colossal disappointment and the two episodes are definitely Dimps' worst Sonic games, but they're not necessarily bad games based on their own merit. I can appreciate them as a worthy addition to the series, but there's no way it deserves to be part of the numbered series. Not even close. 

[Aero]

I've never played Advance 2, but I have the first and third ones.

 

To be honest, I thought Advance 3 was awesome. :'P

[Uraraka]

I love Sonic Advanced! They were cute games with sweet cut scenes!  I think I would like more of them...however, I guess they would be "Sonic 3ds" now.....

[Dandp]

The sonic advance games aren't bad, and after the classics they are the best 2D game we have. It's just they're not the best games the Sonic series has to offer. I'd rather play Sonic 3&K over Sonic advance 1.

 

Also, good luck getting the emeralds. ESPECIALLY in Sonic advance 2. Just not worth my time.

[AlphaRuby]

I've played a bit of Advance 1 that I got yesterday, and I'm kinda liking it!

 

I've no experience with Advance 2 or 3 yet.

 

Also, screw Shadow, Cream the Rabbit is the Ultimate Life Form in Advance 2. She looks that broken.

[RK64]

I liked all three games, but despite how liner and having far less platforming than the other two, my favorite in the series was Advance 2.  It was the first in the series that I played, so that my be why I remember it so fondly, but I loved the games since of speed and the fact your in full control of everything.  Yes you basically held right, but you had upper and lower paths, awesome music and really inventive level themes (Music Pant notably).  I liked the first one and like MOST of advance 3 (screw Cyber Track and Chaos Angel), but I felt that Advance 2 was the most enjoyable to me

 

*I do think Advance 1 is the best one though, as it's basically Sonic 4 without being called that. 

I've played a bit of Advance 1 that I got yesterday, and I'm kinda liking it!

 

I've no experience with Advance 2 or 3 yet.

 

Also, screw Shadow, Cream the Rabbit is the Ultimate Life Form in Advance 2. She looks that broken.

 

I think you mean Cheese, as HE's the one getting thrown at everything

[baba_944]

I actually love Sonic Advance 3 zone design. That and Sonic Advance 1 has some of the best looking zone desgin in the series. Graphics wise all of them take the cake. The music in wonderful and catchy. The Special Stages...go to hell.

 

EDIT: Also am I the only one who loves Dimps and Sonic 4? Have not played Episode II yet.

Edited June 25, 2013 by baba

[Gaming Misfit]

They made Sonic 4.

 

That's a pretty pathetic reason to not like a completely different trilogy of Sonic games.  They are literally nothing alike and the Sonic Advance games came before Sonic 4.  So umm...what?

Edited June 25, 2013 by Gaming Misfit

[Spin Attaxx]

Jeez, you dug back...

 

I've never really played the Advance series, so I don't know what they are like for myself.

 

But that was more a jab at Dimps going downhill plus "hai guyz I'm new here" me.

[₪►F3lhog◄₪]

I liked all of the three games:

 

Sonic Advance was probably the shortest of them, but I also found it the most nostalgic one. It reminded me a lot to the Genesis games, starting with a green/beach level and concluding in the classic Eggman's base/spaceship level. They even put some of the classic games' soundtrack in it, too. I liked the gameplay, the special stages were okay, and the difficult level wasn't high enough to be frustrating. Adding that Tiny Chao Garden was a plus, too. Overall, it was a nice game.

 

Sonic Advance 2 added speed and longer levels. The sense of breaking the sound barrier and just run the way through the level was awesome. =) The levels weren't as nostalgic as the first advance game, but I liked most of them, as well as the soundtrack. I did find the bosses quite repetitive, I think it is fine to have bosses where you have to run and reach them in order to do damage, but there's no need to do all of them like that. The way to get the special rings was quite difficult, too, and having to find them for all the characters was quite annoying, but at least the final boss was entertaining enough. In the end, I considered it better than Sonic Advance, just by a few.

 

For Sonic Advance 3, adding the tag team abilities was a nice bonus. There were many combinations to do and many different gameplay styles to enjoy. The addition of voices was nice, and adding a 3rd act made the game longer. I'm quite sure everyone agrees that this is the most difficult game from the advance series, but hey, who doesn't like a good challenge? =)  I remember dying a lot on this game, but once you learn the trick, you will eventually learn how to go through the stages without losing a life. Probably the only downside of the game was the lack of the Tiny Chao Garden. The stages were awesome, even nostalgic (Sunset Hill comes in mind), the bosses were great, better than the ones in Sonic Advance 2, and the soundtrack was amazing.

 

I though the advance series were getting better and better each release. Because of that, I consider Sonic Advance 3 the best of them, and my favorite one, too.   

Edited June 27, 2013 by ₪►H3llhog◄₪