SA3.

[Sonictrainer]

After playing this game, I had a hate for the invisible "Pop Up" Spikes.

I loved the remix in Sunset Hill though.

Also, now that I think about it, isn't the plot of Sonic Advance 3 the same as Sonic Unleashed?

[Emmett L. Brown]

This my favourite of the Advance titles, so I was actually really surprised to find out that it's so overwhelmingly disliked. I found the team gimmick to be an imaginative exploration of the simple "Tails can carry Sonic while flying" idea from Sonic 3. The levels took a nice step back from the uncontrollably unpredictable speed based levels of Sonic Advance 2, where it was literally impossible to maintain high speed unless you'd already memorised the level through repeat playthroughs. The bosses were decent enough, and I was happy to see more player-sized boss fights thanks to Gmel. Silver and Mecha Sonic were some of my favourite classic bosses, so Gmel's fights were a nice throwback and a step forward.

To date Chaos Angel remains my favourite final level in a handheld Sonic game.

[Nintendoga]

I like it. I can't remember much from this game since I haven't played it since 07, but I do remember having fun with it.

Only thing I hated were finding the chao's for the chaos emeralds. Like really? Half of them required a walkthrough for god'sake.

[azoo]

I crushed up my copy and then flushed it. There's at least 8 other stories as to how I dismantled my Sadv3 cart, but you know this one is actually what happened.

But yeah Sonic Advance 3 is a horrible, horrible game; probably one of the very worst Sonic games ever made. Labyrinth & Heroes are godsends in comparison and G-Sonic/ShTH/06 have a tough rival.

I'm not gonna go any further. I'm sure Soulja Boy Tornado'll tell em all my feelings on the matter better than myself. Preach it, brother mang.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Azukara

[Rabid-Noodles]

I wasn't that keen on SA3, it didn't have that same attractiveness that 1 had to pull me back to play it over and over again. But damn SunsetHill zones music was good..

All the music was good from what I recall. Shame I can't say that for the Team work stuff... or level design. But thats just me being piccy thar.

[#AR]

I thought the game was alright. The level design could've been better, and the teamwork was implemented kinda poorly. Knuckles & Tails = too much ownage. It had nice music though.

Although i must say...

FUCK FINDING THOSE DAMNED CHAO!!!!

*exhales* Phew... sorry.

[Aquaslash]

Advance 3 sucked big blue balls. Some of the worst level design I've seen in a Sonic game. It's a shame too because it has the best soundtrack of the advances by a great margin, and G-Merl was a pretty cool rival. Don't even get me started on how they mishandled Super Sonic.

Advance 1 was best Advance.

[SilentDoom]

I wasn't aware that Advance 3 got so much hate o_o I really wouldn't even come close to saying it was one of the worst Sonic games. One of the worst 2D ones, but I still managed to get some enjoyment out of it.

[Danj86]

SA3? oh...I thought it was something else...heh heh, joke title right?

Making us think it's about that thing we're all sick of seeing. I'm not usually so slow to get a joke...maybe I'm tired...

But anyway, I'm glad Grumpy came in and said something first because I completely agree. I'm shocked at all the hate. But Sonic Advance 3 is my personal favourite out of all three. I enjoyed the boss battles and team mechanic and enjoyed the titles certain teams would get and a special pose with it. "Unbreakable Bond!"

Plus as a big fan of Battle I loved the nod to it. And the remix at the end.

Also, if anyone is interested...

A secret image on Generations 3DS is lineart of the ending picture from Advance 3, with G-mel, Cream and Vanilla.

Someone said like this somewhere...I can't remember who or where but...

Sonic Advance 1 felt too slow, Sonic Advance 2 felt too fast and Sonic Advance 3 was a perfect mix of the two.

[Tornado]

You guys, this is all Advance 3's fault.

Shut up, Logan!

Sonic Advance 3 is the one that started all of the problems with Dimps, all because it's a really shi-

Don't say it, Logan!

...

♫ Weeeelllllll... ♫

Don't do it, Logan!

...

♫ Weeeelllllll... ♫

I'm warning you!

Okay, okay.

I'm getting pretty sick of him saying Advance 3 is shi-

♫ Weeeelllllll, Advance 3's shit, Advance 3's shit. It's the worst Sonic game in the whole wide world.

The level design sucks and the team gimmick blows. The last time I played it I nearly hurled. ♫

Shut your fucking mouth Logan!

♫ The music really sucks and the bosses blow and the partner gimmick is completely crap.

Then on purpose just to be different the game doesn't even keep track of your score. ♫

Come on, you know the words!

♫ Have you ever played the game Advance 3? It's the worst Sonic game in the whole wide world.

It's got bad boss fights and cheap level design. It's real shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit it is complete shit.

Advance 3 is shit and it's just complete shit. ♫

Talk to kids around the world and it might go a little bit somethin' like this:

提前3是完整的狗屎

Trois Advance c'est de la merde complète

Advance Drie is compleet stront

Advance Drie is 'n volledige kak

♫ Have you ever played the game Advance 3? It's the worst Sonic game in the whole wide world.

It's got bad boss fights and cheap level design. It's real shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. ♫

*Sean enters the topic*

♫ Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit it is complete shit. ♫

Uh, Logan.

♫ Advance 3 is shit and it's just complete shit.

I really mean Advance 3,

is complete and utter shiiiiiiiitt.

That's what I'm talking about Advance Threeeeeeee, yeah! Cha! ♫

*Sean readies banhammer*

...

What?

...

Oh fuck.

*banned*

Edited January 23, 2012 by Tornado

[Cola]

You guys, this is all Advance 3's fault.

Sonic Advance 3 is the one that started all of the problems with Dimps, all because it's a really shi-

Don't say it, Logan.

...

♫ Weeeelllllll... ♫

Don't do it, Logan.

...

♫ Weeeelllllll... ♫

I'm warning you!

Okay, okay.

I'm getting pretty sick of him saying Advance 3 is shi-

♫ Weeeelllllll, Advance 3's shit, Advance 3's shit. It's the worst Sonic game in the whole wide world.

The level design sucks and the team gimmick blows. The last time I played it I nearly hurled. ♫

Shut your fucking mouth Logan!

♫ The music really sucks and the bosses blow and the partner gimmick is completely crap.

Then on purpose just to be different the game doesn't even keep track of your score. ♫

Come on, you know the words!

♫ Have ever played the game Advance 3? It's the worst Sonic game in the whole wide world.

It's got bad boss fights and cheap level design. It's real shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit it is complete shit.

Advance 3 is shit and it's just complete shit. ♫

Talk to kids around the world and it might go a little bit somethin' like this:

提前3是完整的狗屎

Trois Advance c'est de la merde complète

Advance Drie is compleet stront

Advance Drie is 'n volledige kak

♫ Have ever played the game Advance 3? It's the worst Sonic game in the whole wide world.

It's got bad boss fights and cheap level design. It's real shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. ♫

*Sean enters the topic*

♫ Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit it is complete shit. ♫

Uh, Logan.

♫ Advance 3 is shit and it's just complete shit.

I really mean Advance 3,

is complete and utter shiiiiiiiitt.

That's what I'm talking about Advance Threeeeeeee, yeah! Cha!♫

*Sean readies banhammer*

...

What?

I dare one of you guys to record that and post it up on youtube.

(Also, it's funny because Sean really is in the topic)

Edited January 22, 2012 by Colasaurus Rex

[Ekaje]

A game with okay mechanics completely ruined by crappy level design. From the first Zone you get cheap hits and the like, and as you go on you get thrills like one act in Chaos Angel where the entire stage is standing on a moving platform while enemies fly by and you occasionally get off to hit a checkpoint. Thrilling. Also in continued the Advance tradition of terrible special stages and terrible entry methods.

@Tornado

That's certainly a lot of shit.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Ekaje

[JezMM]

It's okay. One of those games I sort of enjoy but then every time I play it again I'm like "oh yes this is why I never play this game".

I do adore the music though. The awkward electric guitar samples are slightly more tolerable here than they were in Battle and Chaos Angel's music is absoloute sex (except Act 2, but really that's just there to build hype for Act 3's mind-blowingness).

[goku262002]

Sonic Advance 3 was an alright game. it did suffer from some bad level design and cheap enemy and spike placements. music was boss though and i liked some of the boss fights. Plus it was the only advance game to feature voice acting which i found pretty cool ("YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!!!" is one of my unforgettable favorite eggman lines).

[King Frosty]

I dare one of you guys to record that and post it up on youtube.

Give me 2 days.

Also, what did people think of the final boss?

[mikeblastdude]

I remember about a year ago when I started a topic like this because I didn't get all the hate for Sonic Advance 3. I still don't. XD To each their own though.

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and say that I love Sonic Advance 3. Easily my favorite of the three Advance games. While it wouldn't exactly go on my list of all-time favorite Sonic games (it's got nothing on the classics), I think it's great for what it is. It definitely has its flaws though which I won't deny; there are some pretty bad level design choices at times, and pretty much all of Sunset Hill is awful design-wise. I thought the partner system was pretty cool though, and added quite a bit to the replayability factor. Also, I absolutely LOVE the soundtrack. So many good songs in that game. Twinkle Snow, Cyber Track, Chaos Angel, and Special Stage all come to mind off the top of my head.

Overall though, I think Sonic Advance 3 is a great game. It was definitely my most-played GBA game, I had that in my old GBA SP all the time, and spent many hours playing it while waiting for the bus to come before I had a car. Man, good times...

[krazystitch]

I thought it was a fine game for the most part. I didn't think the level designs were too bad and the partner system was pretty good too with the different variety of moves you could pull off on the ground and in the sky. I think I remember liking Sonic Advance 2 just a little more, but I was honestly fine with Sonic Advance 3.

As for the final boss fight, it didn't stand a fucking chance against Cheese's freakin' homing missile attack that could be spammed to destroy anything.

[Old dead account]

I'm surprised at how split this thread is between "great and piece of shit"

Personally, it's an overrated game. Worse than advance 1 but better than 2. The main problems I have with it that just glare out are

-The pointless and tedious hubworld

-The wonky controls and acceleration

-the forced team gimmick that would be great had it not butchered many characters' abilities with most pairs

Could have been much better by not forcing gimmicks and trimming fat. Pretty mediocre game.

[HeroMystic]

Funny story with Advance 3.

Back in the day I adored this game. It was easily my favorite travel game and I consistently played it, getting all chaos (I didn't use a walkthrough, I found all of them). I went with the Knuckles/Tails combo for stages and Knuckles/Sonic for bosses. The only thing that stopped me from getting the last Chaos Emerald was that I eventually lost it when I moved.

So one day while I was doing a nostalgia run of my favorite games. Eventually I thought, "Man I miss Sonic Advance 3. Lets break the law and get it!" So I got it via Emulator and played Route 99...

"...I'm getting hit -a lot- more than I remember."

"...I don't remember springs throwing me into enemies."

"...The hell happened to the level design?"

"...Where the hell is Act 2!?"

By the time I got to Sunset Hill, I shut down the emulator. I dunno what in the world happened, but Advance 3 went from best Advance game to the absolute worst game of all the handhelds. It has horrible enemy placement along with the worst level design I have ever played in any Sonic game. It's only saving grace is the team gimmick, which was handled far better than it was in Sonic Heroes. Too bad the only gimmick worth investing into is Knuckles/Tails and Cream/whothefuckcares for bosses.

[Kuzu]

I remember I spent hours trying to get those goddamn special keys(I had already completed both Adv. 1 and 2, and I'm a perfectionist), and just having the worst time ever, and the sad thing is people will honestly say this game is good, it just isn't. Adv. 2 is linear as all hell, and I had more enjoyment with that.

[Space☆Tomoki]

Sonic Advance 3 was an okay game, imo. I personally prefer the first two Advance games, in all honesty. It had some cool levels like Route 99, Toy Kingdom, and Chaos Angel, and had some catchy tunes as well. I felt that the team system kinda added replay value to the game because you can mix and match combinations with 2 characters, giving you different abilities and such. The only thing I really hated about SA3 was getting to the Special Stages; there's a special spring somewhere in each hub, but you need to get special keys hidden within the stages to unlock the springs, but they don't appear right away... to get the keys to just appear in the stages, you have to hunt for 10 missing Chao hidden within the stages in each zone first. It was just so tedious and frustrating to get the Chaos Emeralds... so yeah...

Edited January 23, 2012 by Spider-Man Noir

[Dr. Crusher]

Oh shit, I didn't realise Advance 3 was so hated around here.

Well I like it. Yes there's the Chao and Special Stages and everything else, but fuck it, I still liked the game. I thought it mixed the previous two Advances' elements well enough, but it seems that's just me.

The best duo of course being Knuckles & Tails.

[Ruby Havoc]

It's an okay game. Level design is up and down and all around (bottomless pits up the bum)though and trying to find those freaking keys for the special stages is a impossible (for me anyways). I do like the team mechanic though as seeing what characters work well together is interesting. The music is great to listen to and the story is...meh. To be honest I didn't even know Eggman split the world apart until someone told me about it...a year ago.

[Salamander]

I think it was one of those GBA games where the story was for some reason only in the manual. If you just went by what you could see on-screen you'd really have no idea what was meant to have happened.

Gotta say, though, I don't remember ever having any trouble finding the keys. The Chao were troublesome, but as I recall it the keys were just sitting there out in the open, several per level.

[HeroMystic]

Oh shit, I didn't realise Advance 3 was so hated around here.