the advance games

[iambitter21]

modern sonic meets classic sonic for the first time, as they finally merge into one... for now. but let's not get side tracked, what is your experience with the advance games? I only experience with the advance games was with a flash game called Ultimate flash sonic. I find ultimate flash sonic to be quite nice. I like game for the most part, it worked and had solid level design. the boss in ice paradise was a pain in my neck, but I still loved it as a kid even if I couldn't finish it, I actually thought it was an actual sonic game for a while. now that I'm older, the ice paradise boss is beaten, and nothing changed about this game, except for shoddy wi-fi.

so how about you guys, what's your opinion on the advance trilogy?

[Tracker_TD]

Handily, I made a big post about this exact topic of discussion in the statuses just the other day. Like a so:

Advance 1 is a fairly boring but harmless take on the Classic series. It gets pretty naff towards the end, which is a running theme with the series as DIMPS' idea of difficulty scaling is "add more bullshit", but oh well.

Advance 2 is tolerable if you're playing as Cream, utterly painful with anyone else. The level design takes an absolute nosedive around the midway point (as will you, because of all the bottomless pits); with a smattering of awful bosses to boot, including one with an outright 1-Hit-KO move! Also has possibly the most annoying means of accessing Special Stages. It's personally one of my least favourite Sonic games, and Techno Base is probably second only to that water level in Sonic Blast as my least favourite 2D Sonic level... ever.

Advance 3 is pretty bad, though weirdly I find it at least more consistent than Advance 2. The worst level is - confusingly - the first zone, Route 99.  Things even out somewhat after that, but it's still far from great; the physics are extremely wonky, even by Sonic Advance standards. Its fetish for goading you into crusher traps persists throughout, and there's some particular levels late-on in the game that are just atrocious. I do enjoy messing with the tag system and how it can affect how you play, and I think the bosses are at least some kind of improvement over Advance 2, but yeah. Not great. 

 

Oh and as for Battle; it's got some appeal and the fighting mechanics are pretty interesting and well-considered, but the Story Mode is extremely tedious, so get comfy if you bother with it, which you basically have to in order to make Emerl worth a shit.

[Iko]

The Advance games are some of my favorite games in the franchise. They may have some flaws but they are very fun to play and have a lot of replay value.

My favorite is Sonic Advance 2 and occasionally I still play it for fun, I usually start the game as Sonic from the first level (Leaf Forest act 1) and go until I get bored... that usually happens around Techno Base.

My least favorite is Advance 3, mostly because of the level design (you can get lost in some levels and there are a lot of copy-pasted sections).

Sonic Advance 1 is ok, but there are some glitchy parts near the end, that require very precise platforming with unprecise collisions.

 

I like to play Advance 1 as Amy and Advance 2 as Sonic (or occasionally Cream); I don't replay Advance 3 much.

My favorite levels are Music Plant and Ice Paradise, in the whole trilogy.

I played Sonic Advance 2 a lot, to the point that I found all the special rings in all the levels without a guide (it's easier than you think when you know how to search, but there are still a few unintuitive ones), and I still remember the position of them in some levels. I like the new mechanics introduced by this game and I would like to see a more polished version of it with improved level design and better visibility (bigger screen): I feel like this gameplay formula has still a lot of unused potential and can be the perfect mix between classic and modern Sonic if done well.