SONIC ADVANCE 3

is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Dimps and published by THQ for the Game Boy Advance. It was first released in North America on June 7, 2004, later in Japan on June 17, 2004 and then in Europe on June 18, 2004. The game uses elements from ''Sonic Advance'' and ''Sonic Advance 2'', as well as allowing the player to choose an additional partner, who augments the player's actions. The Chao Garden mode from the previous ''Advance'' games has been removed, and the Chao Garden in this game serves to help the player view the Chaos Emeralds and chao they have collected.

Contents

Storyline

Characters

Gameplay

Levels

Level Maps

Voice cast

Receptions

External links

Storyline

Doctor Eggman tears the Earth apart using Chaos Control, and Sonic is separated from Knuckles, Amy, and Cream and is stranded with Tails. The two begin to search for their friends and the source of the trouble (which is the separation of the Chaos Emeralds). But like always, Eggman is making everything from doomsday devices to kooky contraptions and is trying to vanquish Sonic once and for all. The most dangerous of these is G-Mel, a super fighting robot made from the remains of Emerl.

Characters

★ 'Sonic the Hedgehog' is playable from the start.

★ 'Miles "Tails" Prower' is playable from the start.

★ 'Knuckles the Echidna' can be unlocked by completing Sunset Hill (Zone 2), Act 3 with Sonic as team leader

★ 'Amy Rose' can be unlocked by completing Toy Kingdom (Zone 4), Act 3 with Sonic as team leader

★ 'Cream the Rabbit' can be unlocked by completing Cyber Track (Zone 6), Act 3 with Sonic as team leader

★ 'Dr. Eggman' is not playable except in multiplayer mode for 2P in the "Nonaggression" stage. He found Emerl's parts and turned them into G-mel.

★ 'G-mel' is the antagonist. He is not playable. Created from the parts of Emerl from ''Sonic Battle'', G-mel is Dr. Eggman's henchman for the most part of the game until he betrays him in the final battle and is later reprogrammed by Tails to be friends with Cream and her mom, in an allusion to ''Sonic Battle''.

Gameplay

Basic gameplay is identical to ''Sonic Advance'' and ''Sonic Advance 2''. This time however, ''Sonic Advance 3'' introduces a new game feature called "Tag Action". Tag Action is similar to ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'': the player picks two characters and controls one while the other will just follow along controlled by the computer (or player two in multiplayer mode)
Additionally, in a feature first seen in ''Knuckles' Chaotix'' the character can pick up the teammate by holding R, and then release them for to use special abilities. With the addition of Tag Action, the player teams up two playable characters. The different combinations lets the player use different abilities. Some teams have their own name:

★ 'Unbreakable Bond': Sonic & Tails

★ 'Fighting Buddies': Sonic & Knuckles

★ 'Lovely Couple': Sonic & Amy

★ 'Team Jubilee': Amy and Cream
Any other team will show 'OK'.

Levels

There are seven Zones in total, each consisting of three Acts followed by a fourth "Boss Act". The "final" and "extra" stages are one act apiece and consist solely of boss fights.

★ 'Route 99'

★ 'Sunset Hill'

★ 'Ocean Base'

★ 'Toy Kingdom'

★ 'Twinkle Snow'

★ 'Cyber Track'

★ 'Chaos Angel'

★ 'Altar Emerald' (final stage)

★ 'Nonaggression' (extra stage)

Level Maps

The game is split into seven 'Zones', with each Zone having a 'Level Map'. The Level Map is a large open area that contains:

★ 'Act Rings', large rings that lets the player enter the Acts. There are three Act Rings in each Level Map.

★ 'Boss Room', metallic rings that can only be accessed after finishing all three Acts. After entering, the player fights the Zone's boss.

★ 'Bonus Room', minigames that lets the player win extra lives. There are two different Bonus Rooms:

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★ Find and destroy all eight of Eggman's robots in a small level on a time limit.

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★ Press switches on a giant capsule to gain points. The more points the player, the more extra lives are rewarded.

★ 'Special Spring', a spring that sends the player to the Special Stage. It is locked until the player finds the key.

★ 'Factory Ring', a ring that leads to the Sonic Factory, a small area that contains:

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★ A character select screen that lets the player re-select his or her characters.

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★ Portals to travel between all seven Zones.

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★ Chao Garden, a garden where the player can see how many Chao he or she has found.

Voice cast

This is the very last game to use the original ''Sonic'' voice actors before they were changed to the ''Sonic X'' cast. It also contains the last voice acting done by Deem Bristow before he passed away.

Voice actor	Role
Ryan Drummond	Sonic the Hedgehog
William Corkery	Miles "Tails" Prower
Scott Drier	Knuckles the Echidna
Jennifer Douillard	Amy Rose
Sarah Wulfeck	Cream the Rabbit
Deem Bristow	Dr. Eggman
John St. Jon	G-Mel

Receptions

Overall, ''Sonic Advance 3'' received positive feedback from most outlets.

★ IGN - 9/10

★ GameSpot - 8.4/10

★ GameSpy - 3 out of 5

★ GamePro - 3.5 out of 5

★ Gaming Target - 8/10

★ GameZone - 9/10

★ Nintendo Power - 3.9 out of 5

★ X-Play - 4 out of 5
Game Rankings scores is currently 80%.

External links

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