Sonic Advance 2
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| Sonic Advance 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Dimps |
| Publisher(s) | THQ |
| Release date(s) |  December 19, 2002 March 10, 2003 March 18, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
| Media | 32-Megabit cartridge |
Sonic Advance 2 is a side-scrolling platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Dimps and published by THQ for the Game Boy Advance. The game was released in Japan on December 19, 2002, in North America on March 10, 2003, in Europe on March 18, 2003. It is based on a modified version of Sonic Advance's game engine.
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[edit] Gameplay
Basic gameplay is an improvement on Sonic Advance, with much of the earlier features intact. Compared to its predecessor, Sonic Advance 2 contains more and larger levels, the overall difficulty is higher making it a more challenging game, an enhanced sound track, and offers better control over the playable characters. Most levels start in a corner of a map and require to move uphill or downhill.
All characters can now perform various stunts when flying through the air and not curled in a ball (i.e. after being launched from a spring or similar). These are activated by holding a direction on the D-pad and pressing the R button. Some of these stunts can be used to destroy enemies.
Another new feature is shattering the sound barrier. If a character runs as fast as possible for a period of time without stopping or slowing down, they will shatter the sound barrier and leave a trail of afterimages behind them. While in shattering the sound barrier, it is possible to run over water, and the attack used with the B button becomes more powerful. The delay before reaching shattering can be decreased somewhat by collecting rings. Certain objects in the level (red booster wheels, for instance) will instantly force the character into the state. This also shows that Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Amy, and eventually Blaze, can run faster than the speed of sound. Although this is mixed up and scrambled in later games.
In each act, there are seven Special Rings. Collecting all seven of these and completing the Act, without dying, will take the player to a Special Stage, where a player can win a Chaos Emerald. The stage accessed and emerald obtained both depend on which zone the player was in when they accessed the stage. Unlike Sonic Advance, emeralds are not shared between characters.
All bosses in this game, except for the final boss, take place while running along a horizontally wrapping area, akin to the Mushroom Hill Zone boss in Sonic and Knuckles. Rings will appear in groups of three. This format makes any attack other than jumping and Sonic's insta-shield (and Cream's ability to command Cheese to attack, of course) completely useless, and once the player has lost their rings it is difficult to regain them as they fly off the left side of the screen; both of these facts have led to the bosses being heavily criticized by fans. Spin-dashing, however, IS possible, but extremely difficult to do in real time: one must go to the right side of the screen, then suddenly brake, and very quickly stop braking, duck and spindash before reaching the left side of the screen; this trick has been heavily used in tool-assisted speedruns.
[edit] Characters
- Sonic the Hedgehog is playable from the start.
- Miles "Tails" Prower is playable after Music Plant is completed.
- Knuckles the Echidna is playable after Sky Canyon is completed.
- Cream the Rabbit and her Chao, Cheese are playable after Leaf Forest is completed. This is Cream's first appearance, with the exception of artwork in Sonic Mega Collection.
- Amy Rose is playable after the other four characters each get all seven Chaos Emeralds and clear the game (she was originally meant to be in Cream's place)[citation needed].
- Vanilla the Rabbit, Cream's mother. She is a non-playable character who plays a small role in the game.
[edit] Zones
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Sonic Advance 2 is the second classical 2D Sonic game to not end all Zone names with the word "Zone" (the first was Sonic CD).
[edit] Leaf Forest
The first stage in the game, Leaf Forest is the traditional "green" hill type Zone found in many Sonic games.
Boss: Egghammer Tank II, a car-like vehicle with two arms. One has a giant hammer, while the other is a hand that holds Cream. It fights by slamming its hammer at the player.
[edit] Hot Crater
A crater in the middle of the jungle, though you will be above the crater at the beginning of the stage, most of the stage will take place in the fiery depths of the crater.
Boss: Egg Bomber Tank, a tank that fires bombs at the player through its turret.
[edit] Music Plant
A musical city that is designed with instruments scattered all over. There are piano keys to bounce off of, trumpets to go soaring from, and cymbals for jumping. Nearly all sound effects of this zone are notes in B-flat major, which is the same scale as the zone's background music. This creates a sound of musical compatibility between the sounds and the song.
Boss: Egg Totem, a pillar-like vehicle armed with the spinning spiked discs that it throws at the player. The player has to jump onto these discs to reach Eggman. Tails is tied to the machine, bawling.
[edit] Ice Paradise
A frozen landscape with a city in the background. The ice is smooth and the action packed as you run through these frozen hills. The background music in this zone is actually a remix from Sonic Advance's Ice Mountain Zone. It also seems to resemble the music from the card mini game in the Tiny Chao Garden.
Boss: Aero Egg, a flying vehicle that drops bombs. It has a tail with a platform that is used to reach Eggman.
[edit] Sky Canyon
A mountainous region higher than the clouds. It is a long way down if you fail to execute a mid-air trick. There are many parts where you will be swept up by the wind, or giant propellers.
Boss: Egg Saucer, a ring-shaped vehicle with three additions; a cockpit, an energy gun, and a giant fist. When fought the first time, it is piloted by Knuckles, who has been tricked by Eggman.
[edit] Techno Base
Eggman's base is a dark place with computer generated bridges, spikes, and bumpers. When you see aqua green colored hexagons beneath you, it is usually a sign that there is a bottomless pit below.
Boss: Egg-Go-Round, a cockpit surrounded by and connected to four platforms. The platforms can either defend themselves with spikes or by spinning around at a quick pace. The cockpit can also fire energy shots.
[edit] Egg Utopia
A space station similar in appearance to the Death Egg, with gravity switches as well.
Boss: Egg Frog, a vehicle with two large legs used to jump. The player can switch gravity to walk on either the floor or ceiling during the battle, and the boss fights differently depending on where the player is.
[edit] XX
Another space station, with a continous boss battle instead if a stage.
Boss: Continous battles against weaker versions of the previous bosses, taking only three hits to be destroyed. They are followed by a giant robot that can fire its spiked arms and eye lasers, and can only be damaged on the head. Three platforms on the ground can send the player into the spiked ceiling.
[edit] True Area 53
A stage that consists only of the final boss. This stage is unlocked if the player has collected all the Chaos Emeralds, after which Sonic transforms into Super Sonic for this stage alone.
Boss: A prawn-like machine that can freeze Super Sonic and steal his Rings. It is damaged by knocking its missiles into its cockpit.
- In the Japanese version, "True Area 53" is called "Truth Area 53", this was probably a translation mistake.
[edit] Pre-release version
Although this game marks Cream the Rabbit's first appearance, she was originally planned for Sonic Heroes. Sonic Team shifted her debut game to Sonic Advance 2 to help the game feel fresher. The game was originally supposed to star Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, just as the original Sonic Advance had. Additionally, early videos of Sonic Advance 2 showcased the game with a completely different, more laid-back soundtrack.
[edit] External links
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Sonic 1 · Sonic 2 · Sonic Chaos · Sonic Triple Trouble · Sonic Labyrinth · Sonic Blast · Sonic Pocket Adventure · Sonic Advance · Sonic Advance 2 · Sonic Advance 3 · Sonic Rush · Sonic Rivals · Sonic Genesis |
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