Please please please release Sonic Advance Trilogy on Nintendo Switch Online

Soapbox features allow our individual writers and contributors to offer their opinions on hot topics and random things that are on their hearts. Today Stuart pleads for the powers of getting a certain trilogy on Nintendo Switch Online…

Game Boy Advance is coming to Switch Online! Perhaps! At least almost certainly! I hope so. Hm.

It’s not confirmed, but it is as well as, which was enough to make me write a diatribe begging Sega and Nintendo to settle their age-old differences and bring back an all but forgotten line of Sonic classics. A renaissance era for 2D Sonic fans. Yes, of course I’m talking about the venerable Sonic Advance series. Three games, a tangentially related combat RPG thing (Sonic Battle) and some pinball (Sonic Pinball Party).

The last two don’t matter much, though that’s not to say they don’t have anything to offer – Sonic Battle has a shockingly emotional story for a Sonic game, and Pinball Party is a really good time. However, it’s the mainline games I want the most – Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2 and…er…(checks Wikipedia) Sonic Advance 3. I mean, come on! Apart from an appearance on the Japanese Wii U eShop, they have not been re-released since their original arcs on GBA cartridge in 2001, 2002 and 2004 respectively. Yes, I can feel a die-hard Sonic fan poking me in the back for the 2003 N-Gage version of the original game, Sound N. i know buddy Believe me, I’m obsessed too.

Anyhow, the games would be a perfect candidate for the rumored Switch Online service and I pray to the various gaming gods that it happens. While the Sonic Advance series isn’t perfect, I find it a bit brilliant, and I want to take some time to explain exactly why each of the games is worth your time, effort, and energy.

Sonic Advance kicked off with the first 2D Sonic game since Sonic & Knuckles in 1994. Wait, no, that’s not quite right – the brilliant Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure for Neo Geo Pocket Color, that ill-fated system hit late 1999. Okay, so it’s the first “high profile” 2D Sonic game and the first Sonic game on a Nintendo system (alongside Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, which released on the same day was December 20, 2001). That was seismic a real “snowball in hell” moment for gaming back then.

But that is not the point; that Point, dear reader, must be put as eloquently as possible: Sonic Advance slaps. My friends, this is a damn good game; It’s no match for the Mega Drive classics, but it’s closer than anyone dares to admit. The ability to play with their familiar skills as Tails and Knuckles makes things feel even more vintage. Best of all, you can now play as Amy Rose with her Piko Piko Hammer, fresh from Sonic Adventure. It’s more than just a novelty – it changes the game, making it much more difficult and forcing you to approach it much more cautiously. She can’t sprint and isn’t invulnerable while jumping – but a couple of new Hammer-based moves make up for that.

The sequel came out next year, creatively titled Sonic Advance 2, and is most notable for introducing the disgustingly named Cream the Rabbit, the latest from Sonic’s pals, and a de facto “easy mode” for an already fairly simple game. Her ability to throw her little Chao companion – who also goes the disgustingly named Cheese – at enemies from almost anywhere on screen made her a cute little death machine.

There’s also a new and very controversial focus on speed. You know the common (and inaccurate) criticism of classic Sonic that it’s just “hold right to win”? Well, Sonic Advance 2 is probably the closest thing to the series for doing so little bon mot a reality. Of course, winning isn’t right, but you’re encouraged to go faster than ever with a proliferation of Speed ​​Boost Pads, simplified grinding mechanics, and the new ability to gain a boost of extra speed when running around a continuous run to achieve a few seconds. Even the boss fights see you chasing Robotnik as he accelerates and potshots away from you in his latest mecha monstrosity.

It’s difficult to really love Sonic Advance 2, but if you succumb to its charm, it will be your favorite. The music and graphics are fantastic, and for better or for worse, this is probably the hardest Sonic game to get all seven Chaos Emeralds in. However, you must unlock everything. You need to get all the Emeralds with each of the four other characters in order to play as Amy, who unfortunately isn’t really worth the effort as she’s been made a lot less interesting than in the original Sonic Advance. boo! Hiss!

Then move on to Sonic Advance 3, a game so strange that many people assumed it was some kind of fake fan effort when its ROM file was leaked before release. See, there’s a lot about Advance 3 that’s a bit…off. The physics feel like they’ve been tweaked and the game feels a bit weightless at times. It’s also bizarre how the entire tempo structure of the first two titles has been overhauled with an odd, almost labyrinthine hub area where you have to explore empty, uninteresting, enemy-free spaces to locate the “nude rings” that belong to each lead zone. which also now have three acts apiece instead of two, with a fourth boss act found separately in the hub.

So far so strange, but it’s still a pretty great time. The main new mechanics are team up moves; At the beginning of the game you choose two characters from the same cast as in the previous game and then send them out into the world. This is cool in that you can just leave Sonic behind while Knuckles and Cream, for example, go on the adventure. Since many of the team-up moves (used by holding the “R” key) rely on propelling you into the air, the levels have increased verticality and, frankly, feel absolutely massive. So finding the hidden Chao in each act is quite a challenge, although it’s more fun than collecting the special rings in Advance 2.

It almost goes without saying that music rules here; The final zone, Chaos Angel, is ridiculously epic and at times foreboding. The story is sort of an all-over-the-place sequel to Sonic Battle – ignore it. Treat it like the 21 2D Sonic levels it is and you’ll have a hard time not enjoying yourself.

So again, Nintendo – Sega – whoever – I beg you to make this series available again, and the Nintendo Switch Online service is the perfect opportunity. In fact, it would be best for everyone if you (Nintendo, I’m talking to you) just always did what I say.

So, Sonic Advance series, yes? Then the Klonoa games. Then Kururin Paradi— [Snip! – Ed]