Sonic Advance (GBA, 2001)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-6.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-4
Overall Score-7
+
Some new mechanics (air boost, character attacks, stage gimmicks)
Fast paced and smooth
Good final boss
Decent variation
Difficulty options (easy/normal)
Time attack, vs mode, hidden items, good animation overall, four playable characters
+/-
Hidden chaos emeralds (no bonus levels)
Forgiving hit detection when jumping onto platforms from below
-
Short
Amy sucks (no roll or spindash)
Some trial & error (leaps of faith into pits, opposite direction springs, popup spikes, one awfully designed spring jump in the final zone, carnival zone boss hit detection)
Diagonal bouncers are unreliable
Some pointless gadgets (elevators)
Some pointless moves (all the secondary attacks except Amy's), air boost should've been more useful (usable by all characters, usable when bouncing off springs or moving off edges, not mapped to double tap as it's pretty easy to do it by mistake), somewhat slow acceleration when starting to move, look up/down move is too slow, somewhat scratchy sound, mostly generic music and somewhat cluttered backgrounds, rehashes most of its ideas, some points of no return, mostly easy and simple bosses, no alternate paths for different characters?, can't roll into a ball or fly after hitting a spring/bouncer
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-4
Overall Score-7
+
Some new mechanics (air boost, character attacks, stage gimmicks)
Fast paced and smooth
Good final boss
Decent variation
Difficulty options (easy/normal)
Time attack, vs mode, hidden items, good animation overall, four playable characters
+/-
Hidden chaos emeralds (no bonus levels)
Forgiving hit detection when jumping onto platforms from below
-
Short
Amy sucks (no roll or spindash)
Some trial & error (leaps of faith into pits, opposite direction springs, popup spikes, one awfully designed spring jump in the final zone, carnival zone boss hit detection)
Diagonal bouncers are unreliable
Some pointless gadgets (elevators)
Some pointless moves (all the secondary attacks except Amy's), air boost should've been more useful (usable by all characters, usable when bouncing off springs or moving off edges, not mapped to double tap as it's pretty easy to do it by mistake), somewhat slow acceleration when starting to move, look up/down move is too slow, somewhat scratchy sound, mostly generic music and somewhat cluttered backgrounds, rehashes most of its ideas, some points of no return, mostly easy and simple bosses, no alternate paths for different characters?, can't roll into a ball or fly after hitting a spring/bouncer