Sonic Advance 2

Sonic Advance 2 (ソニックアドバンス２ Sonikku Adobansu Tsu?) is a platforming game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Dimps for the Game Boy Advance in 2002. It was published by Sega in Japan, while THQ released the game in North America and Infogrames in PAL regions. The game is the sequel to Sonic Advance and is based on a modified version of said game's engine.

Sonic Advance 2 is more fast-paced compared to its predecessor, focusing more on linear, rapid gameplay with additional features, larger Zones and greater difficulty. The game also introduces Cream the Rabbit and her Chao friend, Cheese, who would become recurring characters in the series.

Plot[]

Taking place on an undefined island, Dr. Eggman has again begun kidnapping Animals and turning them into robots so he can build the Dr. Eggman Empire. This time however, he has kidnapped Tails and Knuckles too. Learning of his friends' kidnapping, Sonic rushes off to save them. Along the way, Sonic saves a young rabbit named Cream and her Chao friend, Cheese, from Eggman after defeating his EggHammerTankII. Cream then joins Sonic on his adventure to find her missing mother, Vanilla.

Sonic soon rescues Tails from Eggman too, although Tails has no idea what Eggman is up to, and Tails joins Sonic on his mission. When Sonic finds Knuckles, the echidna has been tricked by Eggman into fighting Sonic. After being defeated and chided by Sonic, Knuckles comes with him to get back at Eggman. The heroes eventually track Eggman to his Egg Utopia space station, which they destroy, and Cream finds Vanilla in the aftermath, unharmed.

If the player has not unlocked the final Zone for Sonic by then, he falls down to earth after destroying Egg Utopia, where he is greeted by his friends. If the player has however, the last story will unlocked. As Vanilla is by herself watching Flickies, she gets sucked into a cloaked mech piloted by Eggman, who then takes his mech into space. With Sonic and his allies arriving too late to save Vanilla, Cream begins crying, but Sonic transforms into Super Sonic and goes after Eggman. Destroying Eggman's mech, Super Sonic grabs the Capsule containing Vanilla. During atmospheric reentry though, the Capsule breaks apart, causing Sonic to revert back to normal. Sonic still catches Vanilla and lands safely though, and Cream shares a tearful reunion with her mother while Sonic is welcomed back by his friends. Amidst the celebration though, everyone notice Sonic is gone, having left for his next adventure.

Gameplay[]

Sonic Advance 2 is a 2D side-scrolling platform game with five playable characters to choose from: Sonic the Hedgehog, Cream the Rabbit, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Princess Sally Acorn and Amy Rose. Whereas Sonic is available from the beginning, the player can unlock Cream, Tails and Knuckles respectively by beating the game's first, third and fifth boss as Sonic in Single Player. Amy can be unlocked after completing the game and collecting all the Chaos Emeralds for each character. The basic goal in Single Player is to reach the end of each Act of a Zone (a level in the game) in ten minutes. After clearing the Acts, the player will face a boss, who is constantly moving forward, forcing the player to chase it. Each boss takes eight hits (six in Easy Mode) to defeat. After the third/fourth hit, the boss intensifies its assault. Like Sonic Advance, the game automatic saves the specific character's process, including the Chaos Emeralds each character has collected.

All characters use the basic Spin Jump, Spin Attack and Spin Dash maneuvers (only Amy cannot use the Spin Dash), as well as melee moves and special movement abilities unique to them each. Curiously, the characters' standard Look Up control has been replaced with a simple "appeal" animation. In addition, the characters' movesets have been expanded on from Sonic Advance. The Mid-Air Trick Actions enables the characters, when flung into midair, to change their directions for greater heights, attacking foes or to distance their leaps. The Boost Mode enables the characters to run at maximum speed and perform high-speed momentum-keeping attacks.

In Sonic Advance 2, many items from Sonic Advance reappears. The most prominent ones are the Rings which are found around the Zones. Collecting them protect the characters from taking damage, grant extra lives by collecting 100 of them, and reward with points in the end-of-Act score tally. Also, the more Rings the character has, the easier it will be to accelerate. When characters takes damage, they will drop all the Rings they carry, though some can be recollected before they disappear. Taking damage without any Rings will cost the player a try. A character will also lose a life if they spend too long underwater without replenishing their air supply (air underwater lasts for 18 seconds), fall into a bottomless pit, or run out of time. Passing Checkpoints saves the player's progress and they return to the latest one after losing a try. However, losing all lives gives a Game Over. Aside from Rings, Sonic Advance 2 also features Item Boxes that carry the same power-ups as in Sonic Advance.