When Sega and THQ first announced a licensing deal with each other to bring the world of Sonic back to his 2D style roots on the Game Boy Advance the world was astonished. Not only did we finally get a Sega, more specifically, a Sonic game on a Nintendo handheld, we got perhaps one of the best 2D Sonics we could ever hope for. While Sonic Team pumped out Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 and Sonic Heroes on the Nintendo GameCube, developer Dimps truly showed that Sonic belongs in the 2D world and should remain that way, and with the recent release of Sonic Advance 3, Dimps keeps the series fresh by adding a familiar feature of a two-character gameplay that is far more fulfilled then it was back in Sonics 16-bit version.

With Sonic Advance 3 we are treated to a massive seven worlds, multiplayer for up to four players, two player co-op, and sadly only one save slot. Yet with all these features and after the excellent releases of Sonic Advance & Sonic Advance 2 it’s hard to imagine that the Sonic Advance series could become bigger and better each time. For the first time ever in a 2D Sonic game there are even cut scenes that finally explain why Sonic and crew are “once again” up against the legendary Dr. Eggman. Not only with the addition of a “slight storyline” but Sonic Advance 3 expands on all the established platforming found from the past Sonic Advance games and uses it in a slew of creative ways in many of the lateral levels.

With the addition of Sonic Advance 3 to the handheld series we are still presented with the same style of graphics found in the previous titles, but the level designs are finally developed in a much better way so players can finally have the ability to explore, traditional platforming jumping, and of course, go Sonic speed. The random spikes from players zooming along the course are still here, but not overly used as the past Sonic games and yet will all the trouble the spikes cause, the challenges that are brought to each and every level are fairly balanced.

Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and even the newly added Cream the Rabbit are back once again to help stop Dr. Eggman against his evil plot of controlling the world. Their abilities are vastly different from each other and ultimately change the way the levels are players, but players will need to use their different abilities to collect all the Chao’s found out through the entire game, only if you want to complete the game 100% however. Although gamers can completely complete the game with the two starting characters (Sonic & Tails), more fun is brought to the game by using the hidden characters abilities.

With co-op being fully utilized in Sonic Advance 3, not only will the secondary character, whom is being controlled by the computer AI or another human, fight off enemies and gather missed rings, but the second character allows the two to team up and perform additional moves to explore the once unreachable platforms. With five different characters and plenty of different co-op combinations, Sonic Advance 3 allows up to twenty different moves to be performed throughout the game. With these moves, there is almost an indefinite way to complete the game and gather all the Chao for a 100% completion.

The Sonic Advance series have always had excellent multiplayer support and Sonic Advance 3 is not an exception. Up to four players can play in a single-pak game by playing a game of collecting the Chao, and if somehow you meet up with three other players with Sonic Advance 3 you can play a game of race to the finish with each level that has been unlocked.

With the well developed co-op, blazingly fast single player, and the underused but excellent multiplayer, and with an excellent soundtrack, Sonic Advance 3 expands in ever way over Sonic Advance 1 & 2. Yet with the continually cheap tactics of the random spikes interrupting my Sonic speed I am greatly looking forward to what Sega, Dimps, and THQ can bring to the next Sonic game in 2D. Perhaps Sonic Advance 4 will be called Sonic DS?