Sonic Advance cover
Critic score1 critic
First release
Dec 20, 2001
Developer
Dimps
Genres
Platform · Kids, Action

Sonic Advance is notable for being the first Sonic game released on a Nintendo console, despite both Sega and Nintendo being well-known rivals on the console market throught the 1990s. Sonic Advance features four playable characters and marks the first playable appearance of Amy Rose on a 2D title. The game borrows elements from the original Sonic the Hedgehog titles for the Sega Genesis, but with the post-Dreamcast artstyle for the characters which was introduced in Sonic Adventure. The game also includes multiplayer features and mini-games. The title was also ported to the Nokia N-Gage under the title "SonicN".

Also known as ソニック アドバンス

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Storyline
The game follows Sonic and his friends as they travel through various zones in order to stop Dr. Eggman from taking over South Island. The game features four playable characters; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. Each character has the same moveset as they did in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, with the addition of a melee attack. Each character has a special ability, such as Sonic's splice shield, Tails' flight and Knuckles' gliding and climbing abilities. In her playable 2D debut, Amy cannot perform the Spin Dash or get into ball form when jumping like the others, and must rely on her Piko Piko Hammer to defend herself, making her unique amongst the characters. Grind rails first introduced in Sonic Adventure 2 also make their first 2D appearance. Sonic and Tails can also be used at the same time during the story by inputting a cheat code at the character selection screen. When playing as both characters, the gameplay is similar to that of Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The player can only control Sonic and a CPU-controlled Tails follows him.Read more

The game follows Sonic and his friends as they travel through various zones in order to stop Dr. Eggman from taking over South Island. The game features four playable characters; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. Each character has the same moveset as they did in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, with the addition of a melee attack. Each character has a special ability, such as Sonic's splice shield, Tails' flight and Knuckles' gliding and climbing abilities. In her playable 2D debut, Amy cannot perform the Spin Dash or get into ball form when jumping like the others, and must rely on her Piko Piko Hammer to defend herself, making her unique amongst the characters. Grind rails first introduced in Sonic Adventure 2 also make their first 2D appearance. Sonic and Tails can also be used at the same time during the story by inputting a cheat code at the character selection screen. When playing as both characters, the gameplay is similar to that of Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The player can only control Sonic and a CPU-controlled Tails follows him.

Release dates
Game Boy Advance
Dec 20, 2001
Game Boy Advance
Feb 03, 2002
Game Boy Advance
Mar 08, 2002
All 6 release dates
Game Boy Advance
2002
Android
Nov 25, 2011
Wii U
Feb 18, 2015
Game modes
Multiplayer, Single player
Perspective
Side view, Bird view / Isometric
Keywords
minigames, death, robots, female protagonist, side-scrolling
… All 28, time limit, snow, high score, airplane, boss fight, anthropomorphism, bonus stage, protagonist's name in the title, hedgehog, collectibles, virtual console, unlockables, sprinting mechanics, ice stage, moving platforms, temporary invincibility, super speed, spiky-haired protagonist, trilogy, connectivity, male protagonist, wii u virtual console, game boy advance link cable support

At a Glance

Critic Score
79

How it plays

Languages

  • Englishinterface
  • 日本語interface
IGDB · recorded 31 Oct 2026

Language data: IGDB · recorded 31 Oct 2026