Now as with most Sonic titles, Sonic is pitted against his bitter arch-nemesis, the evil Dr. Robotnik. Again, Dr. Robotnik has devised a plan to take over the world by capturing all of the animals, and making them in to robotic drones of mass destruction. Also, Dr. Robotnik has captured Sonic’s dear friends Knuckles, Tails, Amy and Cream; and it is up to Sonic to rescue his friends and to free the captured animals.

Now graphically, Sonic Advance 2 is hands down one of the most impressive looking games that I have seen on the GBA. The backgrounds are vibrant, colorful and full of life. Of course staying true to the characters designs used in the days of the Sega Genesis. The animations are extremely solid; the animations in Sonic are very fluid and tremendously put together, nothing sloppy in this reincarnation of Sonic.

Gameplay wise, Sonic Advance 2, plays very much like the first Sonic Advance and every other 2-D Sonic before it. The controls in Sonic are simple, you move with the D-pad and jump and attack with the ‘A’ button. However this time around, Team Sonic has added a few extra moves to spice up their old dish. Mid-Air attacks and tricks are some of the neat, new actions that Sonic and his pals can do in Sonic Advance 2. All of the mid-air actions are done with the ‘R’ trigger and the D-pad. By pressing up, while holding the ‘R’ button you can gain extra altitude on your jumps, making it easier to reach some of those hard to get to places. Also, by pressing down, while holding the ‘R’ button will allow you to stop and drop in mid-air so you can avoid enemies or falling to your death by over jumping a platform.

With many successful Sonic titles in the past, Team Sonic had to work very hard to out do themselves in their latest recreation of Sonic. By bringing the gameplay of Sonic Advance 2 back to its roots and putting it onto the GBA with stunning graphics, it looks as if they were to accomplish just that. One of Team Sonic’s major focuses in Sonic Advance 2 was to show the speed of Sonic. However, the truly remarkable thing about that is no matter how ridiculously fast you go, you never seem to be out of control; this is all due to the airtight controls of Sonic Advance 2. Also the overall animations and the backgrounds, along with brilliant level designs, make Sonic Advance 2 feel like a definite tribute to the titles of old that made the speedy hedgehog the famous mascot he is today. With four unlockable characters, Chao mini-games, and a multi-player mode, makes Sonic Advance one of the best original games released for the GBA. Fans of the old Sonic games will be truly engrossed by this title; and if you have never played a Sonic title before, Sonic Advance 2 would be an excellent one to start with. So, if you own a GBA, you owe to yourself and your friends to purchase a copy of Sonic Advance 2.