The Underrated LEGACY of Sonic Advance 3 | GEEK CRITIQUE

After Sonic Advance 2 failed to live up to its predecessor, the team at DIMPS took a little more time and a WHOLE lot more ambition for the final game of the trilogy. With a downfall in progress and a storm on the horizon, what impact would Sonic Advance 3 have on the series, and why is the legacy of this trilogy so unsung nowadays?
As promised in the episode, here's my updated Sonic games tier list: / 1354185892324376577
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[@GeekCritique]

As promised in the episode, here's my updated Sonic games tier list (along with a little bonus related to this episode!) twitter.com/TGCritique/status/1126289600002048000

[@shilohwatts8850]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks about this game, especially when you die by getting crushed and falling to your death.

[@zekesmudrick-crawford3073]

Hey there @The Geek Critique Could you do a Critique on Sonic Riders?

[@GabrielCyberTeen]

Really looking forward to a Sonic Unleashed critique! Cheers!

[@slochedplays9585]

This is weird, because I'm really enjoying Lost World 3ds at the moment...

[@stupididioticspoiledbrat2419]

TGC Will you review the sonic rush trilogy next?

[@BRoboto1]

Teaming Knuckles up with Amy gave him an absolute game-changer: The ability to Spin-Dash up walls. Man, I miss that technique.

[@TheLaXandro]

And teaming Amy up with Knuckles gave you a gloriously uncontrollable mess that is Amy's run speed and lack of curling combined with Knuckles' inertia.

[@TheAbsol7448]

If they make another more modern 2D Sonic, I REALLY hope they'll bring back wall running from Lost World.

[@tigglesbruh]

You ever play colors?

[@SoulHero7]

THAT WAS A THING?! Why didn't Knuckles keep that? That's perfect for him having his own unique way of gaining speed while still keeping his focus on gliding and wall climbing!

[@Next-xm2dh]

That is something he should have kept

[@JustPeasu]

Shoutouts to Dimps for making probably the best looking Sonic Run Cycle of all time.

[@someuntakenname1]

And then there's Sonic 4

[@blackdot105]

Making the best and the worst

[@PiousMoltar]

Okay maybe (lolno the classic games have it beat) but the walk cycle sucks

[@blackdot105]

@@PiousMoltar That I can agree with.

[@brandonwilliams6119]

And for these games making those Newgrounds Animation Parodies which shaped up a lot of our Childhoods

[@aguyontube3805]

Man people keep asking for Sa3 but it’s already out!

[@averagebritishguy7082]

Stahp.

[@Gnidel]

@@Invidente7 Sonic Adventure 7 is not.

[@TheGrandtheftautops3]

Ikr and I have a hundred copy's of it.

[@pencilneck2871]

"Booooo." GeT oFf thE sTagE

[@DarkshadowXD63]

Ya Sonic Unleashed

[@definitelynotsmart]

Best duo: Sonic and Cream -you get homing attack -you get cheese - you breathe underwater - you see creams adorable as hell animations

[@LinksYTLink]

Wait it allows you to breath underwater?

[@SomeRandomDude000000]

@@LinksYTLink yea, for some reason you get a bubble shield without the bounce when you team up with cream

[@rubywest5166]

Cream's rail grinding animation is the most sickeningly adorable thing I've ever seen. It's probably worth buying the game just for that

[@definitelynotsmart]

@@rubywest5166 yep

[@bun197]

@@rubywest5166 imagine spending money on a game solely because a cartoon toddler rabbit girl is in it. yikes

[@UgandanPrinc3]

Sonic Battle? Sonic Battle.

[@TheThirdDaySH]

Also, Sonic Battle.

[@ChocolateRobotLover]

Okay Grammer nazi.

[@nozarashi4329]

Sonic battle adventure 2

[@asdfjkl03]

Amen on Sonic Battle. Specifically Sonic Battle, the arena-fighter for GBA rather than Sonic Adventure Battle 2 - Electric Boogaloo

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Sonic Battle 2 when???

[@superpowers04]

Tails: **Dies** Sonic: *Snaps* "Aw shoot"

[@TheLonelyGoomba]

I always thought SA3 was the best in the trilogy as a kid. I never liked the speed focus on 2 so this felt like a good balance at the time. The game also felt bigger in scale and in length. I also found collecting the chao way way more fun than giant springs or the dreaded special rings in 2. I actually enjoyed being rewarded for exploring at my own pace. The bosses and levels felt more unique than SA1 which felt more like a tribute to the originals. But the level design in SA3 is a bit unforgiving so I can see why some people find it annoying. I still think it's probably my favourite one. But I tend to find myself picking up SA1 the most since it's pretty short and quick to blast through.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

Although 3 is my favourite. I can see why people would prefer 1 as it does have arguably the most forgiving level design of the trilogy.

[@nil8728]

Hey the lonely goomba is here.

[@VGHOST008]

Sonic Advance 3 is a mixed bag. The music is amazing, the visuals are outstanding but the thing I disliked about it even when I was a kid was level design. Even today the complaint is still relevant. The hubs are pointless. Never liked them. Too many pits and linear level design decisions that felt off. The game isn't as fluid as Sonic 1-3 and even CD. It's always a ride of 2-5 second of running extremely fast to lots of obnoxious platforming in extremely closed spaces. Maybe it's me, but I can't really like this game for this and only reason.

[@brian_Austin27]

Me too

[@somethingsomething9008]

Yes sonic adventure 3 is the best in the trilogy

[@luisz0339]

Finally someone giving Sonic Advance 3 some love 💖

[@kamariz3153]

Ikr

[@r543Blitzsonic]

There was also a youtuber that uploaded a gameplay video for each team and described all the moves they could do and whatnot, was pretty nice but that seems unfortunately gone now.

[@soopamariogalaxeee]

One small detail I like in this game is the ability to grind on rails at any point instead of falling through them. There’s a bunch of other little quality of life improvements (voices, camera, move combinations, etc.) that bring up the quality and help it stand out from the other entries in the series.

[@dprototype6431]

I’m glad that carried over into the Rush games.

[@spinceiling7442]

I love how they improved rail grinding in each Advance game. Advance 1 just had the tiny ledges that you had to start on, Advance 2 made these ledges longer and attached them to the floor so you didnt have to jump, and Advance 3 perfected it

[@researchinbreeder]

Hey, a content warning would be nice. Wasn't ready to be sliced to ribbons by all that edge in the outro.

[@spartaninthebox9101]

That 5-4-1 joke was for a very niche part of your audience, but rest assured that at least one person got it.

[@UltimaKeyMaster]

Well, we'll keep dreaming of a world, where those jokes are good.

[@GeekCritique]

​@@UltimaKeyMaster Hey now, you'd be way wrong to cross my line...

[@musicfighter282]

I’m a couple months late to this joke, but now we really do need a Sonic Battle critique, so we can engage in some Cah-Cah-Cah-Combat

[@PANICBLADE]

Oh you guys can't start a Wasserman off without me, because IIIIIIIIII WIIIIIIIILL WIN!

[@bababobo5067]

Let’s be honest. Because of Game Grumps and others, everything that has non-classic Sonic in it is underrated.

[@deanmoriarty6015]

there are a lot of hidden gems in the franchise, like battle, riders, but not all are like that. lost world (only good idea was the spindash) boom, forces- sonic team just doesn’t know what the fuck they’re doing anymore lol

[@bababobo5067]

Marx I’m not at all sure what kind of point you’re trying to make, but you’re last sentence sounds pretty biased. You think Sonic fans are criticizing people who have different views on Sonic? Dude, because of the people I mentioned, as soon as people see Sonic involved in anything, they say it sucks. I don’t see how that’s the fans fault. Everyone else criticizes Sonic fans for being Sonic fans, and hate the series despite most likely not having played more than 2 games.

[@bababobo5067]

Marx Maybe not in Russia, but over here in America, it’s everyone else who attacks Sonic and it’s fans. How is this news to you? I’m sure if you go on a slew of videos critiquing one of the games in the series, you’ll see a ton of negativity somewhere. Hell, I haven’t checked, but I bet the trailer for the new Sonic movie is filled with “Lol. A Sonic movie? It’s destined to fail” comments.

[@deanmoriarty6015]

Marx the first riders is good yes

[@bababobo5067]

Marx Well of course if you go to a video defending Sonic, you’ll get positivity. But in everything else it’s negativity. I just got done watching a video about Princess Peach. And guess what? There was a jab at Sonic for no reason. Sonic is underrated. You’re more likely to find a hater than a fan on the internet.

[@TomsSauce]

Technically, I think the last time the Adventure designs are used as sprites are in the Sonic Rush credits, but I know you probably meant in a full game. And you know what, it's a huge game, since the sprite work in the Advance Trilogy and Battle are some of my favourite sprite art of all time.

[@Arn01d]

Cream as a teammate was a GOD in this game. That Chao single handedly beat bosses for me😂

[@niespeludo]

Are you saying you *CHEESED* it? Yeah, it was killer.

[@EuroMIX2]

That's probably why she's the last unlockable character in this game.

[@levobertus]

God I love this game, especially its skill ceiling. It's probably the game that gets the most undeserving flack for its level design of the 2D games, just because it's unconventional. It's the hardest and most varied 2D Sonic game. After 14 years of playing it, I still don't feel like I'm done, like I've seen it all, there's still stuff I find out years later and I think the game is designed around that. If you play it like a classic, you're gonna die a lot, but if you embrace the team mechanics, you can avoid mostly all death traps and use crazy shortcuts.

[@cliffturbo2146]

Now that's the song in my ears. I feel the same way.

[@ayrtonjoga]

How do you not know every single pixel of the game when you look for chao? I got bored when I had to search for them to collect the emeralds and just beat the game

[@levobertus]

@@ayrtonjoga the chao hub is a decent indicator where they are. They are numbered by area, so you know exactly what stage they're in. Also, this is a bit less cleary communicated, they are listed in order of their appearance within the stages. Usually a stage has 3 of them, with the first one being roughly somewhere in the first third, the second one roughly around the halfway point of the stage and the last one near the end. If you find one, you will know next time if there's more before or after the one you just found. I get that some of them are kinda deviously hidden and it takes a while to complete, but the actual chao search wasn't the problem imo. Having to find a key (and only being able to carry one at a time) to enter the special stages was way more annoying imo, especially since you've probably seen these stages enough after the chao hunt. I still think the search itself is pretty good though, as it's an incentive to revisit stages with different character combinations and experiment, something you wouldn't have to do in just a single playthrough as Sonic and Tails are a solid team that has no trouble beating every stage comfortably and you don't really have to switch if you don't want to.

[@ayrtonjoga]

@@levobertus I know about the hub listing the chao that you either collected or still missing, they help but I still get lost easily when I revisit those huge stages to explore with GBA's small resolution, and sometimes I find them just because of pure luck, funnily enough getting the keys is easy to me since they just randomly spawns in front of you I guess I'm just frustrated because that's my first 100% completion of the game, so maybe I'll get better with time, the combination I use (trying) to collect them is "Knuckles + Tails" since they have good controls on ground and great air mobility

[@IceisNice_FollowingChrist]

Sonic Advance 3 was always my favorite advance game.

[@cesurtheguy3807]

Ice is Nice My as well. And still is

[@myfaceisstuckpleasesendhel1255]

This is problably the most fair review of Advance 3 I have seen to this day. This review acknowledges both the positives and the negatives of this game and analyses why some aspects of Advance 3 works for this game, while there are also some that works against it. Good job.

[@Mario60bore]

Some call me jhonnys and ant dude is also pretty good

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

Am I the only one who was somewhat letdown by Somecallmejohnny's review?

[@Mario60bore]

@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 if your let down by the dudes opinion than i dont know what to say to you.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

No. I'm not that guy who is letdown by a video just because "different opinions". I just found the review itself to be kind of lacking in detail here and there. Honestly, that's one of my main issues with Johnny's content over the years as much as I like him and his content. Also, I was a bit mixed on how he ended the video. I don't really like it when someone goes to a place a lot of people are at and asked "which is your favourite" because hearing more than 20 people doesn't convince me when there's millions of people out there. Take what I said with a pinch of salt, I still liked his review, I just found parts of it to make me go "can I hear more? I'm curious".

[@Mario60bore]

@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 actaully the advance comunity is very nitche compare to the clasic comunitty. Plus both ant and jhonny talked about the good and bad parts of advanced 3 plus it still has detail and his reviews have them. Plus the ending is not that big of a deal because the majority like the first 2 game you can cheack a vot poll on gamefaqs.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

Sonic Advance 3 will always be one of my favourite Sonic games and my favourite of the trilogy. I'll admit that I had mixed feelings on it when I first played it. As I played it more however, I grew to love it for its excellent level design (although the enemy placement is rather frustrating at times), mostly awesome team combos, brilliant presentation, and the high level of replay value. It's similar to my experience with Mega Man 4, a game that I wasn't sure how to feel about the first time playing it but repeated playthroughs convinced me otherwise (and honestly Mega Man 4 is much better than 2 and 3 combined). I eventually got my hands on the first two Sonic Advance games. I enjoyed the first one but the second one bored me to near death. As a whole, the Sonic Advance trilogy, whilst not perfect, is a solid trilogy of 2D platformers. Plus to be honest the mega drive trilogy wasn't perfect either (I can't even go back to the first 2 Sonic games). Oh and the music in Sonic Advance 3 kicks some serious heinie.

[@elivcdxv1852]

c h a o s a n g e l

[@SuperZombieBros]

I kind of have the same opinion of Mega Man 4 now a days. Except I never liked the concept of having 2 Fortresses.

[@MrKevosmin]

EXACTLY, the music is what I loved the most with SA3

[@edgyemogirl666]

Using chaos angel act 3 with the act 2 music playing and the act 3 music for one of the first 2 acts? Yeah, I would have done the same exact thing. Still don't know why they used the most hectic version of the song for the slowest paced act. I'm kind of a soundtrack dork so I notice and think about these things.

[@Tsukomasi]

Don't worry, I'm the kind of person who mostly listens to videogame music, so I totally do the same thing and analyze a game's soundtrack a lot when I play it. (Video game composers and arrangers are _so_ underrated for the work they do.)

[@somasora7]

Shadow next? *sigh*, better go get my mascara and Linkin Park cds...

[@CaveyMoth]

Crawling in my crawl, these crawls, they will not crawl.

[@BigA207]

Where’s that FOURTH damn chaos emerald?! Wow, I wrote that as a joke at first, but this actually works better than what Sonic Team USA went with.

[@Kirbychu1]

I can't wait to see him eviscerate it, but also point out the few good ideas it actually does have.

[@yoelazar3935]

@@BigA207 I kinda miss Sonic Team USA. They were not perfect, but at least their games were consistent, sharing the same director and level designers. I kinda liked that Nights sequel that they did too.

[@BigA207]

I was talking more about the localization than the game itself, but I can see what you mean.@@yoelazar3935

[@landonhagan450]

I gotta say, this series is kinda getting me hyped about Sonic. I've always had this distanced relationship with the Sonic franchise. Not that I wasn't interested, I just grew up without enough money to buy much of anything. That said, I became a gamer at the beginning of the seventh generation when most people had gotten sixth gen consoles, so a lot of my friends had the Adventure games. Whenever I gave them a shot I couldn't wrap my head around it, but I've always enjoyed watching others play games (despite being the big brother in my family) so I often watched them play and I was always struck by how unique the atmosphere was. Since then, though, I've never really been very informed about it. The only thing I knew, and the single biggest turnoff about this fandom, was that being a dedicated Sonic fan seemed to be a constant state of disappointment and suffering. Not only does it seem like the games have long since stopped catering to any of the fans, but those fans are so desperate for change that they started _making their own Sonic games._ It doesn't help that major online personalities regularly try to attack the series from a position of profound ignorance and this is all to say nothing of the constant bullying and negativity that is directed at the fandom for largely no reason. But there's still this sensation of optimism that radiates from fans. A uniform hope that one day things will change and a game will come out that will bring everyone together (even if the vision of what that is differs from person to person). Derision, misinformation, disappointment, and even cringe have failed to break the spirit of the community and I never understood why until this series. Seeing the mechanical evolution of the series and being immersed in the _lived experience_ of following it has made me appreciate these games on a whole new level. I find myself fascinated with each little step forward or back made with each new game and I'm starting to get a semblance of that desire for a game that's all things to all fans. After all, other long-suffering fan-bases have had their hope rewarded, so why not this one? I think I'll try and pick up some Sonic games and see what I've been missing. And I can't wait for the Shadow retrospective!

[@daSEGAfanatic]

"And I used to think DK 64 was bad... and it is" And just like that you've wounded my inner 90's kid. also here, take my sub.

[@TheJadeFist]

Any game with Bananaporting is a-ok in my book.

[@DarkLink1996.]

The color coded bananas were a bit much.

[@megamike15]

i never liked dk 64 as a kid either. always got to world 4 and just stopped.

[@legatomodi3522]

i never saw the appeal (avoiding the pun here. temptation strong). everyone i knew with a n64 loved it. i just didnt understand. after its time, you can make enemies out of friends bashing that game if you havent asked them if they played it yet. im going to have to assume it is actually good in its time just not for me. this many people loving couldnt have been an accident. i feel the same way about Banjo Kazooie too, and thems fightin words for some people. im just gonna have to relent, after Mario 64, i was done with that kind of game. its unfortunate but they really could not do much to make that kind of experience fun for me anymore until Conker injected some much needed humor into it.

[@DarkLink1996.]

@@legatomodi3522 DK64 has some major flaws, but at its core it's a mix of Mario 64 and Banjo, with a dash of Zelda thrown in. The game and characters are fun to play, but the things you do in said game are tedious

[@KendollKennessey]

I never saw sonic battle as a spin-off game. It was too good.

[@hadesKIU]

To be fair, the status of a spinoff has nothing to do with its quality. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Final Fantasy Tactics, Persona, and Metal Gear Rising (just to name a few) are all spin offs, yet they're better than many of the main games from their respective franchises. Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival, Hey Pikmin, Sonic Boom, and Federation Force are also all spinoffs, so... Yeah.

[@themindfulmoron3790]

​​@@hadesKIU To add to this, the Metroid Prime games are spinoffs too.

[@youmeltube]

I feel like you forgot to mention an important benefit to the level hubs; the nonlinearity. Thanks to the hubworlds players are able to start with Act 3 and work their way backwards, or save Act 2 for last if they so choose. Also, the Special Key doesnt "appear randomly in a random act". It appears in whatever act you're playing in set locations, often locations any player is bound to at least see.

[@FrostGlader]

The easiest level to farm Keys in the final set of levels is the 3rd stage. It’s also painful to play the final Special Stage.

[@bitten2up]

@@FrostGlader depends on the zone

[@FrostGlader]

@@bitten2up literally said the final set of levels. You know, the one with the literal Autoscroller?

[@supermairo88]

You know Route 99 seems like the dev's were just experimenting with the level design, felt the game was to short, then shoved them in to pad the game. Also Sticking with the theme of the ending i guess i'll say how i found sonic. I found sonic one day when my parents bought us this plug and play console full of genesis games and Sonic 2 was on it. I never made it past chemical plant at the time but it was still fun to go fast and Play with sonic and tails (Who u called Talls at the time lol). After that the next sonic game i played was Secret Rings and while it's by no means great i personally enjoyed it and it helped me get into the series all the more. I even partially have Sonic to thank for showing me Mario (Ironic i know) Because Mario and Sonic at the Olympics was one of the games (The other being galaxy) that introduced me to Mario. While Sonic isn't my favorite game series I still love the Speedy blue Blur and the fun of going fast, speeding through loops, collecting rings, and fighting Eggman's diabolical creations. Sonic has had a huge impact on my life and Nostalgia or Not i still love the games and even find some of the "Bad" ones to be quite fun.

[@benderman1157]

what the dev team should have done was do the "Doom" level design choice where they make every level and the last level they create is the first level players start in. It's a genius idea because by then you should have a good enough grasp of the mood/atmosphere as well as a better idea with the level layout as well.

[@misdrievousdemise3815]

DISCLAIMER: this is a very long comment, so read only if you have the time to spare. Dear TGC, I stumbled across your channel fairly recently thanks to your Sonic Advance trilogy review. I'm a guy in my early 20s who has known and played Sonic games for pretty much all his life, without owning or even knowing about the existence of SEGA's hardware systems. Yeah, you heard me right: for most of my life I didn't know that SEGA had a console division that once rivaled the likes of Nintendo and Sony's, and I only found out about this thanks to the internet earlier this decade. Yes, that's right; I learnt about this just a few years ago in the early 2010s. It is such a blur trying to remember if I had ever seen a single SEGA system at any point in my childhood that wasn't an arcade cabinet. …Maybe I glimpsed the Dreamcast or the Saturn once or twice in the past, but I was most likely too young to remember. As a result, pretty much all of my Sonic experiences took place on non-SEGA systems, with them mainly being on Nintendo platforms. The very first system I ever owned personally was the Game Boy Advance, and alongside it I got Sonic Advance 2 for my Christmas present in 2004. That was my first official introduction to the Sonic game universe, and it was a damn memorable one. I also got introduced to Sonic Advance a few months later, and then Sonic Advance 3 in 2008. I used to play Sonic Advance 2 religiously. It was an easy-to-go-to game where skimming through levels -when I couldn't be bothered to deal with meticulous platforming - was so satisfying to pull off. Despite its focus on high-speed action, it still encouraged a good amount of exploration; and using the R button to pull off tricks to increase your air time brought me to different platforms that I wouldn’t have found otherwise. This was often done without sacrificing my speed, which was always neat. Me finding out about Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on the Gamecube not too long afterwards was a blast as well. Exploring in that game was so awesome and grinding was super sweet to do. I honestly can’t complain about its gameplay style much because it was in (at the time) “mind-blowing 3D”; although I did find its stages a tad bit linear. I often found myself wishing that it had more alternate routes similar to the Advance games, something the more refined Sonic Generations would do. Back to Advance 2: the speed focused-exploration platforming style of this game really brought a fresh new way to platform, and its beginner friendly approach encouraged me to keep playing (and to even try to collect all the 7 Chaos Emeralds). So when I saw how Sonic and his pals controlled in Sonic Advance, I was surely disappointed. I hated how the way how the characters controlled in Advance, mainly how sluggish and stiff they felt while running. For years, I couldn’t fathom WHY developers made Sonic and his friends control like this; at least that was until I got into the Classic era that Generations introduced me to. When I played that game (and loved it), I then tried out the original three Sonic Genesis games (plus Knuckles) that Generations was referencing. It was then clear to me: Advance was trying to emulate the momentum based gameplay used in the Genesis games. It was a nice attempt, but Advance didn’t hold a candle to what its inspiration did years before. I appreciate Advance now more than I did in the past, but I still prefer Advance 2 and 3 over it any day, purely because of their more manageable control schemes. Though I will give Advance this: the platforming variety is utilized pretty well here, and its sense of progression through each zone is better than that of Advance 2’s, and sometimes even Advance 3’s. I recall what you said about Sonic Advance 2 being a very speed-centric game, and how it focuses so much on getting you the player to run around at top speeds, ultimately to its detriment. Maybe because I spent so much time searching every nook and cranny of the game that I've come to appreciate the type of game-play that Sonic Advance 2 is going for. In most regards, it excels at this and I find it to be a solid way to play a definitive 2D Sonic game, especially for beginners. It really got down on the essence of running around at the speed of sound, WHILE keeping that sense of exploration to make a solid intriguing platformer worth playing. I also like how it encouraged you to keep running to achieve top speed without resorting to pressing a button to instantly reach top speed (Rush and Rush Adventure come to mind). Without keeping my nostalgic goggles on too long for obvious one-sided bias though, I do agree that its game-play type mirrors that of Adventure 2’s, which suits Adventure 2 more because it has the advantage of being in 3D and being able to see in front of Sonic. For this reason, I wished that Adventure 2 had more alternate routes to explore more on, as mentioned before. I also do agree that the platforming layout in Advance 2’s zones are too similar to each other. In the first 3 zones they are a refreshing and unique gateway to something new and exhilarating, but as the game continues its levels can drag on due to repetition. This is where Advance 3 shines for me. With more focus on platforming variety than raw speed, I find Advance 3 to be the best in the series, and it features some of the best 2D elements a Sonic game has to offer. Exploration is at its finest here, and platforming has taken such a massive and diverse overhaul that sometimes, running fast is NOT always the best option. There are many MANY instances where you are made to run left instead of the typical right, which just incentives exploring for the many secrets and hidden corridors all throughout the game. In case you can’t tell yet, I love games that encourage exploration. You have also said that switching characters is an absolute chore in Advance 3 as it takes too long to do so. While that may be so, I found this to be very beneficial over time, as every Advance game before this forces you to go back to the title screen to change your character. When you do so, you go back to your default number of lives of 2, losing all the extra lives you may have earned before. Maintaining a high amount of lives is very important in a Sonic game, and Advance 3 allows you do this with great hub world presentation (not perfect, but still great). Though admittedly I think a dedicated button to warp you to the Factory Room would be extremely helpful. I think this should be something awarded to you for beating the main campaign of the game at least once. This comment is not to convince you to change your mind about various things you found ill and lacking about the Sonic Advance trilogy. I just wanted to speak my mind about the trilogy and how it has impacted a generation who grew up on it as youths; the same way how a generation once grew up on the Genesis era. These impacts are still important because these games still hold up incredibly well today, and there are many well executed and novel ideas in this trilogy that I could go on and on that make them stand out over what other 2D platformers are doing nowadays. Many of these ideas, sadly, are not being used anymore, and it seems are if SEGA is ignoring the existence of this trilogy. I think that’s sad as, I’ve come to learn, these games were the first Sonic games after the Dreamcast’s downfall to be made for a Nintendo/non-SEGA system, naturally positioning them to be overlooked. The surprising thing is that these games could’ve easily been a half-assed attempt at Sonic’s legacy because of it. But they really weren’t. No, the Advance trilogy really stood out on their own by trying out unique things and experimenting with each new entry, and its world building is amongst the BEST I’ve ever seen in a game that’s not an RPG or a 3D platformer (Advance 3 in particular). I believe that though the Genesis games was a brilliant take on one way of how Sonic can platform, the Advance trilogy paved the way for a innovative and modern take on 2D gameplay; and fleshed it out so immensely that I discover something new every time I come back. That’s more than what I can say for the DS Rush era of games (although the character development/dialogues are better, the stories are more memorable, and the music are absolute BANGERS). The Advance trilogy is a very unique and severelly underrated part of SEGA’s history that happened to be WAY better than what they were meant to be, and only the few that grew up on them got to experience something truly special.

[@bitten2up]

wow this is some good stuff edit: yeah the l button should have been used in the hud for changing characters

[@dissonanceparadiddle]

Love how nonplussed Sonic is to be with Amy. And how enamored she is with him

[@Squishito]

I just learned a new word and I want to thank you personally for it.

[@jumponeverything]

So happy the milestone was hit! I want this series to last as long as possible because it's so great!

[@NostalgiaOvertime]

I'm really shocked about your feelings about this game years ago. It was one of my first GBA games I ever owned, and until now it's really one of my most favourite Sonic games. 14 or 13 years ago, when I got it, it was a perfect Sonic game for me. Teams, speed, long levels, many things to do... I loved it. And all of my classmates enjoyed it too. We didn't realize something would be designed in bad way. We didn't know there could be any better 2D Sonic game. We enjoyed every pixel of it. I remember this feeling, when I discovered in Six Zone that there is something more to unlock, that you can find Chao, that there's Extra Level with that plane of Tails'. And then I came back to the very first Zone and started to look for all those damn things. And I did it, without Internet or any help (those were times, when in central Europe Internet didn't exist). And again I enjoyed every second of it. KZbin proposed this video to me as "New for you". It's a pity that I didn't know about your existence. But now I do. Love your nostalgia critics. Subscribed.

[@hyperventalated]

Can I just say it makes me unbelievably happy that you came to love this game. I had a very similar experience to you, being disenchanted with it as a kid, and growing to absolutely adore it! I am able to overlook the flaws such as the hubs and the slow start due to nostalgia, but you hit on every reason love this game to death. Thanks for the review, and thanks for showing what this game has to offer! Also some notes: the Keys are in set places, and it doesn't matter what act you enter, there will always be a key there. So if you know where a key is you can go get it again immediately. Still sucks ass but not as bad as it being random. Also the hubs are a lot more linear than you think. Im not defending the required platforming and all that because it makes changing characters, as you said, a pain in the ass. However if you just keep moving forward, its insanely easy to reach the next act. You demonstrated this in your Cyber Track example, you found all 3 acts easily just by moving forward. I still think the hubs are a glaring blemish, but i dont think having to find the acts is at all an issue (except Cyber Track, those up down choices are bullshit). Again thank you for the review! I subscribed and am ready for the next one!

[@Fjadls254]

SHADOW!? Damn, I was expecting Sonic Rush in the future.

[@runningoncylinders3829]

"Damn, not here."

[@megamike15]

someone was not paying attention to the end slates,

[@Lightspeeds]

If tgc has another planned sonic marathon, he might do the rush duology (I do count colors ds as sonic rush 3, but even that is contested), with sonic 4 being the patreon bonus.

[@shadowfan360]

I just wanted to say how I appreciate this series. I got recommended your retrospective on SA2 back in December and have been a subscriber ever since. I'm one of the people that you were talking about through this whole series - a sonic fan who came in when SA2 was released on the gamecube and has never owned a sega console (and you can tell who my favorite was based on my username). My first exposure to the genesis games was through Sonic Mega Collection. I just wanted to thank you for this entire series, and for the respect and insight that you've provided. A lot of times when I look at videos reviewing these games from my childhood, people are critical and really only talk about surface-level issues. I appreciate that you talk about the time period in which these games were made and what was going on in the franchise. It also makes it super nostalgic for me. Sonic Advance 3 was the first game I ever owned on my GBA. I actually played the Advanced Games out of order. Started with 3, then 1, then 2. Never beat 2. Only got 1 for the tiny chao garden. 3 was my go-to game and hearing the intro music in this video instantly brought me back to 4th Grade. I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you talking about this game, I never really see anything about it. So the fact that there's an awesome 30 minute retrospective devoted to it has me over the moon. I don't really have a point with all of this, just wanted to show my appreciation! Can't wait for your Shadow the Hedgehog video! (11 year old me begged my mom for it back in 2005 and she refused. Bought it when I was a teenager myself. Should have listened to her, she was right.)

[@mushroomdude123]

We need remasters of all the handheld Sonic games. That includes the Game Gear and DS titles. I honestly miss how much ambition this era of games had. Even though Sa3 is light on plot, there’s still little bits of lore and details in how the characters interact with each other (ie, the unique character select screens). I also want to see Gemerl come back in another game, even if it’s just a cameo.

[@SuiteLifeofDioBrando]

Not one for collecting chaos in Sonic Advance 3, but I did like the level design of this game.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Better than the Wisps that Sega shoves down your throat now.

[@papermario6856]

The level design is crushing blocks the game EDIT: Well, at least at the start

[@blackdot105]

Better collecting Chao than the medals in Advance 2.

[@Wrichter-yx9gu]

@@blackdot105 agreed. Still haven't gotten final zone in adv 2 to this day

[@aliastheabnormal]

Or Advanced 2 in general.

[@callumsparrow4379]

As someone who has Sonic Advance in their personal list of Top 10 Sonic games, even I can admit that Route 99 is kinda dodgy in terms of level design and obstacle placement. It sorta reminds me of Under Ground Zone from 8-bit Sonic 2 in a lot of ways; a pretty interesting concept for a first stage, but challenge-wise more-so belongs in the middle of the game rather than right at the start. Honestly, I think the game would’ve been better off if the Zone Order was like this: - Sunset Hill - Twinkle Snow - Toy Kingdom - Route 99 - Ocean Base - Cyber Track - Chaos Angel - Emerald Altar - Nonaggression And also toning down on the sheer dickery some of the Bosses dish out would also help matters, too. You have no idea how many lives I lost on the Twinkle Snow Boss on my first play-though.

[@ItsIntelligentDesign]

Omg at 8:12 I just noticed for the first time that if you pair Amy and Sonic his sprite on the selection menu goes from happy to mildly annoyed. That’s such an amazing detail

[@mechajay3358]

*LOVELY COUPLE* Perfect Title Duo 😂😂😂

[@SunsetJam]

Not gonna lie, only reason I played SA3 so much as a kid was because of the soundtrack. The level design was just... Yikes. Loved Sunset Hill either way. ❤️

[@MrKevosmin]

Same tbh

[@LinklightGaming]

Sonic Advance 3 was definitely my favorite out of the trilogy, I'm really happy you gave it a chance. I remember being really happy with the teamwork mechanic cause I really liked how Tails would follow Sonic and always hurt himself in Sonic 2 lol

[@tss3393]

"I felt like the series stopped growing up with me." Funny, that's how I feel looking back on Kingdom Hearts.

[@gamecubeking]

Just want to say, thank you for making this video series. The first review on Sonic Advance got me excited to revisit Sonic after years, and not only did I beat the Advance trilogy back to back, but I then decided to actually beat the whole Genesis Tetralogy, along with a replaythrough of Mania and beating Rush, and I plan to move forward with the 3D titles after I beat Rush Adventure. Your enthusiasm for this series made me finally give what was a big part of my childhood a return, and I'm so glad it did. While other youtubers might be able to put out longer critiques, or review games no one else has in humorous ways, your mix of passion, insight, and skill in video creation, genuinely makes you my favorite youtuber. I may not have the money to support you, but I will be sure to spread the word of this channel. Again, thank you.

[@homestuck_official]

8:22 holy shit. The Sonic/Amy pair has a unique sprite JUST to show Sonic is not amused. This fucking game

[@DarkAura19]

THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP THAT STUPID, STUPID DETAIL OF SONIC BEING THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN UNLOCK THE OTHERS As a kid, I played with Tails as the leader and Sonic as the partner, because that is something I had always wanted to do ever since the classics. And because I did, I didn't unlock ANY of the other characters. I had just wondered if I had to beat the game to unlock everyone or something. So I did. And got no one. Ugh.

[@linguicaguy]

"Fuck you for trying to play the game the way you wanna play it, little kid." ~Dimps, 2004

[@Klonoahedgehog]

Your summary of the plot made me realize just what I feel is missing in the current Sonic games. After Generations it feels like just a random collection of misadventures but all the games from Sonic 2 with the death egg all the way up until Generations feel like a connected world that constantly builds off the previous game.

[@runningoncylinders3829]

Ironic for how much they want to remind us of Green Hill/Chemical Plant/Death Egg nowadays. The series has stagnated into a less expansive world that blips in and out for these misadventures. (Or it's a reboot like Boom.) What did you think of Lost World? (To me it's the most Mario Sonic got but not enough like Mario & still not enough like Sonic either. Colors struck that balance better, and Colors still didn't wow me.)

[@demondton96]

Excellent work,TGC! Can't wait to see you cover the next handheld title on a new generation of machines with double the power(and screens), Sonic Rush

[@Emuraman]

I aways keep going back and forth in which one is my favorite of the Advance trilogy, 1 or 3..... at the moment it's 1.... and yeah, 2 is never considered...

[@PiousMoltar]

2 has always been my favourite and still is. 1 is definitely the worst of the bunch. It's... meh. Egg Rocket has good music. That's like... the only real good thing I have to say about it. 3 is pretty good. Loved the teaming up aspect. Though I think I liked the idea of it more than the actual execution, most of the time.

[@Emuraman]

@@PiousMoltar For me I like 1 because design wise, is the closest to the genesis saga, the 2 feels to much linear and Sonic focused for me, and the 3rd is kind of a blend between the two with speed sections and platforming moments plus the team mechanics, so it's pretty fun.

[@cloudycanine9682]

Most reviews I’ve seen of this game are just the same old “it’s bad level design bad bad game” that hardly at all discuss the surprising depth of the partner system, so I appreciate you actually going into it and how it compliments the game so well

[@evieamity7471]

I love how you mentioned the newer generation of fans who grew up with these, because that's exactly how it was for me. Although I did grow up with the originals too, it was only on compilations and emulators because it was a bit before my time (I was born in 1998). I grew up playing Sonic Advance 3 (and watching the Sonic X anime) and it was my favorite game as a child. I always wondered why no one ever talks about it, because it truly is a wonderful game (perhaps its the nostalgia talking). I actually by some miracle grew up with Sonic Advance 3, then got Sonic Advance 1, but never got 2. I seemed to get really lucky growing up as I never even realized the state the series was in until I was in High School, and never played the titles that weren't so good. Thanks for giving such a wonderful game such a wonderful review! c:

[@MirrorHall_Clay]

"...sometimes feels a bit labyrinthine..." *Labyrinth Zone music plays*

[@tobieashworth2424]

I can agree with people that this game isn't the best and has it's bad moments like the level design and tag actions where criticised but in my opinion this is my favourite Sonic game ever and also most of my childhood along with Pokémon Emerald. This game is my favourite game ever and I love it to death. I love the stages, music, time attack and bosses and everything else. This game could do with a bit more love then it does now which is a shame and I feel like I am the only one who enjoyed it other then my brother who loves it. Good review by the way. :) (Also Chaos Angel is my favourite video game level ever btw.) :)

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

Agreed. Sonic Advance 3 will always be a favourite of mine.

[@papermario6856]

God this games level design

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

Still better than 2's level design.

[@papermario6856]

@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 I disagree. But eh, opinions :)

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

Of course you disagree because who doesn't love to go fast without any thought or creativity put into it?

[@RikXtreme4]

So nice to hear some praise for this game. I have so many memories with this game. So much joy, frustration, satisfaction and emptiness. I love the visuals, the Sprite work is incredible, what I really loved the most about this game was the music. After completing the game, I would always go to the sound test room during car rides, tilt my head back and stare at the window with the credits theme. I would even imagine up a story of sonic and his friends speeding through the levels and fighting the final bosses.. Absolutely love this game. Warts and all.

[@Arcon1ous]

As a long time, psuedofan of Sonic(I had played a few of the spinoff games back in the genesis era, and a bit of Sonic 3, but never really gotten to get deep into them because only my cousin had a genesis) I was psyched to get sonic adventure 2: Battle on the gamecube. I always wanted to be a Sonic fan, but seeing the games that came after that have numerous problems preventing both myself, and a lot of others from enjoying them, it was crushing. It always felt like I had missed out the heyday of a series that I had always wanted to enjoy, and that was shambling in ruins after a few choice mistakes. it was a crushing experience honestly. With the discovery of this series of videos yesterday, I've since watched all of those, and have picked up a lot of the feelings that I wanted to have back in the day, hearing about Sonic online from people, and just got a whole lot of context for my enjoyment of a series where most of the time I"ve had access has been when its had negative press. I thank you for that, by showing a critical lens on this franchise, and showing the obvious nostalgia as well, this is an incredibly enjoyable series. I may not always agree with you on the games I have played, but that is how opinions work. Keep it up!

[@Sean-D78]

I wish I could support you on patreon.

[@PikaLink91]

ClementJ642 and SomecallmeJohnny, are you watching this?

[@pencilneck2871]

That outro was briliant. I lowkey thought that you were gonna say critalkin tho. Great analysis. As someone who only ever owned advance 3 and played it to death, im glad to see you enjoyed it for the most part. The hub worlds i dont mind but they could have been smaller and more concise. At least omochao helps guide you but maybe a map or quick swap may have helped even more. Gg fam cant wait to see you complete shadow 8 billion times to get the true ending

[@arctictropic1147]

Thank you so much for that ending part, this literally was and is my favorite sonic game that I grew up with. Beating countless times and enjoying every second of it (even the first zone). I still hold much nostalgia for this game, I'm glad to see others enjoying or hating it but at the very least giving it a try. Plus the music is killer in this game and had a great influence on the music I like today. Thank yiu so much for this video!

[@cliffturbo2146]

I dare to say that I think it's the best 2D Sonic game in the series. It has everything that makes this game so great: hub worlds with 3 acts each, 5 characters, the variety of the Tag Team, the special stage that makes you feel free and hyped music. All that makes me want to revisit this game all the time. It never felt like a drag. I had a lot of fun, and I absolutely can't ask for more.

[@sullivans2004]

CliffTurbo Mania tho

[@Agent-yw1kj]

Chaotix?

[@cliffturbo2146]

@@sullivans2004 Mania is a great and important game, but as I play it again, it feels old very fast.

[@VampyreBassist]

We did it. Shadow the Hedgehog has to be reviewed now. :)

[@yoelazar3935]

Can't wait. I feel like it was a small improvement over Heroes. At least it had 4 level designers instead of only 2.

[@DarkLink1996.]

@@yoelazar3935 Gameplay wise, it was definitely a step up from Heroes. It still felt really slippery though...

[@waffletoast215]

I was pleasantly surprised to see that you had a rather positive view of this game as I was expecting you to tear it to shreds like most people. I like a lot of things about this game and as a kid I always thought the team-up mechanic was super cool, especially how certain teams get different art and names on the character select screen. The main thing that I didn't like was getting the chaos emeralds since I had to look up a guide to find all of the chao, and even after that I kept losing the special stage and finding the keys over and over got tedious. I never wanted to play Chaos Angel 2 ever again. Good luck with Shadow next time, and nice new catchphrase.

[@TopSpot123]

It's so cool to hear when someone mirrors my own opinions. I've bounced off of SA3 many times. The simple addition of a second action button doesn't feel right in a 2D Sonic game. I've made it pretty far but don't think I've ever beat it. Now your review fires me up to give it another chance!

[@hugoflores1093]

i have never played SA3 but hey a new TGC video of course i'll watch it

[@justinsmith9006]

please don't skip sonic battle that game is fun, me and my brothers played that game a lot! p.s. the start will suck but there is a story reason for it.

[@Ultrasun-fv5de]

That speech at the end really spoke to me. As someone who only discovered Sonic in June 2017 and going to school being the only one who’s even played a Sonic game in my class, I can sometimes feel like kind of an outcast, but playing the games themselves gives me hope anyway, because I know that at the very least, the Sonic brand is still alive. I’m sorry, I just had to get all that off my chest.

[@SurAuvers]

I've always loved this one the best even though I thought it was worse than the other two, its one of my favorites in the series but you pointing out some of the stuff about the combos (Which is the best mechanic!) and the 2Player theory is making me love this even more! Some notes though - As far as I know the Special Keys are always in the same place, the only rule is that once you get one you have to make it through the act without losing a life to keep it and they can be farmed, so find the stage thats the easiest to find it and easiest to clear and you can farm up to i think 10 keys if youre willing to grind a bit.

[@Plagiarismm]

Congrats on 100k

[@MaddMan621]

Did anyone else notice sonic replacing mighty in the Chaotix title screen? 13:52

[@symphomaniac]

Yeah, ROM hack

[@bigbluebuttonman1137]

This episode is particularly nostalgic because I had a very similar experience. At first when I played Advance 3, I too had a very bad impression. This was coming off of my experience with other Sonic games...the classics, mostly...and hating that very same block that ticked you off. But as I went through it and got more familiar, I slowly liked it more, especially the character combos. It was so interesting and implemented fairly seamlessly with the core character gameplay. I definitely agree with you on Route 99; that level is absolutely atrocious as a first level, but every other level is actually fairly fun to play through, and the soundtrack was surprisingly good (Chaos Angel, in particular, is great).

[@evieamity7471]

I was one of the people who grew up with Sonic Advance 3 and I'm so glad you made this video. This video was such a rush of nostalgia. The music in this game was incredible, and to hear it in this video was awesome. I think I would love to see this series get that awesome Sonic Mania treatment. I doubt it would happen, but this series is so worth it.

[@meimmakoto3224]

I can not wait until he talks about the Rush Duo

[@spinceiling7442]

I freaking love this game. It greatly improves on the other Advance games and is second only to 3 & Knuckles for me. Being familiar with Sonic Battle also makes the simple story stand out to me a lot more than it probably should

[@SonicManEXE]

I love the ending of this review. I love how you drew a comparison to the games you played during your formative years of gaming and the games that my generation played during our formative years. I was born in 1998, so I'm the very confused generation that grew up with both VHS and DVD as small children. However, what I believe I'm very fortunate to have had growing up was access to both the Adventure era of games AND the classic games through Mega Collection and Gems Collection. Those collections were two of my favorite games growing up, and while I wasn't as good at the 2D games compared to SA1 and SA2 (and honestly I'm still not), I still grew an appreciation for them, and that applied to the Advance games as well.

[@MosesMedinaE]

Ive been waiting for this episode! Thank you again. Short story: Sonic got me into gaming. We were a primary Sega Family growing up. My brother would always beat Dr. Robotnik in Sonic 2, for me but I could get to it. One day, he said... "No, beat it yourself" and threw the controller at me. After many attempts and game overs I finally got it and replayed the game over and over until I mastered it. The "addiction" began and I continued to tackle all games before me. A gamer was born.

[@devbyrd1]

I actually like Shadow the Hedgehog... the game and the character

[@PiousMoltar]

I never really understood the hate for the game. It was a step-up from Sonic Heroes for sure. Not as good as SA2 but, meh.

[@hyperventalated]

I think Shadow the Hedgehog brings a lot of interesting things to the table for sure. I think if it got a proper remake it could actually be really good but in my opinion after replaying it, several of it's levels drag on longer than they should. Definitely not the shit stain people make it out to be though. Just a goofy edgy game

[@DanielGonzalezL]

Man I played the shit out of this game as a child, the memories!

[@rohinkartik-narayan7535]

My favorite things about your reviews are how you really nail how the little things affect the experience. Every time you point out how a small detail makes things so much better I have a huge smile on my face

[@TheQuade4]

That Cream/Emerl interaction at the very ending really struck a nostalgic chord with me that I haven't felt in over a decade. Thanks for doin' this review, dude. I appreciate SA3 getting the attention it deserves. Its not perfect by any means, but I love it all the same.

[@LinksYTLink]

The one that introduced me to the Sonic Advance series

[@Dazreiello-old]

Didnt Cream also give Sonic a homing Dash of sorts? or at least something similar to the Fire Shield dash?

[@MOORE4U2]

Yup, Sonic gets a Homing Attack with Cream as his partner. It's a bit annoying, though, that he doesn't get to chain them. Even if you hit something with the move, you can't use it again until you do an organic jump. It's also just a straight-out jump dash if no enemies are nearby.

[@Dazreiello-old]

@@MOORE4U2 ah yea thats right, been a while since I played. Though I still remember really enjoying it myself. Then again I always enjoyed an instant boost of sorts while in the air, just the feel of it. Its why I'd usually favor Fire shield in Sonic 3 (&Knuckles) if it werent for the electric shield providing a double jump. Its a shame you couldnt chain them but then again having enemies that close together I dont recall happening THAT often in Sonic Advanced 3.

[@lordofdoosh]

Dude seriously, THANK YOU Lemme just get the negatives outta the way first, I totally love the hubs for the positives you stated, I don't really find them that grating, and that's before I suffered the worst of adventure 1 and 06's hub worlds. I think it's cool to have a enemy free space to practice mastering the slower platforming elements with each character. But anyways, I'm glad to see a sonic reviewer finally get it! I played both the Genesis games and the dl advance trilogy at a very young age, so I have a great deal of nostalgia for all of them, but sonic Advance 3, from everything it built on gameplay wise in the series, so it's thematic through lines with Sonic Battle means so so much to me. And based on hearing how much sonic 2s ending means to you I think you do get it when you say you understand what sa3's true ending means to us. As a feeble child who cried at the end of Sonic Battle, just hearing that music and seeing bits of Sa3's ending in this review got me wispy. It really does mean so very much to me as a sonic fan, and I'm really glad to finally see an older fan understand that. All that aside, great review, and great series of reviews. Honestly, I think you did the trilogy the justice I feel it deserves.

[@dylanpaez9450]

I can’t tell you how much I love these videos. They still stand as some of my favorite content to be put out on this platform. Keep it going, TGC. You’re doing God’s work (and keeping me awake on a school night).

[@noahcorleone1473]

Have you ever thought about playing the metroidvania castlevania games? Mainly Symphony of the Night, the GBA games, and the DS games. your a great channel btw. I loved your Metroid videos, and sonic as well. You should Think about it, Noah

[@DarkLink1996.]

There's Metroidvania Castlevania games not on GBA/DS other than SotN?

[@noahcorleone1473]

DarkLink1996 I don’t think there are, are there? Mirror of Fate is considered a disgrace, and I don’t think there are anymore besides that. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ll be sure to answer you back when you do. Noah

[@DarkLink1996.]

@@noahcorleone1473 I guess Curse of Darkness was Metroidvania-ish. Lament of Innocence too, but less so, with the Megaman-esque structure.

[@noahcorleone1473]

DarkLink1996 Sorry for not being able to answer earlier, but I guess he could do those also. I just forgot about those. You a castlevania fan?

[@DarkLink1996.]

@@noahcorleone1473 Yeah. Started with 64 and Dracula X. You know, the worst ones XD. It wasn't until much later that I got Curse of Darkness on PS2, having only AVGN's Castlevania videos as knowledge on the series. Then, years after that ProtonJon's Aria of Sorrow let's play inspired me to just emulate the rest of the series.

[@rayflyers]

I'm super hyped for the Shadow the Hedgehog episode!

[@runningoncylinders3829]

You know what they say, the more the merrier!

[@yoelazar3935]

Same here, man. I love that game, warts and all. Something about the level tropes and its art style just clicked on me over time.

[@runningoncylinders3829]

@@yoelazar3935 My fav ones have a nice atmosphere or fit the sillier Sonic themes, rather than the darker edgier stages which stood out less. Shadow himself played pretty good imo, grinding was easy, guns were easy and efficient; he felt powerful, and that was fun for me.

[@yoelazar3935]

@@runningoncylinders3829 Yeah, the game does have an interesting color palette. Basically, they added bloom lighting, which creates a nice mix when combined with the bleak levels.

[@k1ngk4gl3]

Understand I mean this in the most positive way: Sometimes I feel like these videos are a little indulgent & hampered by how close you are to this series. Especially since I started with the Metroid series [which you didn't have the same attachment to]. Yet... I also can't wait to see you talk about mania. I wanna see a sonic fan of your level play the game everyone says is the "true 4"

[@Tsukomasi]

Overall, I just wanted to say something that I thought about after hearing your statement near the end of the video. I really do agree with what you said about how people have grown up with different parts of the series, and yet, it doesn't really matter which part they did grow up with, since we're all fans of it. I'm 16 (going on 17 _very_ shortly), and I'm one of the ones who started growing up with the Nintendo era of Sonic from a very young age. It's really motivating and inspiring seeing how people who grew up with the Genesis classics, or the dreamcast games, or maybe even the boost formula, can agree with and respect eachother's opinions on the Sonic franchise. I'll just be honest, it's really not easy being a Sonic fan anymore. Sonic is kind of a huge joke because of mishaps like 06, or Rise of Lyric, and sometimes _other_ Sonic fans can make it just as hard to be one. I've seen countless heated arguments over which games are the best, which ones are the worst, or even if any of them were even good to begin with... Yet, you have something really special here. This community around you and other youtubers in your circle is _really_ good. Seeing people accept and understand criticism, or peacefully objecting to praise they don't agree with is really nice for a change of pace. The most nice part of it all is just seeing people _happy to be a Sonic fan._ Again, I didn't grow up the same way as other fans did (I'm still technically growing up right now, but you get my point), yet it still feels like people in this community understand me, and I understand _them._ Recently I've started looking closer at games I like and dislike, thinking about why I do or don't like them, and considering my past with them as well. That's something you do with every video, and I really admire it. Not only is it interesting seeing how you grew up with these games and how that affected your opinions on them, but it's also relatable in some ways too. I think it's interesting how I can relate to someone who grew up with a series in a _very_ different time, and I respect how the community around you understands that so well. Ultimately, at the end of the day, these have become my favorite videos to watch (for any series, whether it be sonic, metroid, or something else), and I look forward to anything else you put out in the future. Thank you for sharing your passion with us, and putting so much work into these critiques!

[@ImJab]

You made me wanna give sonic advance 3 another chance and I love what I've played

[@frostare]

SomeOrdinaryGamers got you to 100K Subs! But most importantly, recommended us your amazing channel.

[@edenrom2349]

this game is the reason I became a sonic fan I was unable to beat the ice stage boss and had to ask my parents to google how to unlock the other characters, but I loved this game netherless. it was the only game I took my gamboy and opened again to finish after buying the PSP and might have been the reason I love video games as a whole since it was just during the time that sonic games started getting negative talk I was afraid to pick any other game so it wont ruin my experience. for so long I was calling myself a "fake sonic fan" for playing just one game but I was fine with it. I legit had a sudden burst of nostalgia when I heared the OST and suddenly realized what all the other "older gamers" meant when they talked about hearing remixes of old titles in a new game etc. in fact, to be honest I lately started developing a little passion project indie game which whole point was "metroidvania where you unlock new characters instead of new abbilities" and untill I saw your video I never made the connection between this idea and my so-called "first best game" and, I never knew there even was a super sonic stage- I just gave up the secret stages after a while and never placed another thought of it, and I think that after the little nostalgia trip your video gave me and the new gamer skills I have now I'll take out the dusty gameboy advance and try getting this final stage so... thank you, I guess :D

[@FantasyJared]

Howdy mate! Always loved your videos, even if they take a while to make. Don't let those haters dissuade you from taking your time to perfect new content, as we're all excited for it!

[@jetster4117]

"Underrated legacy" Seems legit.

[@666ZX]

*SONIC HEROES WAS FANTASTIC!!!* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@edwardrobinson5470]

Yes.

[@ayotundeagbaje5502]

17:17 the zones start to get a little labyrinthy. labyrinth music kicks in XD

[@ConnorTerrell]

Sonic Advance 3 was my second ever Sonic game. My previous experience with the franchise was first the comics and then the first game through a plug and play Genesis. It definitely shaped how I viewed the franchise, and I still hold it as one of my favorite games to this day.

[@tehbootfulboy1173]

What’s next all the spin off’s in one video

[@irritationnation6122]

“This game builds its story on spinoffs? That’s awesome!” Just wait until you play through the Kingdom Hearts series buddy

[@kirbymastah]

Claridication on the mechanics of the special keys since I routed and speedran 100% of this game: After you get all the Chao of a zone, every act spawns multiple keys. But each act has its own two sets of keys that it randomly picks from. In other words, you can always get a key via any act you enter, and in most scenarios, they're generally on the way too. (The concept of picking a random set of keys is dumb, I agree, and probably should've just left it at the Chao collection)

[@Volvagia1927]

2:49: X as "So bad It's Amazing" makes a lot of sense. Like, "I know this isn't good, but it's as close as we have to this franchise's equivalent to The Room."

[@runningoncylinders3829]

Sonic R might just be the best racing game with his name on it. As in it takes Sonic-style gameplay and makes a racing game from it. (Rather than mimic Mario Kart.) I did like the original Riders too though.

[@Duck-de9dw]

man oh man I sure love this channel

[@Something_Disgusting]

Us boys over here with SomeOrdinaryGamers boosting you to 100k... well... 101k... ;)

[@romainpascaud3735]

I've known Sonic for as long as you Josh, with my dad being a gamer too and having a Sega Megadrive. I've played nearly all Sonic games, and I love remembering them with your videos. SOnic Advance 3 was a treat, and so was Sonic Rush. I can't wait 'til you get there. ALso looking forward to Shadow the Hedgehog, which I actually liked.

[@spoxbox9825]

Gonna be 100% real here, you have the longest, in-depth, and most honest game reviews I've seen on KZbin. They're all nicely edited as well. The thing that sticks out to me the most about your content is passion.