The 'Advance' games' role in post-Mega Drive 'Sonic' games

[Relish in Chaos]

So why is it that people always seem to ignore the Sonic Advance games in discussions about good post-Mega Drive/Genesis Sonic games? Heck, I could even extend this to other good handheld Sonic games, like Sonic Rush - it's just that the Advance games are the best examples and seem to be the ones closest to the original Sonic trilogy. Is it that the handheld games are just less important than the blue blur's home console adventures, perhaps because they're more story-driven?

Going off on a slight tangent, but I don't recall anyone having a problem with Sonic's cast of characters in these games. In Sonic Advance 2, a traditional 2D platformer, Cream was mute like the others and was a good character for beginner players, due to her easily exploited Chao attack. And, IIRC, Sonic Rush, including Blaze the Cat, got a good reception.

What are your thoughts?

 

[TelHybrid]

I think you hit the nail on the head about the characters being mute being what made them less despised. Every time I heard Big the Cat's annoying voice on Sonic Adventure I wanted to punch my TV.

The reason they're often overlooked is because awesome handheld games always seem to get overlooked on a mass level, unless it's Pokémon. If they were xbla/psn/wiiware games then people would be all over them.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I think you hit the nail on the head about the characters being mute being what made them less despised. Every time I heard Big the Cat's annoying voice on Sonic Adventure I wanted to punch my TV.

The reason they're often overlooked is because awesome handheld games always seem to get overlooked on a mass level, unless it's Pokémon. If they were xbla/psn/wiiware games then people would be all over them.

Yeah, I hate Big the Cat too; he's probably my least favourite Sonic character. Even Amy Rose seems to have a purpose for being there in the Sonic universe; Big is just...there. And yeah, I guess I'm lucky that my main experience with Cream is Sonic Advance 2 (after the Mega Drive trilogy, that's my favourite Sonic game).

Mm, perhaps if/when they were to get released on the 3DS Virtual Console, or WiiWare like you said, they wouldn't be ignored in favour of the Sonic Adventure games (which, I've heard, seem to be quite Marmite-y; some love 'em, some hate 'em).

 

[Liquidprid3]

Sonic Advance was the first game that I personally owned (it wasn't the first game I played or had, it was the first I could call mine) and it's an awesome game. I also played the sequel. I remember beating the first game, and being so happy. Same thing with the second one. They took me forever to beat, and I was so satisfied when I beat them. I still go back to play them, and they are a blast. Just hearing the first stage theme in Sonic Advance 1 makes me happy. Haha, all the classic Sonic games have a special place in my heart, and so do Sonic Advance and 2 (never played the third, is it better than the others?)

 

[FPLOON]

Yeah... Once a mute character gets a voices, if it doesn't sound anything like how most people would imagine their voice to be like overall, it's all downhill from there...

But seriously, the Adventure games were the best 3D Sonic games... Adventure 1 had, in my opinion, a great overworld to explore when using any of the playable characters and Adventure 2 had some of the best 3D stages this side of a 3D Sonic game... However, they weren't all "perfect" in the same way Sonic 2 and Sonic and Knuckles were, like with Big the Cat's overall gameplay in Adventure 1 or those Knuckles/Rouge stages in Adventure 2 for example...

Also, any handheld game gets less cred than a non-handheld game unless they go beyond the "gaming spectrum" of popularity a la Pokemon... (or they started off as a handheld game to begin with, but I digress...) Plus, Sonic Rush was mainly 2D, which if were to assume that 2D Sonic is "always" better than 3D Sonic, people would have chosen that game over the Sonic Adventure games if it wasn't "exclusive" to the handheld that was the DS...

Overall, most 3D Sonic games have more overall negatives than they do positives, according to "most" people, and recent 2D Sonic games are either bundled with mainly 3D Sonic "aesthetics" and/or are on Nintendo's [3]DS... (Such a sad mindset, if I do say so myself...)

 

[Relish in Chaos]

(never played the third, is it better than the others?)

I'd say it's as good as Sonic Advance 2, for its innovative team-up dynamic that allows characters access to certain moves that can only be used with certain partners. Some people found it annoying, but I remember enjoying it. I still prefer Sonic Advance 2, though, for its control scheme and greater emphasis on speed-based platforming.

 

[MRMIdAS2k]

Because or random speed boosters everywhere, stupid, crappy gimmicks, a hundred billion bottomless pits, and a godawful game engine.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

Because or random speed boosters everywhere, stupid, crappy gimmicks, a hundred billion bottomless pits, and a godawful game engine.

Well...yes and no. I still preferred it to Sonic Advance, which felt a tad slow. I'm not one of those people who want Sonic game to be fast all the time, but...I dunno. I just played Sonic Advance 2 much more than Sonic Advance; for one thing, it was more challenging.