While the gameplay is good old-school Sonic; some mechanics of the game could use a tune-up.
Truth be told; I did like Sonic Advance 2 a little more than this title; but not by much. It was mainly because Advance 2 felt a bit faster; but a few extra miles per hour won't influence my judgement so much. So here it is; my review of Sonic Advance 3.
GAMEPLAY
First off; there are a few hubworlds in Sonic Advance 3. Each is rather large; and the levels are scattered about; some hidden. Now usually I am opposed to hubworlds in a 2-D Sonic; but they are necessary in this case and much obliged. I will explain why later on when I talk about the tag-team concept. Anyways; you have to explore these hubwords (there are minigames and other little fun things hidden around too) like a level to find the level. This may sound tedious, but it's actually a rather fun little gimmick.
Once you find the level; you obviously enter it. Now these levels are large; larger than any 2-D Sonic level I can recall; including the Genesis titles. Levels usually clock in over five minutes, and it gives the game tons of meat. The levels are fast; but not as fast as some previous Sonics, but there is again, a reason for it. The levels are built to accomodate towards certain characters depending on paths; since there are five characters that can team up differently; forming twenty-five total possible partnerships. So only certain characters can break blocks or fly is what I mean. So levels all have certain locations these partners can enter. Therefore; to see every inch of the level, you have to play through with many different combos of characters. This really encourages a sense of exploration.
Now this is why the hubworld is a good idea; when you pick your character combo; you start out at the hubworld. Every character plays different partnered with another (Sonic can fire-kick when partnered with Knuckles, but can use a hammer with Amy) and has a totally different moveset. So here is where you can experiment attacks without losing time off a level counter. It's a lot of fun seeing what characters do what, and some maneuvers are just peachy.
The bosses make a return, hidden in the hubworld when levels are beat. They are pretty challenge and fun to battle. Each are large; and take some level of strategy. Enjoyable; but not as memoriable as some Sonic titles in terms of bosses.
But there is one key complaint to gameplay; and it isn't not being able to see well enough, cheap deaths you couldn't possibly predict, or other whiny gripes that a lot of people are complaining about, (that's 2-D Sonic people.) it's how you fully beat the game. This game requires you to get tons of hidden chao to get the REAL ending. These are hidden throughout levels, some of which in places you never would guess unless you really were going step-by-step in every damn level! It's irritating, because who wants to walk in a Sonic game? Why not just use the good old fashioned 'reach the end of the level with fifty rings, go into the goal ring at the end, and do a special stage for a chaos emerald' that worked so well in the first Sonic? Or just hide a special stage ring! The collect chao to beat the game concept is extremely irritating, and is why I never bothered to beat the game 100%. I don't care enough about some extra level and ending to waste hours of my time not dashing through levels as Sonic.
But despite that gripe, the gameplay is the closest to good old fashioned 2-D Sonic you are going to get. 8/10
GRAPHICS:
The really pushed the GBA, everything is brilliant! Characters are animated and have their attitudes displayed on their animations! Cream gets bored and pulls out an ice cream cone, Sonic taps his foot impatiently, (classic) for pixelated sprites; they sure have personality! The bosses looks massive and imposing.
But what really takes the cake is the backgrounds. The backgrounds are full-colored images that just fit brilliantly! Cities have a montage of buildings with lights and doors all drawn artistically to the sprites. Clouds, lighting; it all plays into it to make the levels very artistically refined. Wonderful. 9/10
MUSIC
Well; it's good. Nothing worth downloading or remix-ing, but compliments the levels. None of the boss themes quite reach the calibur of Sonic 2 and 3 for Genisis; but aren't bad by any means. I am not dissapointed at all; the music just wasen't top-notch as far as midi goes. 7/10
SOUND:
Here is what I like to hear! On the GBA; we have voice-acting, all characters can speak small phrases, yell, and whatnot. Robotnik even shouts short phrases which really impressed me the first time playing!
Beyond voices; all the old Sonic sound effects are here; ring blips, the jumping noise, spring shots, and the look. Good and classic; just as a sidescroller should be. 9/10
STORY:
Typical; Robotnik is threatening the world with a chaos powered machine, go beat him around a bit. Also get the chaos emeralds. It's classic like Mario saving the princess; so it would be unfair to dock points over the story. So I won't have a score for this category to impact the final score.
REPLAYABILITY:
Replayability does not include collecting chao in my opinion; as replayability should be fun in my opinion. What I will say is there is a time attack mode that is loads of fun; and a boss time attack once you beat the game. The two make for at least a few hours of fun over time. There is also a multiplayer mode; but I never experienced it since not many people do 2-player on Gameboys with the cord and whatnot. About the typical dose of replayability for a platformer. 7/10
Overall this is a good Sonic game, it's at its roots and is a blast to play. It may not be perfect; but is definitely worth a purchase for old-school Sonic vets or for platform lovers. It gets an 8.4/10 by me.