Sega has announced some additional details about this GBA favorite. Robitnik's up to his dirty old tricks, and you play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy (each with their own set of moves) through 7 different levels to collect Chao Emeralds and thwart his machines.

Sonic Advance is still set to be released in the Spring of 2002.

Last updated: 10/05/2001 by Jonathan Metts

Sega has announced several new features for Sonic Advance, including four-player modes with only one cartridge! You and your friends will split up into teams of two and then battle over the GBA link cable...what those battles will involve, we're not told.

Also, as we reported a while back, Sonic Advance will be linking up with Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on GameCube for the "Chao" feature. Chaos are cute little monsters that you raise either in SA2B's Chao Gardon or in Sonic Advance's Petit Chao Garden. There are also items that you can buy for them on the GBA (using rings that you apparently earn in the normal quest mode), and other items can only be had from the GameCube side. The point of all this is to raise and train your Chao buddies so they can race each other on GameCube, sort of like the Chocobo Racing in FF7.

Last updated: 06/22/2001 by Mike Sklens

A new press release has been issued and it contains information on the game. The playable characters will include Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose. Here's the plot. The evil Dr. Robotnik has hatched a diabolical scheme and it's up to you to stop him. Collect the Chaos Emeralds and end his vile plan. The game is built off of the classic gameplay that made Sonic great. In other words, expect it to play like the old Genesis Sonic games, with a twist of new stuff like grinding on rails (which is new in Sonic Adventure 2). Not only that, but the game has multiplayer modes too! There are two of them: "Chaos Emerald Hunt" and "Battle" modes.

Last updated: 04/21/2001 by Michael "TYP" Cole

According to a recent IGN Pocket report, a Japanese company called Dimps--which has many people who worked on the top-notch Sonic game for the deceased NGPC--is actually developing this game, and is being overseen by Sonic Team. This could be a mistranslation though, as Yuji Naka mentioned that "Puyo! Puyo!" is being developed by another company, yet never said the same about Sonic Advance.

Last updated: 02/27/2001

Sonic the Hedgehog has been Sega's flagship mascot now for nearly a decade - and that's not changing anytime soon. Sure, Sega might not be focusing on their own consoles anymore, but their incredible characters and software will live on. And after seeing the success Sonic saw on SNK's Neo-Geo Pocket Color, how could Sonic Team give up the chance to develop a Sonic game for Nintendo's upcoming Game Boy Advance? While we aren't exactly drowning in a deluge of facts for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog Advance (working title), we have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

First of all, the Game Boy Advance is one of the most powerful handheld gaming units to ever be conceived. In a nutshell, it's like a tiny version of a Super Nintendo - only even more powerful at times. If you know your Super Nintendo stuff, and I'm sure you all do, then you should be gasping in pleasure right now at the thought of a Sonic game using the power of Mode 7! While it wouldn't be wise to argue the aesthetic powers of the Super versus the Genesis, let's just say that a Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Super would have brought many gamers to their knees in delight - and now it's finally coming true, albeit in handheld form.

Sonic Team has said that Sonic the Hedgehog Advance won't be a rehash of an older Sonic title; instead it'll be an all-new adventure. The game could possibly shape up to be one of the best Sonic games, since the Game Boy Advance has been devised with the full intent of being a 2D oriented system - and Sonic the Hedgehog Advance will lead gamers into a side-scrolling heaven!

While nothing has been confirmed, we've got the sneaking suspicion that Sonic Team could be implementing some various compatibility with the link cable. They had a nice two-player mode for the Neo-Geo Color Pocket game, but remember that the Game Boy Advance, in its architectural genius, has support for up to four Game Boy Advances to link up with one cartridge! We can only hope that Sonic Team will take full advantage of this feature, and we're sure they will.

Sonic will be making a historical step when it hits the Game Boy Advance this July, two a month after the Game Boy Advance is released. We will know then, for sure, that Nintendo and Sega are no longer fierce competitors, rather, they're two companies who are interested in making the best games in the world, no matter the system it's on!