A mod for Sonic Advance 2
Sonic Advance 2 SP is a ROM hack geared at improving some of the less-loved aspects of Sonic Advance 2. Changes included: Adjusted enemy placements to prevent many ‘cheap shots’, such as item boxes bouncing you into enemies. Many bottomless pit areas were replaced with new routes or made harder to fall into at a moment’s notice. More plentiful Special Ring placement, allowing a more freeform approach to entering Special Stages, and Special Stage entry requirement reduced to 5 SP Rings. Advance 2 is still a challenging game! Bosses haven’t been touched, and in the later half of the game you should expect plenty of enemies and the return of the dreaded bottomless pits. The hack attempts to balance things in a fair way but also rewards memorisation for repeat play and speedrunning - without as harsh a penalty for not doing so.
Reviews View More
Sonic Advance 2, despite being made on top of Sonic Advance 1 obviously, is a completely different game. Advance 1 was more an "enhanced early 00s modern take" on classic games, this one changed the flow and direction towards the speed and action, similar to what 3D more modern games did.
Speed-up rings, running forward, fewer enemies and exploration, even bosses are now fought "on the run".
Unfortunately, it was not a smooth transition - levels became more flat and frustrating. Death pits and lack of optional routes were a big downside of this game, but with SP hack it is a much smoother experience! So I will call "SP" more a definitive version of the game as it was meant to be - a hybrid of speed action runner with still, traditional sonic-style platforming exploration elements without much of the frustration.
In general, the game, has some visuals, animations, and cutscenes that are even more improved over already pleasant Advanced 1 visuals, but it is not a 100% upgrade, some graphics elements and level visuals I do prefer in Advance 1. Cutscenes after saving characters and overworld maps do give it a perception of a bit more "deep" game.
What I actually solidly liked over Advance 1 are the special stages. The Pseudo "mode 7" 3d perspective works nicely here - Advance 1 perspective was much more confusing.
Speed-up rings, running forward, fewer enemies and exploration, even bosses are now fought "on the run".
Unfortunately, it was not a smooth transition - levels became more flat and frustrating. Death pits and lack of optional routes were a big downside of this game, but with SP hack it is a much smoother experience! So I will call "SP" more a definitive version of the game as it was meant to be - a hybrid of speed action runner with still, traditional sonic-style platforming exploration elements without much of the frustration.
In general, the game, has some visuals, animations, and cutscenes that are even more improved over already pleasant Advanced 1 visuals, but it is not a 100% upgrade, some graphics elements and level visuals I do prefer in Advance 1. Cutscenes after saving characters and overworld maps do give it a perception of a bit more "deep" game.
What I actually solidly liked over Advance 1 are the special stages. The Pseudo "mode 7" 3d perspective works nicely here - Advance 1 perspective was much more confusing.
[played on the mGBA emulator on the Wii]
Sonic Advance 2's definitely the most polarizing 2D game in the series. It was the first that really emphasised high speeds over everything else, and due to the GBA's limitations (as well as some pretty unfair level design moments), it didn't really work out well. But there's finally some sort of solution, as TrackerTD released this patch last year that aims to improve a lot of the game's weaker aspects. And now that I've played it for myself, I can confirm that he did a damn good job!
For starters, the level design feels significantly more balanced. The original Advance 2 had a bad habit of punishing your wrong moves with a sudden Badnik attack or death via bottomless pit. Fortunately, basically all of these moments are gone, and you're punished nowhere near as harshly for missing a jump or not knowing exactly what's coming up. It makes the levels feel far fairer and way less punishing on a first playthrough, and considering I don't replay these games anywhere near as much as the Mega Drive classics or Mania, I really appreciate that!
Not having to fret about dying every 20 seconds because I missed a jump makes Advance 2 feel far less intimidating, and it gives me more of a chance to appreciate the game's fantastic spritework and level themes! It also makes me want to replay these levels so I can figure out how to avoid the lower areas, which is always a good sign for a Sonic game.
Tracker's also changed how the SP Rings for the Special Stages work, having more in a level but only requiring you to collect five. Admittedly, I didn't bother going for the emeralds, but anyone who does will undoubtedly have a way easier time!
But even with all that said, Advance 2 SP's certainly not a cakewalk. You still have to pay attention in order to succeed, and the bosses are still as tough as ever; everything's just more balanced now, so you'll actually have a chance at succeeding without dying a million times.
Overall, I'm glad I finally got around to trying this hack! It really feels like the definitive version of Advance 2, and while there's still some unavoidable screen-crunch, the game feels a whole lot fairer now. Definitely recommend this, regardless of if you enjoyed the original or not!
Sonic Advance 2's definitely the most polarizing 2D game in the series. It was the first that really emphasised high speeds over everything else, and due to the GBA's limitations (as well as some pretty unfair level design moments), it didn't really work out well. But there's finally some sort of solution, as TrackerTD released this patch last year that aims to improve a lot of the game's weaker aspects. And now that I've played it for myself, I can confirm that he did a damn good job!
For starters, the level design feels significantly more balanced. The original Advance 2 had a bad habit of punishing your wrong moves with a sudden Badnik attack or death via bottomless pit. Fortunately, basically all of these moments are gone, and you're punished nowhere near as harshly for missing a jump or not knowing exactly what's coming up. It makes the levels feel far fairer and way less punishing on a first playthrough, and considering I don't replay these games anywhere near as much as the Mega Drive classics or Mania, I really appreciate that!
Not having to fret about dying every 20 seconds because I missed a jump makes Advance 2 feel far less intimidating, and it gives me more of a chance to appreciate the game's fantastic spritework and level themes! It also makes me want to replay these levels so I can figure out how to avoid the lower areas, which is always a good sign for a Sonic game.
Tracker's also changed how the SP Rings for the Special Stages work, having more in a level but only requiring you to collect five. Admittedly, I didn't bother going for the emeralds, but anyone who does will undoubtedly have a way easier time!
But even with all that said, Advance 2 SP's certainly not a cakewalk. You still have to pay attention in order to succeed, and the bosses are still as tough as ever; everything's just more balanced now, so you'll actually have a chance at succeeding without dying a million times.
Overall, I'm glad I finally got around to trying this hack! It really feels like the definitive version of Advance 2, and while there's still some unavoidable screen-crunch, the game feels a whole lot fairer now. Definitely recommend this, regardless of if you enjoyed the original or not!