



                                    ============================
                                         Sonic Advance FAQ
                                           By: Gen2000
                                    Email: gen2000__@hotmail.com
                                    ============================

I.    Introduction
 -     The Story
 -     Legal Stuff
 -     Comments About the FAQ

II.   Basic Controls
 -     Controling Your Character

III.  Game Options
 -     Game Start
 -     Vs.
 -     Time Attack
 -     Options
 -     Tiny Chao Garden

IV.   Items
 -     Rings
 -     Shields
 -     Other

V.    Characters
 -     Sonic
 -     Tails
 -     Knuckles
 -     Amy

VI.   The Zones
 -     Neo Green Hill Zone
 -     Secert Base Zone
 -     Casino Paradise Zone
 -     Ice Mountain Zone
 -     Angel Island Zone
 -     Egg Rocket/Cosmic Angel Zone
 -     X-Zone
 -    Special Stages
       Green Tunnel
       Blue Tunnel

VII.  Tiny Chao Garden
 -     Hatching the Chao
 -     Feeding the Chao
 -     Playing Games

VIII. Codes/Tricks
 -     None yet of the moment

IX.   Version History
 -     12/24/01

X.    Conclusion

=======================================================================
I. Introduction
=======================================================================
Welcome to the Sonic Advance FAQ. Here I will try to help and give some
more info about Sonic Advance for the Gameboy Advance. Sonic Team brings
us old school Sonic action again. Sonic Advance has that old school feel
but with the new Sonic attitude as well. The levels are really big in
this game. The game sprites looks very good too, looking more similar to
Sonic Adventure series. Sonic is now more slim and taller, just like
his Adventure series counterpart. There also some Adventure series
elements in this game as well, like Sonic Grinding and Chao Raising.
This is one of the best portable Sonic games since Triple Trouble and
Pocket Adventure and can easily be another Sonic classic. It still
feels alittle weird to see a THQ next to Sonic Advance though on the
cover. When I think THQ, I think wrestling games, heh.

----------------
 The Story
----------------
Coming Soon....

-----------
Legal Stuff
-----------
This document should only appear at the SaotomeHangout (saotomehangout.tripod.com)
and GameFAQs. If you want to use this FAQ for any reason, you must get permission
from me first. To do so, email me at gen2000__@hotmail.com (that's two _ marks
behind my name). If you see this FAQ on any other site than the ones mention
above, then also contact me so I can take the right actions against it. Thanks
for reading.

----------------------
Comments About The FAQ
----------------------
I will try make sure that all the infomation here on this FAQ is 100%
accurate and correct, but like all other people, I am human and make
some mistakes. If you see a mistake or have infomation that you would
like to share on this FAQ, then please email me at gen2000__@hotmail.com
(that's two _ marks behind my name). Thanks.

=======================================================================
II. Controling The Characters
=======================================================================
If you're used to other Sonic games from the Genesis/Game Gear days,
then controling Sonic and crew shouldn't be a problem. But like I said
earlier, Sonic Advance brings in some Adventure series elements to.

-------------------------
Controling The Characters
-------------------------
Up    - Makes your character look up, hold Up to make the camera go upwards
so you can see more of what's above  you.
Down  - Makes your character duck, hold Down to make the camerar go downwards
so you can see more of what's below you.
Right - Moves your character to the right, hold to go faster
Left  - Moves your character to the left, hold to go faster
A     - Performs your character Special Move
B     - Jump
Start - Pause game
Press buttons L+R+A+B at the same time to reset game and go back to the
main menu. If playing the "Game Start" mode, your infomation will be saved
and you can select the Zone you were in before again when you come back.
Take note when you do this, you lose any lives you may have gained and
start off with only 2 lives again. Doing this in the Time Attack or Chao
Garden won't save your infomation.

More detail infomation about each characters moves will be explain in
Section IV of the FAQ.

=======================================================================
III. Game Options
=======================================================================
Besides the normal type of play, you can play Vs., Time Attack, and
also raise a Chao in the Tiny Chao Garden.

----------------
Game Start
----------------
Basic Sonic type gameplay. You choose a character and then go thru the
different zones trying to stop Dr. Eggman's plans.

----------------
Vs.
----------------
Challenge other Sonic Advance players via GBA.

----------------
Time Attack
----------------
Race and try to get the best times in different zones. You can only
choose the Zones you already completed in the normal mode (Game Start).
You can press the A button anything during a pause to bring up different
options of whether to "Try Again", "Change Character", "Change Act", or
"End" to go back to the main menu.

----------------
Tiny Chao Garden
----------------
The Chao features of the Adventure series are now brought to the GBA.
Here you hatch and raise your Chao by feeding him/her different fruits
and playing games. More of this will be explained in Section VI of the
FAQ .
=======================================================================
IV. Items
=======================================================================
Note many items in this game. All of them are common Sonic type items
that you should be familiar with. Besides Rings, the items can be found
in Item Boxes that are hidden thru out all of the Zones.

----------------
Rings
----------------

Rings - As long as you have one of these, you can't die from attacks.
Get 100 of these and you get an 1-Up. I shouldn't really have to explain
this, heh.

10 Ring Box - You get 10 Rings. (duh)

? Ring Box - When you get this, any random number of Rings could
be given to you.

----------------
Shield
----------------

Shield Box - A green orb surrounds you. From then
on you won't lose any rings or die if you get hit while you have the
Shield on. In other words, you get one free hit of damage.

Magnetic Shield Box - A blue like electric orb surrounds Sonic. It acts
just like the normal shield except that it can attract Rings that are
near you. Very useful.

----------------
Other
----------------

1-Up Box - Get an extra life

Speed Shoes - Makes your character go faster.

Invincibility - Your characer is immune to all attacks for a brief period of
time.

Lamp-post - Any player of Sonic games will know what these do. In case
you don't, they're just savepoints that you can use in the Zones. When
you die, you start back at the last Lamp-post you touched.

=======================================================================
V. Characters
=======================================================================
Each of the characters have special mode that is from the Adventure
series. You pick from either Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or even Amy (with
her Hammer).

----------------
Sonic
----------------
"Insta-Shield" - Press A , then A again: Sonic will do the Insta-Shield
or more common known as the "flaskick" move. This is an old move from the
older Sonic games that was mostly overlooked. When you do this move, a
little (actually big in this game) flash circles Sonic and protects him
any damage while its on. Its very efffective to do this move against
enemies you think can hurt you and even better against bosses. It can
give you some more range as well on attacks. Most older Sonic fans
(including) myself missed this move alot.

Spin Dash - Press Down, then A: Sonic spins in one place really fast,
the more you press the A button, the faster Sonic charges up. Release
the Down button to make Sonic shoot off at max speed. I love the
animation on this move now btw.

Spin Attack - Press Down when running: Sonic will just roll foward alittle
and be able to damage anything he runs into.

Cartwheel - Press B: This is Sonic's special move. You can either
do this move while standing still or running. Press the B button again
when you are rolling to make Sonic do a Cartwheel to stop (very stylish).
or press A to do a somersault jump. The Cartwheel can damage enemies
itself.

Air Dash - Press A, then Foward twice: May not seem like a useful
move, but actually it is. Use this move after you hit enemies or bosses
to have more of a safer landing.

Grinding - In some part of the Zones, there are grinding rails that
only Sonic can grind on. Just simply jump onto the rail to grind it.
Much easier than doing it in the Sonic Adventure 2, heh.

--------------------
Miles "Tails" Prower
--------------------
Flying - Press A, then A again: As always, Tails kepts his
ability to fly in this game as well. After you press the A button the
second time, you have to repeatly press it to fly upwards. After a while
Tails gets tired and floats downward.

Spin Dash - Press Down, then A: Tails spins in one place really fast,
the more you press the A button, the faster Tails charges up. Release
the Down button to make Tails shoot off at max speed.

Spin Attack - Press Down when running: Tails will just roll foward alittle
and be able to damage anything he runs into.

Tails Attack - Press B : This move is very similar to Tails Spin
Attack from Adventure one. In this game, Tails spins around once and
slash foward with two tails. This move has pretty good range.

--------------------
Knuckles
--------------------
Gliding/Swimming - Press A, then press and hold A button again: Knuckles
kepts his ability to glide in this game. You can also damage enemies
if you hit them with the front of Knuckles' fist. When underwater, this
move has the same effect, just a different animation.

Spin Dash - Press Down, then A: Knuckles spins in one place really fast,
the more you press the A button, the faster Knuckles charges up. Release
the Down button to make Knuckles shoot off at max speed.

Spin Attack - Press Down when running: Knuckles will just roll foward
alittle and be able to damage anything he runs into.

Punching - Press B: Knuckle's special move, press it 3 times in
a row for him to do a Punch, Punch, Rising Uppercut combo.

Climbing - Press A when against a wall: Another one of Knuckles
trademark moves. You can also glide into a wall to start climbing
it.

Extra Info: When Knuckles first land in water, he floats onto of
the surface for a while before actually diving down. You can
dive early by pressing Down + A button.

--------------------
Amy Rose
--------------------
Hammer Jump - Hold Down, press B: Amy will hit her hammer towards the
ground and do a super jump. Useful to reach hard to get places.

Hammer Strike - Press B: Amy will hit with her Hammer foward. You can
press B again and she will strike again right after the first hit. When
you do this move in the air, she flips foward once with her Hammer.

Small Hop/Dive Attack - Hold Down, press A: Amy will do a small hop
foward. Press the B button when you do the Small Hop and Amy will
dive foward in attempt to damage the enemy. If you hold Down, then
press B while doing the Small Hop, Amy will do her Hammer Jump move
foward.

=======================================================================
VI. The Zones
=======================================================================
Sonic Advance takes us back with the old school style of the 2-D side
scrolling Zones which are quite big. Most of these Zones are very similar
to Zones of older Sonic games. I won't go into any serious detail on how
to get thru the Zones since they are quite big, but still pretty easy
to get thru. Half the fun of Sonic Advance is exploring all the areas
of the Zones. I will list the special Springs that takes you to the
Special Stages as I find them.

-------------------
Neo Green Hill Zone
-------------------
The basic "beginner" level of Sonic games, I mean look at the name, heh.
Anyways, this Zone is pretty easy no big suprises.

Boss - Eggman in Hammer Mecha: This boss is pretty easy. The Hammer and
Eggman himself are the only things that can hurt you, the orbs holding
the Hammer can't, so if you run out of room, jump over Eggman by going
thru the orbs. He will just hit foward and backwards. As you get more
hits in, Eggman starts using the Hammer to jump foward. No big deal.
As long as you got one ring, this boss should be a piece of cake.

-------------------
Secert Base Zone
-------------------
Pretty cool "base" type level. There hooks in this that you will have
to swing to get to some areas and also some cool turbo tunnels in
this zone as well. Watch out for the mole looking enemies in this
area that seems to "pop-up" at the worst times.

Boss - Eggman in Spring Mecha: This boss is even easier than the first one.
Eggman just bounces around in the mecha and tries to squash you. Just wait
for him to land, then give him a barrage of jump attacks. Kept at least
one ring and you'll be fine.

--------------------
Casino Paradise Zone
--------------------
No Sonic game is complete w/o the "casino" type level. There are alot
flippers, springboards, and all that good stuff here in this level.

Boss - Eggman and Spike Mecha: This isn't really hard, but very
annoying. When the battle first begin, 6 different tunnels comes up.
Two on the top, top on the bottom, and one on the left and right.
The whole battle is more of "guess where Eggman is" than anything.
Eggman will come out one of the tunnels and enter another, but to
make the battle annoying, a Spike Mecha also does the same thing.
You can't damage the Spike Mecha at all, so don't even try it.
To make the battle very easy, just stand in the middle of the
two tunnels on the bottom. This way, you get a good chance of hitting
Eggman most of the time. Just duck and wait for the chance to
hit Eggman. Simple, yet annoying battle.

--------------------
Ice Mountain Zone
--------------------
As with "casino" type levels, "Ice Cap" type stages are almost very
known in Sonic games. Each act of this Zone is pretty big, made up
snow that slows down your running and underwater parts. Sonic
still can't breathe underwater so look for air bubbles when
underwater or just jump above the water surface (if you can).

Special Stage Springboard - In Act 1, try to stay in the upper
most part of the level. At one part of the level, you will come
across 3 moving platforms that moves in a circle, jump onto it
and go left to the platform next to 3 rings. Just kept going left
getting on any springboard you may come across. If did all that
right, you should come across a Special Stage Springboard near
a wall. Jump on it and go to the Special Stage, good luck.

Boss - Eggman in Quake Mecha: This boss is probably one of the harder
bosses you'll face in the game. When you first enter the area
with all the water, just run foward and don't waste your oxygen time
Now when the battle begins, you fight underwater the whole time.
Not fair huh? Well the only way to get air is by jumping above
the water surface. Problem with that is that you can't do that
from a normal jump. When Eggman does a quake and some ice debris
falls, jump onto one of the ice spikes to hit Eggman and/or get some
air. The battle is hard cause sometimes you are damaged by the spikes
if you jump on them the wrong one. With Sonic, your Flaskick move is
very useful. Amy can just Hammer Jump to get air and Tails can just fly.
This battle is more harder for Sonic and Knuckles than anyone else.

--------------------
Angel Island Zone
--------------------
I don't know why its named after the zone from Sonic 3, but this zone
looks more like a "ruin" type zone than Angel Island from Sonic 3.
This Zone can be little annoying at times with all the little moving
spike platform and hidden spikes. During certain parts of the level,
you will see these brown/orange circle wheels. You can jump on these
and run to move foward or upwards. If you stop, the wheels go back to
their normal positions.

Special Stage Springboard - Act 2, at one point of the stage after a
Lamp-post, you will come across a Loop-De-Loop and and a hook to
pull you upwards to an Invincibilty box. Just get the item and
continue moving left. You come across a yellow springboard, get on
that and land on the wheel above. Run foward to make the wheel go
upwards, then jump on second wheel that moves at an angle upwards.
When you get to the end, don't jump off the wheel just yet cause
there is a hidden spike on the ledge across that could send you back
to the bottom of the level. Just wait till the spike is gone and jump
but don't run to far ahead as there is a red springboard that could send
you back to the bottom area as well (evil huh?). Anyways, just jump on
the platform above the springboard and continue foward while trying
to stay in the upper most part of the level. You will be getting on wheels
and moving platforms. Sooner or later you will come across the Special
Stage Springboard against a wall. Jump on and good luck!

Boss - Metal Knuckles: Didn't expect this didn't you? Well you fight what
appears to be a darker Knuckles with gold gloves on. He is quite hard
if you try to fight him straight up, but there are a few weakness
in his pattern. Do not try to attack him while he is gliding, your attacks
don't cancel it out, this isn't the Adventure series anymore. The only time
you can hurt Metal Knuckles is when he is landing from gliding and during
his Spin Dash animation (not when shoots off). He will usually try to land
in the spot you were standing in when he passes you by. Use Sonic's
Cartwheel attack, Tails "Tails Attack", Amy's Hammer Strike, or Knuckle's
Punch attacks to damage him. You can also damage him when he is charging up
for his Spin  Dash. Any other time you try to hit Metal Knuckles you will
either get damaged yourself or Knuckles will block the attack. After some
hits, the other covering of Metal Knuckles comes off and now you will see
his more robotic side. During this phase, Metal Knuckles now spits out some
big missles that tries to track you down. Just jump over each missle that
comes your way. You can hit Metal Knuckles while he is firing his Missles.
He will still do the gliding attack, so that's your chance to him. Keeping
at least 1 Ring is VERY important in this battle.

---------------------------------
Egg Rocket Zone/Cosmic Angel Zone
---------------------------------
Looks like a mix between Launch Base Zone and Death Egg from older Sonic
games. This zone is probably one of the hardest zones in the game since
after Rocket takes off, there are alot of places for you to fall so
you have to be careful where you are going in this zone. This is probably
one of the biggest zones as well too. Thru out the zone, as you go up
in the level, pieces of the rocket breaks off. In the last part of
the rocket, when you are outer space, the gravity can can. Be very
careful in this zone. Unlike the other Zones, to the end the 1st Act
of this Zone, you have to bounce off a springboard into the back
of another rocket. Act 1 is called Egg Rocket while Act 2 is called
Cosmic Angel, I don't why, kinda confusing.

Boss - Eggman in Turning Spike Mecha: This boss is even more annoying
than the Casino Paradise. You are one a moveable platform of orbs.
Eggman's Mecha moves back and forth arcoss the orbs. The part of the
mecha you can damage is below the orbs so you can't hit him. So how to
hit Eggman? You gotta jump on the orbs to make them bounce and make
the weak side of the mecha come up. Watch out for the spike side of
the mecha while its up. During the battle, Eggman sometimes shot
some slow moving shots at you, just avoid those. During the last few hits,
Eggman moves back and forth really fast each time you hit him. The best
tip in this battle is to ALWAYS have that 1 Ring, yes I know I said this
part in all the boss battles, but besides the Metal Knuckle battle, its
VERY important here as well.

---------------------------------
X-Zone
---------------------------------
The final Zone. This is nothing but just boss battles.

Boss 1 - Eggman in Sonic 1's Ball & Chain Mecha: He fights the same he
does in Sonic 1. Use the platforms to jump and hit Eggman.

Boss 2 - Eggman in Sonic 2's Drill Mecha: Just like the first one, Eggman
stays to his fighting style. If you remember the Drill Mecha from Emerald
Hill, then you shouldn't have a problem. Just attack him as he passes by.
Before his last hit, he will fire the drill off the mecha, so watch out
for that.

Boss 3 - Eggman in Final Mecha: This is the hardest boss in the game.
Eggman can only be hit when the main armor of the mecha is down. Its hard
cause when Eggman is open, you only get like a half a second to hit him.
The most effective strategy is to stay on the opposite end of the screen
from where Eggman is. This way, you can see all his attacks coming and
dodge them in time. Just duck the whole time cause sometimes he fires
a laser. If he throws bombs, just jump over them. When the grappling
hand is out, wait for it to come at you, then jump foward and run towards
Eggman to damage him. If Eggman tries to fly towards you, just jump up and
try to damage him instead. The latter two patterns are probably the only
way for you to damage Eggman. Keep this up and Eggman's mecha will be
destoryed. After that, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ending.

--------------
Special Stages
--------------
I haven't beaten any of the Special Stages yet, I only found two anyways.
Its not really cause their hard, but its hard to know what position Sonic
is to the rings. In these Special Stages, Sonic is falling thru some
sort of tunnel (think a outer space type version of the Special Stages
from Sonic 2) on a board. You have to collect a certain amount of rings
by the time you reach a checkpoint to continue with the special stage
(just like Sonic 2). There are some bomb type enemies in the special
stage that makes you lose some rings (again like Sonic 2, heh). Like
I said before, I only found two Special Stages and fail them both. If
anyone else has beaten some special stages and would like to share the
infomation, email me at gen2000__@hotmail.com (that's two _ marks) and
I will post it up here giving you credit.

Green Tunnel Special Stage - Must have 80 rings by the time you finish.
Tips for this special stage coming soon.

Blue Tunnel Special Stage - Must have 90 rings by the time you finish.
Tips for this special stage coming soon.

=======================================================================
VII. Tiny Chao Garden
=======================================================================
Fans of Chao Adventure series from the Sonic Adventure games should
love this little feature of Sonic Advance.

------------------
Hatching Your Chao
------------------
To hatch your Chao, simply just move the hand cursor over the Chao Egg
and press the A button to rub it. Sooner or later the Chao will hatch.
It will have name already when it hatch, but you can change it buy
moving the cursor over the name and pressing A. From there, you can
change the name.

------------------
Feeding Your Chao
------------------
Press the L Shoulder Button to to bring up a Food/Item menu to the left.
From here, you can give your Chao different foods or an item. All this
stuff isn't free though, you need rings to "buy" the foods and items
to give to your Chao. You start off with a certain amount of Rings.
The following food and items are:

Normal Fruit          - 30 Rings
Blue Fruit            - 60 Rings
Pink Fruit            - 55 Rings
Green Fruit (Apple?)  - 50 Rings
Purple Triangle Fruit - 30 Rings
Yellow Fruit (Pear?)  - 55 Rings
Red Fruit (Apple?)    - 70 Rings
Blue Egg              - 7000 Rings
Horn                  - 3000 Rings

Feeding your Chao different fruits makes its stats raise up in a different
way. The following stats are:

Mood:
<><><><><><><><><><>
Belly:
<><><><><><><><><><>
Swim:          lv.x
<><><><><><><><><><>
Fly:           lv.x
<><><><><><><><><><>
Run:           lv.x
<><><><><><><><><><>
Power:         lv.x
<><><><><><><><><><>
Stamina:       lv.x
<><><><><><><><><><>

"lv.x" Just means whatever level. As you find your Chao fruit, the stats
raise, when meter of a stat gets full, it raises to the next level.

------------------
Playing Games
------------------
In the Garden, there are two Gameboy Advance systems landing on the ground.
Click on one of them with the cursor to play a game. You need to play games
to earn more rings so you can buy more stuff for your Chao.

White GBA - ? Rock, Paper, Scissors: There are 3 symbols at the bottom of
the screen, each one representing "Rock", "Paper", and "Scissors" symbol.
Move your cursor over one of them and press A to send them up towards the
Rock, Paper, Scissors symbols floating around your Chao. Choose the right
symbols to beat the other symbols to win.

Purple GBA - Matching Game: Just like in the old Chao Adventure games. Just
match one card with another. This time however, the Chao sometimes moves
the cards before its time to play to confuse you some more (evil huh?).

=======================================================================
VIII. Codes/Tricks
=======================================================================
None yet of the moment, sorry. There might be a chance that Super
Sonic is playable in this game since it seems to follow the Sonic story-
line very well. If so, then Sonic Advance would be the first portable
Sonic game to have Super Sonic besides Sonic Pocket Adventure. Who knows,
there might be other Super Forms in this game as well. Those Special
Stages are hard, but can be beaten.

=======================================================================
IX. Version History
=======================================================================
 - 12/24/01: First version of the FAQ. Covers most of the game.

=======================================================================
X. Conclusion
=======================================================================
Well I hope this FAQ helps you Sonic fans out there with Sonic Advance.

Credits:
Sonic Team: For making this awesome game and taking us Sonic fans back
to old school.

CJAYC: For hosting this FAQ.

monkeytarget - For the Rock, Paper, Scissors game info.

davesoft - Useful infomation on how to use Sonic's Air Dash.
