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Similarly to Sonic Advance 1 and 2, Advance 3 is a fast-paced 2Dplatformer. The player controls one of five characters simultaneously with a second one as a sidekick; alternately, a second player joins and one controls each character. The two characters run and jump through a series of seven levels, destroying robots along the way.[3] The player collects rings in levels and boss battles as a form of health: upon being hit by an enemy or harmful obstacle, the player's rings will scatter and can be recollected. If a character takes damage while carrying no rings, they lose a life. The team will also lose a life if they drown underwater, get crushed by a moving object, fall into a bottomless pit, or exceed an act's ten-minute limit. Losing a life will make the team start over from the beginning of the act or from the last passed checkpoint. If all lives are lost, the player receives a game over.[4]

The levels contain features like vertical loops, springs, and rails that the player can grind on. Each level is divided into three acts, punctuated by a boss fight with Doctor Eggman at the end; all three acts, the boss fight, and two minigames that grant the player extra lives are bound by a hub world.[5] Within each act, the player collects Chao creatures;[3] finding 10 in all 3 acts in one zone grants the player access to a special stage, where a Chaos Emerald can be found. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, which can be done after completion of the main campaign, allows the player to fight an extra final boss for the game's true ending.[6]

The player can select any two-member permutation of its five playable characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, and Cream the Rabbit, provided the two desired characters have been unlocked; only Sonic and Tails are available at the beginning, while the other three must be rescued from Eggman over the course of the game.[3] Each character has a unique ability: Sonic can perform a spinning attack in mid-air,[7] Tails can fly using his two tails as a propeller,[8] Amy can smash enemies with her hammer,[9] Knuckles can glide long distances and climb walls,[10] and Cream can fly using her ears as wings and attack enemies with her Chao friend, Cheese.[11] The second player character can also give powers to the first by pressing the R button;[12] for example, pressing and holding R while Tails is the sidekick blasts both characters into the air.[13] In addition, the second character will collect rings and destroy enemies the first has not.[3] Outside the main game, there are two battle modes for two to four players, in which any of the characters can be selected: racing and Chao collecting.

Sonic Advance 3

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