FAQ - Guide for Sonic The Hedgehog Advance

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                                    ============================
                                         Sonic Advance FAQ
                                           By: Gen2000 
                                    Email: [email protected]
                                    ============================

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
 -     The Moon 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 v.1
 -     12/28/01 v.2
 -      1/07/02 v.3

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 The Sonic Foundation 
(www.sonicfoundation.org), CheatCC, 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 [email protected] (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 [email protected] 
(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
B     - Performs your character's Special Move
A     - 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 V 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. It can get as little as 3 rings to as much as
50 rings and maybe more.

----------------
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 the Hedgehog
------------------
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 also
gives Sonic more range on his attacks. Most older Sonic fans (including
myself) missed this move alot.

Spin Dash - Hold Down, press 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 new
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.

Rolling Attack - Press B or Down when standing still or running: Sonic rolls
foward and damages anything that's in his way.

Front Flip - Press B when doing the Rolling Attack: Sonic does a
flip foward. 

Slide Attack - Press B when doing the Front Flip: Sonic will do a slide kick
foward.

Reverse Jump - Press A when doing the Front Flip: Sonic will somersault in 
opposite direction he was facing when doing the Front Flip. Use this to 
quickly change directions when moving or attacking.
 
Air Dash - Jump, then Foward twice: May not seem like a useful
move, but actually it is. Sonic just dashes foward alittle when in the air. 
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
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/Swimming - 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. Tails can damage enemies and bosses
while flying. If underwater, Tails just performs his infamous "Fox Paddle"
from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 game instead.

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. 

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

Spin Attack - Press B : This move is very similar to Tails' Spin
Attack from Sonic Adventure 1. In this game, Tails spins around once and
slash foward with two tails. This move has pretty good range.

--------------------
Knuckles the Echinda
--------------------
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 - Hold 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.

Rolling 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 trademark move from the Adventure games, 
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.

Hammer Flip/Spin - Press B or Down+B during a Jump: When in the air will
swing her Hammer foward once (Hammer Flip). It covers a good area in front
of her. When doing the Hammer Spin, its very similar to the same move
from Sonic Adventure 1, she just spins her Hammer around in a 360 motion.
You can hold down B to keep spinning.

Small Hop - Hold Down, press A: Amy will leap foward alittle. This is 
about the closet thing to a Spin Dash she is gonna get.

Dive Attack - Press B during the Small Hop: Amy will extend her hands 
out and damage anything she comes in contact with.

Hammer Leap - Hold Down, press B during the Small Hop: Does the thing
as the Hammer Jump except she goes farther.

Grinding - In some part of the Zones, there are grinding rails that
Sonic can grind on. Just simply jump onto the rail to grind it.
What's up with hedgehogs and grinding?

Note: When playing as Amy, you must use your Hammer attacks to deal
out damage or open up boxes. Unlike the rest of the Sonic crew, she
doesn't roll up into a ball or anything when jumping.

=======================================================================
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 the 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 Bonus Springboards that takes you to the
Special Stages as I find them.

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

Bonus Springboard Act 1 - Try to stay in the upper most part of the level.
Shouldn't be too hard. At soon point, you will come up to a Lame-post 
and a grinding rail alittle to the right of it. If you have Sonic or Amy,
grind the rail but NOT ALL THE WAY, just off early and try to land on the
little area with the yellow springboard on it. Be careful cause there is
a Buzzbomber that can shot you from above and knock you off the platform
you need to get to the Bonus Spring. If you are using Tails or Knuckles,
just fly or glide to the area. Now get on the yellow springboard and
go right and try to land on the moving platform. When you land on it.
It will take you up to a hill with the Bonus Springboard on top. Jump
on and good luck.

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 are hooks in this zone that you 
will have to swing to get to some areas and also some cool turbo tunnels 
in this here as well. Watch out for the mole looking enemies in this
area that seems to "pop-up" at the worst times.

Bonus Springboard Act 2 - Getting to this one can sometimes be alittle
tricky. As always, try to stay in the upper most part of the level. If
you come to a Loop with a 1-Up on the top and a "?" Ring Box to the right
of the loop, you're on the right track then. From the platform with the
"?" box, jump to the right and land on the other platform. Just keep going
and you will run into a red springboard that will send you flying back and
forth against each red springboard running. You will go thru a Loop afterwards.
STOP sometime after you reach the top of the loop or before the end of it.
If you don't, you will gave this hook and swing down to another area and won't
be able to come back. If you stopped, you will see many yellow springboards
to use. Just jump on each of them and bonuce up to the top of the Loop where
the Bonus Spring is at. Jump on and good luck.

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.
Be on the lookout for the "SEGA" and "SONIC" lights in this level.

Bonus Springboard Act 1 - This one is kinda hard to explain. As always,
try to stay in the upper most part of the level. Sooner or later, you
will come to 3 Bumpers at a dead end, fall in the little gap below and
use the red springboard to bounce to the platform on the right. Sometimes
the two moving Bumpers get in your way and bounces you downward. Don't
worry, if this happens, just Spin Dash or Hammer Jump back on the
the springboard. You should come to an area with an Invincibility box.
If so, you are on the right track. Just stay at the top area and keep
going right using the flippers to stay at the top, you will come to the
Bonus Springboard sooner or later on alittle platform. Jump on and good
luck.

Boss - Eggman and Spike Mecha: This battle 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
common in Sonic games. Each act of this Zone is pretty big, made up
snow that slows down your running and underwater parts. Sonic and co.
still can't breathe underwater so look for air bubbles when
underwater or just jump above the water surface (if you can).

Bonus Springboard 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 Bonus Springboard near
a wall. Jump on it and go to the Special Stage, good luck.

Bonus Springboard Act 2 - Again, try to stay in the upper most part
of the level. If you come across an area where a moving Ice Block
is blocking your way and you have to wait till it moves, them you
are on the right track. After the ice block, jump on the two platforms
to the right, you have to be quick cause they fall after you touch them.
After the second one, try to jump on the springboard on the VERY little
platform. After you bounce up to the upper area. Go right and go thru
the dash booster thing and thru the Loop-De-Loop. Now later on, there
is a two moving platforms, get on them both and jump to the area to the
right. Now you should be on platform that has a springboard that bounces
you off at a 45 degree angle. DO NOT get on that springboard. Instead,
charge up your Spin Dash then shoot off and jump over the springboard.
You should fall on the platform to the right with the Bonus Springboard
or sometimes just fall on the Bonus Springboard itself. Go luck.

Note: I'm not sure how Amy is supposed to get on it since she doesn't
have a Spin Dash, but I'm guessing you might have to use her Hammer
Jump or Leap. I will reseach that more later in the next update.

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 so you 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 or get some
air. The battle is hard cause sometimes you are damaged by the spikes
if you jump on them the wrong way. 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.

Bonus 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 Bonus 
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. When he is landing, 
that is one of the best times to attack 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 foward and 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 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, there quite a few
of suprises 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. Cosmic Angel is more of 
the inside of Eggman's secert space base after Egg Rocket. Its just as
hard as the Egg Rocket Act.

Bonus Springboard Act 2 - This one is pretty easy to get to. Just stay
at the upper most part of the level (I know this has been said countless
times by now, heh) and you'll run into sooner or later at a dead end.
The annoying part of getting to it are the badniks that fires little
shots downward when you are jumping to some platforms, so watch out
for those.

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. If you played 
Sonic 1 and 2 on Genesis, then you may remember some of the bosses. 

Boss 1 - Eggman in Sonic 1's Ball & Chain Mecha: He fights the exact same 
he did 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 true to his Genesis roots. If you remember the Drill Mecha from 
Emerald Hill on Sonic 2, then you shouldn't have a problem. Just attack him 
as he passes by. Before the final 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.

--------------
The Moon Zone
--------------
If you been wondering when will play as Super Sonic, then this is it.
Taking after the Adventure series, Sonic Advance only has a one special
level for Super Sonic. If you have all the Chaos Emeralds after you
beat Eggman in X-Zone, instead of the usual flashing of the screen
and Sonic running, you will see Eggman escape to the Moon and Sonic
transform into Super Sonic and chases after him. The Moon Zone is
nothing more than one big ultimate battle with Eggman one last time
in the game.  In The Moon Zone, Super is constantly flying, so his
commands are different as so:

A - Jump: At first, you won't be quite used to Super Sonic jumping
while flying, but after a while you'll understand.

B - Supersonic Dash: A gold aura surrounds Super Sonic and he moves foward
quickly. This is Super Sonic's only way of attacking.

Boss - Eggman in Ultimate Mecha: This battle is seriously annoying and can
be one of the hardest bosses in the game if you don't act quickly enough.
You start off the battle with 50 rings and it goes down. If it reaches 0,
you die. The only target on the Ultimate Mecha is the small head piece of
the mecha. You will have to jump and time your Supersonic Dash just right
to hit Eggman. So what makes this battle so hard? Well unlike other Super
Sonic battles in the series, you rarely get rings, so you have to make sure
you don't make alot of mistakes. If you just run into the U.Mecha, you will
be pushed back. Being pushed back is NOT what you want in this battle. If
you need rings, just Supersonic Dash into the the "pac-man" looking orbs he
sends out. They will release about 10 rings for you, not much, but you take
what you can get. If you going to go for the rings, MAKE SURE you attack
the orbs right or you will be caught in them and waste ALOT of time. When
you see the U.Mecha raises both arms to protect his face, then he is getting
ready to fire his Laser Cannon. If you don't react right, this move could
cost you the battle. When you see the aiming laser part of the cannon, just
jump and Supersonic Dash to avoid. If you get hit and pushed back (btw, this
move pushes you back FAR), just regain control and jump over the next laser
shots that comes your way. The more you damage Eggman, the faster he fights.
Just keep up a nice pattern of hitting him and getting rings from the orbs
and you shouldn't have a problem. After you beat him, you get the TRUE ending
of Sonic Advance which isn't much, but longer than the other ones.

Extra Note: Even though not really important to battle, hardcore Sonic fans
might find this intresting. During the Moon Zone battle, Super Sonic has
the after image effects as if he was in Hyper Form. Maybe Sonic Team is
giving Super Sonic a new feel or effect? I dunno, just thought I mention
that.

--------------
Special Stages
--------------
Well, I completed all the Special Stages, there are actually kinda easy
once you get pass the bad 3-D effects and understand it more. There
are 7 Special Stages for each of the 7 Chaos Emeralds. Here I will
try to provide alittle help in getting the Emeralds at the end. 

Also remember that all characters share the Chaos Emeralds. So you can
get all the Emeralds with Tails or whoever and still unlock Super
Sonic. You don't have to play the whole game to save the data either.
After you get each Emerald, but SURE to complete that act which you
go the Chaos Emerald from as the game saves after each Act. After 
that, you can soft reset and choose another level of your choosing.

Red Tunnel Special Stage:
Must have 60 rings by the time you reach the first end point and 120
by the time you reach the final end point:
Well being the first Special Stage, its pretty easy. Just remember that
the rings on the left and right edges aren't really against the walls
so when going for them, just get close to the walls, but also come up
off them alittle too to get the rings. There really isn't anything
to explain about this, the rings are easy enough to get without any
tricks. When you see the big group of rings on the side, just hold B
and spin on the D-Pad to make your character spin the board around to
get the most rings. When you come up to the Trick Bonus circle, just
hold a direction and press B when you enter it for a nice ring bonus.
There are no extra rings after the Trick Bonus circle, so you should
have AT LEAST 60 rings by the time you pass it. The second point of the
stage is just as easy as the first. There are two sets of Bombs that
are easily avoided in this section, so be on the look out for them.
If you have 120 rings when you reach the end, you will get the Red
Chaos Emerald.

Blue Tunnel Special Stage:
Must have 70 rings by the time you reach the first end point and 140 by
the time you reach the final end point:
Well this stage is pretty tricky. There are alot of Bomb patterns here
for you to lose rings by, but easy to dodge, mostly in "/", "--", or "\"
patterns. I'm sorry if I can't provide detailed info of this stage, but
it shouldn't really be problem if the Red Tunnel special stage didn't give
you any problems. In this stage, there seems to be more than enough rings
for each point. Just make sure you get your ring bonuses from the two
Trick Bonus circles and you should be fine. If you have 140 rings when
you reach the end, you will get the Blue Chaos Emerald.

Yellow Tunnel Special Stage:
Must have 80 rings by the time you reach the first end point and 160 by
the time you reach the final end point:
This Special Stage seems to really take it up to the next level a bit.
You are gonna have to move around more faster now to get the rings but
other than that, its still pretty easy. If only have about 80-89 rings
after the first end point, you might have alittle trouble getting 160
for the second part. When you get on the bumpers, don't panic, you
will get all the rings in that row, but make sure you get control of 
yourself afterwards. After the second Trick Bonus circle there is another
bumper, get on that and you should get all the rings plus the Chao Doll
for an extra continue. If you have 160 rings when you reach the end, you
will get the Yellow Chaos Emerald. 

Green Tunnel Special Stage: 
Must have 80 rings by the time you reach the first end point and 160 by
the time you reach the final end point:
Start off the beginning by going down and getting the first 6 rings, 
then up for the other 6. You should if you even yourself out and went
thru the middle of but of these sets, you should have 12 already. The
rings on the side may look like they are on the side, but they ARE
NOT on the side edges of the tunnel. Just go to edges of the tunnel, then
come off them alittle and you should be able to get all the rings that
"looks" like they are on the edges. Some part of the first round, you
well see a set of rings on the bottom part that you can't get all in one 
trip, just aim for the first ring and and press B to spin, you should get
the most or all of the rings out that group. The simple pattern rings that
moves in a circle as you get them shouldn't be that hard to get. When you
come up to this big golden circle, hold a direction and press B as soon as
you touch it for a ring bonus. At this point of the stage, you SHOULD have
at least 70 rings cause there are only 10 rings left after it in sets of 
2s. After the first point of the stage, you will have to get 160. Not
really a problem. These rings aren't that hard to get, but there are
a few tricks. When you see the first "+" pattern of Bombs, go in the upper
right hand corner to get rings and avoid them. There will be a point where
a simple straight pattern of rings starting at the top goes down, DO NOT
go all the way, what you think is the last ring is Bomb, so be careful.
You will see another "+" pattern of Bombs, go in the upper left hand
corner this time. You see a simple circle pattern of rings starting at
the left. These are easy to get, but make sure you don't hit the bumper.
Now another Trick Bonus circle should be coming up, just hold a direction
and press the B button as soon as you touch it for a good ring bonus. At
this point, you SHOULD have at LEAST 152 rings by now cause there are only
8 rings left, in two sets of 4s. Just avoid the bombs, and get the 4 ring
sets on the right twice. If you got 160 Rings when you reach the end, you
will get Green Chaos Emerald.

Silver Tunnel Special Stage:
Must have 90 rings by the time you reach the first point and 180 rings
by the time you reach the final point:
This Special Stage isn't really that hard. The rings are all easy to
pick up. Just sure not to run into the bombs that are on the sides of most 
ring sets. If you just aim for the first middle one, you shouldn't get 
damaged at all. When you see the big ring sets on the edges of the wall, 
press B to spin to get more or all of the rings out of those sets.If you get 
most of the seperated rings and get to the Trick Bonus circle, you can have 
way more than 90 by time you reach the first point.
You should have at least 83 rings by the time you are pass the first Trick
Bonus circle. The 180 part is even more easier. Just collect your rings
and watch out for bombs are usually. When you see a "+" pattern set of bombs,
dodge in either of the corners. Make sure you DO NOT hit the Bumpers in
this part, they will most likely mess you up and throw you into Bombs.
Get your ring bonus from the Trick Bonus circle as usually. After it, you
should have at LEAST 168 rings by now. If you have 180 or rings when you
reach the end, you will get the Silver Chaos Emerald.

Light Blue Tunnel Special Stage:  
Must have 90 rings by the time you reach the first point and 180 by the
time you reach the final point:
Another simple Special Stage. Not really much to say here, just watch out
for the Bomb traps that are on the end of most ring sets. To get the ring
sets that are in a sqaure like pattern, just go in the middle and spin
your board to get all the rings. Get your ring bonus as usual from the
Trick Bonus circle and you shouldn't have any problems here. If you have
180 rings when you reach the end, you will get the Light Blue Chaos
Emerald.

Purple Tunnel Special Stage:
Must have 100 rings by the time you reach the first end point and 200 by
the time you reach the final point:
The HARDEST of all Special Stages. Getting the normal rings isn't the
hard part, but the Trick Bonus circles which is always behind 4 Bombs
that you most of the time have to get to have enough rings to pass each
point. You are gonna have to go thru the sets of Bombs by holding A
which makes you lean foward but yet speed up, after passing the bombs, you
will quickly have to perform a trick to get your ring bonuses from
the Trick Bonus circles. Make sure you have AT LEAST 109-115 rings after
the first point or you are gonna have a VERY HARD time trying to get 200
rings. If you have 200 rings by the time you reach the end point you will
get the Purple Chaos Emerald.

=======================================================================
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. The total amount of rings you have at the end of
Acts is how many rings you will have in the garden. 
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
Chao Egg              - free
Blue Chao Egg         - 7000 Rings
Green Chao Egg        - 10000 Rings
Horn                  - 1000-3000 Rings

Not all items are on the menu are there at once, sometimes a Chao Egg is 
there and sometimes its not. Also the Horn cost different amount of rings
as well. I seen it at 1000 and sometimes at 3000 so I'm not sure of the
certain cost of the Horn.

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.

The Mood meter moves up or down depending on how good your Chao is feeling.
The Belly meter goes up as you feed your Chao, when its near full, your Chao
won't eat anymore till its down. Keep an eye on this as a way to tell when
your Chao is hungry or not.

------------------
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 the "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 more rings You get 1 Ring for each
right match you get. You get 5 chances to miss and a Time Limit of 30 seconds. 
Just in case you don't know this old game works, here is what beats what:

Scissors beats Paper
Paper Beats Rock
Rock Beats Scissors

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?).

Remember to exit the Chao Garden by selecting the "Save & Exit" option
from pressing start so you can save all your chao data. 

=======================================================================
VIII. Codes/Tricks and Misc. Info
=======================================================================
Play as Super Sonic in "The Moon Zone":
Get all the Chaos Emeralds (good luck with that mission) and beat the
game with all the character to unlock Super Sonic and the new "The
Moon Zone" which places Super Sonic in the ulimate battle against
Eggman.

Grinding Glitch:
I'm not sure if this will be in the U.S. version, but in Neo Green Hill
Act 1 with Sonic (and maybe Amy too), if you hold Foward while grinding
the rail, sometimes you are stuck in your downward slide frame and you
go through level, not landing, but just sliding through thru the graphics
and die once you reach the bottom of the level. Maybe its just my game or
not, but if someone could confirm this, it will be helpful, thanks.

Sonic Theme Remixes
Just in case you didn't know, there are some remixes of old Sonic game 
themes in Sonic Advance. They are:



"Scrap Brain Zone":  Played during the options screen.
"Star Light Zone":   ?
"Power Up":          When get Invincibility, the music played is actually
                     a remix of the old Invincibility theme from Sonic 
                     the Hedgehog 1.
"Boss"               Played when you fight the first Eggman boss in the
                     "X-Zone".



"Emerald Hill (2P)": ?
"Boss":              Played when you fight the second Eggman boss in the
                     "X-Zone".

------------
Endings
------------
Well the endings aren't very much of anything at all, could be compaired to
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 in terms of shortness. When Sonic Team went old school,
they REALLY went back old school style. There are only 2 types of Endings,
one is the Normal Ending (beating the game without all the Emeralds) and
the True Ending (beat the game with Super Sonic).

Normal Ending:
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all share the same ending. When you beat
Eggman in the X-zone, the base starts to explode and your character starts
running in slow motion trying to escape, the screen fades out white. After
that, you see your character falling from space and after a while either
Tails or Sonic saves them in the Tornado (the airplane). Once on the
the wing parts of the Tornado, your character will look towards Tails
or Sonic and give them a thumbs up or whatever for saving them. Then
some Flickies fly behind the plane and your character looks towards
them, when this happens, I nice image of your character doing this
is shown and then goes away. After that, your character looks towards
the screen and then jumps towards it (like in many older Sonic games)
doing a cool pose. The End. Not much eh? Well that's all you get, heh.

If you want to know "who saves who", its as the following:

Sonic - Saved by Tails
Tails - Saved by Sonic 
Knuckles - Saved by Sonic  
Amy - Saved by Sonic

True Ending:
After you beat Eggman in The Moon Zone with Super Sonic, the screen fades
to white like in the other ending. After that, you see Knuckles, Tails,
Amy, and some Flickies looking up at the Moon (where Sonic was fighting)
worried. The screen fades to black and you see the words "A few days 
later....".  Then you will see Tails just flying in the Tornado on a
normal day. Tails spots a little flash of light shoot across the sky and
he chases it. Well as you probably would have guessed, its Super Sonic.
Super Sonic and Tails fly together in the skies. The End.

Extra Note: I'm kinda suprised how Sonic managed to stay in Super Form
for those few days even though when fighting in The Moon Zone, he could
barely maintain the Form for more than 50 seconds unless he got some from
Eggman. Maybe Sonic found some extra rings during those days? Maybe
its just a plot hole? Maybe Sonic Team don't care? I'm going with the
latter one, heh.

=======================================================================
IX. Version History
=======================================================================
 - 12/24/01: First version of the FAQ. Covers most of the game.
 - 12/29/01: Made some corrections on moves and other info, fixed some
             grammer errors, and add the Super Sonic info in the Codes/
             Tricks section.
 - 1/5/02:   Added more Bonus Springboard locations and Special Stage
             info.
-  1/7/02:   Completed the FAQ, not a Final Version, but all the needed
             infomation of the game is now in the FAQ. Added Super Sonic
             and "The Moon Zone" infomation.

=======================================================================
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.

TheFreak, HyperShadow87, and windeboi - Info about more Bonus Springboard
locations.

=================
End of FAQ
=================

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