Sonic Advance 2 follows the basic gameplay of its 2D predecessors on other platforms, which has you running forward at high speed and zipping through plenty of traps, loops and other obstacles in your quest to collect rings. The more rings you collect, the better your score and the more extras you'll unlock. As you race through the levels, you’ll encounter plenty of bad guys, which you’ll need to bash into dust. If a baddie hits you when you’re not in your bashing mode, you'll lose all the rings you’ve collected.

The game allows you to play as other characters from the Sonic series by collecting enough special rings to unlock them. The problem that arises is that the game is so fast paced, and the specials are so hard to find, you may never unlock anything before you finish most of the levels. Quite honestly, this game moves so fast at times, you’ll be hard pressed to pay any attention to finding anything in particular. You’ll just run as fast as you can towards the end of the level and hope you can clear any obstacles in time. You can complete many levels by just holding the D-pad to the right and keeping a close eye out for jumping opportunities. If you’re so inclined, you can play the game slowly, picking your way through the levels, but that’s not the idea behind the Sonic series. It becomes a sort of paradox at various points, with you having to decide between tearing through the game at light speed, or slowing down to find the special rings and Chaos Emeralds hidden throughout the levels. If you decide to go on the hunt, you’ll have to deal with the fact that any of the special power ups are very difficult to find, leading to quite a bit of frustration.

Here’s where Sonic Advance 2 blows away the competition, with amazingly well detailed levels and characters, and plenty of scenic variety to keep your eyes working overtime. There’s nothing dull about the visuals in this game, you’re going to be amazed by the look of everything, even the menus.

This is a Sonic title, so you can expect the same music and sounds you've heard in the rest of the series. Lots of cartoonish and cheery music accompanied by some of the clearest event sounds I’ve heard in some time populate Sonic's audio landscape. Sonic’s "whoosh", the clang of rings bouncing and even the "boing" of Sonic bouncing off bumpers sound crystal clear and spot-on. The ear- candy in this game is as good as the eye-candy.

While the designers may not have intended it, there really are two modes of play for Sonic Advance 2, which I like to call "race" and "hunt". Those aren’t official names mind you, but they give you an idea of what I’m getting at. If you play this game race style, you’ll just burn through the levels seeing how fast you can go while still maintaining a decent score. If you play in the hunt style, you’ll be picking your way through the levels trying to find the elusive power rings and emeralds. This unintended mix of styles leads to a feeling that you’re playing two different games at times.

Along with the gameplay styles, the replay gets a boost by allowing you to play the game as different characters. The problem here, however, is that you must first unlock the extra characters by finding all the specials hidden throughout the levels, which is an overly difficult task to say the least.

If you have some friends who are Sonic fans, you can team up for a little multiplayer action through the use of the link cable, which helps to increase the replay value a little bit, although the multiplayer modes honestly aren’t that interesting to keep you playing them heavily.

Wrapping it up, there are enough elements in Sonic Advance 2 that enhance its replay value, but I have to honestly ask why I would want to play it again. It is so short and formulaic; I finished it quickly and just as quickly moved on to another title.

Let’s be honest shall we? Sonic Advance 2 is just another iteration of a platformer title that hasn’t seen any original ideas in a long time. Taken as a whole, it’s a fairly good GBA title, but put in a greater context, it’s just a rehash of the old SEGA Genesis titles. Its mixed gameplay style, which can lead you to bouts of screaming frustration, will definitely turn some people away. Lastly, it’s a very short game, which you shouldn’t expect to dump more than 3-5 hours into. Is it worth buying? If you’re a Sonic fan, it certainly is, but if you’re looking for something original and different, you’re best to look elsewhere.