ZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMr ZMMBMMM0Xr;i2WMMMM. MMMMMWXWMMMaXZMMM7 SMMZrMW M0@rZMMMM MMWSSMB8, MWBZMM@MMMMMMZ S MMX2Za0X@@WM2Zaa2SSSXX2MMMMMMMMMX MM 0MMXa8Za8MMM@B2Z88ZZaaaa2S;M XMMW MWMX iMMMMMMMZ288ZBMMMMMMMZ88Z@M@B00MMM0MM8 ;:XMM M SM MMMSXZM7Z8ZZMM MM28Za2ZWMMMM. M M XZXMMMMMSr SM iMMMMM MM@iMZ2ZZ0WM 7a MSaSW0XSXMZa MSaMa raaS ,MMMMM Mr XM MMBM@Za@WM MMM MMMMMMaX0M M M27 i ZM22XMM @MM MMrMM8@M MM,, MMMMMM 7BX2M: MX,,.X@MM@ ;MMM,7MM M 7MM0a:M WM; M MM@@@M BM;M ;M iM M 2W; M.X MMMMMM MMM .Mr MX,M ;, ;M:BMMMMMMMMMM WMMMM: ,M MX @ M X M MMM; iMM rM MMMMM8 X2;MMMMMMWM MMMMM02 aM M ,Mi M M: MMM 0M MM .;MMa@ SMMMMM WMWBM;8MM BM @ MM.M MM aMaM2aMMi 7M , 7 Bi MMMMX .MrMMMMWM M BMMMMMM M Z. rMM WM :MZ :,M, M 8MM. @MBMMrM M M Z0 M2MM7 0 ,MM .Mr 7 . MMMMMMMM: SM@MMMaMMM MMW MMMM. iMM ZiM WMM MB WMM,MMr MMMMMMMM;:MSMZ7BMMWBMM MM. M2 M.M MM MMr MM M2rMMM M@M: MMMWMM. M SiMMXXBM;rMSaMMr M:M 20M 7M MMM MB W. MMMMBZWM . SM 0MMMMMM MMaMMMMM Mi B;B M aM i M M M MMi .M MM .iMXB M ,r:2aMM MM 8M .,. MMr 7M MMS MSi BMMMM M. @M2i MMMi MM7Z 7 WMM .MMM MM :MMXM @MWMM.M MMM, aMM7 M M7 iMS iMM@ MM M M MMMM M 8@MMW:. ;ZM0 M.MMW M MMM MZMWMBM MMMM M Ma :aMMMMMX: 0MMiMMX M aM@aX M2XSXZMMM MMMMZ; ,,, MMM2 MMWMM7iiMMM MM7SS0@0MMMZ7WMMMMMMZM iiiii:,,7.aM8 r MM MM MM@MMM@00Z aW MM0M ii:,.irX, M0MMMM ,X 8M2 : ,M MMWZa0MMMM70 a M ,irXSi MM88SZMMM MMMM . 7M MMMMB MMBMMMMSM MM 2SSr: BMZ0MWXSXM MMMMBM :@M2 MMSaS72M B,M 2MMMMi 2MM88M MWMZMMM MMiSaaSXMM WM2MMMMM8 .MM8X2MM, iMMMM, MM,SSX7WWMZMMMM2X @MMWa2@MX7 rMMS M@S220WWM7M MMMMMMMMMM MM0MMMWZMM 2M777M@S ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Sonic Advance 3 FAQS/Walkthrough Version 1.03 10/20/04 By Angnix peter379@msu.edu ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Legal Notes: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This guide cannot be placed on any site without my permission. Sonic and all related characters copyright Sonic Team/Sega. Sites with permission to post any of my FAQS: www.GameFAQS.com www.Neoseeker.com www.cheathappens.com faqs.ign.com www.cheats.de www.supercheats.com www.wogaming.com ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Version History: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Version 0.5: 5/27/04 Version 0.51: 5/28/04 Fixed errors Version 0.6: 5/29/04 Added more info, changed names of moves to match the manual. Version 0.8: 5/30/04 Some major rewrites. Added Story Added Unlock Features Section Added Map Area Section Added Sonic Factory Section Added Minigames Section Added Time Attack Section Added Two Player Mode Section Version 0.9: 6/5/04 Rewrites in Character Moves, Time Attack and Chao Locations sections, made some parts of Chao Location section less confusing, major rewrite of Zone 3 Act 1 Added Special Stage info and new section Added Medals section Added Frequently Asked Questions section Updated list of sites that can use my FAQS Version 1.0: 6/9/04 Added Mini Games and Mini Games Locator Added Act and Bosses Section, including General Tips for Acts and Bosses, Act and Boss Locator, info on all Bosses. Added info to Important Team Skills Summary. Smoothed out numbering system in Table of Contents and in the FAQS in general. Version 1.01: 6/13/04 Fixed minor errors throughout, including kind of major error in Unlock features section Addressed issue of people playing early version of the ROM Version 1.02: 9/24/04 Added Nostalgia Trip! section (13 in table of contents) Minor fixes, general updates Version 1.03: 10/20/04 Rewrote Route 99 Act 3, easier way to get Chao #8 in that zone. Added info about Sonic Adventure 2 music remix, More Chaotix info and a blurb about Sonic Pocket Adventure to Nostalgia Trip. Fixed wrong section name in Table of Contents and other typos. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ VERSION 1.03 IS HERE!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ About the only things I did not include in the final version is key locations and special stage walkthrough and as I said before I didn't include key locations because they are pretty darn easy to find, and someone else already has a find Special Stage walkthrough out. There is also a newer section on the connection between this game and the earlier games, Nostalgia Trip! Included is info about Sonic Battle, a similar section is in my Sonic Battle Virtual Training guide and I decided to add one here also. It is section 13 near the end of this guide. New to version 1.03 is a rewrite to Route 99 Act 3 Chao. I have not been playing the game very much recently, but I did stumble upon a much easier way to get the second Chao in that act so I rewrote the account. Also I forgot to mention the Sonic Adventure 2 music remix in the Nostalgia Trip section.Anyway if you really want to see any other sections you can think of or if you see any mistakes in the guide or need clarification then either e-mail me or leave a message on the GameFAQS.com messageboard I frequent regularly. Hope you enjoy this guide!!! I have included an important note because there are confused people who can't follow this guide because they are playing an early version ROM that was leaked out a few months ago and things in this guide do not apply to them, so I have included a note addressing this issue. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ IMPORTANT NOTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE THE EARLY ROM: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ First of all, please get the final version of the game, I put down 40 U.S. dollars for the game, please do so too or at least rent the thing. Second, there are several very important differences between this ROM and the final version including one major level change that has caused people to e-mail me saying my guide makes no sense. So in order to point out what you are missing here is a list of differences between the early ROM and the final version that was released so I will not get any more e-mails of this nature: Special Keys: In the early version all you have to do is find a key then exit out of the level by selecting quit on the pause menu and you still have it. Tag Actions: Knuckles can't punch through tough barriers, you have to use Knuckles as partner and Ground Tag Action every single time you come to one of these barriers, making it harder in general. Cream's Tag Action lasts longer, and her air action actually gives you a pretty good boost in height. Amy's Ground and Air Tag Actions are now completely different, her ground is now almost identical to Tails but with slightly less sideways motion, her air is the same but now you can't do that weird trick where you can use it almost infinitely. Invincibility and Maximum Speed now last longer. Other levels and areas: Minor changes have been made to other areas too, most noticeably a missing tunnel in Zone 3 Act 1 that I have received e-mails about and they took the falling rock out of the Zone 7 Map Area. Time Attack now works properly. Several annoying bugs were fixed. All in all, the final version is better, please get it!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ IMPORTANT NOTE: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In order to make my Chao locations a lot clearer, I decided to make the term Tag Action clearer by calling it Tag Action High Jump, which can be done by Tails or Amy as partner. Cream does have a Tag Action Jump, but is not very high so I do not discuss it, but it can be useful. Also Flight, Gliding, Boost Mode, and Tough Barrier Break are all moves that can be done by either team leaders or by Tag Action depending on what team you happen to have. Also the term Gliding covers Cream and Amy's Floating Fall which they have with particular Team mates. Climbing can be only done by Knuckles/Tails, Knuckles/Cream and Knuckles/Amy. If you are not sure if a particular team can do a particular move or not that is in my Chao location guide, the refer to Important Team Skills Summary to clearly see which moves can be done by what teams or just go with the team I happen to recommend because that team can defiantly get thorough the act with all Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Table of Contents: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 1. Story 2. Character Moves Introduction 2.a. Basic Moves all Characters can do 2.b. Boost Mode and Mid Air Trick Moves 2.c. Tag Actions 2.d. General Partner Trends 2.e. Individual Team Descriptions and Moves 2.e.1. Sonic's Basic Moves 2.e.1.a. Sonic/Tails 2.e.1.b. Sonic/Knuckles 2.e.1.c. Sonic/Cream 2.e.1.d. Sonic/Amy 2.e.2. Tails' Basic Moves 2.e.2.a. Tails/Sonic 2.e.2.b. Tails/Knuckles 2.e.2.c. Tails/Cream 2.e.2.d. Tails/Amy 2.e.3. Knuckles' Basic Moves 2.e.3.a. Knuckles/Sonic 2.e.3.b. Knuckles/Tails 2.e.3.c. Knuckles/Cream 2.e.3.d. Knuckles/Amy 2.e.4. Cream's Basic Moves 2.e.4.a. Cream/Sonic 2.e.4.b. Cream/Tails 2.e.4.c. Cream/Knuckles 2.e.4.d. Cream/Amy 2.e.5. Amy's Basic Moves 2.e.5.a. Amy/Sonic 2.e.5.b. Amy/Tails 2.e.5.c. Amy/Knuckles 2.e.5.d. Amy/Cream 2.f. Important Team Skills Summary 3. Unlock Features 4. Map Area 5. Sonic Factory 6. Mini Games 6.a. Mini Games Locator 7. Acts and Bosses 7.a. General Tips for the Acts 7.b. General Tips for the Bosses 7.c. Act and Boss Locator 7.c.1. Zone 1: Route 99 7.c.2. Zone 2: Sunset Hill 7.c.3. Zone 3: Ocean Base 7.c.4. Zone 4: Toy Kingdom 7.c.5. Zone 5: Twinkle Snow 7.c.6. Zone 6: Cyber Track 7.c.7. Zone 7: Chaos Angel 7.d. Bosses 7.d.1. Zone 1 Boss 7.d.2. Zone 2 Act 3 Miniboss 7.d.3. Zone 2 Boss 7.d.4. Zone 3 Boss 7.d.5. Zone 4 Act 3 Miniboss 7.d.6. Zone 4 Boss 7.d.7. Zone 5 Boss 7.d.8. Zone 6 Act 3 Miniboss 7.d.9. Zone 6 Boss 7.d.10 Zone 7 Boss 7.d.11. Final Zone and Ending 7.d.12. Extra Zone and Ending 8. Guide to the Chao, Keys, Special Springs and Special Stage 8.a. Zone 1 Route 99 8.a.1. Act 1 Chao 8.a.2. Act 2 Chao 8.a.3. Act 3 Chao 8.a.4. Map Chao 8.a.5. Special Spring 8.b. Zone 2 Sunset Hill 8.b.1. Act 1 Chao 8.b.2. Act 2 Chao 8.b.3. Act 3 Chao 8.b.4. Map Chao 8.b.5. Special Spring 8.c. Zone 3 Ocean Base 8.c.1. Act 1 Chao 8.c.2. Act 2 Chao 8.c.3. Act 3 Chao 8.c.4. Special Spring 8.d. Zone 4 Toy Kingdom 8.d.1. Act 1 Chao 8.d.2. Act 2 Chao 8.d.3. Act 3 Chao8.d.4. Map Chao 8.d.5. Special Spring 8.e. Zone 5 Twinkle Snow 8.e.1. Act 1 Chao8.e.2. Act 2 Chao 8.e.3. Act 3 Chao 8.e.4. Map Chao 8.e.5. Special Spring 8.f. Zone 6 Cyber Track 8.f.1. Act 1 Chao 8.f.2. Act 2 Chao 8.f.3. Act 3 Chao 8.f.4. Map Chao 8.f.5. Special Spring 8.g. Zone 7 Chaos Angel 8.g.1. Act 1 Chao 8.g.2. Act 2 Chao 8.g.3. Act 3 Chao 8.g.4. Map Chao 8.g.5. Special Spring 8.h. The Special Stage 9. Medal Times 10. Time Attack 11. Two Player Mode 12. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) 13. Nostalgia Trip! 14. Questions? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 1. Story: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Dr. Eggman found the 7 Chaos Emeralds and using Chaos Control has broken the world into 7 pieces! But with help from the Master Emerald Sonic and friends can put the world back together again. But now Eggman has unleashed his new Ultimate Fighting Robot designed to be even stronger than the Gizoid/Emerl from the game Sonic Battle was! It is time to stop Eggman's most diabolical scheme ever with teamwork!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2. Character Moves Introduction: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Sonic Advance 3's partner system is very complex. You choose one primary character, then you have to choose another character to be your partner. There are a total of 5 characters in normal levels, you start out with the choice between Sonic and Tails but later on you unlock more characters. You have to unlock characters with Sonic as the main character, Knuckles is unlocked if you complete Zone 2 Act 3, Amy is unlocked if you complete Zone 4 Act 3, and Cream is unlocked if you complete Zone 6 Act 3. But your partner character does a lot more than follow you around, they greatly affect the main character you are playing as. One thing your partner can do is Tag Team actions. These are activated by pressing the R button and each partner character has a particular Tag Action to help out their partner. But it gets more complex, the characters affect each other's powers too. Sometimes a partner character gives new abilities and sometimes takes away abilities, this even applies to your partner character but is less important. There are even other random affects that a partner can cause that are not attack related. Also, each team has a "formation", speed represented by the Sonic shoe, Power represented by Knuckles' fist and Fly represented by Tails' tails that in general are suppose to tell you what that team is good for, but in my opinion is not always accurate. So there are a total of 20 different partner combinations, each one different! Also the Extra Zone that you can play if you get all Chaos Emeralds and defeat the Final Zone with Sonic as the lead character has a unique partner pairing, which I describe in a later section. I thought long and hard how to do this, so I decided to first list the basic moves of each character followed by a description on how each possible partner affects them. Later on in the guide I will describe such things as the location of all the Chao and all about the Map areas and other important things that apply to this game. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.a. Basic Moves all Characters can do: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Press and hold right or left: Run right or left, keep pressed and you will gain speed. Press down: Pressing down while standing still will cause you to crouch down, useful in dodging some attacks, if you remained crouched down for long enough the screen view will change so you can see what's below you. Press up: Pressing up while standing still will cause the character to look up, eventually the screen view will change so you can see what's above you. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.b. Boost Mode and Mid Air Trick Moves: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A couple of moves from Sonic Advance 2 that a good portion but not all the teams can do, I don't want to describe them over and over again so I describe them here. Any team with Sonic as either the main character or partner can use Boost Mode, in fact Sonic's Tag Action is instant Boost Mode, but for some reason only Tails has kept his Boost Mode attack. Only the Sonic/Tails, Tails/Sonic, Amy/Cream and Cream/Amy teams can use Mid Air Trick Moves. Boost Mode: Can only be used if Sonic is on your team. When you are in Boost Mode, you travel extra fast, There are a couple of ways to enter Boost Mode. One way is to run, preferably downhill, if you run long enough you will burst into Boost Mode, the more Rings you have, the sooner you will burst into Boost Mode. You can also achieve Boost Mode if a speed booster propels you forward. Mid Air Trick Moves: Can only be used by the Sonic/Tails, Tails/Sonic, Amy/Cream and Cream/Amy Teams. These are special mid-air maneuvers using the R button and a directional button that can only be performed during certain situations such as jumping off a spring, etc. where you are in the air but not in ball form. You cannot perform a Mid-Air Trick after you just did one and if you just press the R button alone you will just end up doing Tag Action. Here are the different Mid Air Tricks, I will highlight when characters do tricks that are quite different from each other. Press up when pressing R button: Jump higher up, most effective if used during the highest point in your jump, useful in reaching areas you cannot normally get to. Press left or right when pressing R button: This propels the character sideways real fast. This differs by character. Sonic and Amy: They both twirl around real fast and move sideways fast While slightly losing height until they either hit a wall or land. You cannot change their direction when moving sideways. You can attack enemies and continue moving sideways. Tails: Spins his tails to get a quick boost in the direction he is going, but then starts falling, he cannot go as far sideways as the other characters, but you can slightly control where he lands after he drops. You cannot attack enemies with this. Cream: Does a slower spin that Sonic and Amy, you can control her and change her direction during the trick, but you cannot attack enemies. Press down when pressing R button: The character stops in mid-air and Heads straight down. Sonic: Bound, he goes into a very fast spin while in the air and heads straight down, then bounces back up, can be used to attack enemies. Amy: Mid-Air Hammer Swirl, similar to Sonic's Bound but with a slightly wider range. Cream and Tails: Head straight down, you can slightly control which direction they head in, they cannot attack enemies with this move. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.c. Tag Actions: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In order to activate the Tag Action, you have to press and hold the R button. Orange circles appear, then your partner will go into ball form and jump into the main character's arms. Release the R button in order to activate the Tag Action, sometimes it depends on whether you are using it on the ground or in the air. Here are all of them: Sonic as partner: Instant Boost Mode, can be used either on the ground or in the air. Read the Boost Mode section to find out more about Boost Mode. Tails as partner: On the ground: High Jump, Tails throws you high into the air, cannot be used as an attack. In the air: Flying, gain height by tapping the A button, use up, down, left or right to control what direction Tails is going, you cannot stop him from flying until he lands on something. You can attack enemies while in the air if you hit them with his tails. Tails can stay in the air 5 seconds. Knuckles as partner: On the ground: Throw Knuckles, you can throw Knuckles as enemies, this move is also used to break barriers that can only be broken using Power formation. In the air: Gliding, glide sideways while losing little height, press left or right to change what direction you are gliding. You can attack enemies fist first. If you let go of the A button, Knuckles will fall. If you touch a wall while gliding, Knuckles will cling to it but you will not so keep that in mind. Cream as partner: Borrow Cheese, Cheese will transform and look more like the main character and start following him/her but only for 5 seconds, then Cheese returns to normal. During this time you can use Chao Attack by pressing the B button on the ground or while jumping. Cheese will automatically go out and attack enemies or get item boxes for you. This is a killer move when used against bosses, but you have to wait a little bit after you use this move to use it again. Also if you use this Tag action while jumping Cream does give you a slight boost in jumping. Amy as partner: On the ground: High Jump, Amy throws you high into the air, cannot be used as an attack. In the air: Spin High Jump, Amy can throw you very high in the air, can be used as an attack. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.d. General Partner Trends: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ How each character affects other characters can vary quite a bit, but here are the general trends: Sonic: Gives partner Boost Mode, in general makes partner's attacks more speed-like. Tails: Adds height to some of partner's abilities. Takes away some moves sometimes. Knuckles: Gives partner more/more powerful moves. Cream: Gives Homing capabilities (except to Amy). Amy: Gives Hammer, takes away normal jump/Spin Attack. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e. Individual Team Descriptions and Moves: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This is a thorough description of the moves/actions of all 20 regular Teams! In each section, I will first describe the basic moves of the main characters, then I will describe afterwards how each partner character affects them. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.1. Sonic's Basic Moves: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ These are the base abilities for Sonic, our true blue speedster! Boost Mode: Sonic can always use Boost Mode, read the Boost Mode section for more info. Press down while running: Spin Along Ground, you start spinning while still moving, use to attack enemies. A button: Spin Jump, use to jump or to attack an enemy. Press and hold down + A button then release: Spin Dash, used for attacking enemies or to instantly increase speed for getting up slopes, if you press the A button once and then release both buttons, you will get the most powerful Spin Dash, if you keep pressing down for a while then release the A button, the character will eventually rev down a little and then releasing down will result in a less powerful Spin Dash. B button: Skid Attack, he does a flip then slides along the ground then stops, great attack for enemies beside you. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.1.a. Sonic/Tails: An Unbreakable Bond! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed A classic combination! Basically Sonic has the same moves as he does in Sonic Advance 2, including Boost Mode and Mid Air Trick Moves, but he cannot do his Double Spin/Homing Attack, Bound or Jump Dash. A good Speed team with some flight too if you use Tail's Tag action. Differences from Sonic's Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Mid Air Trick Moves: Described Above ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.1.b. Sonic/Knuckles: Fighting Buddies! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed Sonic may not like Knuckles' help, but in fact Knuckles gives Sonic some good moves, it is more like a mix of speed/power, and don't forget the Tag Actions, even though this is not a Power formation you can still throw Knuckles at those extra tough barriers. Differences from Sonic's Basic Moves: A Button then B: Wind Attack, increases the range of your attack enabling you to attack things a little higher than you can normally reach and it increases the speed of your attack. A Button them Down + B Button: Bound, he goes into a very fast spin while in the air and heads straight down, then bounces back up. A Button then Up + B Button: Upper Spin: Sonic blasts off upward in a very fast attack, can be very useful against certain bosses. . . B Button: Fire Sliding, he does a flip then slides along the ground, more powerful and lasts longer than Sonic's normal skid attack. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.1.c. Sonic/Cream ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed A sort of "cheap" team, not only can Sonic borrow Cheese and use Chao Attack, but also he gets a bubble underwater! That added to the Jump Dash brings back memories of the games Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles. . . A good speed team and I recommend it for some time attacks. Differences from Sonic's Basic Moves: Non-Attack Effects: Breathe Underwater: Sonic gets a bubble while underwater and cannot drown. A button then A again while in air: Jump Dash/Homing Attack, Sonic rockets forward at a high rate of speed, if used near an enemy he will home in on it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.1.d. Sonic/Amy A Lovely Couple! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed Poor Sonic. . . not only is he stuck with Amy following him around in a love sick manner, but he loses his normal spin moves too! But actually with Amy's Tag action this is a pretty good speed team. Differences from Sonic's Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Amy's Behavior: Amy has several unique behaviors, including hearts appearing over her head and she chases Sonic a unique way and has a different wait animation. Sonic's Board: Sonic grinds rails on a surf board, Sonic does a cool trick when he goes off the end of the rail. A Button: Jump, you cannot attack enemies when you jump. A Button then B Button: Spin Attack, used to attack enemies. B button: Hammer Attack, use the hammer to attack enemies right beside you. Use Hammer Attack on a spring to jump extra high. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.2. Tails' Base Moves: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The base moves of our favorite flying kitsune friend! Press down while running: Spin Along Ground, you start spinning while still moving, use to attack enemies. A button: Spin Jump, use to jump or to attack an enemy. Press and hold down + A button then release: Spin Dash, used for attacking enemies or to instantly increase speed for getting up slopes, if you press the A button once and then release both buttons, you will get the most powerful Spin Dash, if you keep pressing down for a while then release the A button, the character will eventually rev down a little and then releasing down will result in a less powerful Spin Dash. A button then tap A button repeatedly: Propeller Flying, gain height by tapping the A button, use D-pad to control what direction he is going, you cannot stop him from flying until he lands on something. You can attack enemies while in the air if you hit them with his tails. Tails can stay in the air 5 seconds. B button: Tail Swipe, attacks enemies to the side of Tails without moving forward. In Water: A button then tap A button repeatedly: Dog Paddle Swimming, exactly like Tails flying but underwater, you cannot attack enemies while swimming. Tails can swim for 5 seconds. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.2.a. Tails/Sonic: An Unbreakable Bond! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed The reverse of a classic combination! Tails has all his moves from Sonic Advance 2 and of course he can swim. A good team for both Speed and Flying. Differences from Tails' Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Boost Mode: Described Above Mid Air Trick Moves: Described Above B button while in Boost Mode: Super Tail Swipe, do a Tail Swipe and keep on running. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.2.b. Tails/Knuckles: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Power Tails cannot fly in this formation and his swimming ability is affected, but he does gain an interesting "gliding" attack and he for the first time ever can do the Double Spin and he has a cool Tornado Attack! Mostly power. Differences from Tails' Basic Moves: A button then A again while in air: Mid-Air Glide, glide sideways pretty quickly, you cannot change direction. You can attack enemies fist first. If you let go of the A button, he will fall. Unlike Knuckles Tails cannot climb walls. A Button then B Button: Tail Spin Attack, increases the range of your attack enabling you to attack things a little higher than you can normally reach and it increases the speed of your attack. B Button: Tornado Attack, turn into a tornado to attack enemies. In Water: A button then tap A button repeatedly: Breast Stroke Swimming, but with Knuckles Tails swims a little more like Knuckles and cannot gain as much height, just a little. Tails can swim for 5 seconds. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.2.c. Tails/Cream: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Flight Not the best Flight formation, Cream affects Tails flight quite a bit. But at least you can use Chao Attack if you use Tag Action and there is Homing Atack. Differences from Tails' Basic Moves: A button then tap A button repeatedly: High Propeller Flying, but it is greatly affected by Cream, Tails flies with his tails below his body instead of above, gain height by tapping the A button, use D-pad to control what direction he is going, you cannot stop him from flying until he lands on something. Tails can stay in the air only 2 seconds when affected by Cream. A button then A again when in air near enemy: Homing Attack, he will home in on nearby enemies. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.2.d Tails/Amy: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Flight Not a bad flight formation if you do not mind the inability to Spin Attack normally. And you can attack with the hammer while you are flying! Differences from Tails' Basic Moves: A Button: Jump, you cannot attack enemies when you jump. B Button while Flying: Hammer Propeller Flying, attack with the hammer while flying. You can also fly faster than normal. B button: Hammer Attack, use the hammer to attack enemies right beside you. Use Hammer Attack on a spring to jump extra high. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.3. Knuckles' Basic Moves: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The basic moves of our powerful but gullible echidna friend! Press down while running: Spin Along Ground, you start spinning while still moving, use to attack enemies. A button: Spin Jump, use to jump or to attack an enemy. Press and hold down + A button then release: Spin Dash, used for attacking enemies or to instantly increase speed for getting up slopes, if you press the A button once and then release both buttons, you will get the most powerful Spin Dash, if you keep pressing down for a while then release the A button, the character will eventually rev down a little and then releasing down will result in a less powerful Spin Dash. A button then A again while in air: Mid Air Glide, glide sideways while losing little height, press left or right to change what direction you are gliding. You can attack enemies fist first. If you let go of the A button, Knuckles will fall. If you touch a wall while gliding, Knuckles will cling to it. Push up or down to climb on it or just press A again to jump off it, when he gets to the edge of a ledge, Knuckles will pull himself up on it. B button: Double Punch, punch an enemy while going forward slightly. In Water: Jump in water: Float, if you jump into a body of water, Knuckles will rise to the surface and float, push right or left to move right or left, push up and you can look up while floating, push down to sink into the water, push A to jump out. A button then A again while in water: Breast Stroke Swimming, exactly like Knuckles' gliding but underwater, but you cannot attack enemies and you cannot gain height. You can even cling to and climb walls underwater. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.3.a. Knuckles/Sonic Fighting Buddies! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed Actually not a very good team because Sonic takes away Knuckles' gliding and wall climbing which is very useful. Differences from Knuckles' Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Boost Mode: Described Above A button then A again while in air: Mid-Air Dash Glide, Knuckles rushes forward head first, when he hits the ground he goes into a fast spin. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.3.b. Knuckles/Tails ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Power This is not a power formation! This is the best Flight team there is! Not only does Knuckles do an extra jump before he glides and of course climb walls, but you can always have Tails get you higher too! You can go pretty much anywhere, I highly suggest this team for finding Chao! I love this team! Differences from Knuckles' Basic Moves: A button then A again while in air: Double Mid-Air Glide, Knuckles jumps up a little ways, then starts gliding sideways with one arm stretched out while losing little height, press left or right to change what direction you are gliding. You can attack enemies fist first. If you let go of the A button, Knuckles will fall. If you touch a wall while gliding, Knuckles will cling to it. Push up or down to climb on it or just press A again to jump off it, when he gets to the edge of a ledge, Knuckles will pull himself up on it. B button: Spiral Upper, a fiery jumping punch. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.3.c. Knuckles/Cream ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Power Not a bad team at all, Knuckles gains use of both Homing Attack and can use Cream Tag Action for Chao Attack, but the opposite team, Cream/Knuckles I consider better. A button then A again while in air near enemy: Homing Attack, he can home in on enemies. Away from enemies he does his normal glide. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.3.d. Knuckles/Amy ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Power He losses his normal jump of course, but actually not that bad because of Amy's Tag Action and the fact that this is the only team you can use Knuckles' Drill Claw for some reason and for some reason you can Spin- dash up walls, why does Amy add a new Spin-dash??? Beats me. Differences from Knuckles' Basic Moves: A Button: Jump, you cannot attack enemies when you jump. Right or Left + down and A Button while climbing: Dash Climb, you mush push either right or left depending on if the wall is right or left of Knuckles, Knuckles can rev up while clinging to the wall and Spin Dash up it, like normal Spin Dash the intensity depends on how long you hold down the A button. A Button then B Button: Spin Attack, used to attack enemies. A button then down + B button while in air: Drill Claw, Knuckles spirals straight downwards. B button: Hammer Attack, use the hammer to attack enemies right beside you. Use Hammer Attack on a spring to jump extra high. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.4. Cream's Basic Moves: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The basic moves of our favorite cute rabbit and her Chao Cheese! Press down while running: Spin Along Ground, you start spinning while still moving, use to attack enemies. A button: Spin Jump, use to jump or to attack an enemy. Press and hold down + A button then release: Spin Dash, used for attacking enemies or to instantly increase speed for getting up slopes, if you press the A button once and then release both buttons, you will get the most powerful Spin Dash, if you keep pressing down for a while then release the A button, the character will eventually rev down a little and then releasing down will result in a less powerful Spin Dash. A button then tap A button repeatedly: Flying, tapping the A button causes her to gain height, use right or left to control where she goes, pressing B button will cause her to immediately stop flying and attacks downwards. She can only stay in the air for 4 seconds until she gets tired and starts falling, but she can fly quite fast, remember she cannot attack enemies while flying but you can fly over them and then press B as an attack. B button or A button then B button: Chao Attack, if you are facing an enemy or an item box, Cheese will go out and either attack the enemy or will pick up the item box for you. This is a killer move when used against bosses, but you have to wait a little bit after you use this move to use it again. In Water: Jump in water: Life Ring, if you jump into a body of water, Cream will rise to the surface and use her cute floatie to float, push right or left to move right or left, push up and you can look up while floating, push down to sink into the water, push A to jump out. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.4.a. Cream/Sonic ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed Sonic makes Chao Attack loose its homing ability, but it is still powerful, a good speed team with flight abilities too. Differences from Cream's Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Boost Mode: Described Above B button or A button then B button: Chao Ball Attack, with Sonic as a partner looses its homing ability, but Cheese does rush sideways in a blue blaze of light, still a very powerful attack. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.4.b. Cream/Tails ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Flight A mediocre Flight team, Cream looses her flight but gains the umbrella, but Tails can still air lift her using Tag Action. Differences from Cream's Basic Moves: A button then A again while in air: Floating Fall, float gently down with the umbrella, press left or right to change what direction you are floating. You cannot attack enemies. If you let go of the A button Cream will fall. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.4.c. Cream/Knuckles ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Power One of the best teams there is! Cheese actually circles around Cream, automatically killing enemies he hits, plus Cream's flight makes this a very strong team indeed! Strangly Cream loses her ability to float in water when paired with Knuckles. Differences from Cream's Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Automatic Chao Spinning Attack: Cheese continuously spins around Cream and will automatically kill enemies/get item boxes he touches. Cream loses her ability to stay afloat in water. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.4.d Cream/Amy Team Jubilee! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: FlightA pretty good flight team, but not the best. Differences from Cream's Basic Moves: A Button: Jump, you cannot attack enemies when you jump. A Button then B Button: Chao Attack, same as Cream's basic, just remember you have to jump to use it. A Button then down plus B Button: Hip Drop, a fast downwards attack. B button: Hammer Attack, use the hammer to attack enemies right beside you. Use Hammer Attack on a spring to jump extra high. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.5. Amy's Basic Attacks: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Amy's basic moves, they are similar to the moves she had in Sonic Advance 1, no spin attacks. This is pretty general, she is the character most affected by other characters. A button: Jump, you cannot attack enemies when you jump. Press down and A button: Leap, she takes giant steps forward, good for getting up steep slopes, she can even get up slopes the others can't Spin-Dash up! Press down and A button, then B button during Leap: Head Slide, good when you encounter an enemy during Leap. A button then B button while in air: Mid-Air Hammer Attack, swing the hammer in the air. B button: Hammer Attack, use the hammer to attack enemies right beside you. Use Hammer Attack on a spring to jump extra high. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.5.a. Amy/Sonic A Lovely Couple! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Speed In this formation, Amy suddenly changes from Sonic Advance-like to Sonic Advance 2 like, here moves are very different and she has all the spin moves including her weird spin-dash! A good speed team. Differences from Amy's Basic Moves, note that these are pretty much completely different from her normal moves: Non-attack Effects: Boost Mode: Described Above Press down while running: Spin Along Ground, you start spinning while still moving, use to attack enemies. A button: Spin Jump, use to jump or to attack an enemy. Press and hold down + A button then release: Spin Dash, used for attacking enemies or to instantly increase speed for getting up slopes, if you press the A button once and then release both buttons, you will get the most powerful Spin Dash, if you keep pressing down for a while then release the A button, the character will eventually rev down a little and then releasing down will result in a less powerful Spin Dash. A button then A again while in air: Jump Dash: Amy attacks sideways while holding her skirt. A button then down + B button while in the air: Spinning Hammer Attack, swirl down toward the ground, then bounce back up again. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~2.e.5.b Amy/Tails ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Flight A mid level flight formation, Amy does have her balloon gliding which is kind of cool and her Super Hammer Attack has more height, but there is also always Tail's awesome Tag Action. Differences from Amy's Basic Moves: A button then A again while in air: Floating Fall, float gently down with the balloons, press left or right to change what direction you are floating. You cannot attack enemies. If you let go of the A button Amy will fall. A button then B button while in air: Mid-air Hammer Jump, swing the hammer in the air and jump up higher. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.5.c Amy/Knuckles ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Power Knuckles changes Amy quite a bit, for the better! Man that's a big Hammer... also Amy Dash can be useful for getting up slopes. Differences from Amy's Basic Moves: Press and hold down + A button then release: Amy Dash, she looks like she is going to do her weird Spin Dash, but instead she just runs at a faster speed, but she does not enter Boost Mode. Seems to resemble Sonic's Super Peel-out from Sonic CD... A button then down + B button while in the air: Mid-Air Hammer Attack, swirl down toward the ground, then bounce back up again. B button: Big Hammer Attack, attack enemies with a huge hammer. Use on a spring to jump extra high. Press down and B button: Hammer Jump, use the hammer to jump extra high. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.e.5.d. Amy/Cream Team Jubilee! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Formation: Flight In my opinion the worst flight team, they can't gain height at all except for the fact of high jump off springs, R button trick moves and the slight boost from Cream's Air Tag Action! And it is kind of similar to the Amy/Tails team, but so cute! Differences from Amy's Basic Moves: Non-attack Effects: Mid Air Trick Moves: Described Above A button then A again while in air: Floating Fall, float gently down with the balloons, press left or right to change what direction you are floating. You cannot attack enemies. If you let go of the A button Amy will fall. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 2.f. Important Team Skills Summary ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The different teams are defiantly better at doing some things than others, but there are a handful of skills that I consider very important and I often refer to when I describe Chao locations and such. This is intended as a quick glance guide to what all the teams can basically do, the teams and the terms I use are described in much more detail in the list above and of course not everything is listed, mostly just skills that help you get through an act and to areas that you might not be able to get to with another team, some of the stuff listed for each team is done by Tag Action and is indicated as such. Look at each act and boss and try to figure out which of these skills listed below would help you the most. I decided to add hitting spring with hammer, surprisingly useful, and Cream's Air Tag Action can help your jump so I included it too, plus I decided to add in Chao Attack because it is useful to bosses, there are also three teams that can't spin-dash, spin-dash is highly useful and puts them at a disadvantage in a few situations, so I pointed them out too. Sonic/Tails Speed: Boost Mode, R Button Tricks, Tag Action Flight, Tag Action High Jump Sonic/Knuckles Speed: Boost Mode, Tag Action Gliding, Tag Action Tough Barrier Break Sonic/Cream Speed: Boost Mode, Breathe Underwater, Tag Action Chao Attack, Tag Action Jump Assist Sonic/Amy Speed: Boost Mode, Spring Hammer, Tag Action High Jump Tails/Sonic Speed: Boost Mode, R Button Tricks, Flight, Swimming, Tag Action Boost Mode Tails/Knuckles Power: Gliding, Swimming, Tag Action Gliding, Tag Action Tough Barrier Break Tails/Cream Flight: Limited Flight, Swimming, Tag Action Chao Attack, Tag Action Jump Assist Tails/Amy Flight: Enhanced Flight, Swimming, Spring Hammer, Tag Action High Jump Knuckles/Sonic Speed: Boost Mode, Floating on top of Water, Tough Barrier Break, Tag Action Boost Mode Knuckles/Tails Power: Enhanced Gliding, Climbing, Floating on top of Water, Tough Barrier Break, Tag Action Flight, Tag Action High Jump Knuckles/Cream Power: Gliding, Climbing, Floating on top of Water, Tough Barrier Break, Tag Action Chao Attack, Tag Action Jump Assist Knuckles/Amy Power: Gliding, Climbing, Floating on top of Water, Tough Barrier Break, Spring Hammer, Wall Spin-dash, Tag Action High Jump Cream/Sonic Speed: Flight, Boost Mode, Floating on top of Water, decreased Chao Attack, Tag Action Boost Mode Cream/Tails Flight: Umbrella Gliding, Floating on top of Water, Chao Attack, Tag Action Flight, Tag Action High Jump Cream/Knuckles Power: Flight, Floating on top of Water, Enhanced Chao Attack, Tag Action Gliding, Tag Action Tough Barrier Break Cream/Amy Flight: Flight, Floating on top of Water, Spring Hammer, Chao Attack when jumping, Tag Action High Jump Amy/Sonic Speed: Boost Mode, Tag Action Boost Mode Amy/Tails Flight: Balloon Gliding, Tag Action Flight, Tag Action High Jump (no spin-dash) Amy/Knuckles Power: Hammer Jump, Tag Action Gliding, Tag Action Tough Barrier Break (no spin-dash, but Amy Dash helps out) Amy/Cream Flight: R Button Tricks, Balloon Gliding, Spring Hammer, Tag Action Chao Attack, Tag Action Jump Assist (no spin-dash) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 3. Unlock features: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Unlock Knuckles: Complete Zone 2 Act 3 with Sonic as leader Unlock Amy: Complete Zone 4 Act 3 with Sonic as leader Unlock Cream: Complete Zone 6 Act 3 with Sonic as leader Unlock Sound Test: Defeat the Final Boss Unlock Boss Time Attack: Get all gold metals in all acts and bosses, beat Final Zone again. (Do not have to have all Chaos Emeralds and beat Extra Zone to unlock like some places say.) Unlock Special Stage Mode: Get all Chaos Emeralds, then enter this key combination on the main menu (the one with the Chao): Up, R, Down, L, Right, Left Unlock Extra Zone: Get all Chaos Emeralds, beat Final Zone with Sonic as leader. You have to beat Final Zone with Sonic as Leader every time you want to enter the Extra Zone ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 4. Map Area: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Unlike the previous two Sonic Advance Games this game has an over world system, the Zone Maps. The Map Areas are the main place to navigate to get to different Acts, Bosses and Minigames. at first can be confusing to navigate. Each Zone's Map Area contains the following things which will be described in more detail in their own sections: The Factory Ring: Where you always start, this giant floating ring will take you to Sonic Factory. Here you can change the main and partner character, go to Chao Playground, and go back to previously beaten zones. The Act Rings: Three in total, they are small rings numbered 1-3. These are the main stages in the game where you earn metals and find Chao and Special Keys. You have to beat all three acts in each Zone to be able to fight the Final Boss, but it does not matter which order you play them in. Crowns appear over the act rings to signify you have completed the act. The Final Boss: There is a huge yellow transporter that will take you to the Final Boss for the Zone if you have already beat the three acts. Defeat the Boss in order to advance to the next Zone. The transporter turns red if you have already defeated the Boss. Mini Games: Takes you to the Defeat All Enemies and Push the Switch Minigames where you can earn extra lives. Map Chao: Every Zone except for Zone 3 has one Chao hidden somewhere in the Map Area. Find this Chao along with the 9 others in the Acts so you can gather Special Keys in the acts. Special Spring: A locked spring hidden somewhere in the Map Area, if you have a Special Key then you can unlock it and go on to the Special Stage where you can earn a Chaos Emerald. A crown appears over it when you have successfully earned the Emerald. Omochao: They are here to help you! Found throughout the Map Areas and Acts. Go up to one and push up to see what helpful advice he has. Too bad you can't smash them like in Sonic Adventure 2... Final Zone Ring: A giant metal ring found in the Zone 7 Chaos Angel Map Area. It leads to the Final Zone, Altar Emerald. If you have all Chaos Emeralds and Sonic is leader if you beat this zone you can go on to the Extra Zone, Nonaggression. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 5. Sonic Factory: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This is the area in each Zone to change Team Formation, View Chao information and go to different zones. If you head to the right out of the factory you will go back to the Map Area. Character Select Machine: The first thing in the Sonic Factory, jump into it and you can change the lead and partner character you want to play as. Chao Playground: Going left of the Character Select Machine hit the spring and head left to find Chao Playground. You can see how many of the 10 Chao you have found in each Zone and the Chaos Emerald if you have earned it. If you press select you can view this information for each Zone. Zone Select: To the right of there is the Zone Select area, jump into the numbered machines to instantly go to other Zones you have already completed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 6. Mini Games: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In each Map Area there are two transporters with a star on them, they lead to two different types of minigames. 1ups are rewarded based upon how much time you take in completing the minigame, 5 is max, 0 if you can't complete it in time. You can only enter each minigame once per game. One minigame is Push the Switch, there is a capsule with 5 switches in it and you are suppose to try to push switches that turn colors as fast as possible. If you are able to push a red switch it is worth 3 points, yellow is worth 2, blue is worth one. You only have 30 seconds to push switches, but in my opinion this game is easier than the defeat enemies game! I recommend a team with a hammer because it is a lot easier to push the switches with a hammer, Tails' Tail Swipe works well too. Anyway the number of points required to win differs by zone. Zone 1: 5 Zone 2: 8 Zone 3: 12 Zone 4: 15 Zone 5: 18 Zone 6: 22 Zone 7: 25 The second minigame is Defeat All Enemies, you have to get through a small area and defeat all 8 enemies within a minute to get a reward, flowers pop out of the robots, Sonic CD anyone? This minigame is good for teams with good fighting skills and ways to get up higher, I like using Tails/Amy actually because some enemies are in the air, and Chao Attack is excellent. Push the Switch is easier than this game. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 6.a. Mini Games Locator ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The minigames are not only sometimes kind of hidden in the Map Areas, but you cannot tell the difference between them by looking at the transporter. So here is a guide to the locations of both minigames in each Map Area relative to such things as the Factory Ring and Act Rings. Zone 1: Push the Switch: Pretty easy to find. To the right of the Act 2 Ring is a large fall, after you fall down head jump left instead of right, the transporter is kind of in a small room against the left wall, if you do not make the jump you will have to tag action high jump, climb or fly back up there, or glide to there from the area you jumped is a little easier. Number of points: 5 Defeat All Enemies: Pretty easy to find. In between the Act 1 and Act 2 rings is a hole, jump through the hole, then spin-dash or run fast left up the curve and you will find the minigame transporter. Zone 2: Push the Switch: Easy to find, from the Act 1 Ring on your way to Act 2 you jump on a spring then you are on a platform with flowers on it. You can either go down the hole then you will have to go up on a platform, or jump over it and the blue and yellow spring, doesn't matter, you will find the minigame up against the right wall. Number of points: 8 Defeat All Enemies: Very easy to find, on your way from the Act 2 Ring to the Act 3, you go left from Act 2 and you come to a hole, the minigame is on the left side, go down the hole, push blue switch to go on your way to Act 3. Shortcut from Factory Ring, Tag Action High Jump Required: Tag Action High Jump up the gap in the ceiling just right of the Factory Ring and land on the blue switch that is to the left. Tag Action High Jump to the left again and there is the minigame. Zone 3: Push the Switch: Very easy to find, You should see it after you are shot out of the cannon on your way to Act 2 from Act 1. Number of points: 12 Defeat All Enemies: Very easy to find, you should see it when you are heading for the Act 3 Ring from Act 2 to the left as soon as you use the machine to go up higher. Zone 4: Push the Switch: Easy to see but a little complex to get to, unless you use the shortcut I will explain later! You should see it under you when going from Act 2 to Act 3, here is how to get to it. Just left of the Act 3 Ring is a blue switch, if you press it two platforms appear, one above in the gap and one going left and right, get on the platform going left and right. When the platform is farthest left, you will see a spring above you that leads to the zone 4 boss, but instead you want to jump to the left and land below there, it can be a tricky ledge to land on if you don't have any type of tag action, flying or climbing abilities. Anyway you should see another blue switch, push it and another platform appears to the left, this one leads to a rocket and the rocket leads to the minigame. Shortcut from Factory Ring, Tag Action High Jump or Flight Required: Just right of the Factory Ring you should see pendulums, Tag Action High Jump or fly from the pendulum (left one preferably) to the right and you will see the same blue switch to the right, or you can just fly or Tag Action High Jump directly to the rocket. Number of points: 15 Defeat All Enemies: Tag Action High Jump, Flight or Climbing apparantly required, Not easy to find. On your way from the Act 2 Ring to the Act 3 Ring you will come across an Omochao that says "There's An Act Ring Below Here" That is a big gap that you jump down in order to get to the Act 3 Ring, The minigame is actually on the right side of this gap, the other end of the hole is higher and I tried but you just can't jump it, and gliding barely works if you start off a little ways to the left of there up higher, but climbing is fine. You can also Tag Action High Jump up there if you happen to be in that hole near the Act 3 Ring. When you push the blue switch two platforms appear and one is in that hole, but you still can't use it to jump to the other side of the hole. Shortcut from Factory Ring: Follow the shortcut instructions for the other minigame, but keep heading right to end up near the Act 3 Ring. Zone 5: Push the Switch: Kind of hidden, just a little left of the Act 2 ring you will see a hole covered with an icicle. Just standing on it gets you nowhere, you have to jump on it then jump off to make it fall. Then jump down the hole and you will be in a room with the minigame. Number of points: 18 Defeat All Enemies: About medium difficulty to find. On your way to Act 2 from Act 1, you will come across a large gap area that you head left across on platforms, right before the platforms is an Omochao that says "There's an Act Ring left of here" Instead of jumping on the platforms, jump down in between the first moving platform and the wall and you will land in a room with the minigame in it. Zone 6: Push the Switch: Not really hard to find. From the Act 2 Ring heading for act 3 you will be in a machine where you choose direction, choosing left will send you to this minigame, right sends you on to Act 3. There is a small shortcut but not worth mentioning. Number of points: 22 Defeat All Enemies: Not really hard to find. From the Act 3 Ring heading to the boss there is a machine you get in that you have to choose a direction, down gets you to this minigame, up gets you to the boss. Shortcut from Factory Ring, Tag Action High Jump Required: Just right of the Factory Ring gravity reverses, when it does use Tag Action High jump and you will jump through a hole in the "floor" and head left, then gravity will reverse again and you will find the minigame. Zone 7: Push the Switch: Slightly hidden, going left from the Act 3 ring hit the spring up and go right, not left where you see the see-saw, fall down a little ways and you will come to the mini-game. Shortcut from Factory Ring, Tag Action High Jump, Flight, Climbing Required: Go up through the gap in the ceiling just to the right of the Factory Ring. It is even possible to get up here using Cream's Air Tag Action, but a little tricky... Number of points: 25 Defeat All Enemies: Kind of weird place, hidden. Just before you get to the Boss, you push a switch that makes a platform appear that takes you up to the boss, instead of getting on that platform instead push the switch and jump down the hole, a platform temporarily appears at the bottom that allows you to push a switch against the wall. This switch activates a spring that is left of the Act 2 Ring that sends you up to the minigame. Shortcut, Tag Action High Jump or Flight Required: Just use Tag Action or flight just to the left of the Act 2 Ring and head a little left, a lot quicker. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7. Acts and Bosses ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The most important part of the game, in each zone there are 3 acts, you have to get through them in any order in order to challenge the boss for the zone, defeat the boss and you are on your way to the next zone. There is one main boss for each zone, but zones 2, 4 and 6 have a miniboss located at the end of Act 3 that is associated with unlocking characters in those acts, defeat the act and miniboss with Sonic to unlock Knuckles, Amy and Cream. Also there is the Final Boss you get to face after defeating the Zone 7 boss to see the normal ending of the game. But if you successfully get all Chaos Emeralds, then you get the treat of facing the extra boss and seeing a totally different ending. For all acts and bosses you earn medals based upon how fast you have completed them, Gold, Silver and Bronze. In detail later on in the guide I give instructions on how to get into the Special Stages and earning Chaos Emeralds and tips on how to get Gold and other medals in every act and boss. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.a. General Tips for the Acts ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Like other Sonic games, you want to get through levels alive, so make sure you keep rings. But one difference is the scoring system, there is no score, you just earn medals by going through the act or boss as fast as possible. So rings are only important to keep you alive and gathering 100 of them to earn extra lives. Also rings are found in badniks this time too which in fact makes life in this game a little easier. Also this game's pace most of the time is more like the old Genesis games and Sonic Advance 1 that Sonic Advance 2, not much running and there are even switches this time like in the old games you have to press to make things happen. There are parts of the game you can get out a speed formation team and whiz through like Sonic Advance 2, but other places, Zone 4 comes to mind, where you find yourself at a much slower pace. That is part of what makes this game great, there is huge variety in how to get through acts. Also in the acts you will run into Chao. There are ten in all in each Zone and are important if you want to get into the Special Stage so you can earn Chaos Emeralds, I go into this in much more detail in the appropriate section. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.b. General Tips for the Bosses ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The bosses in this game are completely different than Sonic Advance 2, like Sonic Advance 1 they stay in pretty much the same place. There are different techniques to defeating each one and different moves that work on different bosses, not even all bosses can be Chao Attacked to death like in Sonic Advance 2 and you have to beat at least 5 of them anyway before even unlocking Cream so you better be learning some extra skills quick! Just like the acts there is no score so you earn a medal depending on how quickly you can defeat the boss. The breakdown is like this: 7 zone bosses, 3 minibosses in zones 2, 4 and 6, final boss, and the extra boss which are detailed in the next section. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c. Act and Boss Locator ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Most of the Acts and Bosses are pretty intuitive to find, but a few are tricky, so here is a guide, and for some of the acts I describe shortcuts to get back to the act from the Factory Ring, but most is in sequential order. The locations of other things such as Minigames, Map Chao, and Special Springs are described in later sections and use the Factory Ring, Act Rings and Bosses as reference points. Remember, you cannot get into Bosses until you have beaten all three acts in the zone, and a lot of people don't know about the Final Zone ring because you can also get to the Final Zone after defeating Zone 7 Boss, but it's there just left of the Zone 7 Boss! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.1. Zone 1: Route 99 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Go right from the Factory Ring and break the barrier in the floor. Hit the switch down there and it activates a spring, then go a little left and use the chain and handle to go up, a little right of there is the Act 1 Ring. Shortcut: Use some sort of flight, climbing, tag action, whatever where the barrier in the floor is and you should come to the chain that takes you to act 1. Act 2 Ring: Just head right from Act 1 making sure not to fall in the little hole between the acts unless you want to play the minigame. Act 3 Ring: Head right from Act 2, you will just fall down a bunch of little cliffs, just keep going right and you will get there. Boss: Right from Act 3 hit the red switch that activates the springs, these will send you up and into a chain and handle, jump up from there to the left and there is the final boss. Shortcut: Tag Action High Jump a little ways right of the Act 2 Ring heading left, this is the area of the Map Chao and the Final Boss is just right of that. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.2. Zone 2: Sunset Hill ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Just head right from the Factory Ring. Act 2 Ring: Heading right from Act 1 hit the spring, then land on the platform with the flowers on it. Jump over the gap heading right and you will come to the blue and yellow trampoline spring. Use it to head up and then head left, Keep going left and you will find Act 2. Shortcut, can use this also as an easier way to get to Act 3 and boss too, Tag Action High Jump Required. Tag Action High Jump through the hole in the ceiling just left of the Factory Ring, go to the right and land on the blue switch, but to get to Act 2 you want to instead Tag Action High Jump Again and land right, you should come to an area with a minigame to the left, go right for a while to get to Act 2. Act 3 Ring: From Act 2 head left and you will come to a hole with a minigame on the other side. Jump down the hole and you will land on a blue switch. It is best to walk off the edge to the right to land on the platform that appears, falling down this hole takes you back to the Factory Ring, Head right from there and you will find a blue and yellow trampoline spring, you have to jump off of it really hard, if you don't you will end back by the Act 2 Ring again. When you get up there head right and you will find Act 3. Easier way shortcut: From Act 2 go left and you will see a place before you get to the hole with the minigame by it that has a brown pole, right here you want to use Tag Action High Jump to get to Act 3, much easier than the trampoline Spring. Another shortcut: If you like the trampoline spring, then you can just Tag Action High Jump from the Factory ring and head right this time to get to the spring. Boss: From Act 3 head right and push the red switch and quickly head left. You will activate a spring to the far left that sends you up to a narrow platform, jump down to the left and you will land on a small platform with two gaps on both sides and to the left you will see the boss. Shortcut: Tag Action High jump a little more left of that brown pole where the tag action shortcut to Act 3, try to go straight up because that little platform gets in the way. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.3. Zone 3: Ocean Base ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Going right from the Factory Ring you will encounter a waterfall, you want to jump through it and head right and up, head right from the other side to find the act ring. Act 2 Ring: Just right of Act 1 you will find a blue switch that activates a platform that leads to a cannon, or just Tag Action High Jump, fly, whatever to the cannon, the cannon shoots you up next to a minigame, head left and then fall down a little, you will come to another waterfall, jump through this heading left and you will find the Act 2 ring. Shortcut: Tag Action High Jump or Fly just barely right of the Act 1 ring and head left to where you see the Omochao and go right to find the same waterfall. Act 3 Ring: Going left from Act 2 you will encounter a machine you jump on to take you higher, go higher and head right, left is the minigame, then jump through the waterfall you encounter heading right. Go right and you will find the act ring. Boss: Go left from the Act 3 ring and at the edge of the waterfall start climbing up and at near the top of the waterfall start heading left, you can use the red switch and spring but not necessary. From there you might want to spin-dash up the curve heading left, you will find a cannon. The cannon will send you into a spring, you will then find yourself heading right, launched off a ramp and into the boss. Little Shortcut: Instead of spin-dashing up the curve and into the cannon, use Tag Action High Jump when you get up the curve and head right, you will find a spring and hit that to find the boss, Tails' Flight barely makes it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.4. Zone 4: Toy Kingdom ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Going right you will come to a pendulum, jump on the left one, when it gets highest up jump off to the left and head left, you will come to the act ring. Act 2 Ring: Going left from Act 1 you will come to a rocket, take the rocket up and head right, you will find the act 2 Ring. Little and tricky shortcut: Tag Action High Jump through the gap barely right of the Factory Ring to get to the rocket. Act 3 Ring: Spin-dash or run up the wall to the right of Act 2, head right and you will come to a hole with an Omochao by it, drop down and head right to find the act ring. Shortcut: Tag Action off the pendulums at the beginning of the Act and head right to where you see the blue switch. Head right from there and you will find the act ring eventually. Boss: Just a little left of the Act 3 ring is a blue switch that makes two platforms appear, hit it and take the platform going left and right. When farthest left jump up to the spring you see to the left, this takes you all the way up to a rocket, there is a series of three rockets that takes you to the boss. Shortcut: Use Tag Action High Jump to get to the rockets just a little left of that area where the Omochao is by the hole you go down where Act 3 is. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.5. Zone 5: Twinkle Snow ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Just head right from the Factory Ring. Act 2 Ring: From the Act 1 Ring first go right, then a series of ledges leads you down and left, you will be by an Omochao and you will see a platform moving up and down to the left, jump on that one than the other two to span the huge gap and you will find act 2. Act 3: Go left from there and you will find a couple of moving blocks, get on those to head to the left and up and you will find act 3. Boss: Go left from act 3 and fall down till you reach the very bottom, hit the spring that is pointing to the right and you will land on a machine you push down to send you up and when you use it the boss is to the right. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.6. Zone 6: Cyber Track ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Head right from the Factory Ring, gravity will reverse, then reverse again, and there is the act. Act 2 Ring: Go right from Act 1, hit the spring, gravity reverses, then jump to the right, fall through, head right, gravity reverses, a little more right and there is act 2. Act 3 Ring: Stand on the platform just right of the Act 2 ring until it crumbles. Head left and jump into the machine that spits you out depending on what direction you choose. Choose right and when you are spit out head left, you will come to pendulums, use then to head left and up and there is act 3. Boss: Go left from act 3 and get in the machine. Choose up and there is the boss. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.c.7. Zone 7: Chaos Angel ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Act 1 Ring: Head right from the factory ring, jump over the gap with the platform in it, there is act 1. Act 2 Ring: Heading right form act 2 jump over both gaps you come to, keep jumping up and right and you will come to a blue switch, press it to make a platform appear, jump on the platform to go up and left and there is act 2. Act 3 Ring: Heading left from act 2 you will come to a machine you run on, run left to head left over the gap, there is act 3. Shortcut from Factory Ring: Tag Action High Jump up the gap barely right of the Factory Ring, you will see a minigame, go right from there and you will have to high jump again and you will be at the edge of a hole with a see-saw on the other side, jump down the hole head left and you will find act 3. Boss: Go left from act 3 and hit the spring, you will see a see-saw to the right, use it to get up higher, head right and you will come to a blue switch, press it and you will see a platform appear, jump on it to go up higher and there is the boss. Shortcut: Follow instructions for Act 3 Ring but jump on the see-saw instead. Final Zone Ring: Go left of the boss and you will find a spring, use it, head left and you will find the giant metal ring that leads to the Final Zone. Shortcut: Same as for Act 3 Ring and Boss. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d. Bosses ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Here is a handy-dandy description of all bosses on a zone-by-zone basis, including the final and extra zone! This will also be the section where I spoil the final and extra endings and I really talk about them. The number of hits is for normal mode, on easy mode you have to hit the bosses even less. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.1. Zone 1: Route 99 Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This is a two part boss, the first part is the first time you meet Eggman's new robot, he is usually called G-mel based upon Sonic Team's Japanese website for this game. Anyway yes he does resemble Emerl(Gizoid)from Sonic Battle, he is suppose to. Anyway all he does is try to rush at you then he just stops and looks around, it is easy to hit him when he just stops at the edge of the screen, only 4 hits and he is toast. The next part doesn't have an official name yet, but I can bet it is Egghammer III since Egghammer I and II were in the first two Advance games. Anyway the giant hammer is on top of a turn table like thing with G-mel in it and is in the middle of the screen. The hammer smashes one side of the arena first, then always smashes the other side next. When you are on the side the hammer is going to come down then it tries to smash you directly. This is what you do, you want to be on the side the hammer comes down, wait for it to aim at you, then run out of its way toward the end of the screen so that it comes down short. Then you can simply hit it when it is down on the ground like this. Sonic/Tails or Tails/Sonic can easily jump and beat it and you have to beat it with one of those teams the first time anyway since you have not unlocked any new characters the first time through. Flight doesn't work in this situation so with Tails/Sonic just jump on it. If you unlock more characters, other strategies that work well are Tails/Amy, if you are careful you can just fly around and attack it with the Ariel Hammer, and Chao Attack does work on this boss if you want to gold medal it with Cream. Basically there are many different ways you hit this guy and is pretty easy with just about any team. It takes 8 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.2. Zone 2 Act 3: Sunset Hill Miniboss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It is just G-mel again, and this time he can do two things, rush at you like he did in Zone 1, or he will jump into the air and then spin rapidly at you, to avoid this jump up quickly. You will want to defeat this act and miniboss with Sonic as leader because if you do you will unlock Knuckles the Echidna. 4 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.3. Zone 2: Sunset Hill Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This boss is basically a wheel, and it rolls around in an oval on the floor and the ceiling, there is also a switch in the middle you can press to make a platform temporarily appear. The most important thing to remember is to hit the glass part of the wheel where Eggman and G-mel is, you will just hurt yourself if you hit other parts of the wheel. Also the wheel goes faster and is on the ceiling more the more you hit it. Anyway hitting it is pretty straight forward, but when on the ceiling you can either jump off the platform, or better yet Tail's flight is very handy because you can hit it with his tails, so I recommend Tails/Sonic first time through. With other characters unlocked, try Tails/Amy or Cream/Knuckles, I don't like other teams with Cream because homing attack works but for some reason I have trouble avoiding the wheel, while with Cream/Knuckles you can just jump toward it and Cheese will probably hit the glass part for you, but I still like Tails/Sonic or Tails/Amy a lot better, of course with Tails/Amy you can attack with tails or hammer. Throwing Knuckles at it with Tag Action is a nice way to do it to. 8 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.4. Zone 3: Ocean Base Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This boss is a strange contraption on springy legs, he sometimes is up high going back and forth, but then he comes down hard. The trick is to keep up with him while in the air so when he comes down you are between the two feet which do hurt you if you touch them then jump up and hit him. But when you hit him 4 times occasionally instead of coming down like he normally does the feet will suddenly curve in before he descends, and on top of that when he lands a shockwave comes off on either side. To avoid that when you see the feet curve in quickly spin- dash or if you have Amy Giant Step or Amy Dash toward the edge of the screen, then jump up quickly to avoid the shockwave. Flight does not help at all, nor does gliding or any other tag action, Chao Attack works but turns out not to help much. I suggest just using Sonic/Tails, but I found out that Amy's Giant Steps and Amy Dash works better at avoiding the shockwave than Spin-dash because it is easier to jump after you hit the edge of the screen, but make sure you use Mid-air Hammer Attack to attack the boss. 8 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.5. Zone 4 Act 3: Toy Kingdom Miniboss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This time G-mel has three moves, the same two from the Zone 2 miniboss, plus a new move where he stands still and fires missiles at you, these are pretty easy to avoid by running away and jumping. You will want to defeat this act and miniboss with Sonic as leader because if you do you will unlock Amy Rose, but later on you might want to use Knuckles/Tails to get the Gold Medal. 4 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.6. Zone 4: Toy Kingdom Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Egg-in-the-box??? Anyway this boss is even more unpredictable than the Zone 3 boss. Eggman and G-mel are in a jack-in-the-box like contraption in a flat field, but there is a dangerous hole on the left side and right side! Anyway the goal is to push the box into the hole on the right side of the screen, while all of Eggman's attacks seem to try to push you into the left hole. When Eggman is visible, the box creeps slowly to the left, but when you hit him it sends him to the right, but watch out because what happens next is unpredictable, but if you watch closely you can prepare for anything while keeping an eye out for those three solders coming at you sometimes! The best thing that can happen is for G-mel to pop out of a box with some nice confetti, apparently as a nose for the clown head inside, no attack, and Eggman will soon reappear and you can hit him again, but the other two things are a doozy! One attack is G-mel appears in a mace ball and heads straight for you, then slowly retracts back into the box. This thing can be hard to avoid especially in the beginning because the mace comes all the way to the edge of the dangerous hole and if you hit it you will be knocked back probably into that hole. The best way to avoid it is to jump over it toward the box, then jump back to the other side when the mace has retracted a little, but don't wait too long for it to retract too much. Flying can be a little handy in avoiding this attack, and it gets easier to avoid later on because the mace then doesn't reach the hole and you can just carefully stand near the hole till it goes away making sure the little solders don't hit you. The third attack is a rocket attack, G-mel will rocket high up in the air and an arrow will appear over your head, then as soon as that arrow is gone he will try to really nail you. The best way to get past this is to rev up a spin-dash then release as soon as that arrow disappears, but spin-dash toward the box, not the hole! This gets harder later on because the solders pop out more frequently and if they hit you while revving up a spin-dash it will hurt. Knuckles as partner can be good to throw at him if you want, and flight is a little handy for avoiding that mace, and if you unlocked Cream Chao Attack works very well, and when hitting Eggman sideways moves like skid attack and hammers are slightly safer than spin jumping, but good old Sonic/Tails works just fine. There is no set number of hits, you have to hit him until he falls off the edge of the hole. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.7. Zone 5: Twinkle Snow Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This one is tricky... the screen is slowly scrolling up, and Eggman is at the bottom of the screen going back and forth, and you have to jump on a bunch of platforms to prevent from falling to the bottom of the screen and dying! Eggman cannot be attacked directly either, not even by Chao Attack. When you jump on a platform it shakes and it falls as soon as you jump off, so you have to jump off when Eggman is under you so the platform hits him and does damage. Slightly complicating things is the fact sometimes the machine flips over and a spiky ball comes at you, it is best to be in the process of jumping to another platform when this happens then just waiting there till it is safe to jump again, Eggman cannot be attacked at this time. Only flying can slightly help with this if you accidentally miss a platform, but in general it is all a matter of timing jumps and it does not matter what team you use, but the team with the best vertical fly time in case you mess up is Tails/Amy. Don't try to glide because you can't gain height, no good, and if you try to climb the wall the spiky ball will get you, you will not be able to get back on the platforms and in general not good. Just practice and remember the platform will not fall until you jump off of it. It takes 8 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.8. Zone 6 Act 3: Cyber Track Miniboss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This time G-mel sometimes just rushes at you, but he also has two other different moves. One is a Chaos Control move where he suddenly teleports from the edge of the arena to the middle and runs toward you, pretty easy to avoid but can be surprising. The second one is a different type of missile attack, he fires missiles at you while spinning across the top of the screen from left to right or right to left, these can easily be avoided by just running around out of the way of the missiles. You will want to defeat this act and miniboss with Sonic as leader because if you do you will unlock Cream the Rabbit, but this act is quite difficult as Sonic so play as Cream later to get the gold medal. 4 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.9. Zone 6: Cyber Track Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Another boss that you cannot attack directly. Eggman is in a cannon that moves back and forth under the floor and he shoots blue balls at you, don't stand on the red and gray platforms on both sides of the arena too long because they drop. Anyway the blue balls do hurt you if they hit you, but not if you spin jump or some other attack into them, then they turn orange and if you can make them bounce into Eggman they will do damage, but remember the orange balls will hurt you too if you don't jump or attack them also. One trick is to hit the balls into the wall, then it will bounce at a smaller angle and is more likely to hit Eggman, but it is more likely to hit you too. I greatly recommend staying away from the hammer teams that can't spin-jump to hit the balls, and you can't Chao Attack them either so Cream is no help. Also since you are jumping around a lot pushing the A button I don't like most teams that have a second action in the air, so I like using Sonic, but Knuckles/Sonic and Sonic/Cream have actions that can knock the balls into the wall easier. You can hit the balls while gliding with Knuckles but not recommended. As the fight goes on the balls come at you faster, which can be a good and bad thing, more potential hits to both you and Eggman, you will end up jumping around like a mad man. 8 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.10. Zone 7: Chaos Angel Boss ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Actually not that bad of a boss. There is a bridge across the screen and the machine moves along it, Eggman on one side and G-mel on the other. You will see that Eggman is protected by electricity, you have to hit G- mel so you want to be on the side of the bridge he is on, you change sides by just walking into the tube on the sides of the battle area, I guess gravity changes or something because when on the bottom you are upside down. It is easy to hit him, but the danger comes with the spikes at the very top and bottom of the screen, after you hit G-mel it forces Eggman into the spikes, but it shakes the bridge near where they are at and the force can send you into the spikes also if you are near the machine. Also later in the battle he will occasionally shake the bridge trying to make you go into the spikes yourself, and also later on after he is hit four times he will start turning around rapidly and going back and forth on the bridge after you hit him, just jump over the machine when it comes at you. The best way to hit him without being sent into the spikes is to try a long range attack, Chao Attack is very excellent and it does not matter what side of the bridge you are on when you use it. Knuckles as partner is good too because you can throw Knuckles at him, but this only works if G-mel is on the same side of the bridge but on the other side of the arena. If you spin jump him try to get away quickly before being sent into the spikes. Avoid flying, gliding and for goodness sakes no high jump! Also avoid hammers because it is hard to get away from him after hitting him. 8 hits to defeat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.11. Final Zone: Altar Emerald Boss and Ending ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This is a two part boss. The first part is just G-mel again, he has the same three moves from the Zone 6 miniboss plus a new one, he sometimes spins in place at the top of the screen and shoots out missiles straight in different directions, these missiles are not aimed at you, usually if you just stand right under him the missiles will not hit you. 4 hits to defeat. The second part is much trickier and can range from pretty simple to kind of hard depending on what team you are using, it is also a little unpredictable. The setting is in front of the Master Emerald Altar and the boss is *gasp* a giant robot. This robot has huge hands that it uses to attack you with, and your goal is to hit Eggman, he is barely high enough off the ground to avoid a spin-jump. The ground is actually 4 platforms which becomes important in one of the attacks he dishes out. One attack involves the giant hands moving back and forth at the top of the screen, watch out because two of them will come down hard and push two of the platforms to the bottom of the screen, not only will the hands hurt you but if you fall in the holes that are created you die. You avoid this attack by just standing on one platform while the hands are moving back and forth, then observing where they stop and just walking onto a safe platform. Then the hands slowly come back up, you can take this opportunity to jump on the top of the hands and then jump off and hit Eggman. The second attack he is likely to pull out involves the hands being at the side of the screen hitting around red balls that appear, if you just run into the red balls you are hurt, but you can jump on top of them and then jump on Eggman. The third attack is kind of hard to get away from. The hands first turn around in a circle then they punch directly at you three times, try to jump to avoid them but it is a little hard to avoid, I usually get hit but I am getting better at it! The final attack involves the two hands first moving up and down at the side of the screen, then they suddenly come in and try to grab you, if you are grabbed you will be shaken violently and you will either loose rings or you will die after being slammed down hard, avoid by jumping when the hands come at you. The trick to beating this quickly and easily is to be able to hit Eggman without having to always jump on top of the hands or on the red balls. Good choices include Chao Attack, flying with Tails and hitting Eggman with his Tails, using Sonic/Knuckles and Upper Spin, Amy's Air Tag Action, there are others too. Usually when you defeat this boss you will see the normal ending to this game, but if you have collected all 7 Chaos Emeralds and you have Sonic as the leader then the ending completely changes and you will go on to the Extra Zone. It takes 8 hits to defeat this boss, one little note is the fact there is a little delay between the 8th hit and when the boss blows up, so don't freak out. Final Ending: Eggman tries to get away but the character jumps and hits him sending him crashing and burning into a hole. G-mel looks around then jumps in after him. Then the two characters you were playing as join the others around the Emerald Alter and watch as Chaos Control restores the world back to the shape that it was. The flicky birds fly around while Knuckles just stands there looking at the Master Emerald, Cream and Cheese jump up and down, Tails just stands there waving his arms happy, and Amy makes eyes at Sonic while Sonic looks like he wants to run away. Then Omochao appears with a camera and takes their picture. The real ending??? Or is it??? Nope!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 7.d.12. Extra Zone: Nonaggression Boss and Ending ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ As I said many times before, get all Chaos Emeralds, check out the next section of this guide to find out how to do that, then replay the Final Zone with Sonic as leader to get in the Extra Zone, unlike the last two Sonic Advance games you have to defeat the Final Boss every single time, so here are my suggestions on ease of final boss with each Sonic lead team: Sonic/Cream: Easiest, use Tag Action Chao Attack, make sure Cheese is transformed, skid can be dangerous if you skid into a hole when the hands come down. Sonic/Knuckles: Second easiest, attack Eggman directly with Upper Spin.Sonic/Amy: Use Amy's Air Tag Action to attack Eggman directly Sonic/Tails: Can use Flight Tag Action to attack Eggman directly Anyway this is how the final ending changes, Eggman tries to get away, but G-mel being near the Chaos Emeralds goes crazy, he attacks Sonic and steals the Chaos Emeralds! He uses them to transform into this huge cube thing, then using a huge grappling thing picks up Eggman then smashes Eggman right into Sonic, then it flies away! Sonic looks up wondering what to do and Eggman is just sort of sitting there on his side. Then suddenly the Chaos Emeralds come back and Sonic transforms into Super Sonic. Super Sonic blasts off after G-mel and Eggman follows him. The team for this fight is Super Sonic and Eggman!!! Yep, Eggman is your tag action partner! This outer space zone has its own special moves which I have detailed below, and what Tag Action does which you have to use to defeat this boss: D-pad: You can move around in any direction. A or B button: Rush forward, this can be used to just dash fast, or you can also dash through beams and the arms unharmed, and used to attack G- mel after you have used Tag Action. Tag Action: Charge up Eggman, Super Sonic holds Eggman and his little ship and he starts to glow, the glow turns into a sphere of energy, first blue then turning orange when it reaches max. Then what you do is let go of the R Button in front of the cube and the eye opens, when the eye is open you can directly attack G-mel by pushing the A or B button, the longer Eggman is charged up the longer the eye remains open and the more you can hit him before it closes again. But when you are holding Eggman Super Sonic slows way down and if stuff hits you you will be slowed down even more, especially those darn beams... But it is not as easy as that because G-mel does several things to try to stop you from hitting him with Eggman, plus like all Super Sonic levels he is loosing Rings, he starts with 50 rings but when that ring count reaches 0 you are dead so you want to pick up extra rings during the fight too, here are the various things G-mel does: The first attack he extends one of the grappling hook things and then a beam comes out, if you touch the sliver dots that attach the hook to the cube in any of these attacks you will drop Eggman but you can dash though them if you are not holding Eggman. But the danger comes in the beam, if it hits you and you are not dashing or temporarily flashing because you were hit by something else then it electrifies and temporarily paralyzes Super Sonic, dash through the beam or try to avoid it and charge up Eggman away from the beam to throw at G-mel. Near the end of the battle the beam turns around in all directions, you have to dash through this, don't charge up Eggman. The next kind of attack both grapplers are extended in the center of the screen, then they move along the silver dots and missiles are fired in between the space, the missiles make you loose your hold on Eggman of course. You can try to hit G-mel by charging up and trying to avoid missiles, but it is safer to charge up either above or below this area where it is completely safe then hit G-mel after this attack is over. Another attack involves the grapplers forming a wide beam that slowly moves up and down across the screen, easy to dash though and avoid, just charge up Eggman in the safe area. The last type of attack involves all four grapplers coming out and then the thing spinning so they swing around like a pinwheel, I find it hard to charge up Eggman during this, you have to stay moving around in a circle between two of the grapplers, I like to just dash around picking up rings. Of course the attacks don't always occur in this order, especially toward the end. 12 hits to defeat. Extra Ending: A series of scenes play out, and I do mean series... Sonic wakes up to Tails, Cream and Amy standing over him. Then a hysterical Amy hugs him and Sonic well acts like he doesn't know what to do. Then Tails is talking to him and you see something in the background falling through the air smoking. The next scene is Sonic and the rest with the same smoking thing in the background. Then there is a scene in normal game play where Sonic, Tail, Cream and Amy are standing by the Master Emerald, then Sonic spin-dashes away saying "Here we go!", Knuckles drops in afterwards. The next few scenes are separated by random game play demos and should strike a strong cord if you have played Sonic Battle. The first scene just shows a beach, but then a closer view reveals G-mel lying on the beach. Then Cream and her mom Vanilla discover G-mel. Tails fixes G-mel in his workshop, then the next scene shows a fixed G-mel with a flicky bird on his arm and Cream looks happy. Then the last scene shows a tea party at Cream's house, and Cream is happily hugging G-mel's arm, then the credits roll. At the end of the credits is a cute little scene where Cream is chasing after G-mel but trips and falls, she cries but G-mel comes back and pats her on the head, then they run off together hand and hand, then "Sonic Advance 3 End" appears on the screen. Interesting ending, especially if you played Sonic Battle isn't it? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8. Guide to the Chao, Special Keys, Special Spring and the Special Stage. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Finding Chao is the first step of the process, and I do mean process of getting into the Special Stages in order to earn Chaos Emeralds so you will eventually be able to see the great Extra Ending this game has! The process briefly looks like this, for each Zone get Chao, then get Keys, then find the Special Spring then try to beat the Special Stage. Since all of these have to be done separately for each Zone, you can go all the way to getting a Chaos Emerald in one Zone while you might not have found Chao in another, I have set up this guide to talk about each Zone separately, first the location of the Chao, then Keys, then Special Spring location, you will have to wait till later for the key section? I will now talk about each stage in this process in more detail. Chao: There are a total of 10 Chao scattered throughout the maps and acts in each Zone, when you find all ten Chao in that zone and you defeat the Final Boss then you get the keys which I will talk about next. In order to get all Chaos Emeralds you will have to find all Chao in the game, 70 in total! Also, some Chao can only be gotten with a certain team, so I will provide information which teams are best to use if it matters. After you get a Chao it will be gone from the act or map and it goes to Chao Playground. To keep track of what Chao you have found in each Zone, go to the Factory and hit the spring and land to your left and go into Chaos Playground. There you will see all Chao you have found in that Zone and if you press Select you can see which ones you have found in each zone. The list for each zone is in order starting from the first chao you can find in Zone 1 and ending with the Chao hidden in the Map area, only Zone 3 lacks a Map Chao. When you finally get the Chaos Emerald in a zone that appears in the middle of the Chao list for that Zone and in the Chao Playground. After you find all 10 Chao in the Zone suddenly Keys will start to appear in the Acts. Special Keys: After finding all Chao, you will see the Special Keys in each Act. They are pretty much in the open and not hard to find, but the trick is the fact you have to grab one and keep it throughout the act without dying, if you die your key is gone. You can only have one key per act, when you pick up one all the others disappear, but you can accumulate keys in the Map areas. If you have all Chao but the keys just won't appear, try going into Sonic Factory then back out again and they should now be there again. Once you have keys time to find the Special Springs in the map areas. Special Springs: There is a Special Spring slightly hidden in each map area, if you have one or more keys you can unlock the spring and try out the Special Stage. Good luck. Special Stage: In the Special Stage you find yourself on the Tornado and you have to earn more rings in order to advance through the special stage, a more through explanation of the Special Stage is in another section. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ IMPORTANT NOTE: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In order to make my Chao locations a lot clearer, I decided to make the term Tag Action clearer by calling it Tag Action High Jump, which can be done by Tails or Amy as partner. Cream does have a Tag Action Jump, but is not very high so I do not discuss it, but it can be useful. Also Flight, Gliding, Boost Mode, and Tough Barrier Break are all moves that can be done by either team leaders or by Tag Action depending on what team you happen to have. Also the term Gliding covers Cream and Amy's Floating Fall which they have with particular Team mates. Climbing can be only done by Knuckles/Tails, Knuckles/Cream and Knuckles/Amy. If you are not sure if a particular team can do a particular move or not that is in my Chao location guide, the refer to section 7.f. Important Team Skills Summary to clearly see which moves can be done by what teams or just go with the team I happen to recommend because that team can defiantly get thorough the act with all Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.a. Zone 1: Route 99 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ As you can imagine, the Chao in this Act are not that hard to find in this cityscape. Also this entire zone seems made especially for the classic duo, Sonic and Tails because this is the best team to use for all three acts to get the Chao! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.a.1. Zone 1 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Any team can get the Chao in this act, but of course being the very first act of the game it seems suited for an old fashioned Sonic/Tails pairing! The interesting thing about this act is the fact the Chao seem to be on the lowest and easiest route in the act, there are many fancy things you can do to go a high route, but the Chao are not up there! And if you miss the first one... man you are not paying attention! Chao #1: Hard to miss, when you begin the act, you will soon go up the side of a wall, and at the top will be the Chao, make sure you land on the top and you don't overshoot and fall off the right side. Chao #2: Now you want to jump off the right side. There is a moving platform down there, but you don't want to go on that ledge with the rings and bug you see to your right, instead jump down and hit the spring against the left wall which sends you running right. (If you are interested in a Green Shield, jump up and to the right when you start running down the slope and you will hit a platform that just has the Green Shield on it.) Keep going right and you will be launched by a little curve up in the air, don't go on the moving platform in the air, instead fall down far right and try to hit the rail that starts there and is going left, watch out for a purple badnik in the air, grind. Off the rail you will run left and then be launched by a ramp, keep pushing far left and keep running, you will run up then through a loop-de-loop, then afterwards you will run up another wall and hit a spring on the ceiling that will send you running right, you will end up running on another path, around another loop-de-loop, keep running right and the blue bugs will jump out of your way. You will hit another spring that will send you up and through another loop-de-loop, then you will hit a blue switch, press it and get on the blue and orange platform that appears. Go right, kill the bug, hit the spring, then you will be sent up to the area of the next checkpoint, hit the spring on the right and go past it. You will end up on the ceiling, then be careful because when you fall off the end you will hit a small platform with an Omochao and some spikes, it is very easy to hit the spikes. Omochao tries to trick you! He says to use Tag Action, but don't listen to him! Instead jump down to your right where you see the two springs. The bottom spring sends you running right, then another spring sends you running down a slope left, then you will drop down in an area where you will see a block moving back and forth to your left. When the block is moving to the right and a gap is made jump over it, the Chao is behind it in a small room. (If you are interested in a Ring Magnet Shield, just before dropping down in this area try to jump and go left, or try to use flight or climbing or tag action high jump to get back up there, the shield is on a ledge right above where the Chao is.) Chao #3: From there when you can jump over the block again and head right. You will see another block going up and down, don't get crushed by it and jump on top of it. Go right getting the bug, then you will drop down through a hold. You will land on a moving platform, first jump on the other moving platform you see a little below and to the right, then jump left off of that one and try to hug the left wall on your way down. You should hit a ? Ring Item Box instead of some nasty spikes right beside it! Now jump over the spikes, you will hit a speed booster, keep heading right. You will go down a slope, around a loop- de-loop, then up a wall, and go to the right, watch out for a spike trap at the left edge of the small platform up there. Jump down to the right, hit the spring on the left wall and continue right. You will end up running up a wall and on the ceiling, but spikes will end up stopping you and you will fall down, get the 5 Ring Item box you see and then go left, hit the spring to go higher. You will see a trampoline, use it to bounce up to the right. Hit the spring up there, be VERY careful, you will run into a plane badnik that is hard to avoid. Get the Green Shield you see to your left if you want, then go right and hit that speed booster you see. You will end up running up and then right, then hitting another spring that sends you down over the same curve and going right, then going down, then going left, then hitting another spring that sends you right again, then down, then eventually up again. You will probably land on a higher ledge with a wheel that you spin, but the Chao is right below that, you should see it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.a.2. Zone 1 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Another act any team can do, but I highly suggest getting a team that has Tag Action High Jump, especially Sonic/Tails because the last two Chao are possible to get without Tag Action but annoying. This act has more than one way to get through it and get the Chao though and it is possible with any team. The last Chao at the very end and I will describe its location from the end of the act instead of from the Chao before it. Chao #4: You will eventually run into a room that has curved sides, instead of going right, try to spin up the curve on the left side of the little room and you will hit a spring that will send you up the right curve and in the air, you will hit a handle and chain and it will take you up higher. Just go a little more to the right, you will see a Chao on the other side of a gray barrier, break the barrier and get the Chao. Chao #5: Jump down to your right, but hug the left wall as you go down or you will hit a purple badnik! Run right, you will end up running through a total of three loop-de-loops before eventually running up a wall and ending up in a new area, then go left. You will find a switch and see a slightly higher up ledge with a spike trap you have to look out for, a spring the switch activates and flying over your head a plane badnik you will have to take care of, hit the switch and jump on that spring. You will be sent into another spring that bounces you right into an area that has a bug and a see-saw at the left end of the platform. Jump on the right end of the see-saw then go to the left end of it so when the spiky ball comes back down it will spring into the air instead of hitting you. Grab that little pole you see to bounce up higher, you will find a ? Ring Item Box and you will see another see- saw floating in the air to your right, get that item box and then you want to use that other see-saw to get up higher, it might take a couple of tries but you will land on a rail up there, grind, or better yet Tag Action. Off of the rail you will hit a spring and go left, then you will find an Invincibility Item Box, get it and then hit the speed booster you see to the left of it. That will send you into a couple of springs, then you will find yourself launched off a ramp going left, keep pressing left and you will end up running left and killing a bug with your invincibility. A spring you hit will send you up a rail but look closely. Above the rail you will see a trampoline floating in mid- air, to the left of that a moving block, to the left of that a moving platform that crumbles if you stay on it too long. Up against the left wall where the spring that sends you up the rails is way up high is a small platform with the Chao on it. You can either try to jump off the rail and land on trampoline and stuff up there then jump to the left off of them to try to get the Chao, or much easier use Tag Action High Jump on the ground near the spring to get up to where the Chao is. Chao #6: This Chao is at the end of the act and is much easier to get if you have flight or climbing or tag action high jump mainly because of the way I am going to describe it, it is at the end of the act and a lot of act is in between the last Chao and this one and a description will be very long. When you are near the goal, turn around, you will come upon a high wall to the left, at the top is a ledge with the Chao on it. You can come though the act a certain way and not have to use flight or climbing or tag action high jump , but there is more than one way to do it and I don't feel like giving a long winded discussion. There it is, if you want to find another way with the flight challenged teams go for it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.a.3. Zone 1 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Like the other acts in this zone, any team can get the Chao, but it is best if you have Boost Mode and able to get up higher and at the beginning an R trick makes it easier, another good Sonic/Tails act. Chao #7: From the beginning you will jump down a gap then you will be grinding a rail (If you jump through the rail you will find an area where you can get a Green or Ring Magnet Shield but it leads nowhere else and you will just be back on that rail again). Off of the rail keep running, you will hit a spring and you will see a ledge covered with spikes and to the left of that blocks moving up and down in a hole. You want to go right of both the spikes and blocks, a right Mid- Air Trick from that spring is nice there if you can do it. Anyway try not to fall down into that area below the blocks. On the other side keep going right, you will go around a loop-de-loop and end up at a see-saw. Use the see-saw, grab the handle and then at the top jump off to the right being careful of that bug up there. Go right, a spring will spring you up higher, beware of the plane, jump over the spikes. Continue right, the floor will start curving and you will start running down, jump off now while in that little gap between the floor and right wall, you do not want to run around on the ceiling or you will miss the Chao! Head left, a spring will spring you up, you will see a 10 Ring Item Box and the Chao. Chao #8: Jump down to the left and continue running right. You might want to press down to curl up in a ball because you will be launched in the air and if you don't you will end up hitting a purple badnik! Now at the end of that platform jump as far right as possible, you will end up hopefully hitting a purple badnik then hitting either a handle and chain or just hitting the spring above it, anyway the chain takes you to the spring anyway, that sends you through a loop-de-loop and you are stopped by a see-saw. Use it to get up higher and you will encounter another see-saw, go even higher and you will hit a small pole on the wall that bounces you higher still, watch out for the plane up there. And guess what, another see-saw! You will hit another pole on the wall, but this time when you go up higher watch out! There is a block moving up and down up there and you can get crushed both under and on top of it so make sure you run under it when it is safe and of course hit the speed booster. You will end up grinding a rail, then running past the checkpoint. You will run through a loop-de-loop and eventually be bounced on a spring to the right, you should land on a handle and chain. Go right watching out for a bug up there, the spring sends you left and down. Just run off the edge and you will end up on spinning handles. Jump off as far left as you can, you should land on a rail heading left. At the end of the rail is a platform that falls jump up real quick and get the handle up there or you will fall down and have to get back up there! Now go left watching out for a blue bug. You will end up going through a corkscrew eventually. (This is where the differences from version 1.02 start) You will come to a rail, instead of grinding it jump though it. Below that against the left wall is 6 rings, then to the right of there is a spring, instead of hitting that spring jump into the hole to the right of the spring. You will end up grinding a rail, jump through the rail but make sure when you are falling head toward the right. Under that rail right part of that rail you will find a ledge speed booster, make sure you land on this when jumping through the rail, use it to run up the wall to your right. Now jump down just right of the spikes, try not to jump to far to the right, get your plane on the way down. You should land on a red switch, press it and head right. You will go down and hit a spring that will send you into a wall and then you will fall down on a rail, grind and afterwards you will run into the Chao. Even if you do not make it to this rail and fall further down, just keep going and you will end up at a checkpoint, from there head a little left and you will still find the Chao. Chao #9: Go right past the checkpoint. You will hit a spring, go through a loop-de-loop, and launched by a ramp to the right, go through another loop-de-loop and hit a spring and end up in a corkscrew. Think fast! Jump just after the corkscrew before you fall in the gap to catch a hold of spinning handles. Easy to miss so you might want a team that can get back up there if you miss. Jump up off the handles onto a handle and chain up above, the Chao is on a little ledge to the right. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.a.4. Zone 1 Map Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chao #10: If you go left past where the Final Boss is located you will find this Chao near a spring that is pointing to the left at the end of a platform, a slightly faster way to get there is if you have either a tag team ability to go higher or flight is to use this just a little past the Act 2 Ring and land on the platform that is to the right that has the spring on the end. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.a.5. Zone 1 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ When you reach the Act 1 Ring area go left and you will find a spring, jump on the spring and go straight up, you will hit a horizontal pole sticking out of the wall that will send you further up, the Special Spring is on the right. A quicker way to go up there is to use Tag Action High Jump just a little to the right of the Factory Ring and go through the gap you see in the ceiling, land on the platform to the right and you will see the same spring described above. It's too far for Tails or Cream to fly. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.b. Zone 2: Sunset Hill ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Nostalgia anyone? Yes, that music is a remix of the first Zone in the first Sonic Game, Green Hill, and of course it looks like Green Hill too, except for the sunset..., oh how lovely... anyway a nice zone for teams that can fly or team tag to higher places, there are some major shortcuts you can take. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.b.1. Zone 2 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Any team can get these Chao, but there are a lot of poles and you have to jump off of them just right and it is very easy to fall down too far, so I suggest using a team that can either fly, climb or tag action high jump to make it easier, but I will describe how you can do it with anyone and the tricky areas where being able to get up higher might help. Chao #1: Starting from the beginning just go right for a while, you can jump on the giant platform above the stairs if you want 6 rings, go around the loop-de-loop, you will either be launched or hit a spring to an area with an Omochao and a frog, Omochao says that there is something above, which is correct. Jump to your left so you land on the loop-de-loop you just went around, there is a switch that activates a spring, That spring will send you right to a platform with a green bouncy thing, that bounce sends you left to another green bounce, and that one will send you right to a platform with a rock at the right end an a moving platform above. Break the rock open and the Chao is inside. Chao #2: Get on the moving platform and then go up and keep going right, watch out for a hornet. Jump for the three rings near the sign with the red arrow to make it across a hole (If you go down the hole all you will find is a 10 Ring Item Box and spring that will get you back up there, you can get it if you want.) Hit the spring, go up and around the loop-de-loop, you will hit another spring and land on a little ledge with a Green Shield on it next to a pole to the right. Get your shield, then hit the pole. Instead of going on the other poles when you get further down just jump off the pole straight down, it's much less dangerous that way. Go right and hit the spring, you will go around a loop-de-loop and at the other side of that is a bungee, but instead of hitting the bungee jump over it instead. Now you should be in an area with a monkey and a rock, go right and you have to think fast! You will hit a water slide and you have to jump to the right fast while you are sliding down, hit a pole, then jump off the pole to the right into the upper gap in the right wall behind the waterfall, that is where the Chao is. It is very easy to miss this so it is very good to have a team that can get back up there if you fall down. Don't go in the lower gap that has the 5 Ring Item Box next to it. Chao #3: Go right from there, a rock and frog will stop you, just smash them. Beyond that the platform ends, jump off as far to the right as you can, there is a pole there and then you want to jump off the pole to the right as soon as possible to land on a small ledge with a spring, hit the spring and it sends you up through a loop-de-loop. Then you will hit the checkpoint but you have to jump fast after that because you will end up running around a curve going down if you do not and you don't want to be down there, instead jump on the pole that is to the right then jump off the pole to the right as soon as you can to hit a spring, this is another place easy to miss and it is good to have some way to get back up there again. Hit the spring, you will now be in a place where you will have to Spin-dash right, keep going right, you will cross a bridge then get to a rail, grind the rail. After grinding the rail you will go up through the floor and find yourself by a blue and yellow trampoline spring, jump on the spring and try to reach the high platform by timing the jump just right to get maximum height, watch out for the hornet. (If you land on the rail instead you can still go that way but it is much harder) Head right and go down the slope and just run into the red spring at the end as hard as you can. That spring will sent you into a green bounce and that green bounce will send you left up to a little ledge and a spring, hit that spring then the next one, then you will go around a loop-de-loop and then run across a small gap and stop at a 10 Ring Item Box, get it then jump down that little gap. Now you are on a waterslide, you will fall right on top of a loop-de-loop and you will see a giant platform moving up and down to your right. Get on top of it, don't go under it unless you want a crushing! Then jump on the other giant platform to the right of that one. When that one is far enough right jump off again. Go right a little ways and you will see a rail, grind. Off of that rail you will hit another rail. You will see a 1-up at the top, but instead of going up there the rail will send you flying to the left, just go with the flow, you will hit a green bounce that will bounce you back to where that 1-up is. And just across the bridge to the right of that 1-up is the Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.b.2. Zone 2 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tails/Sonic Highly Recommended! Climbing or Tag Action High Jump Required!!! This is a short act, but the first Chao is easy to miss but is easiest to get with Sonic's Tag Action, climbing works too but is very slow, and the second and third Chao are not only pretty well hidden, but they are strangely pretty close together and the third one requires flight or climbing or tag action high jump to get to anyway. In my opinion Tails/Sonic is the best team and Cream/Sonic would work if you have Cream unlocked already. It is possible with Knuckles' climbing, in fact I first found the Chao with Knuckles/Tails, but Tails or Cream/Sonic is really the best. There is more than one way to do this too, but some of the other ways have very iffy spots that you have to jump just right or you will die or not be able to get the Chao, this way seems to be the easiest and this description applies to Tails or Cream/Sonic. Chao #4: Use Sonic Tag Action right from the beginning, you will go around the first loop-de-loop with enough speed to run up the very high wall, the Chao is at the top. (If you are interested in an Invincibility Item Box, before going around the loop jump on the moving platform beside it and then jump on top of the loop-de-loop.) Chao #5: Now jump back down to your left. You will end up running around the same loop-de-loop again, but then you will end up going down a slope then going left up a wall, then hitting a speed booster that will send you further down and you will be speeding right again. You will hit a spring and try to land on the small platform with the checkpoint on it. Now just walk off it and you will fall and land on a moving platform. Jump on the other moving platform to your right, watch out for the hornet, then jump off again onto the platform with the speed booster, hit the speed booster and it will send you up the slope. You will run up the curve and into the air and you will find yourself on a short pole with a green bouncy thing below it. You want to jump right off the pole over the bouncy thing and try to go as far right as possible. You might hit a wall with three rings by it, make sure you land on the rail that is underneath. Grind, and you will be launched off the rail onto a platform, hit the spring to your right and it will send you up and around a loop-de-loop, just keep going right, you will go around another loop-de-loop, then you will start going up a high wall and at the top you will see a rail and a checkpoint to your right. You can get the checkpoint if you want, but it is best to slow yourself down because you really don't want to go up there. Instead you want to now go down that same wall and head left, you will then go down a different slope. Keep going left and go around another loop-de-loop and then just hit the spring on the other side, you will then go right through the same loop-de-loop (if you really want to you can slow down and get that 5 Ring Item Box you see to the left of that spring). This time you will end up going down a hidden slope, keep going right, a speed booster will send you grinding a rail, then through another loop- de-loop. Soon afterwards, you will be launched up a curve and high up, you will see two moving platforms, try to land on one of them. The higher moving platform is going left and right, left of that you will see a platform moving around in a circle, and right in the middle where the platform is attached a Chao. Chao #6: Flight or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump Required! Now jump down, don't go up and go to your right. Go up the small curve there and you will find a small Badnik and a Green Shield, get them then jump down to your left where you see the three rings. Go right, you will go over a small bridge and them see a place where you jump a little higher up and three rings even further right, don't get those rings! Instead where you are use a technique to go higher, preferably flight to the left, you should see the Chao to your left as soon as you get in the air. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.b.3. Zone 2 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tag Action High Jump VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Sonic as partner recommended to unlock Knuckles!!! You can get by with Flight and Gliding too, but not only is there a Chao you can only get with Tag Action or Flight or Gliding, but this act is mostly constructed so you have to go up, if you fall down you may end up all the way back at the beginning, and there are HUGE shortcuts, anyway the account I will give will be for Tag Action High Jump and will contain some good shortcuts... if you have not going through this act before you also want to use Sonic as the leader anyway because if you beat this act with Sonic as leader you will unlock Knuckles as a new character you can partner up with! There is also a huge shortcut through this act requiring Knuckles/Tails if you have trouble getting the Gold Medal later, I might describe it sometime. Chao #7: Flight, Climbing or Tag Action High Jump Required! From the beginning go left and you will run into a spring that will get you higher, kill your Badnik and hit the second spring and stop at the edge. At the edge use Tag Action or flight or climbing to go up to your left. You will have to Spin-dash or fly, whatever to get up a wall to your left. Up there to your left you will see a green bouncy thing and an Omochao to the left of that, if you jump over the bouncy thing trying not to hit it and you happen to pick up the Omochao it will tell you to use Tag Action. Use Tag Action High Jump, Flight or Climbing and head to the left, you will see the Chao. Make sure you do not keep heading left down the waterfall you see or you will end up at the beginning of the act again. Chao #8: Now go back to where the Omochao and green bouncy thing is, jump to the other side of the bouncy thing and bounce right, you will land and then go past the checkpoint. You will come to poles to your right, you want to jump on one than the other and then to the left as quickly as possible to catch a ledge below a loop-de-loop, if you fall down use Tag Action to get back up there. Hit the spring and go around the loop-de-loop, you will end up hitting a bungee, make sure you land as far right as possible and do not fall or you will have to get back up there once again. You will land on a large platform with a blue switch on the far right, hit the switch and jump up to the grassy area to the right, watch out for the frog. At the end of that platform you should see a platform that is swinging around in a circle and a waterslide, try to jump on that platform without getting in the water or you will end up near the beginning of the act again! When the platform is furthest to the right look to the right, you will see the waterfall coming down and behind it a gap with three rings, try to jump in that gap without hitting the waterslide below! Keep going left and you will run into the Chao. Chao #9: You will see stairs to your right, go up them and then catch a ride on the three giant platforms so you are going left again, you can use Tag Action to help you up there if you want to. You will hit a Speed Booster, then hit a spring and that spring will send you straight into a switch, get on the platform that appears to get up higher. Go to your left and you will see a ramp, try to push A on the ramp if you can to go further, you will land at the next checkpoint. Here comes the fun part, more Tag Action High Jump shortcuts! Use Tag Action just left of the checkpoint, about where the palm tree is and head left. Hopefully you will land just left of a rail, go left until you find an Invincibility Item Box, then head right with as much speed as you can, that rail will end beside a wall, you will be flipped off and will go through a bridge and land on top of it. Now use Tag Action again at the far left side of the bridge to go up higher still, land to the left of course. Now you will see a large platform moving up and down next to some spikes to the left, try to get on this platform without being crushed and go up top to your right and stop at the edge. Now this is a little tricky, but use Tag Action again and try to go up the gap between the left wall above the giant moving platform you were on and some other platforms up there you might see some frogs on, and there is a long platform moving up and down up there too that kind of blocks your way a little, a good way to do this is to initially head left then go toward the right, it may take a few tries, but land to your right on the highest platform. Get the frog, then go right, hit the spring, go up the little curve and hit the next checkpoint. Keep going right and you will run into a rock is inside. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.b.4. Zone 2 Map Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chao #10: Flight, Climbing or Tag Action High Jump Required! Starting from the Factory Ring head right and go past the Act 1 Ring. You will see a red spring, hit it and land to your right where the flowers are. Jump to your left where you see the slightly higher ledge. From there use flight/climb/tag action to get up higher, the Chao is to your right. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.b.5. Zone 2 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Starting from the Factory Ring head right and go past the Act 1 Ring. You will see a red spring, hit it and land to your right where the flowers are. You will see a hole to your right, jump over it and you will see a blue and yellow spring. Jump on that trampoline spring as hard as you can straight up and you will see a moving platform, land on the platform and then when it gets to the top jump to your left where the Special Spring is waiting for you. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.c. Zone 3: Ocean Base ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ My least favorite Zone in the entire game. Not only in my opinion is the Zone kind of ugly, but getting the Chao is ugly too, especially in Act l, actually Act 3 is not that bad. Also the horrible amount of crushing traps and water means dying a lot... you also need to use your Tag Action High Jump or Climbing or Flying skills quite a bit in order to get those Chao! Also this is the only Zone without a Map Chao at all, the first two difficult acts have 4 Chao each while easy act 3 has just two Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.c.1. Zone 3 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Knuckles/Tails Highly Recommended!!! First of all, this and the next act are weird because the Chao are not numbered according to where they are in the act when you look at the Chao map, for example the last one appears as Chao #2, and I know why. I was confusing people so I rewrote it as just a Knuckles/Tails description. You will notice that the first three Chao could really be grabbed in any order and are close. Boost Mode does help, but Knuckles/Sonic or Sonic/Knuckles cannot get all the Chao, and Knuckles is required. This description fits Knuckles/Tails or Knuckles/Amy pretty well, also there are different ways to do this so once you see how close together the first three Chao are come up with your own way if you want to. Note that this is quite different from when I first put this guide together and the Chao are even numbered different, what used to be Chao 3 and 4 are now 2 and 1 and 1 and 2 are now 3 and 4. Also thanks a lot to mjc0961 for pointing out a MUCH easier way to get what is now the first Chao!!!!!! This great shortcut now only avoids smashed characters, but in general is very, very nice! This is the main way I will describe, but (looks at people who are still playing the early leaked ROM of the game instead of the final and e-mailing me saying this doesn't work) there is also the long way to get to this Chao so I have included both ways now, if this applies to you PLEASE read the first important note that is at the top of this guide.) Chao #1: Shortcut way, Climbing Required!!! From the beginning going right first jump over your spikes and badnik and continue, hit the speed booster up the slope, then when you see three rings in air to the left jump off the slope left and you will land where there is another speed booster that will send you left up a steep slope. (If you are interested in a Green Shield jump off to the right where you see three more rings, then go back left and go down the slope so you can hit the speed booster and make it back up the slope well. You can get it later too since you will be here when going after Chao #3.)Be careful at the top of the next hill and slow down, there is a crusher that has the light that indicates when spikes will come off the top, either jump on it when it is safe. Against the left wall is a small pole, bounce to the right, careful the edge up there has both a spike trap and spikes! Now hit the speed booster, you will be launched of a ramp into a waterfall. Head to the bottom of the waterfall but be careful, there is a speed booster at the bottom and if you hit it you will be sent down and end up at the beginning of the act again! Now be very careful and try to jump over the speed booster into the gap you see the left of the base of the waterfall and go left. (If you do not see this gap then take the long way described below) You will see a tunnel going up, you have to climb up there, then the tunnel heads left slightly, then climb to the top of that one. At the top you will see to the right a room blocked by a breakable barrier, careful in breaking it or you will be knocked back into the hole and when you climb back up the barrier will be back, mjc0961 suggested to use a weird R button maneuver, but I find that if you first have Knuckles push against the barrier by pressing right then you hit the B button he will break the wall without falling down the hole. In that room is a 1 up item box and the Chao. Long way, starting from the waterfall: Climb all the way to the top of the waterfall. Look to your right, ouch! Spikes on the wall just below where you have to go and a crusher right at the edge? Jump off so you land right on top of the spikes, of course you can stand on top of the spikes are facing to the side! And then time the crusher so you go under it without it crushing you of course! Barely right of that is yet another crusher you have to walk under carefully, now you will see a moving block and down below to the right yet another moving block, you have to time this right too and get past both the first and second one without being crushed, its best to wait till the top one is farthest right, then just walk off the edge and land then jump over the second one to the right before it can crush you against the left wall. Continue right and you will come to a rail, grind. You will be sent up a wall, into a couple of springs, then another speed booster, then on the ceiling, then into a spring that will send you left and on either a small pole or a moving block just under the small pole, use the small pole to bounce to the left. (If you are interested in a 10 Ring Item Box when on the ceiling jump down, the Item Box is to the right, then go left and hit the spring, it will take you to the same place with the small pole and moving block.) Go left and you will encounter another waterfall, go up it. Go left and you will encounter a barrier, you don't need Knuckles to break this one. Jump down to the left being careful of a spike trap below. To the left is the very tricky part! There is a moving block going left and right, when the block is far left jump on top of it in the gap that is then formed, above and to the left is a crusher with a light indicator, now this is very tricky, you have to jump on the block and then jump on the crusher, but there is extreme danger in the block crushing you against the left wall, or hitting the spikes on the crusher, this takes practice! Jump to the left and you will see a spring pointing right, hit it, kill the red badnik that is up there. Now here is another tricky part, don't go to the right, instead you want to jump hard left near where the red badnik is and land in a gap in the left wall above where that red spring is, there is three rings in the gap. (Or if you are using Cream/Knuckles fly up there) Now when you jump through this gap be careful, you will see hole with two crushers in it, you want to jump over this. Then you will see the barrier and the Chao on the other side. Chao #2: Head back left and go down the tunnels you just climbed up or whatever way you want and go back to the base of the waterfall with the speed booster. Hit the speed booster then try to jump hard right before the floor curves down, there is a Chao on a ledge against the right wall. Go over the curve like I said before and you will end up near the beginning of the act again. Chao #3: Flight or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump required! Now finally after getting those two Chao you want to jump down to your left and you will fall down to the beginning of the act again where those first set of spikes and badnik was. Now go up the slopes again as I instructed before, but this time instead of going completely up the second slope to where that crusher is, jump off near the top of it to the right where I described the location of the Green Shield earlier, get it if you did not get it already. Go right making sure to jump up higher, there is a hole there with a falling platform covering it, don't go down there. Go right and you will hit a wall. This is where tag action/climbing/flight is necessary, you have to get up there and go to the right, be careful of a lamprey badnik in this gap. Hit the spring and land on the platform above that is on the track, on your way up there you will notice a barrier to the right, you can't break it from this side, but you can from the other side... anyway you will find you have to jump off this platform anyway when it starts going left and onto one below that has a spike trap on the right end, but instead of getting on the platform again as it comes by jump straight down off of it to the right, you will probably hit the Chao as soon as you hit the bottom. Chao #4: Tag Action High Jump Required! The barrier you see to the right is the same one you passed earlier of course, now you can break it and jump back on the spring and get on that tracked platform again. Now when you have to jump off of it onto that other platform you just wait for the platform to start coming down the right side of it and jump on it again. Ride the platform till it stops, jump for the ? Ring Item Box you see to the left, watch out for the shark badnik trying to get you. To the left of that you will see a moving platform, jump on that of course then jump up to the left, get your three rings on that little platform and the red badnik. To the left you will see a small pole, jump to it and let it bounce you up or just jump over it, hit the speed booster that will send you up through the floor. Head left and you will come to a waterfall with a moving block beside of it, watch out for the shark and start climbing the waterfall. You can just land on the moving block and jump to the right or go all the way to the top to jump for three rings, it doesn't matter, you will hit a speed booster that will send you past the checkpoint, you will be stopped by a wall. Jump up to the right from here being careful of a red badnik, you will come to a machine you have to bounce on to go up, once you are up there you can get that Invincibility Item Box to the right first if you are careful of the sneaky lamprey badnik, but make sure you land on the rail to the left, grind. Go left, you will be stopped by a blue switch by the left wall, press it and a platform will appear, above that platform is yet another switch that makes a second platform appear to the right, then jump off right from that one to hit a switch that activates a spring, to save all the switch pushing just fly/tag action up there. After hitting a spring you will be in an area like this: You will be at the bottom of a waterfall and to the left you will see spikes and to the left of that a gap and a platform on a track below that. Here is the tricky part and where you might want to fly or glide or tag action, you do not want to land on the tracked platform or in the gap, instead you want to hit a spring that is left and above this gap. It is very hard to jump to this over the slightly raised spikes, and you can try to climb the waterfall and jump from high up there, but it is best to fly starting from just to the right of the spikes, it actually can be a little hard to start flying, you want to be just right of the spikes but not in the waterfall. Hit this spring and it will send you straight up, you will be sucked into a duct. The duct will send you running left, then eventually on the ceiling, you will fall down and hit a speed booster and go right up a steep slope, keep going right, you will come upon a switch, press it and get on the platform that appears. Jump up through the rail then hit the spring you see to the right in order to grind that rail going left. You will be running up a wall then and hit a speed booster, at the top you will see a cannon, go in the cannon, you will be shot through the floor, watch out for a lamprey! Go right and you will pass a checkpoint. Keep going right and grind the rail. Now think fast! You will be launched off a rail and land on a platform that will fall away, jump off of it very quickly to the right! Get the ? Ring Item Box and keep going right, you will run down, then up, then a speed booster, then you will hit a small pole while running up a right wall, land on the tracked platform up there. Just ride this platform, being careful of the red badniks trying to drop oil on you, you can try to get that 10 Ring Item Box if you want but it is risky. Jump off when the ride ends to the left of course. You do not need to go far at all until you see three rings that are up against a wall, this is where you want to use Tails Ground Tag Action, there is a gap in the ceiling there that is very high, use Tag Action and you will end up going through a floor. Go left and hit the Checkpoint. Jump down just left of the checkpoint, the Chao is down there, a cannon is to the left of it, get the Chao, the cannon will send you up to platforms on a conveyor, jump on one, to the far right jump on the small pole, go through the floor, go a little right, wow, it's the end of the act! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.c.2. Zone 3 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flight or Tag Action High Jump or Climbing Required!!!! Tails as partner recommended! The Chao map for this Act may throw you off, because the Chao listed as #4 is in fact the first one you should pick up, but at least this is not as bad as it is in the last act. I do not know why they did this, but they did and it threw me off for a while making me think the last Chao in the act was near the beginning... anyway with that aside this is still a weird act because it is a long 4 Chao act and the first three Chao are near the beginning, the last one is much further in but you can miss it so I will describe it from the third one. Also to save typing for the fourth Chao, there are two huge shortcuts you can take, but one is best with flight and the other is easy to miss and tag action is good, plus the fourth Chao impossible to get without some sort of flight, climbing or tag action, also Tail's ground tag action is good at getting higher in some places, so I like Sonic/Tails but this will work with any team that has some ability to get up higher. Chao #5: Head right from the beginning, you will come to a huge waterfall, jump in the water below and start heading right, disregard the signs that are pointing left for now... anyway heading right underwater you will first go up a curve and over spikes, further along you will encounter an Invincibility Item Box, just make sure you get a bubble along the way or you will drown, you go right for a good while! A little ways after the Invincibility Item Box you will find the Chao near the right wall, there will be a lamprey badnik near the Chao so be careful. Chao #6: Now head left going back the way you came all the way back to the left wall where the Omochao and spring are, use the spring to get back up to the large waterfall. Now climb the waterfall (If you are interested in a ? Ring Item Box jump off to the first ledge to the right you will see when you climb the waterfall with the signs that point left, all that is up there is the ? Ring Item Box, then jump back in the waterfall.) Now this is the important part, climb the waterfall all the way to the top, don't jump off sooner. At the very top you will see three rings above the waterfall and the Chao to the right, just keep jumping and you will jump right through the top of that waterfall where the three rings are and get your Chao. Chao #7: Jump down to the right. Now you will see one of those horrible crushers to the right, you want to jump over it as fast as you can when it hits the floor to get through without being crushed. Now hit the speed booster, you will end up in an area where you see a spring to your right and a red badnik to the left, hit the spring. You will be sucked into a duct and be spit out running to the right and on a wall hit a speed booster (If you are interested in a Maximum Speed Item Box, after hitting the speed booster push right and you will land in an area with the item box and a lamprey badnik, after getting it jump down to the left then try to spin-dash up the right wall and hit the speed booster again) You will go through the floor and end up at the bottom of a waterfall, jump in the waterfall and go through the gap in the left wall (If you are interested in a Green Shield, then jump all the way to the top of the waterfall, go right and get your shield, then jump to the right, you will fall on a platform that will fall, make sure when you land at the bottom to stay away from the spike trap near the right wall, then you will be at the waterfall again.) Keep going left and some spikes will stop you near a hole, there is a machine in the hole that you bounce on to go up, either bounce on the machine or use some other way to get up and to the left, there is a red badnik up there, and try not to fall because you will end up falling back toward the beginning of the act again. Now get in the cannon and it will shoot you up, hit the speed booster you see to your right. You will grind a rail and then run up a wall, make sure that you do not jump to the left off the wall or you might be sucked into a pipe you don't want to be sucked into. Up there to the right you will see signs that point left but ignore them, get the 10 Ring Item Box, then go right and at first you may just see a lamprey coming at you, but look closer, it seems to be guarding a Chao, kill that stupid thing and get the Chao. Chao #8: Flight or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump Required!!! Shortcut #1, if you do not take this shortcut, then just go left and be sucked into the pipe I told you was there earlier and you will eventually end up in the same place. Now use FLIGHT, tag action high jump and climbing will work but a little riskier! Fly above where you got that Chao, making sure to avoid two sets of spikes sticking out both the left and right walls and go up through the floor. Hit the spring you see to the left, it will sent you down a very steep right slope, then just run off the edge, you will end up landing near a small waterfall and a waterslide (If you are interested in an 1-up, try to jump up this narrow waterfall and you will see it in the air near the top to the left.) Wee waterslide time! You will slide to the left, then fall and slide to the right, now here is Shortcut #2 and this is tricky now, near the end of waterslide #2 try to jump off and to the right, if you are lucky you will hit two purple badniks that are blocking a gap to the right. If you do not make it, it is sort of dangerous to use Tail's Tag Action to the right from underwater but Amy's Air Tag Action would work, instead tag action high jump so you land on the waterslide again and try to jump again. Anyway this gap will get you past a pretty good sized underwater area. Anyway head right and you will see a wall, but surprise it is a fake wall, you can walk right past it! Jump in the water straight down and you will find a spring that will spring you up through a floor. Now hit the spring you see to your left. You will end up running up a wall, get in the cannon you will find up there and while in the air go right to hit a spring on the wall. This spring will send you into another cannon, hit the spring on the left wall, then another cannon. Hit the spring on the right wall, no more cannons but look out for a red badnik up there. Up against the left wall is a blue switch, press it and get on the platform that appears, hit the speed booster to the left. You will eventually hit more speed boosters, run up stuff, hit the checkpoint, you will be launched into the air. Try to land on the rail you see up there, or use the red spring that is below you to get up there, grind. Keep going left, you will run into a wall and if you jump up a duct will suck you in, watch out for a spike trap. Go left, then a spring sends you in the air right, then you will bounce up with a small pole, then hit the speed booster and you will end up on the ceiling, you will end up in a waterfall, get the 5 Ring Item Box on the floor if you want. Jump up the waterfall, eventually you will see a moving platform to the left, jump on it, then jump up to the left when it is near the top or jump on the small pole on the left wall and you will be sucked into a duct. You will go right and be stopped by spikes by a gap, you will see the edge of a conveyer with platforms going around it to your right. Jump on one of these platforms, try not to fall down or you have to fly or tag action your way back up. Now here is another tricky jump, when the platform is farthest right jump again and jump through the upper gap in the wall with the three rings. Go right and you will find an Invincibility Item Box, get it and continue right until you see a hole in the floor and a crusher going up and down in it hitting the ceiling, there is a gap to the right, you want to go in this gap, not the hole in the floor, remember invincibility doesn't protect you from crushing! Get your red badnik, head right and jump over the next hole in the floor, then you will see more spikes, jump over them and hit the spring you see. You will go down and right and be stopped by the wall, just use the small pole to spring up. Now use the spring up there to jump up through a floor, don't get on the rail. Go right and you will encounter a crusher that has the light that indicates when spikes are going to come out of it, when it is safe jump on it and head right. Hit the checkpoint, but stop at the gap to the right of that. You will see another conveyer, just like the last one you want to jump on one of the platforms, then jump again to the upper right gap at the right side. Go right then hit the spring, it will send up up the wall, on the ceiling, you will eventually fall down and land between spikes on your right and a cannon to your left, get in the cannon. Be careful of a lamprey as soon as you are shot through the floor, then jump up and head right, hit the spring and it will send you into a small pole on the left wall. That will spring you up farther, be careful of the red badnik up there. Now you will be on a platform, to the left you will see a platform that is on a track in the gap, but right above that platform is a flying Chao, it is impossible to jump to get this Chao, so use Flight preferably or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump which is risky. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.c.3. Zone 3 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Only two Chao in this short act, one at the very beginning and one at the very end! So instead of giving you all the details of the middle of the act which is really not important, I will tell you where they are in reference to the beginning and end of the act, any team can get them. Chao #9: From the beginning head right, make sure to jump over spikes and get the lamprey badnik, shortly after that you will see a launch ramp, instead of running off it jump down just to the right of it and you will find the Chao when you hit the bottom near the left wall. Use the waterfall to get back up and continue the act. Chao #10: Right before you get to the goal you will find yourself running across water, instead of running straight across and to the goal jump into the water. Head to the left, you will find a small room that has a spike trap in it, just jump over the spikes and you will find the Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.c.4. Zone 3 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Up against the wall to the right of the Act 3 Ring is a switch, press it, then as fast as you can run left and you will find a spring right next to the waterfall that was activated by the switch, jump on it and land as far right as you can and you will find the Special Spring. Alternatively you can use Tag Action High Jump a little to the left of the Act 3 ring to get to the same area. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.d. Zone 4: Toy Kingdom ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A very fun carnival zone! Any team can do any act, but it is helpful to have Tag Action High Jump handy for getting up higher, the last Act does have a shortcut for Power formation and also is the Act that you unlock Amy Rose so you might as well use Sonic as the lead character. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.d.1. Zone 4 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Not that bad of an act, gliding or flying does help a lot for the second and third Chao but any team can get them. But one thing does make this act a little annoying, the first and second Chao are placed so that if you get the first one you can still go thorough the act and reach the second, but it is much easier to get up to the area where the second Chao is if you start from the beginning of the act again. So I will give you the easy way for the second Chao, but if you don't feel like restarting the act then there is yet another way to get back up to the easy part of the act, but you have to climb preferably to get back up there. Chao #1: From the beginning of the act just keep running right and you should eventually run up into the air and hit a rocket, take that rocket and the next rocket and land to the right. You will come to an area where you see one path leading down, one path up and spinning handles between the paths. The upper path leads to the second Chao, so remember that for later, for now take the lower path, you can avoid hitting the spinning handles by spinning under them. You will go right, then fall, then go left and an then you will be on a platform that falls down a hole. When falling down that hole press right, there is a tiny room on the side of the hole that has the Chao in it. Chao #2: You can climb/fly back up that series of holes or start at the beginning of the act again, as long as you get to that point again with the spinning handles and the two paths, this time use the handles to go up to your right. Up there watch out for the lion and continue, you will come to a room and a moving block going up and down, when the block is down jump on top of it, then up there you will see another moving block to your right, you will see rings under it but DON'T jump down there! Jump on top of the block instead, there is a path up there going to the right. Keep going right and you will soon see balloons above you, use them to bounce up and right till you come to a ledge up above with a Magnet Shield on it. Now go right and you will come to a wall, if you jump up you will hit a rocket. This is the tricky part, that will take you up and you will see another rocket to the right, then another rocket that will take you even higher up. To the right of that third rocket is a small platform that has the Chao on it and a spring pointing right, kind of hard to land on but try anyway! A good place to glide to. Chao #3: Hit the spring, you will be sent flying right, the Magnet Shield should help you get some nice rings. You will land near an area with two paths you can take and a moving block is separating them. When the block moves up go under it and take the lower path. You will run down a curve, but then come to a gap at the bottom, keep your speed up and you should be able to go right past that gap and up the curve on the other side, you will now be in an area with a pendulum and a lion, use the pendulum to go into the room you see to the right. When the time is right you want to go straight through where the moving block is, really the only way you can go and actually get somewhere, then jump on the second moving block and take the path to the right that is up there. Go right and you will slide on one of the elephant slides and you should land in an area where you see two curves sloping down toward a hole, a yellow balloon floating above, there is a spike trap at the top of the left curve, go down that hole. There is a speed booster down there, if you hit it slow down immediately and go back! Above the gap just to the left of that speed booster is a pendulum, try to jump on it, tricky, or glide or fly over there, use the pendulum to go left, there is a room over there with the Chao in it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.d.2. Zone 4 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flight or Gliding or Tag Action Recommended! Knuckles/Tails good. This act could be done by any team, but the Chao are up high and a couple of spots are a heck of a lot easier if you use Tag Action especially, and one spot is a lot easier with gliding in my opinion, I like using Knuckles/Tails for this act. The only weird part is the fact that if you go this way you will not hit any checkpoints, strange. Chao #4: From the beginning head right and you will come to a place where there is a gap in the floor, in that gap is a jack-in-the-box that you have to jump on with the diamond is blue in order to spring up instead of being hit by spikes, use it or use Tag Action to go up and right, don't go into the room to the right with the blue and purple walls, balloons are up there against the right wall, use then to land up there to the right, be careful of the lion badnik. After going a little further you will come to a place with a moving block going in and out of a path to the right, look above there and to the left a little, there is also a moving block up there going up and down, either jump on top of the first moving block to get on top of the second, or much easier Tag Action High Jump up there. A 10 Ring item box is up there, go right and watch out for the clown, wee a ride in the panda cart! The panda cart will crash against a right wall, after it crashes hopefully you will land on a floating spring, that will send up up that wall, on the ceiling and into another spring. That spring will send you down and right and you will land on a moving block against the right wall. The Chao is flying in the air just above the block you are on. Chao #5: Flight or Gliding helps! Look below the moving block and see that gap in the right wall the block occasionally covers up? You want to go in there, but it is a little tricky, you can jump on the spinning handles you see below you to the left then try to jump off those into the gap, or much better yet glide or fly into that gap. If you fall down without making it to that gap it is very hard to get back up, climbing is your best bet! To the right you will see a spring, it will send you up to a rocket, then catch the next rocket to the right of that one, there are a total of four rockets you need to take to get to the upper right gap. In there watch out for the toy soldiers and continue. You will come to an area with a block moving up and down through a hole in the ceiling, get on top of the block. (If you are interested in a 5 Ring and 10 Ring item box, they are the only thing you will find to the right of this moving block.) Up there you will find a jack-in-the-box and that will bounce you up to spinning handles, you will see a slope to your right but it is steep, jump straight off the handles and you will find balloons that will help you get to the right, you will find a Green Shield up there. You will see another panda cart. This panda cart will crash into another panda cart that will take you left, but don't get on it! You want to jump off the panda cart before it crashes and get on that giant Ferris wheel above it, you want to try to jump into the gap in the wall you see just above where the second panda cart is. You will enter a room, and you will come to one moving block going up and down though a narrow gap, you want to go to your right past it, there is nothing above this block and you will be crushed if you go under it. You will see a second block moving up and down, you see the hint of rings under it but DON'T go down there! Instead jump on top of the block and head into the passageway up there heading right. You will then leave the room, above your head you will see a couple of moving blocks, go further right and you will find a spring that will get you to them so you can jump across them going left, or use Tag Action High Jump or Flight or Climbing to go up to your left. You will come to one jack-in-the-box, then another, after that balloons will help you bounce to the right. Now go right and after a little ways the floor will slope down to a curve, you can either jump from her just a little bit to the right to land on a huge platform that has the Chao on it, or you can follow the floor till you are below it and you see balloons and then use them to bounce left to find the Chao, either way is good. Chao #6: Go right and use the balloons if yow want to get across the large gap, there is a 1-up over there, yay! Just jump down to the right from that platform and go right. The floor will slope down into two curves that lead into a hole in the floor, watch out for the spike trap, jump in that hole. Go right and you will see a green and gold platform above you and a moving block to the right, use the block to jump up to the platform then to the right, or just fly/climb/tag action to the right instead, there is just a clown on that platform, nothing worth really going over there for. Go right and you will come to a gap and you will see a pendulum swing toward you, jump on it, then jump on the other one to swing to the right and get up to the higher ledge, go right. You will enter a room and you will come to a block moving up and down, jump on top of the block, and when the block reaches its highest point you will find the Chao! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.d.3. Zone 4 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tough Barrier Break or Tag Action High Jump Highly Recommended! Sonic as lead character recommended to unlock Amy Rose!!! Now the first Chao is ridiculous because it is so easy to get and is at the very beginning of the act, but the second Chao is much further in. Now this act seems to be set up so that there are long and short ways to get almost anywhere, but I will try to guide you through the most direct way. Also one shortcut does require power formation, but I find Tails' Tag Action useful but in reality this act does seem to be geared toward power formation, so I will describe it as such and briefly state what to do if you have Tails as partner or anyone else as partner, you can still get to the same place it will just take longer. The third Chao is not far from the first. Sonic as partner recommended if you want to unlock Amy Rose. Chao #7: Starting from the beginning just after you leave the room you stop. The floor gets slightly lower and this makes a tiny curve, spin-dash left up it and you will be in the air, you will hit a rocket at it will take you to another rocket to the right, take that one up and the Chao is on a little ledge against the left wall. Chao #8: Tough Barrier Break or Tag Action High Jump Recommended! Go right form there, watch out for the lion, then at the right against the wall is a platform over a gap, let the platform fall and you will fall and be running down the wall then to the left where a speed booster will send you back up the wall running then you will be on the ceiling and you should fall on a floating spring that is against the left wall of a gap in the ceiling. Land to your right and get the 5 Ring item box, the continue, the floor will slope down and you will see balloons above, but you don't need to bounce on those, just keep going right, you will then run up a wall and land near a moving block. Get on the other side of that moving block when you can to the right. The floor will slope down, watch out for the piggy. You will come to a hole next to the right wall, wee a panda cart ride! Now this is slightly dangerous but will save you some time, jump way right from where you land and hug the right wall of that huge gap, hopefully you should land near a pig and not on a huge bed of spikes that lines most of the bottom of that hole. Continue right and the floor slopes down on both sides leading to a hole in the floor, watch out for the spike trap. Now you don't want to go in this hole normally, this is the shortcut that you need Knuckles as partner for, you want to jump over this hole, actually better to glide, and land in a gap in the right wall. You will find an Omochao there that says to use Power Type, you need Power Formation to break barriers you see there, there is a Ferris wheel on the other side. (Without Knuckles go through the hole and go right, you should come to a room with pendulums, Tag Action High Jump up off the pendulums to hit the same Ferris wheel, there is also a way that if you go the path to the right of the pendulum then down and left you will find a couple of jack-in-the-boxes that will send you back up to the Ferris wheel.) Now this is the tricky part, you want to hit the rocket you see above the Ferris wheel, can be hard to jump on it. There is a total of three rockets you take up and to the right. You will come to a slight curve in the floor going up toward spikes and a jack-in-the-box, use the jack-in-the-box to get up higher and you will see a rocket, use that to go up higher still to the right, watch out for the lion. Yay another panda cart ride! Hopefully this goes right, you should crash against a wall, then hit a floating spring that sends you up around the ceiling then in another spring that sends you down and right and you should land on spinning handles, you will see a platform below you to the left and a balloon and Ferris wheel to the right. If you jump off the spinning handles hard and to the right you should land past the Ferris wheel and balloons, if not than use the Ferris wheel and balloons to get over there. Now spin-dash right up that curve and you will see an area with three rockets you can take. The furthest left one just takes you to a 5 Ring item box, the furthest right one goes nowhere, you want the middle one, land on the right ledge with the spring, the spring sends you left and you should hit the checkpoint, spin-dash left up the curve if you have to, at the top watch out for a moving block lined with spikes, you want to land on top of it without hitting the sides especially since there is a little piggy up there that will steal all of your rings. Get that piggy and go left, you will be stopped by spikes near an edge and just beyond that you will see a moving block going up and down. Jump on this block and then jump on the block to the left of that, the Chao is flying in the air above and slightly to the left of this second block. Chao #9: Get back on the rightmost moving block, you want to jump up to a higher ledge that is located to the right of this block. You will see two springs, make sure you hit the RIGHT spring, the left spring will not get you up high enough, you should end up springing through two different floors. (If you are interested in a Magnet Shield, then hit the spinning handles after you jump on the spring so you can get over to the left where it is, it is slightly too high to jump up there.) Head right and a moving block that is moving back and forth will hit you, when you can jump on top of it and continue to the right, kill the soldier men! You will come to a place where you have to jump slightly up and to the right of that a gap, you will see a red hoop that is moving up and down. When the hoop is kind of high jump into it and land on the other side, don't go below. Now go right and the floor slopes down with a spike trap below, up in the air to the right you will see a balloon, beside that balloon is another balloon, the Chao is flying right in between these two balloons! Bounce off these balloons to the right to also get a 1-up! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.d.4. Zone 4 Map Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chao #10: From the Final Boss go left and drop down the hole you see, you will see the Chao to your left. A Shortcut way to get there from the Factory Ring will require the use of Tag Action High Jump. Just a little right of the Factory Ring use Tag Action up the hole in the ceiling, then take the rocket and land to your right where the Omochao is. Go right and you will have to Spin-dash up the wall that is just beyond the Act 2 Ring. Once you are up there, jump up and you will see a little more right where the ceiling gets higher, there is a platform, use Tag Action again to get up there, then when you get to the left wall use Tag Action again to go even higher, you will see the Chao to your right. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.d.5. Zone 4 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Go left from the Act 1 Ring and you will find a rocket. Instead of landing to your right like you normally would in order to get to Act 2, after the rocket explodes fall left and hit the blue balloon. The balloon will bounce you to a higher area and you will hit a speed booster that sends you right, then you will hit a spring, you will be bounced a little to the right but try to go as straight up as possible, you will land next to the Special Spring. For a little shortcut and this is tricky, try to use Tag Action High Jump in order to get to the area with the rocket faster, but its tricky getting up there without hitting the Factory Ring in the process! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.e. Zone 5: Twinkle Snow ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Oh how lovely, a winter scene, even the night sky is lit up by the aurora. Anyway the first two acts are good Flight and Tag Action High Jump levels, act 1 in fact a good Tails/Sonic level. The third Act with only two Chao is easier. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.e.1. Zone 5 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flight and Sonic Tag Action pretty much Required!!! Tails/Sonic defiantly recommended! Yes, you read that right, this is a weird act, short but has 4 Chao pretty close to each other. Now I will warn you this description is out of order from what it says on the Chao Map and good reason, if you get Chao #1 first you have to do a lot of backtracking to grab 2 and 3, 4 is actually not that far from 1 on the Chao Map. Actually there is a very fast way from the beginning of the act to get to the third Chao I describe, oh well. I also recommend Sonic as Partner and this description requires Sonic's Tag Action in two different places. The first and third Chao I describe do require some sort of way to get up higher in order to get it, so that leaves only two teams that can go through with the description I have given, Tails/Sonic and Cream/Sonic, Tails/Sonic is the best because Tails can swim and there is quite a bit of water in this act and even R button trick attacks can be useful. This description may a first sound like a bother but as you will see it is the best way to get all 4 chao. Possible with a climbing team too but this is a lot faster... Chao #1: Flight or Tag Action High Jump required! From the beginning just keep going to the right, you will head down a wall, hit a speed booster, go up again, you will see a spring with a gap to the right, go in the gap. Keep going right, around the loop-de-loop, up the wall, on the ceiling, slow down, there is a little gap in the ceiling above some spikes, fly to go up there and through a wooden bridge. Kill that snowman up there and continue right. You will go down, then hit a spring, and be careful, you will be stopped by a spike trap next to spikes. Just jump over these into the gap and you will see a speed booster, hit it and you will go right a little ways and fall off and land on a falling platform, you will land in water. Go left being careful of the hermit crab and you will come to a gap with a puffer fish in it, you want to jump hard or much easier swim to the left, there is a room up there with the Chao in it. Chao #2: Sonic Tag Action Required! Now jump down from there and you will find a 10 Ring Item box. Now this is where to use Sonic Tag Action to head right, you want to do this because eventually you will go up in the air and you need the extra speed to make it through a wooden bridge floor up there. You might want to press down soon after you use the Tag Action because there is an annoying puffer fish up there and you might hit it, even if you do hit it try to make it through the floor, if you don't make it use Tag Action again but be careful or you will drown if you stay down there too long! From there you can either just fly up to the left, or if you go right you will find a spring that will send you on the ceiling then falling to the same area, you will be under a rail now, just go left and you will see a hole with a spring in it and if you just jump over that little hole to the left is the Chao. Chao #3: Sonic Tag Action Required! Now jump back over that hole with the spring in it and you will be below the end of the rail again. Now here is the interesting part, you have to Sonic Tag Action to get up that rail! Push the R button down and if you are just to the right of the end of the rail then jump up facing left and let the R button go and you will go rocketing up the rail. At the top of the rail is spikes and you will see a red hoop in the air above the rail to the right, just grind left on the rail till you hit the edge of the spikes, you will start to grind right again, then jump for that hoop. That hoop will send you to a spring, then you will bounce up through another hoop. While in the air try to land on one of the two floating platforms moving left and right up there, if you can and you defiantly can if you are playing as Tails/Sonic an up R button Trick will help here, if you do not get to them you can either fly up there again, or if you head to the left while on the floor you will eventually find a blue switch that activates a temporary platform that you will have to run right to find that will take you to these floating platforms again. To the right of the higher floating platform is a red machine that you push down to send you up, push it of course. This will send you up through another wooden bridge. Now go left, not right, and hit the spring you see on the wall. You will end up going through a hoop and right into a Chao on a ledge, get that Green Shield up there too. Chao #4: Flight or Climbing or Tag Action Required! From there jump down to the right, be careful of a hermit crab, jump down more and continue right. You will eventually run through a checkpoint, through a loop-de-loop, up a wall, hit a spring, run around crazy and even on the ceiling, run back up, to the left, then you will hit a spring, land on the red machine on the right wall, use it to go up through a wooden bridge. You can hit that red hoop if you want, just means you have to deal with less snowmen and avoid spikes as you continue right while jumping gradually up. Now hit the spring you come to and you will land near a checkpoint. Go right, hit the speed booster, around the loop-de- loop, grind a rail, (If you are interested in an Invincibility Item Box jump through the rail, watch out for the penguin, you will find it to the left, get it and a spring to the right will send you back up there, but you do not want to land on top of the loop-de-loop where the penguin is.) Go through another loop-de-loop, slow down! You will be grinding a rail now, try to jump off of it as soon as possible and try to head left, there is a ledge under and to the left of the beginning of the rail with an Omochao on it, if you do not make it here which is likely just fly back up there. Omochao will say that there is something above, and he is correct! Fly up and to the left, you will find the Chao in a small room. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.e.2. Zone 5 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tag Action High Jump Required! Knuckles/Tails Very Highly Recommended!!! Not only is there a huge shortcut in getting the first Chao if you use Tag Action High Jump, but you need it to get Chao #3!!! Anyway this act really isn't a walk in the park, there are extensive underwater areas and some dangerous spots, but the Chao are really not that bad if you use the right team that is. Overall the hands down best team is Knuckles/Tails especially for the third Chao where you will find Knuckles swimming/climbing/floating handy and Tails' Tag Action necessary. Chao #5: Tag Action High Jump Shortcut, there is a way to get it without Tag Action, but why bother, it will just waste your time. From the beginning go right just a bit and you will be on top of a wooden bridge and see a 5 Ring Item Box, get the item box, then use Tag Action at this location and you will go through another wooden bridge, a Green Shield is up there. Just to the right of this bridge is a ramp, try to run into or spin-dash in into it as fast as possible and if you can push A while launching off of it, you will hit a hoop, while in the air you should see the Chao pass by right below you, just go back to the left and get it when you land, but make sure you do not land on the snowman! Chao #6: Now head left and jump down below where that hoop is, then continue right for quite a while, be careful of a spike trap just after going up a little curve, keep right. You will be stopped by spikes near a hole, jump down. You will hit a rail, jump through the rail, don't grind. Head right and you will be stopped by a 5 Ring item box, get it and this is very important, beyond that you will hit a patch of snow that will slow you down, DON'T jump to try to get across it, you will be sucked into a machine that will freeze you and shoot you up, just trudge or spin-dash through the snow. Against the right wall just beyond that machine you will see a hole that is covered with a barrier, jump on it to break this barrier, when falling down that hole keep to the right side of the hole, you will fall into water and there is a moving block down there moving up and down against the right side of the hole, if you do not land on it you will die. When you can jump into the gap you see in the wall to the right. Keep going right, you can get the bubbles if you want, but if you hit that spring right below it will send you up a wall, then running on the ceiling to the left and you will be in fresh air again. You will hit a spring and you will probably land on a curve going left, there is a 5 Ring item box and the bottom of the curve, and at the top is the Chao! Chao #7: Tag Action High Jump Required! From that Chao hit the spring to the left of it and land on the red machine against the right wall in order to get up through the wooden bridge. Get the penguin and head right, you will go down, hit a spring, the find another spring, us it to get to the red machine on the right wall, then hit the speed booster you see up there. That will send you into a spring, then a checkpoint, then fall down to the right and take a mine cart ride. At the end use the spring to get to the speed booster to the right, You will go up a wall and then on the ceiling and land on a curve, you will see a hermit crab above you (If you are interested in a ? Ring Item box it is to the left of the hermit crab) Now here is the interesting part, the hermit crab is really not the way you want to go, from the bottom of the curve you want to jump and hug the right wall that you just ran up a little, there is a weird false bottom to the floor and you will fall a long ways down and in water and everything. Be careful! You will land on a platform that will fall if you stay on it too long! So try to get on that moving platform you see to the right as fast as you can! This is a good part to use Knuckles' swimming if you are using Knuckles. To the right of that platform is a 10 Ring item box. Now this is where Tag Action comes in and you have to be careful because of spikes on the wall, and don't take too much time either because remember you are underwater and you might drown. Tag Action High Jump up the hole in the ceiling and go slightly left first to land on top of the first series of spikes without getting hurt, or if you went with Knuckles/Tails as I highly suggest you should go high enough straight up so you will end up floating on top of the water! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.e.3. Zone 5 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ There are only two Chao in this act and anyone can get them, but being able to get up higher and Boost Mode help, in fact there is a good Boost Mode shortcut, so I recommend a team with both those abilities. I will describe a way for any team to get the first Chao, the second is in an area near the end of the act that you will get to any way you happen to go so I will describe it relative to the end to save typing space and my time typing it! Chao # 8: From the start you will be heading right for a while till you get to a place where you see platforms above and a 5 Ring Item box. You want to eventually get on that platform above you, but it is too high to jump, so preferably you can use some sort of flying, tag action, whatever to get up there, but if you are using one of the few team that can't do this then you must first go right, hit a spring, go back left, hit a boost hoop, etc... anyway get to the highest part and go right. You will come to a little pole in the wall, use it to bounce up higher. Grind the rail you see to the right, then keep going right. Spikes will stop you, jump over then, kill the penguin, continue right. You will go through two loop-de-loops, then down a wall, then up, then hit a speed booster, eventually hitting one of those machines that freeze you then spit you out, it sends you to the right. Jump down to the right of where you land. Down there hit the spring on the left wall. You will end up running across a body of water then stopping at the wall, jump on the floating platform above you to get up higher. (There is nothing but a bunch of badniks in the water.) Go right being very careful of that hermit crab. Hit the speed booster, you will end up underwater and everything, but you will run up a wall out of the water again and run on the ceiling, you will hit spikes that make you fall onto a platform below. Go left where you see the rings, be careful there is a snowman throwing snowballs at you. Jump left and get the snowman, then jump on the spring you see and head right using the little pole to assist you if necessary, watch out for the penguin up there. From the penguin move right, you will hit a wall but if you jump up at that spot the freezing machine will get you and you will be sent next to a checkpoint. Now this is a tricky jump and where flight or whatever can help you, you will see a large hole to the right of the checkpoint, go right up to the edge and you will barely see the top of another ledge higher to the right. You have to go up there, and it is not easy either because there is a spike trap at the very edge of the other ledge! It is one hard and risky jump, I suggest a running start from the checkpoint, or you can get across some other and safer way, if you fall down this hole you would have to have some powerful action anyway to get back up there because it is deep! Go right and you will be stopped by more spikes at the edge of a hole, on the right wall you will see a red machine you push down on that springs you up, you want to make sure you jump on this machine, you don't want to miss this either, another running start is recommended. Now you want to push down as far as you can because when you spring up instead of going to the right where you see the snowman you want to go very high left where there is a gap in the wall and you see three rings. Get those rings and to the left of then you will see another freezing machine, get in it and you will end up in an area where you will see another red machine that pushes to the left. Push it to the far left as possible and just left go, you will spin through a couple of penguins, then up the wall and into the air where you will hit a Chao. Chao #9: To save typing space described from near the end of the act. Pretty shortly before arriving at the goal you will be in an area where just after a checkpoint you are grinding a rail and then you end up running over water, it is the last area where you run over water in the act. Jump into the water, head left and you will find the Chao and a nice ? Ring Item Box near the left wall. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.e.4. Zone 5 Map Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chao #10: The Chao is located in a little room right below the Act 2 Ring, try to jump in between the platform and the moving platform that is to the right of the Act Ring and then push left while you are going down to hug the wall and land in the little room. If you fall to far if you can use Flight or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump to get back up there. If not then you will have to eventually hit the speed booster and start all the way at the other side of the three moving platforms all over again. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.e.5. Zone 5 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I highly recommend using either Flight or Tag Action High Jump for this because the normal way is a lot longer! Just right of the Factory Ring either fly or use Tag Action to get up a hole in the ceiling, the Special Spring is to the left. I recommend flight or Amy's Air Tag Action over Tails' Ground Air Action because that hole is narrow and it can be hard to aim. The regular way to get up there is to go all the way through the map till you reach the Act 3 Ring, then off the right edge of the platform you will want to jump as high and to the right as you can, a machine will suck you up and freeze you and shoot up to where the Special Spring is. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.f. Zone 6: Cyber Track ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Surprisingly easy to find the Chao in this Zone, in fact when I first found the Chao this was the first Zone I completed! Anyway they are pretty obvious, only the first act is a little annoying and all the gravity reversals, I don't like reversed gravity much... anyway I can't believe they came up with a zone even more computer themed than Techno Base in Sonic Advance 2 which it does resemble, less techno and black, more computer... ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.f.1. Zone 6 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tough Barrier Break Required! Climbing, or Cream/Knuckles highly recommended! This would be a much smoother act, if it wasn't for the fact it a little annoying to go the right way again after getting the second Chao! Most Power Formations have gliding and there is a place where you can glide to the right direction, it is a lot easier to climb up there too. It is a little easier if you just skip the second Chao and head for the third... I will explain this later. There is also more than one way to even get to the first Chao, the way I will give you seems the easiest. Chao #1: From the beginning of the act you will first grind a rail. The rail first slopes down then it will slope up again, when it comes up again jump to the right in order to hit another rail that is above the rail you are on and continue to grind. You will end up in a machine where you have a choice to be spit out up or down. Choose up, at the end of the ride you will eventually be running to the right and stopped by a white trampoline spring against a right wall, use it to go to the right, watch out for spikes and a spider badnik up there, continue right. Now you will come upon a 5 Ring item box against a right wall and a gap to the left of it with three rings in it, get your item box and jump down. A spring down there will send you into another machine, choose up, you will eventually end up in a place where gravity is reversed, go right. You will hit a spring that will send you down, gravity will reverse to normal and you will hit a speed booster that sends you right. Eventually you will be running up a wall and in the air. At the top of where you run up is a white trampoline spring, use it to jump up to the first rail high above the spring, you don't want to jump too high up and hit the highest rail up there. You will either start grinding to the left, or the speed booster on the right end of the rail will make you grind left, grind. Go left and you will hit the checkpoint. A little left of that hit a spring and you will land on a wheel. Just down and to the right of that wheel is another wheel, get on that one and you will see the Chao flying in the air just a little above and to the right of the wheel, jump off the wheel to get the Chao. Chao #2: Now get back on the higher wheel and jump off to the platform above right above where the first Chao was. Go right jumping over spikes and killing the caterpillar Badnik. Grind the rail you come to, at the end of the rail is a spring, spring up to the right. Jump very carefully over the two sets of spikes and watch out for the spider badnik, continue right. Now here is the interesting part, in a gap you will see a tracked platform. This platform leads to the area of the third Chao, but you have to get on it, then jump off of it because you will see the second Chao on a platform below you. Jump off and get the Chao. Chao #3: Tough Barrier Break Required, Flight or Climbing or Gliding recommended! Now this is the slightly annoying part, if you would have continued to ride that platform it would take you exactly where you need to go, but now it is gone, totally gone and the tracked platform you see to the right of the second Chao does not go to the same area, and if you just jump down to the left of the Chao trying to follow where the track goes you will find that it is an awfully long jump, there is a way to do it with using Knuckles' Gliding and Climbing from down there, but it takes very good timing to jump off Knuckles just as he touches the wall if you are silly and use Sonic/Knuckles for example! Cream can just fly over there too, which is why I recommend Cream/Knuckles also. Anyway however you get over there head right, gravity will reverse and you will find yourself grinding a rail to the right. Just keep going right and eventually gravity will reverse once again and you will be at a strong barrier that takes Tough Barrier Break and you will see the Chao on the other side. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.f.2. Zone 6 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ An act with Chao that are relatively easy to find, most ways in the act will take you near the Chao, but the way I will describe here will avoid those annoying poles... any team will do. The biggest danger is a couple of times where if you miss you might fall down a hole and die. Chao #4: Starting from the beginning heading right you will be stopped by spikes near a spider badnik, to your right you will see a pendulum, don't get on it, instead jump down just right of the spikes and you will fall a long way down, gravity will reverse and you will go thorough a floor, then jump up to the right and you will see the Chao just before you fall through the floor again right below the pendulums, gravity is reversed again. Chao #5: Now that you are below the pendulums you want to jump to the hole to the right with the three rings in it, you will go through another floor with gravity reversed, from where you end up jump right, hit the spring on the 'ceiling' which is now really the floor and you will run right. You will end up running up a wall and gravity will reverse to normal again, you want to go to that high gap in the right wall with the blue caterpillar in it, either get in it after running up the wall or use the white spring that you will see below to get back up there if you miss it. Go right and you will see a gap that has a track running through it, you have to jump over it and get the 10 Ring Item box on the next platform, jump down there and you will die! Now get on the tracked platform you see to the right of there and you will eventually go up that gap you just jumped over, at the end of the ride jump off to the left where you see the rings. Keep going left, gravity will reverse as soon as you come to the left wall, then you will hit a spring and will be running to the right on the ceiling. The gravity will reverse again and you will fall down, be careful of a clam badnik, hit that spring you see against the right wall and then go right, there will be a little curve you can just jump over, keep running right. You will eventually end up on a rail after falling down, grind. Off of the rail you will run into a spring that will bounce you on a wheel, be careful, you can fall and die! Jump off the top of the wheel to the left and hopefully you will land on another wheel. From the top of this wheel jump to the right. There is a white trampoline spring on top of a platform, use it to bounce up through the floor. Up there there are little arrows pointing left, but go right instead up the slope. Try not to hit the spring on top of the slope, instead see that platform above it going around in a circle? Get on that and jump to the right when the platform is at its highest (If you are interested in a 5 Ring Item Box just jump on it when you see it to the left of this same platform.) You will hit a checkpoint, spin-dash or run up the little curve to the right of it. You will see a gap to the right with three rings in it, this is pretty similar to the first Chao, jump down there, gravity reverses, jump right, try to hit the Chao on the way up before coming up through the floor again. Chao #6: From where you come up through the floor you now want to jump over the gap to your right, be careful it is a long jump and there are spikes at the edge of the next area. Go right, you will hit a couple of springs and you will be sent running all kinds of crazy ways, just keep running, you will be stopped by spikes facing left. Jump down to the left of them and you will land right on top of a checkpoint. Now go right, you will see a speed booster, right beside it spikes and to the right of the spikes a Magnet Shield, get the shield if you want it and hit the speed booster. It will send you left then up then eventually a spring will send you right. You will land near a hole with a machine that spits you out at the bottom of it and a caterpillar badnik. If you jump over this hole you will find Omochao and he will say use Tag Action but don't listen to him! You can climb or fly up the right wall there to get that 1-up, but don't go too high where the poles are!!! Instead the way you want to go is in that hole and in that machine, choose left. You will be spit out right next to a trampoline spring and a Chao! (I'll give you a hint, jump up and either right or preferably left from the spring, go anywhere else from this point and you will die, this is a tricky spot to get out of.) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.f.3. Zone 6 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Sonic as leader recommended to unlock Cream!!! This is a strange act. The first part of the act is easy, and all three Chao are in this easy part and are close together and easy to get... but after you get past the area of the third Chao the act goes to... well you get the idea... it gets very, very difficult. The three Chao are easy to get with any team, even easier if you pick a team with Boost Mode and Flight or Tag Action High Jump capabilities, flight especially useful. I do recommend Sonic as leader because if you finish this act with Sonic as leader you unlock Cream the Rabbit and the next zone and pretty much anything else you do is a lot easier with Cream. So the team I recommend most are Sonic/Tails. People complained how easy it was to use Cream in Sonic Advance 2 so that is probably why she is hard to unlock in this game. Chao #7: From the beginning head right, after going up a little curve watch out for a clam badnik, hit the speed booster. After going down a slope for a while you will be launched in the air, just land below, (if you are in Boost Mode you can make it to a high platform to the left, a lot safer route, jump over the hole where the caterpillar badnik is then spin up the curve to the right and you will end up near the spider badnik I will mention shortly, but not necessary). Go right and you will hit a spring on the end of the platform that will bounce you on a wheel, jump off the wheel to the upper right in order to jump on another wheel, watch out! If you miss you die! From that wheel jump up and you will go through a floor and you will be near a spider badnik, kill it and first go to the right, you will just find a 5 Ring and an Invincibility Item Box, I am sure you would want those, then go left again. Now just left of where you jumped up through the floor is a gray and red platform moving up and down, jump on it and then jump left from there, gravity will reverse and you will go into a machine where you have to choose direction, choose up, you will end up in a place where you will see a 10 Ring Item Box to your right, get it and go left. You will have to spin-dash or run up a curve, watch out for a clam at the top. Above and to the right you will see a chained platform moving around in a circle, jump on it and when it circles around to the right you will see the Chao flying just to the right of it, jump and get it. Chao #8: Now that you have jumped down go back up to that same platform, this time jumping off to the left. Go left and jump down and you will see a pole spanning the length of the hole, jump on the pole, you want to jump down off the pole, then you will be on another pole. Just let the character slide all the way to the far left end, jump up and to the left. (If you jump down of the pole at this position you will just find a checkpoint and will have to jump on the pole again anyway.) Get in the machine you see, choose up. (Choosing down will just take you back to the checkpoint under the pole) After quite a long trip you will be spit out right on top of a Maximum Speed Item Box and right next to a Chao! Chao #9: Go right, gravity will reverse and you will hit a speed booster, just keep running right. You will land on a wheel, gravity will reverse again, jump off the wheel to the left, hit the speed booster and run left. You will hit a spring, go to your right, watch out for spikes and a clam badnik up there. You will come to a hole, this is one of those areas where you can fall thorough and gravity will reverse and you can fall back up to your right. You can do this if you want to or just jump over the hole, the important hole to jump down is the third one you will encounter (If you are interested in a Magnet Shield, then just jump over the third hole too, get it, then jump in the hole) Gravity will be reversed, and you will go though a 'floor', go a little right and you will have to jump into the machine you see below you, choose right. You will see the Chao just before you are spit out of the second machine! As you can see it is on top of a purple block right beside it. You can use flight or climbing or tag action high jump to get it soon after being spit out, but if you have one of the few teams without these abilities this is what you do. Go a little further right and you will see a tracked platform. It will go up a little, jump to the right where you see that grasshopper badnik, hit the tracked platform to the right of it and that platform will take you right by the Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.f.4. Zone 6 Map Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chao #10: Flight, Climbing or Tag Action High Jump apparently needed! I haven't figured out if you can reach this area that contains just the Map Chao and the Special Spring without it. Go right of the Act 1 Ring and soon after you hit that spring you will find gravity reversed, jump to the right and you will find yourself "falling" through the ceiling. Instead of heading right which will take you to the Act 2 Ring, go left and you will be up against a ledge and you will see a switch to the left on the "ceiling" which currently is the floor... anyway you want to get to that switch and that is where the flying and tag action comes in because it is slightly too high to jump "down" on. Hit the switch then head left, gravity will reverse and you will find that the switch has activated a gray spring, use it and land to your left to get the Chao. To the right is the Special Spring which you will need to find later. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.f.5. Zone 6 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Refer to the description of the Map Chao location, the Special Spring is very close by. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.g. Zone 7: Chaos Angel ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Oh no! Angel Island looks like it is in the middle of well... chaos! Anyway what an interesting background too and you can even see pieces of the once whole Earth in the sky. Anyway all three levels are kind of hard, and all three levels are good for those that can fly, I do like using Cream to find the Chao in this zone. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.g.1. Zone 7 Act 1 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flight Recommended! It is possible to get the Chao with any team really, but flight especially helps a lot in this act because there are many tricky jumps especially at the very beginning and toward the end where if you fall you die. Tag Action High Jump is mostly useful to get up high fast, in this act you really want to go sideways in the air, Gliding is good but you can't gain height, plus near the beginning an Omochao even suggests flight, but sadly above that particular Omochao is just a couple of item boxes, but later on an Omochao does correctly lead you to a Chao! Team I especially like to use for this act are Cream/Knuckles because Cream flight helps and you can kill enemies better, but in my opinion Tails/Amy is the best because Tails can fly far and attack very well and Amy's Tag Action will get you there much faster. Chao #1: Flight helps! From the beginning you will come to a wheel, if you run right on it it will go right then you will see a stone platform that falls slowly then quicker, there are a whole bunch of them and they will eventually get you up and right, they are very tricky to jump on well and you have to or you will die, so it is best to fly and to land on one then fly again till you get to solid ground. Go right, you will eventually reach a loop-de-loop (If you are interested in a 10 Ring item box and a Green Shield, just past the loop-de-loop is an Omochao, he says to use flight, if you fly or whatever where he is and head right you will come to a room with the item boxes in it, then get back down and continue.) You will go around a second loop-de-loop then after running through what first looks like a wall you will come to a machine you have to push right to send you left, push it and you will go up that left wall, then on the ceiling where you will hit a speed booster, then up again. At the top you want to land on that ledge right above where you just came up, to the left, don't go to the right where you see the arrows. Go left watching out for an armadillo and you will come to a hole, you will see three rings against he left wall, jump for them and you will land on a wheel, if you run left on the wheel it will go down, once you get down there you will see some spikes you could have landed on and a see-saw to the left, use either the see-saw or a spring that is between two spikes to the left of it to bounce up higher, you want to either land on the rail up there and grind right, or land on the ledge to the left with the speed booster that will also get you to the same rail eventually. You will go off the rail and land on a machine that you push down, push down so it bounces you up, land right and you will see a see-saw, be careful you do not land on the spiky ball on the see-saw, use that to bounce up and right. Then you will encounter another see-saw and go right again, being careful to jump over spikes you will come to a rail. Now it is best to jump off or start flying right from this rail just before it starts to slope down, there will be two purple badniks in the air trying to block your way to a ledge just above the rail, the Chao is on that ledge. (This is a nice place to use the aerial hammer if you have Tails/Amy)If you do not make it the first time, try to jump off the rail and below the rail is a see-saw that will also get you up there. Chao #2: Flight helps! From there head right and you will find another rail, grind. From the rail you will hit a speed booster that will send you up and right, then you will eventually hit a spring that bounces you left and into another spring, keep going left and you will pass the checkpoint. Keep going around a couple of loop-de-loops, then you will eventually run into a machine you push left, let it send up the right wall. You will hit a speed booster and even be on the ceiling, you will fall down next to a see-saw, careful you do not hit the spiky ball on the see-saw when you fall. Use it and you will be sent into a couple of turning drums up. (There is a 1-up item box you can get right below where you can land, but the nature of where it is positioned you should use either flight or Chao Attack.) Head right and you will grind a rail, then off the rail you will end up probably hitting a spring and in a waterfall, jump off toward the top of the waterfall to the right, jump over the spring, it will just send you into the waterfall again. Still heading right you will encounter a wheel that if you run right on it it goes right, but there are falling rocks that make this dangerous so I like flying over this gap. At the other side you will have to jump over another small gap and be on a large platform with a block to the left, you will see another block to the right and a hornet above, you want to jump to your right and you will find a series of blocks to jump on going right, you might want to fly over these too. At the other side of the blocks is a see-saw, use it to go up and right if you want to or just fly up there, you will come to a speed booster, then you will grind a rail, then a spring will send you down a wall and then going left down a slope. Then you will fall down, hit another spring and go right. You will fall down again, hit a series of springs that send you down, you will find yourself running up a right wall, through a loop- de-loop and you will stop at a see-saw. Go up and to the right and you will encounter a slope and there will be rocks falling down it, beware of the rocks and go down this slope. At the bottom is a see-saw and an Omochao at the bottom, Omochao says to use Tag Action, yes that is good but you can also use the see-saw, the machine and the spring to get you through a floor also. Hit the speed booster to the left and go left, you will go up a wall, hit a spring that sends you down and right then up again, in the air try to land on the higher of the two rails up there. At the end of that rail get your 5 Ring item box, then jump right over the gap and spike trap you see to the right and you will land on another rail, grind. Now just go right being careful of the armadillo and you will get to the next checkpoint. Just to the right of this checkpoint you will see a gap with a spring on the right wall, if you just over this gap all you will find is three rings and a 5 Ring item box, get then if you want then jump in the gap. Spring will send you down, then right, then down again and you will hit a drum with three springs under it. Now when it flings you back up you will see more than one place to land, you want to land to the high right, don't go low right, on the suspended platform ride or to the left. You will go through another area where you walk through what looks like a wall then on the other side is a machine that you push right to send you up the left way, DON'T PUSH, instead jump over it and continue right. You will come to a gap that has two stone platforms and a badnik across it, this is another place where you might want to fly. Land on the pillar and you will have to go across another identical gap. The next gap just has one stone platform on it and on the next pillar to the right you will see an Omochao, he will tell you there is something above, and he is right! Just stay on the stone platform as it falls down, there is a spring right underneath, from that spring you want to jump up and catch the ledge you see the high right, don't grind the rail you will jump through too. Up there if you go right you will find a Green Shield, and just beyond that a Chao. Chao #3: Flight helps! To the right of that Chao you will see another gap with two stone platforms an another purple badnik, get to the next pillar, then three more stone platforms leading up and right, another good place to fly. Go right for quite a while, you will hit speed boosters that send you left the right, you will eventually be on top of a loop-de-loop, a monkey badnik is there too. To the right is a gap with a wheel in it and to the right of that a barrier. You want to get on the wheel and run left to spin down or just jump down there, but if you just jump down there make sure you stay to the left or you will fall down too far, you should be right next to the loop-de-loop you were just on top of, go left through it. You will go down, then left, then hit a spring and go right, hit the other spring, up and right and you will go through the floor. Oh no! You are in one of those rooms that have crushing sides that come in from the right and left! But you will see the Chao in this room a little to the right, hurry up and get it before the room crushes you!!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.g.2. Zone 7 Act 2 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flight or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump Recommended! This is a very long act with four Chao spread pretty evenly through it. Even though it is possible to get all Chao with any team, flight especially helps a lot, especially with Chao #3 because you are not even guaranteed to hit it even if you do fall a certain way down a hole and if you miss it which will probably happen 90% of the time flight is the best way to go. Also there are a lot of nasty badniks and some that are hard to avoid, two good teams are Cream/Knuckles for both flight capabilities and badnik trashing, and Knuckles/Tails, the best team for flight, gliding and climbing there is. Chao #4: From the beginning head right and you will hit a speed booster and start grinding up a rail, but before you get to the end of the rail you in fact want to jump off left from the rail while you are still on the part going up, there are three rings you will see to you left while on the rail to help guide your jump. Go left and soon after a hornet badnik the floor slopes into a wall, you have to either run very fast or preferably spin-dash up it in order to hit a spring that will send you right. You will probably end up sailing over stuff, be especially careful of a purple spinner in the air and armadillos on the ground, go right. You will encounter a spring against a right wall, hit it and a series of springs will send up upwards, this is the tricky part. The very last spring will send you into a 5 Ring Item Box that is on top of a very narrow column, you want to try to land on this tiny platform without falling down to the right of it. Now from there you need to either jump or preferably fly to the left, the Chao is sitting on the narrow platform on the other side of the hole you just bounced up. Chao #5: Now you can jump to the right of where that 5 Ring Item Box was, you will hit a rail down there, grind right. You will end up running right, just keep running right and just run off the edge of a hole, you will land on a machine that you push down to send you up that happens to be on the right side of this hole, if you fall down the hole you will die. Now use the machine and get up to the level above. Kill the hornet and be careful of a spike trap up there and continue right, oh yea the monkey is annoying too. What you come to sort of looks like a wall but it is not until you get to the other side of it that is, so keep going right and you will find a machine you will have to push right, push it right and it will send you up that wall. Up there you will see a speed booster to your left, hit it and go around the loop- de-loop, up the wall, then through the floor to the next higher level. Go right and over the spikes you will see a fun ride, a suspended platform, ride this platform. Be careful of a hornet badnik trying to shoot at you near the beginning of the ride. At the end jump off to the right killing the armadillo badnik. After going down a gentle slope you will come to another 'wall' you walk through, on the other side is a hornet and another machine you push right, push it to send you up that left wall. You will go up to a higher location and see a machine you can push left to go right but it is not really necessary to push it, you can just go right and go up the curve you will find the normal way, watch out for a spike trap up there. You will see another suspended platform just above that spike trap, don't get on it, just go right and you will see a 10 Ring item box a little below you and to the right of that a turning wheel platform, jump on it and run right so that it will rise up. Then you will see another wheel, jump on that and run right again to go up higher still. Then from there go right and you will see yet another wheel and to the right of that a spring, jump on that wheel and also turn it to the right to send it upwards. When it is at its highest just wait and soon a moving platform will appear to your left, jump on it watching out for a hornet up there. Now when it is farthest left jump off to the ledge to the left, you will have to go up a left slope, spin-dashing is the fastest way up it. Up there you will find a spring that will send you running right, then launched in the air, you will see another wheel, land on it. Turn it right so it goes up. Now you want to jump far left to hit that grassy ledge you see, you might want to fly over there because it is easy to miss, you will find the Chao and a ? Ring item box up there. Chao #6: Flight or Climbing or Tag Action High Jump very highly recommended!!! Jump back down to the right and being careful of a monkey you will find another wheel, run right so the wheel goes to the right, watch out for a hornet on the other side. Hit the speed booster and go right, you will eventually encounter another machine you have to push right, use it to go up the left wall. You will be up in the air, try to land on the suspended platform, or land on the ledge to the left then use a spring you will find to the far left and a wheel to get on this platform. During the ride you want to be careful of a purple spinner in your path just after the first three rings. Jump off at the end to the right getting the monkey. Continue right and you will hit the checkpoint. A little beyond that you will come to spikes, being careful of a hornet jump over the spikes onto the rock platform that slowly descends then falls and then jump off that to the right before it does fall and continue. Then you will come up on another edge, jump on the two rock platforms, jump off the second one against the right wall there where the three rings are, you will land with spikes to your left and a barrier to your right, break that barrier and continue. You will find a spring, use it to bounce to the higher level, watch out for a spike trap and a purple spinner, continue right. Eventually you will encounter another hole, just jump down, hit the spring to the right that sends you left. You will be stopped by a 5 Ring Item box, watch out for the hornet, jump on the rock platform to the left of that and let it take you down, you will land on a speed booster, that takes you left but then very soon you just fall, you will be next to another barrier to your right, break it and continue on, be careful soon after that is both a spike trap and spikes. Jump over these and continue right. You will come to a large hole that has two rock platforms, quickly jump across these to get to the other side, a monkey is over there. Continue on and you will fall down a little, continue right and you will encounter a spring that will send you into a series of springs that bring you up between two pillars, up there go to the right, it's another monkey! You will come to another gap and the Chao is sort of near the bottom and to the left of the gap, you can try to fall down the gap and head sort of left, but it is easy to miss and when you get to the bottom of the hole you will find the Chao is just high enough where you cannot jump to it, so fly instead. Chao #7: Flying or Gliding helps! Below where the Chao was if you go right you will find an Invincibility item box, you might want to get that, then head left and jump down far left. This is another place that is tricky, you will land on a small ledge against a left wall, and to your right you will see gray platforms that crumble VERY quickly after touching them, you have to jump across them very quickly, or better yet fly/glide across there. Go right from there and you will find a spring and land on the rail way up there, grind. Off the rail you will hit a spring, be careful of the hornet and go right. You will go past a checkpoint, then you will get to an edge, jump down there. You will be spun down below by two spinning drums. Go right and you will find a spring and right next to that spikes, you will see a slope with rocks falling down it to the right of that. When no rock is falling, use the spring and head down that slope being careful of the rocks. When you get to the end of that slope just fall down. You will go down a long, long ways but you will eventually land, do not hit the spring on the left wall, instead go right being careful of the hornet. You will see a rail. It turns out it doesn't matter if you jump through it or grind it, two spinning drums will eventually send you down, you will find yourself running to the left. Before the floor curves down and you start running along the ceiling eventually you want to jump and hug that left wall you see, you will probably hit a spring at the bottom but just a little to the right of that spring is a Chao and a Magnet Shield item box in a little room. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.g.3. Zone 7 Act 3 Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flight or Tag Action High Jump Required!!! A very interesting Act where most of the time you are on a huge moving platform and you are just jumping over stuff, it helps to have flight ability anyway in this act, I suggest Cream/Knuckles. Since there is really only one way to go in this act, I will describe where the Chao are relative to the checkpoints. Chao #8: Past the first checkpoint and before you get on the next giant moving platform, you want to use flight or tag action high jump near where you would jump down to go on the platform, the Chao is way up high and to the right, if you use flight especially with Cream start flying near the checkpoint and fly to the right so you will be able to fly high enough to reach the platform, then jump down and get on the next platform to continue. Chao #9: Near the end of the second platform ride you will see one of those huge Badniks with the drill bit things sticking out. Look against the right wall and you will see a tiny gap next to this badnik, jump in the gap and head right and fall down, you will see the Chao to your left. Fall down to your left again and you will be in the area of the next checkpoint. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.g.4. Zone 7 Map Chao: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chao #10: Go left of the Act 2 Ring and you will see Omochao and to the left of him a gap you are suppose to use the turning machine to go across, instead jump down and land to your right, there is a Chao there. You can also get there by using flight or Tag Action High Jump just left of the Act 1 Ring. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.g.5. Zone 7 Special Spring: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Go right of the Act 1 Ring making sure not to fall in the gap you will come to, jump up and right, but then jump down into the next gap you come to. Head right and you will find the Special Spring. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 8.h. The Special Stage ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In order to get in the special stage for a zone first find all 10 Chao, then grab a Special Key in an act and make it out alive, then take the Special Key to the locked Special Spring hidden in the map area. The Special Stage is kind of like the Special Stage of Sonic Advance 1. In this Special Stage, the character is on top of the Tornado 2 and is jumping to get rings. There are two goals, you have to collect the indicated amount of Rings before the first goal in order to continue on with the Special Stage, and then you have to collect the next indicated amount of Rings before reaching the second goal in order to get the Chaos Emerald. To get the Rings, the most important thing is to avoid the obstacles for obvious reasons, but remember if you jump into the large gray obstacles instead of just hitting them you actually get rings instead of loosing them. Also try to go through the blue rings in order for the Tornado 2 plan to go into X wing mode, you not only go faster but each ring you pick up is multiplied by 2, but this does not last forever of course. If you have already gotten all 7 Chaos Emeralds, then on the main menu screen enter Up, R, Down, L, Right, Left and you will enter Special Stage Mode where you can try out all 7 Special Stages in a row. Moves in the Special Stage: D pad: Move the plane in any direction A button: Jump up in the air to get rings or avoid obstacles Objects in the Special Stage: Regular Rings: Worth 1 Ring. Flashing Rings: Some rings flash a reddish color. They are worth 5 Rings. Small Red Obstacles: If you hit these small red obstacles with gray spikes you loose 5 Rings. Large Gray Obstacles: Now these are interesting. If you just simply hit them you loose 5 Rings, but if you can spin jump into them and destroy them you gain 5 Rings! Beware, they sometimes move and they sometimes shoot energy spheres at you that will also make you lose 5 Rings. Blue Hoops: Circular areas outlined in blue flashing dots. Go through these and the Tornado 2 will enter X wing mode and go faster. In X wing mode you can no longer jump, but all rings you get will be multiplied by 2. X wing mode eventually wears out. In the last two Special Stages these hoops sometimes move. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 9. Medals ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ You earn a medal each time you defeat an Act or Boss in either Story or Time Attack Mode. They come in Gold, Silver, and Bronze and whichever one you earn depends on how quickly you were able to get through the act or defeat the boss. For Acts I suggest trying to earn medals in Story Mode because in Time Attack Mode you cannot earn extra lives so you have to start over again from the beginning if you die, you can still get a gold medal if you die and start again at a checkpoint as long as you make it through the act in the right time frame. If you earn all Gold Metals in all acts and bosses you unlock being able to fight bosses in time attack, which means you have to earn boss metals in story mode anyway. To get Gold Medals in acts, I suggest using a team with Sonic as partner, try to use Sonic Tag Action as much as possible to speed through each act, but this is not necessary in all acts. Also you might want to use a flying character, Tails or Cream partnered with Sonic to get up to high areas if necessary. In acts with extensive tracks to water consider Sonic/Cream so you do not have to wait around finding air bubbles which chews up time. To get Gold Medals for bosses, try to figure out what team will kill each boss the quickest. Cream's Chao Attack works great for most, but a few bosses like Zone 5 and Zone 6 cannot be hit with Chao Attack. To get Silver Medals, I suggest doing the same thing as for the gold medal but instead waiting around a little bit at the end, you do not have to hit the medal as soon as you see it, just wait till the clock is in that window of time between gold and bronze. To get Bronze Medals, well, do lousy in the act/bosses or if it is a act that you probably would gold medal first time through (Zone 7 Act 3 comes immediately to mind) then just wait around at the end of the act or boss some more. Below is a list of what times you have to beat the acts and bosses in order to earn each medal and in some cases team suggestions, I say Tails/Sonic or Cream/Sonic are the best, I will credit a guy named Eric for helping me find a few of these times. Zone 1 Act 1: Gold: Less than 1'30''00 Silver: Between 1'30''00 and 2'30''00 Bronze: Over 2'30''00 Zone 1 Act 2: Gold: Less than 2'15''00 Silver: Between 2'15''00 and 3'15''00 Bronze: Over 3'15''00 Zone 1 Act 3: Gold: Less than 2'00''00 Silver: Between 2'00''00 and 3'00''00 Bronze: Over 3'00''00 Zone 1 Boss: Pretty much any team, Chao Attack does work. Gold: Less than 1'45''00 Silver: Between 1'45''00 and 2'15''00 Bronze: Over 2'15''00 Zone 2 Act 1: Gold: Less than 1'45''00 Silver: Between 1'45''00 and 2'45''00 Bronze: Over 2'45''00 Zone 2 Act 2: Gold: Less than 1'30''00 Silver: Between 1'30''00 and 2'30''00 Bronze: Over 2'30''00 Zone 2 Act 3: Knuckles/Tails huge shortcut, 1'10''00 is possible Gold: Less than 2'45''00 Silver: Between 2'45''00 and 3'45''00 Bronze: More than 3'45''00 Zone 2 Boss: Flying good, so is Chao Attack. Gold: Less than 1'30''00 Silver: Between 1'30''00 and 2'00''00 Bronze: Over 2'00'00 Zone 3 Act 1: Sonic/Tails, Tag Action is handy Gold: Less than 3'30''00 Silver: Between 3'30''00 and 4'30''00 Bronze: Over 4'30''00 Zone 3 Act 2: Sonic/Tails, Tag Action is handy Gold: Less than 3'30''00 Silver: Between 3'30''00 and 4'30''00 Bronze: Over 4'30''00 Zone 3 Act 3: Gold: Less than 2'00''00 Silver: Between 2'00''00 and 3'00''00 Bronze: Over 3'00''00 Zone 3 Boss: Actually great with Amy teams once I tried it... anyway don't try to fly or glide to attack. Gold: Less than 1'45''00 Silver: Between 1'45''00 and 2'15''00 Bronze: Over 2'15'00 Zone 4 Act 1: Sonic/Tails, Tag Action is handy Gold: Less than 2'45''00 Silver: Between 2'45''00 and 3'45''00 Bronze: Over 3'45''00 Zone 4 Act 2: Gold: Less than 2'30''00 Silver: Between 2'30''00 and 3'30''00 Bronze: Over 3'30''00 Zone 4 Act 3: Knuckles/Tails, huge shortcuts Gold: Less than 2'45''00 Silver: Between 2'45''00 and 3'45''00 Bronze: Over 3'45''00 Zone 4 Boss: Cream/Knuckles highly recommended for gold medal, Cream's Chao Attack works excellent. Stay away from Amy teams except maybe Amy/Sonic, flying ability can help. Gold: Less than 2'30''00 Silver: Between 2'30''00 and 3'00''00 Bronze: Over 3'00''00 Zone 5 Act 1: Gold: Less than 2'15''00 Silver: Between 2'15''00 and 3'15''00 Bronze: Over 3'15''00 Zone 5 Act 2: Sonic/Cream, large underwater areas Gold: Less than 3'30''00 Silver: Between 3'30''00 and 4'30''00 Bronze: Over 4'30''00 Zone 5 Act 3: Gold: Less than 3'00''00 Silver: Between 3'30''00 and 4'00''00 Bronze: Over 4'00''00 Zone 5 Boss: Any team will work, but Tails/Amy has very good fly time if you miss a platform. Chao Attack does not work. Do not try to use gliding or climbing or Tag Action High Jump even though it is tempting. Gold: Less than 1'30''00 Silver: Between 1'30''00 and 2'00'00 Bronze: Over 2'00''00 Zone 6 Act 1: Gold: Less than 2'00''00 Silver: Between 2'00''00 and 3'00''00 Bronze: More than 3'00''00 Zone 6 Act 2: Knuckles/Sonic, tough barrier shortcut Gold: Less than 2'30''00 Silver: Between 2'30''00 and 3'30''00 Bronze: Over 3'30''00 Zone 6 Act 3: Gold: Less than 4'15''00 Silver: Between 4'15''00 and 5'15''00 Bronze: Over 5'15''00 Zone 6 Boss: Stay away from teams that can't spin jump. Knuckles/Sonic good for knocking balls into the wall to get a better chance at the ball hitting the target. Gold: Less than 2'00''00 Silver: Between 2'00''00 and 2'30''00 Bronze: Over 2'30''00 Zone 7 Act 1: Cream/Sonic, flight shortcuts Gold: Less than 5'00''00 Silver: Between 5'00''00 and 6'00''00 Bronze: Over 6'00''00 Zone 7 Act 2: Cream/Knuckles, can be tough to get through Gold: Less than 5'15''00 Silver: Between 5'15''00 and 6'15''00 Bronze: Over 6'15''00 Zone 7 Act 3: Cream/Knuckles, lots of badniks near platform, good to fly if accidentally jump off. Gold: Less than 3'00''00 Silver: Between 3'00'00 and 3'30''00 Bronze: Over 3'30''00 Zone 7 Boss: Chao Attack works very well and is recommended. Try for long range stuff, Knuckles' Ground Tag Action surprisingly useful too. Gold: Less than 1'30''00 Silver: Between 1'30''00 and 2'00''00 Bronze: Over 2'00''00 Final Boss: Any team that can attack Eggman directly without having to jump on hands, Chao Attack, flying up and hitting with Tails very good. Sonic/Cream or Sonic/Knuckles good for getting into Extra Zone. Gold: Less than 2'30''00 Silver: Between 2'30''00 and 3'00''00 Bronze: Over 3'00''00 Extra Boss: Remember you have to Tag Action, then hit directly. You can dash through beams. Gold: Less than 3'00''00 Silver: Between 3'00''00 and 3'30''00 Bronze: Over 3'30''00 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 10. Time Attack: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ See how fast you can get through each Act and Boss, Boss Time Attack is unlocked if you get all gold metals in all Acts and Bosses and beat the Final Zone again. Same as the regular acts but there are some differences: There are no extra lives, you have to get through an entire Act without dying in order to get a new time recorded. If you die you go to a screen where you have the choice to either try again, change course but keep the same character, change character, or end Time Attack. All ? Ring Item Boxes are replaced by 10 Ring Item Boxes and 1-up Item Boxes are not present. No Chao, Omochao or Special Keys at all. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 11. Two Player Modes: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Sadly I have been unable to play two player, but here is pretty much what it says in the manual for those of you who do not own it: Main Game 2 Player: Two Gamepaks, a link cable and two Game Boy Advances required. You can play the Main Game, one person controls the main character and one controls the partner, game data is taken from Player 1's Gamepak. Player 1 can enter acts, within acts both characters can use Tag Action and both characters will loose Rings if Damaged. Battle Mode Multi-pak: 2-4 Game Boy Advances, link cable and Game Paks required. This game is two teams racing against each other through Acts, if less than 4 players other characters are controlled by the CPU. Battle Mode Single-pak: 2-4 Game Boy Advances, link cable and only one Game Pak required. In this game the characters act alone without a partner and there are no special move or trick moves. Find the hidden Chao, you can attack other characters and steal their Chao. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 12. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Q. Is there a Tiny Chao Garden in this game? A. Nope, get Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2 or Sonic Pinball Party if you want a Tiny Chao Garden. Q. I can't punch through barriers or I don't see that tunnel you refer to, etc... A. You are playing an early leaked ROM, not the final version, read the note at the beginning of this FAQS. Q. Are any other characters besides Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Cream in the game like Shadow or Espio? A. No. Q. I completed Sonic Battle and this game. Is G-mel or whatever you want to call him Emerl from Sonic Battle? A. The game does not really say 100% for sure in the game or the manual, but the game extremely hints at it and supposedly Sonic Team has told people it is, the theory is that Eggman found an only partially destroyed Emerl and restored him, but that is still not 100% confirmed. Whatever the situation really is, it looks like G-mel has a bright future after all. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 13. Nostalgia Trip! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The theme from this game seems to be "put as much stuff from older Sonic Games in here as possible". I have not played every Sonic game ever made, and my knowledge of some games may be a bit hazy, but I decided to put together this section dedicated to the older Sonic games and what from those games are in this game. If you are younger and only familiar with the more recent games, you may be surprised how old some of the "new" stuff in Sonic Advance 3 is! I will list the games out separately and then list out things in Sonic Advance 3 that is from or originally from that game! I will stick to the major games primarily, and mostly because of lack of knowledge leave out the Gamegear Games. This game has a huge connection to Sonic Battle and I cover that very thoroughly. Sonic the Hedgehog, 1991: The essence of what is Sonic. Just Sonic and just Robotnik "Eggman" and his Badnik robots. In this game Sonic didn't have many moves, just Spin Jump and spin along the ground, but he was still cool. Also the video monitor item boxes differ little from the item boxes still around. This game also introduced the Chaos Emeralds, but there are only 6 of them and they just unlock a slightly different ending. If you never seen this game I highly recommend playing it for old times sake. Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: Many of the common things in most Sonic games first appeared in this game, Badniks, Rings, Chaos Emeralds, how you can die, drowning and having to get bubbles to live, the basic item boxes including Ring, Shield, Speed Shoes, 1-up and Invincibility, still work the same as they did in this game. The Basic story of this game is just Sonic vs. Eggman. Music of the Sunset Hill Zone is a remix of the music from the Green Hill Zone and the Zone itself resembles the Green Hill Zone. Some Badniks first appeared in this game including hornets and motobugs. A couple of the in level things, the see-saw with the spiky ball is from this game and I'm not positive but it might not have been in any others, the spinning things you have to spin around in the Cyber Track zone are from this game too. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, 1992: Oh how things progress... so many things that are common to later Sonic games first appeared here..., it sort of redefined Sonic Games from then on. The story gets a little more complex in this game, Eggman has build a powerful ship called the Death Egg that Sonic and Tails has to stop. Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: Introduction of several things to the Sonic Series in general, including Tails, the Spin-dash move, the original Tornado Plane, the 7th Chaos Emerald, Super Sonic, and the first appearance of a robot designed to fight Sonic, Silver Sonic. Also the Death Egg ship, not important to Sonic Advance 3, but is the main focus of this game, Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, and does not appear again till Sonic Battle! Some Badniks from this game including the first appearance of the monkey and the grasshopper and oil-drop Badniks are from this game too. Sonic CD, 1993: This game was originally not considered "canon", the story line of the game is out of place because Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 are a continuous story, this game was for the Sega CD system and later came out for PC. But when Sonic Adventure was created in 1998, more "non-canon" things and characters were incorporated into the main story and two characters from this game are now greatly involved in the story, Amy Rose and Metal Sonic! Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: This game was the first appearance of Amy Rose. The minigames, especially the one where you have to kill all enemies is themed after this game. Just like in Sonic CD when you kill Badniks flowers pop out. When you pick the Amy/Sonic team, Amy follows Sonic with little hearts around her head like she does in Sonic CD. Amy Dash resembles Sonic's Super Peel-out move from this game. Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, 1994: Really two games that were released only months apart, but they were originally meant to be only one game and are exactly the same as each other in level structure and new item boxes and Special Stages so I am considering them as one game. To see the entire story you can actually connect the two games together and play through all zones in each game one after another! This game also introduced some unique elements that have never appeared again and many people wish they would. First is the fact that Sonic and Knuckles is the first game where Knuckles is playable and he can go super with the Chaos Emeralds, that has never happened again. If you lock the two games together after getting 7 Chaos Emeralds you then can earn the 7 Super Emeralds and attain even more powerful forms, Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles and Super Tails, and these seem to be gone forever too... okay enough of that... The story of these games involve the fact that the Death Egg wasn't destroyed, it landed on Angel Island and Eggman tricked Knuckles into helping him, Knuckles is nothing but a bad force trying to stop Sonic and Tails in Sonic 3... but figures out something is wrong when he catches Eggman stealing the Master Emerald in Sonic and Knuckles! In Knuckles' story then some of Eggman's robots start messing with him! Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: First appearance of Knuckles, Angel Island, The Master Emerald and an unlockable Extra Zone playable only as Super or Hyper Sonic. There were three shields in this game and remnants of them are found in Sonic Advance 3. The Water Shield allowed Sonic to do a Bounce Attack and breath underwater, the bouncing is still seen with Bound attack, and a bubble appears around Sonic when Cream is his partner. The Flame shield allowed Sonic to do a sudden attack sideways similar to the attack Sonic can now do when Cream is his partner. The Electric Shield was the first Ring Attracting Shield to appear in a Sonic game. Also a Double-spin was in this game, but it was called Insta-shield and could shield against small bullets too. Knuckles and the Chaotix: 1995 A game that was for the Sega 32X system that was also considered "non- canon". The word chaotix should be familiar to you if you played Sonic Heroes, but in this game not only was there Vector, Espio and a much older Charmy, but also Mighty the Armadillo. This game was the first with a partner system... I have reciently played this game so I can talk more about it now. Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: Partner system, you could pick different characters as partner characters. Also as in Sonic Advance 3 you can hold characters in ball form then throw them at enemies, but in Chaotix you are sort of chained to your partner... Map system, like in this game can choose order you play levels well, sort of, you had to play each level within a zone in order but you could skip around zones... kind of hard to explain Rings in robots, but they are gray rings you can't pick up. Sonic Adventure 1998: This was the first 3D Sonic game and was for the Dreamcast. This game basically redefined the Sonic series again... The story is complex but mostly concerns Eggman releasing Chaos into the world... It was re- released as Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut in 2003. First appearance of the Chao, specific Small Animals that appear when you break the capsule in the mini-game, and some design features including the current look and content of the item boxes and characters are from this game. Some of the B button moves like Tails' Tails Swipe and Amy's Hammer attacks are from this game. Sonic Pocket Adventure 1999: Another game I just caught up on. It was for Neo Geo Pocket. In many ways it was like the old games, but the characters had their new Sonic Adventure-like look, and this game eventually inspired the Sonic Advance series in the first place. Sonic Adventure 2: 2001 The second 3D Sonic Game. Mainly concerned the story of Shadow and the ARK. It was re-released for Nintendo Game Cube as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle in 2002. Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: The music for the Main Menu (Sound Test 3) is a remix of Chao Race Music (Beginner and Jewel, under the Chao section of the Sonic Adventure 2 Sound Test) The beginning of the story of the ARK space station and Prof. Gerald, which concerns G-mel... The first appearance of Chaos Control, appears in this game as something G-mel does later on. The first time you could grind rails... Sonic Advance: 2002 The first Advance series game, not much of a story but a lot of things from this game came back... Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: The look and most of the sprites were established in this game. Many of the moves are from this game, including the underwater moves. Sonic Advance 2: 2003 The second Advance game introduced Cream to the Sonic world and some more moves... The story concerned Eggman kidnapping characters... he got Tails, Knuckles and Cream's mom Vanilla! Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: Introduction of Cream, Cheese and Vanilla, Boost Mode, and R Button Trick Moves. Everybody can grind rails now. Some of the character moves, even Amy's moves with Sonic are from this game, in fact all the moves from this game are in Sonic Advance 3 somehow. Sonic Heroes: 2004 This Sonic 3D game was released on Gamecube, Xbox and Playstation 2. It has a complex team system... this is still a very new game so I will not spoil it... Things in Sonic Advance 3 from this game: The formations, Speed, Flight and Power are from this game. Special Keys are from this game. Like this game it seems to be based upon the older game Knuckles Chaotix. Sonic Battle: 2004 A HUGE amount of stuff, Sonic Battle is a very important game in relation to Sonic Advance 3. Spoilers for both Sonic Battle and Sonic Advance 3 Sonic Battle is a Game Boy Advance title that was released in January 2004. There is a huge connection between Sonic Advance 3 and Sonic Battle, not just in music that you may have noticed but also story-wise especially the end story. Here is a brief explanation of Sonic Battle for those of you who have never played it, but it does assume you have finished Sonic Advance 3: One day while strolling along the beach in Emerald Town Sonic spots a mysterious in the sand. In appearance it is quite similar to the robot in this game but more of an orange color with other differences too. The robot speaks in a very broken way about power. Anyway Sonic takes the robot to Tails to fix it and Sonic eventually names him Emerl. It is discovered that Emerl can copy the moves of other characters and that Emerl gets stronger with every move learned and with every Chaos Emerald in his possession, but is only truly loyal to the one that can demonstrate the most power. But well a lot of people get caught up in this, Eggman was the one that abandoned Emerl, he could not get Emerl to obey. But Eggman tried to copy Emerl and built 14 robots designated as E-121 Phi, instead of powered by small animals or rings, they were powered by shards of Chaos Emeralds that Eggman was stealing. Also in the fray was Chaos Gamma, Eggman had also rebuilt E-102 Gamma but this is not the same Gamma as before. Emerl was learning new more and bonding with various characters. It was revealed by Shadow who regained his previous memories, Rouge and info from the government that Emerl's real name was the Gizoid. He is an ancient fighting robot powered by Chaos Emeralds that at one point almost destroyed an ancient civilization. He was rediscovered by Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather and he tried to reprogram the Gizoid to have an emotion-based AI. Gerald knew that the Gizoid was a powerful weapon and just like Shadow Gerald wanted him to have a heart so he would not be dangerous, but Gerald's program was never completed, "Bring Hope to Humanity" had to be said to him after he was "awakened" which means he has all 7 Chaos Emeralds to activate the full program that would release his mind. Eventually the Phis were destroyed and he did get all 7 Emeralds, but then the program was complete and Emerl was free. But trouble was not far away, even Chaos appeared knowing something big was going to happen. Eggman knew of a way to get around this, he knew if Emerl was shown a greater power that he could still be controlled. So Eggman rebuilt his once great ship, the Death Egg and created a super powerful weapon called the Final Egg Blaster. Eggman tricked Emerl aboard the Death Egg and sure enough Emerl started going crazy. But Emerl was originally programmed for destruction, he turned the Final Egg Blaster on Earth. Sonic had to fight Emerl to stop him. Some of Emerl's mind came back, but it was too late, a countdown sequence had begun. Then Emerl just simply disappeared... So what does the ending of Sonic Advance 3 mean in relation to this? Either Tails decided to repair a robot that looked like Emerl to make him like Emerl, or G-mel was Emerl, found and rebuild/reprogrammed by Eggman into something evil... you decide on what is true... Anyway here is the list of the most obvious music remixes from the game Sonic Battle that are in Sonic Advance 3, first listed is the music selection found in the BGM section of the Sonic Battle Sound Test and underneath all the remixed versions of that tune found in Sonic Advance 3 Sound Test, there is even one in the Sound Test not found in the main game. Also note that many other tunes in Sonic Advance 3 have Sonic Battle-like musical elements, in fact most of the music in this game is at least Sonic Battle-like except the stuff that is clearly from Sonic Advance 1 and 2, I just can't pin them down to a particular tune in Sonic Battle. Both games also contain remixes of Sonic 1's Green Hill Zone. BGM 9 (Emerald Coast) 9 (Zone 1 Map) 18 (Zone 1 Act 1) 19 (Zone 1 Act 2) 20 (Zone 1 Act 3) BGM 20 (Phi Battle, Collosium Map) 8 (Start Demo) 49 (Ex-Demo 1) BGM 25 (Emerl Related Story Music) Note: This tune is a mixture of BGM 20, Collosium Map and BGM 30 Emerl Skills with an extra tune added also. The Extra Zone of Sonic Advance 3 is very much based upon it and has pretty much the same exact tune. This tune plays sometimes during the story of Sonic Battle, one example is in Sonic's story after Emerl learns his first moves from Sonic.) 45 (Ex-Boss) 46 (Ex-Boss-Pinch) BGM 30 (Emerl Skills) 6 (Options) BGM 35 (Holy Summit) 16 (Final Zone Map) 43 (Final-Boss) 44 (Final-Boss-Pinch) 47 (Intact Music 2) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 14. Questions?: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Got Questions? I will answer them if they are not stupid. 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