Fwiw, in Advance 3 the acceleration is entirely different between the Japanese/European and US versions. According to TCRF: “Collecting more rings gives the player more air control and acceleration, but in the US version, this effect is far less significant compared to the Japanese/European version and Sonic Advance 2” Tracker_TD on Twitter has a good video comparing it: https://xcancel.com/Tracker_TD/status/1337411396615753728 I’ve only ever properly played the European version so I was shocked to learn that the American release had entirely different (and arguably worse) acceleration. I’ve wondered for a long time if this was a bug with the US version but it feels so specific that I’m not sure if it was an intended change or not. considering the EU/JP versions were built four days later on April 18th 2004 with the correct acceleration (and a few other fixes to stage layouts and one encounter) I’m assuming it was just a bug that was unfortunately missed too late for the US release.
I had heard that the ring acceleration thing was bugged in Advance 3, and I had been pretty sure this had something to do with why people say 3 controls worse, but I didn't know that the region had any differences. Is anyone here able to compare how similar the EU version is to Advance 2?
Nah you're right, I thought it was a collaboration since DIMPS has a history of licensed fighting games but I was mistaken. My bad!
I have owned this game for 21 years and I did not know this was a thing until today. That control quirk has been terribly communicated. Such a stupid idea.
I literally only found out it was a thing because I downloaded and played a US rom a couple of years back on a trilogy replay and immediately knew something was up. So I pulled up my EU GBA copy on my DS Lite and was shocked that it wasn't my memory and started looking into it. I played a lot of Advance 3 as a kid (only owned 1&3), so it pretty much was one of the few GBA games I owned that I played nonstop. I'm more nostalgic for the GBA games than the console games because most of the time my older brothers were playing consoles, and I was left to either play games on my GBA, or not play games at all.
I wonder if I'd like Sonic Advance 3 more with the better controls you're all saying are in the EU and JPN versions. Anyway, apologies if this derailed the Rush discussion, but I think a few of us learned something new.
I’d honestly recommend giving it a try with the EU/JP version and seeing how it is. Fwiw, it’s still got the same faults that Advance 3 has beyond its acceleration (which imho the main issue is that an extended resolution would do wonders for visibility). on the topic of the Rush games, I actually replayed around half of Rush a couple of months back! Was honestly worried it wouldn’t hold up but I loved it other than that it felt a little bit more basic than the later console boost games. Still have to play Rush Adventure someday, but I loved playing Colors DS and thought it held up well to the Wii original when it was new. I do think to a degree that people may have been a bit too harsh on these handheld games. but in a world where we have Mania and Superstars I’m cool with titles that took the series in a different direction than the traditional classic games. And at minimum they’re much better than Sonic 4
Finally re-played Sonic Colors DS, so I'm posting about it here like I promised I would! The removal of the Tension Gauge mechanic to a simplified modern Boost is somewhat understandable now that the Color Powers take central stage. The Color Powers are fun and give the game the variety it needs so it's not just about boosting, but the stages end up revolving around a cental Color Power a lot, thanks in part to the fact that the game is entirely 2D. I remember when Colors (Wii/HD) first came out thinking that it was really lame that the game only wants you to use Color Powers in these areas where it's very clearly signalling to you to use it, but I think the alternative here in DS Colors where the level has to entirely bend itself over one Color Power is worse - in the Wii/HD version, that strictness means levels can have way more variety to them. Also, the whole design of "use the Color Power against this boss to beat it way faster!" means that bosses are just too short and easy if you do that. The game *is* fun but as a whole it feels like a tutorial about these Color Powers that it barely ever graduates from into something more. The Special Stages feel like a weaker version of Rush's, the whole 3-lap gimmick isn't very interesting past the novelty of it. Colors DS felt really solid but slightly weaker and lacking that extra something that makes the two other Dimps DS Sonic games stand out. The levels are better than Rush 1 but they go by too quickly.
