Sonic Advance 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 02)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Sonic Advance 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 02).

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!

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.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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.

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7.a. General Tips for the Acts
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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.

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7.b. General Tips for the Bosses
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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.

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7.c. Act and Boss Locator
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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!

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7.c.1. Zone 1: Route 99
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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.