Sonic Advance

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Terminology and tactics

Super Spin Dash: When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A two times. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. You cannot use this technique if you play as Amy.

Quickstop: Often, after jumping or bouncing off a spring, you keep a little momentum, but when you land you need to do a Spin Dash to gain more. If you press down as you land with the intention of performing a Spin Dash, you roll a little before stopping, losing time. Performing a Quickstop is useful in these cases. To do a Quickstop, tap B at the very moment that you land to perform an attack movement and stop fast. If you play as Sonic, you have to tap B two times. Once you have stopped, you can do a Spin Dash. You cannot use this technique if you play as Amy. However, if you play as Knuckles, there is another way to perform a Quickstop: Tap A just before landing. This alternate manner to do it does not work if you have bounced off a spring.

Ramp Jump: When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle of your jumps. If you are moving uphill, then a Ramp Jump gives you much more height than usual. Similarly, if you are traveling downhill, a Ramp Jump is shorter than a regular jump. These are referred to as Uphill and Downhill Ramp Jumps respectively. The angle of a Ramp Jump is different if you jump while running than if you jump while rolling. This technique is especially useful on Egg Rocket Zone Act 1.

Loop Jump: A variation on the Ramp Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

Corner Avoidance: Sometimes, when you go fast across a stage, you find corners that stop you. You can avoid many of these corners if you tap the opposite direction of your advance right before touching them.

Pause Abuse: Pausing the game is useful to make the boss at the end of Casino Paradise Zone Act 2 easier to defeat.

Jump Dash Boost: If you play as Sonic, you can gain extra momentum by jumping a little and jump dashing quickly just before the beginning of a slope or as you enter a loop. This technique is useful on Neo Green Hill Zone Act 1, Neo Green Hill Zone Act 2, Secret Base Zone Act 2, Casino Paradise Zone Act 1 and Angel Island Zone Act 2.

Superglide: If you play as Knuckles, you can perform a Superglide to gain height and make your glide longer by jumping and gliding just before contacting an enemy or item box. This technique is useful on Angel Island Zone Act 1, Angel Island Zone Act 2 and Egg Rocket Zone Act 1.

Hammer Bounce: If you play as Amy, you can bounce off springs higher and faster than usual by hitting them with the Piko Piko Hammer. This technique is useful on Neo Green Hill Zone Act 2, Secret Base Zone Act 2, Ice Mountain Zone Act 1, Casino Paradise Zone Act 2 and Egg Rocket Zone Act 1.