General Mechanics

Spin Dash

When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

Slope Jump

When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

Loop Jump

A variation on the Slope 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.

Aerial Speed

Sonic Advance 3 is different in that when in the air, your character will accelerate much more quickly than on the ground, even when ascending. This means that one of the best ways for most teams to accelerate (aside from Sonic's Tag Action) is to do a 2-tap spindash, then immediately jump.

Tag Action

The Tag Action is the unique feature in this game that differentiates it from all other sonic games, and adds another layer of depth in execution. This mechanic has so much depth that it deserves an entire section to itself in this page.

In a given team, the second character has the ability to perform a supporting action for the lead character, called the tag action. To perform a tag action, start holding the R button. After 1.5 seconds, the support character will automatically jump into the lead characters hands, and you can release R to perform the tag action at any time after this happens.

What the tag action is depends on two things: who the support character is, and whether it is used on the ground or in the air.

Sonic

Ground Tag Action

Give the lead character a sudden burst of speed forward and puts him/her in boost mode.

Air Tag Action

- Same as ground, but in the air.

Tails

Ground Tag Action

- Toss the lead character up and slightly to the side.

Air Tag Action

- Fly and carry the lead character.

Knuckles

Ground Tag Action

- Tossed forward by the lead character as a power attack.

Air Tag Action

- Glide and carry the lead character.

Cream

Ground Tag Action

- Give the lead character control of Cheese. Pressing B commands Cheese to attack.

Air Tag Action

- Same as ground, but in the air. Also gives the lead character an upward boost.

Amy

Ground Tag Action

- Shoot the lead character straight up with her hammer.

Air Tag Action

- Same as ground, but gives significantly less height.