Team Types

Sonic Advance 3 allows you to pair any of the 5 characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Amy) with any other. This means there are 20 possible teams in the game, all of them with their unique traits. For the purpose of brevity, teams will be abbreviated as two character's abbreviations, with a + in between:

• Sonic = S
• Tails = T
• Knuckles = K
• Cream = C
• Amy = A
• Any character = ?

While the tag actions depend solely on the support character (the list of tag actions are here), the lead character also gains or trades abilities depending on who they are paired with.

Teams are categorized by speed, power, and flight. This is shown in the upper-left corner of the screen during standard gameplay with either a S (Speed), P (Power), or F (Flight).

The type of team is determined by if sonic or knuckles are in your team, as they have the dominant traits. If Sonic is in the team, then the team is automatically speed. If Sonic is NOT in the team, but Knuckles is, then the team is automatically power. If neither Sonic nor Knuckles are in the team (in other words, if Cream or Tails are in the team and Sonic and Knuckles are NOT), the team is flight.

• Speed teams can enter boost mode, either by running for a period of time, hitting a boost pad, or using Sonic's Tag Action
• Power teams can break power barriers, and also take 2 hits to destroy some normal barriers instead of 4.

The "exceptions" to the above rules are S+K and K+S. These are speed teams, but they also have power attacks because both sonic and knuckles are in the same team, so this team has traits from both speed and power.

The team type is honestly a meaningless label aside from the rules above. For example, while S+T can enter boost mode, they can still fly using Tail's air tag action.

Sonic & Tails

• Boost Mode
• Tails Tag Actions
• B on ground = skid attack
• Can trick off springs and ramps

This is a well-balanced starting team that adapts well to many scenarios casually. Access to boost mode, along with Tail's height-reaching tag actions and tricks off springs, makes this a team well suited for speedrunning vertical levels with boost pads. A key example is Ocean Base 1.

Sonic & Knuckles

• Boost Mode
• Knuckles Tag Actions
• B on ground = long-lasting power skid attack
• B in air = insta-shield
• Up+B in air = upward air dash attack
• Down+B in air = bounce attack

Sonic gains a lot of interesting aerial attacks when paired with Knuckles. None of these attacks are power-type, though he can toss Knuckles to break power barriers. The Up+B in air attack is useful for gaining a bit of extra height when used at the peak of Sonic's jump. Unfortunately for speedrunning levels, while this team has access to boost mode, it's completely outclassed by other S+? teams. However, this team is well-suited for some bosses thanks to the extra reach from the Up+B attack, along with insta-shield and his skid attack. Examples include Ocean Base's boss, and Altar Emerald's boss.

Sonic & Cream

• Boost Mode
• Cream Tag Actions
• B on ground = skid attack
• Side+B in air = sideways air dash attack
• A in air near enemy = homing attack
• Can breath underwater

This team has a lot of neat properties. Access to boost mode and Cream's air tag action makes this a very versatile team. While S+T and S+A are more suited for vertical levels, and T+S is more suited for horizontal, S+C is the in-between team which can reach both high heights at decent horizontal speeds. This makes this team one of the best for navigating larger levels that have a lot of walls, like Chaos Angel 1 and 2.

S+C's aerial side attack is useful for gaining a bit of extra distance or getting a bit of extra horizontal momentum out of a jump. Breathing underwater, while useful casually, shouldn't really be a big deal for speedrunning, but it doesn't hurt.

Of course, having access to cheese makes this a decent team for bosses too.

Sonic & Amy

• Boost Mode
• Amy Tag Actions
• B on ground = hammer
• B in air = spin
• Does not automatically spin jump

Many people think being paired with Amy is a detriment to the lead character but this isn't necessarily true. The fact that the main character straight jumps, and also can spin in the air at all gives you a lot of extra control in the air, which is very useful.

Having boost mode and Amy's tag actions makes this team well-suited for vertical levels. While S+T generally excels a bit more for climbing, S+A gains a hammer that Sonic can use on springs, giving this team a useful niche.

Tails & Sonic

• Boost Mode
• Sonic Tag Actions
• B on ground = Tail Swipe
• A in air/water = flight/doggy paddle as normal
• Can trick off springs and ramps

This team is, hands down, the best team in the game for time attacks. Tail's flight has the unique property in this game where he does not lose any horizontal speed at all. If a jump is buffered from Sonic's Tag Action, then he starts flying, while he does lose boost mode, he will maintain all of that speed through his flight. In addition to that, while Tail's flight is slow for vertical climbing, he can jump in the air thanks to abusing the mechanics of Sonic's Tag Action. This makes this team overall the best in the game for horizontal speed. Being able to trick and swim are just bonuses. His tail swipe attack is also one of the better attacks as it has good reach, doesn't hurt himself, and the hitbox stays out for a little bit of time.

Tails & Knuckles

• Knuckles Tag Actions
• B on ground = Tornado attack
• A in air = Tails Glide
• A in water = Breast Stroke
• B in air = Insta-Shield

This team is unique in that it's the only instance ever where Tails can use insta-shield! His tornado attack can be used repeatedly for a while and its hitbox stays out for some time until you either stop mashing B or he gets tired. Unfortunately, its lack of range makes it dangerous to use on bosses.

Tails also learns how to sort of glide like Knuckles (both in air and water), which is a little unique but not that useful since he can't climb like Knuckles, and he can no longer actually fly. This team doesn't really have much use all around.

Tails & Cream

• Cream Tag Actions
• B on ground = Tail Swipe
• A in air = Upward Propeller Flight
• A in water = Doggy Paddle
• A in air near enemy = Homing Attack

The tail swipe is a great attack as it has good reach and stays out for a bit of time. Having access to both this and Cheese makes this team a great choice for bosses. While his propeller flight suggests that this team should be useful for just vertical reach, this style of flight lasts for a very short time and is also outclassed by T+A's flight. As a result, this team is mostly outclassed for clearly levels, but great for bosses.

Tails & Amy

• Amy Tag Actions
• B on ground = hammer
• A in air = Flight with Hammer. Lasts shorter than normal flight, but gains more vertical height
• B while flying = Hammer while flying
• A in water = Doggy Paddle
• B in air = spin
• Does not automatically spin jump

Many people think being paired with Amy is a detriment to the lead character but this isn't necessarily true. The fact that the main character straight jumps, and also can spin in the air at all gives you a lot of extra control in the air, which is very useful.

This team is one of the better ones for exploration and vertical reach, having both T+A's flight with hammer, Amy's tag actions, and also being able to hammer springs. Keep in mind that being able to hammer while flying gives this team potential for aerial bosses as well, like Altar Emerald's boss. Unfortunately, what puts this team behind S+T and S+A is the lack of being able to enter boost mode, but it has its unique niche.

Knuckles & Sonic

• Boost Mode
• Sonic Tag Actions
• B on ground = double punch
• A in air = headbutt
• A in water = breast stroke, can climb walls
• Floats on water surfaces

This team is well suited for levels that require a lot of horizontal speed while having power attacks as well. While knuckles can't glide like normal, his headbutt works the same way as his forward trick in Sonic Advance 2, in that he gains a forward burst of speed, bounces off enemies, and rolls upon landing (and maintains boost mode if he does it while in it). If it weren't for being able to destroy power barriers, however, this team is generally outclassed by other ?+S teams, since his headbutt isn't as useful as other ?+S team abilities in the air.

Knuckles & Tails

• Tails Tag Actions
• B on ground = uppercut
• A in air = midair hop into glide, can climb walls
• A in water = breast stroke, can climb walls
• Floats on water surfaces

This team is very popular among casual players for good reason. Access to gliding, climbing, flying, and Tail's ground tag action makes this team excellent for exploration. In a speedrunning context, this team is a niche at best, thanks to the lack of boost mode. The uppercut is a great fast attack that has a large hitbox and stays out for some time, but unfortunately isn't really applicable for bosses; it's best for the Gemerl fights in stages.

Knuckles & Cream

• Cream Tag Actions
• B on ground = double punch
• A in air = glide, can climb walls
• B while gliding near enemies = homing attack
• A in water = breat stroke, can climb walls
• Floats on water surfaces

This team is a pretty standard knuckles, with a normal glide, normal punch, normal climbing, and normal floating. Having access to Cream's air tag action makes this a very well-rounded team. It's generally slower than S+C but sacrifice access to boost mode and the aerial side+b attack for having power attacks and gliding, so this team can be used as a safer team instead of S+C.

Knuckles & Amy

• Amy Tag Actions
• B on ground = hammer
• A in air = glide, can climb walls
• Can spindash up walls
• Down+B in air = drill attack
• Floats on water surfaces

This is another great team both for exploration and vertical levels. Being able to spindash up walls gives this team a niche that S+T and S+A wish they had. Having Amy's tag actions and being able to hammer springs is just icing on the cake. The drill attack is a power attack that's great for attacking downward; unfortunately there aren't many bosses where that's useful.