:::::::: -- SONIC ADVANCE 3 SP -- :::::::: ::::::::::: -- VERSION 1.0 -- :::::::::::: Sonic Advance 3 SP is a ROM hack geared at improving some of the less-loved aspects of Sonic Advance 3. Changes included: - Adjusted enemy placements to reduce the amount of 'cheap shots', such as spike traps and difficult-to-react-to obstacles - Many bottomless pit areas replaced with new routes, or made harder to fall into at a moment's notice - Streamlined Hub Worlds to make progress through the game smoother - Overhauled character movesets to encourage experimenting with more character combos - The final Special Stage has had its ring quota lowered slightly. In addition, Chaos Angel's infamous third act - effectively an auto-scroller over a giant pit, where taking a hit was effectively a death sentence - has been replaced by an entirely new act. Boss fights haven't been touched. My apologies in advance. Unlike Advance 2 SP, which was largely made out of some degree of spite for DIMPS and the way Advance 2 was designed, Advance 3 is more of a tribute to a game I love in spite of its extremely glaring flaws. That might sound a bit weird given Advance 3's level design is widely considered - and to be frank, really *is* - several magnitudes worse than Advance 2's in many respects. But the tag mechanics and stage locales in Advance 3 were fantastic, and I think they deserve another chance to really shine. :: -- HOW TO PLAY -- :: Download XDelta UI (https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/598/) and run it. Select 'Sonic Advance 3 SP.xdelta', and then select your Sonic Advance 3 [U] ROM file (SHA-1 hash 30db467effa5014806d42db57e2299398a51355b). Then name the output file (such as Sonic Advance 3 SP.gba) and click Patch. The game should now load as Advance 3 SP - you'll know if the title screen has changed. This patch is not compatible with the Japanese or European ROM of Sonic Advance 3 - however, thanks to swosho, an additional patch is included that allows you to change the game's voice track to the Japanese dub. Use the Advance 3 SP patch first, then patch the resulting ROM with the JP dub patch file, using a utility such as LunarIPS. (This undub patch is also compatible with the vanilla US ROM, for the record!) :: -- TIPS AND TRICKS -- :: - Amy's hammer attacks (or other characters, when paired with Amy) will multiply the velocity of springs when she hits them. You can use this to find new routes, and maybe some hidden goodies... - Most Chao locations are unchanged from the vanilla game, but a few have shifted to take advantage of the new routes! Can you find them all? - Sonic now has the insta-shield in most combos (mapped to B in mid-air). Like in Sonic 3, this allows him to break out of the accursed rolling jump lock. - Don't underestimate Cream's air tag action! The height you can get from it is based on your momentum at the point of using the move - try using it just as you hit jump for massive air! - Likewise, Knuckles' headbutt attack when paired with Sonic may seem pretty useless - but you can get a massive boost if you're going fast enough when using it! - Knuckles now has his wall spindash when paired with every character bar Sonic. - Characters can now use tricks when paired with Sonic. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to Knuckles - he doesn't have any programmed in! - Sonic's air tag action works by spawning a piece of ground with a speed booster for a single frame. With frame perfect timing, you can actually do a jump out of this, but if you hold down you can also immediately curl into a ball to protect yourself as you boost forward! :: -- WHY DO I HAVE EVERYTHING UNLOCKED? -- :: The Sonic Advance games have a somewhat funny debug state where, if an SRAM chip is not found (such as on a damaged or bootleg cartridge), all game content will be unlocked immediately. Make sure your emulator or flashcart supports the SRAM chip. :: -- CAN I USE THIS ON NINTENDO 3DS? -- :: This hack hasn't been tested on 3DS, but the previous hack (Advance 2 SP) did. :: -- ARE YOU GOING TO DO ADVANCE 1 SP? -- :: Perhaps... out of all the Advance games, Advance 1 needs an SP version the least. That said, there are still a couple of things I'd change. For now, I believe there's a hack named Sonic Advance Double Take with a similar concept. :: -- SPECIAL THANKS -- :: This hack would not be possible without the work of MainMemory, who created the tools and Tiled extensions that allowed for stage editing in the first place, as well as responding lightning-fast to every way in which I managed to break her tools. A massive, massive thanks to swosho for creating the undub patch. It was beyond my capabilities, and I'm extremely grateful to them for making it possible. Thanks to Zanerus for their notes on editing the character movelists. In addition, a huge thanks to freshollie, Jace, and all other members of the Sonic Advance 2 decompilation project for their hard work and Discord assistance. Thanks to SEGA, Sonic Team and Dimps for creating the original game. While Advance 3 is far from a perfect game, I do actually have a lot of respect for it - I genuinely think the tag mechanic and different move lists are the best attempt at building on the Classic Sonic formula to date. Many thanks to those who tested this hack, or provided feedback: - RobotFaker - halseeyon - Cola64 Many thanks to my Twitter followers for the unwavering support in getting this finished. Seeing all the excitement really pushed me forward! And many thanks to my wife Hal, for putting up with me rambling about tilesets and co-ordinates and Chao locations for the last month. She's the one. Please follow me @Tracker_TD.bsky.social on Bluesky for news on any updates or bugfixes for this release. The most up-to-date release will always be available from Astro Museum. For any bug reports, please submit via email to thisistracker at gmail dot com. CHANGELOG -- 1.0 - Initial Release