Sonic continues his adventures on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance with Sonic Advance 3, a super fast sequel to the popular portable series featuring everyone's favorite blue blur and his fuzzy pals. I spent some quality time with Sega's latest and came away impressed. Sega's delivered a classic Sonic experience, as the game is bursting with colorful visuals and lightning fast gameplay. Sonic blasts through levels with the intense speed he's famous for, and everything happens without a hint of slowdown!

The gameplay is the focus of the game, as the story is the same old stuff Sonic Team has been throwing at us since the series began. As usual, Dr. Eggman is out for world domination, but this time, he's using Chaos Control to smash the world into seven different parts. In order to save the day, Sonic and Tails must blaze through multiple levels in search of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and in turn, use Chaos Control to right the wrongs caused by the mischievous Eggman. It's pretty boring stuff, but since when has the story to any Sonic game been important? It's about speed, speed, and more speed, and thankfully, Sonic Advance 3 has it in spades.

Right off the bat, you can choose between Sonic and Tales, and while there are other characters to choose from (Knuckles, Cream, and Amy need to be unlocked), it was nice to see the two classic pals working together ala Sonic 2 for the Genesis. Better still, depending on which characters are paired, you can perform Tag Actions where both interact, and if you have a friend and another GBA, you can play co-op! Even four players can battle it out via GBA link cable!

Thus far, I'm having a blast with Sonic Advance 3. If Sonic Team stops making more of these, the GBA has a fine trilogy. Definitely pick this one up!