Sonic Advance 3/Bugs

Back to: Sonic Advance 3.

General bugs

Crush deaths

Sonic Advance 3 is notorious for the way player characters' hitboxes are handled with moving blocks and platforms. If a character is standing against a moving object as it moves down, the character will begin to interact with the object, standing on the very edge of it. If even the left/rightmost pixel of the player's character is between an object and the terrain, the player is crushed. This can lead to situations where the player is unfairly crushed in situations where a crush logically shouldn't be possible (as seen in the second screenshot above).

Due to shared engines, this issue also exists in Sonic Advance 2, albeit on a lesser scale. Similar crush death issues are known to exist in Sonic Mania despite running on a completely different engine.

Not fixed in any version.

Clipping leaders through corners with Tails

It is possible to clip a character into the floor through a corner while using Tails' mid-air Tag Action. It is unknown what the exact conditions are, but it may be linked to the flying animation. It is possible for the player to fall from the corner, which can be potentially lethal if it occurs over a bottomless pit.

Not fixed in any version.

Simultaneous Tag Actions in co-op play

Both players hold at the same time...

...and the Tag Actions get cancelled out.

Normally, during a co-op game, using a Tag Action will bring the other player to them. If both players press and hold at the same time, they will be pulled to each other simultaneously. Of course, this only results in the Tag Actions being cancelled out. This is generally worthless when both players are together on the same screen, but if this is performed when they are distant, they will effectively switch places in the level.

Not fixed in any version.

Flight sound effect bug

Flying into a Dash Ring as Tails or Cream will cause the flight sound effect to continuously play even after flight has been cancelled. This will persist until the player performs an action that plays another sound effect, such as doing a Spin Dash or Tag Action, getting hit or pausing the game.

Not fixed in any version.

Level-specific bugs

Sunset Hill

Stop time with Omochao

Should the player pick up the first Omochao encountered in Act 1 while being attacked by the nearby Gekogeko at the same time, they will remain in control of their character while Omochao is talking. When Omochao's dialogue is closed, the white dialogue box will not disappear, and everything controlled by time will remain stopped, including enemies, platforms and the player's partner. It also becomes impossible to pause or use Tag Actions.

To cancel this glitch, the player must pick up a Chao. Doing this is required in order to finish the Act, as the Goal Ring will not spawn while time is stopped. Using this glitch, it's possible to finish Sunset Hill Act 1 in under 12 seconds.

This glitch must be performed in the main game, as Chao and Omochao are disabled in Time Attack.

Not fixed in any version.

Ocean Base

Missing tiles in Zone Map background

When using an emulator such as VisualBoyAdvance to view the individual map layers, it is revealed that the backgrounds in the Zone Maps have missing 8x8 tiles near the bottom of the backgrounds. Normally, it's impossible for the player to see the missing tiles due to how the background scrolling works, but due to the vertical nature of Ocean Base's Zone Map it is actually possible for the player to see the missing background tiles around the bottom of the hub.

Not fixed in any version.

Cyber Track

Co-op Tag Action in reverse gravity

Performing simultaneous Tag Actions in a co-op game can become dangerous in the many reverse-gravity sections of Cyber Track. If performed in such sections, this can cause one or both players to become trapped in the ceiling. It may be possible to escape using certain Tag Actions such as Tails' if the players haven't sunk deeper into the ceiling.

By performing this glitch in Cyber Track's Zone Map, it is actually possible to die via bottomless pit if either player goes deep enough into the ceiling in certain places (such as near the Special Spring).

Not fixed in any version.

Enter cannons the wrong way with Tails

First, select Tails as the partner character, then locate any two-way cannon that shoots vertically and stand on top of it. Then, hold to prepare a Tag Action, then do a short hop and attempt Tails' mid-air Tag Action. If timed correctly, the leading character will enter the cannon through the wrong end.

Not fixed in any version.