Leaf Forest Zone

Can You Really Tell The Forest From The Trees? The very first zone in the game, it's a good idea to use this as a practice stage. Get to know your character's move sets so that you can pull them off in-play without a hitch. Have you ever seen so much green? Well, don't gawk now... the race is about to start! Each Act in Sonic Advance 2 begins with your character aligning him/herself against a motorized foot brace, only to take off running after the 3...2...1...START!! countdown. And you're off! Weave through the loops and enemies as you head towards the finish line at the end of the act. Here in Leaf Forest, you'll have to contend with obstacles and objects that might help/hinder your quest, like ponds (the only bodies of water in the entire game!), corkscrew loops (and some that unscrew), ramps (don't forget to R-Trick!), various grinding rails, spin handles, blue springs (keep hopping on one to go higher), wall-mounted trampoline poles and the occasional spike trap. Try running at a pond when running full-tilt (seeing afterimages of your character) to skim its surface. Boss Attack! - Egg Hammer Tank II After the first two acts, you'll have to fight Dr. Eggman in Leaf Forest's Boss Attack! stage. Each Boss Attack! stage plays out in the exact same way: You're constantly running towards the right, not unlike the Mushroom Hill boss fight in Sonic & Knuckles. Dr. Eggman will appear from the left in his latest automaton-on-wheels. You'll have to accelerate to catch up to Eggman and deliver a hearty blow to his machine. In this incarnation, he re-uses the hammer motif from Sonic Advance's first boss fight. But this time he's got a hostage... Cream and Cheese! Vary your speed to get past his hammer swipes and hit him 8 times to smash up that runaway pancake maker! Careful... on the 6th hit he'll speed up his attacks. Afterwards, if playing as Sonic you'll automatically save Cream the Rabbit and her chao pal, allowing you to use her as a playable character.

Hot Crater Zone

Steam-powered Hyjinx Looks like your next stop is a not-quite-dormant volcano! Eh, no worries... so long as you don't plan on settling down here, that is. Watch for overhand railings to safely carry you down high slopes, and large hooks that'll toss you up into the air, away from the bottomless pits. Look for turtle-like robots: their backs make great moving springs. Boss Attack! - Egg Bomber Tank In this Boss Attack!, Eggman uses a heavily-armored tank as his movable target. It's so tough, it takes all 8 hits just to disable the bomb turret! After dodging his bombs, which vary where they fall, and breaking the turret, hit the main body 4 more times to disable it for good. Watch out for when you trash the turret, as it'll cause the bomb-dropping to intensify!

Music Plant Zone

Let's make beautiful music together... In an original change, a music theme is used for this zone. Piano keys, floating musical notes, clarinet pipes, xylophone steps, cymbal springs and trumpet cannons fill this area with a sense of strangeness not seen since Ristar's Planet Sonata. One thing to keep in mind: the higher the note, the higher the bounce. Boss Attack! - Egg Totem One has to wonder what Dr. Eggman would want with a place like this. I suppose you could ask him... but he's too busy hauling away your little buddy Tails! In this Boss Attack, Eggman sits high astride a column of spikes, whose three sections spin and take flight, each with it's own gun turret (which can be destroyed, btw). Use the flat sections as stepping stones as you hop up to the cockpit and bash it good. 8 times outta do it. As Sonic, you'd have saved Tails, adding him to your growing list of playables.

Ice Paradise Zone

Wandering in a Winter Wonderland... Always with the ice-escapades, eh? Take a gander at the luminant city over yonder before continuing. This time, you'll have to contend with icy slopes that prevent any running, floating slides, half-pipes and odd globe-like encasings: depending on your speed, you might exit from the bottom (slow) or the top (fast) of the globe. Boss Attack! - Aero Egg Eggman's back. This time he resorts to hovering in the air to keep from being struck, all the while dropping large, earth-shattering bombs. Jump over the explosions and broken rock and aim your jumps for the small pad attached to a tether behind the machine. It'll cause you to bounce once more, just enough to nail Eggman good. Keep at it for 8 hits. Once defeated, he'll escape.