Sonic Battle

Deeko

It offers up quite an astounding amount of depth for such a pint sized fighting game and allows for some truly exciting multiplayer madness.

AceGamez

A charming game with a riveting plot and, most of all, a fun and challenging engine at heart.

Pocket Games

Stuffed with enough game modes and options to make many console fighting games jealous. [Spring 2004, p.46]

Nintendophiles

Not only does this game offer probably the best multiplayer Game Boy experience since "The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords," but the story mode, challenge mode, and excellent gameplay make it a great single player experience as well.

Play Magazine

The fighting constantly evolves and always has an angle beyond mere versus encounters. [Mar 2004, p.72]

1UP

A fun game to bash around with, and it's one of the best Sonic offshoots the series has seen so far. If you can get over the odd balance, you'll find that it's also one of the best pick-up-and-play fighters on the GBA, too.

IGN

It does try hard to be what Smash Bros. is, and even though the game doesn't quite reach the same status Nintendo and HAL created for the Nintendo consoles, Sonic Battle has enough stuff to make it one of the top original fighters on the Game Boy Advance system.

GameZone

Even though the controls are tight and responsive, you’ll be left wondering why your character didn’t pull off a move that you entered. Button mashing will probably work fine for most players, instead of trying to work on a particular move.

GameSpot

A good substitute for "Super Smash Bros," and while you may find it lacking in certain areas, the fast-paced design and raucous battle mode more than compensate for the majority of the game's wholly subjective shortcomings.

Inside Gamer Online

Sonic Battle’s strong point is definitely its visuals. Everything has more detail than you’d think with a GBA game.

GameSpy

A solid and pleasantly deep arena beat-'em-up with lots of longevity, and through the presence of the Hedgehog and his posse adds absolutely nothing to the game, it's nice to see them getting work in these tough economic times.

Worth Playing

A surprisingly creative, fun take on mascot-driven fighting games.

Nintendo Power

Moves are limited, but the overall experience is tons of fun. [Mar 2004, p.119]

Siliconera

It's fun for a short period of time, easy to beat and doesn't have a strong multiplayer mode. A solid rental, but there are better games out there.

GamePro

The biggest problem with Sonic Battle is the poor game design in Story mode. Earning Skill Points, and thereby new abilities for Emerl the Robot, is a grueling ordeal.

Weekly Famitsu

7 / 7 / 7 / 7 - 28 [Vol 782]

Computer and Video Games

With a few more buttons to play with you could have a broader list of moves for the Hedgehog and also a decent amount of control.

Entertainment Weekly

While the graphics and some of the battle moves are impressive, Sonic Battle would have made more sense as a minigame inside the last Sonic GBA release, the infinitely more playable "Sonic Advance 2." [13 Feb 2004, p.L2T 18]

Next Level Gaming

The moveset is extremely limited, the action can't be too fast-paced, and it's harder to battle in multi-player mode.

Game Informer

The single player story mode is unspeakably repetitive, and the multiplayer games can be equally frustrating since the eight playable characters are seriously unbalanced. [Apr 2004, p.110]

Cheat Code Central

You can't fault a developer for trying something new with an old product but it does kind of feel as though Sonic is being thrown against many walls to see where he'll stick. Sonic Battle is not much more than a novelty.

G4 TV

It's definitely not what most players have in mind when it comes to the speeding rodent, but for multiplayer-centric GBA owners, it's worth a ride.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Combat ranges from dull...to freakishly unbalalnced.., and it all gets old very quickly. [March 2004, p.130]

GBA Central

Won’t last long as a single player game - combat’s a little simple and the gameplay modes on offer are just too dry to provide any lasting entertainment.

Gaming Age

It looks good and the fights are simple while offering just enough strategy to keep from becoming too boring. It's too bad the same can't be said for the story mode, and an even bigger shame the best part of the game, a customizable character, can't be achieved without suffering through the single player experience.

Gamestyle

Fighting really isn't Sonic's strength - at least not with regard to good gameplay. He needs to be kept on his feet - a balled blur of blue - not flat on his face.

TotalGames.net

Take a bowl of Capcom's Dreamcast title "Powerstone," add a pinch of Sonic then empty half of the mixture into the sink, and you have Sonic Battle.

games(TM)

If ever a title were to prove that 3D fighters don't work with sprite-based characters on a small screen, Sonic Battle would be that game. Attack connection is nothing short of a joke and the appalling character balancing doesn't make it any funnier. [Feb 2004, p.116]