Sonic Advance 2 was a pile of shit. Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure continued what Sonic Advance 2 did. Advance 3 was decent.
Also, that was because Dimps developed those games, not Sonic Team. But Dimps also developed the Wii/PS2 versions of the day stages of Unleashed. And those sucked hard.
...Also, if anyone posts the Sonic Cycle, I will smack you.