Get ready for a real rush

I got Sonic Rush about a month ago for the DS, I heard the game was good so when I found that it had hit the clearance bin I decided to pick it up and try it. It’s a good thing to because Sonic Rush is the best DS platformer game yet, even blowing away New Super Mario Bros.

Story.
Sonic is doing his is usual daily battle with Dr. Eggman and his latest large robot. When Sonic beats Eggman he notices Eggman has dropped a strange jewel that looks like a Chaos Emerald. Before he’s able to pick this new emerald up a strange purple cat appears takes it and disappears. A little while later a new alternate version of Eggman appears and now Sonic’s out to investigate what is going on.

The story isn’t much, while it’s bigger then the 16 bit Sonic games it’s not quite a scope as the new 3d Sonic titles. Players will choose between Sonic or the new character Blaze the cat and go through there respective story line. Of course the two story lines will meet up towards the end, as for the new character Blaze she’s a cat from another dimension out to collect the Sol Emeralds so she can get back home.

Graphics.
If your worried about the 3d graphics stated on the back of box don’t be. It’s a 2d Sonic game but the models are in 3d, similar to New Super Mario Bros. Seeing how it’s in 2d the major problems that 3d Sonic games are now absent so you can enjoy the game. That said the graphics are pretty good the 3d characters look pretty dang good. And like any good Sonic game the game can go super fast without a hiccup or a slow down anywhere. The only complaint I have about the graphics come from the backgrounds. They don’t seem to move as fluidly as the foreground and they often repeat or not move at all, it’s a rather small complaint though.

As for the Duel Screen aspect of the game both bottom and top screens are used and Sonic will move between the two. If you’re going really fast and hit a spring on the bottom Sonic will be rocketed on to the top screen. And if you fall of the top screen you’ll land in an area on the bottom. It can be a little disorienting at first but you pick up changing screens fast.

Sound.
Some interesting sound tracks for the levels are used and there all pretty catchy. The 4kids cast of Sonic X now replaces the old Sonic VA’s but they do a good job of what little spoken dialogue is in the game.

Gameplay.
Classic Sonic the Hedgehog is a good way to describe the game as speed seems to be the number one priory but there have been a few changes to keep you on your toes. If you have never played a Sonic game the goal is simple get to the goal at the end of the stage. While moving through the stage you will collect power rings, these will keep you alive if you get hit but you will drop all of them. At the end of the 3 stage in each world there is Dr. Eggman piloting is latest large machine that you have to beat down before continuing to the next world.

As for the new things there is the all ready discuss split screen aspect to the game. But there is also a special move bar. Filling this lets Sonic get a burst of speed that knocks obstacles out of his path and clears enemies out to. There will also be times when Sonic is chased by something that you will need to use the special to get out of the way in time before being crushed.

As for the new player Blaze the cat she plays pretty much the same as Sonic with the exception she jumps a bit higher but doesn’t go as fast. This for the most part won’t change the way you play the game with her, with the exception of those chase areas, in Sonic you usually can get a good enough speed to get away from those obstacles without boosting, with Blaze it’s a given you will have to hit X at least once to get the speed in order to clear that part of a stage.

If there is one bad thing I can say about the game is the special stages. Only Sonic can go through these to collect the Chaos emerald. To get into these you have to find these special wheels with a star on them and then hold down X to use your special move bar to propel Sonic into a special stage. Now here is where the bad part comes in, you’re in the classic Sonic half pipe but you control sonic with the touch screen and stylus. Unfortunately sliding Sonic around the half pipe with a stylus is more frustrating then it is fun, and he often doesn’t react fast enough to the sliding stylus to get out of the way of obstacles. It begs the question why do game designers feel like they have to cram in use of a touch screen into a game that doesn’t need it.

Final Recommendation.
Sonic Rush is a return to classic Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s fast and the graphics are smooth. The game is easy to pick up and pretty fun to play. The console Sonic may suck now but Sonic still rules in the portable arena.