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Sonic Rush Review
Written by Señor Cha Cha on Thursday, November 17, 2005
User Score
Blinding speed, dual screen Sonic love, and a cool soundtrack.
The bottomless pits that appear out of nowhere.
Ole! The Senor's got his salsa stained mitts on a copy of Sega's Sonic Rush and he refuses to put it down. Well maybe for some Mario Kart DS and a burrito, but it's very rare one finds both of those together in nature so this will have to do! Sonic's latest adventure is bigger than my homemade taco salad and faster than a Chupacabra. In short, it's red hot!
Sonic Rush is high octane fuel that's been set ablaze with a firecracker. It's so ridiculously fast that it's sometimes quite difficult keeping up with the little guy or new character Blaze the Cat. In fact, it's pretty much the speediest game of the entire series, a blisteringly fast paced speed demon that'll make your DS smoke!
So let's nuke the cheesy journalist hype and get down to business. Sonic Rush is a damn good videogame, folks. What I first thought was going to be some bland sequel to the excellent yet tired GBA franchise is actually a stand alone game that makes excellent use of a few DS features, in particular the top and bottom screen. What's Sega's essentially done is create a vertical play field that stretches across the entire DS, enabling the developers to create the most insane loops and twisting paths that we've ever seen.
The space in between these screens can be a pain in the ass sometimes because you lose your character whenever he or she travels through it, but it's not so annoying that it seriously hampers the overall experience. Rather, it's just something you'll quickly get used to, and watching Sonic and/or Blaze spin around and fly through the air from top to bottom will make you forget about that small shortcoming.
What's also impressive is the interspersed 3D that permeates throughout the game. While most of the levels are two dimensional the characters are in full 3D. Sega exploits this by featuring segments where Sonic and Blaze get spun around in such a way that they're actually moving towards you and the effect is quite enjoyable to look at. But what's really a treat are the full fledged 3D sequences, those being all of the boss fights and the bonus ring portions of the game. None of the challenges are particularly sophisticated but I don't think Sega intended them to be. Everything's supposed to look pretty and remind us how powerful the DS truly is, and with that being said, mission accomplished!
In addition to the game's luscious visual features Sega's also done a nice job with the level designs. Yeah, it's still possible to fall into bottomless pits or get trapped underwater without an air bubble in sight, but by and large you just dash through everything, and to make things even sweeter the developers have instilled the characters with a special boost ability that lets them bust through enemies without having to stop.
Using a simple trick system, you press buttons to make the characters perform simple mid air maneuvers and this builds up the boost meter similar to EA's SSX series. Then, once you have even a bit of this energy you can press Y and they'll pick up some necessary oomph. Believe me, it comes in very handy when you either need to dispose of some pesky bad guys blocking your path or desperately need some pep in order to pick up more speed. But it doesn't last forever, so it's best to continue to perform tricks every time your character is sailing through the air.
All of the game's levels are contained on a world map that lets you travel back and play through cleared areas which is always nice, especially since each one features branching paths and nooks and crannies you may have missed your first time through. Sure, Sonic Rush is dominated by speed, but there's also a satisfying exploration element to it. There are several Chaos Emeralds to locate, after all. Plus, it takes more than simple racing to score an A rating, so it's just fun going back and besting previous scores.
Moving past the single player game there's some multiplayer goodies but it's nothing saucy. It's just racing, where the top screen is the playfield and the bottom displays the map. However, kudos to Sega for including single as well as multiple cartridge options for those of us who cannot convince our stupid friends to purchase this game.
Sonic Rush's visuals are outstanding but I'm far more impressed with its soundtrack. Featuring an eclectic mix of catchy tunes, it really adds some necessary Sonic attitude to the experience.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but Sonic Rush is YET ANOTHER DS game that you absolutely have to buy. It's just so well polished and lightning quick that it just begs to be played by anyone who loves Sonic, Sega, excellent platform games, or just pretty colors. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some Rush'in to do. Get it? RUSH'IN!?!?! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Ole!
posted April 16, 2007