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Sonic Rush

Posted January 29th 2006 by Jorge Gomez.

In the early 90's, Sonic the Hedgehog was the thorn in Nintendo's side. He brought Sega 65% of the market and (at the time) his games were an outstanding achievement in graphics, gameplay, style, and – most importantly – sense of speed. Nowadays, when you think Sonic the Hedgehog, you're probably thinking of the more recent, burdensome console iterations that fail to capture that essential trait that stands as the blue blur's most substantial hallmark trait. Rather than go full 3-D for his DS debut, Sega decided to stick to the Hedgehog's roots and in doing so, bring to the table an immense sense of velocity and fun!

The game begins with the same old premise as the previous Sonic the Hedgehog games: Sonic defeats Eggman, Eggman retreats. The twist this time is that Eggman seems to have dropped something... a stone that shines with the same mystical energy as the infamous Chaos Emeralds, yet unlike anything Sonic has ever seen before. Just as soon as he gets a glimpse of it, an unfamiliar cat hops to the scene, grabs the gem, and books. Perturbed, Sonic goes his own way but soon finds out (by way of Tails) that the space-time continuum has been torn. It's now up to Sonic and Tails to find out not only what that mysterious stone was, but also repair the tear in the space time continuum and return the world to normal once again.

Sonic Rush's gameplay will be instantly familiar to the series' nostalgic fans: dash through the game's levels full speed while collecting power rings, rolling, spinning and smashing through everything that stands in your way. Using all of the springs, corkscrews, rails, and loops, you're expected to finish each level at the fastest time possible, all with an insane and immense sense of speed. Additionally, Dimps has also added a show-off trick system of sorts that furthers your score by performing flips and spins when Sonic is airborne or on a rail.

Another update, and a reason to actually have the trick system, is a "Rush" meter that can be filled by killing enemies or performing tricks; much like a speed meter in SSX snowboarding games, it's Sonic's "fuel" that lets him perform a Dragonball-style Rush that renders him invulnerable to enemies and greatly increases his running speed. If you can resist bursting into a Rush long enough to fill the meter completely, it gives Sonic unlimited Rush ability for a short time, so budgeting your meter pays off in the end. Upon completing a level, you're given a rank on your performance, similar to that of the console versions'. Depending on how many tricks you perform, rings you collect, and how quickly you beat the stage, the game determines which grade or rank you will receive. Grades or ranks function accordingly: C-rank, which is the lowest rank, necessitates a final score of 30-40,000, B-Rank- 50-79,999, A- Rank- 80-90,000, and the highest rank, which is an S-rank, entails a perfect score (100,000+).

The graphics in Sonic Rush are really a sight to behold. Beautiful, vibrant, and colorful visuals stand out despite barreling past them at top speed; the dazzling backdrops and use of color will almost make you want stop playing and take notice of the sheer gorgeousness of it all. Animation on the still cut scenes are also really solid, and look as if they are taken from the television series. You should also almost instantly notice that Sonic's character model sports a little 3-D, as do the game's challenging boss battles, which gives an interesting take to classic Hedgehog. The 3-D characters contrast yet flow well with the sprite-based backgrounds and level designs in the same way cel-based cartoons have worked since Snow White, and it's impressive to see the DS capable of such stunning effects.

Sonic Rush's control scheme is exactly how you expect it to be; whether you jump, run or spin, the button placement is where it should be and both Sonic and Blaze control pretty much the same way. That's not to say that Rush doesn't take advantage of the DS' dual screens, though. The action in Sonic Rush gets really hectic, and at times one screen can barely contain the fastest thing alive. This is where the dual screens come into play, but it's something you're going to have become accustomed to. Whenever a giant loop, spring, or other random accelerator contraption blasts Sonic into the sky or the ground, the view will switch from bottom to top screen or vice-versa. Not to say that this isn't useful, but most of the time you'll wonder why they didn't just stick to one screen (not unlike Castlevania) and just have the action be displayed via the touch screen. Having the two screens act as one is pretty cool, and adds a bit of originality as well as dramatizing the sense of speed; it's just a bit awkward.

The sound in Sonic Rush is superbly executed, and some of the catchiest music you will ever hear in a handheld is stuffed into this game card. Each level will have its own song, complete with voice-samples, guitar riffs, and just some really well done techno beats. Now it got me to thinking... since the music in the game was so good, there had to be something standing in the way, right? Right. If it weren't for Tails' and Cream's same annoying cheering during boss battles, or in the game's level select, Sonic Rush's sound would have all of my praise. But alas, the annoyance is there to stay and will make you want to rip Tails' voice box out; if only there was a voice canceling option.

Not only does Sonic Rush contain a one-player story mode, but it features a cool multiplayer race mode, in which you and a friend can race each other ‘til your hearts are content. On the bright side of things, you only need one game card, but only one level will be available. But if you're lucky and you and a friend both own the game you're able to race on additional tracks and it will have you playing for hours.

Steady Beat - You're in for a RUSH.

Sonic Rush is a superb experience that any DS owner will enjoy. It blends contemporary and old-school gaming traits without destroying what Sonic the Hedgehog was originally founded on. If it weren't for the seemingly unnecessary dual-screen use and Tails' mouth, you'd have yourself one heck of a perfect game.

Posted in: Reviews