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Sonic Rush is the first Sonic title on the Nintendo DS, and it doesn’t fail to impress. Rush runs in a similar vein to the Advance series on GBA but with changes to certain aspects of the game.
At the start of the game, the only character you can play is Sonic. This is a good idea because you need that first level or so to get used to looking at the two screens and keeping up with the speed. Because Blaze starts in a different level that is of a higher difficulty than Sonic’s first level, both characters have entirely different playing orders through the Zones. This lends a little sense of variety to the characters stories. The plot in this game is mostly assigned to text conversations between characters; it’s hardly a deep plot but has some humour to it that pokes fun at some of the characters much like Sonic Battle’s story did at times.
The trick system has been vastly improved. They are quicker to execute and, depending on the amount of tricks you make, these can add a high amount to the score at the end of the level. Sonic and Blazes tricks differ in some ways- Sonic’s are faster but don’t go high and Blazes are slower but take her higher. The score matters more this time due to the ranking system, which depends on time and trick points. Sadly, getting lots of high ranks will not unlock anything, which is a shame. While this game does not need to depend on extras to be good, it would have been nice to have unlockable characters.
The soundtrack is much more techno than the previous Advance games. With funky beats and samples that couldn’t have been possible to compose on GBA, the music suits the much faster pace of the game and the levels they are assigned to. Ranging from light guitar riffs to deep base sounds, the soundtrack continues to delight throughout the course of the game and I would say is one of the best soundtracks ever in the Sonic series, alongside Sonic CD if not better. The voices of the characters are of good quality, with the Sonic X actors doing a fairly good job with the character voices. Eggman and Tails have the most drastic changes in voice but are easy to get used to.
The levels themselves are big and have many paths the characters can choose to go through. They also have individual “gimmicks” which provide different ways the characters get about. This gives each level a more individual feel rather than feeling like more of the same. Sadly the game does suffer from having a lot of holes in the levels, and when tricking too early or going the wrong way, this can sometimes result in a quick death. This may discourage some players, although others may enjoy the challenge. Also this time around, only Sonic can access the Special Stages. These provide the only proper use of the DS touch screen within the game. They are much easier to access than in the previous Advance games and are akin to the classic half-pipe stage in Sonic 2. While they are fun, they get very hard as you progress, requiring a lot of skill.
The graphics in this game are beautiful; Sonic and Blaze’s models are very good and look excellent in the small cut scenes within the game. There are neat little touches to the backgrounds and the foregrounds of the levels – and after you have done a particularly impressive combo, the animal friends briefly jump up on screen, which is charming touch which helps encourage the player on. The 3D Bosses look great even if it is not in fully smooth 3D. Though the Bosses are the easiest part of the game, they are still fun to play and amazing to watch.
In conclusion, Rush is easily one of the best handheld games in the series and is worth buying a DS for. As long as you have patience to endure dying because of a few mistakes at times, you will find a game that is almost up there with the likes of Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
FINAL
COUNTDOWN! |
| RAVES |
 |
| GRAPHICS |
90 |
| SOUND |
98 |
| PLAYABILITY |
95 |
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| Has an excellent soundtrack and the speed that should be in all Sonic games. |
| GRAVES |
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| The game ends all too soon and the pitfalls can be annoying at times. |
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