Sonic Rush
SCORE: 87
Sega has gone away from their tried and true formula with a great many of Sonic the Hedgehog games. Thankfully Sonic Rush is a return to that original triode and true formula. Eggman from another dimension comes to wreck havoc, and creates a rip in the space time continuum. Blaze the cat (an edgy character) chases after him. At a certain point in the game Blaze becomes a playable character. The action is side scrolling in a 2D fashion, and the speed is smoking. Boss battles are performed with the boss going back and forth in a 3D area while Sonic stays on a 2D plane. The two screens of the Nintendo DS are used quite well, as Sonic can go from one screen to the other screen. Every level in this game reminds of a previous side scrolling Sonic game.
Graphically Sonic Rush is very bright, colorful, and pleasant to look at. The artwork is of a 2D Sonic, but follows the look of the more recent games. This look has nice details to it, and looks better in this reviewers opinion than the look of Sonic in the original games.
The sounds are done in a crisp, and clear manner. There are even some voices from certain characters in specific cut scenes. Blaze is edgy, and this reviewer believes a word or two she uses would fall under offensive to many of our readers. Please note we did not play the game from start to finish as Blaze, so there is a possibility of more. The music is at the standard of Sonic games, and very pleasant to listen to. Expect classic Sonic sounds while interacting with the environment (like getting coins for example).
The biggest knock against this game is its replay value. Once the game is beaten, it can be played with the other character, and there is the Emerald collection. For some reason though this reviewer had no interest in playing through all the same levels with a different character. The length of the game is also short, and there were not a lot of reasons to replay it. The levels have a lot of secrets all over the place. If this game is found for twenty dollars or less, then it could be worth the money if the purchaser is into Sonic the Hedgehog. Otherwise it is this reviewers advice to pass on it.
The controls are quick, responsive, and layed out in a manner that works quite well. Part of that is Sonic does not have a lot of skills to perform besides jump. The level design is really good with a few exceptions. This reviewer found a couple of places that were impossible to get out of with one exception. That exception was dying, and respawning at the last check point. It is unknown if these dead zones were part of the game design or not. There is something about running free at supersonic speed that is really fun, and Sonic Rush captures that in spades.
One of the really neat things about Sonic is he frees little woodland
creatures from their imprisonment inside robotic villains. The one main
problem with this game is the occasional word used that is certainly not
for everyone. The violence is mild, and cartoonish. Aside from those
things there really is not a lot of commentary in regards to the Family
Friendly Factor. It would be nice to have a sequel, especially if they
could be more careful with language that characters like Blaze use.
- Paul
Graphics: 93%
Sound: 88%
Replay/Extras: 79%
Gameplay: 96%
Family Friendly Factor: 79%
System: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Sega
Rating: 'E' for
Everyone
{Mild Cartoon Violence}
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