Sonic Rivals
SCORE: 72
As far as I am concerned Sonic Rivals is a failure on the Playstation Portable (PSP). The score received may be a passing grade, but only because only one major area was a dismal failure. The section of game play is one of the more important sections (not as important as Family Friendly Factor). I like Sonic games, so it is a major brain freeze to have to dislike a Sonic video game. The concept is cool enough - race against fellow Sonic characters to reach the goal first. The implementation is horrible though. The homing attack is used to catch up, stun the other character and get ahead. The way to insure victory is to do that close to the goal (or do it last). The computer does this all the time, and it is very frustrating - at least to me.
Sonic Rivals is not that great graphically. This is the Playstation Portable, and it looks barely better than a Nintendo DS video game. And I do mean barely. In fact I have seen DS games that look better. The ESRB missed the cartoon violence of the ‘homing attack.’ I am actually baffled as to how something like that can be included and the ESRB does not say cartoon violence, or comic mischief. There is violence in this game as the competing Sonic character, and robot enemies are attacked.
One of the shining stars of Sonic Rivals is the music. It is classic music, and the text is safe generally for families. There are some words in this game that I do not say, mainly because I have self control. A lesson this PSP game does not teach.
I can see few reasons to play Sonic Rivals, even at the low price it was found at. So replaying it is out of the question. In all fairness to this game, there are a lot of unlockables - costumes, cards, etc. Wi-Fi multiplayer modes are also included in Sonic Rivals.
It is never a good sign to lose the very first level five times in a row. That shows a game was not tweaked properly for the learning curve. To go from there to being able to easily win level after level shows the gaping hole in the game play of Sonic Rivals. This kind of a problem does not fit under my definition of fun. The controls are not always intelligent, and a lot of the level design is well uninspired.
I hope Sega included two
separate paths in the sequel, because that is what is needed to fix this
series. I will probably look into the sequel at some future date, but
for now I am happy to have Sonic Rivals put into the vault to be
archived, and forgotten. Pass on this PSP game.
- Sam
Graphics: 74%
Sound: 80%
Replay/Extras: 75%
Gameplay: 54%
Family Friendly Factor: 77%
System: Playstation Portable
Publisher: Sega
Rating: 'E' for
Everyone
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