At E3 2004, the DS was revealed to the gaming public (well, the press) for the first time, with a host of tech demos to have a go on, one of which starred a certain blue hedgehog… All you had to do was get Sonic to the end of the Emerald Coast/Seaside Hill style level at a decent time by rubbing the touch screen as fast as possible. It was easy to play and it looked really nice for a handheld. One year later, Sega were back at E3 showing off Sonic on DS again, this time in an Advance style side-scrolling platformer called Sonic Rush. And after playing the game through, and indeed completing it, I have a few things to say on it…

Sonic Rush is nothing like the Advance series. Sonic Advances 1-3 were basically, let’s be honest, ‘run run run, stop, jump, kill, run.’ Whereas Rush is basically ‘run run run run run run plough through enemies run run run.’ This is all thanks to the new Boost ability, which with the slightest tap of the button can get Sonic charging along at full speed again. Rush also introduces new female character Blaze the Cat, who raised many complaints from the fans. However, Blaze is actually a well designed character with a decent personality and backstory and all is revealed about her as you progress through the game.

Story

As this is a Sonic game, we can’t expect a Final Fantasy VII-quality storyline to this game, but it is a rather entertaining and in some areas, amusing, story. Although initially you can only play as Sonic, the story really begins with Blaze waking up in Sonic’s world. Her memory’s a little fuzzy but it soon comes back to her. Eggman somehow found a way to her world and stole her world’s equivalent to the Chaos Emeralds, the Sol Emeralds. Unfortunately, when the two sets of Emeralds are in the same world, the worlds begin to merge. If they completely merge together they’ll both be destroyed. Bugger.

But while Blaze chases Eggman, with Cream guiding her, retrieving each Sol Emerald as she goes, Sonic, with Tails tagging along, is busy tangling with a mysterious new enemy, look-alike Eggman-Nega, while at the same time trying to collect the Chaos Emeralds. Amy and Knuckles make an appearance too, though you can’t play as them. And, like in Heroes, Shadow and the Advance series, there is a ‘Last’ story, though you can only play this once you’ve completed Sonic and Blaze’s stories and collected the Chaos Emeralds.

Gameplay

As previously said, Sonic Rush is incredibly fast, thanks to the Boost gauge. If you unexpectedly collide with an enemy, or are having trouble getting up a steep bit of track, or just need to grind a little bit faster, a quick tap of the X or Y button will instantly get you going again. Alternatively, you can press and hold the button and plough through whatever dares to get in your way in a mass of flame. There are some moments however where you’ll need to slow down for some careful platforming, dodging or fighting, like jumping from small platform to platform in Altitude Limit. Fortunately, these don’t last too long. The Boost though, doesn’t last forever, and to keep it high enough, you have to pull off tricks while playing. These can range from flipping around in midair to repeatedly tapping R while grinding, or just by defeating enemies. While this may feel weird at first, like switching characters in Heroes, it soon becomes second nature and is easy to get the hang of.

The difficulty curve is nice and steady and challenges get progressively tougher as you make your way through each Zone. As you may already know, the action in the first two acts is split across both the DS’s screens. While you’re racing around in the normal levels and boss battles, you use the D-Pad as you always have, meaning no weird touch-screen control. Each level is well designed and contains a number of gimmicks to help you get through. These can range from bungee cords, water-wheels, parachutes and even hang-gliders.

When you enter a boss battle however, your situation changes. The game shifts from 2D, to semi-3D, and the battle takes place on the top screen, while the touch screen hosts Tails or Cream and a gauge showing how many hits your enemy needs. The bosses are pretty tricky and may kill you the first couple of times you go up against them (Altitude Limit’s boss nearly drove me insane). Though next time you try, you should know their attacks, how to dodge them and when to attack. But if they do give you too much trouble you can always shift the difficulty level to ‘Easy.’

Then there’s the Special Stages. Yes, they’re back, and they’re actually easy to get to and fun to play again. Although you can only get there as Sonic. The Special Stage is the only real time you’ll need to get the stylus out, and control over Sonic with the touch screen is incredibly simple and responsive. Basically, you’re sent into a Sonic 2/Flicky’s Island style halfpipe and have to keep collecting a certain number of rings before you can reach the Chaos Emerald. The later Emeralds are, as you might expect, extremely tough to get, but the Special Stages, somehow, never stop being fun.

Graphics

The backgrounds are a step-up from the Advance series, but wouldn’t look out of place. Particular ones to note are Leaf Storm, Mirage Road and Night Carnival. But while the backgrounds are still 2D, Sonic and Blaze have pretty detailed 3D models which look really good in motion. Tails and Cream are shown with large Heroes-style models, which look pretty good though the animation may seem a little iffy at first. The same cannot be said for the level enemies, who look as though they’ve stepped out of an Advance game, although it’s pretty cool to see the GUN in a handheld Sonic game, even if it’s just for one Zone.

Sound

The music in Rush is not like anything heard before in a Sonic game. It’s not the guitar-heavy stuff of recent 3D Sonic, or the…different music of the Advance series, but rather fast-paced music that has been likened to the Jet Set Radio soundtrack. For this game, the music works extremely well with the levels and it’s difficult to imagine Sonic Rush with anything else. On top of that, it sounds particularly good through headphones.

The voices are done pretty well too by the Sonic X cast, though Tails’ shouts of “Yes!” can get annoying pretty quickly when all you want to do is get across the map to the next Zone. As Sonic goes through his typical “Yeah! Okay! Alright!” shouting while pulling off tricks within the Acts, it’s pretty difficult to tell the difference between his new and old voice. It’s only really noticeable in the Sound Test and when you finish an Act or Boss. Blaze, however, is an interesting case. I was expecting her to sound a little like Shadow when I first saw her, but her voice is quite a surprise. It kind of sounds like how Rouge should have sounded in Sonic X, but it suits Blaze pretty well. As for Eggman and Eggman-Nega, nothing needs to be said, though when the boss is killing you, you probably will get sick of hearing “Get ready to be schooled!” repeatedly.

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Overall: 9/10

Once you complete Sonic Rush, you might not be able to find enough reason to come back to it, but it remains fun to play, though some more unlockables would be nice, and fully-animated and voiced cut-scenes couldn’t hurt either. Minor gripes aside, Sonic Rush is one of the best reasons to own a DS and I highly recommend it.