Review

Some Sega glory returns at last

By Omar L. Gallaga
American-Statesman Staff
Friday, January 27, 2006

Overview: In an alternate gaming universe, where Sega still pumps out popular consoles and nobody's ever heard of an Xbox360, the "Sonic the Hedgehog" titles continued on their 2-D path, increasing speeds and refining gameplay instead of throwing their poor mascot into 3-D games like "Sonic Adventure" that, with diminishing returns, took the polish off the franchise.

Luckily for gamers, that alternate universe does exist, at least for the "Sonic" games: It's Nintendo's handheld system. Sega has created several good Game Boy Advance titles using old-school gameplay to bring Sonic back to gaming graces, but in the leap to Nintendo's more powerful DS system, Sega may have found its best outlet yet for Sonic. With 3-D touches enhancing a beautifully designed 2-D game, solid controls and gameplay that harks back to the Sega Genesis, "Sonic Rush" will please retro gamers as well as those too young to even remember the Genesis.

Modes: Deep and challenging single-player mode, battle-race mode for two players (with single or multiple cartridges) and a demo level you can send to friends wirelessly.

Game Play: With some refinements, "Sonic Rush" plays like the games of old. Sonic the Hedgehog can rush through levels with amazing speed, collecting rings as he rockets through loop-de-loops and ramps, or you can slow things down and explore to try to collect hidden items and the elusive Chaos Emeralds. Additions include a power-meter-based attack mode that helps you plow through enemies even at high speeds and a trick system enabling Sonic (as well as a second playable character, Blaze) to do midair tricks to rack up points and feed the power meter.

Despite these changes, the controls still feel simple. You've got your spin/rush button and a button to attack and do your tricks. So simple are the controls, though, that it's easy to zip through a level with a false sense of security and suddenly findyourself falling off a platform and making poor Sonic plummet to his death.

That combination of simple gameplay and tricky level design makes the game especially addictive. What seems like a simple level will snag you at the same place every time until you figure out a way around a particularly nefarious spot.

Boss stages break away from the game's design by making them more 3-D. You'll find yourself running around circular platforms or breaking the 2-D plane with jumps as you fight increasingly dangerous boss enemies.

Technical Presentation: The graphics in "Sonic Rush" aren't as complex as those in the Sonic 3-D titles, but if you're to compare "Rush" with older 2-D "Sonic" games, you'll find a very eye-pleasing game that takes advantage of the DS's dual screens. As Sonic rushes through levels, the action can go from one screen to another, and you can always see what's going on below or above you based on which screen Sonic is on.

The 3-D enhancements on the boss stages and sometimes midlevel add an eye-popping effect to the environments. The color palette, as usual for a "Sonic" game, is bold and cleverly animated. The level design is varied enough among levels that it's hard to get bored.

Sound design is unobtrusive and the DS's power allows the action to be fast and furious without any slowdown in the action.

Ease of Use: While the controls will feel familiar to any former "Sonic," player, the levels seem more challenging, at least to this veteran. I found myself playing the same levels again and again, a bit frustrated by my lack of hedgehog finesse. Still, each new stage is a gorgeous thing to behold, so it's definitely rewarding to keep trying to beat them all.

Nice Surprise: The first time you see a 3-D effect in an otherwise 2-D stage, you get that nice little twinge of gamer's euphoria.

Enraging Quirk: While the game will save your progress between stages, it won't save your victories in levels within those stages. So all that effort it took to make it past Stage 4, Level 1 won't be worth a damn if you get to a Game Over before finishing Stage 4, Level 3.

Tip: Use Sonic's trick boost on long jumps to reach hidden areas or platforms that are just out of reach when speed jumping normally.

Bottom Line: Gamers who tuned out the Sega hedgehog sometime around the second subpar "Sonic Adventure" title need to return to the fold. This is fast, fun game that brings back the thrill of Genesis-era "Sonic" with all the frills of a next-generation portable title. This new "Sonic" game is, at long last, a rush.