"Not as great as I hoped."

Now, Sonic Rush is still a great game. But unfortunately there was quite a bit of hype behind it before it's release, claiming it was more like the Genesis games old farts like me cannot let go of. Needless to say, there was some letdown after making such a bold statement. The game still featured a lot more jumping, and changing direction rather then pure speed like past games. But there was just something about the Genesis classics that simply cannot be gotten back. I mean, what ever happened to "Zones" and boss fights right inside the act? Perhaps it's just mass nostalgia on my part missing the little things about the past sonic games that made me fall in love with them.

The game itself features some new abilities coming over from the Sonic Advance games. Mostly just tricks, and stunts and such. Like other Sonic games, it focuses on tone story from multiple view points. In this case, one being Sonic, and the other being the new characters view. Yes, yet another new Sonic the Hedgehog character to add to the roster. Blaze the Cat, dressed in purple, with flame powers and from another dimension, she can be fun to play with. The two characters you control, Blaze and Sonic, move similarly, but not the exact same. Mainly their jumps. Sonic does his usual spin jump, while Blaze rotates herself in a fiery spiral. Blaze also doesn't have a spindash, she fires up, like a jet engine. It's nice to change it up from regular Sonic gameplay. The levels are more like the Genesis games now. Extra large, and not so straight forward. Theres multiple paths you can take, and the special stages play somewhat like Sonic 2's special stages, with the exception that you use the stylus to move, among other things. The dual DS screens make it fun to play as, but annoying when you're moving so fast you don't even notice you switch. But for the most part, you get used to casually looking from the bottom to the top, or vice versa. The graphics in the game are actually very nice. A 3D render of your character instead of a sprite is played, but it's integrated nicely into all the 2D sprites, and you barely notice. Boss battles are fought in a 3D zone, and are fun to play.

The music is just what every Sonic lover likes to hear, technoish music with a good beat that fits in with the levels perfectly. And that's exactly what you get. You can tell how catchy the music is just by the title screen alone, and it just makes it a joy to play hearing that. You may even find a tune stuck in your head all day, throughout work, and even the next morning, they're just that catchy. Sound effects are typical for Sonic games as well. Nothing over the top, or extraordinary, but it fits, and it's nice. However, the game has the 4kids voicing. There's only a few that actually fit there characters, luckily, there's only a few that actually speak. A few other characters make cameos in the story, but you see nothing but text when they say something.

The purpose of the game is to stop Eggman, again. Or is it? Eggman Nega ends up being quite the main trouble for Sonic now. He's the alternate Eggman from Blazes dimension. While Sonic is gathering Chaos Emeralds, Blaze must recover her Sol Emeralds, the emeralds she is the guardian of in her own dimention. Blaze ends up befriending Cream, and you must bear through her ugly voice throughout the game. Meanwhile it's Tails, as usual that partners up with Sonic. Not sure what they were thinking with the storyline in the game, there's a few flaws, but a Sonic game just wouldn't be a Sonic game without flaws now. But you need not even want to bother with paying much attention, as it's uncertain as weather Blaze will be coming back at all, making the game canon or not to the rest of the series.

Overall, it's a fun game to play, and because you don't use the stylus for the main portion of the game, you can play it even in usual uncomfortable DS playing positions! Unfortunately, it never quite lived up to the older games as it said, and that my friends is false advertising, as some peoples (like me) opinions are just to strong for their own good. The game uses the DS screens nicely, and the graphics are nice and cheery and bright, for the most part. The game's great, and just what every sonic fan is looking for. But if you're not a fan of the series, you may not like it as much as I. I suggest renting it first if that be the case. The game can be great fun, while it lasts. After you beat it once, there isn't much replay value to it, sadly.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/06