Sonic Rush Adventure

"You don't stop, you proceed!"

Anyone get the joke? The title of this review is a throwback to the background music from the 7th stage in Sonic Rush, and it fits this game perfectly. This game perfects everything Sonic Rush did, and then some.

Storyline: In the beginning of the game, Sonic and Tails are flying out at sea in the Tornado to look for some strange energy readings Tails found. Suddenly a lightning bolt strikes the Tornado and the duo is sucked into the typhoon. They wake up on a beach thanks to a Raccoon named Marine. Marine wants to be a ship captain, but her ship broke down, so Tails and Sonic set off to get materials to make Marine a new ship. Along the way they meet up with Blaze, who has some interesting news.

Gameplay: There are 3, count them, 3 different ways to play in this game. It needs so much explaining, I'm gonna need another couple of paragraphs to explain it all!

The first is the normal gameplay: Platforming goodness. This is much better than Rush's in that there are all sorts of gimmicks. In one stage you can bounce on mushrooms, on another you snowboard through half of the first act; it'll keep you begging for more. Another great thing is the amount of Bottomless Pits: There aren't very many at all! Although I've been beaten by their treachery a few times myself. Grr. Anyway, the bosses are all fun and unique. One has you hitting balls to fly up and hit him in the head, another is a mechanical pirate 5 times your size, and another is a T Rex!

Another gimmick is Sonic and Blaze's moves. Both can run, jump (Tornado jump for Blaze, Spinball jump for Sonic), and Spindash.(although Blaze's has a different name) Sonic can do the Jump Dash and Homing Attack, and Blaze can use her Fire Hover. Both also, when hitting a spring-like thing, can preform tricks to increase the tension gauge, which allows you to use the Super Boost, an attack that has you running at high speeds. You can also do a Second jump and Dash Jump off an spring, both of which vary between characters. Sonic uses a Short Hop up and the Humming Top spin kick move from Sonic Advance 2, and Blaze uses a Fire Exxel to fly high up, and a teleporting move to dash forward.

At the end of each act, you get some materials to build several different things. You get an amount of material depending on your rank. Sometimes you won't get a good enough rank, and you'll be short some material. In that case, you'll have to go back and retry the levels, but the levels are so great in design that it doesn't feel like a chore! Plus, how else will you train for Time Attack?

The second is the Boat Expeditions. When Rush Adventure was first announced with this gimmick many loathed the idea. In reality it's quite fun! You get 4 different ships: the Sailboat, Submarine, Hovercraft, and Water Ski. All have various ways to play: The submarine copies off of Elite Beat Agents, the Hovercraft have a chargeable laser, the Sailboat has a 3-weapon pwning system, and the Water Ski is all tricks and speed. Personally I like the Water Ski thing the most, and I hate the fact that different waters mean different ships are needed. In fact, after the first few levels, the Water Ski becomes obsolete, save it's need for Chaos Emerald collection. All ships need material to build, so you won't have them all at once.

The third take place on Southern Island. The island is kind of like a home base: You'll be here a lot. Everything is on this island; Mission access, Time Attack, Versus, everything. In fact, it's such an important place that it eliminates the need for an opening menu: Just press start on the title screen and you'll automatically go into Marine's home. Gameplay for the island is sort of like in Sonic Adventure's town stages. You get to run around doing whatever. You even get to visit your ship's docks and a beach! Plus you can buy several decorations for the island, which is really cool!

Graphics: Wow. These graphics improve on Rush's so much it hurts. The enemies not long look poor in quality, and Sonic and Blaze look wonderful with the new animations. And their 3D models for when you're on Southern Island makes me want to play Sonic Adventure 2. For a DS game, this is top-notch material.

Audio: Definitely an improvement over Sonic Rush. the opening theme is catchy, and so is the Boss theme. Many level themes fit well, and Southern Island's theme is so calm you'd hardly believe there's so much action. As for the voices, They're . . . okay. Most are from the original Rush, but there are some new voices too.

Reply Value: Don't get me started or I won't finish. With 100 optional missions, include ring and Sol Emerald collection and boss-refights, International time attack rankings, making you work harder and faster, hours to spend lazing around on the island, and entire ocean to explore, 7 stage with 2 acts and a boss and a Final stage, the ability to play as Sonic or Blaze, races for the Chaos Emeralds, Viking races, endless fun on the high seas . . . this game WILL keep you busy for a while.

Overall Game score:
I just played the heck out this game, playing until the battery needed recharging, and I'm nowhere close to completing the game 100%. This is packed with stuff to do; you won't be bored. This is Sonic Adventure 3 in disguise, okay? It's just that darn good.

GAME SCORE:
Storyline: 8/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Audio: 8/10
Replay Value: 10/10
Overall Game Score(not an average): 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/07

Game Release: Sonic Rush Adventure (US, 09/18/07)