"Got the Adrenaline Rush? Sonic Does....."

Sonic's first venture into Nintendo's little bundle of 2-screen Joy. It continues the 3D gameplay that Sonic's best known for. But does this game keep that fire burning? Read on!

Story 6/10
Not much of a story, but then, most 2D games don't need a heavy story. Eggman is up to his evil deeds again, and Sonic must stop him. However, there is a small twist. Eggman teams up with his evil counterpart in another dimension, Eggman Nega. And in this other dimension is a princess named Blaze the Cat. She watches over the Sol Emeralds, just as Sonic protects the 7 Chaos Emeralds. All 14 of these have disappeared or taken, and it's up these 2 heroes to get them.

Gameplay 9/10
Yep, the hardcore factor of the game. This is indeed the game Sonic was made for. And although it will never top the original 2D beauties (Sonic 3 and Knuckles to name one) this indeed will forever be an instant classic. It's the classic Sonic game we know and love, but indeed fast. I mean incredibly fast! It now has a super boost. At any given time, just press and hold the Y/X button for the boost that you need. In order to keep your boost up, however, you must destroy enemies, or perform tricks in the air or on the rail. By pressing repetitively the B button (with a final A button for finishing touches), and one boost off the R Button, you can increase points AND the tension gauge while in mid-air, which is your gas needed to power up your boost. All stages are just as you love them for. The forest stages, underwater stages, and of course, a stage in space. And during your speed course through the stage, you may find a Special Generator (Sonic Only). Find this and hold on for deal life, boost your speed towards 105%, and you'll spin yourself towards a special stage. Played Sonic 2 on the Genesis? Well, get ready, because the special stages from the second sequel are back and remixed! Besides running through a half-pipe to tally up your rings, you can now play this with the use of the stylus/touch screen. Perfectly executed! A better precision to grabbing those emeralds. And as for scoring in stages, they're almost a reminiscence of SA2/SA2:B. Depending on your rings, time, and tricks, you can score between S-C (S being the top score, down to A,B, and C). So why get a 9/10 when this game is almost perfect? Well, if played through the night, you may finish this game a bit too early. it is indeed a bit short for a such a spectacular game. But as long there is a score system, that'll keep you playing for a while.

Graphics 9/10
With the power of the DS, Sonic Rush comes to us in a spectacular vision of Sonic beauty. Sonic and Blaze are fully 3D in this game. Sonic looks almost a combination of his SA2 model with a bit of Heroes. Blaze looks better then she does hand-drawn on the cover. These 3D characters run across the stages that look almost exactly as it does on the Sonic Advance series. There are few 3D visuals in terms of background used while in gameplay. But when seen (like the Pharaoh's hand, or the fan in the underwater stage), they look pretty much awesome. The boss battles are where the visual goodies take place. All boss battles are in total 3D, but still hold true to there 2D style gameplay. The model of the bosses are very well executed. Pretty, all this game can almost be compared to the Viewtiful Joe series in the visual dept. Overall, 9/10

Music 8/10
This game takes a different turn for the music. The music takes the style of Funk and a bit of Jazz while still being fast paced for the stages. it even seem to have a reminiscence of Sonic R, because it even has a few vocal singing by some woman/women there. Europop, weee! If you played Jet Set Radio, you'll feel right almost right at home. It's a good turn for the Sonic series, but I would've a bit of Rock supplied by jun Senoue himself. Overall, it gets the job done for the game.

Sound 9/10
Sound effects hold as still as concrete. Whether it'd be the dings of the Rings, the screech of Sonic's foot as he stops, the boing of the jump, or even the spindash's sound. It's there. Everything comes in clear as a whistle. And as for the voices, they are good. Yes, I know that it's the VA's from 4Kids that are supplying it this time, but hey! Sega directed them, and they came out just fine. I actually enjoyed Sonic's voice. If you hate the voices, I'm sorry. Yes I know, Ryan was the definition of the hedgehog's voice, but times have changed, and there may not be a way to get the originals to come back.

Gameplay 9/10 (Absolutely tight and flawless. If only it was a little longer)
Graphics 9/10 (Sonic's true 3D format displayed as 2D finally in our palms)
Music 8/10 (Time to breakdance like Sonic at the result screen. Jet Set RADIO!!)
Sound 9/10 (Classic sounds combined with the new sounds. The VA's have worked hard to give us a good listening to)

Rent or buy? I don't think it's possible to rent a DS game, so go out and buy it! Totally worth the 30 bucks.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/14/05