"Want to beat every stage 4-5 times to beat the game? Didn't think so."

Sonic Rush was one of my first batch of DS games, I got it along with Super Mario 64 because I needed some straight-forward action games and I knew that Sonic games would fit the bill. I enjoyed Sonic Advance 1 and I heard that this was a great game. At first I thought it was a good game, but after finishing it to the end, I wanted to put it down. In the end, Sonic Rush fails at being very enjoyable.

What kills this game is its length, and its biggest flaw, which I will touch upon later: You have to play the same stages too many damn times.

GRAPHICS
One of the higher parts of the game. Sonic and Blaze's sprites in particular look excellent, almost like you could put them in one of the 3D Sonic games. The backgrounds are similar to all other Sonic games, and more detailed. The stage select screen is nothing too special. However, the graphics for Tails and Cream during these screens are top-notch, as are the ones for any characters during conversation.

SOUND
The sound has definitely improved over Sonic Advance and the older Sonic games. While there are no amazing productions that will make you want to listen outside of the game, like there were in Sonic Adventure 2, the themes are catchy enough to enjoy it along with the stage. The sounds of the characters are the same as usual. Only an average job, and could've been done far batter.

GAMEPLAY
Simply put, Sonic Rush's gameplay would be solid if it was made better. However, this is where my real problem with the game lies: You feel like you're playing the same game over and over just to beat it.

For one, you play the same stages with both characters. They didn't even bother to give you separate stages, or at least change them up a little. They even have the same boss battles, which, really, makes very little sense. Another thing is the characters. Sonic and Blaze are exactly the same. The only difference is that Sonic thrusts forward in the air and Blaze can float for a short time. Other than that, they both run the same, they both jump the same, they both have Spin Attacks, forward rushes, everything. Sonic and Blaze also have different other attacks, but moves you have to press something like Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select and Start for, hardly practical in a "fast-paced" game. Except Blaze is surrounded by flames, which is only a graphical change and not a gameplay one. If they were going to do this, they might as well have just made it with Sonic and only made Blaze a boss character, because putting her separately is just saying "Play the game twice!".

This is why there is no real replayability: It feels like you already played it twice.

Sonic Rush has the same gameplay you've come to expect from the 2-D Sonic games. However, it is frustratingly hard. From the first level you'll die at least a few times before you get to the first boss, without anything to make it easier. The stages eventually get harder, and some become so absurdly annoying that you'll find yourself having to run back to previous stages to collect extra lives if you want a chance to beat certain stages. And let's face it, who wants to keep running back to a stage they've already beaten, and beat it a few more times just to beat the next stage? The way levels are set up is terrible, with random pits everywhere to hit you with cheap deaths, and enemies directly at the end of almost every loop to keep you from going fast at all, which makes no sense considering this is a speed-oriented game. Sonic's main attack, Spin Dash, has been made nearly useless, as it can't even be used to go through loops without a huge reduce in speed.

Boss battles are completely horrendous. Most bosses aren't challenging at all, and are just long. Getting through a stage and spending a lot of time fighting a boss that's basically doing one thing over and over again, that's way too easy in the first place doesn't seem rewarding at all.

The double screen, however, is simply phenomenal in this game and was a great way to make Sonic. The dual screens works very well with the gameplay that you'll probably want to see more Sonic games on double screens. The two screens also help in gameplay, in ways like letting you know how far up you are when on the top screen, or that you may be too close to the bottom when on the bottom screen. This is what makes it obvious that Sonic Rush could've been a great game, but the lack of effort from Sonic Team ruined that.

On another note, there is also an "Easy" mode, but the only real difficulty change is that Bosses require two less hits. Yeah, nice try there.

EXTRAS
This is where I have to say there was a lack of effort. There is a new character, Blaze. However, it's clear that not enough effort was put into her. She doesn't look very distinguished from the other female characters of the Sonic series. It seems like they just decided that if they couldn't find a new kind of animal to use, so they just made a cat that was apparently meant to be more likable than Big (mission failed). They just threw random clothes and designs and came out with a half-assed result. It doesn't help that her story is very cliche and boring (came from another dimension to find an opposite set of emeralds from the Chaos Emerald).

There is one extra zone, but of all they could've done, but this also attributes to having to play the same stages over and over again. To unlock the stages, you have to go back with Sonic, go through each stage, find a port-type thing, and if you have your meter charged, go into it and play a game similar to the Chaos Emerald games in the Genesis games, only with the Stylus. Now, these stages were fun to do, if only they made them easier to access (like putting them at a checkpoint! Where have I heard that before?). So after you do all this and unlock the last stage, which is nothing exciting and not worth going back to the game after beating it for.

OVERALL
Sonic Rush really could've been a good game, and the potential is clear, but it's also too clear that Sega and Sonic Team just weren't trying as much as they could. Hopefully, if there's a Sonic Rush 2, or whatever they name the new Sonic game to come to DS, they'll add a little more. Make the characters a little different, add some different stages, and not make it so frustratingly annoying. However, making it feel like you're playing the game twice is NOT a good thing.

However, it's still an okay nonetheless for the time being. Definitely not worth buying, perhaps worth a rent. But if you're a big Sonic fan and you know you'll be spending a lot of time on it, go for it. Either way, it's an annoying as hell game that is not a good way to start off Sonic on the DS.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/06, Updated 03/24/06