Sonic Rivals

"Doesn't exactly rival Sonic's older days."

Do you remember back in the old Sonic The Hedgehog games for Genesis there was this multi-player option? No? Well they made a game about it. Released for PSP, Sonic Rivals features Sonic and his abundant friends he picks off the street in a racing themed Sonic platformer.

The story is actually pretty deep, it involves a moving plot, huge character development, and winding plot twists. If you actually believed that I'm not sure what to say. Sega either needs to get a better writing staff or just stop tacking on stories to Sonic. Dr. Robotnik(or Eggman) randomly pops up, and tells Sonic to go stop him, and he has a camera to turn people into cards for some reason. Realizing that the world may be in peril, Sonic and friends decide to be jerks to each other and make a competition out of it. I thought it was better than Sonic 06's plot, at least.

Sonic Rivals has multiple story modes following Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver. The game explains very little to you, but throughout the course of the game, all four of these characters bump into each other and decide to race, usually throwing insults at each other. The game essentially plays like a classic Sonic game, only with racing tacked on. You'll go through a bunch of different areas, two acts per level, usually ending with a boss fight. There's actually a lot of depth that has gone into these levels, and it makes them really fun to play. However, there's another character, or your rival, to make it as annoying as possible.

Like I said, you're racing, and what's a racing game without power ups. Ranging from fireballs to tornadoes, you and your rivals will have lots of tools at your disposal. That's also what makes each character different, as each character will have a different special move, which works just like a power up, but only they can use it. If you've never played a Sonic game, you'll find curious golden objects called rings all over the place, this is basically your health, and if you're hit with zero rings you're sent back to the last checkpoint, but for the most part you probably won't have to worry about it, as there's an overabundance.

On top of that, as you're progressing through the level, you can also attack your opponent, either by jumping on him, or giving him a good smack. It's really pretty addicting, but not all is well in Sonic Rivals land. The AI has an inhuman(I know it's an AI, but stay with me.) ability to catch up and punish you with items for trying to win. Basically a rubber band AI. This works on the flip-side too, though. If you're behind, then you'll generally run faster than the AI is, allowing you to catch up, but this isn't always helpful. Some levels have some annoying on-rail parts, especially near the end, and since they go at a set speed, catching up so close to the end is almost impossible. It makes the game frustrating, but not unplayable. A little practice on the levels and you'll hardly notice it.

The boss battles are fun, but usually follow the same pattern. You and your rival will compete to see who can get the most hits on the boss before it blows up. You'll run around the arena collecting rings, waiting for the boss to just give up on life and getting close enough to your reach to jump on its glowing weak spot for massive damage. You'll have to take different approaches to jumping on them depending on the boss, but it really doesn't stray too far from that path.

Did I mention that this game looks really nice? It does. The game is 2.5D, and it's really colorful and detailed. The levels are all pretty big, leaving a lot of room for you to explore, though due to the fast movement of the game, it's kinda of tough to. The story is told through cardboard cut outs of the characters and speech boxes. There's no complete voice overs of the script, just things like "Hey!", "Eggman", and "Ah!". Take that as you will, while it feels lazy, the 4kids voice actors aren't exactly talented. The music for the game isn't bad, but it isn't great either, it's just there. It's mostly generic rock, no vocals this time though. Sound effects wise, it's the typical Sonic sounds they've been re-using for years.

There's six levels in the game, but to complete story mode, you'll need to play thorough them four times for each character. This will probably take 4-5 hours, which isn't incredibly long for a game. Luckily, that's not the only thing the game has going for it. There's a Challenge Mode, where there will be specific challenges for each level of the game, spread in to three difficulties of challenges. What's your reward for completing these? Cards.

Cards are the main replay value of the game. Beating levels in story mode or completing challenges will net you a card, and cards are how you unlock goodies. Collecting them can give you a secret character, new costumes for characters, and new circuits for you to race on. What are circuits? The most pointless thing in the game. Circuit mode is basically three races back to back, and if you win them all, you get a big, nice, absolutely nothing. But with 150 cards to collect, this game is bound to keep you busy for a while. Quick mention, there's also a multi-player, which works like the main game, but good luck finding someone.

The Good: Fun platforming game-play, looks very nice, lots of replay value.

The Bad: A story written by a 10 year old, annoying rubber band AI, collecting cards can get annoying, as some you get are random.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/08

Game Release: Sonic Rivals (Greatest Hits) (US, 2007)