Sonic Rush Adventure

Sonic is easily one of my favorite series. I have fond memories of the series on the Genesis. I remember playing the demo of Sonic Adventure over and over before the Dreamcast came out. Hell, I still try and play every console entry even though they have a high chancing of being terrible.

I personally haven't played any of the Rush titles and if I have I don't remember them. This is a combination of those titles which were all about speed and the plot driven adventuring of the Adventure series. It works fairly well with both being combined and the best way to describe it is to say it reminds me of the opening stages of the first Sonic Adventure game.

The game starts off in a rough way. You need to collect some stuff, do some training and other not so fun stuff. Thankfully once you build the jet ski you can sit back and enjoy what this title has in store for you.

The games world reminds me of Zelda: Wind Waker and I'm sure it's DS sequel but I haven't played it. You need to draw a line to an island to reach it. Once you draw the line you go semi-3d and use the touch screen to drive the jet ski to the island. It's simple and smooth and controls well. Feels tacked on to make the game longer but it's a nice diversion.

Once you arrive on an island you have two stages and a boss fight. The stages are all about speed and unlike the Sonic Advance series you won't find yourself going so fast that you fall to your death. The game actually feels kind of easy but the stages are nicely done and some of the best since the good ole Genesis days.

With that being said the game does offer a few hiccups. The stages are short and in reality there just isn't a lot of them. I rarely found myself getting harmed either so collecting rings didn't feel too important as a whole.

The game also looks fantastic and the tropical theme of the game works in its own special way. The game uses a mix of cell shading and sprites and it looks sharp and crisp. The stages are ripe with color and while it stays with cliched themes it does a good job making each stage feel different.

The game has some really fun bosses. I was worried with the first boss was a rather easy T-rex but as I went on they got more inetresting. The second boss is a pendulum of sorts and was just a blast to fight and brought back memories of Nights. They aren't exactly hard but they are fun to play and that is something this game oozes with. It's just fun and it's been a whole since I've played a game that was purely about having fun.

The game also features leader boards and on-line play. I actually tried to access the on-line play but no one seemed to be on which is a shame because I would have liked to see what all there was to offer. There is also single and multiple cart multiplayer but I don't know anyone with a DS so I couldn't access those features.

Fans of the Sonic series will be happy to hear that the series is finally back on track and maybe with the new RPG coming this year and a return to console 2D we may see Sega bringing back the blue guy we have all come to love. This title comes with a big recommendation from me and it's my favorite DS game in a long time.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay Value - 7/10

Final Score - 9/10