Rating: 4 Pulses

ESRB Rating: E

Sonic The Hedgehog returns to his roots with fast and exciting 2D action as he makes his Nintendo DS debut in Sonic Rush. With high-speed action and extremely fast gameplay, Sonic speeds between both screens with extreme jumps and crazy curves through 14 massive levels in one of the best Sonic games in years.

With all the 3D Sonic games Sega has been dishing out the past few years (Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Riders), it was really nice to get back to what made Sonic so famous in the early ’90s. Lightning fast, fun to play, 2D gameplay has returned but now using both screens of the Nintendo DS. Not only does Sonic go from left to right, but he now moves vertically as well. One moment you’ll see Sonic racing down a ramp on the top screen and the next moment he’ll appear on the bottom screen ready to dash onto the next rail. And the transition from one screen to another is so smooth that it makes the space between the screens feel nonexistent. The levels are filled with all sorts of spring-loaded jumps that propel Sonic way up high and bumpers that allow him to go even faster. There are other obstacles such as chain grabs and slides, that somewhat make the game a little more challenging and may also cost you a few more lives. In some areas of the game if you don’t familiarize yourself with all the jumps, chain grabs, slides etc., you might end up falling to your death. The game isn’t all that hard, but some levels may require a few tries to finally complete.

Sonic Rush is not just fast, but extremely fast. Sometimes you’ll just breeze through the level without really doing any exploring. I mean it’s really hard to want to stop and explore when Sonic is going so fast. At some points you are slowed down to defeat enemies or get stalled by a wall or something, but most of the time Sonic is just blazing through the level, up and down, and you just don’t want to stop. It’s classic Sonic gameplay. Although most of the game takes place in 2D, the Boss fights are played in a 3D environment with 2D rendered backgrounds. It’s really nice to see Nintendo DS visuals look this good. The Boss fights are not only played in 3D, but are only played on one screen as well, and the other screen is used as a health meter for the Boss. Like Tails, Knuckles, or even Amy Rose from previous Sonic games, Sonic Rush introduces a new character, Blaze the Cat, who is just as fast-moving and fun to play with as Sonic. With wireless multiplayer gameplay using the DS Download Play, 2 players race to complete an Act faster than the other. While playing, you can even attack or blow away your opponent.

Not only does Sonic Rush bring back classic Sonic gameplay, it makes it feel new with the use of the dual screens, responsive controls and some really beautiful and fresh 2D visuals. Surprisingly to me, this game was actually released in November of 2005 and I had just got around to playing it. There was recently a sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure, released in September and I’m eager to play that too. I’m not sure how I missed this game when I first got my DS, but after playing Rush, I feel Sega can somehow incorporate this kind of fun in a next-gen 3D Sonic game. That would be the day, but until then Sonic Rush is one of the best Sonic games to come out in recent years and is a great game for the Nintendo DS.