It all began as an innocent flight across the ocean. Sonic the Hedgehog and his faithful sidekick, Tails the Fox, were enjoying their time off from starring in mediocre 3D adventures, leisurely heading towards a strange energy reading that might mean something fun. Then, out of nowhere a freaking vortex appears! The pair is sucked into its violent rage, rendered unconscious, and - as how it always seems to happen in mascot-type games – they wake up to find themselves in a world far, far away from home. Going by their first encounter with another anthropomorphic critter, Marine the Raccoon, one would think that the pair landed in Australia. However, the truth is much worse; when they eventually run into an old friend, Blaze the Cat, and discover a dastardly plot led by a scallywag pirate and his swabbies, Sonic and Tails realise that it's time for yet another furious, adrenaline-fuelled ride.
Sonic Rush Adventure is pretty much the exact same "don't stop moving" kind of platformer that its brother - Sonic Rush - was. However, this time there is a raft of touch-screen minigames, a century of side-missions, and some well-implemented multiplayer modes thrown in. There is also quite a narrative going on too; nothing mind-blowing - quite childish, on the contrary - but then, as Sonic's own name implies, his games are usually all about moving along at supersonic speed.
Over the course of seven zones, each comprised of two acts and a boss fight each, Sonic and Blaze (Tails missed the cut again!) will race through lush grassy paths, an icy tundra and even aboard a pirate ship. The general gameplay follows the original formula of Sonic Rush in that you hold one direction down for a long period of time whilst your chosen hero zips through like there's no tomorrow. Sonic and Blaze are so damn fast that they are able to hurtle through gigantic loop-de-loops and rocket across streams of water like Jesus would have had he taken drugs. The action takes place on either the upper or lower screen, but at time, the view may switch to the other one. If you aren't quick enough with your thumb-eye coordination, Sonic or Blaze will soon succumb to the many dual-screen dangers present including the various robotic menaces that litter the place, crumbling terrain which leads to a deathly abyss, and spikes that Mega Man would be proud of. If you've played any 2D Sonic game before, you won't be surprised at much here. The timed somersaults from Sonic Rivals make an appearance as do the transitory 3D moments which were seen in the first Rush. But by and large, it's still mostly about dashing at the speed of sound with the occasional jumps to avoid the myriad hazards that appear at a moment's notice.
The tension gauge is back and once again, it is the driving force behind your incredible speed. You'll need to top it up at all times if you hope to finish levels ASAP and gain those coveted S-ranks. This it done by tricking. As Sonic/Blaze launches into the air, you can perform assorted flips and dips that not only look cool and raise the aforementioned tension gauge, but that also allow for an extra boost of height to get over slightly high platforms, or a dive to shoot forwards and break through packs of foes or breakable walls. There are plenty of alternate paths to take, but you probably won't realise it until you replay the acts over again - you just move way too fast. This means there will be times, too, when you'll run right into death itself. For the uninitiated, this mechanic can be quite frustrating especially since once your few lives are lost you'll have to restart the act from the very beginning. For series veterans, Sonic Rush Adventure is relatively forgiving. Not only can you instantly replay an act without having start over at the beginning of a zone, but there are much less of those cheap, instant-death scenarios; more often than not, you'll just fall right onto another route, albeit slower.
But you'll really want to finish these levels as fast as possible. The rank you get at the end determines how many gemstones you receive for your troubles. These are important for the adventure aspect of this game. In between the fast and furious stages that we all know Sonic for, you'll have to travel between islands to actually search them out. Tails is the mechanic of the show (that's why he's unplayable - a pity) and he'll be able to build four different vessels for you to jet across in. He needs raw materials, though, and these happen to be the gemstones (and rings) that you'll obtain from completing acts to a satisfactory standard. If you don't have enough of different kinds, you'll have to replay levels over and over until you do. Sounds repetitive, but it's really not; Tails can work with very little. This, however, makes the whole gem collecting deal rather pointless. You can also use them for other things such as building a statue in your name or upgrading your water-crafts for more power, but I'd rather have more full levels or else, turn into Super Sonic.
At least travelling across the high seas isn't as boring as other games have made it out to be. Each of the four vehicles you can control - a water-bike, a sail boat, a hovercraft and a submarine - need to be used under specific conditions. For example, you can't use the sub in shallow waters. Each of the four will also set up a different touch-screen based minigame to play through while the journey from island to island is plotted. There are competitive races, a Galaga-like shmup (on water), and even a rhythm-based missile lock-on game. There's a decent variety of types, plenty of various challenges involving all of them and just like how the main game's 2D looks great, the full 3D graphics portrayed here do a good job of showing off some flashy stunts and subtle water effects. They are good, but they do seem to jerk Sonic and co. in a direction with which many fans may not understand. If you just want to play each zone consecutively with no waiting, these touch-based excursions may seem like unnecessary additions.
But this is what makes Sonic Rush Adventure so special - how it deviates from the traditional speed-soaked sprinting that most of us are accustomed to. More depth is given to this hedgehog via the travelling aspect and the lame, but still appreciated storyline. There are 100 (count 'em) extra missions to go through too. They re-use the same level designs from the main story, but the various objectives, such as collecting 100 rings within a given time frame or defeating a souped-up version of one of the awesome (but not as awesome as hoped) big bosses, means plenty of replayability past the expected two or three hours it will take to blow through the main adventure. Too bad your rewards aren't all that worthwhile.
However, Dimps and Sega really outdid themselves with multiplayer - finally we have an assortment of modes that can be enjoyed with others who are both nearby and at a long distance. Both wireless AND Wi-Fi races are available and virtually all the zones can be accessed too! There is some lag during the online experience, as expected, but for a racing game that's not a driving game (i.e. not as strict when it comes to the ultimate split-second call), it performs rather well. Granted, it's unlikely you'll find much competition as the dust for this game settles, but the addition of time trial leader-boards serves to reinforce longevity in these stakes (at least, until hackers turn up). And you can always indulge in single/multi-card local multiplayer too at any time.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Sonic Rush Adventure, but the crux of the game is really more of the same that its prequel delivered not too long ago. Bear in mind that the Rush mindset is much different from the original Genesis/Mega Drive classics - the focus is less on tight platforming, power-up use and memorable boss fights; more on tricking out, instant-reactions, lots of flash and dazzle, and never stopping - the graphics actually look quite plain when you do. I enjoyed the rush that Sonic Rush gave me, but this follow-up isn't quite as spectacular. The levels seem shorter and they are definitely easier; the side-missions make up for it somewhat, though. Boss fights are no longer confined to just a continuous ring-shaped arena, but they still don't inspire as much wonder as the original three and a half classics did (nor do they approach the similarly constructed ones found in the PlayStation 2’s Klonoa 2). Newly added elements are good, but they don't always fit in to give a flow that gamers typically come to Sonic for. And why is Tails given the finger, yet again?
Despite the rather simplistic motions, there's just something about moving like a blur that really satisfies. Sharing the same fulfilment with others only adds to it to its greatness. And all the while, you'll be jamming along to some funky hip-hop beats that lie just below the quality of the first game's soundtrack - if only because there's less nonsensical phrases chucked in, which may be a good thing to some people. I half-expected Sonic Rush Adventure to take a tepid turn for the worst given the last part of its title. I came out feeling relieved that all the things I loved about the first Rush made it through unfazed. If only the combination of "Rush" and "Adventure" had been more complementary rather than supplementary, but for the time being, this is more than adequate.
No comments
Add your own +