This review contains spoilers
The birthplace of Sonic's iconic boost formula. It doesn't really work that well here though since the amount of death pits and whatnot make moving at light speeds way too risky. This also extends to the trick system which is pretty cool, but often you'll be launched, do some tricks, and then you'll land on like a jump pad or rail without warning while you're still tricking, so you'll jump at the wrong time and die.
There's also the issue of how this game handles the dual screens. On paper it sounds great, Sonic moves between both screens for one huge vertical screen. The issue here is that there's a massive blind spot between the screens, which combined with any other navigation issues mentioned above, plus the smaller screens due to being on a handheld, this game just generally never felt safe. Everything is too fast on a screen that is too small, reaction windows are non-existant.
It doesn't completely ruin the game or anything, it's more than possible to beat. And the levels do provide some pretty cool set pieces, like even hang gliding in one of them. But nothing about the game truly stood out in terms of level design. It's very much your standard 2D Sonic affair in that regard, for better or worse.
Blaze also has only 1 or 2 very minor differences to Sonic, which is a let down considering other playable characters feeling unique has been a thing since Sonic 3. She does have a fire aesthetic to all her moves though, so it still makes her better than Sonic lol. Her levels and bosses are also 100% the same, though the order is slightly different. If you want the true ending you will need to play through these 2 extremely identical campaigns twice. The game is nice enough to only make you collect the emeralds through special stages in Sonic's story though - Blaze gets hers automatically.
Bosses are pretty good. The designs of the mechs are neat. There is a bit too much just waiting for the opportunity to attack in them all though.
The super secret final boss itself is just your standard Super Sonic flying through space finale that they seem to default to way too much.
So basically I think Sonic Rush could have been a fun, but average, Sonic game, but is held back by small screen sizes with a huge blind spot and gameplay features that do not mix well with those things.
The game was better as a memory.
There's also the issue of how this game handles the dual screens. On paper it sounds great, Sonic moves between both screens for one huge vertical screen. The issue here is that there's a massive blind spot between the screens, which combined with any other navigation issues mentioned above, plus the smaller screens due to being on a handheld, this game just generally never felt safe. Everything is too fast on a screen that is too small, reaction windows are non-existant.
It doesn't completely ruin the game or anything, it's more than possible to beat. And the levels do provide some pretty cool set pieces, like even hang gliding in one of them. But nothing about the game truly stood out in terms of level design. It's very much your standard 2D Sonic affair in that regard, for better or worse.
Blaze also has only 1 or 2 very minor differences to Sonic, which is a let down considering other playable characters feeling unique has been a thing since Sonic 3. She does have a fire aesthetic to all her moves though, so it still makes her better than Sonic lol. Her levels and bosses are also 100% the same, though the order is slightly different. If you want the true ending you will need to play through these 2 extremely identical campaigns twice. The game is nice enough to only make you collect the emeralds through special stages in Sonic's story though - Blaze gets hers automatically.
Bosses are pretty good. The designs of the mechs are neat. There is a bit too much just waiting for the opportunity to attack in them all though.
The super secret final boss itself is just your standard Super Sonic flying through space finale that they seem to default to way too much.
So basically I think Sonic Rush could have been a fun, but average, Sonic game, but is held back by small screen sizes with a huge blind spot and gameplay features that do not mix well with those things.
The game was better as a memory.