This has all the same issues as the first Sonic Rivals game. The racing mechanics are simply not fun at all due to rubber-banding AI and annoying power ups and items.
Sonic Rivals 2 features eight campaigns, although four of them are duplicates of the other four. Each zone generally goes Race – Battle – Race – Boss. The battles are a bit like a really bad version of Smash Bros, and the bosses have you and a rival trying to get six hits on the boss before the other, so you end up fighting each other more than the boss. The story just makes everyone look like idiots.
There is a saving grace for this game. Once you’ve played though one story, you unlock a Free Play mode. This lets you play the levels on their own. This shows that this would have been a decent game without the racing elements, as the levels themselves are a lot of fun, with some interesting gimmicks. It’s a shame that this doesn’t let you play the bosses on your own, but this mode is still far better than the main game.
Sonic Rivals 2 features eight campaigns, although four of them are duplicates of the other four. Each zone generally goes Race – Battle – Race – Boss. The battles are a bit like a really bad version of Smash Bros, and the bosses have you and a rival trying to get six hits on the boss before the other, so you end up fighting each other more than the boss. The story just makes everyone look like idiots.
There is a saving grace for this game. Once you’ve played though one story, you unlock a Free Play mode. This lets you play the levels on their own. This shows that this would have been a decent game without the racing elements, as the levels themselves are a lot of fun, with some interesting gimmicks. It’s a shame that this doesn’t let you play the bosses on your own, but this mode is still far better than the main game.