I wish this game was better.

Sonic Rush is a game where in theory I think this could have been really cool but none of the gameplay actually supported it unfortunately. The level design for normal zones is mostly fine but have some really odd design quirks throughout that bring the experience down. The biggest example of this is the devs’ fondness for launching you up in the air really high and then making you play a guessing game as to where it was safe to land which got old real quick since they do it in pretty much every level. The kinda annoying level design I could handle since the zones were at least interesting visually. Honestly this whole game is pretty impressive on that front for what they managed to pull off on the ds. Back to gameplay though, what I couldn’t handle much of at all were the boss fights.

This game tried some interesting things on paper with its boss fights that just, kinda didn’t work in practice. To explain the game tried to do away with the standard platformer “three hits to win” formula by giving bosses eight health points. However the fights aren’t really designed around this. Pretty much every boss pattern feels like it was made with three strikes you’re out in mind and then just made it carry on. Oh, and the longer the fight goes on the less time you have to hit the boss’s weakspot so you have to be incredibly quick to react the further into the fight you get. I actually think the idea of a boss adapting to you throughout the boss fight and trying to cut off your avenues of attack is a really cool sounding idea; i also think it could be really well executed in the right hands. I do not think that was the case here. I think this is also exacerbated by how the more times you take a hit the farther your rings go away from you; which causes a lot more problems than you would probably expext.

That being said I think this game has some solid parts to it. I think the music is phenomenal, like I said earlier the visuals for a 3d ds game are pretty impressive, and Blaze being forced into being friends with Cream was a fun little story. Now if only Blaze was playable in a game with good gameplay.

5/10

I am writing this at like 2 AM so I may come back later and elaborate on this more but this may be the best attempt at a spiritual successor I've seen within this industry not going to lie. Everything feels like it picked up right where Jet Set Radio Future Left off back in 2002 and really knew how to build upon it and make everything just a completely blast from start to finish. I was blown away how this game was just a better Jet Set Radio Future when I thought Future was already a 10/10. God I almost want to 100% this game and I rarely if ever do that. Play this if you haven't already, everything in it is just the perfect kind of vibe in my opinion.

Also shout outs to Team Reptile for getting one of my favorite music artists to put one of their best tracks in the game.

10/10