YEAH! OKAY! YEAH! OKAY!
Sonic Rush was a game I always had mixed feelings on, and on a recent playthrough to refresh my memory, I don't think that's really changed all that much. Let me explain, yeah?
Sonic Rush's gameplay feels like an evolution of Advance 2 before it; and in practice and at its best, I'll be damned if it isn't some of the most fun I've had in a 2D Sonic game. It really is such a thrill to keep your speed going as you Rush all over those guys and perform tricks whenever you can, and it feels like that high-speed gameplay from Advance 2 that could've been something great but so utterly bored me really found its chance to shine.
Sonic Rush also thrives on its vibes; the music, composed by Jet Set Radio composer and man driven absolutely insane by the internet Hideki Naganuma, is some of the best this franchise has to offer, right up there with other goated soundtracks such as Sonic CD. His music really gets me pumped whenever I listen to it, and perfectly matches the fast-paced adventure this game presents. Rush's low-poly and Advance-inspired graphics also have a ton of charm to them, and make for a really pretty game in my eyes.
Rush's plot is pretty standard for a Sonic game, complete with a moral at the end about how you can depend on your friends and the power of teamwork can triumph over all, yadda yadda. It is notable for being the first appearance of Blaze the Cat and Eggman Nega, both characters I have taken a liking to, and Blaze's arc throughout this game is quite a nice one, and probably the most she's ever gotten do in a Sonic game. Please make her do more things Sega, I'm begging you.
However, despite gameplay that at its best is peak 2D Sonic, and presentation that makes the game really stand out, Sonic Rush's worse moments seriously hold me back from liking this game a lot more than I want to. After say, Water Palace, the level design seriously starts to take a drop in quality. Come Mirage Road and the game starts to weirdly be at odds with itself in terms of pacing; one moment you're Rushing all over those guys, the next the game throws you in a slow-as-fuck enemy room or stage gimmicks that absolutely kill the pace of what should be a game that constantly keeps you moving. It's not really made any better at the fact that basic platforming can be more of a hassle than it should be by the game's physics. This is a problem that starts to get better come Huge Crisis, but after that, Rush starts to become a little too frustrating for my tastes. Altitude Limit and Dead Line are a pain in the ass as the screen crunch strikes and I end up blasting off into bottomless pits I could never have seen coming, which is also something that kind of struck once or twice before, but never to the degree of those two zones.
I'm.. mixed on these bosses. A lot of people agree they're not really all that good, and while I agree, they're not.. terrible? I think some of their attacks are fun to dodge, and bosses such as Night Carnival's are actually pretty good. That being said, sometimes bosses just take waaaay too long due to you needing to wait to strike often, and after a certain point, it just starts to test my patience more than anything. And for fuck's sake Sega, I know you need to make these games worth the money I spent, but there have to be better ways ofpadding doing so than just making me play the same game again to complete it fully. This is a problem that weirdly persists with Sonic games in the 2000's, as Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and the Rivals games all have this same issue.
Sonic Rush at its very best is an absolute blast that brings a unique spin to 2D Sonic gameplay I quite enjoy, but this game's low points are way too low for it for me to consider it any more than.. just alright. I do respect the blueprint Rush would be for future Sonic games (even if one of those would be far worse than this game ever was), and if my memory serves me right, this game's successor is pretty damn sweet. But man, what a bit of a rough start.
Sonic Rush was a game I always had mixed feelings on, and on a recent playthrough to refresh my memory, I don't think that's really changed all that much. Let me explain, yeah?
Sonic Rush's gameplay feels like an evolution of Advance 2 before it; and in practice and at its best, I'll be damned if it isn't some of the most fun I've had in a 2D Sonic game. It really is such a thrill to keep your speed going as you Rush all over those guys and perform tricks whenever you can, and it feels like that high-speed gameplay from Advance 2 that could've been something great but so utterly bored me really found its chance to shine.
Sonic Rush also thrives on its vibes; the music, composed by Jet Set Radio composer and man driven absolutely insane by the internet Hideki Naganuma, is some of the best this franchise has to offer, right up there with other goated soundtracks such as Sonic CD. His music really gets me pumped whenever I listen to it, and perfectly matches the fast-paced adventure this game presents. Rush's low-poly and Advance-inspired graphics also have a ton of charm to them, and make for a really pretty game in my eyes.
Rush's plot is pretty standard for a Sonic game, complete with a moral at the end about how you can depend on your friends and the power of teamwork can triumph over all, yadda yadda. It is notable for being the first appearance of Blaze the Cat and Eggman Nega, both characters I have taken a liking to, and Blaze's arc throughout this game is quite a nice one, and probably the most she's ever gotten do in a Sonic game. Please make her do more things Sega, I'm begging you.
However, despite gameplay that at its best is peak 2D Sonic, and presentation that makes the game really stand out, Sonic Rush's worse moments seriously hold me back from liking this game a lot more than I want to. After say, Water Palace, the level design seriously starts to take a drop in quality. Come Mirage Road and the game starts to weirdly be at odds with itself in terms of pacing; one moment you're Rushing all over those guys, the next the game throws you in a slow-as-fuck enemy room or stage gimmicks that absolutely kill the pace of what should be a game that constantly keeps you moving. It's not really made any better at the fact that basic platforming can be more of a hassle than it should be by the game's physics. This is a problem that starts to get better come Huge Crisis, but after that, Rush starts to become a little too frustrating for my tastes. Altitude Limit and Dead Line are a pain in the ass as the screen crunch strikes and I end up blasting off into bottomless pits I could never have seen coming, which is also something that kind of struck once or twice before, but never to the degree of those two zones.
I'm.. mixed on these bosses. A lot of people agree they're not really all that good, and while I agree, they're not.. terrible? I think some of their attacks are fun to dodge, and bosses such as Night Carnival's are actually pretty good. That being said, sometimes bosses just take waaaay too long due to you needing to wait to strike often, and after a certain point, it just starts to test my patience more than anything. And for fuck's sake Sega, I know you need to make these games worth the money I spent, but there have to be better ways of
Sonic Rush at its very best is an absolute blast that brings a unique spin to 2D Sonic gameplay I quite enjoy, but this game's low points are way too low for it for me to consider it any more than.. just alright. I do respect the blueprint Rush would be for future Sonic games (even if one of those would be far worse than this game ever was), and if my memory serves me right, this game's successor is pretty damn sweet. But man, what a bit of a rough start.
TonySADX
1 year ago