Anyone else get Sonic Rush?

[j_factor]

Post your impressions and such!

[j_factor]

Ok, so I've spent a good deal of time on it now. Got through the first four zones.

All of the basics are right on. Great graphics, great level design. The soundtrack doesn't resemble any established Sonic music, but it's still very good and pretty appropriate -- it almost has a Jet Set Radio vibe to it. The sense of speed in this one is unparallelled. The new "3D" boss fights, which actually have the boss itself in 3d but you're moving in 2d, work out really well, and seem like neither a huge deviation nor a holdover from any other style of Sonic bosses.

When I was looking at the previews and such, the main problem I anticipated having with this game was the new character. The world of Sonic certainly doesn't need yet another new character. I wholeheartedly stand by this philosophy, but the new character here really isn't a bad one. I just wish they'd stop making so many Sonic characters, but there's nothing wrong with Blaze the Cat herself (except that Blaze Fielding totally owns her).

There's this new system of "tricks". Basically when you're in midair or grinding you can tap buttons to do little tricks, which charge up a meter. This meter is used for a new move, called the super boost -- it's basically just a ground version of the flame shield attack from Sonic 3 -- which, very occasionally, is necessary to push blocks out of your way or get that little extra bit of speed to avoid getting hit. At first this all seems really lame and tacked-on, and while I'd definitely still say it was unnecessary, it's not detracting once you get used to it, and in fact you can have a bit of fun with it.

Speaking of unnecessary, why am I being graded at the end of every level? What is it with Sonic Team's obsession with grading the player? It's totally unnecessary in this or any Sonic game. Further, why is there a world map? It doesn't do anything aside from show a Sonic icon on a zone number. How lame.

Sonic Rush's main kitsch, the whole switching screens thing, is a little inconsistent -- if you're on the bottom screen and moving upward, you don't really know whether you're going to move to the upper screen or if it'll just scroll up. This proved to be not nearly as problematic as it sounds, but it's still an annoyance.

Overall, so far I'd have to say this is easily the best post-S&K Sonic game. It's certainly not flawless, but it's really fun. None of its problems get in the way of the gameplay, which is quality Sonic through and through.

[16bitter]

Is it as god as any of the core (Genny era) Sonics? Does it feel anywhere close to them?

[GeckoYamori]

Are the stages as desolate as they seemed in the trailers? I saw almost no enemies.

[Drixxel]

Yeah, that's something I'm curious about too.. from various online videos, the levels seemed more like elaborate rollercoasters than they did prime examples of enemy-busting and platforming. Lots of positive reviews, though..

[j_factor]

Is it as god as any of the core (Genny era) Sonics? Does it feel anywhere close to them?

No, and somewhat. It actually feels a little bit more like the Game Gear ones, and the NGPC one, which relates to my next post...

[j_factor]

Are the stages as desolate as they seemed in the trailers? I saw almost no enemies.

It's not quite "desolate", but you're right that there aren't as many enemies (not longer referred to as badnicks, I don't think) around as in the Genesis games. Keep in mind though, this is on a small screen (well, screens), so it would be a lot harder and more frustrating to navigate something like Oil Ocean Zone. It's more in-keeping with all the previous portable Sonics in that regard.

Although, the trailer you saw was probably of the first level, which indeed has almost no enemies. There's a bit more in later levels.

[j_factor]

Yeah, that's something I'm curious about too.. from various online videos, the levels seemed more like elaborate rollercoasters than they did prime examples of enemy-busting and platforming. Lots of positive reviews, though..

Elaborate rollercoasters, maybe -- in the same way that Hydrocity Act 2 is an elaborate rollercoaster. Enemy-busting not so much, but plenty of platforming. There's lots of timed jumps and precise mid-air aiming and all that jazz.

[Melf]

2D Sonics > 3D Sonics.

I'd kill for one on consoles.