Impressions: Sonic Rush!

Sonic Rush is a new game for the Nintendo DS platform. If you've been shut out by the crap Sonic has been taking on consoles lately, you might want to see this. The 2 screens function as one, with Sonic switching between them if he's launched into the air or takes a big fall. This doesn't function as confusingly as you might think, and can sometimes let you peek to those other unreachable areas as you run through that you'll try to get to next time. SR does introduce 3D elements for boss battles but the main zones stay pretty clearly as 2D gameplay. Shadow, Knuckles, Tails, and all the rest of the more frustrating Sonic Adventure crew don't pop up as playable characters this time, which is cause for rejoice! Blaze the cat, a new character, does factor heavily and as much as half the game will be played as her. Oh well. She does control much like Sonic, and won't bog you down with item hunting and gunplay. So far I've the game... kinda hard. The first boss managed to kill me 5 times before I made it past him, and I keep missing jumps or hooks to swing to the next platform. I'm sure with a little practice I'll get better, and these are really bad things. After all, if I could just hold right and make it through an entire level with only a couple jumps, it wouldn't even be a game. So timing and aiming have to factor in. There is a multiplayer game and support for single-card download play. I'll have to test that out later. I'll post more impressions later if something comes up, but Sonic games tend to be all about those first few levels, so consider this my definitive review.