long as you have one ring, Sonic will survive being struck by an enemy or an encounter with spikes, though contact after that point will result in your character kicking the bucket and restarting the level from your most recent checkpoint. Sound simple? Well, it is, though that's hardly a detraction. Sonic games can be great fun whenever you're rocketing through a level, bouncing off ramps, collecting rings, and screaming through loops and turns, so don't fret about such a simple concept growing stale anytime soon. Sonic Rush does introduce a few new twists to the formula, and even a new character in Blaze the Cat, a feisty little feline who isn't notably different from Sonic but is still worth giving a spin.
Blaze has her own storyline, though it intertwines with Sonic's constantly throughout the game, so don't expect anything too fancy. As far as gameplay goes, she tackles the exact same levels as the blue hedgehog but in a different order, so there might not be as much deviation between the two characters as you would like. Still, it's interesting to see how her own role in the storyline unfolds and what unique skills she has, so she serves as a decent excuse to run through the same levels one more time.
The trick system introduces a new mechanic whenever Sonic is soaring through the air. By repeatedly pressing a button, you can get Sonic to do a variety of tricks while he's in freefall, each little move boosting your score and filling up a gauge on the left side of the screen. Having this gauge full gives access to a very fast and very powerful forward attack for both characters, which can even be used to shift blocks or boost your character to its max speed instantly, so you'll want to do tricks as often as you can.
Boss battles are also handled a little differently this time around. Sonic Rush contains eight z
ones, seven of which are separated into three different acts, the first two being normal levels and the third being a 3D boss fight. The visual design for these confrontations is pretty nice, and the battles serve a nice contrast to the 2D platforming. They're not quite as intense or as exciting as the preceding levels, sure, but they're still enjoyable, though it can be particularly painful to fight your way through an act and then see the Game Over screen after a failed attempt to dismantle one of the bosses.It'd be much more painful were it not for the fact that you can speed through a zone in around ten minutes, depending on a combination of your luck and skill. I grumbled and groaned whenever I lost to a boss battle, but it's hard to get too frustrated when you consider how quickly you can get back to it. If you find yourself short on lives, it's also possible to go back and replay earlier levels, which allows you to rack up the rings and pad your life count a bit. You'll probably have to take advantage of this at least a few times over the course of the adventure. I'll fully admit that I just suck at Sonic Rush, so my judgment here might be a little off, but the game does seem to be pretty difficult at times, at the very least least when you encounter the occasional enemy or jump placement that is all but impossible to predict.
Still, if you overlook the occasion level design oddity, there's a great game to be had here, and one that's even better to take on the road. You'll have to complete an entire zone -- acts one, two, and then the boss fight -- in one go before you're allowed to move on to the next, which is a little disappointing until you consider that getting through a zone shouldn't take too long courtesy of the speedy gameplay. It would have been nice to be able to back out of a zone after the first or second act and then pick up on it again afterwards, but sadly that feature was not implemented, so you'll have to blaze through a zone on your lunch break or just make liberal use of the DS's sleep mode if real life comes knocking.
