Sonic Rivals Preview - The Next Level

Sonic Rivals

After some pretty kickass time-attack and 2-player battling in the recent Sonic Rush on Nintendo DS, it sounded like a great idea to expand the classic platform race into a full game for the PSP release. Unfortunately, from what we've played on the show floor, things are not headed in the right direction.

The 3D visuals seem to borrow the ho-hum visual style of Sonic Heroes and seem to move quickly and smoothly. The gameplay is classic 2D platforming, but the melding of 2D and 3D seems to have taken its toll on Sonic’s trademark physics. Rolling down hills and through loops felt awkward and inconsistent, a far cry from the smooth-as-butter Sonic Rush. There’s a focus on longer levels, but they still feel repetitive, and move entirely too much in one direction, as opposed to traditional Sonic battling that required a bit more depth to finding the fastest route.

This Sonic fan was sorely underwhelmed by this latest offering. After a strong multiplayer component in the last game, I was feeling more pumped than ever for the ultimate one-on-one Sonic. It’s still a good idea, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully things change as development progresses.

···Travis Fahs

I think Travis is being a bit too hard on the game, given the fact that it's still very early in development. There's definitely some potential here, but it's clear that it needs more time and research is needed.

While I was skeptical at first, the Klonoa-styled level design turned out better than I expected. The level design in its current state lacks the conventional action and dimension though that I'm used to. There also were some framerate issues, but I imagine this will be polished when the next build is released for evaluation. For now, I plan on keeping an open mind, despite the fact previous Sonic releases have been big disappointments. Watch this space for further developments as they become available.

··· Chris Scantleberry