Sonic Rush is my favorite 2D Sonic game. Yeah, even more than the Genesis style games. I feel like everyone has their own unique sensibilities on what they want out of a Sonic game, and Rush appeals to my tastes on pretty much every level. From the core gameplay to the level and boss design to the story and characters to the overall presentation, Sonic Rush feels like a Sonic game made entirely for me.
While Sonic's 3D outings weren't doing too hot in the mid 2000s, Sonic still managed to keep up a consistent level of quality within his handheld games, most of which were made by a studio called Dimps. Like most things Sonic, Dimps has been a bit of a controversial studio in the Sonic fandom, but I've always had a soft-spot for them, especially early on. The Advance and Rush games were super polished efforts that sought to blend classic and modern elements of Sonic and continuously push the series formula in new and inventive ways. From Advance 2 onwards, Dimps really started trying to push just how fast Sonic could go by introducing a boost mechanic, but Sonic Rush is where they really perfected the formula.
Sonic Rush has some of my favorite 2D Sonic gameplay in the entire series. Sonic's moveset from the Genesis games is still pretty much intact, but Rush gives him the ability to boost. By holding down Y, Sonic will go from any speed to full-on dash that rams through anything in your path. The twist is that your boost is limited, and the only way to recharge it is to do tricks, which you can only do in mid-air when not curled into a ball. Sonic Rush is a game that expects you to not stop moving, always frantically seeking out opportunities to trick to maintain your boost while also being careful not to carelessly kill yourself. Rush also carries over some of the extra movement options from Advance 2 and 3, so Sonic can also use his tricks to gain height and distance and save himself from a nasty fall. I always loved those air tricks because they give Sonic more mobility options in the air, and give the player a bit more leniency while moving at such fast speeds. It all adds together to make for a game where simply running around is a blast due to how freeform it feels, and the streamlined level design helps to facilitate this feeling.
When talking about Sonic Rush's level design, I'd be remiss not to mention Dimps' reputation in that area. Dimps is pretty well-known for including a lot of bottomless pits, do-or-die moments, and cheap enemy placements in their stages and Rush is no exception, but honestly, I never really got that impression most of the time. While they can definitely suffer a bit from screen crunch especially in the Advance games, I always found the actual level design to generally be quite manageable with the exception of Advance 2, and even that game can be made way easier by spamming the hell out of the R button tricks. Sonic Rush's levels, with the exception of the admittedly brutal Altitude Limit, are as solid as Dimps' levels have ever been, and the screen crunch issues have been dramatically mitigated compared to the Advance games thanks to smaller sprites and the DS allowing for more vertical screen real estate, which complements the stage's increased focus on verticality. Beyond the minutia of the hazard placement, I also just think Sonic Rush's stages are a ton of fun since they all introduce a bunch of memorable and fun gimmicks that only help you move faster like the variety of vines in Leaf Forest, the rockets in Dead Line, and the sleds in Huge Crisis.
The bosses also seem to be quite the make-or-break element of Sonic Rush for people. This game's boss fights are quite different from your standard 2D Sonic fights, as they are a lot slow-paced 2.5D fights where you need to wait for an opening. Personally, I was never really a big fan of Sonic's boss fights to begin with. They're often mindlessly easy since you can hit them any time, and the ones that actively try to repel you end up coming off as annoying. Sonic Rush's fights are a lot slower which does mean they drag on a big longer, but the 2.5D perspective allows for some really inventive attack patterns that you wouldn't get in the other games. Maybe it's just the Klonoa fan in me, but all the perspective changes, multiple phases, and flashy but well-telegraphed attacks makes Rush's boss lineup way more memorable than most Sonic boss lineups. And that's not to say there also aren't some brisker fights as well. Egg Libra is a highlight since it has multiple ways of being taken out, and the fight against Blaze stands out as the best character fight in the series by a country mile. And like many of Dimps' games, the final Super Sonic fight is also one of the series' best, it's super fast-paced thanks to the dash you get but it's balanced out by some tricky attacks on the part of Eggman.
Sonic Rush also introduces my favorite character in the franchise, Blaze The Cat. Where most Sonic characters have been written pretty inconsistently throughout the series' longevity, Blaze The Cat is fully-formed right from the start and has stayed quite consistent ever since. Being essentially a Sonic equivalent from another dimension, Blaze is a fantastic foil to Sonic. Sonic is upbeat, extroverted, flippant, and sees the best in everyone, while Blaze is introverted, focused, and has some serious trust issues. Blaze's character arc in Sonic Rush is fantastic as she meets characters like Cream, Amy, and of course, Sonic, and in turn learns to trust others and to not deal with everything on her own. On top of being a well-written character, Blaze is also a blast to play as, with fun pyrokinesis powers that set her apart from Sonic while still being just as fast. Sonic Rush wants you to beat the game as both Sonic and Blaze to beat the final boss, but both characters are so fun to play as that I just don't care.
Another thing that makes 100%ing Sonic Rush an absolute joy are the special stages. Sonic's special stages have always been a very hit-or-miss part of the game, as they often require you to master an entirely different and often less polished gameplay style just to be able to get the true ending, and that's not to mention the games that make even finding the special stages a slog on their own (looking at you, Advance 2). Sonic Rush averts this entirely, the only thing you need to do to get into a special stage is accumulate some boost, find one of the several special generators scattered around every level, and boost off of it. It's simple, convenient, and encourages you to build up as much boost as possible. The special stages themselves are a lot like the halfpipes from earlier games, but the big twist is that you now use the DS's touchscreen, and that makes a big difference. Being able to instantly snap Sonic to the position you want with the stylus makes controlling him tighter than ever, and it allows Rush to throw in some really tough ring patterns that feel entirely fair. Add in a trick system, multiple levels of play, and a buttery smooth difficulty curve and you get the best set of special stages by a wide margin.
As the cherry on top, Sonic Rush also absolutely kills it with the presentation. In terms of just the graphics, Sonic Rush uses a charming combination of 2D landscapes and 3D sprites for Sonic, Blaze, and the bosses. As a fan of that signature DS low-poly style, I find Sonic Rush's 3D characters to look incredibly endearing. But what really elevates Sonic Rush's presentation is the UI and music. Befitting Sonic Rush's fast-paced gameplay and free-flowing trick-heavy movement, Sega brought in Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma to make the music for Sonic Rush, and it's one of the best decisions they ever made. Naganuma's energetic sample-heavy funk fits Sonic and his attitude to a tee, and does so much to make the player feel cool for playing as him. Every level ends with Sonic or Blaze dancing to a catchy jingle, all as the slick UI whizzes by in front of them, it's such a vibe. The entire soundtrack is a massive banger and easily one of the series' best, but the highlights for me have to be Right There Right On, Back 2 Back, What U Need, Vela Nova, and Wrapped In Black.
Sonic Rush is a great game, but it's also my perfect 2D Sonic game. I love everything this game manages to achieve. I love Blaze and her character arc, I love the boost and trick systems, I love the streamlined level design and complex 2.5D boss fights, I love the stylish presentation and funky soundtrack, I love the tight and satisfying bonus stages, I love how much it embraces the DS and its hardware, it all works so well for me. Sonic's cool factor has wavered a lot ever since his conception, but I don't think he has ever been as cool as he was in Sonic Rush.
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