Sonic Rush has finally graced us with its presence and appears determined to pull the 2D Sonic The Hedgehog titles of old screaming into the 21^st Century. It’s been more than ten years since Sonic last made a 2D sprint onto a major console format (of course, excluding the Sonic Mega Collection packs available) and now, with the power of the NintendoDS, SEGA have decided the time is right to make the super-speedy Sonic that we’ve all been waiting for.

            Sonic’s 3D outings, although very well constructed and full of unique ideas, never quite lived-up to the hedgehog’s 2D iterations. The Sonic Adventure series pales in comparison to the likes of Super Mario64 (and its NintendoDS remake – Super Mario64 DS) and has left many fans less-than-amused at the blue-boy’s 360-degree antics. So is it back to the 2D drawing board? Or has SEGA simply managed to justify that for the NintendoDS, a system with unique capabilities, it’s time to refine a ten-year-old tradition?

            The game structure will be familiar to those who have ventured into the Sonic The Hedgehog series on either the Mega-Drive or Master System – with progress made through the varying Acts and Zones in a linear fashion. The title is structured with each Zone featuring two Acts and a Boss Fight. However, while getting from left to right continues to be the hedgehog’s staple condition, the formula has under-gone some considerable renovations. The idea of the Sonic The Hedgehog series was always to race through the Zones in as quick a time as possible – and Sonic Rush lives up to its name in this department. Sonic Rush is the fastest 2D Platformer I’ve ever had the courtesy to glance upon. The individual Acts are now incredibly expansive also; whereas in the Mega-Drive originals each Act may feature two, maybe three routes to the Level end, each Act in Sonic Rush seems to feature no less than five possible routes, crossing paths you’ve already shot along and catapulting yourself between the two screens with ease.

            Tracking yourself through the Acts, across both screens, is in no way as challenging as it may seem. It’s obvious that care has been taken over the placement of each possible transition to make the screens flow into one another. The more difficult nature of the title revolves around distance-judgement; many routes may find you misjudging a catapult or ramp, whilst others may simply leave you with no resort other than a leap-of-faith. The title is hard. Simply, Sonic Rush provides a challenge even for those who’ve managed to venture through every 2D edition so far; the Boss Fights are really worth little acknowledgement in terms of difficulty - although, on their own merit are at least credible, if not exhilarating – but general progression through the basic Acts will often cause frustration.

            In addition to the ability to play as two characters – with Blaze the Cat joining the line-up, albeit playing the same Zones as those Sonic must venture through, just as linear, but in a different order – a Bonus Stage from Sonic The Hedgehog 2 has made a welcome return and, thanks to the unique features of the NintendoDS, is in top-form. The half-pipe-esque stage in which the player had to move Sonic left and right in order to collect rings and avoid enemies whilst perpetually advancing returns, with added Touch Screen control. The player must now move the ceaselessly sprinting Sonic left, right and into the air through the use of the ramps upon the edge of the half-pipe via the Touch Screen and Stylus; simply by holding the Stylus on the Touch Screen at the point you wish Sonic to be positioned and sliding back and forth across the screen in the direction you decide Sonic should manoeuvre.

            Additional elements, such as the new Dash move executable on the Y Button, the Wi-Fi single-Act races and the dual-screen movement really push Sonic in-line with the 3D NintendoDS releases as far as “state-of-the-art” development is concerned. Some minor slow-down in Single Card Download Mode can be overlooked when compared to the relatively bug-free rest of the title. Graphically, Sonic Rush decides to remind us that the NintendoDS is a unique and powerful system - a sense of style unique to SEGA and a Super Smash Bros. Melee inspired 3D presentation in a 2D setting place Sonic Rush as the best looking Sonic title to have been released – even more so than the Sonic Adventure series, with their sparse environments and low-grade character models. The sound quality is also of a high-standard, with some pin-sharp sound-bytes and seemingly familiar ditties which fit in with what your memory tells you the original Sonic The Hedgehog theme tune sounded like.

            Sonic Rush is a tantalising taste of Sonic’s world and an entirely new direction for his 2D ventures. With Sonic Advance being the only examples of Sonic’s 2D future other than Sonic Rush, it’s clear what direction SEGA should take the blue-spiky-boy in. Rewardingly challenging and refreshingly different, Sonic Rush is the pinnacle of early 21^st Century 2D Platforming.