Sonic Rush Adventure
Sonic Rush Adventure | |
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Developer(s) | Dimps Sonic Team (supervising) |
Publisher(s) | Sega |
Series | Sonic the Hedgehog |
Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
Release date | EU September 14, 2007 NA September 18, 2007 AU September 27, 2007 JP October 18, 2007 |
Genre(s) | Platformer, Action |
Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection |
Rating(s) | PEGI: 12+ ESRB: E OFLC: G CERO: A |
Media | Nintendo DS Game Card |
Sonic Rush Adventure (???? ???? ??????? Sonikku Rasshu Adobench??) is a Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Nintendo DS videogame handheld, developed by Dimps and Sonic Team, published by Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat return as playable characters, alongside a new female raccoon named Marine the Raccoon. Sonic Rush Adventure is a direct sequel to Sonic Rush and the first online game in the Sonic series.
Contents |
Story
Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails are flying in Tails' airplane, searching for a mysterious energy signal that has appeared on Tails' radar. As they travel farther and farther across the ocean, a sudden storm approaches and blows them far off course. Tails loses control of the plane in the storm, and the two heroes crash land over one of the islands.
An energetic raccoon named Marine finds them, and tells them that they have landed on Southern Island. They find her in the middle of testing a ship she has made- which then blows up. She explains to them about her dreams of building a ship to explore the world's oceans, as she wanted to do this ever since she was shipwrecked on Southern Island. Tails offers to help rebuild her ship, hoping that she could also help him and Sonic find their way home.
Sonic sets off to explore the island for Materials to build a ship, and Tails starts to work on Marine's ship. Sonic returns, and discovers the smaller, faster vehicle that Tails and Marine have made. Marine, Sonic, and Tails try out the vehicle. They soon encounter various islands and a band of pirates on their search for a treasure, lead by the notorious Captain Whisker. These pirates have treasure and loot in their sights, and they won't let anyone - not even Sonic the Hedgehog - stop them or get in their way. The blue hedgehog may be fast, and the pirates haven't slowed him down yet, they aim to knock Sonic out of their race for jewels and treasure.
Unexpectedly, as Sonic races through this chaotic world, Blaze appears. Blaze reveals to them that they've accidentally traveled to her dimension during the storm. It turns out she is after Whisker and decides to go along with Sonic, Tails, and Marine in order to find answers. Throughout their adventure, They finally find and confront Captain Whisker and his right hand man, Johnny. After they defeat them Marine is kidnapped, and Sonic, Tails, and Blaze rescue Marine and defeat her kidnapper. After that, Sonic and gang return to Marine's island. Suddenly, an earthquake occurs and Sonic and gang go out side to look. A robot appears, along with Dr. Eggman. It seems Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega were behind everything. The evil geniuses head to the center of Blaze's home planet to destroy it. Sonic, Tails, Marine, and Blaze go to stop him with a vehicle Tails built. Sonic and gang are too late as Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega use the power of the scepter to make their machine more powerful.
When Marine and Tails are separated, Sonic and Blaze confront Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega. By using the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds, they transform in to Super Sonic and Burning Blaze to fight Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega. Eggman Nega tries to desroy Blaze's planet, but with the help of Marine, Super Sonic and Burning Blaze defeat them. The story ends with Tails building a craft that uses the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds. Sonic and Blaze shake hands before Sonic and Tails leave. As Sonic and Tails head home, Marine appears with her new vehicle and tells Sonic and Tails that she will study to become a captain. Sonic and Tails wish her the best of luck and the say that they will meet again. After Sonic and Tails leave, Marine and Blaze know that they will see each other again.
Gameplay
As Sonic (and later, Blaze), you will begin each adventure from Windmill Village on Southern Island. Bring up the Sea Chart to plot your route using the stylus. After plotting the desired route, you'll begin to race to one of the seven main islands using one of the four ships. During that time, you can collect rings, perform tricks off ramps, and by doing tricks, fill up your Boost Gauge. When you use your Boost Gauge, your ship speeds up and becomes temporarily invincible until the Boost Gauge runs out.
When you arrive at one of the seven main islands, your objective is to get to the goal at the end of the level. Sonic Rush Adventure uses the trick system, first introduced in Sonic Advance 2, in which you can perform aerial tricks by pressing the A, B and R-button in mid-air. By doing tricks or defeating enemies, your Tension Gauge will fill up, allowing you to perform a Super Boost until it runs out. The Tension Gauge will decrease over time or whenever you take damage. There are two acts per every level, and after completing them, a 3D boss battle is played.
After unlocking Blaze, the player is given a choice of what character to use. While neither character differs extensively from the other, there are several key differences. Blaze can hover, and her aerial tricks propel her higher. Also, when she encounters flames, they die down, allowing her to pass unharmed. However, Sonic is considerably faster than Blaze in comparison. Blaze could as such be considered the 'easy' mode- her hovering can avoid a player falling to their death, and her tricks mean that it is easier to rescue yourself when playing, whereas Sonic could be seen as the more time-attack based mode used for highscores.
One of your main tasks within the game is to gather up Materials so that Tails can build new ships and equipment to allow progress within the story. You can visit Tails at Marine's house in the center of Southern Island and ask him what Materials you need, as well as requesting their completion. At Marine's house, you can also play multiplayer battles using DS Download Play, as well as playing using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, where you can race against other people online using Sonic or Blaze, or Ring Battles where the you collect as many as you can spread throughout the map. Saving is no longer automatic after completion of a level, and is done via the menu while on the island.
By collecting Materials, you can get Tails to make one of the four ships, the Wave Cyclone (waterbike), Ocean Tornado (sailboat), Aqua Blast (hovercraft) and the Deep Typhoon (submarine). Each of these ships play differently- the waterbike is controlled by dragging it left and right to collect things, the hovercraft in a similar way with an added weapon and focus on destroying enemies. Tails will accompany you throughout submarine and sailboat ventures, manning the ship so you can destroy underwater enemies, with three weapons on the sailboat and one rhythm based weapon on the submarine.
There are many small islands called Hidden Islands in addition to the main levels, that either contribute to the storyline, or simply serve as a method to collect extra material. Unlike the main levels these hidden islands only consist of one act and no boss. Among other events, Sonic can find Johnny and end up racing for one of the Chaos Emeralds. Blaze has her own set of jewels to collect, the Sol Emeralds, and she can earn them by completing a series of special missions. Collecting all fourteen Emeralds will unlock the final stage.
Music
The music in the game keeps its overt funk and hip hop influences that first used in Sonic Rush. The music is atypical for the Sonic series, along with its many small phrases and words throughout the songs. Sega composer Teruhiko Nakagawa is the sound director and composer of Sonic Rush Adventure.
The official soundtrack of the game, titled Sonic Rush Adventure Original Soundtrack was released on October 18, 2007 in Japan, along with 52 original tracks. The theme song of the game is "A New Venture", exclusive to Sonic Rush Adventure with female vocals by Tahirih Walker and lyrics by Sakae Osumi.
Cast
(Note: With the exception of Captain Whisker and Johnny, all other voices in the game are archival recordings taken from Sonic Rush. Marine the Raccoon also does not have any voice actor, as she isn't voiced in the game.)
Role | English Voice Actor | Japanese Voice Actor |
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Sonic the Hedgehog | Jason Griffith | Junichi Kanemaru |
Blaze the Cat | Bella Hudson | Nao Takamori |
Miles "Tails" Prower | Amy Palant | Ry? Hirohashi |
Dr. Eggman / Eggman Nega | Mike Pollock | Chikao ?tsuka |
Captain Whisker | Lonnie Hirsch | Shinya Fukumatsu |
Johnny | Christopher Pellegrini | K?ta Nemoto |
Reception
Critical reaction to Sonic Rush Adventure was positive. Noticeable improvements over Sonic Rush were fewer bottomless pits, better enemy placement, and no more use of supporting characters to occupy the lower screen during boss battles. However, many reviewers commented on having to replay levels multiple times, and weakness in the story sections.[1][2] Game Rankings currently scores it 80% based on 33 reviews, compared to Sonic Rush's score of 83% based on 57 reviews. Sonic Rush Adventure also won IGN's Best Platform Game of 2007 for the Nintendo DS. [3]
References
External links
- Sonic Rush Adventure
- Sonic Rush Adventure (Europe)
- Sonic Rush Adventure (Japan)
- Sonic Rush Adventure Minisite
- Sonic Rush Adventure Minisite (Europe)