Sonic Rush Adventure
| Sonic Rush Adventure | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team Dimps |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Series | Sonic the Hedgehog |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Platformer, Action |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection |
Sonic Rush Adventure (ソニック ラッシュ アドベンチャー, Sonikku Rasshu Adobenchā) 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 second online game in the Sonic series, the first being the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog.
Story
Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails are flying in Tails' airplane, searching for a mysterious energy signal that appeared on Tails' radar. They decide to follow this mysterious energy signal, and head out over the ocean. 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. 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 after she crashes it, since he's a mechanical genius and great at fixing things. He does this in 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 ships that Tails and Marine had made. Marine, Sonic, and Tails try out the ships, and Sonic has a blast while racing across the seas. He soon encounters various islands and a sneaky 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, the heroes will travel through various islands and places, in search of clues and reasons about what's happening and if Sonic and Tails can ever find a way to return back home.
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, you'll find a 3D boss battle awaiting for you.
One of your main 3D missions is to gather up Materials so that Tails can build new ships. You can visit Tails at Marine's house in the center of Southern Island and ask him what Materials you need. At Marine's house, you can save your game or play multiplayer battles using DS Download Play. You can also play 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.
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). Tails will accompany you throughout submarine ventues, manning the ship so you can blast underwater enemies. There are many small islands called Hidden Islands, that would either contribute to the storyline, or have one act for extra Material. 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.
Stages
- Plant Kingdom - A jungle abundant in mushrooms and robots. The stage features vines, mushrooms, and trees with a spring-like atmosphere. The boss is the Ghost Rex, a mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- Machine Labyrinth - A large complex maze of steam-powered machines, this level has a distinct steampunk feel to it. The boss is the Ghost Pendulum, a large robot that must be defeated using swinging balls that hang from cranes.
- Coral Cave - A colorful, water themed level filled with coral and gemstones. The boss is the Ghost Kraken.
- Haunted Ship - An area of sea filled with haunted shipwrecks, some of which will spring to life attack Sonic with cannons from a distance. The boss is the Ghost Pirate, a green robot with a detachable stomach which also counts as its weakpoint.
- Blizzard Peaks - An island with a large icy mountain on it. When Sonic and Blaze arrive, they make use of a snowboard made by Tails to navigate the level, including escaping from an avalanche that is similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic Adventure. The boss is the Ghost Whale, a big mechanical whale, where the player must jump into it and find its weak spot to defeat it.
- Sky Babylon - Surreal floating ruins filled with odd devices and architecture and fire that Blaze can control. The boss is the Ghost Condor, a green robot on the top screen with two floating platform hands that the player must fight while chasing it.
- Pirates Island - Captain Whisker's hideout - an ancient set of ruins filled with water, turned into a makeshift pirate town where Sonic and Blaze can ride dolphins and grind on water. The boss is a duel fight between the player and both Captain Whisker and Johnny.
- Big Swell - A large, cannon-toting naval platform on the outskirts of Pirates Island where the initial final boss, the Ghost Titan, is fought.
- Deep Core - The final stage. Taking place at the heart of a volcano on Southern Island, Super Sonic and Burning Blaze do battle against Eggman and Eggman Nega, both of whom being responsible for all of the pirate activity. The boss is the Egg Wizard.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Jason Griffith | Junichi Kanemaru |
| Blaze the Cat | Bella Hudson | Nao Takamori |
| Miles "Tails" Prower | Amy Palant | Ryō Hirohashi |
| Dr. Eggman / Eggman Nega | Mike Pollock | Chikao Ōtsuka |
| Captain Whisker | Lonnie Hirsch | Shinya Fukumatsu |
| Johnny | Christopher Pellegrini | Kōta Nemoto |
Reception
Critical reaction to Sonic Rush Adventure was mainly 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.
Comic adaptation
Sonic Rush Adventure had a short adaptation by the Archie Sonic Comics in issue #180, titled "High Stakes on The High Sea". Sonic and Tails crash on Seagull Island while flying in the Tornado one day. They are greeted by Marine the Raccoon, who tells them about a group of pirates searching for treasure. Marine pulls out a Chaos Emerald, which suddenly gets taken by Johnny. The group chases after Johnny, in which the adaptation ends, with a message "Find out what happens next in Sonic Rush 2 for the Nintendo DS!".