Sonic Rivals Proves Skeptics Wrong

Posted Sep 2, 2006 at 11:23PM EST by Mabie A.

Listed in: PSP Tags: Sonic, THQ

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Here's one thing you have to know about Sonic Rivals: it ain't a 2D platformer. Yeah, it may be disappointing considering that the announcement prior to E3 was that the series was returning to its 2D roots. However, despite this, Sonic Rivals proved that first impressions really can be wrong as it was set up for demo play at the THQ's Loaded Event.

According to the hands-on preview by PALGN, initially, the game was said to have felt like Sonic Riders but in 2D. The beginning of the game leads Sonic to a stage reminiscent of Green Hill Zone, where a race countdown was displayed on the screen. Basically, the objective was to just get to the end of the level ahead of the other player. However, enemies and other obstacles are there to slow you down, so you can't just press the right directional pad. It didn't seem to be that impressive.

But then, taking the time to go through the entire level and exploring would probably change your mind about the game. The interesting thing about it is that while you consistently move along a 2D path, the camera rotates, thus making it feel a bit like a  3D game. Entertaining as well were the loops and jumps, and thankfully, for those who were irked in Sonic Rush, there were no bottomless pits this time. Hitting an enemy in the middle of a race makes you lose rings, but not necessarily all of them.

All in all, the conclusion from the demo play of Sonic Rivals is that it will be a lot of fun, especially in multiplayer. And while you may still feel like wishing that there was a 2D Sonic platformer on the PSP, the short game time with the demo still proved to be sufficient to disspell skepticisms that some gamers earlier had.

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Comments 

 

# spindoc 2006-09-03 00:51

In short..it still plays like a 2d platformer..aka Pandemonium.

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# nice — potat4o 2006-09-03 01:33

really looking forward to this game

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# Fools — Guest 2006-09-03 01:33

Gah, if I had more faith in this team I'd be hopeful about them moving in a new area. As it stands, I don't, and they should stick with the same formula and improve that, instead of starting a new one with new problems to iron out.

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# wt... — Guest 2006-09-03 04:54

this sounds horrible.. why can't they just make a sonic game and not some crappy racer. get the shields out and the bonus stages and super sonic. and explore. stick to the roots.

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# spindoc 2006-09-03 06:48

4# If they did that, you know how many people would come out and complain of how its a rehashed title? Only Mario can clearly get away with that sort of thing.

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# asdfasf — Guest 2006-09-03 06:53

I wanted it to feel like a 2d game.

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# Guest 2006-09-03 07:29

darn, i think they should remake or make a new sonic adventure

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# haha — Guest 2006-09-03 09:22

why is it a bad thing if its in 3d? i like 3d better than 2d, i mean, cmon man, its a psp, the more 3d games the better

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# 2D vs 3D — Guest 2006-09-03 12:21

no1 important, have you not seen how beautifully the PSP can handle 2D?



I'd take that over aliased low-count polygons any day.



Until I want some 3D gameplay obviously, which in sonic's case, few do. Said it before, will say it again, Nintendo were fools to make NSMB 3D.

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# IDIOT — Guest 2006-09-03 14:03

NSMB is not 3D.

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# . — Guest 2006-09-04 00:37

If theres gonna be a war betwine 3d and 2d fanboys then save it for the forum

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