Sonic Rivals

Written by James Dauer  on September 15, 2006

First Impressions: Finally Sonic has it out with his Сfriendly nemeses'.

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Speed is what Sonic is all about, and thankfully the development team at Backbone Entertainment is going to be giving it to players in untold amounts in the first Sonic game for the PSP. This game definitely isn't going to be a portable Sonic Adventure.

From what has been seen of the game thus far, Sonic Rivals appears to play like the old 2 player mode from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The game features three dimensional graphics, but it all plays in 2D. Imagine something along the lines of the Sega Saturn classic Nights: Into Dreams or Capcom's most recent entry in the Mega Man X series. The visuals are distinctly that of a Sonic game. Players will navigate classic Sonic style stages complete with loops, spikes, springs, and of course rings, all while avoiding the competition and making it to the finish line first. And all of this is shown in vibrant color.

According to the current demos Sega has presented at several trade shows, players can choose from one of four characters: Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and a mysterious new character who remains unnamed at this time. Could it be Silver from the new Sonic the Hedgehog on the next generation systems?

In regards to control, the game will play like any other Sonic. X will make Sonic jump, left and right will move Sonic in those directions. Of course, as in any mascot based racing game, Sonic Rivals will feature weapons that can be used both offensively and defensively. Players will be able to attack each other by pushing and tripping as well as using offensive items scattered throughout the course.

The game also features a customization system. Players who win races will be awarded special cards that will improve their player's stats- something like Sonic Battle on the GBA. These cards can be equipped and of course this will cause improvements to different aspects of each character.

The game wouldn't be much fun if it didn't allow multiplayer action. Details are still sketchy, but as of now expect 2 player racing action via Ad-Hoc mode. Hopefully the development team at Backbone Entertainment can work in a couple more players before release? Still, racing isn't the only reason for wirelessly networking with Sonic Rivals. Players can also trade the stat building cards with each other.