Ah, back to the Rush series
. Its nice talking about the rush series again for the Sonic Retrospective
. Sonic Rush Adventure released in 2007 and it added a lot to the series. Sudo-hub world, boating mechanics, sub-levels to unlock, and a larger story compared to the original. Does the added content help enhance the strong formula? Or does it add too much fluff? Lets boost through and find out
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Not sure if any development history is present for this title, outside of the original Sonic Rush being really successful for SEGA and Sonic Team, leading to them giving Dimps two years to make this and allowing Sonic Rivals to have some breathing room on the PSP (though.....it came out at a bad time
). One bit of trival that is really cool, is that Nintendo published Sonic Rush Adventure in Japan! I guess they really loved the game, so they wanted their name on it too . 
Rush Adventure is noteworthy as we visit Blaze's world for the first time in the Sonic series and we meet a few new characters; a robotic captain named Captain Whiskers (who looks VERY similar to a Egg-shaped man.......) and a lovely new friend called Marine the Raccoon. She......is annoying, to put it lightly :l.
The story here is that Sonic and Tails are sucked into a tornado and crash land on a island. They meet Marine and Tails puts together a boat allowing Sonic and company to explore the other islands to see what is going on. They bump into Blaze, explaining they are in her dimension, and they hunt for the Chaos Emeralds/Soul Emeralds while stopping Captain Whiskers at every turn.
Once all the Emeralds are collected, we are treated to the SHOCKING announcement that......the Eggman were behind it all :l. That was totally not expected or anything
. Super Sonic and Burning Blaze take them out and the day is saved with Sonic and Tails going back home.
Fun little story that while annoying at points (.....Marine :l), is still very enjoyable. It was nice having Blaze interacting with Sonic and Tails often, as she really bounces off them very well. Completely open to her joining Sonic & Tails on more adventures in future games! Doesn't really happen, sadly, but still, love her character and would like to see more of her.
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Gameplay is 1-to-1 like the original Sonic Rush; Sonic and Blaze can boost, have their R tricks/moves (Sonic's homing attack works better here compared to the original Rush though), and the physics are more or less the same.
The difference, is the level design. We got a lot more platforming, fewer bottomless pits, and even more fun boosting sections. Dimps learned from the original Rush regarding the level design and it shows in spades.
Every level also has unique gimmicks that I really love. Blizzard Peaks for example has Sonic/Blaze riding a snowboard, Coral Caves has you going into 3D at points to control a mine cart, Sky Babylon is very platforming focused; every stage plays with the 3D features of the DS more and it really makes things even more fun then they were in the original Sonic Rush
. 
The 3D boss fights are back too, with them playing with the 3D elements a lot more. The boss for Blizzard Peaks for example has you on a block of ice fighting a robotic whale. After some attacks, he opens its mouth, sucking you in. Then you play a little 2D level to find a weak point then fly out of the whale.
They are really dynamic, leading to them being a blast to fight
!Gameplay also has traveling elements with the boats, with you controlling them like how you controlled Sonic in the special stages. You slide the bottom screen left and right to move, double tab to boost or attack and swipe on the screen when jumping over ramps to score more tricks.
The jet ski ones are a ton of fun, the hovercraft is simple but offers fun shooting, the sub and battleship are more or less shooting areas where you tap the screen to attack objects. They can be really fun and it leads to the backtracking to be enjoyable.
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B-Backtracking? Why YES! In order to explore the world, you need to collect parts in the stages, and you get them through higher ranks. Tails can build more boats to ride in, but you need X amount of items. Every zone offers different items, and you have to get X amount to make specific boats and built plot-important items.
If you enjoy replaying the main stages over and over a few times, this really isn't much of an issue.
Just something that needs to be pointed out, as it IS a major design change from the original Rush.
Before going into presentation, lets talk about special stages; they are gone.......but not really. See, instead of warping into the specials stage, a robot named Johnny got the Chaos Emeralds when Sonic & Tails got sucked into Blaze's dimension.
So, when you find him using the Wind Waker-esc map system (different ships have unique travel distances and you can only reach different areas based on the ship; hovercraft can hover over rocky areas for example), you use the Jet Ski to race him to the finish line.
These are very, very hard
. Never got all of them due to the difficulty honestly. But, they are easier to access then Advance 2 and Advance 3.....to they are a winner in my book . Blaze gets the Soul Emeralds through completing boss missions (game has a mission system) in the hub world. 
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Presentation in this game is very impressive, with greater usage of 3D compared to the original Rush and 3D Stage gimmicks being used far more often in core level design.
The story also has more focus, so the stills are very expressive and story is decently written.
The music also needs to be highlighted, as while the soundtrack isn't by the Jet Set Radio guy anymore, it still sounds great.
Plant Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfbeTec9lcM&index=3&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Machine Labyrinth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyohrveucxI&index=4&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Coral Cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8AcStf42bg&index=5&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Haunted Ship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKKXB1j3OxE&index=6&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Blizzard Peaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Vs71-H0v4&index=7&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Sky Babylon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsDVRJMYEYE&index=8&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Pirates Island: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYDwQ5dZSlk&index=9&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Water Bike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwJNGzzMU_Y&index=14&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Sailing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mgj3U2bU8g&index=13&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Sea Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ8RVx5DJXc&index=18&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
Deep Core (Final Boss): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CsRLwnOSY4&index=46&list=PLvNp0Boas720tj1lWYIOohCHSPR13BICL
And, like most major Sonic games, we got a vocal theme song! A New Venture.......such a great theme song XD! So cheesy but so Sonic :').
The entire soundtrack is more traditional Sonic, so I really love this soundtrack. The original Rush is more catchy (I mean, who cannot love Chao rapping XD!), but still, this soundtrack rocks.
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This game is a great sequel to Sonic Rush and it does a lot right. Great focus on story, some fun level designs, great music and presentation and even better boss fights; what's not to love
!The Rush series concludes with this game, with it sorta continuing with Sonic Colors DS and Generations 3DS gameplay wise, but this is it for the Rush series. Great ride that went out on top
. 
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The next game for this retrospective......man, I've been WAITING to rip this a new one for a while now.
Lets all enjoy its amazing soundtrack and chronicle this upcoming brotherhood
.
