At THQ's Loaded event there was a PSP debug sitting in the corner with Sonic Rivals playing on it. Cautiously, I approached the game preying that this was the game to revitalize the series. Once the game loaded up I started on a stage reminiscent of Green Hill Zone, with a race countdown displayed on the screen. I took control of Sonic, and Shadow was right beside me, ready to race. The objective in the game is basically just to get to the end of the level ahead of the other player, but you just can’t press the right directional pad because there are enemies and other obstacles which slow you down.
Speed Demon!
Admittedly about halfway through the first race I wasn’t really that impressed - the game felt like Sonic Riders but in 2D. After a little bit of a break I returned to the title and my feelings about the game quickly changed. I took a moment to take everything in and started the game again, this time taking my time to go through the entire level and explore all of the parts I had missed previously.
After about fifteen minutes I was hooked in; once you get past the annoyance of the game not being a 2D platformer the game actually becomes rather fun. The title may still be months away but Green Hill Zone looked very impressive and there were no issues at all with the frame rate, despite the fact that often there are a few things going on. If you merely race for speed the first level can be completed in about five minutes which is impressive. If you hit an enemy in the middle of a race then you lose rings, but it doesn’t appear that you lose all of your rings, as I only surrendered a few.
Green Hill Zone
You consistently move along a 2D path but the camera rotates so it does feel a little bit like a 3D title, the loops and jumps (thankfully no bottomless pits for those who were annoyed in Sonic Rush) all make this game incredibly entertaining and for some reason I had a lot of trouble putting the game down. After completing the first level, the demo ended so unfortunately we didn’t get to see any more of the game, although it would've been good to have seen another level.
Sonic Rivals may not be a 2D platformer, but it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, especially in multiplayer. We didn’t get to see enough of the game to determine whether it’s going to be a title that remains fun but our short time with the game has completely erased the skepticism we originally had, though it does still leave us lingering for a 2D Sonic platformer on the PSP.
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