Ditching the adventurous overtones of Sonic's past few outings, Sonic Rivals focuses solely on the blue hedgehog's predilection towards speed and competition. It's a move that helps avoid many of the shortcomings plaguing other recent Sonic games, but also one that harms due to poor design.

Brought together once again by the evil schemes of the notorious Dr. Eggman, this time involving a camera with the ability to transform any photographed object into a card, Sonic and his friends literally race against one another as they each pursue Eggman for their own reasons. Since they all run at about the same speed, no one character has a clear advantage over the other as they blaze through the levels, jumping over enemies, navigating past obstacles and bottomless pits. Instead, each character has a distinctive signature attack, activated by collecting the pickups scattered throughout the tracks. The psychically gifted Silver, for example, temporarily confuses his foes, rendering them unable to move. Sonic bursts forward in a flash thanks to his Sonic Boom ability. Other pickups provide additional offensive and defensive capabilities, such as a shielding bubble of fire or a block of ice that leaves opponents momentarily frozen.

Needless to say, the entire game revolves around competition. With both characters moving at roughly the same pace and the various pickups ensuring one doesn't gain much of a lead over the other, victory often comes down to a frantic last-minute attack right before the finish line. Not even boss fights could escape the competitive edge, both characters now racing to defeat the mechanical behemoths first. Even better, these nuggets of intense gameplay typically last a few minutes, perfectly suited for the portable nature of the PSP.

In sessions lasting longer than a few minutes though, the devices used by Sonic Rivals to keep things entertaining present some issues. The fast-paced and intense nature of the matches often leads to frustration, especially if one comes out on the wrong side of the last-minute hop. As each character plays identically outside of their signature attack, Story Mode quickly becomes a repetitive exercise, the differing dialogue between the virtually identical quests failing to warrant another playthrough.

Circuit Cup looks to alleviate some of these problems with its out-of-order track selection, but one circuit requires advancement within Challenge Mode for access. Through its specific conditions for victory, Challenge Mode represents the biggest flaw of the game. Given its fast-paced and frantic nature, attaining a certain number of rings, attacking an opponent a certain number of times, or beating a level under a preset time will take numerous tries. That's good for replay value, but hiding a quality mode behind arbitrary goals and forcing players to repeatedly play through a level in their quest for variety doesn't indicate an intelligent design decision.

Furthermore, the emphasis on card collection doesn't have much of a bearing on the actual game. With only one additional playable character and some bonus outfits available as rewards, there's not much incentive to collect the game's 150 cards. Cards factor a bit more prominently into the multiplayer side of things, whereupon players can wager their cards on the outcome of a battle, but the lack of online play and the reliance upon two players to be physically near one another severely reduces the likelihood of a multiplayer bout.

Technical qualms also weigh down Sonic Rivals. At points, opponents randomly stop, sometimes catching up, sometimes staying behind for the remainder of the race. The fast-paced nature also serves as a detriment, often moving so fast that incoming enemies and obstacles can't be glimpsed until it's too late. Oddly, the game then slows in later levels, bogged down by the speed and the variety of on-screen effects demanded of the PSP.

Ultimately enjoyable in small doses, Sonic Rivals struggles under the scrutiny of extended play. With each character playing the exactly the same, shifting among the four seems nothing more than an aesthetic choice, especially since they all proceed through the same levels in the same order. Circuit Cup attempts to mix things up, its out-of-order track selection calling to mind a more traditional racing game, but tedious access requirements prevent Circuit Cup from realizing its potential, instead making the game all the more frustrating. Fun only in short bursts, Sonic Rivals gets the core essentials right, but not much else.

Related Links:

Sonic Central

Sega

Backbone Entertainment

PSP

Our Final ScoreMediocre

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