SONIC RUSH
DS, 2005
Mario and Sonic have always been rivals and their careers took interesting paths during the early Noughties. Nintendo’s plumber was doing incredibly well in the 3D platform space, but hadn’t had any new 2D adventures for years. On the other hand, Sonic struggled with the crossover to 3D, but he was flourishing in 2D – after a few years of dodgy spin-offs and main series missteps. Sonic Rush is a perfect example of that success and it remains our favourite of the two Rush titles available on Nintendo’s handheld. Having refined a heavily speed-focused style of 2D platforming on the Game Boy Advance, Dimps placed that action into new tall stages that took place across both screens of the DS, with Sonic now able to charge through enemies at top speed with the new boost move – just as long as he could maintain a combo. It works brilliantly and manages to capture Sonic’s speedy essence in a way that often eludes the 3D games.