The gaming industry has quite a few figure heads in terms of video game characters, which have pushed the whole genre forward through the adventures that they have been on. One such famous character is Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, which made history during the early years of gaming.

Sadly, in recent years, things haven't been so good for the blue hedgehog, as Sega's resident Sonic Team hasn't made the best titles for it. But, fortunately for the speedy animal, the developers collaborated with Dimps and delivered Sonic Rush, one of the first Sonic titles for Nintendo's hugely successful DS handheld platform.

The game was released on November 15, in North America, while the PAL region received it on November 18, and Japanese fans got a taste of Sonic on November 23, all in 2005. Even though the blue hedgehog wasn't popular those days, the top-notch gameplay and graphics of the title made it a best-seller and prompted some big critical acclaim from reviewers.

Here are some of its general features:
– Sonic pairs up with a new female lead. Play as either Sonic the Hedgehog or Blaze the Cat;
– Parallel universes collide. The storylines and outcomes differ, keeping you in suspense for double the fun;
– Your fate is 'touch 'n go,' with Bosses charging you from all directions and now on two screens;
– Long steep dives across both top and bottom screens, super high jumps, huge loops, and more;
– 2D and 3D action;
– Touch-screen technology.

While the levels in the game are classic sidescrollers and displayed in a 2D manner, the sprites of bosses and the main characters are rendered in 3D, thus creating a 2.5D effect. As such, the story centers around Sonic and Blaze, who are chasing after Doctor Eggman, who stole the Sol Emeralds from Blaze.

HINTS

Easy lives
An easy way to get lives is to either play Leaf Storm Act 2 or Mirage Road Act 2, repeatedly. You should gain about one or two lives every time you play.

Dead Line Special Stage
Where there is a bunch of spikeballs, instead of trying to get all of the rings, just stay on the path that has the ring with the "5" in it. If you try to get all of the rings, you will get hit.

Here's a video of the game: