Sonic Rivals
A 2.5D racing game with collectible cards and rival battles.
Sonic Rivals is a 2006 action-racing game developed by Backbone Entertainment and Sega Studio USA for the PlayStation Portable. It is part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and features characters racing to stop Doctor Eggman Nega from turning the world into cards. The game is notable for being one of the few Sonic titles not released in Japan.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Backbone Entertainment; Sega Studio USA
- Publisher
- Sega
- Director
- Takashi Iizuka
- Producer
- Taylor Miller
- Artist
- Ryan Slemko
- Composer
- Chris Rezanson
- Series
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Platforms
- PlayStation Portable
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Sonic Rivals is a 2.5D side-scrolling game where characters race to the finish line while dodging obstacles. It has six zones, each split into three acts, with the third act being a boss battle, making 17 stages total. In these boss fights, you must defeat the boss before your rival does. Five characters are playable: Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, and Metal Sonic, but they all control the same way. Power-ups give you extra attack or defense options. The game has several modes. Story Mode gives each of four characters their own plot, where they race to stop Doctor Eggman. Challenge Mode sets specific tasks, like hitting your opponent a set number of times. Wireless Play Mode lets you race or battle friends ad hoc, wager cards, or just play for fun. A cup circuit mode also lets you race for a trophy. There are 150 collectible cards to earn by completing tasks such as finishing a level, collecting rings, or hitting rivals. These cards show art from past Sonic games and unlock cosmetic costumes and items that change your character’s look but have no effect on gameplay.
Plot
He turns Tails into a card as Knuckles arrives, angry about the Master Emerald. Eggman announces his plan to conquer the world, challenging Sonic and Knuckles to stop him. Shadow receives a distress signal from Eggman, but the doctor denies sending it. Rouge warns Shadow of a dangerous secret but is carded. Silver appears from the future, telling Shadow to reach Eggman first. The heroes discover the real Doctor Eggman was imprisoned in a card, and the Eggman they encountered is Eggman Nega in disguise. Nega traveled from the future to remove Eggman's failed schemes and rewrite family history, using Onyx Island, a future version of Angel Island. Nega escapes to space to turn the planet into a card. The heroes rescue Tails and the real Eggman, reach Nega's space station, and defeat him, capturing him in a card. All prisoners are restored, and Silver takes Onyx Island and Nega's card back to the future.
Development and release
Sonic Rivals was developed collaboratively by Sega and Backbone Entertainment for the PSP. The concept originated from a traditional platform game Backbone designed, but Takashi Iizuka changed its direction to a racing game. Most development was handled by Backbone with assistance from Sega Studio USA, while Sega handled aspects like the story. The PSP was chosen over the Nintendo DS due to its stronger processing power and graphical quality. Producer Taylor Miller stated the goal was to return to the gameplay style of the original Sega Genesis Sonic games with new competitive elements. Sega provided Backbone with level design maps from all 2D games as reference, and Backbone looked to games up to Sonic Rush for inspiration. Building alternate paths was challenging, aiming to allow many rivalry interactions. Playable characters focused on those with the biggest rivalries, such as Sonic and Shadow, with Silver added to mix things up. Art direction sought to maintain Sonic's look while stylizing the game. Kazuyuki Hoshino and Hiroshi Nishiyama assisted with art and environment direction. The game was revealed on GameStop's website in May 2005, though Sega denied it, and was announced on May 6, 2006. It was showcased at E3 2006 and the Games Convention in August 2006, releasing in North America on November 17, 2006, and Europe on December 1, 2006.
Reception
Sonic Rivals received mixed or average reviews, with a Metacritic score of 64/100 and a GameRankings score of 66.17%. It and its sequel were re-released as part of the Greatest Hits and Essentials lines, indicating over 250,000 units sold by the end of 2007, and as part of the Double Rivals Attack Pack! on October 18, 2011. Reviewers consistently praised the presentation, with IGN noting graphical flourishes and GameSpot finding the music upbeat, though GameSpy said the music was not as good as previous series entries. Gameplay drew mixed reactions, with common criticism of the rubber banding mechanic that made opponents catch up quickly. GameSpot noted that freezing a rival with an ice blast slowed them only momentarily, while GameSpy felt catching up was always possible. Eurogamer's Rob Fahey called it one of the most blatant instances of rubber-banding AI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed the music for Sonic Rivals?
The music for Sonic Rivals was composed by Chris Rezanson.
Is Sonic Rivals single-player or multiplayer?
Sonic Rivals offers single-player and multiplayer play.
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