Quote of the Month

 

"These boots are made for racing."

-Rouge the Bat, Sonic Rivals 2

Sonic Rivals 2 OST Review

Summary

Sonic Rivals 2 makes for an interesting listen. Like the first game, there are heavy guitars yet funky effects and clips. 

In this one the sampling and references become more apparent. Mystic Haunt Act 3, for example, has some of Death Ruins (from Shadow). There seems to be lots of bits from Riders and other games (apparently ones other than Sonic as well). Also, there are remixes from the first game. 

In addition, this game gets its own energetic theme, "Race to Win."

Best Song: Final Boss (Ifrit)

Runner-Up (s): Chaotic Inferno Acts 1-3, Mystic Haunt Act 1-3, Sunset Forest Act 3, Tension, Blue Coast Act 1 (Race to Win)

Quite dramatic, this boss remix really makes combines the themes in the best way. Fast, edgy energy with some wackier sounds and some climatic background vocals. And there seems to be a bit of Mystic Mansion (Heroes), too! 

Worst Song: Neon Palace Act 2

Runner Up (s): Neon Palace Act 1, Frontier Canyon Act 1-2, Happy, Confrontation, Win, Lose 

These casino ones are a bit different from the style of the rest. Goes for a Vegas vibe, very jazzy and funky. This one is a bit much for what it is.  

Final Ranking: C

The music is good, yet not as impactful. I hate to say it, but it can get boring. Still, it's worth listening to--deserves far more attention than it gets. It has some magnificent moments, and "Race to Win" is just a Sonic classic. 

Sonic Rivals 2 Reveiw

Rank @ End

Summary

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Visuals, Level Design, and Graphics

The graphics are horrible. The game art/card art or whatever is fine, but other than that...visually, this handheld game may be one of the worst. As far as setting, they try to do new things, but the graphics are just so bad they are barely salvageable.  

On the other hand I liked the different "racer"/etc outfits. Looked neat/funny. 

Gameplay

The idea of racing the other characters is a clever way to capitalize on the idea of speed. This type of gameplay, where almost every level is a race where the players also attack each other, likely inspired many of Sega's future apps. It's a neat idea, and if it worked as well as the Metal Sonic race of Sonic CD or a 2-D version of the Sonic/Shadow race in SA2, it would be awesome. Unfortunately it's not at the same quality. 

Even though the controls should be simple, they can get confusing. Press this button, press that button! I liked the special moves, but some work better in this case than others. For example, Tails' flight is virtually useless because of the level design--not a good choice. If the "rush" boost wasn't used so much nowadays, "Sonic Boom" might not bother me, but this version of the boost seems so inferior. I think Shadow's "Chaos Control" as well as Silver's "Psychic Control" are the best. 

Even though it's 2-D, it does not play out nearly as smoothly as the classic games or the Advance or Rush series. There are also rival fights/challenges that would be nice as a bonus mission but are instead required and therefore unwelcome. The boss fights varied from being what I'd expect to something more frustrating.     

Story and Characters

Each character is linked to another. Playing Sonic's story, for example, also means playing as Tails, even though Tails has a separate story. This is a little excessive--maybe it should have been one story per pair rather than per character. 

Sonic and Tails have a pretty basic story, but the character interactions are funny. This game is kind of like Heroes in that sense, driven by the characters involved. Only instead of all working together, the different pairs turn on each other, ha ha. 

The plot involving Rouge and Knuckles is like SA2, and though they are allies it works just as well. Silver and Espio seem like and odd combination, but it was a smart way to include the two. Shadow and Metal Sonic may be Sonic's biggest rivals, but it's still odd to see them together. Since Metal doesn't talk, it's more of Shadow's story (which is fine by me!) but Metal proves he isn't totally worthless in the end. 

Like with the first one, it would be nice if there was more of an explanation with Nega. Also, while I like that some characters get "the full story" and others think it's just Eggman, I think Sonic should have at least been suspicious. Considering Heroes and the first Rivals, being fooled a 3rd time makes the Sonic seem like an idiot. 

Music and Sound Effects

The music is pretty harsh and not very memorable. The Mystic Haunt one was okay. "Race to Win" is awesome/impressive for a handheld, but it could get annoying being in the first level. 

One of the main advantages in comparison to the last Rivals game and the Rush series is that the cutscene audio is not as limited. Whereas previous games just had small clips ("getreadytobeschooled," etc), every character had several sayings and spoke during the cutscenes. Though the cutscenes were still limited, it was nice to actually hear the characters talk.    

Mike Pollock handles the shift between Eggmans with ease. Pete Capella seemed to perfect his version of Silver, which wasn't that bad to begin with. I've begun to wonder if it was maybe a script issue rather than voice acting, but this is another case where Kathleen Delaney's Rouge voice better than in Sonic X. Amy Palant's Tails has the opposite effect, though. Her voice for him was great in season 3 but seemed higher-pitched in the games for some reason. Most of the voice acting was perfect, and the cast did a good job. 

Metal Sonic had no voice, so he was basically voiced by Eggman, lol. 

Final Thoughts

• This is a good game for those who like the characters and their various personalities and abilities. However, Sonic's own role isn't the biggest.
• I liked that even though, for example, Shadow and Rouge were not allies in this game, they weren't at each others' throats, either. The same could be said for Knuckles among Sonic/Tails.    
• It would have been interesting to see a Rivals 3 (---with Blaze the Cat). Maybe they could have upgraded things. 
• The races in Sonic Generations were inspired from these.   
• Silver calling Tails HALF-PINT is the best Silver quote. "It's no use" is nothing. 

 

Final Ranking: C 

This is another case where the characters make the game very enjoyable, but eliminating that does not leave much behind. Barfy graphics, cute plot. 

Okay, I guess he noticed the laugh was off...

Best Villain? Part 3: Better

Neo Metal Sonic and Dr. Eggman Nega--two unique fiends that almost win. And like to pretend they are Eggman... 

Metal Sonic was just one of Eggman's robots...until the doc's attempts to perfect the creation ended with him locked away in room (luckily he had a walkie-talkie with him, huh Chaotix?). Metal Sonic decided that he was the "real Sonic." Masquerading as Eggman ("Don't worry boys, those were the easy ones!") allowed him to copy the data of those involved so that he could become unstoppable. 

He has a chilling redesign but it's short lived. Metal Sonic turns to Metal Overlord, having more of a metal-dragon appearance. The transformation scenes are a little long for my taste. Sonic's voice actor Ryan Drummond also voiced Metal, adding to the creepy similarities between Sonic and "the REAL" Sonic.

Metal Sonic is defeated, of course, but he was able to trick most of the characters and nearly defeated them all. Even his creator, Eggman, was not allowed to stand between Metal's need to defeat Sonic. 

   

Nega worked with Dr. Eggman in Sonic Rush, claiming to be his counterpart from another dimension. The two wreaked havoc for Sonic and Blaze. In the Rivals series, he impersonates Eggman twice (now revealed as a descendant of Ivo Robotnik, not of another dimension). He almost destroys the world with future technology and the Ifrit. Later (SRA) he returns to working alongside with Ivo/Eggman and tries to take control over dimensions.  

He has taken on Sonic, Blaze, Silver, Shadow, Espio, and Metal Sonic on separate occasions. He's also fooled numerous characters into thinking he is Eggman. He shares Eggman's intellegence but may be more insane. Although he looks like "our" Eggman, he has his own personality. Dr. Eggman Nega is notably willing to "cross the line" and seems to want to destroy the world rather than conquer it (unlike Ivo/Eggman). 

Unfortunately Nega is often forgotten due to only appearing on hand-held games. 

Both these characters are interesting and add to their stories for the better. They surpass the "Erazor" level, but they can't survive without Eggman around, too.   

Quote of the Month

"......"
--Metal Sonic, Sonic Rivals 2