Sonic Rush review

Stop and think about that title for a moment and see if your knees start to wobble. Sonic Rush - yes, that's right, Rush.

Sonic, whose idea of a stroll is to tear a strip of burning turf round the entire circumference of the Earth on his way to the corner shop, is coming to DS and he's in a hurry.

Just being the fastest game character ever created is old news for him; he wants to get a bit of a move on. And that's a terrifying thought.

Terrifying and wonderful, of course. Sonic has always been about speed thrills, and discovering that DS's touch screen, microphone, wireless and all the rest haven't distracted Sega from the basics is brilliant news. This is, plain and simple; a classic Sonic game.

Start on the left of the screen and head to the right a tiny bit faster than the human eye can actually detect, swooping, twirling and ricocheting as you go.

Thanks to the action being spread across both screens, levels are vast and intricate, with dozens of alternative routes and hidden goodies that encourage you to play through again and again. The controls are tight and responsive and the speed, as the title promises, is intense.

There are a couple of problems, though. The ludicrous speed combined with the screen swapping nature of this double-decker adventure mean that it does wear your eyes out pretty quickly.

Also, the sections which slow down Sonic's progress - mainly the enforced combat where he has to fight his way out of a trap - interrupt the flow. But, those are niggles: it all looks peachy, the action is fast, the tunes are brilliant, the cutscenes are short and the bosses don't ruin your fun.

Throw in some great single-cart link-up races and you and your friends are guaranteed to enjoy many happy hours with this breakneck fun park. Sonic may be in a rush, but Sega clearly wasn't when it crafted this glorious game.

Sonic Rush is out for DS now