Inexplicably, the top six-or-so titles on my GameFly queue were unavailable, so I was sent Sonic Rush for the DS--a game I had originally added back when I signed up for the service nearly three years ago. Of all the recent Sonic the Hedgehog titles, the often-overlooked handheld games have been the least offensive--and dare I say, fun--extensions of the franchise, mainly because they're about Sonic running to the right, and have the good sense to not include sexual tension or political intrigue.
So it's fair to say that nothing really offended me about Sonic Rush in the brief amount of time I tried it out, aside from the fact that Jet Set Radio composer/beatmaster Hideki Naganuma was apparently demoted to working on low-profile Sonic games. Seriously, the guy is awesome, and Sega needs to put him on as many projects as they can. Musical outrage aside, I wasn't exactly bored with Sonic Rush; in fact, I couldn't even muster up the motivation that boredom requires to exist. It seems that every Sonic game--no matter how high the quality--produces nothing but complete apathy in me, and I've been trying to find out why.
My theory has always been that the Sonic the Hedgehog formula was never really strong enough to support more than two games--yes, Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles were both competant platformers, but how much did they really add to the overall Sonic package? And the 3D games, as impressive as they seemed at the time, were never able to adapt to the new format as gracefully as other 2D transitions like Mario and Mega Man (of Mega Man Legends). For Sega, Sonic the Hedgehog needs to exist; he's their cash cow, and the whole furry obsession thing probably lines their coffers more than they'd like to admit. But for me, he's been completely irrelevant since the mid-90s. I'd rather see a resurrection of Panzer Dragoon or Jet Set Radio (or--Christ--even Alex Kidd) than watch Sega repeat their Sonic mantra of "We swear this time it'll be good!"
Because it won't.
Related Links:
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What'd I Miss? Panzer Dragoon
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