As with its predecessor, you will have to essentially memorize the layout of the levels through trial and error if you're to have any real chance at winning, because your speed makes obstacles and hazards visible only in the moments before you encounter them.īattle levels are small, enclosed arenas in which you must defeat your rival in one-on-one combat, and boss battles are bizarre competitive bids to defeat Eggman's latest mechanical monstrosity. The emphasis is on speed and beating your rival to the finish line, and everything goes, including cheap shots and power-up attacks. Races are large, left-to-right areas that feature speed boosts, loop-the-loops, corkscrews, rings, and all the other Sonic craziness you've come to expect. Rivals is divided up into six worlds ranging from a haunted house to a casino and beyond, each of which contains two races, a battle, and a boss fight. This greatly hurts replayability unless you're in it for the long haul and a 100% complete game. Despite the large variety of characters, they all play completely identically, with no differences in speed or agility (with the exception of their generally useless special ability). At the beginning of the game, you'll select which of the teams you want to race with and which of the characters you'll follow to determine what story scenes you'll see. Sonic Rivals 2 features eight characters divided into four teams: Sonic and Tails, Shadow and Metal Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge, and Silver and Espio.

Eggman returns to harass everyone with his ineffectual inventions and conveniently drop pieces of paper that hint at something of a deeper but still shallow plot.Įveryone's favorite disturbingly hypersexualized anthropomorphic bat-girl Rouge is back! Why? Because that's how anthropomorphic animals settle their differences, of course! Meanwhile, the dubiously sinister Dr. Instead, they engage in unfathomably bizarre dialogue that is absurdly confrontational and naturally ends in a race or a fight. Normally, this would be the time for them to put aside whatever differences they may or may not have to work together as a team, but because they are rivals and chock full of baditude, this of course doesn't happen. The overly obtuse and patently mad story tells how Sonic and the titular rivals all end up on the same island for various reasons with similar goals in mind. Any but the most diehard of Sonic fans would do well to stay away from this, the next rung down the ladder of Sonic's continually downward-spiraling career.

If you were on the lookout for an end to this disturbing trend of shoddy sequels and unimaginative spinoffs, Sonic Rivals 2 is not for you. A lackluster crossover with the former competition, an abortive attempt at a franchise reboot, an underwhelming hoverboard racer. Let's face it: Sonic has had a rough time for the last decade or so.

Sonic rivals 2 gameplay