Hands on with DS' fastest: Sonic Rush Adventure

There was only one DS title at Sega's San Francisco Gamers' Day event earlier this month, but as it was the first playable build of Sonic Rush Adventure, we'll forgive Sega.

Following on from 2005's best-selling Sonic Rush, the new game certainly doesn't break the mould but there's more to it than just a load of random stages. There are seven islands with 14 stages apiece to explore and, not unlike Super Mario World, you wander around a world map that charts each level, while tapping a location with the stylus puts you into that location.

During our time with the game, we were able to try out two levels: The Factory and Coral Cave.

One of the earliest levels in the game, The Factory features platform gameplay in line with Sonic's traditional 2D environments – racing atop high platforms and zipping through loops, you move Sonic using the directional pad while any enemies are easily bypassed with a quick jump.

The second level, Coral Cave, comes a bit later in the game after you've explored beyond the first island. Set in an underwater cave, we delved deep using a mine cart. While we couldn't control the actual cart – this literally was an on-rails level – we were able to time jumps to collect items and avoid enemies.

More generally in the game, along with the ability to run and jump you can also pull off tricks to raise your tension meter. When full, this grants a speedy forward boost. In total, four different tricks are present and are performed with the face buttons. One cool example launched Sonic right at the screen, using a neat little 3D effect. (While Sonic Rush Adventure is a 2D game at heart, it's nice to see a few pieces of visual flair as well.)

Adding spice to the main action, you also get to venture out beyond the main islands to discover 14 secret islands, each with its own bonus stage. Doing this means you can collect raw materials and giving them to your pal Tails enables him to construct up to five boats for you to use. Hedgehogs aren't exactly seafaring creatures, but given the potential rewards it's worth the risk.

Thus equipped, you can trace navigation lines for Sonic to traverse by using the stylus to draw lines on the world map. At this point, the action switches into a 3D forward-scrolling mini-game that has you controlling Sonic as he speeds across the sea. Keeping a tight reign on my blue buddy was easy enough by using the stylus to move him away from obstacles littering the water's surface.

These water races will also be available for head-to-head play against a friend via local wi-fi, as well as new objective-based multiplayer missions. Sadly, however, we couldn't con Sega into letting us play around with the multiplayer mode.

But at least we were able to get a good feel for the single-player portion of the game, which is shaping up nicely. Sonic Rush Adventure may not rock the boat with its classically styled action gameplay, but what we played, we enjoyed.

Sonic Rush Adventure is due for release sometime this autumn.