Sonic Rush Adventure

Sonic Rush Adventure is a platform game similar in gameplay and style to the original 2005 Sonic Rush. As in the original, players control Sonic the Hedgehog or Blaze the Cat, whose goal is to collect the Chaos Emeralds and their alternate-dimensional counterparts, the Sol Emeralds, and defeat a nefarious band of robot pirates. Like the original, Sonic and Blaze attack by jumping and spinning, can perform a speed boost using a Tension Gauge (which is filled when they perform tricks in mid-air or defeat robot enemies), collect rings as a form of health, and power-ups such as elemental shields and invincibility. The gameplay is split into seven levels, each of which contains three parts: two normal levels; and a boss fight.

In normal levels, players must reach the treasure chest at the end of the stage, while using features such as springboards and boost pads, and avoiding obstacles such as robots, spikes, and bottomless pits. In boss fights, players must defeat a large robot by jumping on its vulnerable spot to deplete its health meter. When completing a level, players are given a grade based on their performance; an "S" rank is the best, while a "C" is the worst. Both of the DS's screens are used to display the play area, with the player's character moving between them as necessary.

On a stormy night, Sonic and Tails set out in Tails' biplane, the Tornado, after it detects a powerful energy signal. During their flight, the Tornado is struck by lightning and gets sucked into a tornado, knocking Sonic and Tails out. They awaken on a remote island and meet the energetic raccoon Marine, who longs to be a sailor. Sonic sets off to explore the island for shipbuilding materials, as Tails starts to work on Marine's ship.

Sonic returns and discovers the smaller, faster waterbike that Tails and Marine have made. While exploring the surrounding islands to test the waterbike, they soon encounter a band of pirates led by the robotic Captain Whisker, who are after an ancient artifact known as the Jeweled Scepter. As Sonic attempts to stop Whisker from retrieving the Scepter, Blaze suddenly appears; she reveals to them that they have accidentally traveled to her dimension during the storm, and that she has been attempting to stop the pirates for some time. Whisker manages to escape with the Scepter, so Blaze and Sonic agree to work together and retrieve it.

Like its predecessor, Sonic Rush Adventure was developed by Dimps with assistance from Sonic Team for the Nintendo DS. It was developed alongside Sonic Rivals 2 for the PlayStation Portable. As the developers began to work on the project, director Sakae Osumi, inspired by adventure novels, television programs, and films, decided that the sequel should be set on the high seas. As the original Rush centered around Blaze coming to Sonic's world, the writers decided to make the sequel center around Sonic and Tails becoming stranded in Blaze's world.

Wondering who would meet the two first in this dimension and what would inspire their adventure, the designers created the character Marine. They also chose to give her an Australian accent, to make her have a sense of being loud and active. The developers also created the nefarious pirates, who serve as primary antagonists.

According to review aggregation website Metacritic, Sonic Rush Adventure received "generally favorable" reviews. The game was released in the wake of the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog reboot, which was critically derided; GamesRadar stated that Rush Adventure was indication that the series still had some life in it.

The visuals and presentation were praised. IGN admired the improvements made to the original's graphics and effects, and noted the fluid character animations and attention to detail. The game made good use of the DS's capabilities, according to GameSpot, with transitions between 2D and 3D making the levels more exciting. Nintendo World Report agreed: they wrote that the graphics were smooth and considered it a good selling point.