I feel that in the first of my reviews, (or rantviews,) I should start with something classic, something that everyone knows and loves. Of course, I am talking about the original Super Mario Bros. I should tell you that I downloaded this onto the Virtual Console on the Wii, because I don’t own an NES.
The first thing that I should talk about is the gameplay, which ROCKS!!! Super Mario Bros. is often referred to as the “greatest game ever” just because the gameplay is awesome. Jumping, running, shooting fireballs, everything in this game moves smoothly and effectively. The sound and graphics could be better, but they were top notch when they came out, and, come to think of it, they still are. I can’t imagine what it would be like to play this game remade to look and sound like New Super Mario Bros. I think that if that happened, the game would lose some of its unique charm.
Fighting Bowser is as tough and fun to fight as ever. I sort of like the old-fashioned Bowser fights better than the new battles, actually. In the newer games, Bowser is fun to squash, but I don’t feel the excitement that I do playing this game.
One of my only complaints about this game is its difficulty. It is one of the hardest games I have played in my life. The difficulty exceeds any of the other Mario games I have played. Also, the swimming stages tend to get boring, and the ONLY way to kill enemies does not make sense (fireballs in WATER?!!? Come on!!)
Although this is an old game it still is one of the best games in the entire history of video games. It’s better than anything on the PS3, anyway.
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Gameplay: 10
Total: 9.5

Sonic Rush is a fresh renewal to the beginning of the series. At first, the games focused the level design on getting through the levels as fast as you can, trying to make jumps and survive the whole way through. When Sonic CD came out, the exploration idea was introduced, and players spent more time in each level trying to find all of the stuff in it. Don’t get me wrong, Sonic CD rocks; it had just the right enough of everything to rule.
The games then started to slip away from the old “run really fast” idea. Look around for the entrance to the secret zone. Try to find the way through. The exploration went out of hand. THEN came Sonic Adventure. Knuckles, Big, E-102, and Amy’s stories were all based on exploration, and they weren’t very fun. And in the Sonic Advance titles, it happened too.
Now there’s Sonic Rush, and all is right in the world again. This is, in my opinion, one of the best Sonic games, and a DS masterpiece. Both screens are used as one big screen, which allows us to see where were falling and what’s ahead of us. The graphics are 2.5D. Sonic (and Blaze, the new character,) are 3D polygons, and the rest of the level is in 2D. The stages look awesome, and the characters themselves are a wonder to see. The sound effects are great, and the music rocks!
The gameplay runs really smooth. New to the game is a dash attack, when you press Y and you can go fast and knock away enemies. However, there is a gauge at the left of whatever screen you’re on, and it goes down when you use it, so be careful. To refill the gauge, you can get powerups, cross a checkpoint, defeat an enemy, or using the trick system.
To use tricks, you press R, B, or A whenever you go off a spring. Springs are abundant in this game, and the trick system keeps the game from pushing right and making your way to the end of the level.
The boss battles kind of annoy me. The graphics are in full 3D, which is great; the graphics are good. The problem is that the battles are just too hard. The FIRST BOSS is harder than the second! I can barely pass it! Also, you don’t have your dash anymore, which is in the regular stages, your main attack. Not to mention Tails or Cream send annoying encouragement.
Blaze is a new character, and she is just a suckyer Sonic. She’s slower, jumping’s harder, and she all-around sucks.
All in all, the game is pretty good, even with its flaws. I highly recommend to anyone with a DS.
Graphics: 10
Sound: 9.5
Gameplay: 9
Total: 9.7