It's quite satisfying to hit an open stretch of track and just run really fast, which makes it all the more frustrating when obstacles are thrown in your way to trip you up. You can get power-ups as well, which can be helpful, but there are only a few in the game, so there's very little variety to the power-ups. You also have to contend with your rival, who will jump on you and assault you with power-ups such as fireballs and ice blasts. There are pits to fall into, enemies to hit, and spikes to poke you. The game isn't quite as simple as that, because there are a lot of hazards in each stage as well. The levels all look good and feature some classic Sonic design elements such as huge loops, corkscrews, speed boosters, and spring-loaded platforms.

Your goal is to run from left to right and be the first across the finish line. There's a green hill area, a theme park area, a high-tech laboratory, and more.

There are six worlds in the game, most of which have two acts and a boss battle. The game consists of a series of one-on-one foot races through typically fast and twisted stages. Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver all want a piece of the mad scientist as well, so it becomes a race to see who can get to Eggman first.

Sonic isn't the only one after Eggman, though. But before you can defeat Eggman, you have to catch him by running through six different worlds and defeating the handful of bosses that he throws your way. After Eggman turns both Tails and Amy into cards, it's up to Sonic to rescue his friends. Eggman, has developed a special camera that he can use to take pictures of people and turn them into trading cards. The story in Sonic Rivals is pretty nonsensical. Sonic is back, and thankfully he brought his running legs. But despite its flaws, Sonic Rivals is a fun game that puts an interesting twist on the classic Sonic gameplay. That's exactly what Sonic Rivals is, and while it certainly has plenty of fast, exciting moments, it also has a lot of frustrating moments. It makes sense then that Sega would put the feisty hedgehog in a racing game that lets him do what he does best. If there's one thing that Sonic does well, it's running really, really fast.

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