Sonic Rush Adventure

The game was programmed using an updated version of its predecessor's game engine. The game was designed to make greater use of the DS's touchscreen and was inspired by various adventure-themed works. Although the majority of the game is played in 2D, character models and boss fights are rendered in full 3D. Sega released the game worldwide in September 2007 and in Japan in October 2007. Also the first Sonic game published by Nintendo, which released the game in South Korea in 2009. Adventure received generally positive reviews. Critics highlighted its presentation, particularly the visuals, and music, and some favorably compared the gameplay to that of the original Sega Genesis Sonic titles. Primary criticism was directed at the game's replay value (regarded as weak) and story (regarded as long and boring). Overall, reviewers felt it was a worthy addition to the Sonic franchise and a solid sequel to Sonic Rush, but also believed it innovated too little.

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. The game's setting is an archipelago of an alternate dimension from that of Sonic's. The main island of the archipelago is Southern Island, which houses the village that serves as a headquarters for Sonic and the others, known as Windmill Village. The player begins each adventure from Windmill Village on Southern Island. Players can plot their routes to each level using the DS's stylus and travel to one of the islands using one of the four ships, each of which uses a different touchscreen-controlled minigame. Ships can be built using materials that are earned by completing levels. On different areas of Southern Island, players can talk to members of Marine's Coconut Crew, who will offer Sonic tips and additional missions as the story progresses. The game features 100 of these missions, with objectives such as completing a stage within a time limit or defeating a boss with only one ring. Certain missions must be finished to progress through the story, while others offer bonus rewards upon completion, such as musical tracks the player can listen to or visual upgrades to Southern Island. At Marine's house, players can talk to Marine to initiate missions, have Tails build new ships and equipment using materials gathered from stages to advance the story, or engage in multiplayer battles using DS Download Play or Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. By deviating from the recommended objective on the Sea Chart, players can find hidden islands to explore and earn additional materials, as well as run into a robot pirate named Johnny. Finding Johnny will trigger a race between him and Sonic, with the player receiving one of the seven Chaos Emeralds if they are victorious. Blaze can earn Sol Emeralds by completing a series of special missions. If the player has reached the normal ending and collected all the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, an extended ending, featuring an extra boss, will be unlocked.

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. After searching, the group locates the pirates' hidden fortress and confront Captain Whisker and his first mate, Johnny. As the two are defeated, they attempt to escape to return the scepter to their true leader, while Marine goes after them on her own. However, the pirates overpower her and take her hostage on their ship. Giving chase, Sonic and Blaze attack and defeat Whisker's strongest robot, the Ghost Titan, causing an explosion that sinks the ship. In the aftermath, Marine reveals she took back the Jeweled Scepter in the confusion, and Blaze returns the relic to its proper resting place. In the extended ending, the scepter is stolen again, and the heroes track down the thief, discovering it to be the pirates' creators, Doctor Eggman and his alternate-dimensional counterpart Eggman Nega. The two use the scepter to strengthen their giant mech, planning to turn Blaze's world into Eggmanland. Using the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, Sonic and Blaze transform into Super Sonic and Burning Blaze respectively, and battle the doctors. Over Eggman's protests, Eggman Nega tries to destroy Blaze's planet as a last resort, but he is distracted by Marine, giving Sonic and Blaze an opening to destroy the mech. Tails builds a craft that uses the power of both sets of Emeralds, and Sonic and Blaze promise to one day meet again. As Sonic and Tails set sail, Marine appears on her new boat, thanking Sonic and Tails and promising she will study to become a captain. The three say their final goodbyes as Sonic and Tails fly off for home.

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. In programming the game, the team used the same underlying technology used to create Sonic Rush. However, the developers enhanced the presentation, including a dynamic camera system and 3D elements in gameplay, most notably in boss fights. The game also makes greater use of the DS's touchscreen, featuring sea-travel minigames using the touchscreen, in addition to a new tutorial system. The musical score of Sonic Rush Adventure was composed by Tomoya Ohtani, Seirou Okamoto, and Mariko Nanba. The sound director was Teruhiko Nakagawa, who recruited the voice actors and made all the sound effects. The composers sought to preserve the style of music present in the original Rush while adapting to the game's theme of adventure; it also features elements of tropical and hip hop music. Sega first announced Sonic Rush Adventure on April 16, 2007, and revealed more information about it the following month. A demo version was playable at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in July 2007. Sonic Rush Adventure was first released in Europe on September 13, 2007, followed by North America on September 18, Australia on September 27, and Japan on October 18. It was released in South Korea on September 17, 2009. Sega published the game in all regions except South Korea, where Nintendo handled publishing. This makes Sonic Rush Adventure the first Sonic game published by Nintendo. To promote the title, Sega created an Adobe Flash browser game that allowed users to demo the boating minigames. The game originally received a 12+ rating from PEGI. This was due to the occasional use of "bugger" in the dialogue, which is a curse word in the United Kingdom. The game was given a new 3+ rating after this word was removed from the UK release.