Sonic Team have quite the reputation in the gaming world and holds a dear place in many gamers’ hearts due to their classic games such as NiGHTS, Burning Rangers, Chu Chu Rocket and, of course, Sonic The Hedgehog. Can they recreate the same magic in their first DS title and avoid going the way of Billy Hatcher?

The player starts the game as a blue-haired man who falls haplessly in love at first sight after spotting a girl while out walking. Strangely, it seems as though his life is being watched in a cinema of some kind and one member of the audience, adorned with a pair of bunny ears, takes it upon himself to make the girl return the guy’s love. With that, the guy joins the mysterious performance group ‘The Rub Rabbits’ to win over the girl of his dreams.

The first thing that is noticeable about the title, before even opening the box, is the unique art style of the game. Characters are human, but they are all depicted as silhouettes. They bear clothes, hair, facial hair and any facial accessories, like sunglasses, even eyelashes, but none of this is in colour, giving them a ‘shadow people’ look. This could be to involve the player more, as they could imagine themselves as the hero and their loved one as the girl; it doesn’t matter either way, as the graphics are superb and recognisable from the get-go, moving along smoothly with only the odd pixel out of place. Great for a launch game.

The game features a strange, classically Sega soundtrack. It can get annoying at times due to the obscenely difficult gameplay in parts, but for the most part it is enjoyable. The sound effects are also up to scratch, but again their repetition can get irritating. The most perfect amalgamation of sound and one of the best parts of the game is the stage ‘Dance’, which seems to have been taken straight out of Space Channel 5 in terms of sound and gameplay – you touch the screen to input dance moves and the ‘victory’ sound effect after each correct combination of inputs is ported straight over from the Dreamcast title.