Sonic Rush - Strategy Guide (Page 01)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Sonic Rush - Strategy Guide (Page 01).

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonic Rush FAQS/Guide
Version 1.53: 1/29/06
By Angnix (Angela Petersen)
angnix@gmail.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I'm putting this right in the front of the guide because there are just
certain questions that keep coming up again and again and again about this
game I want to make clear at the beginning.

Q. How do you get the Chaos Emeralds?
A. This question is asked a lot because you have to read the booklet or later
parts of this guide to get the answer and it's not very obvious in game. See
the things in Sonic's Acts with a star in the middle and two handles? They are
called Special Gimmicks or Special Generators and if you have enough Tension (at
least 105% or at least all blue with one orange bar)
and you grab one of the handles then press X or Y and keep X or Y pressed, you
will eventually be warped into the Special Stage where you will have the
chance to grab a Chaos Emerald, you need to do this once in each of the 7 Zones.
This is described in much more detail in the Special Stage Section of this
guide.

Q. I'm stuck in Night Carnival! The spring things won't bounce me high enough
or I can't reach that button!
A. First you work this spring thing by standing on it then pushing down, the
longer you push down the longer it charges up and the higher you bounce up.
Second, after springing off many things, you can push the R button and up at
the same time to do a Mid-Air Trick... in this game and in Sonic Advance 2 and 3
it's nifty for getting up higher, but in Sonic Rush it can mess you up and
slow you down a lot too... so be careful... Blaze goes much higher with this
trick than Sonic.

Q. I can't get past the first rocket part of Dead Line Act 2!
A. Grab the rocket and don't press any buttons at all. Later on, you will have
to steer the rockets sometimes, in the Brief Zone Description/Gameplay Tips
section under Dead Line Zone is more detailed instructions on how to steer the
rockets.

Q. I got past the first rocket part of Dead Line Act 2, but now there is a wall
of some sort I can't get past!
A. When you bounce up on the spring, press the R button and Right at the same
time and when you are propelled to the right head for the little wall and you
can break it. This act has a lot of these little walls in it, they are all
broken like this, or by using Super/Fire Boost.

Q. What do you get for getting all S-ranks?
A. Nothing, unless you count bragging rights as something.

Q. How do I get to places that are too high to jump up to?
A. At the highest point after launched off a spring or many other level
objects/gimmicks, press the R button and up button at the same time to do a Mid-
air Trick to increase the height of your jump.

Q. Can you play as other characters besides Sonic and Blaze?
A. Nope. All of the other characters in this game are there for story
purposes... or sometimes as a distraction during boss battles...

Q. What does the percentage on the Map Screen actually mean?
A. It is the percentage of Blaze's world that has entered Sonic's world, not how
much of the game you have completed.

Q. Can you play through Story Mode and see the cutscenes again without
deleting the game data?
A. Sorry, nope.

Q. What's the difference between Normal and Easy Mode?
A. Bosses need two less hits to defeat, Final Boss has a few more differences
described in that section.

Q. In general, what are the differences between Sonic and Blaze?
A. Gameplay with both characters is pretty similar, but in general Sonic is
faster than Blaze during moves and running, but Blaze's jumping/R trick skills
are a lot better and even can glide a little. Sonic rolls into a classic ball,
while Blaze becomes a fiery top when they spin. Also Blaze can last 45 seconds
underwater without having a breath, but Sonic can only last 30 seconds. And of
course the obvious color, gender, clothing and personality differences.

Q. Why are my lives stuck on 9?
A. You actually have more than 9 lives, look on the World Map and you will see
the number you actually have, it just displays as 9 in level. You can have up to
99 Lives, and the number you have is saved when the game is saved, so you can
easily save up lives in earlier Acts for use in later Acts.

Q. Do I need to finish an Act to keep a Chaos Emerald?
A. If you have completed the Act before, you can just simply pause the
game and choose exit and you will have your Emerald.

Q. ARRGGGHHH! Special Stage 7 is impossible!
A. I added a special small section about this in the Special Stage Section
guide, hard but not impossible.

Q. I have all 7 Chaos Emeralds... where is the Extra Zone?
A. It appears in the Character Select Menu but only if you have beaten the
game with Sonic and Blaze also, it doesn't matter what order you complete
Sonic and Blaze's stories and when you get the Chaos Emeralds but as soon as
you do all three of these things go back to the Character Select Screen and
you will find the option to go to the Extra Zone there. Also you can't turn
Super in regular Zones like in the Genesis games... Sonic Team still hasn't
brought that back.

Q. Does putting a GBA Sonic game in the GBA slot unlock anything?
A. Nope, sorry.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thanks Too:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A special section honoring those who have helped me with this guide:
Messageboard Members:

Various things posted on the messageboard have help quite a bit, for example
how to do a Double Advanced Trick and the presence of Homing Attack in this
game and other various things... thanks a lot guys!

Michael: Told me via e-mail about different jump mechanics(okay so I really
didn't mention this anywhere but here) and the little Easter Egg where you can
poke the characters with the stylus.

Matthew: Told me via e-mail you can repeat a Rail Trick on the same Rail after
a certain period of time, but not really worth doing it...

shadow2k: Explained to me what the PSG soundtracks were... and now I know more
than I wanted to ever know about PSG and even the history of PSG chips, wow...

tjoeb123: Told me about a glitch that can freeze the game, this is not really a
glitch guide and it's a glitch that would rarely come up so it's not include
but thanks, and also a couple things that were already told to me by a couple
other people and I discovered myself.

SonicLover: For in general being too picky about the Sound Test :P I changed
it slightly anyway...

Jagus: For posting about Extra Zone I won't mention here on the 
messageboard... and a pointage error... just in time to update this guide... in
fact
I already submitted this version and I put in what he said last minute...

nonexistinghero: Set me straight about giving a demo to other people.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Legal Notes:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This guide cannot be placed on any site without my permission. Sonic
and all related characters copyright Sonic Team/Sega.

Sites with permission to post any of my FAQS:
www.cheats.de
1up.com
GamerHelp.com
GameSlander.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Version History:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Version 0.7: 11/21/05


Version 0.8: 11/24/05

Fixed errors in the character moves and act description sections

Added Item Box Section

Added Sound Test Section

Added Two Player Mode Section


Version 1.0: 11/26/05

Added Boss Descriptions


Version 1.01: 11/26/05

Fixed errors

Added Extra Boss Attack I accidentally left out

Reordered and rewrote Boost Mode description


Version 1.02: 11/27/05

Fixed errors

Various changes/better descriptions in Boss section

Redid Rankings section, added typical ranges

Redid Character Moves section, including reordering, adding more specific
details in the Tricks section and including more differences between Sonic and
Blaze's R button tricks and other useful hints.


Version 1.09: 11/28/05

Added extra info to R button Rail Trick

Added nice Special Stage Tip

Added Maximum number of points you can get from Tricking in an Act

Added Special Gimmick Locations and Ratings for Dead Line Act 1 and Leaf Rush
Act 1

Fixed the Ranking Ranges

Other things probably I can't remember right now...


Version 1.099: 12/2/05

Added Leaf Storm, Water Palace, Mirage Road and Night Carnival Special Gimmick
Locations and Rankings

Fixed a couple small details in Final and Extra boss descriptions

Added more detail to Dead Line Zone Description

Fixed Rail Trick description

Changed Ranking Ranges again.


Version 1.1: 12/3/05

Finished Special Gimmick Locations


Version 1.11: 12/12/05

Fixed errors in Trick and Final Boss Section and other minor errors

Finished up Sound Track Descriptions

Slightly rewrote Spoilers Section


Version 1.2: 12/17/05
Added Tension and Points List Section

Fixed errors/more detail in Zone Descriptions, Boss Section and Ranking
Section and other sections


Version 1.3: 12/22/05

Added Ring Bonuses for Special Stage Minigame

Added S-rank Miniguide/Times etc... Info


Version 1.31: 12/23/05

Finally... finished Time Attack Section...

Added Tips/Walkthrough for Special Stage #7

Added Nostalgia Again! Section

Fixed errors in new Act/Boss S-rank Section


Version 1.4: 12/30/05
Added FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Added much more detailed info in the Boss S-Rank Section and now includes Time
Bonus Info.

Fixed small things and added small things in other sections.

Fixed Extra Zone Description


Version 1.41
Fixed yet another Final Boss Error

Added more FAQs

Added Speed Bonus info

Added rest of Boss Time Bonus info in S-rank Section

Fixed minor errors (B button Tricks)


Version 1.42

Added Final Boss difference when Game is set on Easy

Added and fixed S-rank Guide Info and Added Perfect Game in One Go as a
subsection in the Ranking Section

Added a little more info to Sound Test

Added more info in general to several sections


Version 1.43

More S-ranking stuff


Version 1.5 1/12/06
Errors I still looked over (The error in B button Mid-air Tricks most important)

More S-ranking stuff and major revision of S-ranking Bosses

Reformatting, one Section Order and Table of Contents changes


Version 1.51 1/14/06
I carefully reread the entire guide, eliminating errors, adding more info to
certain areas, etc...

A couple more common questions added to the front of this guide.


Version 1.52: 1/27/06

Added questions at the beginning of the guide.

Added more info and corrected information about giving about sending a Demo to
another person in the Two Player Mode Section.

Reread the guide again and fixed more little things and added more details where
I thought they would do good.


Version 1.53: 1/29/05

Couple more small fixes

Fixed one question, added another to front of guide.

Tiny bit of info added to Two Player Mode about use of R button off other
character.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
VERSION 1.53 IS HERE!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Wow... just wow. Back at E3 2004 when the Nintendo DS was announced, it was also
announced that a Sonic game would be created for this new system. For about a
year, all we had to go on was a demo with Sonic running through a Green Hill-
like Zone and very sketchy details that the new game would be Advance-series
like. I knew I would like the game back them... About a year ago when the DS
came out, I couldn't wait to get one, I did get one for Christmas, I had to
make sure I had one, the Sonic game could come out anytime! Well... okay, so
yeah, this game came out another year after that. But am I disappointed? Did I
wait all this time for nothing and now I am sad I spent like one and a half
years waiting? No way hosay... I swear, it is like someone was reading my mind a
created a Sonic game in just my style. The hype right now maybe about Shadow
the Hedgehog, but he can wait till a little later. I literally just feel so
privileged to write a FAQS about this game.

I will also warn you that certain parts of this guide do contain spoilers for
this game, but I tried to confine most of them to the Spoilers Section at the
end of this guide or when it is necessary to talk about the Spoilers.

Overall, this game is like the Advance series, but made better and a little
more Genesis-like. The amount of moves characters can do has been lessened,
and now there are only two playable characters, Sonic and Blaze.
Each zone has a different feel, even the styles of Badniks differ by zone, I
will talk a little more about that later in the Zone Description Section. Also
the Zone order differs for Sonic and Blaze, the zones will be in Sonic's order
but with a note as to which Zone it is for Blaze.
And the Extra Zone... I'll talk more about that later, but all I am going to say
is someone definitely has a thing for the classics...


Version 1.5:

This will hopefully be the Final Version, I swear!

I couple more errors I found... trying to get rid of those as much as possible,
and more fixes/changes under the S-ranking section plus the addition of 85,000
time bonus times to the S-rank section and a very major revision of the S-rank
Bosses section including how to tell if you are not going to S-rank most bosses
on Normal Mode... okay, I will tell you here also, count how many times the boss
dishes out it's longest attack where you can't hit the boss... if it's more than
three times... forget about it... this rule doesn't apply to the Altitude Limit,
Final and Extra Boss. There you go...

Also took the subsections out of Zone Descriptions, those sections are small and
don't deserve it. S-ranking Miniguide gets it's own section number, Tension and
Points Bonus moved and the specific sections under them get their own sectioning
in the Table of Contents so people can more easily see that the exist.


Version 1.51: 1/14/06

Those little errors... this time I very carefully reread the entire guide and
corrected info and added a little more where necessary, nothing really that
extremely major, but had to be done.

Also a couple more common questions at the beginning of the guide.


Version 1.52: 1/27/06

I added more common questions to the beginning of this guide, a lot of people
can't figure out how the break the little walls in Dead Line Act 2 and some
people do ask about why they seem to be stuck on 9 lives when playing through
Acts. I also decided even though people don't really ask this just to add a
little thing about the differences between Sonic and Blaze.

I also included a little more info in the Two Player Section about transferring
a Demo to another person.

I also reread this thing and corrected and tweaked a little more, but truthfully
very little is different than in 1.51 and since I am getting almost no e-mails
now and stuff, this will probably be it for a long time.

Version 1.53: 1/29/06

Fixed small errors, again... I also added one question to the front of the
guide I
just keep forgetting to add, and fixed another one. I also added a tiny bit of
info about two player mode, but I am still hazy about two player mode in
general... so yeah...

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Table of Contents:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1. Story

2. Characters

3. Character Moves, Gimmicks, Tricks, Tension Gauge and Boosting
3.a. Moves and Gimmicks
3.b. Tricks
3.c. Tension Gauge and Boosting

4. Tension and Points List

5. Item Boxes

6. Map Area

7. Gameplay Tips

8. Brief Zone Descriptions/Gameplay Tips
8.a. Zone Order Summary

9. Bosses
9.a. Leaf Storm
9.b. Water Palace
9.c. Mirage Road
9.d. Night Carnival
9.e. Huge Crisis
9.f. Altitude Limit
9.g. Dead Line
9.h. Final Zone (F-Zone): Unknown
8.i. Extra Zone: Exception

10. Special Stages
10.a. Special Stage 7 Tips/Walkthrough
10.b. Special Gimmick Locations
10.b.1. Leaf Storm Act 1 SGs
10.b.2. Leaf Storm Act 2 SGs
10.b.3. Water Palace Act 1 SGs
10.b.4. Water Palace Act 2 SGs
10.b.5. Mirage Road Act 1 SGs
10.b.6. Mirage Road Act 2 SGs
10.b.7. Night Carnival Act 1 SGs
10.b.8. Night Carnival Act 2 SGs
10.b.9. Huge Crisis Act 1 SGs
10.b.10. Huge Crisis Act 2 SGs
10.b.11. Altitude Limit Act 1 SGs
10.b.12. Altitude Limit Act 2 SGs
10.b.13. Dead Line Act 1 SGs
10.b.14. Dead Line Act 2 SGs

11. Ranking

12. S-ranking Miniguide
12.a. S-Ranking Acts
12.b. S-Ranking Bosses
12.c. A Perfect Game in One Go

13. Time Attack

14. Two Player Mode

15. Sound Test

16. Unlock Features

17. Spoilers

18. Nostalgia, again!

19. Questions?


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
1. Story:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sonic's Story:
Like usual, Sonic is chasing after Eggman again wondering what
he is up to. After battling him, Eggman drops a mysterious emerald that Sonic
doesn't recognize, but when he is just about to pick it up, a mysterious girl
surrounded by flames appears and retrieves it, muttering something about
second one retrieved. The mystery continues when Sonic and Tails encounter
Eggman again, but looking kind of different this time. Why is he now insisting
on being called Eggman-Nega? Also, Tails detects there is something funny
going on with the space-time continuum... As Sonic, it is your mission to follow
Eggman-Nega to figure out who he is while retrieving Chaos Emeralds in the
Special Stages.

Blaze's Story:
Blaze, the Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, was shocked when the Sol Emeralds
were stolen from her and taken away from her world by Eggman. A confused Blaze
doesn't know quite what to do, where is she? This is not my world! Suddenly a
rustle in the bushes... who could that be? Blaze is surprised by a very friendly
rabbit named Cream and her little Chao Cheese. What was even more surprising
was the fact that she invited her to her house to drink tea with her mother.
Blaze has always been alone and is confused by all this niceness, but accepts
Cream's offer to be her guide since Blaze doesn't know where she is. Your
mission as Blaze is to recover the Sol Emeralds from Eggman, while trying to
figure out why this bunny is being so nice to you and why everyone keeps
talking about this Sonic guy.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
2. Characters:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Just to ease the minds of the curious, most character ages are from the English
Sonic Heroes Manuel and Blaze's age was stated on a Japanese Sonic Team profile
of her. Sonic Team has changed the ages of characters sometimes, which is why I
use the latest age info.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Age 15. Sonic is like the wind and goes where he wants to,
but always shows up when Dr. Eggman threatens the world or nowadays more like
challenging Sonic. He seems to have a special connection with the Chaos
Emeralds and is known for his great speed and spinning attacks.

Blaze the Cat: Age 14. A mysterious purple cat from the alternate dimension.
She is the Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, which are just as mysterious as the
Chaos Emeralds. She can control flames and manipulates them to pull off a
variety of powerful moves. She is a loner that really doesn't know what
friendship is all about, plus being shy doesn't help either, but with Cream
being so nice to her and wanting to be her friend, will that change?

Miles "Tails" Prower: Age 8. A young fox that is like Sonic's kid brother. He
has a very high IQ and loves to tinker with mechs and technology in general.
He can fly by spinning his tails like a helicopter. He looks up to Sonic and
wishes to be like him, but sometimes gets a little too dependent on Sonic to
help him. In this game he is Sonic's guide and support.

Cream the Rabbit: Age 6. She is kind to a fault and doesn't like to fight. Her
pet Chao Cheese goes wherever she does. She likes to eat sweet things,
especially ice cream. She can fly by flapping her ears like wings. In this game
she is Blaze's guide and support.

Vanilla the Rabbit: Age ?. Cream's mother, she is also very kind and is the
typical kindly mother figure. Not much is really known about her, does she
have any special powers at all? Briefly appears in this game.

Knuckles the Echidna: Age 16. He is the powerful Guardian of the Master
Emerald which controls the Chaos Emeralds. He tends to be gullible and easily
tricked by Eggman. Like Blaze, he is also a loner and Sonic's friend and rival.
He is briefly seen in this game.

Amy Rose: Age 12. She is psychotically in love with Sonic, but the feelings
are not mutual. She is insistent on marrying Sonic someday and does not like
the idea of another female about Sonic's age getting anywhere near him... Her
signature weapon is the Piko Piko Hammer and she also makes a few guest
appearances in this game.

Dr. Eggman (Dr. Ivo Robotnik): Age ?. The mad scientist with a 300 IQ that
likes to use helpless animals to power his robots in an attempt to defeat
Sonic. Eggman really does want to take over the world, but he also has a lot
of fun just trying to beat Sonic, and if the world really is in grave danger
he is known to even help Sonic.

Eggman Nega: Age ?. This mysterious man is very similar to Eggman and even has
the same voice and uses similar robots, but in speech he sounds a little more
proper. Blaze seems to know a little more about him than other characters do...


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
3. Character Moves, Gimmicks, Tricks, Tension Gauge and Boosting:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thankfully this section will be a lot shorter than in
the Sonic Advance 3 guide. The two playable characters are Sonic and Blaze of
course, Blaze unlocked by beating the first boss with Sonic. Compared to the
Advance series, Boost Mode and R-button tricks are the same, basic moves have
been reduced, and now there are new tricks, the Tension Gauge, and Super/Fire
Boost. Sonic and Blaze only have a few minor differences in moves and the same
button combinations, so I'm doing Moves in one section with Sonic and Blaze
specific stuff clearly labeled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
3.a. Moves and Gimmicks:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Press and hold right or left: Run right or left, keep pressed and you will
gain speed. After a while you will go into Boost Mode, when you go into Boost
Mode, you will have a burst of wind with Sonic or fire with Blaze and after
images appear, Boost Mode is discussed later in the Tension and Boosting
Section.

Press down: Pressing down while standing still will cause you to crouch
down, useful in dodging some attacks. If you crouch down long enough and you
are on the bottom screen, the view will eventually change and you can see what
is below you.
Pressing down while moving will start you spinning, useful for attacking
enemies. Blaze's top-like spin is much slow and lasts a much shorter period of
time than Sonic's spin.

Press up: Pressing up while standing still will cause the character to
look up, eventually the screen view will change so you can see what's
above you if you happen to be on the top screen.

A or B button: Spin(Sonic)/Axel(Blaze) Jump, use to jump or to attack an enemy.
Sonic spins into a ball while Blaze turns into a fiery top. Blaze can jump
higher and further than Sonic.

Press and hold down + A or B button then release: Spin (Sonic)/Burst (Blaze)
Dash, used for attacking enemies or to instantly increase speed for getting up
slopes, if you press the A button once and then release both buttons, you will
get the most powerful Spin, if you keep holding down then release the A button,
the character will eventually rev down a little and then releasing down will
result in a less powerful Spin. Sonic's Spin Dash is faster and lasts longer
than Blaze's Burst Dash.

A button, then R button: Jump Dash and Homing Attack (Sonic)/Burst Hover
(Blaze), both moves are good for moving to the right or left in a sudden burst.
Sonic's Jump Dash is fast and short, Blaze's Burst Hover is slower, lasts
longer and she can glide for 3 seconds and even change direction from right to
left in the air. If you are close enough to an enemy with Sonic and press R even
in mid-air Sonic will use Homing Attack and head right toward the enemy and
attack it, but Blaze can't with Burst Hover.

Extra Zone Specific Moves: I'll discuss this in the Extra Zone section to help
prevent spoilers.


Gimmicks: Devices throughout the acts that propel you forward someway, these
were sort of in Sonic Advance series also but not named. Some gimmicks have to
be operated a certain way and sometimes hints in the form of a little symbol
telling you what button to push pop up, these little hints sometimes pop up in
the Boss Battles also. In Sonic's acts you can also find Special Gimmicks (also
called Special Generators), a round device with a star on it and two handles
which you can use to get into the Special Stages, but I will discuss that more
later.


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3.b. Tricks:
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These are special mid-air maneuvers using the A, B and R button,
pretty much an extension of the tricks from the Sonic Advance series but more
useful and there are a lot more of them. There are several kinds of tricks
that can be preformed in certain situations, usually after jumping off a
spring or on a rail, etc... Tricks generally give you extra points (maximum of
20,000 per Act) and help fill your Tension Gauge which I will discuss in the
next small section, but tricks differ in points/tension and sometimes won't
give one or the other. If you use the same spring or other trick object more
than once, the amount of points/tension you get will normally go down until
eventually you will get none, but there are a few exceptions to this rule... so
keep moving through the act! If you do a very nice combination of tricks,
various things such as confetti, Small Animals, and applause appear.
The Tension section coming up next explains what Tension is, the Points and
Tension List Section of this guide goes into detail as to how much Tension
different things give you.

R button + Up Mid-air Trick: Hop Jump(Sonic)/Axel Tornado(Blaze), this trick
gives you about 200 points but no gauge boost. Similar to the same trick from
Sonic Advance 2 and 3, it can be used after jumping off a spring, being
launched off a ramp or out of a cannon, or after being propelled through a
boost hoop, after certain Gimmicks (discussed below) or in general situations
where you are in the air after bouncing off some sort of Gimmick or other
level object.  Used to jump higher up, most effective if used during the
highest point in your jump, useful in reaching areas you cannot normally get
to. R button tricks are also used during Advanced Tricks described later. The
differences between Sonic's Hop Jump and Blaze's Axel Tornado are:
Sonic: Doesn't go very high and can't attack enemies.
Blaze: Much higher and faster than Sonic's and can attack enemies.