I never had a PlayStation Portable to call my own, so the PSP Go coming out was a fine opportunity to get acquainted with SEGA’s old library of PSP games. Among these was Sonic Rivals, a game I never had a chance to play before & actually didn’t know much about.

I was pleasantly surprised: Sonic Rivals is, wouldn’t you know it, a racing game at its core, but with a lot of fun elements of standard Sonic gameplay mixed in. You control one of a handful of playable characters and, as the name suggests, square off against different rivals in a variety of stages. Story Mode for any character guides you through these stages against each other character in turn as their different story threads intersect. There is a plot to the game, mind you–Eggman (or as it turns out–spoiler alert!–Nega Eggman, who is from the future) is turning Sonic’s friends into, of all things, collectible cards. Naturally, Sonic & Co. have to race to get them back.

But that’s not the important part–the important part is this game has some awesomely fast gameplay. While playing, I constantly found myself twisting and writhing with the PSP in my hands like it was a steering wheel. The game has some terrific graphics, a basic 2D track that weaves through 3D-rendered backgrounds. I’ll admit: while Sonic games have always been known for speed, I’m such a stickler for level design that I tend to slow down to try and find every nook, cranny, and secret in a given level. I love that Sonic Rivals forces me to focus on rushing through at top speed, whittling the game down to the purest elements of Sonic-related joy.

The levels in the game are organized in fairly classic Sonic-game style: You square off against a given rival for 2 stages, then a third boss stage to see who can score the most hits. AI for the game is actually pretty great, and since each character has it’s own special powers to use during the race–for example, Shadow slows down time; Silver messes up your control scheme–each race feels unique.

In addition to the “story” mode, there’s a “cup” mode where you race against a chosen rival through a circuit of tracks, or a straight up challenge mode where you can pick from any of the zones you’ve unlocked. Each mode of play unlocks different things, from new zones to collectible cards of classic Sonic items & games to different costumes to a secret playable character.

Lest I forget: There is also the highly recommendable peer-to-peer Wireless Mode, where you can challenge someone else to a Single Race or Cup Circuit — or trade cards you’ve already collected. I’ve had a lot of fun so far bouncing around between all the different game modes. The quick pace of the levels makes the game perfectly adapted for the PSP system, and there’s always something appealing about deciding, ‘oh! I have 3 minutes before my next MUNI stop–just enough time for one more race!’