Sonic and the Secret Rings

"Back in action!"

Sonic and the Secret Rings is a 3-D Sonic game and a Nintendo Wii exclusive. The game is a spin-off, which means it is not part of the main canon. For convenience, I will be referring to this game as Sonic Wii for short.

The game takes place inside the book of the Arabian Nights where Sonic and Shahra (Genie of the Ring) embark on a journey to stop the evil acts of 'Erazor Djinn'. The story is an interesting and creative take on the Arabian Nights, and there are several well-known characters borrowed from it, but their appearance is just like Sonic universe's characters - for example, Sinbad looks just like Knuckles the Echidna - which can create monotony for the gamers.

The art direction is interesting, courtesy the Arabian Nights setting and everything seems to be inspired by Middle-Eastern architecture design and art. The game does not just stick to deserts and temples, but gives a variety of locations to explore. One of which is an unlikely location: a world featuring a jungle inhabited by dinosaurs.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good although not as vibrant, beautiful or stunning as Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox 360/ PS3). Graphics are actually quite weak when compared to most games today but then again this seems to be a common flaw in the Nintendo Wii games. Other than that, the game is pretty colourful and features some nice details, effects and animations. It runs smoothly since there are no frame rate issues and large amount of on-screen activities are also impressive.

Sonic Wii is broken up into several worlds and each world requires gamers to complete a set of missions. These missions include a quick dash to the goal, collecting a certain number of rings, completing a stage without suffering a defeat and fighting a boss.

When I first heard of this game, I had doubts since I felt it would be impossible to successfully implement Nintendo Wii's unique motion sensing control scheme into the high speed gameplay of Sonic games. Luckily, I was proved wrong by the developers who have successfully made a great and effective use of the Wii remote turning Sonic Wii into a very playable game indeed.

You hold the Wiimote horizontally, steer Sonic left and right by tilting the Wiimote, jerk the Wiimote forward in order to perform Sonic's homing attack and point it towards yourself to move him backwards. There are separate jump and brake buttons as well. The controls take a while to get used to but once you get past the initial stages you will realise that they work quite well.

However, you may get a feeling that because of this control scheme, the game just does not play like a true 3-D Sonic game. Instead it is almost like you are playing a car racing game since such games on the Nintendo Wii employ a similar control scheme where you have to hold the Wiimote horizontally to steer the car. The fact that there is a separate brake button and that you actually have to reverse Sonic in order to move him backwards, brings me to a sad conclusion that Sonic indeed handles like a car in this game.

In other words, Sonic Wii retains the trademark speed of Sonic games. you will speed through cleverly designed and challenging levels while doing all sorts of acrobatics that make interesting use of the Wiimote such as rail grinding, rope swinging, log surfing, platforming etc. and the levels are loaded with traps, obstacles, enemies, pits and spring boards. The bosses you fight in this game are quite creative and challenging.

While the game is fun, it lacks the same level of freedom and control that was featured in older 3-D Sonic games which made use of the traditional game pad. Sonic games are linear, but older 3-D Sonic games did offer full 360 degree movement and greater control. Sadly, Sonic Wii runs on full auto-pilot as Sonic is constantly moving forward on his own and this gives the game the same linear feel like 'on-rails' video games such as Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox and Omega Boost.

As you clear missions, you gain experience points and Sonic will level up and learn new skills that are equipped using Skill Rings. These skills grant Sonic new abilities and improve existing abilities. Apart from these skills/ abilities, Sonic later on gains a 'Soul Gauge' with which he is able to have useful abilities like slowing down time and speeding up in an instant. These skills and abilities give the game a lot of variety and replay value.

The soundtrack is modern rock mixed with Middle Eastern music, it features many vocal tracks but sadly the soundtrack is pretty average even if it does feature a few good songs. Sonic games have always featured some great music but this time gamers will experience a but of a disappointment in the soundtrack of Sonic Wii that is, as most of the song are cheesy and annoying.

Thus, Sonic Wii is a fun game but it lacks the heart and soul of a traditional 3-D Sonic game. If you want to experience a true next-gen Sonic game, then I suggest you to play Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox 360/ PS3) but if Wii is the only console you own then Sonic and the Secret Rings is still great for some high-speed platforming action.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/08

Game Release: Sonic and the Secret Rings (AU, 03/08/07)