Sonic and the Secret Rings

"Can motion controls save Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic the Hedgehog has never been known for having a smooth transition from 2D into 3D like fellow gaming mascot Mario. That said, his first two ventures into the 3D world on the Dreamcast weren't all that bad, and eventually received ports onto the Nintendo Gamecube(Sonic Adventure 1 and 2). But after that, Sonic seemed to have trouble in the rest of his 3D ventures, such as Sonic Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, games plagued with terrible controls and cameras. Sonic and the Secret Rings is a Wii exclusive release, but could it bring Sonic back to his former glory?

Story
The story of this game is simple, but effective. Sonic the Hedgehog is thrusted into the worlds of the Arabian Nights stories where he must help the Genie of the Lamp Sharha capture the seven World Rings to defeat Erazor Djinn, who has been tearing the pages from inside the story book world, and has placed a curse upon Sonic where his life will be the forfeit should he not collect all seven rings. Nothing too complicated, no really big twists, just a straightforward plot that lays the groundwork down for the game. It's also worth noting that throughout the game, some of the series' familiar characters, such as Tails and Dr. Eggman appear, but not as themselves, but rather as characters inside the Arabian Nights, such as how Knuckles appears as Sinbad.
7/10

Graphics
There isn't much to complain about when it comes to the graphics of Sonic and the Secret Rings. It's one of the better looking games visually on the Nintendo Wii at this time, and the CGI scenes(even though most of the regular cutscenes come in a storybook form) look great. If you complain about anything in this game, the graphics shouldn't be it, Sega's made the game look nice.
8/10

Gameplay
Secret Rings is alike and unalike at the same time, in regards to previous 3D Sonic titles. This game takes up a more RPG based system, in which completing chapters of a level earn you experience based on your performance inside the mission, which can level Sonic up. When Sonic levels up, he can learn new abilities which can increase his capabilities to do damage, or even his mobility. And when he levels up, he increases the max amount of Rings he can hold, and the amount of SP(needed to equip these new abilities that Sonic learns.) he has. Another change from the previous Sonic games is that, yes, while Rings are your main source of life in the game, when hit, Sonic may not lose all of his rings. Instead, he'll just take a certain amount of damage and keep what he has left, which is useful.

There are eight worlds, but one his a prologue. Each of the other seven holds a World Ring, and is divided up into various different 'chapters' or missions, such as 'Reach the Goal Before the Time Expires', 'Finish the Level Without Rings' or 'Defeat X Amount of Enemies'. Completing these missions usually unlock new missions, either inside the same world or in another, eventually bringing you to a mission against a boss, or a mission that will earn you one of the seven World Rings that you are looking for.

Another thing that should be mentioned is that in this game, Sonic is on-rails. This means that his running path throughout the level is predetermined and he will follow it. The only control, movement wise, that you have is by moving Sonic left or right to avoid obstacles and jumping. The gauge on the left end of the screen is the Soul Gauge which fills by collecting orbs, and is used to preform the two Break skills(see below).
8/10

Controls
This is something that bothered many people about the game, myself included. You see, while Sonic is running you need to tilt the Wii Remote to the left to make him move left, and to the right to make him move right(with the Wii Remote in a horizontal position). Sounds simple, right? Well...like with most all motion sensing controls, it doesn't always register the way you want it to. Same with the Homing Attack. To use it, you need to press the 2 button to jump(hold for a charge jump to do a Homing Attack, tap for a quick jump which doesn't lose as much speed), then shake the Wii Remote forward to make Sonic do the attack. But in some areas, the timing is very crucial, as you can only lock on to enemies with a red target, and the target may disappear depending on your distance away from the target, or how high up or below you are, which means often times you'll miss a cue and fall to your death. Pressing the 1 Button will make Sonic brake, which is useful because Sonic will keep running otherwise, even into dangerous objects which will take away your Rings.

Speaking of breaking, Sonic has two new skills which he can use while traversing the Arabian Nights. With his Soul Gauge in orange, pressing up on the Control Pad will activate Speed Break, in which Sonic will speed quickly ahead until the gauge runs out(similar to the Mach Speed sections of Sonic 06). Pressing down will activate Time Break, in which everything, including Sonic, slows down.

The thing about the controls in this game is that, yes, while they may be inresponsive at times, by leveling Sonic up,you will gain skills that will increase his maximum speed, his ability to move left or right, the range of his homing attack, etc, which makes it a bit more easy to control our blue Hedgehog friend, so really you need to level Sonic up a bit first before you can pass fair judgment on the controls. But it's hit or miss usually on whether you like the motion controls or not.
6/10

Replayability
Each of the eight worlds has around twelve stages, each with a distinct mission, which can all be finished, and you can collect medals based on your performance(similar to emblems), so collecting all the gold may provide some replayability.

You can head through the game pretty much however you want, as there's really no set order to collecting the World Rings, and you don't even need all seven to enter the final palace and fight Erazor Djinn, but you do need all seven to access the Final Chapter, which is an extra boss battle inside Erazor's castle.

You will fill out the Special Book by finishing levels. which fills up with things such as art and whatnot from the game which is kind of cool. And there are Party Games which you can play with your friends as multiplayer.
7/10

Total: 36/50=72 or 7/10

If you're a fan of the Sonic franchise,you won't be disappointed as, despite some flaws, it's definitely one of the better 3D adventures Sonic has out right now. It's worth a rent if you're not a big Sonic fan just because, if you enjoy the controls, the game can be quite fun. But most fans of the blue blur will want to pick this one up.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/26/08

Game Release: Sonic and the Secret Rings (US, 02/20/07)