Sonic and the Secret Rings

Surely it's no worse than last year's Sonic?
Version
 Wii		Developer
Sonic Team		Publisher
Sega		Genre
Action adventure



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The levelling up system is interesting, but adds features that really shouldn't be under the banner of 'powers' - smoother turning shouldn't be an optional extra, at least not with controls as flaky as these. Controls which make the trial and error setup of the game even more trialling and even more prone to errors. Wiimote + wall = uh oh.

The game is home to some utterly infuriating difficulty spikes, thanks in no small part to the overwhelming speed of the game. Complaining about the speed in a Sonic title? Whatever next... But the fact that it is physically impossible to react to certain obstacles on the first play-through, thus forcing a replay, is ridiculous. And unfair.

"Graphically, Secret Rings hits something of a high point - everything looks nice and solid on the Wii."

This may sound like I'm throwing my toys out of the pram - and I am - but a game should not punish a player simply because they haven't memorised a level. There should be some margin for error - especially with controls as flaky as these.

There are some decent multiplayer minigames thrown in for good measure - seemingly as every Wii game ever released simply has to be a party game of some kind. But to be honest, Raving Rabbids and Wario Ware have this area tied up neatly, and the Sonic minigames just serve to add a mild distraction. Oh, and the computer cheats. Ahem.

Graphically, Secret Rings hits something of a high point - everything looks nice and solid, the speed never lets up and level design is pretty damn lovely. Sound-wise things are pretty standard, with Sonic's annoying Americanness shining through at every step, Tails sounding camper than ever and some of the worstbest cheese-o-rock ever heard anywhere. As soon as the title theme starts to grate, it hits home that it's actually inspired, genius and perfect all at once. More of that, thanks.

So there it is - my convoluted, barely-sensical opinion of Sonic and the Secret Rings. It has its moments of goodtitude, but it has far more moments of rubbish - let down by poor controls, a ridiculous trial-and-error system and a shockingly uninspiring opening act. And a very gay Tails.











Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL
7.0 6.5 5.0 6.0 6.0 5.0


THE VERDICT: Half the internet has already spoken their mind, bless them, and a lot have voted in favour of Sonic's latest outing. Fair play to them. Personally, I find Secret Rings to be poor at best - worthy of a rental or borrowing, and certainly not the second coming of the Blue Messiah. Barely-controllable running in a straight line, with unfair difficulty spikes, massive repetition and a pointless pseudo-RPG system? I'll pass.

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Video Coverage
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DescriptionDur.SizeDetails
Sonic and the Secret Rings
E3 gameplay		 03:26 104MB CAM, ED, 16:9
852x480p60
4.2Mbps