6.7.2015

This game is the first storybook game of Sonic but unlike previous sonic games, this one leaves you lost on where to go and how to play. I was ready for a new gameplay when I first tried secret rings but what you have to know straight away is that everything is different...Forget anything about the controls of Sonic the hedgehog or his trademark moves, it's all different in this game.Although the general plot is good and I can't fault the excellent music and feel of the game I have to warn you that if you don't pay attention you will wind up lost. Reading the manual usually isn't necessary but I'd advise reading anything that helps you remember what to do.When you first start up the game itlooks good and you have a great intro movie that sets the mood but as soon as you start to play you'll find that the movies warp into looking like pages of a book. This might not sound so bad and Sonic and the Black Knight did good cut scenes that looked 'papery' but with this game you feel a bit cheated. Characters are drawn statically on the page and most of the plot is explained by their words with just a few still pictures to help you understand. This straight away raised big disappointment for me and smacked of sega being lazy.Once gameplay begins it is very hard to get used to the controls. Sonic is always set to running. You can slow him down using the 1 button but doing this at the right time takes skill and if you tip the wii remote either left or right even a little bit he keeps trying to walk there and if you let go for a second he'll start running again.You are given a turorial mode, a place to learn different skills. Basically there are different skills that sonic can master. Every time enough points are gained through general playing of the levels Sonic's skill level up and he's granted a new skill he can add to the ring he wears. Skills can be anything from the ability to charge forwards at extra speed at the start of a level to an increased ability to stop quickly. A set amount of skills can be placed on a ring, and depending on what style of gamplay you want you can choose which skills to put on the ring.Unfortunately this whole skills thing was lost on me for the first couple of weeks I played and I kept playing the game with no skills on Sonic's rings.While there is a tutorial chapter, each skill is learnt in a different level/mission. Each chapter of the storybook has several levels/missions within it and unfortunately it's not ever clear where you should go next. I could jump into the main story before completing all the available tutorial(prologue) levels.This gets more confusing after completing a story level. Instead of being presented a new level and moving the story forward like you are in normal sonic games you are instead given several side missions within that chapter. For example a chapter is called 'Evil Foundry' and before moving onto the next level I have to complete some side missions within evil foundry. What was more confusing to me while playing is that the game leaves no indication that I can actually move the story along -that the new chapter was available to play but instead just sais new levels/missions are available. You have to exit the chapter and look for the new one in a sort of menu.If you can get past this confusion and lack of decent cutscene movies then you do have a good story though. When I manage to get into the game I actually really enjoy playing but there is still such a frustration at not knowing when I can move on or how many missions I have to complete first.Party mode:Party mode is another area that this game has and unlike Sonic and the Black Knight, you CAN play party mode as a single player...I often do!The games in party mode are not hard to do but are fun to have a go at and even more fun with friends. There are different games to choose from, the treasure hunting game is my favourite. You have to find three pieces of treasure within a board game style area, but how many moves you have around this 'board' depends on where you came in the little party games you play. There's a good selection of fun party games to play and you can unlock others as you complete missions in the main game mode. New characters to play with in party mode are also unlocked in this way.I think I've played party mode more often than I have the main game, the controls are easier, and although some games are very silly and easy to play, if you are a single player you can set the cpu opponents difficulty level to hard.There is one other feature that I find annoying with both storybook games, this one and Black knight. That is the fact that music isn't freely available. There are a lot of things you can unlock along the way, there is a whole library of trophies, pictures and music but they are slowly unlocked through gameplay. I know this probably doesn't bother most people, but I've always enjoyed having access to level music without having to complete missions over and over until I reach a certain rank. Especially as doing this in this game is so much harder.Id recommend this game anyone of any age but beware that knowing where to go can be tricky. Sonic fans might dislike this game more than some for its difficulty in playing, new controls and the fact you can't connect a gamepad of any kind like you can with sonic colours. However the party mode is well worth it and the amount of unlockable content will keep you replaying...unless you give up first. Overall I give this game a 3 for fun in the main game, a 5 for fun in party mode so an overall 4...just!

27.12.2011

the story is about sonic sleeping and was woken up by a genie named sharha who pops out of a giant ring. she tells sonic that the world of the Arabian nights was disappearing by an evil genie named erazor jinn,so sonic decides to help and he enters the world of the Arabian nights(which is inside a book).after doing some training levels, sonic meets the erazor jinn and gets struck in the chest with a arrow and has to get the 7 world rings or his life will end. can sonic get the world rings in time?,well play the game to find out.the gameplay for this game is pretty good. there are a total of 8 worlds in the game and each has a lot of missions to complete,like getting to the goal(which are tooeasy)to killing a number of enemies and clearing all the missions is a big challenge,because some missions are so hard.after clearing a mission,your score adds up and you are ranked with a medal,like gold,sliver,bronze to nothing at all.what's weird is that you can unlock the next world before getting the world ring,so when you complete the game, you have to playback to get the rest of the rings to fully complete the game.the training levels are so boring,but I'm glad I did them because the controls can be hard in some area's.the boss fights are fun,but too easy when you know what to do and I swear, that's not hard. there's also a party mode but its terrible because it just gets boring and the controls are terrible.the graphics are gorgeous,every world has fantastic designs and the character models are beautiful,but you cant explore the levels since this game plays on rails,so your stuck going forwards,so you cant explore and that's the good thing about games.the cutscenes are terrible,I know its supposed to look like a book,but a book that looks 1000 years old,no.however the CGI cutscenes are gorgeous and is teaming with life and colour.overall,the graphics are good,but the cutscenes are bad(apart from CGI cutscenes of course).the sound in this game is OK.the music is good in a few worlds, but the rest is so irritating and annoying!the voice for sonic,tails and knuckles are so good,but sharha's voice is a nightmare!what's annoying is when you play a level,sonic and sharha spit out all sorts of crap!sonic's OK,but sharha gives you useless advice which is so annoying!then sharha gets so annoying,you just wish for sonic to say"will you just shut up"!why did sega have to put sharha in,why couldn't they put in a genie who actually gives you good advice when you need it and knows how to shut up! overall,the music is fine,the voices are OK and sharha is so annoying!the controls for the game could only be described as.... interesting.you hold the wii remote on its side and keep it like that to run.the 2 button is to jump and the 1 button's to brake.you attack by shaking the remote.press the up arrow on the d pad to perform a speed break and the down arrow is to do a time break(you have to unlock both of them)and that's all I can say about the controls.overall sonic and the secret rings is a fantastic game with great graphics,fun game play and great controls.its a game thats fun for all, but the only downside is sharha and the party mode.

4.6.2006

so after four disasterious attempts at using the sonic adventure formula and almost reducing one time popluar hedgehog in to a franchise that gamers would wish would go away Sega have decided to push sonic in a different direction for his exclusive Wii release and thank god because the ps3/360 version is quite possible the worst yet.Sonic Wii plays much different to all reacent sonic games think of it as a racing game with platforming much like what sonic originaly was back on the megadrive you will be racing through levels weaving swerving and jumping out of the way of hazzards. firstly The camera is automatic so it is not nearly as retarded as other 3d sonics as it just follows behind you,sonic altomaticly runs and to steer him you need to tilt the Wiimote left or right, this may seem a little difficult at first but it soon feels natural and easy to controll. If you hold down the jump button sonic will come to a stop and perform a high jump enableing him to reach out of reach areas or by simply tapping the jump button sonic will perform a running jump.When you start off sonic will be gimped and by compleating missions in each level you can unlock abilities there are 100 total, there are a variety of missions like compleating a level with a certain amount of rings or finish a level with out getting hit. These missions get HARD but thats ok as the missions are generly hard and require skill not because the game has not been programed right so if you die it is due to a lack of skill. Anyway buy unlocking new abilities your hedgehog gets faster, better controll and better jumps.The graphics are good for the Wii you can see the game was built from the ground up for the wii because it is the best looking game out there and the levels have a cool arabian nights theme to them aswell.The sound is more or less the same as sonics previous outings if you like rock you will like it if not tough.so what is preventing the game from getting top ratings? well there are a few problems.the onrails camera only points fowards you can not turn the camera around, if you miss some thing you cant turn around and run back you need to start again. you can walk backwards but still the camera dont turn around so walking in to bottemless pits is easy and annoing.Sometimes the level design seems a bit lazy with things such as rocks in stupid places and sometimes the camera dosent let you see too far in front of you causing you to die, oh and who can forget the terrible voice acting that comes with a sonic game?overall this is the best 3d sonic game ever released and i look forward to a sequal because there are alot of good ideas in here that need just a little more development time and polish to become a real classic sonic game and restore him to his place at the top.

31.12.2009

I've been a fan of Sonic since childhood, and bought Sonic Heroes on PS2 years ago, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After purchasing the Wii I couldn't wait to buy another Sonic game. This was on offer, but I was already eager about buying it. Those that have played Sonic heroes and enjoyed it, and might be expecting this to be similar, are wrong!This game is quite different, possibly because the controls are very different to the Playstation controls. Not only that this is much harder and advanced I'd say. It has taken me a while to get used to the controls - makes sense why the beginning of the game is quick/basic levels. Presumingly this is why some have put a low rating on this game,

9.3.2007

This is a return to form for the speedy blue hedgehog. Sonic runs automatically along a set path and it's down to you to steer him and control his jumps etc. It mostly works really well and some of the later levels see Sonic going at incredibly fast speeds! A new feature of this game is the idea of ring customisation. Sonic levels up as you complete missions and learns new skills(about 100 in all) that you can assign to different rings. It's a really good idea, as different levels require different skills.The graphics in the game are some of the best on the Wii, with vast detailed environments, it's very impressive at times and also there are never framerate drops which is good considering how fast the game is.

20.9.2007

Finally, a 3-D Sonic game that isn't rubbish! It's just high speed Sonic action with just the blue hedgehog himself. Even with a new style, this game works well.We begin with our hero Sonic bored out of his wits, until he gets taken into the story of the Arabian Nights! After a tutorial, Sonic begins his quest to get the 7 World Rings... World Rings, Chaos Emeralds, either way, Sonic's gotta collect them.It may start out slow. In fact, I stopped playing for a while due to it's slow speed, but as soon as you level up Sonic and give him some speed boost powers, it will be an exhilirating experience. High speed Sonic is brilliant, especially when you don't randomly fall through floors. Heh...However,

13.10.2007

Sonic's debut on the Wii, is one of his best games yet. Controlling Sonic is done by tilting the Wii remote in the way you wish to move. He runs automatically so all you have to focus on is controlling him, and beating the hell out of enemies.There are 100 missions for you to work your way through, some shorter than others, but they are still great fun to work through.Sonic also levels up when you gain enough experience points from completing levels. These can be used to equip skills to help you out. At one point in the game you will gain the ability to either speed Sonic up, or slow time down.Speeding Sonic up makes him go faster than ever before. He'll even plow his way through enemies like they weren't even there.

6.3.2007

Sonic's recent 3D games have always had there problems, ranging from dodgy camera angles to non responsive controls but is this new one any different. Well thankfully yes it is. Sonic Team have done a gr8 job of taking sonic back to his roots, ruinning extremely fast, collecting rings, bashing bad guys and avoiding objects. This sonic game encapsulates everything that was gr8 about the 2D sonic games and i would know seeing as ive played every single one. The game is not perfect by ne means, there is a steep learning curve, like with all wii games,with the control system and u do feel a little helpless when sonic changes direction suddenly but once u get used to it it feels natural and u will soon be moving from side to side as the speedy blue hedgehog does.

9.11.2008

Sonic at the Secret rings is ultimately a fun experience depending on how you approach it. If you've never liked Sonic games then the chances are that this wont really change your mind. Its the first on-rails Sonic game, and actually is a lot of fun, and boost the Wii graphics with some great artistic backrounds. The only faults however is its camera which can be horrible at times, and the controls. The camera is great when your going forward but as soon as you go backwards, its a different story. You are ultimately going backwards blind folded, as the camera is always behind you, not in front. The controls can get VERY frustrating at times, especially when you try and go back or stop.

8.6.2007

This game was a fine achievement for Sega and it wouldn't be a disappointment to most Sonic fans. Taking advantage of the Wii's controller, it opens a new and different style of game play. In this game you definitly feel like your going fast. The graphics were slightly disappointing in some places, but overall they did well and, at last, they managed to over come the issue of having too many playable characters. In this game its Sonic all the way from start to finish in the story. The only problem with the game's gameplay is probably the response with the controller sometimes the console doesn't read your moves and Sonic could die from these actions, but it's not common and this game has hardly any glitches at all,

7.4.2007

After you get used to the way you control sonic you find yourself flying on and instinctively moving left and right and pushing forward to fly through the air and attack enemies. This game is a great update of the classic sonic games, but I think (probably controversially) better than the original megadrive games. Just like the old favourites you need to learn the more difficult levels; know when to jump, when to go slow and go fast, but in many ways it's just more fun than the originals - the way the wii allows you to instinctively move around is just great (when you get used to the controls). Sure the game has it's weak points, and damn it can be frustrating, but just tell me, just tell me,

4.1.2008

This was my first Wii game and it's actually pretty good. On one of the levels you have to escape from dinosaurs, and on another level you get to go on a magic carpet. The graphics are very good, too. But when Sonic runs, he starts going slow, and it takes about 10 seconds just to get Sonic at full speed. In every other Sonic game I've played, Sonic runs at his full speed immediately. And Story Mode is like a comic, instead of having cutscences. (But that doesn't really bother me.) Also, some of the levels are quite hard, and start to get really frustrating. A bit more frustrating than it should be. But, overall, I think this is a really good game, and a must-have for Sonic fans. Anyway,

23.5.2007

Wow, this game really is aesthetically pleasing, I was quite astounded at most of the visuals and it really does throw you into the action immediately. The speed it moves at is quite frightening, and sometimes you can feel a little helpless as Sonic zooms around the screen, but it serves to create an entertaining and immersive experience nevertheless. The only gripe I can see people having with this game is the difficulty, as it is genuinely very tricky at times, though I do personally think the controls are extremely precise. Coupled with a great multiplayer mode (that makes excellent use of the remotes sensory abilities) I'd recommend this title to people who love a lengthy challenge.

3.8.2007

The last console i played religiously was the Sega Mega Drive with some of the early Sonic games as my favorites. So when I saw this games for the Wii, it was added to my must-have list.The introductory tutorial session of the game itself is thorough without being overbearing. The game is fun although it could be better, as i can't see any further advantages of multi-playing. It's challenging but not to the extent that you want to give up when you can't complete a level.In conclusion, i must state that i really like this game. It's worth the money you have to lay down for it and is a most welcome addition to any casual gamers collection.

3.3.2007

This is how Sonic should be done, it's that simple. Level design to the controls,(thanks largely to the Wiimote) just make it the sonic we have been crying out for. It doesn't just play well it looks great, in fact it is probably the best looking Wii game released so far. A few minor gripes though including dodgy voice acting and the need to memerize enemy locations at times resulting in failed atempts to begin with.Put simply though I think it's the best 3D Sonic game released in recent memory and much better than the recent XBOX 360 game. This is what sets the Wii apart from the competion and the reason it's so popular.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) - Reviews

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