Hi, there! If you have come to this site, then you are currently reading a review of Sonic and the Secret Rings! Please stand by for a second!
(Plays elevator version of Open Your Heart)
OK, now I’m ready. Now, if you have been reading this site since about May 2, 2007, then you may remember how much of a super-ultra-mega-major-hardcore Sonic fan I am. After all, I began my gaming career at three years old with Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast (which means I have been with Sonic for almost nine years…it will be exactly nine years in September 9 or so…depending on when my dad bought the Dreamcast). Even today, I look back on those days very fondly. I was completely obsessed. Sonic cartoons, Sonic bedding…I even had Sonic ink pens at one point!
Which would explain my love for Shadow the Hedgehog and my moderate like of Sonic Next-Gen. But where does Secret Rings fall in? Far, far below those games. Even lower than the Game Gear games and Sonic Riders. It is the WORST Sonic game I have ever played, sadly (or would that be Sonic Blast…whatever), and I came to it hoping that it would address the problems Sonic Next-Gen had. Oh, it did, all right (well, mostly technical problems, like glitches, camera, and load times), but in turn, added its own, worse problems. Gentlemen, this game is mediocre, something I never thought I’d say about a Sonic game.
What I can’t believe is that most people regard it as better than Next-Gen. Now, what we first must go over is the gameplay, which is, of course, the most flawed part of the game. Now, Sonic has sped up a little bit since Next-Gen, thankfully, but instead of that, the game just feels like a huge Mach Speed Zone (from Next-Gen). Scratch that. It’s worse. Now, what you do is just let Sonic run. You don’t hold forward on the control stick or anything, you just let him run. Your job is to hold the Wii Remote sideways and move him out of the way of obstacles. Sound fun? I know it doesn’t. Also, this whole concept of Sonic moving forward on his own makes some problems arise. Now, a lot of times, Sonic will be about to run into something, and what YOU’RE supposed to do is come to a complete stop to jump over it. Now, what if Sonic hits it and loses his rings? Well, you’ve got to move backward before he DIES by tilting the Wii Remote backwards, then jumping over it. Now, moving Sonic backwards is unwieldy not only because the camera doesn’t show anything but what’s in front of you, but is also unwieldy because moving backwards by tilting the Wii Remote backwards is overall, like the control under normal circumstances, is an unwieldy idea to begin with.
Now, another thing is the speed. While Sonic DOES move faster this time around, he loses speed immediately after getting hit, and you have to pick up speed right back again. While you get upgrades that address these problems as you level up, why make the game crappy to start with? It makes no sense. Also, when you need to jump over something, Sonic is usually going so fast that you’ll slide at first. When you stop sliding, the jump will stop charging and you’ll run into something. Yeah, bad. At least the homing attack is still fun to do.
And there’s more! You see, all of the above and overall bad level design make this game difficult. Not, “Aw, man,” difficult, but, “WHAT THE CRAP WAS THAT?!!” difficult? I swear some missions are so difficult that my time at the end was over eight minutes. Some have me failing twenty-to-fifty times. Thankfully, the game gives you infinite lives, but it’s still annoying. The final bosses are so hard that I tried them about forty times each.
Oh, yes, the bosses. Now, the bosses of this game are actually rather exceptional. They’re fought while running, and usually have some neat ways to defeat them, but still, the bosses don’t make a game.
Now, you’re last question about the gameplay would probably be, “Is it fun?” Now, when it’s not nightmarishly difficult, it can be quite fun. Heck, sometimes even when it IS difficult, it can be fun. But I still wouldn’t say that it’s as fun as Sonic Next-Gen. It’s mediocre, shoddily programmed, and the gameplay concept itself is crap, with other crap added to it. But I could never say it’s bad. In fact, even saying that it’s mediocre is making me so mad at myself that I am currently fighting the urge to punch myself in the face. Whoops! There go my teeth!
But there’s more! Not flaws, but gameplay! Now, in the game is actually a Party Mode. If you grow tired of the main game, or just simply hate it, give Party Mode a try. No, it’s not stupidly difficult, or moronically story-driven like Sonic Shuffle; it’s like Mario Party. Its whole purpose is to entertain up to four players with several mini-games! Of course, there ARE still boards, but you spend less time searching for Precioustones and more time playing mini-games. Still, there are even flaws with a few mini-games. Now, some mini-games will have you using the D-Pad to move while holding the Wii Remote upright. Now, while they did this so that you wouldn’t have to hook up the Nunchuk for some mini-games, I would rather use the Nunchuk, or at least have the choice of using it. I’ll take the butterfly-catching game as an example. Now, while catching butterflies in bubbles was already a disaster in the making, its difficulty is magnified because you use the D-Pad to move.
We’re done with the gameplay now, so how’s the story? Simply put, and in a word: terrible. Basically, Sonic is called upon by Shahra, the Genie of the Ring, to kill the Erazor Djinn, who is trying to destroy the world of the book, the Arabian Nights. While it IS terrible, though, at least it tries to be good, and the comic book-style scenes are a really nice touch. Also, we have another treat: no hedgehogxhuman relationships! YAAAAAY!!!
Now onto the subject of graphics. As far as graphics go, rather than Sonic Heroes recycled (i.e. Shadow the Hedgehog), we have entirely new graphics, up to the standards of the Wii, actually. And then there are the beautiful FMVs. Though there is only a couple, they are simply wonderful to look at.
Now, as for music, we are given a great soundtrack, as per usual. While the main theme isn’t up to snuff with other Sonic themes, all of the tracks for the stages are great. My personal favorite would be the theme for Sand Oasis, with its fast-paced, Arabian beat and vocals constantly saying “Bend the speed,” or whatever it says. Sadly, we don’t have an Arabian remix of the Stage Complete theme…
But we’ve got voice acting to cover before the closing the review. Now, it’s 4Kids, right? Yep. And they’re doing even worse. Sonic’s voice is never annoying in Sonic X, but in the games, it seems so robotic and emotionless, and even goes as far as getting obnoxious in Secret Rings! Shahra’s voice is okay, as well as those of Sonic’s friends, but Erazor Djinn? He sounds even more robotic than Sonic! But I’m not blaming 4Kids, like most people: I’m blaming SEGA for getting the game out before the actors had a chance to rehearse.
So, in the end, what we have here is a failure to be great. Sure, this game can be fun, but it being so much worse than Next-Gen just makes me think:
What if the next one IS bad?
I’m sorry I didn’t do my Sonic Secret Rings vs. Next-Gen thing I was going to do. After seeing how crappy my Guiter Hero comparisons were, I thought I’d just do a review.
So should you buy it, rent it, or skip it? That depends. If you hated Shadow the Hedgehog and Next-Gen, avoid it at all costs. If you liked those two and don’t mind taking a game back after having it for only a few days, rent it. But if you liked those games and dislike renting, I recommend you buy it, as you CAN find some fun in it.
So What’s Good?
+ Sonic is faster than in Next-Gen
+ Exceptional bosses
+ Can somehow be fun
+ Party Mode
+ No hedgehogxhuman relationships
+ The graphics
+ The FMVs
+ The music
But Then What’s Bad?
- The gameplay
- The punishing difficulty
- The usage of the D-Pad for some mini-games
- The story
- The voice acting
I’m sorry, but I don’t really feel like giving a review summary. Besides, if you were interested, you would probably just read the main review, anyway.
This Game’s Word: Ehhh… Mediocre, at best, especially for a Sonic game.
(Plays elevator version of Open Your Heart)
OK, now I’m ready. Now, if you have been reading this site since about May 2, 2007, then you may remember how much of a super-ultra-mega-major-hardcore Sonic fan I am. After all, I began my gaming career at three years old with Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast (which means I have been with Sonic for almost nine years…it will be exactly nine years in September 9 or so…depending on when my dad bought the Dreamcast). Even today, I look back on those days very fondly. I was completely obsessed. Sonic cartoons, Sonic bedding…I even had Sonic ink pens at one point!
Which would explain my love for Shadow the Hedgehog and my moderate like of Sonic Next-Gen. But where does Secret Rings fall in? Far, far below those games. Even lower than the Game Gear games and Sonic Riders. It is the WORST Sonic game I have ever played, sadly (or would that be Sonic Blast…whatever), and I came to it hoping that it would address the problems Sonic Next-Gen had. Oh, it did, all right (well, mostly technical problems, like glitches, camera, and load times), but in turn, added its own, worse problems. Gentlemen, this game is mediocre, something I never thought I’d say about a Sonic game.
What I can’t believe is that most people regard it as better than Next-Gen. Now, what we first must go over is the gameplay, which is, of course, the most flawed part of the game. Now, Sonic has sped up a little bit since Next-Gen, thankfully, but instead of that, the game just feels like a huge Mach Speed Zone (from Next-Gen). Scratch that. It’s worse. Now, what you do is just let Sonic run. You don’t hold forward on the control stick or anything, you just let him run. Your job is to hold the Wii Remote sideways and move him out of the way of obstacles. Sound fun? I know it doesn’t. Also, this whole concept of Sonic moving forward on his own makes some problems arise. Now, a lot of times, Sonic will be about to run into something, and what YOU’RE supposed to do is come to a complete stop to jump over it. Now, what if Sonic hits it and loses his rings? Well, you’ve got to move backward before he DIES by tilting the Wii Remote backwards, then jumping over it. Now, moving Sonic backwards is unwieldy not only because the camera doesn’t show anything but what’s in front of you, but is also unwieldy because moving backwards by tilting the Wii Remote backwards is overall, like the control under normal circumstances, is an unwieldy idea to begin with.
Now, another thing is the speed. While Sonic DOES move faster this time around, he loses speed immediately after getting hit, and you have to pick up speed right back again. While you get upgrades that address these problems as you level up, why make the game crappy to start with? It makes no sense. Also, when you need to jump over something, Sonic is usually going so fast that you’ll slide at first. When you stop sliding, the jump will stop charging and you’ll run into something. Yeah, bad. At least the homing attack is still fun to do.
And there’s more! You see, all of the above and overall bad level design make this game difficult. Not, “Aw, man,” difficult, but, “WHAT THE CRAP WAS THAT?!!” difficult? I swear some missions are so difficult that my time at the end was over eight minutes. Some have me failing twenty-to-fifty times. Thankfully, the game gives you infinite lives, but it’s still annoying. The final bosses are so hard that I tried them about forty times each.
Oh, yes, the bosses. Now, the bosses of this game are actually rather exceptional. They’re fought while running, and usually have some neat ways to defeat them, but still, the bosses don’t make a game.
Now, you’re last question about the gameplay would probably be, “Is it fun?” Now, when it’s not nightmarishly difficult, it can be quite fun. Heck, sometimes even when it IS difficult, it can be fun. But I still wouldn’t say that it’s as fun as Sonic Next-Gen. It’s mediocre, shoddily programmed, and the gameplay concept itself is crap, with other crap added to it. But I could never say it’s bad. In fact, even saying that it’s mediocre is making me so mad at myself that I am currently fighting the urge to punch myself in the face. Whoops! There go my teeth!
But there’s more! Not flaws, but gameplay! Now, in the game is actually a Party Mode. If you grow tired of the main game, or just simply hate it, give Party Mode a try. No, it’s not stupidly difficult, or moronically story-driven like Sonic Shuffle; it’s like Mario Party. Its whole purpose is to entertain up to four players with several mini-games! Of course, there ARE still boards, but you spend less time searching for Precioustones and more time playing mini-games. Still, there are even flaws with a few mini-games. Now, some mini-games will have you using the D-Pad to move while holding the Wii Remote upright. Now, while they did this so that you wouldn’t have to hook up the Nunchuk for some mini-games, I would rather use the Nunchuk, or at least have the choice of using it. I’ll take the butterfly-catching game as an example. Now, while catching butterflies in bubbles was already a disaster in the making, its difficulty is magnified because you use the D-Pad to move.
We’re done with the gameplay now, so how’s the story? Simply put, and in a word: terrible. Basically, Sonic is called upon by Shahra, the Genie of the Ring, to kill the Erazor Djinn, who is trying to destroy the world of the book, the Arabian Nights. While it IS terrible, though, at least it tries to be good, and the comic book-style scenes are a really nice touch. Also, we have another treat: no hedgehogxhuman relationships! YAAAAAY!!!
Now onto the subject of graphics. As far as graphics go, rather than Sonic Heroes recycled (i.e. Shadow the Hedgehog), we have entirely new graphics, up to the standards of the Wii, actually. And then there are the beautiful FMVs. Though there is only a couple, they are simply wonderful to look at.
Now, as for music, we are given a great soundtrack, as per usual. While the main theme isn’t up to snuff with other Sonic themes, all of the tracks for the stages are great. My personal favorite would be the theme for Sand Oasis, with its fast-paced, Arabian beat and vocals constantly saying “Bend the speed,” or whatever it says. Sadly, we don’t have an Arabian remix of the Stage Complete theme…
But we’ve got voice acting to cover before the closing the review. Now, it’s 4Kids, right? Yep. And they’re doing even worse. Sonic’s voice is never annoying in Sonic X, but in the games, it seems so robotic and emotionless, and even goes as far as getting obnoxious in Secret Rings! Shahra’s voice is okay, as well as those of Sonic’s friends, but Erazor Djinn? He sounds even more robotic than Sonic! But I’m not blaming 4Kids, like most people: I’m blaming SEGA for getting the game out before the actors had a chance to rehearse.
So, in the end, what we have here is a failure to be great. Sure, this game can be fun, but it being so much worse than Next-Gen just makes me think:
What if the next one IS bad?
I’m sorry I didn’t do my Sonic Secret Rings vs. Next-Gen thing I was going to do. After seeing how crappy my Guiter Hero comparisons were, I thought I’d just do a review.
So should you buy it, rent it, or skip it? That depends. If you hated Shadow the Hedgehog and Next-Gen, avoid it at all costs. If you liked those two and don’t mind taking a game back after having it for only a few days, rent it. But if you liked those games and dislike renting, I recommend you buy it, as you CAN find some fun in it.
So What’s Good?
+ Sonic is faster than in Next-Gen
+ Exceptional bosses
+ Can somehow be fun
+ Party Mode
+ No hedgehogxhuman relationships
+ The graphics
+ The FMVs
+ The music
But Then What’s Bad?
- The gameplay
- The punishing difficulty
- The usage of the D-Pad for some mini-games
- The story
- The voice acting
I’m sorry, but I don’t really feel like giving a review summary. Besides, if you were interested, you would probably just read the main review, anyway.
This Game’s Word: Ehhh… Mediocre, at best, especially for a Sonic game.
I'm sorry I originally posted this three times. It did the whole, "This post is taking longer than expected," thing, so I thought it didn't work. That's when I thought of a better title and tried again.
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