daroga
02-24-2007, 10:55 AM
I wrote this review for the IGN Reader Reviews. It's posted here: http://rr.wii.ign.com/rrview/wii/sonic_and_the_secret_rings/800277/59519/
If anyone "trusts" this review and wants to boost my trust rating at IGN, feel free. :)
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A worthy follow-up to Sonic's Genesis Classics
I could spend a lot of time talking about the ups and downs of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, but let this brief summary suffice: Sonic hasn’t had a excellent game since the Genesis. Sonic Adventure, his first foray into 3D, was a good, albeit flawed, entry into the 3D realm. Sadly, the problems present there, by and large, remained or escalated throughout his last-generation offerings, and even into our current generation.
Which brings us to Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sega’s latest title for the Nintendo Wii featuring their iconic speedy blue hedgehog. Sega wisely did not port the train wreck of a game that appeared on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but rather chose a whole different approach. There would be no free-control of Sonic, rather he would be “on-rails,” always running forward unless directed to stop. The concept on paper sounds kind of crummy; in practice it creates a 3D Sonic finally worthy of his 16-bit heritage.
Sonic’s adventure takes place in the pages of The Arabian Nights, a story whose whole existence is being threatened by a new foe. The story is corny, but fits in pretty well with the whole Sonic vibe. In fact, putting Sonic in another fictional world really helps the story compared to the odd Sonic / Real World meshing we’ve had since the first Adventure game. Does anyone at Sega remember Mobius?
The controls are simple enough. Sonic will run forward. You hold Wii Remote on it’s side and tilt it left or right to guide him in that direction. Holding the 1 button will put on the brakes, and 2 will cause Sonic to slide and eventually stop and crouch for a charged jump. You can tap the 2 button for a short jump as well, that is very handy for skipping over obstacles in your path.
Controlling Sonic has been the biggest issue for the 3D Sonic games, especially since the level designers found it fitting to create Mario-esque precision jumps for our blue hero who goes from 0-60 in about 2 seconds. This, of course, resulted in far too many bottomless pit deaths. The simplified controls are very refreshing, coupled with a level design that understands how Sonic moves and is controlled. But, the control isn't without its problems as well. There are a few times where going backwards a bit is necessary or at least advantageous. Sometimes there’s a problem getting him to understand what you want to do, but the bigger problem here is the camera (which is a non-issue the rest of the game). The camera never flips around so you can see what is behind you. It’s not a common occurrence, but it is annoying when it happens.
Initially, the controls may feel a bit rough. There’s two primary reasons for this. The first is just the learning curve—you’re going to need to forget most of what you know about controlling a 3D Sonic game and relearn how Secret Rings behaves. The second is that Sonic is purposefully gimped at the start. As you progress through the game, you earn abilities in an RPG-like fashion that make all of Sonic’s movement faster, smoother, and more responsive. It’s a lot of fun to go back to an early level with a ton of new abilities and blaze through it as opposed to the casual stroll you took before.
Graphically, Sonic is better than anything else on the Wii, including Nintendo’s own offerings. It doesn’t push the hardware too much so that you get slowdown (the frame rate is high and steady), and is simply amazing to look at. But don’t spend too much time gawking; you’re likely to run into something doing that!
The sound effects are appropriate--nothing horribly out of place, but nothing stunningly good either. The music, while corny and cheesy, is catchy and fits with Sonic's 90's roots. You're almost sure to be humming some of the tunes after you turn the Wii off.
Level progression can be frustrating as well, when you need to complete a certain number of missions to move forward to the next world. You don’t always get to fight the boss before moving on to the next world, either. At first, this all seems rather arbitrary (because it is), but later on in the game things pick up and the mission flow is much, much better. There’s a ton of extra missions that are not required to progress through the game. But for gamers looking to get the most out of their money, there’s a lot of extra to play around with an unlock.
In the end, Sonic and the Secret Rings is a deep, beautiful, and most importantly, fun title for the Wii. The controls, especially back-peddling, can grate on you a bit. The level progression as well can feel stalled early on in the game. Even so, this is the best 3D Sonic game yet produced. I anxiously look forward to a sequel to the formula in which the kinks are ironed out and Sonic can once again take his place along side Mario as one of the true stars of the video game world.
Final score: 8.5
If anyone "trusts" this review and wants to boost my trust rating at IGN, feel free. :)
------------
A worthy follow-up to Sonic's Genesis Classics
I could spend a lot of time talking about the ups and downs of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, but let this brief summary suffice: Sonic hasn’t had a excellent game since the Genesis. Sonic Adventure, his first foray into 3D, was a good, albeit flawed, entry into the 3D realm. Sadly, the problems present there, by and large, remained or escalated throughout his last-generation offerings, and even into our current generation.
Which brings us to Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sega’s latest title for the Nintendo Wii featuring their iconic speedy blue hedgehog. Sega wisely did not port the train wreck of a game that appeared on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but rather chose a whole different approach. There would be no free-control of Sonic, rather he would be “on-rails,” always running forward unless directed to stop. The concept on paper sounds kind of crummy; in practice it creates a 3D Sonic finally worthy of his 16-bit heritage.
Sonic’s adventure takes place in the pages of The Arabian Nights, a story whose whole existence is being threatened by a new foe. The story is corny, but fits in pretty well with the whole Sonic vibe. In fact, putting Sonic in another fictional world really helps the story compared to the odd Sonic / Real World meshing we’ve had since the first Adventure game. Does anyone at Sega remember Mobius?
The controls are simple enough. Sonic will run forward. You hold Wii Remote on it’s side and tilt it left or right to guide him in that direction. Holding the 1 button will put on the brakes, and 2 will cause Sonic to slide and eventually stop and crouch for a charged jump. You can tap the 2 button for a short jump as well, that is very handy for skipping over obstacles in your path.
Controlling Sonic has been the biggest issue for the 3D Sonic games, especially since the level designers found it fitting to create Mario-esque precision jumps for our blue hero who goes from 0-60 in about 2 seconds. This, of course, resulted in far too many bottomless pit deaths. The simplified controls are very refreshing, coupled with a level design that understands how Sonic moves and is controlled. But, the control isn't without its problems as well. There are a few times where going backwards a bit is necessary or at least advantageous. Sometimes there’s a problem getting him to understand what you want to do, but the bigger problem here is the camera (which is a non-issue the rest of the game). The camera never flips around so you can see what is behind you. It’s not a common occurrence, but it is annoying when it happens.
Initially, the controls may feel a bit rough. There’s two primary reasons for this. The first is just the learning curve—you’re going to need to forget most of what you know about controlling a 3D Sonic game and relearn how Secret Rings behaves. The second is that Sonic is purposefully gimped at the start. As you progress through the game, you earn abilities in an RPG-like fashion that make all of Sonic’s movement faster, smoother, and more responsive. It’s a lot of fun to go back to an early level with a ton of new abilities and blaze through it as opposed to the casual stroll you took before.
Graphically, Sonic is better than anything else on the Wii, including Nintendo’s own offerings. It doesn’t push the hardware too much so that you get slowdown (the frame rate is high and steady), and is simply amazing to look at. But don’t spend too much time gawking; you’re likely to run into something doing that!
The sound effects are appropriate--nothing horribly out of place, but nothing stunningly good either. The music, while corny and cheesy, is catchy and fits with Sonic's 90's roots. You're almost sure to be humming some of the tunes after you turn the Wii off.
Level progression can be frustrating as well, when you need to complete a certain number of missions to move forward to the next world. You don’t always get to fight the boss before moving on to the next world, either. At first, this all seems rather arbitrary (because it is), but later on in the game things pick up and the mission flow is much, much better. There’s a ton of extra missions that are not required to progress through the game. But for gamers looking to get the most out of their money, there’s a lot of extra to play around with an unlock.
In the end, Sonic and the Secret Rings is a deep, beautiful, and most importantly, fun title for the Wii. The controls, especially back-peddling, can grate on you a bit. The level progression as well can feel stalled early on in the game. Even so, this is the best 3D Sonic game yet produced. I anxiously look forward to a sequel to the formula in which the kinks are ironed out and Sonic can once again take his place along side Mario as one of the true stars of the video game world.
Final score: 8.5