This game is the first game of the Modern Era for Sonic
! This introduces the Modern Era for my Sonic Retrospective . It's nice to see this new era of Sonic kick off with this fun looking game......Wait, Sonic 06 is part of this Era? Ha XD! Ha.......Ha :l. Sonic had a bad 15th birthday . Anyway, Secret Rings is the series first venture on the Nintendo Wii and it plays with a lot of the systems features. Motion Controls, the Wii's Horsepower, and a vocal-heavy soundtrack, not to mention a storybook style that the series never tried out before.
This, not unlike Sonic Rush, signified a major change for the Sonic series and it is a precursor to the Modern Style we see with Unleashed and Colors latter on.
Enough babbling, lets find the place, place
.- - - - - - - - - - - -
This game has a lot of history, so lets start from the beginning.
A long time ago, Sega wanted to release a version of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) on Nintendo's upcoming Wii console and they split Sonic Team in half; one half making 06 with Naka leading the team and the other half trying to port the game to Nintendo's under powered console.
The development team faced.....a lot of issues and they decided to retool the game into a new title. When they did this, the team learned about the Wii Remote and how it was motion controlled. After playing with it, they decided "This is going to be a motion controlled Sonic game" and the game went under the code-name Wild Fire.
This name lasted for a long time and it was the name the game was under for its E3 showing in 2006. But latter on, it adopted the name Secret Rings to fit with the Storybook story a bit better.
While all this was happening, Sonic Team lost Naka and a healthy amount of its developers as they left due to wanting to stop making Sonic games (this period, SEGA did not let them make new IP, as SEGA IP sales post third party were low compared to Sonic's sales). This lead to the 06 team lagging behind badly and forcing the Secret Rings team to work even harder to get the game out the door.
So, we ended up with two rushed games instead of one solid game across both systems......not the best situation for Sonic Team and one hell of a way to continue the Dark Age of Sonic after Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Genesis
.The game finally came out February 2007 for the Nintendo Wii in NA markets. I got the game very close to launch and critics were kinder to it then they were to Sonic 06. So, its was a decent game
! ......But a soggy bag is better then Sonic 06, so its not had to top that game :l.So with ALL of this out of the way, did the game end up being a success? Or was it a failure like its older brother?
- - - - - - - - - -
Gameplay in Secret Rings is split up into two modes, with Sonic Team making the Story mode while a Party Mode meant to play with the motion controls four players was made by another studio.
Will touch on that first quickly as I didn't play much of it; its a collection of 50+ mini games and its more or less Sonic Shuffle 2, but with motion controls and the card mechanics gutted.
Here is a video footage of that mode if you want a better look at that section of the game.
Going back to the Story gameplay, its the Mach Speed Sections of 06 brought to its logical conclusion; Sonic moves forward on his own with tilting left/right making Sonic move in that direction, with the 1 button planting him in place & the 2 button making Sonic jump (holding it charges the jump for a high one, tapping it is a simple 'hop').
You tilt backwards to make Sonic move backward and you shake the controller in the air to air dash and preform the iconic homing attack.
Sonic also gets two more moves after beating Evil Foundry; Speed Break and Time Break. Speed Break is Sonic's Boost ability from Rush, brought into 3D for the first time. Time Break is Sonic slowing down time for more specific control (slows down spinning springs, ect). Very helpful skills that are tied to a gauge on the right side of the screen, which increases the more Soul Energy you collect (the fire orbs) in the levels.
This sounds like a mess....but it really isn't, at first. The levels are built for forward/tunnel level design and it works with the motion controls well enough. Levels like Sand Oasis and Evil Foundry do a great job with this as you never have to backtrack; all you do is go forward with one exception being a simple set piece where you tilt the controller left/right to navigate a tight pathway.
Other levels.....not so much
. Pirate Storm, Skeleton Domain and Levitated Ruins all have moments where you have to go backwards, play with awkward gimmicks (grinding on rails sucks in this game ) and explore stages like you would in Adventure/Adventure 2......without buttons/sticks. 
That sounds unplayable but that really isn't the complete case; the controls get better the more you play. Sonic levels up as you play stages and as you get more levels/complete levels, you unlock more moves that make....your.....control...better :l.
Sonic Team, do you WANT people to hate your game? No? .....Then don't DO shit like that X(. Just gives us a fully upgraded Sonic from the start and make the game more playable.
Ugh....don't like that system but the levels are fun to run through despite that issue. Sonic moves left/right fine and the homing attack is very responsive, leading to some sections of levels being really fun set pieces
. 
The presentation goes hand-in-hand with the gameplay, so will touch on that soon enough. But it really elevates a weak game into an enjoyable one.
Overall, gameplay itself is a novel idea but how its done is....problematic sadly
. A future game, Sonic & The Black Knight, takes these issues and mostly squishes them . - - - - - - - - - - - -
The story is about how Sonic is sleeping in Tails House or his house finds a magic ring on this table. He touches it and magically a gene appears and ask Sonic to help her save the book she lives in.
He agrees to help her out and both hop into the book, finding Erazor Djin destroying the worlds pages hunting for the Chaos Emer....I mean Secret Rings. He expects Sonic to find them and while he is confused shoots a fire arrow on his chest. If he doesn't collect the seven world rings, he dies.
So its a race against the clock to find the seven world rings and repair the world as Sonic runs into Storybook versions of Eggman, Tails, & Knuckles. The story is cheesy, the voice acting is silly at points and it has some dumb moments.......its great to see this again in the series
. 
You gotta remember, this came out AFTER Sonic 06 and Shadow; games trying so hard to be 'serious', so this being so light hearted and campy was something the series really needed at this point.
And I will give credit to Jason Griffin, voice of Sonic the Hedgehog during 2005-Early 2010, he started getting better voicing the character at this point and it shows. He emotes, when Sonic is angry, you feel it. And when he cracks a joke, it sounds natural instead of forced.
Shara was great and seeing her connect with Sonic across the game was enjoyable
. Erazor Dijin is monster villain number 103809 at this point in the series but he is a good foe to fight. He is cocky to Sonic, calls him a rodent (well, he isn't wrong; Hedgehogs ARE rodents ) and he is a major threat to Sonic. The final boss between Sonic and him is very enjoyable just because of the presentation, which I will touch on next.
Overall, story is a major improvement over recent games during this time period. The presentation for the story has to be highlighted too, with the literal storybook looks with the line work, almost hand colored detail and more makes it have a great style
. - - - - - - - - - -
Now I can finally talk about the presentation, and its really impressive!
Even today, the game is a looker on the Nintendo Wii, with it running great, having bright colors, animations being detailed and the world having a lot of detailed textures to it. Places like Sand Oasis, Night Palace, Evil Foundry and Skeleton Domain look great and really go back to the outlandish level tropes we saw with the 2D games and Sonic Heroes
. 
Now the music.....one of my favorite 3D Sonic soundtracks ever
! Going to cover this Lost Prologue first before touching my favorite tracks as today, it found out something very interesting; it has roots to Sonic Xtreme! Here this theme from Xtreme called Time Past, then hear the theme to Lost Prologue......sounds similar doesn't it
. Know nothing more outside of this difference so I could just be reaching, but still, very cool finding I thought . Anyway, the soundtrack for this game is amazing, with it being rocking and really catchy. They try telling a story for the level you are in, so each level has vocal elements to it and it gives the game a unique identity compared to the other Sonic games.
Seven Rings at Hand - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0eOGGQbMyU&index=2&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
Let the Speed Mend It (Sand Oasis) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHGasskxFkQ&index=3&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
The Wicked Wild (Dinosaur Jungle) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOqs_grQxBw&index=5&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
The Palace Was Found (Evil Foundry) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lO6bvThXo&index=6&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
No Way Through (Pirate Storm) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHR9qUEALY&index=9&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
The White of Sky (Skeleton Domain) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIZKxCqDtq8&index=11&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
Unawakening Float (Night Palace) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsyaCguqGkU&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1&index=12
High and Broken (Levitating Ruin) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmUoabhc28c&index=8&list=PL9082E039A9733EA1
Such great tracks and they are really enjoyable to listen too
. Night Palace is a personal favorite; such a haunting melody and it really hammers home "This is the home stretch Sonic". Seven Rings At Hand is great too.....but they play it way too much. The stage select over and over it plays, when you clear a level.......not very fun listening to the same track over and over again :l.
Love this version of Seven Rings at Hand, found in the Sonic & The Black Knight Soundtrack and its a really great rendition of it. Softer, and more peaceful honestly
. Overall fantastic presentation and one of the better looking Wii games on the market.
- - - - - - - - - -
Overall thoughts on this adventure is that its enjoyable despite some really glaring problems. If you can't stand motion controls, I wouldn't blame you for not playing this.
But if you give it a chance, you might be surprised at the good elements the game does have
. The music rocks, the visuals are impressive, the core gameplay can be a lot of fun at points and its overall quality is decent.
It got a sequel on the Wii called Sonic & The Black Knight and I really love that game
!
- - - - - - - - - -
Next up on the retrospective is a PSP Sonic series! Finally get to play some Sonic games on my Vita now
. Sonic Rivals 1 & 2 are up next .
