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Sonic and the Secret Rings official thread

I'm not usually one to nitpick about reviews, but how could he give Sonic's graphics an 8 and Zelda's a 9? I thought Secret Rings looked better than any other Wii game so far.
 
I'm not usually one to nitpick about reviews, but how could he give Sonic's graphics an 8 and Zelda's a 9? I thought Secret Rings looked better than any other Wii game so far.
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...
I don't know
Zelda has lots (shittons) of jaggies. It really doesn't deserve a 9 in graphics for a Wii game, imo. If the final game looked just as good as the trailers did though, it would.
 
Sonic has gotten the scores I expected, so everything is cool. Now the VF thread, thats where the craziness is at. :P

I will be playing more Sonic than VF tomorrow since I am a Sonic fan at heart, so I will be here with impressions.
 
MiamiWesker said:
Sonic has gotten the scores I expected, so everything is cool. Now the VF thread, thats where the craziness is at. :P

I will be playing more Sonic than VF tomorrow since I am a Sonic fan at heart, so I will be here with impressions.
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cool beans... I'm poor so I need to read what GAF feels about this game before I buy
I think my money will be happy with SSX for now
 
Rlan said:
Thinking of Sonic Adventure 2 made me go back and play through a couple of the Sonic levels. I made a video of a run I did through Final Rush - Sonic's last and most rediculous level:

http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=43388

I loved this level despite it being so hard - you'd really have to be in a 'zone' of sorts to complete it - no novice could finish it without running out of lives very quickly.

Love it.
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This is what I mean when I say that SA2 had a 'flow' to it that later titles namely Shadow never had.

Although saying that you have intentionally or unintentionally missed 2 shortcuts:

1)Using the timer code on the actual game at 7 seconds in try taking the furthest left rail instead.

2)At 42:04 seconds in you can see a rail to the furthest right - use the upcoming bouncer to head right and land on it - its a long drop and may need a bit of practice bit it's worth it.
 
Okay.

Whether you remember the glory days of Sega's mascot or are just looking for a new Wii game to bring home, Sonic and the Secret Rings is a solid choice. The gameplay is simple but challenging, and there's something incredibly satisfying about running really, really fast. The minigames aren't anything special, but together with the single-player game, they round out the package nicely. If you're looking for a game that provides a lot of thrills and enough depth to sustain them, you can't go wrong with Sonic and the Secret Rings.
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This is from the Gamespot review. They seemed to have liked the game. Perhaps they are trying to be tougher with review scores so they use more of the scale, like 1up has been doing lately. The problem is that there's no consistency here whatsoever. 1up is almost always giving a game a 9 or 10, and it's justified by the reviewer with "It's the only game this year I've given a 9 or 10!" but when you have, like, a ton of reviewers, they become incredibly common scores for great-but-not-masterful games the reviewer really liked personally, while the merely "good" or average games suffer for it.

This and Virtua Fighter 5's scores are really making me jaded to the scoring system used.
 
Kevar said:
Okay.



This is from the Gamespot review. They seemed to have liked the game. Perhaps they are trying to be tougher with review scores so they use more of the scale, like 1up has been doing lately. The problem is that there's no consistency here whatsoever. 1up is almost always giving a game a 9 or 10, and it's justified by the reviewer with "It's the only game this year I've given a 9 or 10!" but when you have, like, a ton of reviewers, they become incredibly common scores for great-but-not-masterful games the reviewer really liked personally, while the merely "good" or average games suffer for it.

This and Virtua Fighter 5's scores are really making me jaded to the scoring system used.
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I agree. I have VF4 and VF4:evo, and other than a graphical touch-up I don't see a reason for VF5 right away.

Now with Sonic, it 'the best 3D sonic', its beautiful, and it has been getting reviews where it is praised everywhere but the final score. I think IGN was too harsh.
 
underfooter said:
Now with Sonic, it 'the best 3D sonic', its beautiful, and it has been getting reviews where it is praised everywhere but the final score. I think IGN was too harsh.
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Play through the game, then judge a review site.
 
BlindN-Fan said:
I don't get this thread...Sonic 2,VF5 but hardly any Secret Rings..
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Wario64 did his attention-seeking bit and posted a bunch of reviews in their own seperate threads, leaving this one a bit broken down :P

Anyway, yet another SA2 video. I didn't think this one would actually upload, since I left it uploading at some Net Cafe when the time ran out :lol [My upload is a horrible 10k/s, so I wanted to see their upload speeds]

http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=43633

This one is Crazy Gadget. I played it safe the whole way through, so I didn't pass the level correctly. It's a huge pain in the arse since you can die very easily, and it has a lot of bad camera angles when changing the gravity.
 
underfooter said:
I agree. I have VF4 and VF4:evo, and other than a graphical touch-up I don't see a reason for VF5 right away.

Now with Sonic, it 'the best 3D sonic', its beautiful, and it has been getting reviews where it is praised everywhere but the final score. I think IGN was too harsh.
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I think they're trying not to offend anyone. Haters and people looking for a reason to like the game can find something in the review to latch on.
 
I think the scores are way too high and I certainly don't get the love for the graphics. Most of the game looks drab, especially in the later stages. I think Zelda does indeed look tons better. It moves smoothly, but other than that it's nothing special. How 1up can compare it to Resident Evil 4 is beyond me.

I fully expect there to be a backlash when GAF-at-large gets their hands on this one.
 
Farmboy said:
I think the scores are way too high and I certainly don't get the love for the graphics. Most of the game looks drab, especially in the later stages. I think Zelda does indeed look tons better. It moves smoothly, but other than that it's nothing special. How 1up can compare it to Resident Evil 4 is beyond me.

I fully expect there to be a backlash when GAF-at-large gets their hands on this one.
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I agree with the graphics surprisingly...I just don't see how it looks that great...

I don't agree with the scores being too high...
 
Has anyone got their hands on this yet?


My CANADIAN EB said they wouldn't get it in for a week, so I'm gonna wait a bit before I hit up the Toys R Us and Wal Mart's of the world.
 
i picked up VF5 but there was no Sonic Wii yet.<

anyway, EB games were too slow and Future Shop received VF5 first, i`m gonna cancel my pre-order at EB cause I picked up my copy of VF5 at FS with $10 off

and as for Sonic, I will hit Wal-Mart or ToysRUs cause EB reeks
 
I was thiiiis close to buying it today, but I was already getting so much other crap it seemed silly. There were about 3 other guys ahead of me getting it though. It was fun watching them try to flirt with the female clerk.
 
Now that I've thought about it, I don't understand how IGN gave Sonic Heroes an 8.0. Seriously, that is so ridiculously off the mark... I never really thought about it much until someone brought it up in the 1up topic. That game is so awful.
 
Played it briefly before handing it off to my son... that's got to be the most poorly thought out tutorial I've ever seen. They have each individual gameplay aspect as it's own separate mission. So you learn how to steer, then you have to select the next mission, where you learn how to jump, and on and on... Should have been one continuous training level.

Going to play the hell out of it tonight, I'll post more in depth impressions in a while. For now, I'm pleasantly surprised at how the steering feels.
 
I really like the speed of the game. I think the mission arrangement makes the game seem choppy, but I do think this game looks good. It won't seem as good as RE4 because of the different artstyles
 
I just finished the tutorial and the first mission. Sonic does NOT run fast at first, but everything I've read warned me about that, and tells me there is a speed-up coming. The graphics and sounds are nice, and charging straight into an enemy feels really good.
 
Today I got both VF5 and Sonic, Sonic is where I spent most my time on so far and guess what, I am not feeling it. Call me crazy but just guiding sonic from side to side is not as fun as having full control with a stick. The few stages I played where pretty simple I don't feel I am doing much. The side missions are sometimes so short and pointless, like break 5 jars, woopiee. I fought one boss so far and it was decent, but a very easy once you learned the pattern.

The skill system does look very deep, they have for different rings you can customize for different styles cause you just get so many of them. So far most do little things like start off with rings, or allow you to do a boost and stuff but I dud get one that makes moving around easier. I still don't have the boost yet, hopefully that makes the game go faster.

I didn't expect the game to be excellent but I did think it would provide the rush and thrill of a 2D Sonic game, I just dont see that happening. Its still early on but I feel I am just guiding Sonic down a path and just avoiding things as they come. I don't feel like its me effecting the outcome of the stage, in SA1 and 2 I could move so fast, chaining enemies, jumping on rails, finding shortcuts, it took skill and persision, I was in total control. Here Sonic just slowly (still way too slow for a sonic game) moves along the stage and you just guide him around a bit, I don't feel like I can master a level.

I don't know what all the fuss is about but the graphics don't impress me much, looks a bit grainy. I will need to play more but it seems like ths scores it got are accurate.
 
While playing EXCITE Truck, I noticed that the rumble in the Wiimote is really weak. Is it any better in Sonic, or is it pretty much impossible to feel in NES-style?
 
Farmboy said:
I think the scores are way too high and I certainly don't get the love for the graphics. Most of the game looks drab, especially in the later stages. I think Zelda does indeed look tons better. It moves smoothly, but other than that it's nothing special. How 1up can compare it to Resident Evil 4 is beyond me.

I fully expect there to be a backlash when GAF-at-large gets their hands on this one.
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RE4 had good graphics? news to me
 
underfooter said:
I just finished the tutorial and the first mission. Sonic does NOT run fast at first, but everything I've read warned me about that, and tells me there is a speed-up coming. The graphics and sounds are nice, and charging straight into an enemy feels really good.
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I like when you hit a tough enemy, you bounce straight up and the camera aims down... gives a real sense of height.

I've only played 8 or so of the training missions and then about half a dozen in Sand Ocean, but I'm enjoying it. It is slow to start which makes it less exciting, but once it ramps up I can see it becoming something pretty special.
 
The menu music is completely stuck in my head now (the "Seven rings in hand" song); anyone know if it's on mp3 anywhere? I can't be the only person that likes this awesome butt-rock classic........
 
Wow, I've firmly sunken my teeth into the game I'll lend some impressions:



If you like speed, platforming, and a good amount of challenge pick this up. If you are one of those gamers who gets frustrated and can't overlook a few control issues....rent it. The game is beautiful, the missions in my opinion add a lot to the game. It's a little disapointing only to find seven worlds, but the missions remix them in a way where they almost feel entirely different. I for one love the multiple challenges. I'm only about half-way, havn't seen any bosses.

The controls are tight. The running and jumping works in a suprisingly smooth way, where Sonic jumps and accellerates at a more believable pace. It easy to get sucked into this game. It is also weird, when I first started it felt ok and a little slow, and I've unlocked 4 worlds and its an entirely different story. You unlock abilities that improve your turning and your in-air jumping, and one of the upgrades actually says 'smoother turning'. It makes the game move and control a LOT better, and I'm suprised they didn't have it from the beginning not to turn gamers off.

Oh ya, the story bits suck I skip them all, and so far the leveling up is awesome.


I'm lovin' it, a definite recommendation if you like Sonic.
 
I really want to hear the main song, "Seven rings in hand, etc." in full, but all I've heard is snippets. This may be the best Sonic song since 'Live and Learn'!
 
Ok, I've put a couple hours into it, and here are my impressions.

I was wondering about having no progressive scan, because you sure can't tell. As soon as I popped it in, it looked like I needed to turn the option on, but alas, it looks like it is running 480p anyway. It just has a "soft" look or something. Like when you put in God of War, and you have to turn ON progressive scan. It looks like BEFORE you turn it on. I have a 32" HDTV and I can't even tell that the washed out symbol before the SEGA credit on the title screen is supposed to be a copyright symbol. Oh well, I'll get over it. It just doesn't look that hot to me (God that title screen is one fugly creation... nice first impression *barfs*). I still have plenty of GameCube games that look better, as has been the case with all my Wii games so far.

Anyway, I am totally in love with the game regardless. I am digging the "mission" structure that is set up. I do agree that it doesn't fit the tutorial levels very well, because it is slow as hell to start (you don't even open up the first world until you finish several training missions), but it does make sense later on, since you are constantly learning new abilities, and then the tutorial level for that ability will open up, and you can go play it.

I like this "RPG element" in the sense that as soon as something cool opens up, you say WOW! You do have to get used to the controls, they are totally wonky... there is a definite learning curve. But once you get it, as I think I have, it is a lot of fun. Different than ANY game I have ever played, ever.

The "storyboards" are cute, especially with the voices turned to Japanese. Definitely set the voices to JP.

Music so far kicks all kinds of ass. Of course, judging by reviews, you either love it, or you think it is the worst soundtrack of all time. I love it a great deal.

Can't wait to keep playing! I'll pop back in with more impressions as I get further in the next couple of days.
 
Anyone have tips on the backstep and mini turbo? I can't pull either of those two moves off. I'm getting a little frustrated with those missions
 
Robobandit said:
Anyone have tips on the backstep and mini turbo? I can't pull either of those two moves off. I'm getting a little frustrated with those missions
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Back Step is when you tilt the Wii Remote backwards and press 2. Sonic will do a backflip.

Mini-Turbo is just a boost off the start line. Just before the starting timer reaches 0 push the remote forward like you're doing an attack and you'll get a boost off the starting line.
 
My impressions:

The Good
The Gameplay

The Bad
The Menus

The Ugly
The Story

You have GOT to be kidding me with these menu setups and this "story" (I can't stomach the story parts anymore so I'm skipping them). The gameplay really is cool, but these menus really have to die.

In order to start a level you must:

1. Select Level
2. Select Mission
3. Select Ring
4. Confirm or Customize Ring
5. Confirm Level

Total madness

When you beat a level... you get a bunch of screens you need to confirm individually.

You unlocked a new mission! (press 2)
You unlocked a new mission! (press 2)
You unlocked a new area! (press 2)
You learned a new skill! (press 2)

I <3 the gameplay, but wtf were they smoking when they came up with this interface?!
 
After about 1.5 hours of playtime, here are my early recommendations for "Secret Rings 2":

-Keep the RPG/customization elements
-Make missions completely optional to unlock bonus content
-Do the whole "Blank Zone, Act 1" thing that's done in the 2D titles
-Replace charge jump with long jumps that can be done the longer the button is pressed down.
-Map the homing attack to a button (1)
-Put the camera behind Sonic at all times, so you're never backing up

Having fun with it so far though. I liked Sand Oasis a lot more than Dinoworld.
 
I was planning on getting this game, but I'm kinda bummed out by the reviews. I thought it was fun at E3, and I think that visually the game is outstanding, so I was impressed by the effort Sega put into it (as far as it being a game developed for the system from the ground up).

But I hoped for, and expected, a better reception. So I think I'll pass.
 
AniHawk said:
-Put the camera behind Sonic at all times, so you're never backing up
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I really don't get why they couldn't have had Sonic do a quick turn and have the camera flip around so that you can run backwards if you want to.

ethelred said:
I was planning on getting this game, but I'm kinda bummed out by the reviews. I thought it was fun at E3, and I think that visually the game is outstanding, so I was impressed by the effort Sega put into it (as far as it being a game developed for the system from the ground up).

But I hoped for, and expected, a better reception. So I think I'll pass.
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The odd thing about this game is that the review texts are positive, but the scores are mediocre. The formula seems to be:

The game looks fantastic.
The controls are good.
The gameplay is fun.
The skills system and customization is awesome.
Oh by the way some missions are hard and the minigames suck so 7.

It's as if "Sonic" in the title is an automatic two point deduction.
 
ethelred said:
I was planning on getting this game, but I'm kinda bummed out by the reviews. I thought it was fun at E3, and I think that visually the game is outstanding, so I was impressed by the effort Sega put into it (as far as it being a game developed for the system from the ground up).

But I hoped for, and expected, a better reception. So I think I'll pass.
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Oh, personally I was expecting the impressions on this game to be far less positive, especially concerning the gameplay, the graphics and the depth, so, so far, I'm rather pleasantly surprised.
I don't know...It just seems fun enough (like, really fun) to me.
 
It does get better as you play, as others said many of the skills you unlock just make the controls much better. The missions can range to really cool and skill based, to pain in the ass trial and error. None of the main stages have really wowed me yet, I would have thought they would create some amazing levels to run around, I only did three neither made me say wow.
 
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