Sonic and the Secret Rings

It's tough to justify why I don't completely despise this game. The controls themselves are pretty much the absolute main reason why people hate this; and it's fair, how is a game supposed to be fun if you can barely even play it? Well I'll be honest, I'm quite desensitized to terrible controls from the amount of bad games I've played. While it's one of the more egregious examples, I can't force myself to hate it.

For one, I really love the story behind this game, basing it off of the Arabian nights folklore. It's nice to have Eggman not be the apparent antagonist once and a while. The ending scene of this game is also extremely well done on an emotional level.

I also like the idea of leveling up Sonic's abilities throughout the game. Although it's pretty annoying from a completionist standpoint, pretty much forcing you to replay all the levels once you've obtained all the necessary abilities. I'm not a completionist myself so this never bothered me.

But man, the controls. They really do hold this game back. I truly think that if it was done right, this would be one of the better Sonic games in the franchise.

Sonic and the Secret Rings is a game filled with so many interesting ideas. But the execution is just embarrassing on every front.

Sonic and the Secret Rings has an extremely weird development. Originally, Sega intended to put Sonic '06 on the Wii. However, when they were given development kits, they realized how underpowered the Wii was compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3. So Sega decided to divide the team so one could work on Sonic '06 while the other half would work on Sonic and the Secret Rings. As development went on, more people from the Sonic '06 team were brought over for Secret Rings. This game wouldn't have existed if the Wii was as powerful as the Xbox 360 and PS3. Sonic and the Secret Rings existing was one of the main reasons Sonic '06 came out the way it did. And unfortunately, Secret Rings isn't much better.

Sonic and the Secret Rings has a very weird story (Which I do find charming due to the pretty decent writing). Sonic is chilling in his home when a Ring pops out a Genie named Shahra. She tells Sonic that she's from the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. She claims that a man named Erazor Djinn is trying to erase the story of Aladdin and make it in his own image. She says that only Sonic can stop this. So Sonic with the help of Shahra heads to the Arabian Nights to prevent this. However, Sonic is given a curse by Erazor. A flaming arrow in his heart. If he doesn't collect the Seven World Rings in time, the flame will kill him.

The plot is actually really unique and I do like the Arabian Nights setting (At least aesthetically). Places like the final level look beautiful. Cutscenes look nice too despite being still images with acting. The characters are pretty expressive. However, the two CGI Cutscenes in this game (especially the last one) are so good and entertaining. The story isn't by any means good. But I don't find it as unfocused as Sonic '06 or Shadow the Hedgehog.

But everything else is a pain. The gameplay is really bad. Sonic and the Secret Rings is almost like Temple Run in some aspects but just with more ways to move. Sonic moves automatically and you change directions by tilting the Wii Remote. Attacks such as the Homing Attack are done by shaking the Wii Remote. That said, the controls are very imprecise and clunky. Sonic can move backward. It's just really hard. So you're gonna die unfairly a lot due to the clunky controls. I can kinda forgive the controls but only because the Wii was very new at the time and perfecting the controls was probably really hard due to not fully knowing the capabilities of the Wii. Another major issue is that there are a bunch of levels. A lot of which are optional. But the game never tells you what level is required or not. So you end up wasting your time playing random levels until you stumble on the right one.

The music is really weird. Most Sonic games have at least a very great soundtrack. This one is no exception. But I despise the soundtrack... Why? Well listening to these songs on their own on YouTube is pretty good. The songs on their own are great. However, when you play Secret Rings, the soundtrack turns from good to really annoying. A lot of the songs flow in a way that makes you wanna pull your hair out. But the main theme, Seven Rings In Hand by Steve Conte is easily the worst. For starters, the Crush 40 version is a lot better in my opinion but it is never used. The song is fine on its own. But here's why it's so annoying when you play the game. It... Never... Stops... Playing. The main menu music is Seven Rings In Hand, When you complete a level, it plays the song, when you fail a level, it plays the song. The Final Boss (Where you play as DarkSpine Sonic which is a cool form but still clunky to play) has Seven Rings In Hand playing. What made the older themes great was the fact that you would barely hear it until the final boss. But because Seven Rings In Hand plays everywhere, it feels less special and it's just annoying.

Sonic and the Secret Rings may have a fun story, nice graphics, and a very neat setting with the Arabian Nights. However, the controls are very poorly designed, the music is annoying, it has a lame villain, it never tells you where to go next, and a whole bunch of other nagging issues. This game was released months after Sonic '06. Just wish it was a good game.