Hands-on: Sonic and the Secret Rings
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Oct 16th 2006 at 9:00AM }
Nintendo Wii's exclusive Sonic and the Secret Rings was playable behind closed doors at DigitalLife, and I came out thoroughly impressed. Sega's Ben Harrison was able to speak about the game on camera (see past the break), and as you'll be able tell from the huge smiles on both our faces, this game is pure fun. It made me regret that only the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Sonic games were available on the showfloor, because this game is without a doubt much better. As Blake mentioned at E3, this game is one of the best looking titles on the Wii. Although the textures aren't great, the special effects, lighting and steady framerate made the game a real treat to the eyes. Unlike the sandy level that's been showcased over and over again, the new level overloads the player with visual information. It feels like every few seconds, an explosion happens somewhere around Sonic. The game moves insanely fast, and when unleashing Sonic's special attack, the world blurs in a dizzying amount of color. It's very impressive, and gives the player a real feeling of empowerment.
Yes, the game is on rails, but I feel like this is the way Sonic should be. The original 2D games were never truly about exploration: it was about going fast, and having the reflexes to overcome your obstacles. In many ways, by forcing Sonic down a track, the game is emulating the feel of the original games. And, it prevents the wonky camera problems the 3D games have been plagued with since Adventure. Another plus: this game is all about Sonic, and none of his sometimes-useless friends. Finally, it looks like concerns that the game might be too simplistic, or too repetitive are being addressed: there are moments in the gameplay where you must do something different with the Wiimote. For example, you may have to catapult yourself, use a flying pot, and more. I only had a small taste of the game, but this is easily the most excited I've been for a Sonic game in a really long time.
See also:
Joystiq at Sonic's 15th birthday party
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Beesnipe @ Oct 16th 2006 9:07AM
Yea... wii Impresses me too. Glad to see the Wii Sonic title doesnt lag behind the Ps3/Xbox one. :)
Enycma @ Oct 16th 2006 9:10AM
FIRST! This game looks so good! I can't wait to play it! Too bad it's not a launch game...
Enycma @ Oct 16th 2006 9:12AM
Aww man.. There goes first! =0S
freeman @ Oct 16th 2006 9:16AM
hehe, first ones suck... and the game is A BIT OF A CHALENGE!!!
bassbeast @ Oct 16th 2006 9:30AM
"Sonic and the Wii are really made for each other."
I'm sorry, I had to laugh.
Mode7 @ Oct 16th 2006 9:46AM
awwwww c'mon you deleted my post? Sorry if I offended
but that joke was just to good to pass up.
Sneak @ Oct 16th 2006 9:54AM
Wii is just looking better everyday.
Shadow Hog @ Oct 16th 2006 9:55AM
"The original 2D games were never truly about exploration: it was about going fast, and having the reflexes to overcome your obstacles."
This isn't entirely true, to be blunt. The original Sonic games definitely had elements of BOTH speed and exploration. Let's put it this way: if you wanted to just blast through the entire stage ASAP, you could go ahead and do so - the games had enough flow to let you. Personally I never found that way of playing all that fun, but whatever floats your boat.
But if you wanted to explore, then there was plenty of cool crap to find lying around. Plus, the game found inventive ways to use speed to make exploring more interesting; for instance, remember the 1Up on top of a loop in Green Hill Zone, Act 2? Sure, you could take the lower path and use the red spring, but then you could also use the extra momentum of a speed shoe powerup and propel yourself forward over the gap and land on the loop fairly easily. Cool stuff like that's what's missing from some of these newer games, which are more concerned with SPEED than anything else, and frankly suffer for it. (Advance 2 really wasn't fun, honestly. Rush was, mind, but it's very different from the original formula. Plus, it's this linear speed mentality that's introduced us to all these bottomless pits as incentive for you to STAY on the path, stifling any incentives to explore due to the somewhat touchy controls often taking you to your death instead.)
I don't think this game will be bad, by any means; but considering it's entirely on rails, I'm a little concerned about replay value. It'll be the same level, over and over and over again. That could get very old, very fast, ya know? Then again, I've seen a few minor alternate paths popping up in videos (say, hitting a spring to take the path immediately next to the main one, which ultimately meets up anyway), so there's always that.
Regardless, the idea that Sonic was speed and nothing but is a misconception. That was his major selling point, sure, but saying that all you want is speed will result in crap like Advance 2, which give you just that. Frankly, I'll gladly take the slowing-down if it means quality like the older games again.
Franky Digital @ Oct 16th 2006 10:04AM
@ Shadow Hog:
Sonic was about speed and nothing but. Yoon has it spot on the nose. It was marketed as such, it played as such, and any other intrepretation is like trying to find a different angle of an overly-analyzed film: you can create tons of different interpretations that have nothing to do with the original intent. Sonic is not a relic of a great time of gaming for the fact that you could find secrets hidden in the bowels of the levels. Sonic was not Metroid. Sonic was Sonic, and will forever remain Sonic, by merit of his speed alone. End debate.
Eric Von Shpeel @ Oct 16th 2006 10:09AM
the demo was absolute faeces. Unless they gave it a total overhaul since the demo build I will be avoiding this like I avoid the homeless guy who sits outside KFC in town
Eric Von Shpeel @ Oct 16th 2006 10:11AM
ps that was in regard to the 360 version
Patrick @ Oct 16th 2006 10:24AM
That's just great Eric, everyone really values your opinion...on a totally different game. You would know that if you read, oh, the first sentence or two of this post.
Tentative Somewhat Ne Sonic Fanperson @ Oct 16th 2006 10:27AM
Frankly Digital / 9: Actually, what made Sonic awesome was his momentum. Speed was important, but only because it allowed you to do the awesome things that momentum implies: run up walls, build up speed and bounce through impossible puzzles. If it were just about speed, Sonic would have been eclipsed by some racing game like F-Zero. Hell, even Mario had a pretty good turn of speed, but Sonic games are definitely much more challenging from a purely navigational perspective, because there are so many more options with the game physics--divering paths, going backwards, up, and around, etc. It was this--the great level design and game physics--that made Sonic so awesome, with speed as a kind of necessary prelude to some of his crazy stunts.
So yeah. Sonic is not just about speed. That said, Wild Fire / Secret Rings / whatever looks pretty good. Probably going to get it when it comes out. But I doubt it'll top the Genesis originals. The best part? I can play them BOTH on the Wii. Score one for the Virtual Console!
Meow @ Oct 16th 2006 10:28AM
"Sonic was about speed and nothing but."
This isn't true. Try playing through Marble Zone or Labyrinth Zone or Scrap Brain while doing nothing but running. It's flat out impossible. These levels had slow parts and they hard parts where you had to wait and time your jumps. Sonic was definitely a mix of fast levels and slower levels. If you've only ever seen the heavily marketed Green Hill Zone, you may think otherwise, but you'd be thinking incorrectly.
LilBlackDemon00 @ Oct 16th 2006 10:34AM
It was playable on the show floor on Saturday, and all I can really comment on is the controls, which seemed to be pretty worked out and not very touchy. Sadly, soon after I started playing it (the PS3 version), the PS3 locked up from overheating :-P.
Franky Digital @ Oct 16th 2006 10:42AM
@ Fanperson:
Semantics. That's quite clearly a by-product of speed, and exactly what I was talking about. Glad to see you agree, though.
Rymix @ Oct 16th 2006 10:43AM
Never really got on with Sonic once the series made the transition into 3D.
Whether you prefer speed or adventure (I did a bit of both), none of the later games captured the same feeling, IMO.
Also, the original Sonic games are why I still have my Mega Drive plugged in :)
Dan @ Oct 16th 2006 10:53AM
@Franky Digital
End debate? You say your crap opinion and it should end the deabte?
Shiro @ Oct 16th 2006 11:02AM
I wasn't even aware that they changed the name from "Wildfire"... Heh, I guess I need to pay closer attention to these things...
Meh, I might pick this up later, but for launch it's Red Steel and Twilight Princess.
Dan @ Oct 16th 2006 11:05AM
@Shadow Hog
That's exactly how I and every Sonic fan I know feel about the new Sonics. The last good one was Sonic 3 (I can play the others, but none of them has captured the essence of the first ones).
Franky Digital @ Oct 16th 2006 11:06AM
@ Dan: "End debate? You say your crap opinion and it should end the deabte?"
And yours should? :) I'm just stating the obvious, really. Many games have merits beyond what they were designed to have, but that doesn't mean that the fundamental aspects of a game were designed around those additional merits. All I've done is remember what the game was marketed as, and what I remember most prominently from the game some 15 years later.
gamesarefun @ Oct 16th 2006 11:17AM
where's the hands on part...
Beastard @ Oct 16th 2006 11:22AM
Ben Harrison! You're wrong. This will be Sonic's first solo adventure since 1993 (Sonic CD) *pushes up nonexistent nerd glasses* But I'm looking forward to this game.
The Man @ Oct 16th 2006 1:47PM
They need to get back to cartoon look and feel, back to when the characters weren't packing heat. Jump in to a tube run through a spiral and jumb on the robot. The demo just didn't feel like sonic.
Marty @ Oct 16th 2006 11:32AM
I agree with a lot of you, I don't think any of the newer Sonic games (read: after Sonic 3 & Knuckles) have captured what made the original games so great.
It seems that with the newer games, they are either a too-fast run through a level which offers only one path, or a side scroller that makes you go mega fast and then punishes you for it by hitting you with practically unavoiable obstacles. The only Sonic games I have plyaed and enjoyed recently would be Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush, but even those two titles don't carry the weight as the originals.
The old games where about speed and about epxploration - finding alternate routes, or discovering hidden locations of those massive rings that brought you to special zones. I think most of the newer games miss this aspect, and focus too much on making you try to speed through levels as fast as possible. And while I understand that this is probably just Sega taking advantage of new technology and focusing on the the blue hedgehog's marketable trait, I definitely think they should take the games back a little, to the age where you could play a Sonic game at your own speed, and sit back and enjoy it.
I am glad to see that people are impressed by the Wii version though, I was concerned that it would be another re-hash of the "new" Sonic, while the other consoles got something better. Seeing people finding this game fun and impressive only further justifies my jealousy for those who got out early to get a pre-order of the Wii last week.
Jake @ Oct 16th 2006 1:47PM
Sonic, from a traditional standpoint, is about speed. That really is the end of the discussion. Sure, there were some diversions that required more Mario-like precision jumping and Metroid-like secret holes in walls, but that doesn't make it in any way an exploration game or Mario-esqe platformer. It was a unique platformer that was popular because of how fun it was to just fly through levels and use your momentum and reflexes to conquer obstacles. When Mario went 3D ala SM64, it stayed truer to its roots. Jumping, timing, running, etc. It seems the 360/PS3 Sonic is more like Mario meets 3D than Sonic.
All of the new Sonic games maintain some elements of that formula. However, I will say that I downloaded the Sonic demo on 360 and thought it was awful. But, to be honest, the Wii Sonic doesn't sound that great either. It sounds like an on-rails racing game.
I'll probably be bypassing both the 360 and Wii versions. Might get a PS3 for the PS3 version, though, because the innovative controls and vastly superior graphics and cell processing will make it well worth $660.
DjFIL @ Oct 16th 2006 11:34AM
If they are right and this is better then that abisimal 360 Sonic demo that came out, this may be another pick up for my Wii.
Ryan LN @ Oct 16th 2006 11:37AM
The commentator has echoed many of the feelings that I have had ever since partaking of Sonic Adventure oh so many years ago. I recently downloaded the Sonic demo from Xbox live, and to say that I was tremendously underwhelmed would almost sugar-coat my real feelings toward the game. If the iteration currently intended for the Wii can recapture the feeling of just-controlled reckless abandon (intermixed with the often-clever slower sections correctly pointed out by "Meow" in post 14) then I can say with absolute certainty that they'll have a hit and I'll have the first good sonic game in well nigh 10 years. Maybe we had for a new control scheme to be invented to properly handle Sonic in more than one dimension. In any event, at least I'm excited to find out, and being excited is a good thing.
Nick @ Oct 16th 2006 11:59AM
I was really relieved to see that this game features only Sonic. I didn't mind Tails and Knuckles, but all the new characters from Sonic Adventure til now... didn't like em. I'm actually really excited about this game now though. We'll be fighting Dr. Robotnik, I presume?
Mabui @ Oct 16th 2006 12:15PM
I'm looking forward to sonic, it'll probably be the first Sonic game I ever look forward too! Though, I did manage to squeeze some enjoyment out of Sonic Shuffle.. even though the mini-games were.. at best poorly designed or heavily favouring the computer
MetaHuman @ Oct 16th 2006 12:10PM
Sonic was originally concieved to be a Mario rival with an emphasis on speed, not only to add to the level of "cool" to Sonic, but to promote the Genesis' secret weapon (Blast Processing :P). Sonic is intentionally a platformer akin to Mario but what makes him unique is his insane speed.
And Sonic CD is the BEST Sonic ever. You know it. :P
insertnamehere @ Oct 16th 2006 12:44PM
I think that the biggest problem with the 3D Sonics is that they try harder to emulate the platforming/adventure trends of the time, rather than attempting to carve their own path. Essentially, they would prefer to follow rather than lead. I trace this back to them missing out on the 32/64 bit era, so that when Adventures came out, they tried to splice in the creme of the previous generations crop. So you see a lot of Mario 64 elements, plus Zelda-esque adventuring, Rare-inspired collection fests, and even OoT's fishing game. They did all of this quite well and Adventures is a good game, but it isn't really a Sonic game. The Sonic elements were boiled down enough to be only vaguely familiar: there were rings, robots, emeralds, and Sonic would move quite quickly, but these were superficial similarities.
Doing the two Dreamcast games, consequently, put Sega behind again on the "new trends", and thus the cycle repeated itself, until now, for the PS3/Xbox 360 we have Rachet&Clank, GTA, Pys-Ops, and the corpse of a Sonic game mushed together with a generic and very incongruent plot.
I feel optimistic about the Wii version. Were the Genesis versions partially about finding cool nooks and crannies and doing neat jumping puzzles? Yes, and those were some of my favorite parts. But remember that the game doesn't restrict the paths you take, it restricts you to a very general 2d dimensions with a little leeway from side to side, not too unlike the Genesis classics. I wouldn't worry about too much about it being "all about speed". I think Andrew was reacting more to the lack of decidely non-Sonic elements than anything else.
More importantly, though, they are doing something new, something innovative, which we haven't seen in a 3d Sonic in a long time. So if they don't slavishly recreate the old games, but instead provide a new and enjoyable experience that keeps the essence of its predecessors, I'll be very happy. After all, thats what Nintendo did with its 3d classics (Mario 64, Metroid Prime, OoT), and those didn't come out so bad, right?
jaybleezy @ Oct 16th 2006 1:45PM
I can't wait my favorite Sonic game of all time is Sonic 2. Which back in the day I got a free coupon for for Sonic 2 when I purchased a Sega. I remember having to wait for the mail to arrive for two weeks in order to play it. Feels kinda like now which I haven't been this excited for any Sonic since. Can't wait only time will tell.
existonfile @ Oct 16th 2006 1:59PM
I'm glad you came out impressed with this title, cause I played the new Sonic for 360 at Digital Life and was wholly underwhelmed.
There was a sign underneath the demo that said 85% complete, but it felt much less than that. There were multiple glitches and a ton of collision detection issues. I watched as the kid in front of me fell through the level multiple times, but was able to "fly" his way back up by spamming Shadow's jumping chaos blast attack.
*www.paulvsdave.com
Sonic and the Secret Rings @ Oct 16th 2006 2:02PM
Digital Life and was wholly underwhelmed...WTF...did you even play the game?
Xian B. @ Oct 16th 2006 2:17PM
For those of you lamenting Sonic's deviation from his 2D roots, you'll be happy to know the original Sonic is being released for GBA next month:
http://www.sega.com/games/game_temp.php?game=sthgenesis&lid=gp_sthgenesis&lpos=nav_pldwnlst
Looks like November will be a good month for Sonic fans, old school and new school alike.
Kent Houseman @ Oct 16th 2006 4:32PM
Durrrr this game is not the good. How could it be without the cellular processing of the other systems like the 360 box and playstation:redundant.
The wheee is a gimmick system and uses a remote..i already have remotes why should i get another.
359 looks so realistic I feel like I am in the cartoon...
The playstation is clerely the superior station. Look at the sleke design. Beautiful.
/facemelt
Robert Jung @ Oct 16th 2006 2:18PM
I'll just add that if Secret Rings (lame name, Wildfire was better) succeeds, maybe that will motivate Sega to do a next-gen sequel/follow-on to Sonic R. Now that's 3D Sonic done right...
--R.J.
rockintom99 @ Oct 16th 2006 7:35PM
I don't see why everyone think this game looks great, because to me, it seems kindof stupid. You are on a track! You cant control where you are going, just moving left and right dodging crap. It seems like a boring flash game, but with nicer graphics, and a different control scheme.
geod @ Oct 16th 2006 4:04PM
@32:
I hope your joking: The 360 and PS3 versions are the same(http://ps3.ign.com/articles/651/651720p1.html - notice it says its being developed for both PS3 and 360). If you want innovative controls, get the Wii version. Besides everything I've heard about the 360 version is that it's crap, and that the Wii version is awesome. I can't really see the Cell helping out the PS3 too much.
Manolo @ Oct 17th 2006 12:50PM
Well if you ever played Sonic Adventure 2, you will know that the best part of the game were the sonic stages because they were about speed. Other parts were lame, but sonic was cool.
So yes, 3D Sonic games are about speed and I will gladly buy Sonic Wii because of that.
Zell @ Oct 16th 2006 4:15PM
Looks fun. Normally I don't care much for Sonic games. As for the Wii, I got to play Elebits at DigitalLife Saturday, and I'm even more excited about it now. I didn't think that was even possible. The first time, after watching the guy in front of me play, I thought it would be tricky. It wasn't at all and I really was surprised how great the controllers felt in my hands.
Some people didn't really 'get' it though. I had to tell them they were standing far too close to the TV to do anything.
Pretty much after finding Elebits I didn't do much more exploring. I got in line and played twice more. The game's a lot of fun and I'll probably pick it up when it's released. I see really good things ahead for the Wii.
LaughingMan @ Oct 16th 2006 4:46PM
I'm glad to see that the Wii is getting a good Sonic game because the 360's is crap. I mean how dumb do you have to be to screw up a Sonic game? Here are the keys to making a good StH game:
1) Make Sonic run fast.
End of list.
Zoë K. @ Oct 16th 2006 4:44PM
"I'll probably be bypassing both the 360 and Wii versions. Might get a PS3 for the PS3 version, though, because the innovative controls and vastly superior graphics and cell processing will make it well worth $660."
Ha! Haha! Hahahahahahahahaha!
Dude, you're a fucking riot!
Hahahahahahahahahaha!!
You... you said it almost as if the PS3 and 360 versions wouldn't be identical... XD~
Get a clue.
Josh @ Oct 16th 2006 4:56PM
Some people here made differing blanket statements about "sonic is this and not that", etc. The point is that different people found different things that they liked about sonic. I am a big fan of the sonics from the genesis. I still play them often even today.
I believe that you had more freedom in those 2D games than you did in todays 3D variants (this is also true for the Metroid series - another franchise that gave you freedom head and shoulders above the other games of the day - and has now become nothing more than a skin for a mediocre FPS). And in my opinion, that's just sad. In the 2D games, you could go wherever you wanted as fast or as slowly as you chose. See something cool while speeding around the level? You could stop and go check it out. Bored where you are? Blast yourself into the air and take off again. The world was open and complete, and you were free to do whatever you wanted in it. The 3D sonics tease you with visuals you cant get to and freedom that isn't there.
I bought the sonic games for my dreamcast, expecting it would do for Mario 64 what the 2D sonics did for the 2D Marios games. What I found was a buggy, broken, unfinished product - which failed to reproduce the feelings of freedom and wonder that I got from playing the originals.
I believe the answer lies in not eliminating anything that people liked about the originals. Keep the speed. Keep the exploration. Keep the control. Keep the vibrant, open worlds. Those who like to speed through can. Those who like to explore can.
As far as the technical "merrits" of the on rails system, there are 3D platform games that serve as counter examples to every excuse people use (Mario 64, "Rayman: the great escape", etc) and these titles predate the first of the 3D sonics. Also, I can tell you that as a game developer myself, every technical reason given thus far for the on rails system is an excuse - and perhaps the real problem was a rushed deadline, and/or the technical incompetence of the developer.
It seems that SEGA - for whatever reason - is puting less effort into the sonic series than it used to. Wether this is due to a loss of talent, focus, or interest, is unclear. SEGA is not the same company, and key people involved in design and implementation of the sonic games are gone.
Yes, they are re-releasing the originals - but I have played them to death. The GBA sequels were a nice diversion, but felt like more like "sonic lite" than anything else - and the worlds in them felt less animated and stale compared to the originals.
Mario 64 showed the developer world how to transition a 2D platformer into 3D. Developers such as Ubisoft have taken those lessons and refined them. SEGA has either ignored those lessons, or is incompetent. I am still waiting for the day that SEGA makes Sonic to imitate Mario 64's spatial freedom, combined with sonic's vibrant artistic style and capacity for speed.
Sadly, I'm no longer holding my breath.
nintendo fan @ Oct 16th 2006 5:43PM
@ Josh
I'm sad to say that I agree with you completly (except for the Metroid crack unless you were just talking about MPH).
Miniboss @ Oct 16th 2006 6:37PM
I'm actually pleased that the game will be on rails. For 3D, it seems like this is the only way to get a good Sonic experience.
When I played F-Zero GX on the GameCube, I had a bit of a revelation. Why not just make Sonic like a racing game? Instead of laps, you would of course have non-looping stages. But the obstacles and enemies on the "track" would be the main challenge. In that game, you could also find secret paths, just like in the old Sonic games.
And it sounds like this is precisely what the Wii version will be like. Which is why I'm very excited. No stupid side-characters. Just Sonic and speed.
Oh, and the 360 demo was trash. I expect the full game to be the same.
mmxzero @ Oct 16th 2006 7:50PM
if Sonic SR for Wii can be one giant, fast paced, multilayered Green Forest(from SA2), then I will be ecstatic! Thats what im hoping for anyways. It looks great so far, cant wait.
And anyone can agree that the sonic 2 ring collecting chaos emerald stages, like in Sonic Rush for DS, would be great with tilting the Wii-mote as well. Man those were fun in sonic Rush on DS. please Sega!
V1L3 @ Oct 16th 2006 9:20PM
Given the general consensus that Sonic CD (with the Japanese soundtrack, of course) is the best Sonic game, then by definition that makes the statement that "Sonic is all about speed and nothing but" ludicrous.
Could you blast through the whole game at breakneck pace? Sure you could. But you'd be missing out on everything that made this game great.
No exploration? How's this? To get to the Good Future for a level, you had to (in order):
1) Find a Past sign.
2) Maintain high momentum for a period of about 10 seconds.
3) Now in the past, find and destroy one of Robotnik's machines.
4) Find a Future sign.
5) Repeat step 2.
6) Now in the past, find yet another Future sign.
7) Repeat step 2 yet again.
No exploration? Please. To complete a level properly using this method could take upwards of 30 minutes. The replayability of this game is second-to-none when it comes to Sonic titles.
Even in the original Sonic game there was exploration involved if you wanted to get the Chaos Emeralds. Sure, all you had to do was reach the end of a level with 50 rings. But if you got there with only 30, guess what you had to do? That's right. Go back through the level and find another 20 rings. Sonic and Knuckles had even more exploration involved, as you had to actively search for the giant rings to get access to the special stages. On my first playthrough, I only came across TWO out of a minimum of seven.
The problems with the newer 3D games (Adventure 1 and 2) isn't anything to do with the fact that they've tried to implement 3D levels or exploration. It's the glitches, the faulty camera, the focus on secondary characters, etc that let the games down. There is absolutely no fundamental reason why a free-roaming fully-3D Sonic game couldn't be the most awesome game on the planet. Sonic Team just haven't been able to nail it down yet.
Personally, I think a combination of 2D/3D elements (ala NiGHTS) would make an awesome combination for a Sonic title. As it stands, Sonic Rivals is looking better and better all the time, and certainly light-years beyond Sonic Rush's chug-along multiplayer.
Also, I find it a little disconcerting that people are so ready to write off the 360/PS3 version because of the demo. To me, the most interesting part of the game looks to be the free-roaming areas, which you don't get to see in the demo.
People making snap decisions based on demoes are one of the reasons developers decided to dump E3 (such as it was), and if negative impressions start to affect game sales, I think you'll find that companies will be far less likely to want to let us test their games on the Marketplace either.
V1L3 @ Oct 16th 2006 9:33PM
Either way, there's no reason they couldn't just port this to the PS3 anyway.