It's not Sonic's big comeback, but it is a step in the right direction.
Sonic and the Secret Rings was Sonic's first Wii game. Let's see how it turned out.
The story is about how a genie is destroying a book world. So another genie, Shara, is in a ring. Sonic is asleep and notices a ring and Shara pops out, and tells Sonic what is happening in the book world. So Sonic decides to help.
The game plays on rails, which means you can't explore freely. And that's a dissapointment, since the game looks GORGEOUS! I was impressed by the graphic style. Sonic Team has shown us that the Wii's graphics do not suck.
The controls have some serious issues. You hold the Wiimote on it's side, and you tilt it left and right to move Sonic left and right. Those controls were sluggish but playable. The real problem is the jumping controls. You press 2 to jump, and hold it to charge for a bigger jump. When you are in the air, you can jerk the Wiimote forward to dash, or if an enemy is nearby, you can do a homing attack. However, the main problem is Sonic's speed. Because of it, you will either over or undershoot your jumps.
The voice acting is horrible. It's been a staple of a Sonic game since Sonic Heroes. You will also meet BODIES of characters. Tails and Knuckles aren't Tails and Knuckles, it's just their voices. Also, the script is poorly written which made the voice acting sound cheesy.
After you beat each level, you get experience points which will let you equip Sonic's more helpful features. I couldn't believe there was an option that let you improve Sonic's control over moving left and right. WHAT!?! They made the controls purposly loose so you can fix them later? Sonic should have had all of the control fixes from the beginning! I understand having a new attack, but moving left and right? UNBELIEVABLE!
There are 8 worlds in the game if you include the tutorial. That might seem that the game is short, but it's not, since they always give you missions to do, like completing in a certain time or don't break any pots.
As many of you know in a Sonic game there are rings to get, and as long as Sonic has at least 1 ring he will keep going. Where does he keep all these rings? If you get hit with no rings you die.
There are also minigames to play. However, I didn't care for them, since they were boring. Also, the controls were WORSE than the actual game! I think Sega noticed that this was a Wii game and it HAD to have minigames. I think at this point it's pretty much a rule.
THE VERDICT!
Sonic and the Secret Rings is a decent game. It brings back speed that we are used to in Sonic games. However, the controls are a bit loose. Normally I would say you should rent it at best, but since the game is $20, you will get your money's worth. So I'll say it's worth buying.
Final Score
6.5- Fair