[JamesE]

Still waiting for my Wii preorder

It's not out anyway

Is it any good?

[JamesE]

http://www.wii.tv/2007/02/23/sonic-the-secret-rings-review/

oh god damn it kid

god fucking damn you

[special blend]

I watched the ending on YouTube.

Thumbs down.
_________________
http://portuguesefoodbank.blogspot.ca/
3DS FRIEND CODE 3754-7276-2693

[another coma]

I've been trying to find some words to best describe how I feel about this game without coming off as sour. I guess, I'm disappointed because there is/was so much fucking potential in this product. It's got a few really basic design decisions that hold it back from greatness. greatness!

The Earth motif is ignored, and alternate playable characters are ditched.
The cutscene art is gorgeous. the game is what a Sonic game should look like, more or less. the soundtrack has it's hiiiighs and loooows (sorry nightsB the vocal tracks kill me but the instrumentation is dandy).

The English dub is atrocious but that was to be expected, and if I turn on the Japanese language track I can ignore the voices altogether. I'm most of the way through the game and really, aside from the beginning of the game the plot is kind of cute (really!) and doesn't get in the way of the experience at all. In fact, the MENUS get in the way of the game more than the plot. I'll get to that later.

As far as the game itself - I'll offer up front that when it's good, it feels like Sonic in three dimensions done right. Really. Sometimes the little guy controls really well, and the tilt controls are more effective for maneuvering at high speeds and feeling like a suave motherfucker than the analogue stick ever was. like you're driving Sonic. that's an excellent thing.

And even better, Sonic is doing things that Sonic should! like jumping into a fucking cannon and surfing on a cartoon bullet through the sky to the next pirate ship. A+++. The main stages are comprised of really cool looking set pieces chained together one after the other, when they flow correctly.

But. There are a few things about how the game plays that really, really get me.

1. Backtracking. why, why, why was this not a turn around button? There are areas in the game where you will, playing the first time through, run headlong into a wall you cannot pass, and it will be necessary to backtrack to continue. The game's method of doing this is to have you move the controller upside down, causing Sonic to travel backwards (or if you have it equipped, a slightly faster backstep move). Trouble is, not only does it bring the pace to a halt with how slow it is, but you can't see where you are going! At all! Which is a serious issue if you have to move back to defeat enemies to move on. There is no good reason that this wasn't a turn around button.

2. I can very much deal with the camera edging off to the side when I'm about to make a sharp turn in the level (it makes the visual presentation smoother) but for the life of me I can't understand why they chose about half of the angles they did in this game. Having Sonic run forward in a 3/4 view sure looks cool but it also fucks with my depth perception while I'm trying to avoid getting smacked around by shit. One section in the foundry level really sticks out at me as a good example of this: after happily speeding along through a few tricky platform sections you are sent almost blindly in a room where you are expected to brake to a near complete stop or get hit by a number of spiked balls rolling about. Of course, the developers place a boost pad at the entrance to the area, and pull the camera right above your head so you can't see where you are going. To add to the insult the developers were aware of the whole setup and flash advice to slow down somewhere around the same time that you've already been dragged through the spikes.

The ratio of this kind of frustrating shit to well designed areas is about one to three.

3. The combat sucks except for the bosses.

and finally 4. The whole experience/skill system, while not totally poorly implemented is pretty much an overly ambitious pile of trash and shouldn't be in this game at all. Who wants to equip stuff in a menu just to play some damn Sonic level, anyway?

At some points in the game you will come to terms with the fact that Sonic cannot progress reasonably with his current skillset. Why, then, make a game that allows for infinite retries at invisible checkpoints?. I have a crazy theory that the infinite retries are there to offset the difficulty of the poorly designed areas.

If anything, the game would benefit from having it's difficulty toned down overall. Maybe I'll get around to finishing the game this week, put it down, and return to it much later so I can just enjoy the highlights. It's got it's good bits, but really, it's too little, too late, and still a little too attached to what Sonic has become.
_________________

[Dracko]

[JamesE]

Thank you B Coma. I do disagree that this is what Sonic should be all about, but I see this as being a collection of elaborate Sonic style Special Stages, a la Sonic 2, Rush and Chaotix. I think they missed a trick by not developing SIDE ON LEVELS that you play using the NES controller stance then travel to the into-the-screen levels from. That would have been excellent.

Asthetically this game has the look of Monster World V (the one with the girl) and seems to basically be Wonder Boy in 3D. I can roll with that, really.

Isn't it a shame Sonic doesn't jump in a ball? That was sort of his reason to exist as a hedgehog and not a rabbit, as originally planned.

[NightsB]

oh just try it and stop being bitter.

i had a bigger response typed up but the server went down and i lost the page.

also i'm going to defend the skill equipping stuff. i like leveling up my rings and getting new abilities because they help me go back and get gold medals on the earlier stages. the set i have no makes sonic's speed TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL FAST but still within reason. it switches up the gameplay nice and makes some previously difficult things a cakewalk.

[Wall of Beef]

[Predator Goose]

[JamesE]

[NightsB]

sonicteam didn't develop the party games, they were done by another team

also i'm not the one who goes on rampages about how sonicteam sucks and sonic has lost it constantly for the past few years now

edit damn i need a spell checker

[JamesE]

I think you need a fresh bottle and a nap

[NightsB]

i hate you jamese

[Predator Goose]

Seriously JamesE, what is that avatar? That's not Mr. Connery, is it? If it is, and really even if it isn't, what the fuck is going on there?
_________________
I can no longer shop happily.

[JamesE]

[Toups]

[JamesE]

and the post got Kotaku'd

thus did I spread it's vile seed to the stars

[BenoitRen]

Who cares about the ending? All endings are unsatisfactory these days.

It's about the actual game, people!
_________________
Get Xenoblade Chronicles!

[winkerwatson]

[Predator Goose]

In the far future, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.

That sounds fantastic. Thank you Winker.
_________________
I can no longer shop happily.

[showka]

What did you guys expect for the ending? Sorry, but Sonic is a character designed to appeal to grade schoolers. I haven't played the game, but the ending video wasn't as bad as its been made out to be. I'm sure if you're nine, and were talking about it on the playground, you'd say it was fucking awesome (especially how the camera keeps swooping over to Sonic and he puts his hand up all like "Wish number TWO, BIZATCH!" WHOOOA! Soooooo cool, man).

Really, if Mario Galaxy has cut-scenes even remotely that good we should all weep for joy. Have you forgotten the TV muting embarrassment that was the Mario Sunshine intro and ending videos?

[Predator Goose]

It was the Spoilers: mountain of hankerchiefs bitthat really pushed the cheese too far. I can't think of anyone of any age that would appreciate that. It just puts a sour taste in your mouth.
_________________
I can no longer shop happily.

[JamesE]

[gooktime]

Zardoz is perhaps one of the greatest movies of all time.

[special blend]

Sonic needs to be a mute.
_________________
http://portuguesefoodbank.blogspot.ca/
3DS FRIEND CODE 3754-7276-2693

[shrugtheironteacup]

The gun is good. The Penis is evil.

(I understand that this was also the motto for the dev team of Shadow the Hedgehog)
_________________

[BenoitRen]

[Toups]

[Renfrew]

Well, the mountain of handkerchief does make sense in the self referrential way.

[108]

[Predator Goose]

[Mr Mustache]

[Zebadayus]

I think this looks like a pretty good game, myself. If I had a Wii, I'd probably pick it up.

Maybe it's a step in the right direction. I don't want to get my hopes up, of course... but who knows?

I like the level designs from what I've seen in videos. Still, though, they don't seem to feel very Sonic-ey.

Perhaps it's the music, though. One of the saddest things about the Sonic franchise is that we'll never get that music back. :(

[extrabastardformula]

[kerobaros]

[BenoitRen]

[Predator Goose]

[Corinth]

Back when the games had those endings, they were also better games. Perhaps there is a correlation?

I almost bought this thing, but the OMG MISSIONS persuaded me to wait for SSX Blur.

[Max Cola]

[Ashura]

Wow guys.

I think this, as a Sonic game, plays as close to a 2D Sonic game as you can get. I would love to have another high-res 2D Sonic on a console, but.. they'll probably never do that.

In this game, they actually thought about the levels, Sonic actually wisecracks a bit.. has a bit of a personality, they stripped away his 900 sidekicks and hedgehog clone friends and relegated them to, well, background or no appearance at all, put him in a new and interesting world, and, Sonic GOES FAST. And there's a way to keep him going at a quick pace, unlike Sonic Next and the ilk. A lot of thought went into the levels and most of the sidequests, and they put in plenty of alternate paths and things to do.

I think it's 90% an awesome game. The 10% being, well, there needs to be a way to actually turn around or backtrack which is worthwhile. There's also a bunch of cheap deaths which, time after time, you really can't avoid. I don't mean stuff you learn how to get through after you die, but which just aggravates you to the point where you don't want to finesse the level, you just want to get it over with. Interestingly, some levels are designed so you hurt yourself purposely.

I don't mind the sidequests so much, but I think there should be a straight through level-after-level version, and those be optional. A lot of the side-quests are actually fun, but some are pretty monotonous. The egg carrying one, and especially the no-rings one on the pirate level. Oh my god, I'm sorry, but whoever designed that last part is a sadistic motherfucker.

Sorry, but I actually like Shahra. And I don't mind the dub. Erazor Djinn's voice is super bad, though. His design screams Toriyama, actually. Has anyone gotten to King Solomon yet? I really liked his design. The cutscenes are great, and I like the fact that Sonic looks mostly oldschool save for his, I guess, belly area.

All in all, it's a lot of fun. Too bad everyone covered Sonic Next over it.

[another coma]