Things you liked about Secret Rings

[TheGreatSpid]

I thought the music and the story was pretty good, and I enjoyed the ability to customize your skills. I actually think this game is harder than SatBK, so the challenge is nice.

Although, when needing to move backwards with the wii remote, that had frustrated me to no end.

And I kinda liked how Knuckles and Eggman were placed in the story, and the reaction Sonic had towards them (and their reaction back!) I thought that was rather funny.

[sonfan1984]

I admire the handdrawn artwork during the cutscenes and Secret Rings is when Jason Griffith slowly starting to improve on his vocal work. Oh yeah, and the final boss is pretty awesome, too.

[Dr. Crusher]

Oh yeah, Darkspine is another reason.

Like the entire concept/motive/character of Merlina, I'm starting to be more open towards the idea of Darkspine Sonic. Back when I first saw him and what he does, I thought "Eh". Yes, having a Not-Super form was cool, but I always prefer normal Sonic laying the smackdown on giant ass opponents. All Mario needs to defeat demons and monsters is his friends and occasionally some neutralising power.

That and... yeah, I had originally looked at him as a generic Dark/Evil form, which (as we probably all know by now) is a cliche that I do not like anyways, let alone for a series like Sonic.

But eventually, like with Merlina, I started to realise that like the later Dark Gaia case, Darkspine was only making him more aggresive rather than making him turn "sadistic", and even then this fighting style is clearly a good thing rather than bad (it helps that Erazor is a cold bastard). And it reinforces Sonic's incorruptible spirit.

So yeah, while I'm still not fond of Secret Rings or Black Knight, I do give them kudos for Erazor, Merlina and Darkspine Sonic. King Arthur was also pretty cool for a pawn villain. Guy must have serious shoulder aches.

[SuperClassic]

It didn't have Super Sonic as the form you use during the final boss stage.

[Super Choop]

I really enjoyed the music, despite how repetitive and nonsensical it may have been. The environments were both creative and colorful.

Erazor has also become my second favorite villain in the series after Eggman (plus, I love puns).

As for the gameplay, it was pretty good. I liked the leveling system and character customization. I would have rather free-roaming gameplay as opposed to the on-rails stuff, but it wasn't bad.

[Vertekins]

It didn't have Super Sonic as the form you use during the final boss stage.

And thank god for that.

Seriously, what would Super have done? Headbutted Alf Layla's heart? Nah, Darkspine rightly got a time to shine and shine he did, empathizing a level of brutality not seen before or since in the Sonic series. Erazor deserved an especially good beatdown that I personally doubt Super Sonic could've given him given his past history of, you know, not actually doing anything interesting that would give you the impression of power?

[Dr. Crusher]

Erazor has also become my second favorite villain in the series after Eggman

I like the way you think.

[Sega DogTagz]

empathizing a level of brutality not seen before or since in the Sonic series.

Didn't Sonic beat Emerl to death with his bare hands?

Seriously though, I too liked the inclusion of Darkspine. It was appropriate that a new power source would lead to a new form and the physical hands-on approach was a really good way to get the job done. The storybook series had some great final bosses.

[Vertekins]

Didn't Sonic beat Emerl to death with his bare hands?

Yeah well, with gloved hands. But it was never as explicit as the Darkspine beatdown. You didn't hear Sonic screaming when he was dishing out Ultimate Emerl the pwnage, just cheesy-sounding grunts. You didn't see the sheer determination in those sprites like that shown in the Darkspine model as he is investing his all into his attempt to deflect the giant orb Alf Layla fires or the unhindered poundings he inflicts on Alf Layla's heart. I honestly think that the brutality of Darkspine is empathized even more by the fact he ain't wearing anything. It makes his attacks and strength all the more raw and by extension, brutal.

By comparison, the Sonic vs Ultimate Emerl was nowhere near as brutal. Yeah, the notion of Sonic taking down Ultimate Emerl is utterly badass but you can't honestly say it was portrayed convincingly as such in the game itself quite like SatSR did with it's Darkspine vs Alf Layla Wa-Layla battle.

[Sega DogTagz]

I can agree to that. Sonic did really let it loose in his brawl with Alf-Laya.

Never thought about the added primal factor from a lack of clothing though. In a series where the main cast is 99% in the buff as a norm, I guess I didn't think about the impact of that last 1%. Its an interesting angle.

[Super Choop]

I like the way you think.

[SupersilverTH]

Well, the story was enjoyable for me, and the stages... I love the stages in this game.

Sand Oasis and Night Palace are some of the bst stages I remenber in the modern games, and the music is awesome too.

And Dark Spine Sonic... I really want to see him in another game, too bad that is impossible

[Sion-Ta]

One of my favourite Sonic games in all honesty. Unique and nice-looking level tropes, interesting use of the Wii's motion controls, ridiculous yet catchy music, skill customization, and even a small return of the Sonic and Knuckles (or Sinbad... screw it, he's Knuckles) rivalry~

Granted it's not perfect... controls can be finicky, the tacked-on mission system, cutscenes are shown out of order depending on what levels you play through, and a out of nowhere super form at the end just for the sake of having one... granted he looks cool, and it was one of the better final bosses in the series but it still seemed really unnecessary to me... even more so considering we're never going to see Darkspine again. :/

But despite my issues, I am fond of the title... but then again maybe I'm biased towards Night Palace. Awww, that level is so freaking beautiful, and the music~ Ahh, I'll die a happy fan if that stage pops up in Generations.

[SuperStingray]

No mention of Darkspine Sonic as a thing you liked about Secret Rings? For shame people, for shame.

Hell yeah, Darkspine. I really liked that they went for a new, aesthetic appropriate design rather than going for the same old Super Sonic. And frankly I find that battle to be one of my favorite final bosses in Sonic's history.

[Scar]

Unawakening Float is one of the best peices of music ever to come from a Sonic game.

I also like Levitated Ruin and Palace that was Founded.

[JezMM]

Music

Oh my god this is my favourite Sonic soundtrack. I LOVE gameplay music with vocals, they really pump me up, yet at the same time they made a good mixture of songs with full lyrics, songs with partial/sampled lyrics, and instrumental tracks, so it didn't get old.

Unawakening Float remains my favourite final stage theme from a Sonic game ever. Seven Rings is also a favourite main theme, it's too bad they spammed it on so many menu screens, it lost it's punch at the finale as a result.

Also:

Story

A sympathetic villian character (once you learn more about him) with a deep but not angsty backstory, a bittersweet ending, some simple plot twists and a good spread of humour too - while Black Knight perfected this kind of story in terms of presentation/script/voice acting, the actual plot was best here.

Pretties

Yeah this game looked great and I'll never understand how people think Black Knight or Unleashed Wii was on par with it (more a review opinion than fanbase opinion). Also the level designs were fantastic and unique.

The gameplay and level design ITSELF was a bit forgettable, so I don't play it that often though. Much more platformy than Black Knight, but still a bit too spin-off ish due to the unusual jumping control scheme.

Edited April 25, 2011 by JezMM

[DarkLight]

One thing that kind of gets me about the game is, while I like 'Seven Rings in Hand' as a song, it's inappropriatly misused as the main menu screen. Like, it really should've been saved just for the final boss music because after hearing it throughout most of the game, it really loses it's luster when you get to the final boss when that's supposed to get you pumped up for the song.

So yeah, I like the song, but they really overused it in this game, IMO.

[JezMM]

SA2 was the best usage of a main theme. Only snippets, no lyrics, used until the final boss. It really came as a surprise for me since SA2 was the first game I played which did such a thing, or even use frequent vocal songs in general.

Sonic 2006 was also okay, since the instrumental version of the main theme was a surprise that worked well since we'd heard that main theme plenty, same goes for Colours.

Unleashed was kind of bad usage because you'd only have heard the normal version of Endless Possibility if you watch the trailer intro by waiting on the title screen - which doesn't even exist in the WiiS2 version (the only way you'll hear the vocal version before the credits is to collect it and listen in the sound test).

[DarkLight]

Yeah, SA2 and 06' handled the main themes a bit better by using different versions of the main theme.

But Secret Rings pretty much used it's only version of 'Seven Rings in Hand' at the time (or at least before Crush40 or the Face to Faith made their own versions) so hearing that same song with no alternate/orchastrated versions of it everytime you get to the menu screen and during the final boss is tiresome and just spoils whatever "epicness" the song is supposed to give off during the final boss IMO.

[JezMM]

Yeah, it basically had the effect of not the menu screen/level complete screen having the "main theme" playing, but more the final boss oddly using the menu/level complete music.

For shame.

I really don't care for the Crush 40 version of SRIH I'll just say. It loses that magical vibe and the "daw-naw-naw" guitar from the chorus, replacing it with just "rawr heavy rock listen to how cool Johnny's voice is ohhh yeeeah".

[Rob K.]

Secret rings is one of the series better tittles, alot better then Black Knight. Besides poor voice acting this was a great game with fun level desines, great graphics, solid controls and one of the few thrid party wii games that makes great use of the wii remote.

[Scar]

Yeah, it basically had the effect of not the menu screen/level complete screen having the "main theme" playing, but more the final boss oddly using the menu/level complete music.

For shame.

I really don't care for the Crush 40 version of SRIH I'll just say. It loses that magical vibe and the "daw-naw-naw" guitar from the chorus, replacing it with just "rawr heavy rock listen to how cool Johnny's voice is ohhh yeeeah".

It loses the magical air to it, but I think the C40 version would have done better as the final boss music, because its much more hardcore, and would have fit Darkspines a helluvalot more. I thought that whilst Steve Conte's version was good, it just lacked that final boss feeling, which I get a lot more from the heavier, more metallic Chords in Jun's take of it. God that Solo in the C40 version would have been perfect for Darkspines as he wailed on Alf Layla wa Layla

Also, I thought Black Knight handled the final Boss music a lot better, by having a completel new, and utterly badass With Me has the final boss music, with none other than Marty Friedman on the guitars accompanied by Senoue.

But that's getting off topic.

Edited May 8, 2011 by Scar

[Tobbii]

I think it was a fun game, most of it was well made. But if it had played more like Unleashed/Colours it would have been so much better. So maybe waiting a few years would have been good.

[Chooch]

The first thing that comes to mind is the music. The second thing that comes to mind is Darkspine Sonic. The third are the aesthetic of the levels.

I love the way they look and it almost disappoints me that the game was on rails because I would have loved to have been able to freely explore certain stages.

[JezMM]

It loses the magical air to it, but I think the C40 version would have done better as the final boss music, because its much more hardcore, and would have fit Darkspines a helluvalot more. I thought that whilst Steve Conte's version was good, it just lacked that final boss feeling, which I get a lot more from the heavier, more metallic Chords in Jun's take of it. God that Solo in the C40 version would have been perfect for Darkspines as he wailed on Alf Layla wa Layla

Also, I thought Black Knight handled the final Boss music a lot better, by having a completel new, and utterly badass With Me has the final boss music, with none other than Marty Friedman on the guitars accompanied by Senoue.

But that's getting off topic.

Edited May 8, 2011 by JezMM