Okay, info time!
First of all,
some of the info contains
SPOILERS. Giving you a heads up now.
Next, I strongly suggest you take a peek at the JPN Site. It's been updated and I gotta say it's looking REALLY sweet! :)
Now for the info. First source is from ONM, who rated the game an 81%. Here's some info they revealed: [Quoting from
http://www.sonicstadium.org/board/index.php?showtopic=25864]
"
Sonic's Wii debut is by no means perfect, but it's still a fantastic game that finally gives the blue blazer the sort of fast-paced, slick action he deserves. It's tricky to master but once you do, it really shines.
[...]there are the odd occasions where the game will switch to a dramatic camera angle amd throw your sense of direction a bit. This can be annoying at first, but once you get used to the way the game works you'll quickly become accustomed to it.
Another minor quibble was that players may be "slightly disappointed" at the "jogging pace" that Sonic starts out with, but assures us that
[...]the pace soon picks up, reaching ridiculously fast speeds in later stages.
The lock-on system has been praised, and ONM also assures us that the difficulty with back-pacing from the earlier versions has now been fixed and
despite initial concerns the controls have actually turned out pretty well.
Moving onto special abilities, we're told that there are
104 in total, including
top speed and acceleration boosts (which get rid of the early slowness problem) to the ability to turn left and right in mid-air to the ability to only lose 20 rings when you're attacked instead of all of them.
Each ability uses up a number of points, which you build up as you go through the game, meaning
you can't just turn on all the abilities and have a super-charged Sonic - you'll need to think tactically.
Basically we're told you can store up to 4 different ring configutions (eg, one with speed skills for simple levels, one with time-stop and mid-air freeze for more frantic ones etc), so it's important to choose a good set for whichever mission you're attempting.
Speed break and Time break (particularly the latter) are praised.
ONM confirms that completing different tasks (finish without dying, finish with 50 rings, etc) does indeed unlock
"concept art, vintage art, Sonic Team videos and so on" as game bonuses (iiinteresting!).
Bosses are varied, we're told, and the article references the crab-horn battle we've already seen, as well as a scorpion boss, and another battle which is very reminiscent of Sonic Rush boss battles.
Onto the graphics.
Graphically the game's very impressive. Each stage seems almost to have been created to push as many different graphical tricks as possible, from the water in the opening desert level to the pouring rain on the pirate ship stage, to snow and reflective floor effects later on. And once you've equipped Sonic with a load of speed abilities the levels zip by extremely smoothly with no hint of slowdown.However, we're told that the game isn't without fault and that
As enjoyable as the control system is, there are still times when you'll get pretty frustrated when you can't get past a certain part of a level and will die repeatedly, such as an area in a fire-based level where you have to do a homing attack on an enemy across a huge pit without large falling objects hitting you.We're told that eventually you'll get past and have less trouble next time, but that
"the initial encounter is far too frustrating to be enjoyable".The article suggests that the "Japanese pop-rock" is not to everyone's auditory tastes, but they personally felt
it was "catchy: cheesy but fun".Although we were glad to see that you only had to play as Sonic and not any of the less popular characters such as Shadow or Amy Rose, he's still accompanied by an
annoying fairy character named Shahra. She's apparently a Ring Spirit who's there to help Sonic but is really just a pain in the backside, spouting some
awful chat that makes us cringe. And of course Sonic gives it the old 'embarrasing dad' patter again, with the sort of
'hip' phrases that would get him a kicking in a nightclub.
Of the rest of the cast, they inform us what we pretty much already know (and flag
Aladdin as another featuring character, though they don't say who he's 'played' by).
Onto the minigames! Sadly, ONM aren't too impressed, complaining that
"the majority of these games are just too short".With a bit more work the Party mode could have been excellent, but
it just feels slightly empty[...] Nevertheless, with 4
0 games on offer, you're still sure to find some that you will enjoy and play again with mates. It's just a shame that so many of them don't last long. It seems a bit of a wasted opportunity as there's clearly a lot of potential here. Shame.
Their final word on the game as a whole is this.
Whether these problems are enough to completely ruin your enjoyment of the full game is down to your personal taste, but we still had a great time with Sonic and the Secret Rings.
We feel it's the best of Sonic's 3D platform adventures (the original Sonic Adventure included), but whether it's the best Sonic title of recent times is open for debate (we still feel that Sonic Rush on the DS gives a truer Sonic experience). Still, it's certainly a solid, enjoyable game that will restore your faith in the blue hedgehog. And once you've got your head around the new controls you'll have a great time with it. "
"
_______
So that's the official review. That's not what I'm all excited about (or was in chat) but I thought I'd post it to let you all see how it did. Next, are answers to questions posed to a staff member on ONM who played the game extensively. I requested Alondite to post my questions there and if he did, I would've had answers to the questions I REALLY wanted to be answered. Nevertheless, be forewarned, SPOILER alert (not huge ones as in the Last Story for 06 but still) and bold tags will be added by yours truly for emphasis.
Here we go....
"
How does it controll? Do they work well?
Yup, the controls work well enough. As you probably know, you control Sonic by holding the Remote on its side and tilting it left and right. For the most part this is accurate, and you do feel in control most of the time.
It is alot like a 2d game, right? It's on 'tracks'.
Well, yeah, sort of. When we say it's like the 2D games we mean it takes the game back to its roots with just fast gameplay and simple controls. We don't mean it plays just like the 2D games because they offered more freedom (you could walk eithe rforwards or backwards). It's maybe not the best example because it makes it sound worse than it is, but it's more like the bonus stage in Sonic 2 or Sonic Rush.
Does it have multi player?
Not in the main Adventure mode. It does allow up to four players in Party mode though.
Do you find that the sheer speed of the game increases the difficulty? In some videos it looks far too fast to be able to react to things quickly enough.
Yes and no.
Many of the times when it looks like it's going stupidly fast you're usually not in control (it's a set-piece or something). The game deliberately starts things off quite slow (well, slowish) so you can get used to the controls, then when you later unlock speed upgrades the game will progressively get faster. Is it as long a Zelda Wii?
No. Nothing is.
Is it breatakingly hard or not?
It can be tricky at times, but I'll get into more detail later.
Who's the main enemy and is there anyone Sonic will meet along the way like Shadow in SA2 and Blaze in Rush ?
The main enemy is Erazor Djinn, an evil genie.
Though you meet other characters throughout the game they only appear in the cut-scenes. I actually like the look and sound of this. Can you please reassure me it's not going to be as goshdarned awful as most modern Sonic titles?
Well, I dunno if I can reassure you since I can only give my opinion. But for what my opinion's worth, I think
it's much more enjoyable than the recent slew of terrible Sonic console games (culminating in the abysmal 360 and PS3 game). What is camera control like, because in recent 3d sonic games I find the camera quite annoying, especially if you trying make a jump and the camera wont line up behind sonic then you end up missing and dying ¬.¬
The camera is rarely an issue actually, since because the game's effectively "on rails" the ideal camera angles have already been set up. This means it usually follows behind Sonic until he reaches a set area, at which point it'll automatically change. With all the hype surrounding how fast it is, Is it too fast? because in 2-D it would be a lot easier to see where enemies are, so is it hard to see where enemies are?
It's set out in a way that the enemies are either large enough to see in the distance, or are positioned after jumps. See, whenever you hold 2 to charge a jump, targets appear around the enemies. When you let go of 2 those targets change to red, allowing you to attack them by flicking the Remote forward.
So although you may be going too fast to see some enemies, whenever you jump you'll see the targets pointing them out. What is the difficulty like? Very easy, moderately difficult or frustratingly difficult, and are there any stand out moments where you can get truly stuck?
The difficulty's a strange one. At times it's quite straightforward but at others you need split-second timing to proceed. At times it can get a bit frustrating, but usually once you manage to get past an annoying bit once, you'll be able to do it much easier the next time. And of course, some frustrating parts are easier to deal with if you configure your ring properly. How on earth do boss fights work? An on rails boss sounds pants.
It depends on the boss, because they all work in different ways.
The first boss is a giant enemy scorpion which keeps running away while trying to attack you with its pincers. You have to chase after it, running left and right to avoid it, then when it misses its attack you use your homing jump to attack the middle of it. So the camera's still behind Sonic as in the normal game, but the stage loops constantly until you defeat the scorpion.
Later boss stages are controlled slightly differently, including a side-on one that's similar to the Sonic Rush boss battles. What's the music like? Sonic games normally have awesome music, hopefully this will keep up that tradition.
Yup, it's the same sort of thing.
Plenty of Japanese rock and hip-hop stuff.
What would you rate it 1 - 10 graphic wise? it certainly looks good on the video!
Ha, if I'd to give it a number I'd give it an 8.
The videos that you've seen already haven't even featured the most attractive levels yet. How may different playable characters are there, inc sonic?
Just one in Adventure mode. In the Party mode there are eight.
Are the loading times good,unlike the Xbox version?
Yes. Of course there are still loading times, but they're only average loading times and
never feel too long, certainly not to the extent that anyone can really complain about it. Would you say it's the best 3D Sonic game so far?
I'd say that although they're slightly different games, it's up there with the first Sonic Adventure. Do abrupt stops ruin the flow of it? On the videos it looks like it take a fair bit of time to get back to speed, does this get aggravating at all?
It does get annoying every now and then, but as I said previously, the further you get into the game the faster your acceleration and top speed becomes.
were your eyeballs popping out from intense speed
No, my glasses kept them in place.
Previous 3D sonic games have failed, as they have never felt right or been able to compare to the original games on the Mega Drive. Could this game break the mould or Sonic 3D games and be closer to teh original games' success and all around brilliance than the other 3D games?
With a bit of luck, yes. My only worry is that the recent string of rubbish Sonic games have dented Sonic's reputation, meaning Secret Rings may not sell as well or be as successful, simply because a lot of people have lost patience with 3D Sonic games, which is a shame.
What are your reactions to the Party Mode, are the minigames as good as they look?
Much like Monkey Ball, they're a bit hit-and-miss. Some of them are fun but others feel pretty pointless. A lot of them are also over much quicker than they should be. r there more unlockable characters 4 multiplayer aprt fomr the comfirmed 8
No. Is tails cool as ali baba
Yeah, but he's only really in it for a minute or so. can the camara keep up with the pace of the game?
Yup.
It's locked to the speed you're travelling at, so if you go at 100mph the camera will go at 100mph. how big are the bosses?
Pretty damn big. The first level's scorpion thing is large, and the other boss battles, while not alays featuring huge bosses, are still pretty spectacular.
While the final bos isn't exactly large himself, the battle is excellent and features a pretty sweet way of defeating him. For me, the appeal of the decent sonic games is the arcade feel- which has never been present in Sonics 3D escapades. Is this present in Secret Rings?
Yup, it definitely feels like the sort of thing you'd see in the arcades.
For me, the appeal of the decent sonic games is the arcade feel- which has never been present in Sonics 3D escapades. Is this present in Secret Rings?
Yup, it definitely feels like the sort of thing you'd see in the arcades.
this is a 3D Sonic game- one which rumoured to remove the negative thoughts '3D Sonic' brings... Is this game just going to be identified as another 3D Sonic game, or is this actually good?
It depends. As I said before, the poor quality of recent 3D games may have already pushed people's opinions too far, so many may pass this off as "another 3D Sonic game" without trying it out. For what it's worth, I see it as completely seperate from Sonic 360, Sonic Heroes etc.
What gaming genre best describes this, driving or platformer... or a bit of both?
It's more of a platformer, especially in the later levels where there's a lot of jumps and it's not just a case of tilting left and right through open plains.
Will it have any replay value, such as collectables, e.g Twilight Princess has heart containers, poe souls, bugs e.t.c
Well, each level has a number of missions, and doing all those will take you a while. You'll also have to unlock all 100+ abilities that you can then store on Sonic's ring. Every time you finish the level you'll also get a completion time, meaning you may want to replay some missions over again to try and beat your best time. ONM Challenge section anyone?
Will the game challenge more advanced gamers... someone mentioned 10 hours play time, not much really, but will it offer some sort of challenge, or will you fly through it with no problem atall?
At first it seems quite simple but some of the missions are extremely tricky. I've seen some experienced games journalists break down in fury during the final battle. I remember whilst playing other Sonic games, I felt I could not play as quickly as the game itself suggests you can. The reasoning for this is that enemies get in your way, and you then have to collect back all your rings... Do these annoying pauses occur in this new Sonic game? Or is it more like Sonic rush where you can blaze through enemies without making the game too easy...?
There are generally less enemies than there are in other Sonic games, so there aren't a lot of situations where you'll run blindly into one.
What makes this 3D Sonic different from other 3D Sonics, such as Adventure and Heroes?
It's good.
Was sonic rideing a bulit bill in one of the screenshots or was it a normal overly lage bullet does it have a face?
It was a large bullet, not a Bullet Bill. There's no Sonic/Mario crossover here.
exactly how compleate is the game right now and how much have you played?
100%, all of it.
Being a long time Sonic fan I wonder is this Sonic game actually worth buying? I'm getting really annoyed about Sega and how they keep giving us average games and yet I still buy them anyway! Will this be the best Sonic game since Sonic 3?
I think "best since Sonic 3" could be tricky, since I think Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic CD were sweet too. But yeah, if you're a long time Sonic fan (as I am) you should be happy with this. There are still some annoying things (such as the terrible voice acting) but it's an enjoyable enough game. Does Sonic have specific 'powers' or items which he needs to help him in a certain level?
Yup, some levels will have specific items, such as winged pots that Sonic needs to jump into and fly upwards (by moving the Remote up and down quickly). He also has the 100+ abilities that you can unlock.
Does it play like the E3 version?
It's improved since that. It's a lot easier to walk backwards if you miss something, and it's not as glitchy.
Is Robotnik in the game?
Yes, but only for a minute in a cutscene.
do you know if SEGA will release the soundtrack "Seven rings in his hands" over here too?
Don't think so, since the other soundtracks were never officiall released here as far as I know. You never know though.
is they storyline interesting (no need to tell me what its about if u dont want to, just asking whether or not its interesting)
Well, it's certainly different. It's interesting to see Sonic in a different situation, but whether you prefer that to the usual "trying to get Chaos Emeralds before Robotnik" storylines will be down to your personal taste.
Will fans of the Adventure series enjoy it?
Yup, they should do.
i really feel Sonic's switch to 3D has been far from smooth. I dont even think its been done properly yet. Does the Secret Rings change all that or is yet another shameful attempt to bring Sonic into modern gaming.
It's certainly not shameful, it's a great attempt.
[***VERY KEY***]
Please, tell me that only Sonic is in this game and no one is unlockable...
It's just Sonic. Well, sort of. You'll see what I mean when you get near the end. should I get it if I don't have the money for all the other "top" games coming out this year aswell?(that includes Fire Emblem)
Well, considering Fire Emblem won't be out for ages (the Japanese version's not even out yet and it'll take an age to translate), it shouldn't really affect your decision. But it's certainly a good game, and worth your money.
Can you find anything that is flawed about the controls and how could they have been improved?
There's always room for improvement, after all the Remote's still quite new in gaming.
For the most part the controls are fine but I was a bit annoyed when trying to control the winged pots I mentioned above. Those are quite rare though. Are the chao's back? I want my chao! There is a Chao garden, isnt there?
Nope, sorry. Just how repetitive does this game plan to be? I am very likely to avoid it because the party games look like Super Monkey Ball/Mario party rips and the main game is just tilting left and right.
Trust me, there's more to the main game than tilting left and right. After all, would you say that Sonic Rush was just running left and right?
Is the game really set in Arabia?
No, it's set in the various stories of the Arabian Nights. For example, Dinosaur Jungle's based on a Sinbad story.
Does the game feel any better without all the added characters, like Silver, Shadow, etc?
I'd personally say so, yup. Even as far back as the first Sonic Adventure I didn't really like the Big The Cat, Amy Rose or E-102 Gamma levels, and would always find myself going back to the Sonic ones. So this does away with trying to make five different gameplay styles and focuses on one major one.
How much does this compare to Sonic's other 3D outings (including Sonic Rush)?
I personally don't think it's as good as Sonic Rush, but that's because I'm a sucker for 2D-style platforming.
Is better using the Wii remote to control Sonic?
Depends on what you're comparing it to. Compared to a Mega Drive controller, it's not (since nothing will beat the originals, it seems). But compared to an analogue stick (such as the God-awful 360 game) then it's much better.
Do the graphics do the Wii justice?
Absolutely. Sort out your video vault it's rubbish hardly any videos work including the Sonic and the secret rings one, and its not just my computer
The Video Vault's fine, but you need to install the very latest Quicktime software, since it's encoded in the latest high-quality Quicktime codec. If you don't have the very latest Quicktime you'll only get sound and no video.
Woah, look at all the questions... bet Chris is kicking himself for doing this
Yes I am.
Anyway, I was wondering, are all the levels based on famous books? I can see what looks like Jurassic Park (was a book first, folks) and Arabian Nights in there, but I've seen a pirate level and something which looks like Castle in the Sky as well. Well?
No, they're all based on Arabian Nights stories. No Jurassic Park, no Castle In The Sky, it's all Arabian Nights stories.
we all know that tails and knuckles will be in it as ali baba and sinbad, but are they invovled in the story and ,if you can play as them, how do they play?
They literally show up at the end of their respective level in a cutscene. Sonic recognises them, but they don't recognise him. It's a case of "Tails!" "Eh? I'm Ali Baba, who are you" etc. How many levels will there be, and what will some of them be based on?
From what I can remember, there are eight worlds, including a pirate ship, a floating island, a lava-based level and the fantastic final level.
How do you get from level to level (Advwenture had a city, Adventure Battle just had a map)?
There's a level select screen. Wii or Xbox360 version?
Wii, by a substantial margin.
When will it be out?
2nd of March.
Is this finally a return to form for Sonic Team (Japan, not USA) or is this further confirmation that the once legendary dev team is DOA.
It's definitely a return to form, partly thanks to the return of Ogawa-san: this is his first Sonic game since the original Sonic Adventure (arguably the best 3D Sonic game).
Do the controls feel tacked on or an integral part of the game.
They're definitely integral, since the game was built for the Wii from the ground up as opposed to being a GameCube game that was changed at the last minute. The game would simply be rubbish with an analogue stick, since it wouldn't feel right to have a control system with up/down controls and not have them be used.
What's the ninth panel in the Multiplayer screen if it's not an extra character?
It's a "Random" button, letting you pick a random character.
How big are the cameos of the other Sonic characters in this game?
Assuming you mean in the main mode, they're very small cameos. How does the 'Wild fire' meter work?
It's now called the Soul Gauge. It builds up as you collect the glowing orbs that lie around the stage. When it builds up you can use special moves (such as a huge speed boost or the ability to slow down time).
Just how 'evil' is Erazor? There has only been two 'really' evil villians in the Sonic game series.
Well, he's wrecked all the worlds in a big story book so he's pretty evil. And he keeps calling Sonic a "rat" so if you think that's evil then there you go. If eggmans in it, does he look like he used to (a bit comical, funny, doomed to failure), or like he does in the 360 one (evil, bald man, less fat, sinister madman)?
Like I said, he's barely in it. But when he is, it's old-school all the way.
I've been told from a number of sources that Sonic is the only playable character. Yet it seems that you can play as Knuckles and co. in mutliplayer mode. Does this only apply for multiplayer?
In the main Adventure mode, Sonic is the only playable character. There's no multiplayer in this mode. In the Party mode (the mini-games), you can choose from one of eight characters.
is Shodow the hedgehog going to be incorperated in any way
He's selectable in the mini-games.
Does the game have any glitches you know of?
Well, it wouldn't be a 3D Sonic game without glitches! Seriously, I played the game for a lengthy period of time and only remember encountering one glitch. In other words, it's no more glitchy than any other platformer. It certainly feels more "solid" than the other Sonic games, Sonic doesn't feel like he weighs about a stone.
Will the Special Book's 225 pages of special bonus materials keep us busy for long?
Depends. Most of it's artwork and such.
Is there an animated/CG intro at all?
Yup, and it's sweet. Does the skill modifying work well?
Yeah, there's a noticeable difference between the speed modifiers, and some of the abilities (like being able to stop moving forward mid-air) are really handy. Will you need to custom much to get through all the different levels?
You won't need to, but it'll make it much easier. For example, in a level with a lot of jumps and pits (like the Foundry level), you might want to de-equip the speed abilities and add stuff like the aforementioned ability to stop mid-air (in case you overshoot a jump). Are the voices acted well?
About as well as they usually are. So no.
Does Sonic's Time Break move slow him down at all or does he continue on fast while everything else freezes/slows?
It literally slows down the whole game, including Sonic. Its very handy for accurately aiming somewhere instead of trying to position him at a hundred miles an hour.
Do the party characters differ in how each of them play in the games at all? I doubt it but thought I'd ask.
Nope. Other than the fact that Knuckles looks naturally cooler when he plays a violin. Is this game going to have any advertising campaigns like TV ads, magazine ads, web ads, posters etc...
Yup. Posters you say? Check the new issue of ONM.
How many skills can you equpi to each of sonic's 4 rings?
It depends on how many experience points you have. Each skill is worth a certain amount of points, so you can equip as many as you want as long as you have enough points. Though obviously, some of them clash and you can only pick one (such as only one acceleration boost).
Does Sonic start out with 1 of the skill rings and have to earn the other 3?
He only ever has one. The four "rings" are actually just four different editable configurations for the same ring. It basically means you can customise four different configurations at once and select them quickly instead of having to reconfigure after every stage. So you might want to set up a speedy ring for missions where you have to complete the level in a certain time, or set one up with loads of defensive abilities for missions where you have to complete the level without dying. [***ALSO KEY***]
Does super sonic make a return to form? Is he even in this game??
There's no Super Sonic as such, but there's a Super Sonic-esque devlopment. I refuse to spoil it though.Look up at the two "KEYS" I mentioned. Any speculations that wanna go around?
