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September 1, 2007

Notes from Ferdy - Sonic and the Secret Rings

The principle behind Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Ninteno Wii is pretty simple.

To the left, you see a typical player trying to make a difficult jump in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Players know intellectually that swaying to and fro like a demented palm tree in a tropical storm has no effect on the game; however, when Sonic is about to fall into a lake of toxic waste, the intellectual part of the mind hits the panic button and instinct takes over. Sonic the Hedgehog is about speed, and speed in a platform video game means charging recklessly into unknown territory with no protection. That means you hit the panic button a lot. The new, motion-sensitive Wii Remote is designed to read your movements so that you have a rational excuse for imitating the demented palm tree. Hence, it seemed a natural fit for a new Sonic game.

Modern platform games operate in a generally two-dimensional universe. You wander aimlessly around the map picking things up and blasting bad guys. Sonic and the Secret Rings, however, is almost purely one-dimensional. You follow a path at high speed, leaning left and right to avoid obstacles and periodically mashing a button to jump over hurdles. (I'm not talking real hurdles here, I'm talking about giant spiky things used by the same sort of landscape planners that think pits of molten lava add character to your typical rural setting.) You are also allowed to back up, which is crucial for the boss fights, and during the game you gain additional powers you can use to make the later levels less difficult. Most of the powers involve vigorously thrusting the controller forward. This makes you feel more connected to the action, though as the picture below indicates, it does have some drawbacks.

I can't tell you what it's like to play Secret Rings, but watching it is a lot of fun. If you watch Barb Gigamaster play, it feels like you're flying. If you watch Bruce play, it feels like you're caught in a train wreck. This means that as a spectator you can find a player to match any sort of mood you're in.

Anyway, Barb says Secret Rings is a throwback to what Sonic games should be, and while it's fairly short (she finished it in less than two weeks), it also has a series of multiplayer mini-games you can unlock by collecting flaming rings called fire souls. The mini-games are all turn-based, but before each turn the players compete in a real-time challenge to determine the order of play and how many moves they can make. This creates a nice balance of strategy and silliness, both essential elements of any true party game.

So, if you're a Sonic fan and you own a Wii, Sonic and the Secret Rings will not be a disappointment. Just be careful with the thrusting.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat

# At Sat 1:08 AM | Permalink | Trackback URI | Comments (3) | More Notes from Ferdy | Tags: Barb humor Nintendo parody Sega Sonic and the Secret Rings Sonic the Hedgehog video games Wii

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Posted by: Michael at September 1, 2007 2:32 AM

Posted by: Michael at September 1, 2007 2:46 AM

Posted by: John at September 2, 2007 7:23 AM