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Forums - Gaming Discussion - The self sabotage of Sonic and the Secret Rings

stof on 14 October 2007

Alright, so I rented Sonic and the Secret Rings. The reviews sounded intriguing (if mixed) so I thought I'd give it a go.


After spending some time with it, I think I'm ready to take a guess at how this game was produced. Someone at Sega decided to rethink the Sonic strategy and managed to make the best 3D sonic of all time. It was fast, intense, smooth and looked gorgeous. But I'm thinking that some office politics got involved, and near the end, it was decided that they'd mercilessly sabotage their own game.

First up was the cosmetic. "Lets add the worst story we could possibly think of" said one Sega exec. "Alright replied the other, but only if we can use wretched voice acting in it". "Deal, and you know what the arabian nights story really needs? a bad punk rock soundtrack"

And it only goes downhill from there. The tacked on RPG elements are more of a nuisence than annything else. Especially wnen you look at what most of the gained abilities are. Moving from side to side smoother, backing up easier, jumping smoother. Yes, you actually have to earn the chance to not have crappy controls.

you're constantly having to replay the levels with different and awful objectives. "Don't break any jars" is the worst so far. That and Don't kill any enemies. 

But by far, the worst part is what they've done to the gameplay. Jumping and backing up is so unfluid that it almost feels broken at times. And I'm not even going to touch the party games, as I actually refuse to try them out.

So in all, Sonic and the Secret Rings is the most frustrating game I've ever played. But the reason is because it's such an awesome game at it's core. When it works, it just plain works. I've had intense rounds and I just can't wait to play more. The problem is that when I do play it, I just get mad at what Sega did to their masterpiece.

Had they  scrapped the stupid story, music,  minigames, rpg elements and some of the repeat missions, tightened up jumping and added some more levels, It'd easily rival the 2D sonics in the awesome department. As it is, I'm completely torn right now. I don't know whether to buy the game and play it regularilly or smash the rental copy and suffer the consequences at Microplay.

Discuss.






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naznatips on 14 October 2007

Er... you pretty much summarized my feelings about the game, so I guess I'll just say, I agree.

I hope they make a sequel and fix that crap so that it's an actual viable game. It really was a great idea but just horribly executed. My hope for the first good Sonic game since the Genesis is still Sonic RPG on the DS.



HappySqurriel on 14 October 2007

I only rented it and played it for a few hours and I became (rapidly) frustrated at how much of the game was navigating menus ...

I thought that the idea was excellent and if they had a better overall design and vision it could have been an excellent game.



konnichiwa on 14 October 2007
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/lambardi2/S5030379.jpg%5B/IMG%5D">....




stof on 14 October 2007

Yeah, I'm on the sequal hoping bandwagon. It just strikes me as hard to fathom how a game can get so much attention in the graphics (both technical and artistically) and be so broken in other regards.

It's interesting to look at gameranking scores. There's quite the range between peole that saw the brilliant game underneath, and others that can't get passed all the crap heaped on top. I'm somewhere in the middle right now. I'd probably give the game somewhere between a 6 and a 7, which is painful to say considering just how awesome it can be at times.

It's sold 720,000 world wide, so we're pretty much garuanteed a sequel. Here's hoping.



I'm a mod, come to me if there's mod'n to do. 

Chrizum is the best thing to happen to the internet, Period.

Serves me right for challenging his sales predictions!

Bet with dsisister44: Red Steel 2 will sell 1 million within it's first 365 days of sales.

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El Duderino on 14 October 2007

I agree 100%, there was a great game in there but as you stated it was lost due to many many bad decisions.



 

 

 

Rubang B on 14 October 2007

I loved the game. To me it was the long-awaited sequel to the 3-d halfpipe bonus stages of Sonic 2. However, there are certain things that must be done to enjoy this game:

1) switch the dialogue from English to Japanese
2) turn the music OFF

Then it's fun as hell. I got so into it fighting the boss that when I shook the remote to attack I fell out of my chair and onto my ass. It gets intense.



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DonWii on 14 October 2007

So in all, Sonic and the Secret Rings is the most frustrating game I've ever played. But the reason is because it's such an awesome game at it's core. When it works, it just plain works. I've had intense rounds and I just can't wait to play more.

Yes, there was a great game in their. I unlocked it, and it was AWESOME. Level 99 bitches.

But it was one hell of a frustration. Of course, I am one to forgive the bad with the good. 



shams on 14 October 2007

I agree completely, and feel the same way about the game.

Its probably the most disappointing game I have played this generation yet - it had so much promise, but was ruined due to bad menu/RPG design more than anything else.



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andrewpeirce on 14 October 2007

I think they figured out the formla, but were afriad the wii would fail so they made the game bad, so that their next ps3/360 game would be a smash hit and would make tons of cash for em. seeing how the wii is doing, I bet the nex sonic Wii title will instead be great. I also have a GREAT idea for a stroy for the next sonic game, ill post my idea later