Sonic & The Secret Rings / Game

returned - didn't work on UK Wii

BEWARE: This is a listing for the Us version so make sure you know which type you're getting and whether your Wii or Wii U is compatible.About the game:This game is the first storybook game of Sonic but unlike previous sonic games, this one leaves you lost on where to go and how to play. I was ready for a new gameplay when I first tried secret rings but what you have to know straight away is that everything is different...Forget anything about the controls of Sonic the hedgehog or his trademark moves, it's all different in this game.Although the general plot is good and I can't fault the excellent music and feel of the game I have to warn you that if you don't pay attention you will wind up lost. Reading the manual usually isn't necessary but I'd advise reading anything that helps you remember what to do.When you first start up the game it looks good and you have a great intro movie that sets the mood but as soon as you start to play you'll find that the movies warp into looking like pages of a book. This might not sound so bad and Sonic and the Black Knight did good cut scenes that looked 'papery' but with this game you feel a bit cheated. Characters are drawn statically on the page and most of the plot is explained by their words with just a few still pictures to help you understand. This straight away raised big disappointment for me and smacked of sega being lazy.Once gameplay begins it is very hard to get used to the controls. Sonic is always set to running. You can slow him down using the 1 button but doing this at the right time takes skill and if you tip the wii remote either left or right even a little bit he keeps trying to walk there and if you let go for a second he'll start running again.You are given a turorial mode, a place to learn different skills. Basically there are different skills that sonic can master. Every time enough points are gained through general playing of the levels Sonic's skill level up and he's granted a new skill he can add to the ring he wears. Skills can be anything from the ability to charge forwards at extra speed at the start of a level to an increased ability to stop quickly. A set amount of skills can be placed on a ring, and depending on what style of gamplay you want you can choose which skills to put on the ring.Unfortunately this whole skills thing was lost on me for the first couple of weeks I played and I kept playing the game with no skills on Sonic's rings.While there is a tutorial chapter, each skill is learnt in a different level/mission. Each chapter of the storybook has several levels/missions within it and unfortunately it's not ever clear where you should go next. I could jump into the main story before completing all the available tutorial(prologue) levels.This gets more confusing after completing a story level. Instead of being presented a new level and moving the story forward like you are in normal sonic games you are instead given several side missions within that chapter. For example a chapter is called 'Evil Foundry' and before moving onto the next level I have to complete some side missions within evil foundry. What was more confusing to me while playing is that the game leaves no indication that I can actually move the story along -that the new chapter was available to play but instead just sais new levels/missions are available. You have to exit the chapter and look for the new one in a sort of menu.If you can get past this confusion and lack of decent cutscene movies then you do have a good story though. When I manage to get into the game I actually really enjoy playing but there is still such a frustration at not knowing when I can move on or how many missions I have to complete first.Party mode:Party mode is another area that this game has and unlike Sonic and the Black Knight, you CAN play party mode as a single player...I often do!The games in party mode are not hard to do but are fun to have a go at and even more fun with friends. There are different games to choose from, the treasure hunting game is my favourite. You have to find three pieces of treasure within a board game style area, but how many moves you have around this 'board' depends on where you came in the little party games you play. There's a good selection of fun party games to play and you can unlock others as you complete missions in the main game mode. New characters to play with in party mode are also unlocked in this way.I think I've played party mode more often than I have the main game, the controls are easier, and although some games are very silly and easy to play, if you are a single player you can set the cpu opponents difficulty level to hard.There is one other feature that I find annoying with both storybook games, this one and Black knight. That is the fact that music isn't freely available. There are a lot of things you can unlock along the way, there is a whole library of trophies, pictures and music but they are slowly unlocked through gameplay. I know this probably doesn't bother most people, but I've always enjoyed having access to level music without having to complete missions over and over until I reach a certain rank. Especially as doing this in this game is so much harder.Id recommend this game anyone of any age but beware that knowing where to go can be tricky. Sonic fans might dislike this game more than some for its difficulty in playing, new controls and the fact you can't connect a gamepad of any kind like you can with sonic colours. However the party mode is well worth it and the amount of unlockable content will keep you replaying...unless you give up first. Overall I give this game a 3 for fun in the main game, a 5 for fun in party mode so an overall 4...just!