It may be a new adventure, but Sonic is going solo once more, like his legend began

For years, the more mature gamers of our world have been vastly disappointed with the direction Sega has taken their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. His Dreamcast premier is widely considered to be the flagship of the series descent, with Sega adding far too many playable characters, and taking the speed-based fun out of the previous Sonic games. Since Sonic Adventure appeared on the Dreamcast system, Sonic and his... associates... have decimated the Blue Blur's reputation with several B-level games that have less and less to do with Sonic himself.

In an attempt to restore humanity's faith in their spokes-character, Sega has made the long-awaited and much anticipated decision to return to Sonic's roots, making Sonic and the Secret Rings the first game since the death of the Dreamcast to cast Sonic as the only playable character in Adventure Mode.

The gameplay itself returns to the more classic approach, while still retaining the few worthy improvements made over the years. Gone are all the fancy moves that have lately masked Sonic's trademark speed, although the ability to do a homing-attack has been kept, which does match up with the Sonic games of old. While some levels involve riding objects through obstacles will remind gamers of Sonic Rush, the instances where unwelcome nostalgia appear are few, and thankfully do not dominate the game in any sense.

A new game, a new world, and a new motivation

Sonic and the Secret Rings is truly a new adventure, not only because of the solo aspect, but also because of the plot itself. Sonic, after falling asleep reading the popular book Arabian Nights, wakes up to find himself confronted by a female genie named Shahra. According to the young Genie of the Ring, the world of Arabian Nights is being systematically erased by an evil genie named Erazor Djinn.

While Sonic does the expected and agrees to help Shahra defeat Erazor Djinn, he learns the hard way that not all in Arabian Nights is as it seems. The new villain decides it would be funny to shoot Sonic with a fire arrow who's fuse slowly burns down. If Sonic agrees to bring back the seven Secret Rings, Erazor will remove the arrow and allow Sonic to live.

Hmm... seven rings? Isn't it usually seven Chaos Emeralds?

Tilting, tipping, and smashing; techniques of a gamer on the run

With the Wiimote being completely motion based, the largest problem on Sega's hands seemed to be how to control the Hedgehog without making it tedious and difficult beyond imagining. But what might seem to be a challenge to the gamer looks like it was a piece of cake to the veteran company.

The Wiimote is held sideways like a controller for other systems, with the D-Pad in the left hand, but the resemblance to past controls stops there. Sonic moves forward automatically, leaving the player to concentrate more on direction, with speed hardly a problem. Tilting the Wiimote left and right changes Sonic's direction, and pulling the Wiimote towards your body allows Sonic to backtrack, in case he missed a valuable item in his journey. The second button works for jumping, and depending on how hard the button is pressed, Sonic jumps to various heights. His signature homing attack is initiated by flicking the Wiimote forwards at specified points during a jump.

This action also allows Sonic to activate Speed Break, giving Sonic a boost of speed similar to those given by booster pads that have appeared in every other Sonic game to date. Whether the Speed Break takes place of the booster pads, or can be used in junction with the pads is yet to be determined. The 'soul gauge' is filled by collecting Soul Orbs found throughout the levels, as well as the ever-present Rings. Sonic also employs a Time Break maneuver, which slows time itself, allowing a more precise control of movement, and giving Sonic a better chance to defeat fast-moving enemies.