Syf wrote:
Maybe it's because I haven't really played it in years, aside from booting it up the mini-games, but I fondly remember Secret Rings. I thought it was one of the better Sonic games in terms of design (and I say this as someone who thoroughly played "games" like Sonic '06, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Riders). My only real annoyances were not being able to backtrack properly and some of those later missions. I'd actually recommend it if you enjoy this, as it tends to be pretty cheap.
The first two words (not counting Lost Prologue) are pretty good. However, as the worlds get more complex and more difficult, the flaws rear their ugly heads more and more. I had to force myself to play through to the final boss and the end of the story before I sold it. You already mentioned the near inability to backtrack (and the motion used to do so is unresponsive at times). Needing to slide before jumping (with the length of slide resulting in jump height) is an incredibly stupid mechanic. Tilting the Wiimote forward to accelerate is really inconsistent as to when it works. Swinging the Wiimote for a homing attack is unresponsive at times. The wall sneak ability is really laggy. Waggling the Wiimote to raise a pot or when fighting the final boss is really exhausting. Switching rails when grinding is completely broken in that it's a complete crapshoot as to whether Sonic will jump left or right.
Overall, the idea that Sonic is on rails with his speed and trying to avoid obstacles just does not work. You approach things too quickly to react properly, and it's very difficult to perform timed and precision platforming when you can't stop or easily slow down. It's not nearly as bad with traditional analog movement and a much better ability to decelerate in the 3D sections of Unleashed, Colors, and Generations, but it's still the reasoning as to why 3D Sonic controls much better in the Adventure duology. It's a shame that after over a decade in 3D, the best games for controlling Sonic in 3D are still the very first ones.
