Sonic and the Secret Rings

This isn’t to say that Secret Rings is a walk/blistering sprint in the park - another nod back to its Genesis roots is its old school challenge. Initial runs through the levels are easy enough, generous checkpoints and unlimited attempts easing us through. It’s with later objectives that things get nasty, requiring perfect memory of obstacle and foe layout to even think about nailing the unimpressive bronze medals and near-godlike skills needed to unlock golds. Levels become mere chains of moves with left-left-jump-shake-tilt-jump-right-right-jump etched in your memory.

Sounds anal? Well, it’s the secret to seeing the game at its best. Played by a perfectionist, Secret Rings is face-meltingly fast and beautiful to behold. It was designed to be seen at top speed and when he slows down Sonic looks plain wrong, his legs sluggishly slipping against the ground when they should be one continual blur. Likewise, nothing ruins the moment like missing a gate switch and having to stop and backtrack - albeit by only five meters - to hit it. Hitting the 1 button puts on the brakes and tilting the remote backwards makes Sonic reverse - a hideously clumsy action in a game obviously designed for going forwards. It doesn’t ruin the game, but it ruins that particular run. Hit restart and make it all better.

Just as the game gets better as you improve at it, so do the stunning graphics. As Sonic dashes along translucent neon corkscrewing air trails in Levitated Ruins or sprints past the truly gorgeous undulating waves and lashing rain of Pirate Bay, it would take a fool not to give Sonic Team its due and claim that this is the finest-looking Wii game to date. Sonic Team is happy to let these vistas pass in a flash - a testament to their confidence that what’s coming around the next corner is guaranteed to impress in equal amounts.