Secondly, gameplay is not a simple case of running from one end to the other. An objectives system akin to Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam is in place, forcing players to rerun particular sections of the overall track with different goals to complete. Collecting X amount of rings, killing a certain number of enemies, beating the clock - these objectives are the very challenges that gamers in 16-bit days would delight in imposing on themselves once they’d completed the game and wanted to stretch out the playing experience. In paying homage to the fan tradition of repeat runs, Secret Rings reveals itself to be the first Sonic title since the early nineties glory days to actually take the time to think about what made Sonic so popular in the first place.

Completely new, however, is the ability system. With an RPG-ish vibe Sonic can stock certain skills that affect how he handles. From simple speed increases to more minor tinkering with Sonic’s skidding distances, the idea is to equip Sonic before each task to give him the best fighting chance. While some tasks are impossible without certain skills - such as homing attacks to bop across an enemy-filled gap - outside of these move-set altering abilities, many of the 99 skills available feel slightly superfluous; minor adjustments that rarely affect gameplay. Once Sonic has amassed the core set of more obviously “useful” abilities he’s one powerful hedgehog - but a skill-slot-limiting leveling system does a good job of keeping such a combo out of your hands until you’re well into the game.