Sonic and the Secret Rings

Sonic and the Secret Rings (ソニックと秘密のリング), is a video game developed by Sonic Team within the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was released exclusively for the Wii on February 20, 2007 in North America, in Europe on March 2, 2007 and in Japan on March 15, 2007. .

Gameplay
Sonic and the Secret Rings is a departure from the previous 3-D outings. Sonic has special moves that can be both customized and combined to suit certain situations. Sonic can use some of 104 new skills throughout each of the stages in this game. With these special skills equipped, Sonic can perform new moves, improve his existing moves, and obtain special effects in these moves. For instance, one defensive move enables Sonic to, upon sustaining damage, lose only 10 rings instead of the usual 20. Another increases the range of his homing attack, and a third grants him the ability to backflip. A fourth grants him a Soul Gauge with which to perform super moves. The gauge is available when the first "Foundry" stage is cleared. There is also an experience and leveling system, in which the player's score, collected Fire Souls, and some skills obtained will contribute towards increasing his level. Leveling up grants the player more points with which to equip skills, a higher cap on the number of rings he can hold and an increased Soul Gauge. Players have to, before selecting a stage, decide which skills would be best-suited for the respective mission and equip certain skills over others. Since there are so many skills, players may customize one of the four "Skill Rings" available, so they do not have to select all the skills they need each time they enter a new level. When Sonic's Soul Gauge is sufficiently full, using the D-pad (up or down) enables Sonic to use one of two abilities. "Speed Break" boosts him to incredible speeds and grants him partial invincibility, allowing him to defeat enemies, break certain objects, and ignore certain hazards(D-pad up). "Time Break" slows down time for better aim and obstacle evasion, and can expose certain items and objects (such as the elusive Fire Souls) that would be invisible and impossible to collect or interact with otherwise(D-pad down). Both moves require a base amount of Soul to initiate, and then continually drain Soul while in operation. Also, one skill, named "Soul Resurrection", allows Sonic to take a hit without dying at 0 rings by depleting his Soul Gauge by 100 points. To build up energy in this "Soul" meter, small collectible "fire orbs", called Pearls, are dispersed throughout each stage. Also, certain Skills can increase the Soul Gauge. Certain stages will also present the need for Sonic to utilize different mechanisms to reach new areas. These special stage-unique abilities and mechanisms range, depending on the stage.

Control
In Adventure mode, players control Sonic with the Wii Remote by holding the controller sideways with both hands. This style of play was designed to be able to use the controller in unique ways that take advantage of the Wii Remote's control mechanisms. Unlike other Sonic games, in which Sonic is controlled directly, Secret Rings features an indirect "on-rails" method of control in which Sonic moves forward automatically in a semi-linear path. Sonic's movement can be controlled by tilting the controller left or right. The "Nunchuk" peripheral is not used in this game. In the extra Party Mode, the Nintendo GameCube controllers are usable for players 2-4.

Modes
There are three modes of play in the game: Adventure, Party, and Special Book.

Adventure
Adventure mode consists of the eight worlds that players will navigate Sonic through as part of the game's main plot. There are 12 missions per world, except for Lost Prologue, which has 21.

Medals may be awarded to the player for completing the mission within a certain time. Medals are bronze, silver or gold, and will unlock bonuses in the player's Special Book. If the player collects a certain number of silver medals he/she will receive the corresponding crest for Sonic. These crests are Dark, Fire and Wind, and can be unlocked by collecting 100, 105 and 110 silver medals respectively.

Party
The game features a multiplayer Party mode that can support up to four players simultaneously. This mode allows connectivity with GameCube Controllers for players 2-4, a feature that was never mentioned by Sega. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are all default characters, but Shadow, Cream, Silver, and Blaze are all unlockable characters that can be accessed only after meeting certain requirements in the game. This multiplayer mode takes the form of consecutive orders based on secular gameplay modes.

Special Book
In Special Book mode, players can play the 226 bonuses in the game that are unlocked by beating levels quickly, collecting fire souls which can be found in various stages. There are three fire souls in each stage, achieving various milestones and discovering secret areas. Some of these bonuses include movies of the making of the game, cutscenes, video interviews, concept art, and music from the game.

Plot
As the story begins, Sonic is sleeping on a couch close to the fireplace in his house, with the Arabian Nights book over his eyes. He wakes up to check the time (reads 2:55 a.m.), and he picks up a strange ring. A moment after looking at the ring, Shahra the Ring Genie pops out of the ring he was apparently looking at, shocking him. She reveals that an evil entity known as the Erazor Djinn (actually a genie from the story of Aladdin) is absorbing the power of the book and causing pages of it to disappear. If he is not stopped, his power will be unleashed onto the real world unless the "Legendary Blue Hedgehog," told of in the stories, can stop him. Shahra gives Sonic the ring that seals a contract between her and her new master. Sonic rubs it as instructed, and is asked for a wish. Sonic, because of a recent cold he caught, sneezes and wishes for handkerchiefs and receives a mountain full of them, partially and temporarily burying him. He then wishes to travel into the world of the Arabian Nights and flies into the book on a magic carpet. After meeting Erazor Djinn, the evil genie throws an arrow of flame at Shahra as a punishment for not obtaining the World Rings for him. Sonic jumps in the way to rescue her and gets arrowed in the chest. Amused, Erazor Djinn tells them that if they do not get him the Rings before the flame goes out, Sonic's "life is forfeit." So they begin their epic journey to retrieve them.

Sonic & Shahra collect all of the World Rings, and go to Erazor Djinn. Sonic asks for the flame to be removed, but instead, Erazor lures Shahra into giving him the rings. Erazor then tries to sacrifice Sonic to obtain control over the power of the World Rings, but Shahra interferes and sacrifices herself instead. Erazor Djinn absorbs all seven world rings and becomes a mutated, unfinished genie called Alf-Layla-Wa-Layla (translated to "1,001" in Arabic). But after a few spasms, 4 rings are fused into Sonic, probably those of Sadness, Rage, Hatred, and Wishes turning him into a much more violent form called Darkspines Sonic. After he defeats Erazor, the relic Shahra gave Sonic turns out to be Erazor Djinn's lamp, which Sonic uses to make Erazor fulfill his 3 wishes: to bring Shahra back to life, set free the inscriptions of the Arabian Nights, and finally, for Erazor Djinn to be sealed in his lamp for the rest of time. Erazor refuses, but his body is forced to grant the commands. Erazor tries to convince Shahra to help him, but she doesn't, leaving the evil genie to be sucked into the lamp. At the end, Sonic asks Shahra for a mountain of handkerchiefs so she can cry as long as she needs to, similar to their meeting. After the credits, the story "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", is changed to "Sonic and the Secret Rings".

Characters
In addition to Sonic the Hedgehog, several other characters appear in the game. Many of these characters are new to the franchise; Arabian Nights mysteriously appearing to look like established characters in the franchise without explanation. These returning characters are recognized throughout the game by Sonic, but do not recognize him in return because they are playing Arabian Nights characters.


 * Shahra the Ring Genie: A special, eager young genie/djinn who enlists the help of Sonic. In the game, she grants Sonic special abilities and bonuses to help Sonic in his quest. Her name suggests the 1,001 Nights character Scheherazade.


 * Erazor Djinn: An evil genie/djinn named Erazor who threatens the existence of the Arabian Nights world. Erazor is the genie from Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. At the start of the story, he strikes Sonic with a flaming arrow, forcing him to go on a hunt for the world's seven "World Rings", unbeknownst to him what really threatens the Arabian Nights world. His name is a pun on "eraser", and "razor", as he is erasing the pages of the Arabian Nights book, and that his weapon is a giant razor blade.


 * Kri Ma Djinn: Creatures known as "Kri Ma Djinn" make appearances in some of the mini-games. "Majin" is the Japanese prounounciation of "Ma Djinn" and "Majin" also means "demon person" in Japanese. "Kri" means "chestnut" in Japanese, most likely named for their chestnut-like shape.


 * Pri Ma Djinn: A genie known as "Pri Ma Djinn" makes an appearance in some of the mini-games. The first part of his name, Pri-Ma, is a reference to the lead dancer of a ballet, a Prima Donna.


 * Uhu: A "Wind Genie" who appears in the missions of some of the game's stages. He is "known for his speed" and as such, Sonic will, in certain stages, have to face him in a race to the end of the level.


 * King Solomon: A wise old king who resides in a chamber inside the Skeleton Dome. He is the original figure who stopped the enemies many years ago before Erazor tried to take over. In the game he appears as a large skeleton because of something that Erazor has done to him.


 * King Shahryār of Persia: He appears in Dr. Eggman's body. He has recently been attacked by an unknown entity and he mistakes Sonic for the attacker. Naturally, Sonic is very reluctant to help him due to his strong resemblance to his worst enemy (whom King Sharhyar & Shahra have no knowledge of).


 * Ali Baba: He appears in Miles "Tails" Prower's body. He gives advice at various points in the game and tells Sonic where to find Sinbad.


 * Sinbad the Sailor: He appears in Knuckles the Echidna's body. His only purpose in the game is to help Sonic find the Water Blue World Ring, which was taken from him by pirates when he was captured. Just like Sonic's relationship with Knuckles, the two of them nearly get in a fight when Sonic mocks Sinbad's advice to defeat the Fire Genie.


 * Captain Behemoth: He appears as the captain of a fleet of pirate ships that was being ravaged by storms. He looked like an average Pirate Djinn until he fused with several Slime Djinns and transformed into a large leech like creature with arms and a large bearded face. His name may be a reference to Behemoth. He is the one responsible for Sinbad the Sailor's capture and stole his World Ring to control the storms and used it to destroy a large portion of ships to help in his plundering of the seas. Despite having no legs he can move very fast and create large waves of water, as well as generating electric shockwaves. He was defeated when Sonic pulled out his horns, which were his source of power. However, it is alluded that Behemoth was not killed, as Sonic commented "The horns will grow back, eventually."


 * Ifrit Golem: Shara refers to him as "a djinn that controls fire." He bears some resemblance to Iblis, but appears to be a mechanical entity. The Ifrit was summoned by the Erazor Djinn to burn the pages of the Arabian Nights. Like Iblis, the Ifrit is invincible until Sonic uses the power of the Water Blue World Ring to create a storm, reducing the Ifrit's heat. When Ifrit is summoned, Iblis is mentioned in Erazor's incantation, the Ifrit was referred to by Erazor as a being sent to the abyss by Iblis. This is not the same Iblis from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), however, as the events in the game were erased from history and also because the two games have no plot connection. Rather, Iblis in this context is a word for the Devil.


 * Big the Cat: A large cat who lives a solitary life in the jungles of Mystic Ruins. Like Sonic Adventure 2, Big makes cameo, Easter-egg appearances in some of the game's stages. This is accomplished by braking and standing still in a certain spot for a few seconds, revealing a short cutscene with him. This unlocks entries in his own "diary" in the Special Book that contains many bonus pictures of him in some of the stages. The empty spaces give instructions on where these spots can be found. Rather than an Arabian Nights character taking his physical form, he appears as himself.


 * Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat, Cream the Rabbit and Omochao all appear in the game's multiplayer mode. Tails and Knuckles appear as themselves in this game mode.

Erazor Djinn
Erazor Djinn is a genie who serves as the primary antagonist. His name is a pun on the words "Eraser" and "Razor" because he is "erasing" the pages of the book and he uses a "razor"-like weapon. He is voiced by Masashi Ebara in Japanese and Peter Cormican in English. Erazor is the Genie of the Lamp from the tale of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. In his story, he was punished for misdeeds, and was to remain in his lamp until he had granted the wishes of one thousand people. When he had fulfilled his sentence and was finally freed, he had a renewed hatred of the creator of the stories, and began to take over the Arabian Nights, twisting the words that supported the stories into spirits that followed his command. He attempts to absorb the pages of the book, so he can control the entire world of Arabian Nights, as well as make his way into Sonic's world. He curses Sonic by embedding a flaming arrow in his chest. The curse made it that when the flame completely burns out, Sonic would die. Erazor makes a deal with Sonic: bring the Seven World Rings to him and he would remove the arrow, but because of the curse, he only had a limited time to find the Rings. Unbeknowst to Sonic, Erazor did not intend to help, instead he planned to use Sonic as a sacrifice to fulfill the prophecy of opening the gateway between worlds and gaining ultimate power.

After the rings are collected, Erazor needs to sacrifice Sonic to utilize their full power. As he made his strike, Shahra gets in the way to save Sonic. She slowly dies, begging for Sonic's forgiveness. With the power of the World Rings, Erazor transforms into Alf Layla-wa Layla (which translates to 1,000 and 1 Nights in Arabic), though he is incomplete because Sonic is still alive. Four of the World Rings get fused into Sonic, transforming him into Darkspine Sonic. Alf-layla-wa-layla then battles Darkspine Sonic trying to sacrifice him as the distant voice of Shahra guides Sonic. After the battle, Erazor reverts back to his normal form, as well as Sonic. Erazor boasts about being immortal, and that he'll always come back after defeat. However, Sonic uses the magic lamp given to him by Shahra, which was inactive at the time, and uses three wishes: to bring Shahra back to life, to restore the stories of the Arabian Nights, and to seal Erazor Djinn away in the lamp for the rest of time. Helpless against the mystic powers of the lamp, the defeated genie was forced to grant them all, and doomed himself to his eternal prison. During the game credits, Sonic is seen tossing Erazor's lamp into the lava of Ifrit Golem's chamber.

Development
Sonic and the Secret Rings was produced over a span of approximately two years,, while it was programmed over a span of approximately one year. The idea for the game centered around the potential abilities of the Wii Remote. Yojiro Ogawa has stated that the next-generation Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) was originally planned to be ported to the Wii; he later elaborated that to port this game would mean that it would not launch until a significantly later date than Sonic and the Secret Rings, and Sega wanted to release a Sonic game much closer to the Wii's launch. With less time to develop the game than normal, and two different play modes, the development team for this Sonic game was much larger than that of a normal Sonic game.

The game had gone through several name changes. It was first announced as Sonic Wild Fire by Sega at E3 2006, then as Hyper Sonic at the Nintendo Press Event and again as Sonic Wild Fire in all of the following trailers. After E3 it was then changed to Sonic and the Secret of the Rings before being slightly modified into Sonic and the Secret Rings in August 2006. Sega preferred the original name "Wild Fire" over "Secret Rings" (that is, "Wild Fire" was to have been the final name), but changed it so it was more relevant to the story and the Arabian Nights stories.

The game's art and setting were heavily influenced by Shadow of the Colossus, Prince of Persia and God of War, which were the inspirations behind the Arabian Nights setting.

Music
The main theme tune "Seven Rings in Hand" is performed by Steve Conte and composed by Namano Mashurio. The ending theme, "Worth a Chance", is also performed by Steve Conte.

The song "Seven Rings in Hand" has also appeared in Nintendo's hit video game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in Sonic's stage, Green Hill Zone. This theme is heard along with several other Sonic themes in the stage. It is also played during the credits after beating the Classic and All-Star modes with Sonic.

The main audio music, generally, remains consistent with the Sonic (Pop Rock Mixes) formula while featuring some "Middle Eastern touches" in keeping with the game's main theme. The main music is composed by Runblebee.

Crush 40 has also a cover on Steve Conte's Seven Rings in Hand. It can be found as a bonus track in True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Reception
Sonic and the Secret Rings has received average reviews. Several critics praised the game's visuals, although equally common were criticisms directed at the control scheme, both for its steep learning curve, as well as what some have called "loose and unresponsive mechanics." Another source of frustration for many critics, such as IGN, was the fact that the game frequently forces Sonic to stop and walk backwards, and that the camera, frustratingly, remains in the same position, preventing the player from seeing what he's backing into. A general theme that can be picked out of many reviews, even the positive ones, is that the missions are occasionally frustrating and that the difficulty seems to spike randomly, something X-Play, in particular, took issue with. X-Play also disliked the mission structure, claiming that the game forces players to spend the bulk of their time playing what they referred to as "leftovers."

Overall, critics generally found that the game, while its controls and mission structure were frustrating at times, was a step in the right direction for the series.

Sonic and the Secret Rings was the 13th best selling game of February 2007 in North America, with 83,000 copies. The game has since sold 1.2 million units worldwide.

Sequel
A sequel, entitled Sonic and the Black Knight is currently in production and is going to be released exclusively on Wii Spring 2009. The game will feature new elements of game play, such as swordplay and the ability to play as multiple characters. Continuing the book of arabian knights.