Apr. 13, 2008 - Sonic And The Secret Rings Review
Entry by Trixie Prower
This is going to be the easiest review yet. First off this is Sonic's first leap onto the nintendo Wii.
You start with flipping your Wii remote over and controlling it sideways to control Sonic's speed.
He never really slows down, making it easier to bump into walls in front of you, but that rarely comes into play, and in turn it makes the game more enjoyable as you don't have to worry about going forward.
Sonic gets power ups for one of the first times he's able to build up different attacks depending on what you select, some abilities allow better speed, some for better attacks, and pretty much the whole sha-bang.
The backgrounds and everything is mind blowing too, I've been caught off guard by the well-done backgrounds quite a few times.
The jumping is activated by a lounge forward with the Wii remote, so it actually feels like you're the one smashing into things, if you were a spiky blue hedgehog about the size of a ten year old with large gloved hands and green eyes that is, either way it feels like it.
The controls are simple also, SEGA's finally going to it's roots, the gameplay handles so well I’d peg it as one of the best Sonic games out there.
Story:
The Story starts out in a different way as one might expect, it's non animated story pages with audio, which some people would argue is a cop out but personally I believe the story-like nature fits with the theme.
A genie named ‘Shara’ pleads to Sonic that he needs to save the pages of the book of the Arabian Knights, from being re-written
By the evil dude with the weird hair-due.
Yeah that's right I insulted the evil dude, but lets face it, who did his hair? A lawn mower?
Anyway back on topic:
Sonic agrees and is sealed in agreement by the 'ring' that Shara hands him, granting him any wishes he pleases.
Sonic points out he has a cold and wished for a 'few' hankies and ends up getting a mountain, and an irritated genie who wants to get back to business.
He’s wished away into the book, and goes through levels to stop Erazor from getting the seven world rings.
There’s another change of pace to point out, instead of chaos emeralds, this game is placed with seven 'World Rings’, which are powered by all types of emotions.
Push comes to shove and Erazor plants a flame on Sonic who is supposedly now a sacrifice and is demanded by Erazor to grab the rings.
Sonic; intending to collect the rings so Erazor can't get them, is betrayed by Shara who wants to give the bad guy the rings.
Ok then...never understood the backstabbing but I’m ok with it.
Sonic makes a wish to her saying:
And Shara obeys Sonic, not giving Erazor the rings, but basically getting killed in the process.
Sonic has been constantly mocked by Erazor by his new pet name "Sonic the Rat" and after Shara dies Sonic (being around the emotional hormone causing rings) is basically so ticked off I wouldn't be surprised if he killed all his blood vessels and has a heart attack.
Now the villain is taking control and Sonic’s left angry and vengeful. (Which I must point out is a rare and awesome side of Sonic.)
Sonic transforms into “Darkspine Sonic” and eventually kicks the tar out of Mr. bad-hair-day.
The Evil guy wants to cut a deal, not working out too well for him.
He in turn gets three wishes from the villain, one for Shara to come back to life, one for everything back to normal in the book, and to stay in the lamp and basically never see the light of day again.
Sonic: I TOLD YOU, I’M A HEDGEHOG.
He shouldn’t have called him names.
The story over-all is very satisfying, and over all very well done, well drawn, great graphics especially for the Wii and proves as one of Sonic's best games, great start for the blue dude.
Gameplay- 9.9/10
Story- 9/10
Graphics- 10/10
Music- 9/10
Over All- 9.5/10
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Mar. 24, 2008 - Sonic Riders Zero Gravity Review
Entry By Trixie Prower
Sonic Riders Zero Gravity Review:
Gameplay:
Ok this is a tricky one.
Sonic Riders original I must say was better as far as gameplay; on the wii remote unless you're very persistent you might find yourself running into walls...a LOT.
the control is difficult on the wii remote because the turns aren't accurate, it takes only a second to fall off your board and it takes quite a few seconds for your control to respond.
That's the biggest problem, the game itself doesn't respond when you turn the remote and you may just end up falling off the cliff a million times, i myself had taken three hours on one of the levels, however if you're lucky enough to have a gamecube remote you'll find it quite enjoyable, but in retrospect this doesn't make up for the wii remote's awful turns.
The zero gravity feature is supposed to be the highlight of the game, but if your timing is off you will end up taking more time then to have not done it at all. That's a problem, if you're a professional gamer you will still find this feature hard, what SEGA should have done was use the slow motion and make the competitors slow in the process because frankly, it just slows you down a whole lot and it's not easy to make up for it.
There were some interesting gameplay concepts.
For one you don't need to recharge on air or turbulence, you use rings instead which can come in way more handy if you're trying to get going faster.
Also instead of worrying about what gear you have, you get the chance to power up to another gear when earning enough rings which comes in way handy.
over all the gameplay is difficult, depending on what you like in a game, but you should be advised on how sloppy the control is with the wii remote, the gameplay is not completely bad though i will give props for the clever add-ons to the gears instead of only being fly type speed type ect.
Story:
Alright, the game starts off with a hoard of robots who have pretty much gone crazy, Tails quite conveniently finds a supposed "shooting star" or "The ark of the cosmos" as it is called outside in the middle of the night.
Which basically gives you the ability to defy gravity.
And naturally Jet wants it for himself to have an edge over Sonic.
Not to mention the shortness of it all, it seemed rushed.
sounds sorta interesting, but the problem was the predictability of the plot line, who do you think sent the robots?
bingo, Eggman, that was an easy one right?
but Eggman actually tries lying to Sonic saying it wasn't him and there's a robot commanding them all.
what suprised me the most was the fact, Sonic ACTUALLY BELIEVED HIM.
Sonic: Well...I guess for now we'll buy that Eggman involved.
O.O not to rag on Sonic, but hasn't he tried killing him so many times it's impossible to count? This guy's been out for Sonic since the start and Sonic's gonna pull a Knuckles and give him the benefit of the doubt? oh come on Sonic.
The game's story was not a complete loss though, Tails Amy and Knuckles were prominent roles this time, and their personalities were still intact.
as well as having a few unexpected scenes with the other Sonic characters.
And the ending was short, but satisfying, not to mention the hit-and-win graphics SEGA is famous for.
Gameplay- 5/10
Story- 6.5/10
Graphics- 9/10
Music- 9/10
Over All- 7/10
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Mar. 24, 2008 - Sonic Unleashed
Entry By TrixiePrower
Current Sonic news:
There's been a massive leak from SEGA about a new sonic game, it has been confirmed that this game is called "Sonic Unleashed" and is playable for xbox and wii, but the title very may well change as secret rings did but you never know, it 'was' trademarked by SEGA.
also it's been rumored that Bioware is mainly the ones in charge.
The gameplay resembles that of sonic rush, Sonic adventure, and sonic and the secret rings.
it appears that SEGA has taken a few changes as far as gameplay, stepping away from the more confusing gameplay like Sonic 2006 and working more on control, although it's not been confirmed how easy it is to handle it when actually playing it.
Story:
nobody quite understands how this story goes, we can guess however from the leak of screenshots.
speculation:
First off, it is the next game in chronological order, after Sonic 006's iblis face off, there will also be a new sonic character adding to their already eleven million characters, but it's not confirmed who this new addition is.
it appears that you not only have super sonic at the starting,
but Eggman may have defeated sonic in his super form some how.
the screenshots play out
a machine in the distance that very well may have been capable of taking away Sonic's super Sonic ability, which is a huge win for Eggman's character seeing as he in the past was a little more lenient to Sonic, that also hints he is a main villain once again.
The Bosses also appear very awesome to say the least, a bit of a change as these ones look a tad bit more scary then normal.
Here's another twist for you.
looks like our friendly normal Sonic right? but wait...
huh?
yeah that's right, somebody's got to repave their floor.
We couldn't complete this update without this screenshot.
not only was super sonic defeated somehow, but it looks like Sonic's either got another hedgehog enemy, or an alter ego.
fans are calling him "Werewolf Sonic" as it is hinted by the way the character connects to Sonic's shadow, and the fact a "grunt" noise (most likely Sonic's voice.) is heard in the trailer and this massive blue scary hand smashes the ring, that it is Sonic's alter ego, but none of this has been confirmed as for who this new hedgehog is, only hinted.
Also, it appears Sonic's planet is in danger somehow, but how can a hedgehog stop a world from blowing up? guess we'll have to wait and see.
either way SEGA may be taking a risk.
if they are successful in delivery it may pan out as a huge plot twist and interesting perspective for the game.
however if Sonic has an alter-ego it alerts the problem of a personality change, Sonic has been well loved for his game's speed but his original carefree cocky behavior is what made him the icon he is today, if his personality is under attack by a menace angry alter-ego it could be jumping a small tank with a big shark.
and if it's another hedgehog the shadow on the poster is very misleading.
hopes are high as far as gameplay, but as for story we'll just have to hope SEGA makes it on delivery.
