Yeah, I've been very interested in this game ever since it was first shown, and that basically confirms its awesomeness. Can't wait for some nice reviews. Sonic seems to finally be back. =)

If that is acurate I'll be first in line to buy the new Sonic game. Sounds awesome, I agree: a mix of 3d graphics/2d gameplay could be just what the series needs. (It still feels weird to be playing Sonic games on a console other than Sega. ;) )

That worries me a little. I mean the voice work sure, but the soundtrack? Then again, I haven't played the game for myself yet and won't be able to until this comes out February 27th. I'm crossing my fingers that this is the last time we have to hear the 4Kids voice actors.

The gameplay will take a little getting used to as well, because to me the Wii-mote is gonna feel like a steering wheel in this game.

I'm guessing the soundtrack will have an arabic twang to it much like the game itself.

So Sonic 360 is a terrible game with a fantastic soundtrack, and Secret Rings is shaping up to be a fantastic game with a not-so-hot soundtrack? Why can't the two just be combined?

Because then we'd wind up with Sonic Heroes and everything would just be "adequate". :)

Or because Sega blew all their budget on the so-called -more -important next gen Sonic game, that this game's music got the short end of the stick. Pity, since the other Sonic game had a great soundtrack and great vocals too. I got the His World theme stuck in my head.

And the VAs are from 4kids, so thats never gonna change...Oh how I hate 4kids.

Now I remember hearing (I think either here or another site) that after this game, Sega would have no reason to keep the 4Kids VAs. Good thing too, cause Jason Griffith can't do Sonic worth shit, although I have to admit his Shadow is a bit better.

That reminds me, is this game just Sonic or will there be any other characters from previous games like Tails and Shadow? I'd be really surprised if it was just Sonic.

They're saying "just Sonic", but they said "just Sonic" for 360 too and we all see how that turned out :P

I've seen Amy, Knuckles, and Tails in screenshots that looked like some kind of Mario Party/Sonic Shuffle-esque minigames but no in game shots of them being playable. Every screenshot so far has been just Sonic. I really hope it stays that way. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind the other characters if maybe you can open them up later like in the Advances but just once it would REEEEEEEEEEAAAAAALLY be nice to just have Sonic and for once have his controls and everything else perfected. Let's get him right before we worry about the rest...

Well it WAS "just Sonic"...plus a few other characters. At least in Sonic's story it was just Sonic for the most part. :p

Dubs, I think they're just for the 40 multiplayer minigames. I'm pretty sure this will be his solo game that we've been waiting for. If there are any other characters in-game they'll either be cameos/story or unlocked as playable after you beat the game. At least that's what I'm hoping.

Anyone check out the new videos of Sonic at IGN? I think I am officially sold on it. From their recent playtest, even IGN said it is the best sonic game since the 2d ones. It is supposed to have pretty much flawless motion controls too. Also, they stated that it is the first game that actually looks like it takes advantage of the Wii's hardware.

:wrong:

That was baseless fan assumption.

But I'm fairly sure this is Sonic's first true Solo Adventure since... Sonic CD.

....


That actually looked pretty damn fun. :)

Sonic CD actually came out before Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles... :D But of course those had Tails & Knuckles in them, so nevermind :p

I'm pretty sure all four of the games I own take pretty good advantage of the hardware already! Well, maybe not Wii Play so much, but y'know.

No, but many of the action games that are currently out take piss poor advantage of the hardware. I am speaking in terms of graphics. Most of the current Wii games don't even look as good as gamecube games. Sonic seems to actually be somewhat using that extra horsepower. Also, many current action games on the console have shit motion controls. Example: Marvel ultimate alliance. Who thought up the idea to have the camara rotation based based on the tilt of the nunchuck. and moving the nunchuck up to jump?!?!?! who wants to do that? Its like they didn't even think about the practicality of it. Further, Metal Slug. if they even thought for a second the obvious use of the Wii remote would be this. The nunchuck analog performs movement from left to right, the wii remote pointer acts as an aimer for the gun, much like a mouse. Wherever you point on the screen, the gun points, and the players animation follows in rotation in accordance withe the wiimotes position on screen. An obvious solution that apparently was not obvious to the devs.
So in short, my point is Sonics motion controls seem to be logical simplistic and natural to the design of the wiispecific controller. Thus it takes advantage of the hardware better than any current action game on the system.

http://www.gmronline.com/info.asp?CatNumber=none0289

Soundtrack already confirmed for March 15. WTF.

Oh,

http://wii.ign.com/articles/757/757372p2.html

Mark Bozon says it's number 4 in top ten anticipated. Feat not acheived since 2001.

New Pictures!
 

I haven't said this in a long long time but DAMN this game is looking great. New pictures AHOY!...

1. Apparently the game thrusts Sonic into an alternatate universe based loosely on Arabian Nights. Knuckles plays the role of Sinbad, Tails as Ali-Baba, and Eggman as the king of Persia.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...scan0001-3.jpg

2. The bottom right corner has some really pretty designs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...scan0002-3.jpg

3. This is "The Erazor Djinn", whom I assume will be the big bad for this game along the lines of Mephilis/Iblis/Solaris, Biolizard, Liquid Metal Sonic, Chaos, etc. Looks to be a dark genie. Apparently another smaller female genie named Shaara (the same streak of light that follows Sonic in the IGN videos) who is "the spirit of rings" approaches Sonic for help in getting rid of this guy.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=scan0003.jpg

4. BIG OL' DINOSAUR THANGS

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=scan0004.jpg

5. Boss monster thingy! Accompanying the main game will be 40 party minigames that can be unlocked. The rest of the cast will be available to play only in the Sonic Shuffle/Mario Party-ish minigames.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=scan0005.jpg

Other pictures:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0115/whf18.jpg - Playtime!
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/7...ings0829ad.jpg - Dinosaur Island Boss Battle
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5...ings0848wg.jpg - Dino Island Boss Battle: Bullet Time
http://www.dengekionline.com/news/20...whf_sega01.jpg - A picture of Shaara can be seen on the right side of the display

After all the mediocre games it's hard not to be cynical about this one... the pace Sonic games should have has been translated pretty good, though the day they finally crack free roaming insain speeds will be a great one to say the least. Let's be honest Sonic's a freerunner on fast forward at heart, who wouldn't want to see him pulling off those kinda moves? As for this Arabian Nights thing... why Arabian Nights? Still the Sonic universe is pretty fucked in the story department anyway and since there's dinosaurs maybe it's time traveling to fix the plothole mistakes? XD

What more proof do you need that graphics does not a good game make? and don't even get me started about the game meant to be a 'reinactment of sonic 1'...

But how can it be solo if is has 40 minigames? :D Then again traditionally Sonic multiplayer modes have been pretty shit compared to the solo mode, (unless you count the Sonic Advance trio of games) so they might not be worth mentioning.

Have you been under a rock since the 3D games started? or just skipping cutscenes? Either way you didn't miss much that they won't be tempted to rewrite anyway...

40 minigames are just small multiplayer stuff that's separate from the main game from what I understand.

The last Sonic game that actually had a decent soundtrack was Sonic & Knuckles.

As for this game, it looks REALLY good, and hopefully it contols well like they say. Sonic and I kinda had a falling out after Sonic Heroes...

Natch, I think the only major Sonic with a poor soundtrack was Heroes. Shadow, if you push it.

Heroes was a fanbase pandering, and 3-D Sonic has never quite recovered since.

2-D Sonic, on the other hand, has always been excellent. See Advance 3/Rush for proof.

Old Sonic: Robotnik kidnaps animals and makes them into robots. Here comes Sonic the cool 'hog to save the day.

New Sonic: After tons of waffling back and forth through numerous time periods in order to to watch cutscenes and unravel ethereal secrets, Sonic must go super-saiyan to save the world/universe from various cataclysms brought upon by omnipotent end-bosses ripped straight out of shitty, generic JRPGs. Sonic is powered by the seven emeralds of chaos and magical princess tears.

Magical princess tears? WTF? Since when was Sonic about saving the princess? That's Mario's job. Stick to what you do best, collecting endless amounts of rings and kicking Robotnik's fat ass, and we'll be ok.