Sonic and the Secret Rings

Sonic and the Secret Rings
A blue anthropomorphic hedgehog with spiky hair poses in the foreground, facing the camera and smiling mischievously. A shiny golden ring is on his right middle finger and a flame streams upward from his heart, from which he does not flinch. The background contains a temple with a door through which bright light is visible. A large part of the left side of the scene is obscured by purple fog, and wind graces the floor near the hedgehog's shoes. Near the top of the image, the text "Sonic and the Secret Rings" appears in stylized, metallic form, the first word colored gold and the rest of them silver.
North American cover art
Developer(s)Sonic Team
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Yojiro Ogawa
Producer(s)Yojiro Ogawa
Designer(s)Morio Kishimoto
Programmer(s)Makiko Nishimura
Artist(s)Yoshitaka Miura
Writer(s)Yojiro Ogawa
Shiro Maekawa
Composer(s)Fumie Kumatani
Kenichi Tokoi
Seirou Okamoto
Le Club Bachraf
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)Wii
Release
  • NA: February 20, 2007
  • EU: March 2, 2007
  • AU: March 8, 2007
  • JP: March 15, 2007
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Sonic and the Secret Rings[a] is a 2007 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Wii. A spin-off from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it is the first title in the franchise for the system, and follows Sonic the Hedgehog's quest to stop an evil genie named the Erazor Djinn. In addition to the basic platforming gameplay of previous Sonic titles, Secret Rings uses a system of experience points and levels, as well as special moves that are unlocked by means of progression.

The title was released in place of an aborted attempt to port the 2006 game Sonic the Hedgehog to the Wii. Producer, writer, and director Yojiro Ogawa conceived Secret Rings to tap into the Wii Remote's capabilities. He chose the theme of Arabian Nights, using many elements of the stories in the game's setting, characters, and Middle Eastern-influenced music. Sega changed the title of the game several times, originally being announced as Sonic Wild Fire, before settling on Sonic and the Secret Rings to tie in the theme of Arabian Nights.

Upon release, Secret Rings received average reviews. Reviewers praised its visual style and considered the game as a whole to be an improvement from prior entries, but were critical of its controls, which some claimed took time to get used to, and its inconsistent difficulty. Sega released a sequel in 2009, Sonic and the Black Knight; the two form what is known as the Sonic Storybook series. Sonic and the Secret Rings was de-listed from retailers in 2010, following Sega's decision to remove all Sonic titles with sub-average Metacritic scores in order to increase the value of the brand.
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