MAKE BELIEVES REBOR - I mean, uh.... hi! Don't forget that you can see the next episode of this season, covering SONIC RUSH ADVENTURE, right now if you become a $1 backer on Patreon at www.patreon.com/GeekCritique ! And you can see both that *and* my episode on SONIC & THE BLACK KNIGHT if you become a $3 backer! Those episodes will be releasing here on KZfaq over the next two Fridays, but if you'd like to see 'em early and support the channel, that'd be MYTHS IN MIND RETHOUGHT

As someone who has watched an extraordinary amount of sonic related content on youtube I can safely say TGC sonic videos are the best on the site.

Jason’s performance’s in Secret Rings and Unleashed are (no pun intended) night and day. It’s amazing how much he improved.

"I've never even played the sequel. Do you think I should?" Yes! Absolutely. The story is great and the game just boosts up what made Secret Rings good to many fans.

Secret Rings is one of those games I'd love to see on modern platforms with some QoL fixes. There's a lot to love about it and it's definitely overlooked these days

Hearing Sonic series retrospectives dunk repeatedly on Secret Rings actually came as a shock to me. Watching this really helped me understand the conversation surrounding it. (Yeah, I'd definitely forgot what it feels like controlling Sonic in those early levels.) I played this game right at launch, when I only had a few Wii games. That kept me in my seat until I unlocked the fun abilities and started to master the systems. By the time I'd 100%ed it, I felt like Secret Rings was one of the best Sonic experiences I'd ever had. I'd never felt like a Sonic game had given me this much room for mastery and expression. Even the best of the 2D games and the Adventure era didn't hold a candle to it on those grounds. My college roommates even gathered around to watch me use every last upgrade and tech to overcome the incredibly stringent challenges. In that way, I'd say it might even be the most successful game at capturing that central tenet of "Keep coming back; it'll get more fun as you improve." Anyway, I'm glad I'm not alone in appreciating what this game has to offer. Thanks for bringing me back to something great.

The art direction of this game, and Black Knight as well, are absolutely incredible. Night Palace should've been in Generations!

In 2007 I spent all my graduation money to buy a Wii along with Zelda and Sonic, and actually out of those two, sonic was the first to pull me in (although twilight princess also has a slow start), I remember the homing attack feeling so satisfying and I would go back and just replay all my favorite levels over and over

Hoo boy. It begins. I was one of those games journalists back in '07 who squealed praises about this game (oh, hey, my review's still on Metacritic even) and to this day I will still swear up and down to anyone who'll listen that the Storybook Series got the rawest deal in franchise history, for so many reasons unique to its specific release period. This game resuscitated my Sonic fandom after '06 left it comatose, and your contextual cold opening perfectly showcased why (along with unintentionally _calling me out_ to an uncomfortable degree!). Gosh, I haven't replayed it in 15 years either, though. Do you think I should? :D But yeah, just about everything good it did got ganked and polished by entries to come, leaving everything about it darn near superannuated save for the RPG upgrade system (which I actually do like; I always grated whenever some internet coolguy brought out the years-long meme of "zomg you have to unlock good controls SEE SONIC WAS NEVER GOOD ajlsdhlasjdajkl;", you do actually show the unlocking issue as a valid point with your Sand Ocean segment; still, I'd kill for a refinement of the system) and Sonic's writing (which I LOVE--see also the sequel). Anyhow, really good essay! Love the usual personal, vulnerable perspective, the awesome editing (I got genuinely HYPE when the title sequence hit, between this and Rush you're getting REALLY good at those), and the thorough takes. Your penchant for fakeout-yet-still-technically-true thumbnails are starting to give me heart attacks though :D Also, saw your Patreon message, I hope you're doing well overall! See you at the sequels you haven't played yet! (also also lyrical stage/menu songs for life i don't make the rules sorry~)

It's nice to see your perspective. You were there, so I'm really being taken through the history of this series game by game from somebody who was knee-deep in the shit when each one came out, rather than listening to someone talk about it years after the fact when they may have only just played it recently. It's also nice because I get to learn more about your own journey through this series and what it's like for someone who had and still has terminal Sonic brainrot from the very start of the series.

You know the more I look at it, the more it looks like secret rings was the most influential sonic game especially for frontiers. The onrail nature of the boost games and frontiers cyberspace levels, the rpg mechanics of Sonic Frontiers, the werehog in unleashed and even generations, the red rings that pretty much every 3d Sonic since 2010 would feature. It starting to look like this game was the true source for the future of Sonic.

It may not be my first interaction with Sonic, but it was definitely my first Sonic game -- front to back, start to finish. It's weird thinking back, being a child that got this game in 2007 just a short week after its release, _entirely_ oblivious to the massive shadow that was just casted over the series a short three months prior. I was right next to it the whole time, and only found about this fabled "06" sometime four years later. Not even gonna front... I spent a sickening number of hours with my family on the party mode.

WHY IS IT THAT I GET EMOTIONAL OVER EVER REVIEW YOU MAKE!? Seriously, you shine a special kind of light on games that offer such a new perspective. I never wanted to touch this game before, but you're genuinely making me consider doing just that.

I think if I had to nail down what makes TGC one of my favorite game reviewers, it's his understanding and emphasis on the fact that more than any other medium games do not exist in a vacuum. Personal experiences, the contemporary and modern industry, and biases all go into how a game is perceived. Often times acknowledged inherent bias and very old personal experiences can be a detriment to a review. You never want a review to become a self indulgent history lesson, or for it to feel like the criticism isn't coming from a valid place. TGC however takes what would normally be a detriment and turns it into a strength. The way he grew with this franchise is actually used as a way to comment on the way it has changed and how experiences like that have informed how we perceive these games. It doesn't feel like he's buckling to what other fans want, while still understanding how the relationship between game and player factors into a game. This review specifically feels like it tells a story of how players will treat Secret Rings and how Secret Rings will treat them. Instead of acknowledging biases and then pushing them aside, he analyzes what a game looks like with and without them. The personal touch feels like it gives much more weight to what we should expect from a game than a simple checklist of things he found good and bad. TGC's recent episodes have been some of the best yet, and I hope he continues down this direction.

This video inspired me to replay secret rings back when you put in on patreon, and I'm surprised to say it's a new favorite, so thanks for helping me come to appreciate a game i once hated

As someone who has never played Secret Rings, but has only ever heard the complaints about the motion controls and such, it was refreshing, and somewhat surprising to hear not only that you enjoy this game, but the industry as a whole reviewed this game so highly at a time. This game released when I personally fell away from the series, and it didn't help that I didn't want a Wii until much later -- So all I really know about it is the amazing soundtrack, and the terrible controls. Thanks for giving me a different perspective on this forgotten gem of sorts! I actually want to go back and give it a shot after this video, and I may not enjoy it as much as you do, it'll be fun to at least try it out!

It kind of blows my mind that someone who likes Roger and Jaleel White could think Jason is cringey, but you know… opinions and all that. Quality video as always, sir.

I remember really loving this as a kid and remember equally how much it made me really want to play the bonus levels just because they were fun (let alone finding out later you needed too for the final boss) And my god the final boss is something I'm gonna remember. Being dumb kid me had it's trouble for sure, but i didn't stop until i figured it out and the final cutscene made it sooo worth it. I really hope you follow up with black knight! I really think it helps refine the main gameplay and the story of king arthur is tons of fun!

This to me was peak 2000s Sonic. The controls were jank, but I got used to them in a way I never did, say, the controls of Adventure 2. A jammin' soundtrack (with a minimum of mall punk) and absolutely aesthetic levels added up to the kind of Sonic experience I'd yearned for since the Genesis days. I had seen Sonic '06 in a store, glitched through the floor of the demo level, and decided that game was a hard skip; that, compared with the atrocious Sonic Genesis GBA release, made me wonder if it was really over for the blue blur. In my mind, Secret Rings saved him. It may have saved him in the general marketplace. The name of the final boss, Alf Layla wa Layla, means "one thousand nights and a night", and was the original Arabic title of the Arabian Nights story. So he really was the incarnation of the Arabian Nights. The rat/hedgehog dialogue lines are a wordplay in Japanese, where "rat/mouse" is "nezumi" and "hedgehog" is "harinezumi" (lit. "needlemouse"). You can hear this emphasized in the voice lines: "Nezumi ja nai! HARInezumi da!" Speaking of, Junichi Kanemaru is also an English teacher IRL, and so is the perfect Japanese choice to play Sonic, who is written to come off as a bratty American kid and so has constant random English phrases in his dialogue.

The most standout part of this video has to be how you finally nailed for me what it is about the way this game approached stylization that makes it still occupy some space in my head every time anyone goes back to talk about it despite my love and biases for those 16bit Genesis/CD/Lost World/Mania aesthetics. That and thank you so much for reminding me of the contexts for the first time Let The Speed Mend It, No Way Through, & Unawakening Float hit after either backtracking with more abilities or doing playthroughs after beating Eraser Djinn. The flow of the visuals and audio played in tandem at that point are, if I'm allowed to embellish, peak fiction. I'm almost convinced Sonic Team took the latter as an unintentional minor design commandment with them forward into the boost series too. Compare that footage of Sand Palace with the abilities early in this video to the way you build up to the main playable segments of Skyscraper Scamper Day in Unleashed or legendary stuff like Planet Wisp Act 1/2 or Terminal Velocity Act 1 in Colors and tell me it doesn't seem like they knew what they were doing.

I knew so little about this game before watching this video. The art design is indeed fantastic. Especially the final zone!

Absolutely wonderful analysis. I absolutely love your historical approach to reviewing the games in the series and having an ear to what online and IRL communities were like at the time of their release. Secret Rings was my first game since my family got a Wii as our first contemporary game console and my father found it on sale at a Kohls. This game, with the addition of Sonic's entry into Super Smash Bros. Brawl, got me interested into looking further into his series, which then led to picking up the 8 and 16-bit versions of Sonic 1 on the Virtual Console, [getting Sonic '06 on the PS3 as my second 3D Sonic game], picking up Mega Collection, Heroes, Adventure DX, and Riders for the GameCube with the backwards compatibility, and then picking up the first retro console I sought out to get, a Model 1 Sega Genesis. While it was Star Wars: Rogue Squadron that got me into video games and Lego Universe that got me interested in game development, it was Sonic and the Secret Rings that ultimately caused me to become a hardcore gamer and historian. Without it I wouldn't have gotten a Dreamcast and recaptured the feeling of the early 2000s I'm so nostalgic for so much with Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial, wouldn't have gotten a Sega Saturn and import games for the first time, wouldn't have gone to Sonic Boom 2014 with my uncle, cousin, and father and heard Jun Senoue play live, probably wouldn't have gone to SDCC 2017 and hear Jun Senoue play live again, and I wouldn't have discovered internet reviewers, which introduced me to the Mega Man series, which ultimately led me to meeting my best friend, who led on to influencing my creative outlets and expression as well as meeting all of my current online friends through interconnected community circles. It's weird to say, but this jank game from 2007 without a doubt shaped the person I am today. (Also SOMEONE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD FIND THE E3 SONIC WILD FIRE DEMO, I NEED A CLEAN GAMERIP OF THE BETA VERSION OF "LET THE SPEED MEND IT" IN MY VEINS)

This video is a perfect example of how long-form content works for content creators who understand and pander to their target audience. I'm a huge Sonic fan who has not played this game in over a decade, so it was not difficult for me to have the attention span to watch this 47 minute long video. Good job!

Welcome back, you've been missed! These videos are so great to have as part of my daily routine, I haven't even played half the games, just well-made content.

Another video bringing me to tears by the end. Thanks for spreading the word on this game. Listening to your retrospectives lets me know I am not alone in my tastes.

The quality of TGC videos never cease to amaze me. Love it!!

Good to know its not just ME whose been listening to "Unawakening Float" still! But seriously, great review. I remembered how weird the motion controls got & the weird upgrade progression system, but forgot about having to "unlock good acceleration & handling." I remember a lot of the levels, the music (duh), Darkspine Sonic, & that fantastic final boss + ending cutscene. I remember replaying stages over and over to collect higher rank rewards & Fire Souls (since that's how you unlocked characters in the awful Mario-Party Minigame Multiplayer). But your love for the series shines through & this was a great retrospective. I always appreciate how elegantly you phrase things with such passion.

I just want to say thank you for posting another video and never giving up. Honestly with the world cup in Qatar (a middle eastern country) I often listen to this soundtrack whilst puppy sitting and watching the world cup because it keeps them happy

I actually have fond memories of this game. And you are absolutely right - the atmosphere was great, Sonic was characterized extremely well, the World Rings set themselves apart perfectly... and the gameplay didn't hit its stride until you had everything available. Glad to see you back, though - and I am looking forward to the inevitable Metroid Dread critique.

At the time, i was one of the fans who initially was put off of the game after a few hours. I never really gave it much thought after that. This video really changed my impression of what the game was all about and the highs of the gameplay and mechanics. Of course its still really rough, but i definitely respect it more than I ever did before. Another killer TGC video!

It's great to hear you had similar feats as I did. I also remember showing off the final boss as a showing of what the wii could do. I got hyped by the end and really enjoyed the game as a whole. And yeah I still listen to most of the OST lol. Great video!

After seeing the preview for this video that was uploaded today, I finally decided to back TGC on Patreon. Figured it was long overdue with how often I've rewatched the videos on this channel. As for the video itself, another spectacular critique! It definitely makes me want to go back and play the game again cause I got to the end but never got all 7 of the rings you need to get for the final boss. I do remember the one time I played through the game I liked it plenty, but this video finally makes me understand what it was about the game that made me like it.

Regarding the before-credits cutscene: yes, it was a translation error. In the Japanese version he says 「つまり、七つの世界リングがあれば、この扉は開くってことだな」which more or less means "So basically, if we get the seven World Rings, this door will open". You playing with the Japanese dub made this pretty easy to check :D

I'll be real, I got this for Christmas along with a few other games that year and played it for about 15 minutes before completely losing interest back then. I wasn't invested much in Sonic at that time and a game like this wasn't what I wanted. But! I am very excited to hear you discuss this one because it's one of the only Sonic games from this era I _did_ own and I wonder what it'd be like if I'd kept it and given it more of a shot. Can't wait to watch!

Not even a big Sonic fan, but I always enjoy Geek Critique kino.

My absolute favourite part of this video was the stage-by-stage breakdown, easily. Considering that, if nothing else, Secret Rings has some of the most inventive stage themes in the franchise, this was totally warranted. And I'm not ashamed to admit that every new stage had me remembering how it made me feel. I was HYPED when Pirate Storm and Night Palace started. I'm almost definitely gonna have to go back and give this game another playthrough after watching this!

it's always nice to hear there is another person who loved sonic and the secret rings

Yes! I had lots of fun with this game as a kid. Didn't know much about 06, but I felt like I needed to have a Sonic game for the Wii. It must've been before Colors came out when I heard about this game, because I ended up buying it. All I remember is how much fun it was speeding through levels like Pirate Storm, getting destroyed by the missions, and trying to figure out that finicky backstep. It all changed when someone managed to steal our Wii, PS2, and almost all the games that came with them. I don't think I had been going back to it regularly after playing through it the first time, especially after I'd gotten Colors, but now there was no chance. I was forgiving the motion controls less by then, and I wasn't in a solid spot to buy games at will. So, I left it at that. I played it on Dolphin last year, giving it another chance by using a GameCube controller setup, but I didn't get far before realizing I had other things I wanted to put more time into. Maybe I'll come back to it. I can't say I didn't have fun, so perhaps one day. Lovely critique!

This is one of your best, no, ONE OF THE BEST general Sonic reviews I have ever seen on youtube. Great job TGC!

I haven't played again this since I 100% completed it when it first came out. This kind of makes me want to. I think there's a sweet spot in how much time you spend with this game: At the beginning, it sucks. In the middle, it's a great time. And if you try to do everything it has to offer and squeeze every bit of content out of it, getting all fire souls, gold medals, and looking for Big the Cat ...then it sucks again. And how my time with it ended on a bitter note is all I remember about it now.

Imagine playing sonic 06 where the villain is called Iblis (another name for the devil) and then three months later we get sonic talking about opening the gates of hell. Wtf

I'm not much of a Sonic fan, but your videos are great, this one especially so. I have this game in my Wii collection and now I'm quite curious to give it a play! Your comment on the "retro-ness" of the Wii is perfect. That era of video games feels a million miles away from where we are now.

This was the first sonic game I ever played and I replayed it over and over multiple times. I've got a huge soft spot for this game and you perfectly explained what it was that I love about this game. I know my rose tinted glasses are glued to my head but this is one of my favorite sonic games. Amazing video!

As a child of the late 80s/90s I can safely say this (and it’s sequel) would have been a perfect framework for a Sonic arcade experience. I would’ve eaten this up in small bites at an arcade. An on rails Sonic spectacle platformer on the Naomi arcade board would’ve been fantastic.

Dude this video is by far my favorite take anyone has had on Secret Rings, it's a game I have a lot of nostalgia on and I think you do it justice very well. Earned a sub for sure bro.

Okay, sorry to double comment, but I absolutely have to make it clear that I DEEPLY REGRET not sticking with this! You made it clear, it's a rough introduction and I wish I'd just made it through that because while this doesn't look perfect, there is a lot to love here. That end cutscene... _yes!_ That's so Sonic! Just like with the Rush review, I now need to go back and get this one and give it a fair shake. Thanks for this, I can't say how much I look forward to these. Can't wait for the next one. :)

Your delivery is fantastic dude, the beginning and ending are exquisite. Great job man, can’t wait for the next two episodes

man it feels so good to be able to watch such quality content early :P i'll always have so much respect for you learning to find positives in so much of what you cover, it's incredibly refreshing. i've tried to follow the philosophy of choosing to enjoy a game rather than expecting everything to fall under your expectations, and it's just so nice to see a youtuber i really admire do the same. idk if i'll ever like secret rings, the ways it controls have just never felt right to me no matter what i do to try and get it down pat, but seeing you find enjoyment was so great because i've always loved the art direction, concept, soundtrack, and general vibe of the game. it's so creative - something i've felt the storybook series excels at if anything. this video does make me wanna give it another go tho, maybe with age will come perspective and appreciation for a sonic game approached in a different, yet conceptually sound way. great work as always, can't wait for rush adventure!

So I knew next to nothing about this game prior to this video. And if nothing else, I am flabbergasted that I've never seen that last scene with Sonic and Erazor Djinn. That was so friggin' cool!

Josh, YOU GOTTA STOP! Through years of internet osmosis I heard nothing but bad things about this game, and yet you are REALLY making me wish I could play it... Classic Geek Critique right there. Edit: And surprisingly, Seven Rings in Hand actually slaps. I wouldn't have known, since I never heard more of it than the first 20 seconds.

I always thought that if this game was remade into a regular 3D sonic game, it could be such a banger. The art direction is really good, the soundtrack is great the level theming is super cool, and with QoL updates this could be a gem

43:21 to 44:13 ...Whoa. I was actually caught off guard by how genuinely badass that scene was. Not even kidding.

Dude this video was amazing man! Loved this fully, the editing and timing with the music was great, the writing and appreciation and critiques were on point and it made me hella nostalgic. Thanks for making this

Great video! I remember this game growing up and have a slight nostalgia for it! Love your videos! Keep up the good work

after seeing so many reviewers as of late I’ve realized 2 things I really love about your style 1: you arent constantly negative, and are generally positive even if you think the game might not be good 2: you do a lot of talking about how things were, how they felt, it makes it a lot easier to understand where you come from and easier to empathize too

Wonderful video, I really do enjoy how your videos always seem to have a personal thesis to them informed by your own tastes and experiences rather than a straightforward evaluation. I think that’s why I enjoy your style so much and would love to see a take on Black Knight because of it.

If there's anything I -- *only* I -- remember about Secret Rings, it's the special features on the official website. They updated a blog over time with strategies for specific missions and general play, and even superplay videos to show them off. The mission guides were more than welcome, and I think the official site is how I learned about using Quick Slide + Aegis Slider to bypass the wall-sidling sections. And that's just cool. Official documentation on tricks people might not ever find, that might have even looked like oversights to be polished out of a safer game. There's stuff in Secret Rings that feels like a developer found some weird shit, some edge-case in the state machine, and said "no, I'm leaving that in, and I'm building a whole mission in Sand Oasis to justify it." This one trick that the website called "The Ultimate Jump." If you use the short hop to leap at a low ledge and hit exactly on the corner, sometimes you get deflected up and start flying through the air at your full running speed. It's extremely finicky in execution. Minutely different timings and initial approach speeds will give wildly different results. This isn't a reasonable mechanic, and no one competent should design systems to be this literally chaotic on purpose; I'd bet money it emerged naturally, and someone said to keep it. The website almost admits this, but then goes on to say that it's super cool, can bypass whole sections of level if mastered, and attaches a video of a whole mission being skipped in one enormous leap. Folks on this dev team loved video games the same way I play video games. They really don't do things like this anymore. Maybe shouldn't. But we miss them.

I can already see it now... The year is 2032, we finally get a sonic frontiers retrospective.. all the while the Metroid dread retrospective is long forgotten.

Josh, you madman. You’ve made me want to go back and try Secret Rings again. Fantastic video as always, probably one of your best. And that’s true of every new video you make! Seriously, this was great.

Thanks for introducing me to "Unawakening Float." A fantastic song that's made a permanent place in my running music library. Cheers.

I’ve been looking forward to this! Always a joy when you upload, Josh!

Isn't this the game where Sonic gets really bad heartburn? I reckon the bad controls are him just taking a while to adapt.

intro hits me like a truck everytime and your outro statement is perfect

41:26 gotta say though, this cutscene right here in English is an absolute trip, it’s like Erazor’s VA was told to scream in pain but instead let’s out the most amazing opera yell lmao

When I heard the third song's vocals I went "Why do I know these, I've never gotten past the first level of this game," until I realized that cobanermani used the song for his intro.

I played this game for the first time emulating with a controller, and I was surprised on how much it gradually started to grow on me! it's a shame a lot of people think of this game so poorly, there's a lot to love here once you get past the janky controls and I think you hit on all of it really well here. it's cathartic to hear someone who sees the same things in this game as I do, hopefully this video gives some people a newfound appreciation for the game :) (also, would highly recommend anyone interested play this game with a controller if they're able to-- it doesn't fix the "going backwards" problem, and it takes some tweaking to get it feeling responsive, but once you get it right it feels super seamless to play)

such a delightful surprise to release this video finally , those are one of many instances that i see a video do this game justice ,thank you for that man

You're retrospective videos are some of my favorite video game content on KZfaq and some really solid writing. I've appreciated games I've played more or yearned for a new playthrough after watching your videos, or in the case of Sonic and the Secret Rings, you've made me want to try it for the first time in my life. I have that same jank acceptance quirk so I can respect that you had to lay that out lol...

Dude, it's always such a pleasure when one of your vids drops, you're sensational at what you do.

Been more than 15 years and it's only just now that I've learned that Shahra's JP voice is Mai Nakahara. A voice that traumatizes me more than anything else.

This is validating. I haven't played Secret Rings since it's release but I remember loving it a TON. Especially lately though, weird to see how it isn't generally liked, I couldn't reconcile that with my own memory. Thanks for the video, it was a great trip :D

Josh, I want to say thank you. I was also someone that even by 2009/2010 was just assuming this game was actually crap and had seemingly forgotten all the fun I had with it. Filed away in my brain under gimmick motion controls and the glut of bad mid 2000's Sonic games. Thank you for reminding me why, despite that opinion in 2010, I still played the game through to completion and then some back when it came out. The game has a lot of problems, but there's a lot to love about it too. I absolutely adore the faux-arabian aesthetic and this game is no different, and when it nails its premise it really hits it home. It's a rough game, but one I got hours of fun out of and definitely the kind of novel and risky thing I miss from the AAA space anymore.

That Evil Foundry theme sure does have a lot of sad context surrounding it now, doesn't it?

I find the seven world rings interesting as a concept. they seems like they represent the emotions the author put in into the stories and thus they essence of the world. this could be connected to a concept in literature that know as the death of the author where readers appropriate the stories and interpretation of the stories.

39:22 Hi, Japanese speaker here. You are correct in your assumption that it was a mistranslation, Sonic says "In other words, if we have the seven World Rings, then this door will open, right?"

Finally! Someone who actually appreciates this game for what it has to offer. Thank you for making this. I would love to see you cover Sonic and the Black Knight as well!

the art direction of this game is S tier

This video was so good!!!!! I grew up with Secret Rings, literally, I'm like a year older than the game. But it was also the only Sonic game I had/have. I never see anyone talk about it but I was pleasantly surprised when this video showed up in my recommended! This video has inspired me to play Secret Rings again! Thank you so much!!!!!

Secret Rings was the only Sonic game where I actively had to put the controller down and stop playing, I didn't even get past the 12 tutorial chapters. I was way more of a Black Knight guy. But I'm glad someone somewhere out there liked it at some point

Always good seeing another episode from you! I knew nothing of thos game before, but I'm honestly surprised I never really see people tall about that transformation. It looked pretty neat. Anyway, looking forward to the next one!

It’s so refreshing to here someone on KZfaq admit that they both like Sonic and know, in their heart of hearts, that the games are full of massive jank (especially they later entries). Also, thank you for playing this game so we don’t have to. I’ve been revisiting older Sonic games and was dreading this release. Now I don’t have to.

I beat Sonic and the Secret Jank this year, and I liked it besides the last two bosses. Now all I remember is fire and seven rings in hand.

I could swear you were in my living room when you got that footage of every players first Secret Rings Run. To this day I don't think I could ever enjoy Secret Rings, but you did manage to convince me that, maybe, just maybe, I'm missing out on...SOMETHING.

So something that I don't think you mentioned: Darkspine Sonic isn't using all seven of the world rings. He only has three of them: The rings of rage, sadness, and hatred, with the others taken by Erazor Djinn. This is a sonic high on negative emotions, which is why he's more aggressive. It's something no other game gives us a chance to see, and I think that's worth talking about.

Always a joy to get a notification for a new video from this channel. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this game of which I've heard a lot of mixed views about

I am so glad you are reviewing this game, I was worried you might skip over the story book games.

Thanks for the great video! I've always loved this game so it's awesome to see it appreciated.

I think the auto running Sonic game idea that is present here has a lot more potential that some think. Everyone brings up Sonic Dash, and yeah that’s fun, but that really plays more like a quick step section from the boost games. A break neck fast arcade-y tightly controlled and tough as nails auto runner sounds like it could be amazing. The real problem with Secret Rings is that they did not go all in on that concept, and felt the need to throw in the extra missions for padding and sections of stages where you need to stop and fight enemies. If it was all about the auto running and spectacle, it could have been this awesome, fast paced, challenging, and infinitely replayable arcady experience where you master Sonic’s movement, swerve jump and dive around obstacles and enemies, find faster paths through the stage, and completing a level as flawlessly as possible could have how you are ranked. It just sounds awesome. I really want another story book game that fully focuses on the auto runner aspect and doesn’t even let you stop. You could even have a more Star Fox styled structure where taking certain paths through the stages takes you to a different stage than what would have happened if you took the main route. It would be an extremely short game to beat, but endlessly replayable.

One of my favorite things about your videos is the footage you have from your childhood. That clip of you and your friends camping out for a Wii was so wholesome. That was a real moment that you didn't even talk about. You used it to support the topic and not yourself. I think that is so cool.

"Implied they were lovers at one point" Ah, no. The _idea_ is that when Erazor broke out of his lamp, to ensure he couldn't be sealed inside it again, he turned it INTO Shara. The link between Lamp and Genie still exists, but now HE'S the one with the control. And it doesn't quite come out of nowhere either, as the King skeleton guy from the last world hints at _something_ deeper than the surface. Now, am I suggesting that this automatically makes _perfect_ sense? No, not really. But it's close enough to not count as an asspull.

I played this as a kid when it was new...there's no way in heck I WOULDN'T understand what made this game special at the time! Needless to say nothing in this review really surprised me, but its nice/vindicating to see you due this game its proper justice (including its flaws...as a kid they just added to the "challenge" and I didn't even register them as such...but if I were to go back to this game...my experience would most likely be similar to yours) I must admit for a little while I've been kinda miffed about the direction of your channel...purely on a subjective level. These fast few years you've slowly been making changes to how you present yourself and what you focus on. And honestly in hindsight it had more to do with my life perspective as a whole (I'm doing WAY better now tho, so I won't go into that here). In regards to you tho your new style has grown on me tho. Like I mentioned years ago back when I first found you I projected a lot of myself onto you, like I still find your Sonic 2 video to be really personal, but I can make out my perspective more distinctly from your own. So as a glean into your cultural perspective on Sonic, games and life as a whole...I see a more different person, someone who's less like me as my identity has become much more clear to me now...the parts of me that are constant (my self confidence has been really good as of late, and is in way dependent on elitism or comparing myself to others like it was...unfortunately...when I was way younger...and even when I thought I rooted it out it was still there subconciously...I guess that's part of growing up tho lol) I do think its cool that you've decided to be more meta in your videos. Even if I...as someone who's followed you from near the start and is unfotunately too analytical for my own good (for better or worse)...can see the writing on the wall in regards to where you get your ideas from, similar patterns ect. Its all good tho, I know that these videos are take a long time to make and that you put a lot of effort into your scripts and editing ect. I'll just have you know that if I ever decide to pursue writing in any serious capacity...you can bet I'll be writing my own essays on various games/media I've come to appreciate while trying my best to say unique things on them. (I've just been focused a lot on real life as a late which is why you don't see me comment a whole lot) No pressure on myself or anything, but you've been a really big inspiration on my creative side, seeing that passionate video critique not only can work and is feasible but that its also...fun somehow! Brilliant all around! Keep up the critiquin'! :D

Your essays are incredible critiques. You analyze well and are really good at getting to the emotional ethos of a sonic game. They remind me why I'm a sonic fan 💜

Sonic and the Secret Rings is the textbook example of a "you had to be there" game. I played it at launch, when motion controls were still felt as the future of gaming. The soundtrack was great, and even though the controls were hard to get used to, the fact that there was no console of which I could play this game other than the Wii, not to mention the competent party mode, made this a great package. Would I play it again? Hell no; but I like that it was there when it had the chance.

I spent the first 8 or so levels of this game holding the controller vertically. I still ended up having a lot of fun with it, especially after learning how to actually hold the controller. I liked this more than the black night.

Never would I think I’d watch a video that would cause me to consider replaying this game again. Great video as always TGC

This is such an amazing video, loved seeing this look at an underviewed game. And I just adored it. I always enjoy watching your videos showing me experiences I didn't know about. (Really hope you played Black Knight's English dub though. If you did play it.)

I love your optimistic approach to this review! Secret Rings is a game riddled with hard to grasp design choices, but as with most Sonic game's there's always some charm to be found underneath!

the fact you keep teasing unleashed in every one of these videos is maddening

“Is this a castle?” Pissed me off so much because I heard it so much in evil foundry.

The comment on the menu music having a boisterous vocal track- that's how I feel about the Travel menu in SF6 World tour mode. I liked it by now it just grates.