Sonic and the Secret Rings was a mixed reception because of it's weird gimmicky motion controls and twitchy gameplay. For some odd reason it got a sequel (probably because it hit the sales of Sonic's first adventure on the Wii) in 2009 Sonic and the Black Knight, I hated this game when I was a kid because it was tiring, had unpolished controls, wacky Wii gimmicks and straight forward levels. (This review is gameplay focus only because I don't like giving this game much attention and I don't like this game in general) Sonic and the Black Knight's plot is about the same quality as Secret Rings only follows the story of Excalibur, same with the graphics they are okay for a Wii title I guess. The biggest flaws lye in the gameplay, lets start off with the Positives first. Sonic and the Black Knight improves the weird mechanics of Secret Rings and lets us get in control of Sonic, we can actually control him with the analog stick this time but that's pretty much the improvements because everything else flops (okay that's not all the positives). First off are the level designs, the levels are on rails the entire adventure (and it's a very short one), they are very linear as I'd remember them as a kid and very underwhelming. Second are the Controls, like I said you can control Sonic with the analog stick and it works for the most part but the momentum is very awkward and sometimes it makes no sense when you jump, example: when your getting a quick pace running really fast then you jump and half of your momentum is gone, then when you touch the ground you gain back some of your speed, I don't know how to probably explain this but it's not a good feeling. Lastly are the Wii gimmicks, for some reason Sonic has a sword that's name is I don't care and you can use this nightmare to control in the game. If you swing the Wii remote in gameplay Sonic will swing the sword so it's kind of like Skyward sword only completely stupid. There are tons of enemies in the game and there are a crowd of them, swinging the Wii remote will destroy these enemies but these get tedious and repetitive very fast. It gets tiring at a sloppy pace that leaves a miserable time in my perspective, I also get hand cramps from all the swinging, it's a pain, and some mechanics are just plain stupid and unnecessary. Levels feel like they go on for too long, Controls feel like they have a mind of their own, frustrating and exhausting gimmicks that I'm not okay with and it's just not a pleasant time for me. This game is not something I can recommend to anyone, it has too many stupid design elements and tiring motion controls that I don't think many will easily enjoy, also when has Excalibur ever fit into a Sonic game? who thought giving Sonic a sword was a good idea? why does this game exist? I don't know. The best thing about Black Knight, the soundtrack it's fantastic, everything else average and below.
