Skills can provide Sonic with improved movement, offensive, and defensive capabilities, as well as special attacks. The player can distribute these skills to four "Skill Rings", which the player selects before starting a mission. Sonic has 104 special moves called "skills" that are unlocked upon leveling up or reaching certain points in the story. Successful missions earn Sonic experience points, which advance him levels.
New missions, cutscenes, and sometimes new levels are unlocked by completing missions. The game contains 110 missions (including boss battles) over the course of eight levels. Unlike previous titles, Secret Rings does not feature a life counter or game over screen, but instead Sonic reappears at the last visited checkpoint after dying, although the player will have to restart a mission if they fail a specified objective. Like in other games in the series, Sonic collects rings scattered throughout levels contact with certain obstacles and enemies scatters them away, and Sonic dies if he touches an enemy without any rings. Thrusting the Wii Remote forwards allows Sonic to perform a homing attack, a mid-air move that targets and damages enemies in his path. He runs along a predesignated path players jump and brake using corresponding face buttons. Players adjust his forward movement by tilting the controller. He is controlled exclusively with the Wii Remote, which is held horizontally like a traditional gamepad. Sonic the Hedgehog, the series' main character, is the game's only player character. Sonic and the Secret Rings is a three-dimensional platform and action game featuring an on-rails style of movement. The ring counter and Soul Gauge are respectively shown at the top-left corner and right side of the screen. A trail of pearls for the Soul Gauge lies in front of him. Sonic runs through "Dinosaur Jungle", an early level of the game. 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. Sega released a sequel in 2009, Sonic and the Black Knight the two form what is known as the Sonic Storybook series. 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. Upon release, Secret Rings received average reviews. 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. He chose the theme of Arabian Nights, using many elements of the stories in the game's setting, characters, and Middle Eastern-influenced music. Producer, writer, and director Yojiro Ogawa conceived Secret Rings to tap into the Wii Remote's capabilities. The title was released in place of an aborted attempt to port the 2006 game Sonic the Hedgehog to the Wii. 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 via leveling up. A spin-off to 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. Sonic and the Secret Rings is a 2007 platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Wii.