It's far from a big secret that everyone's favourite hedgehog, Sonic, has had a bit of a tricky time adapting to three dimensions. Although still hugely popular the world over and very much one of the premier cultural icons of the videogame world, it seems that Sega have been quite determined to test gamers' loving resolve in recent years with a slew of average and somewhat infuriating releases.

After Sonic's first outing in a fully 3D world in the fun, yet flawed Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast back in 1999, it seems that Sonic Team have struggled to move forward with any kind of technical gusto. Rather than attempting to fix the simply atrocious camera and iron out some of the many bugs that have marred the series foray into 3D, they have instead thrown new features and an array of tedious, poorly thought out secondary playable characters that have done nothing to win over the doubters, who, rightly so up until now believed that Sonic simply would not work in 3D.

Beyond the terrible camera, a big problem for Sonic in the world of 3D, has been the inability to recapture the fun, and more importantly, the sense of speed that made Sonic so popular back in the nineties. These cornerstones of Sonic's success have never been truly represented in recent years, with Sonic sadly turning into a shadow (sorry!) of his former self. It seems a long, long time since Sonic could stand shoulder to shoulder with Mario at the very forefront of technical excellence in videogames. That seemed like an even more of a distant memory after gamers optimistic expectations were shattered with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog on the 360 and PS3. The terrible camera remained, the pointless story missions made an unwelcome comeback and another new but again disappointing character was thrown into mix, if only in an attempt to paper over the all too apparent cracks.

Luckily then, rather than admitting defeat, Sonic Team have instead finally decided to take a different approach - and what console better to try a new approach on than the Wii? Although still in full 3D, Sega have created an almost pseudo 3D world that, although creating barriers, does inject that old magic and speed back into Sonic's little red boots while going some way to redeem their past mistakes.

Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Wii is as closer to the side scrolling 2D Sonic games of yore than ever before. Gone are the levels of pointless exploration and side characters; the emphasis is now on speed - pure, mind bending speed. In fact, speed is all you're going to get, as the option to slow things down has been completely taken out of the your hands, as Sonic spends the game in a perpetual forward motion that requires you to simply navigate the turns, twists and enemies as our blue haired hero throttles along at a searing pace. Although the colourful design and blistering speeds will all feel immediately recognisable, the story certainly will not. Instead of the usual Dr Eggman fracas, Sonic is visited by a genie in his sleep and warned of an impending danger from the evil genie called Erazor, who is destroying the book of Arabian Nights so that he may escape into the real world to continue his rampage of destruction. Sonic is therefore charged with travelling throughout the seven fantasy worlds of Arabian Nights to collect the secret rings that can put an end to Erazor's tyranny and bring the land of Arabian Nights back to peace.

Each of the worlds has its own theme, from a land of dinosaurs to a pirate world, with each specific theme giving each new area a unique feel. Although there are only seven worlds, each has numerous different challenges, adding to the longevity and breaking up the repetitiveness of all that running you will be doing. Although the primary objective is always to get to the end of the level, once this has been achieved, different challenges are unlocked, asking you to complete goals from collecting all the rings to defeating the level boss. This makes going back through the levels more than worthwhile, especially as each new visit allows another look at the amazing landscapes and architecture that bless each and every level throughout the game.

The controls, as you can imagine from a Wii specific game are quite unique, yet also extremely simplistic. Holding the controller sideways on, the player must tilt left and right for control, while the 1 button is used for stopping and 2 for jumping. Pretty simple stuff, right? Quite remarkably however, the game is actually quite difficult to master. Sadly, this is in a frustrating manner rather than a challenging one for the most part. This is unquestionably Sonic and the Secret Rings' biggest downfall and it will try many gamers' patience. Although the controls are simple, due to the manic speeds it's quite easy to miss a jump, or indeed an enemy for that matter, due to the extremely short reaction times, leading to an almost unfair level of trial and error. Although annoying, the fact that the game is just so fast and fun, with an array of worlds that jump out of the screen with colour and beauty, you are unlikely to mind having to revisit them.

Although the game is not huge, the differing challenges of each world certainly add to the longevity, leaving Secret Rings feeling like a pretty big game, especially for those looking to complete every challenge available. Other than the annoying trial and error aspect of the gameplay, the rest of the proceedings run smoothly from beginning to end as Sonic travels from one beautiful world to the next, navigating each loop and turn with a beautiful sense of grace and speed throughout, leaping on enemies, hitting jumpads and grinding along rails.

As with many other Wii specific titles, there is a collection of fun, if slightly unimaginative mini-games that make up the multiplayer portion. Here you get to use the Wii remote in many different ways as you paddle, shoot and swing your way through the collection of mini-games against up to three friends or computer generated opponents. These are all fun enough in small doses and by no means detract from the single player game, but they don't do anything that hasn't been done on the Wii before. This however is a minor gripe and should not put you off experiencing the wacky mini-games on offer.

The presentation in Sonic and the Secret Rings is a joy from beginning to end. The graphics are pure Sega gold, full of bright solid colours and characters that simply jump out of the screen. Even as you run along at lightning speeds, you will constantly find your eyes drawn to the epic backdrops in the distance and the beautiful effects on show from beginning to end. For all the talk of hi-def gaming, Sonic and the Secret Rings leaves Sonic the Hedgehog on 360 and PS3 in the shade and just goes to show how far a little imaginative art direction will get you. Although the songs are extraordinarily cheesy, they fit the feel of the game perfectly. The same goes for the quite ridiculous voice work; while irrevocably bad, it again feels at home within the game's rich, child-friendly world, especially when changed to original Japanese, which provides a huge improvement over their English counterparts.

Although far from perfect, Sonic and the Secret Rings unquestionably stands as the blue hedgehog's most successful foray into the world of 3D. For anyone who has ever been a fan of Sonic, Secret Rings is finally a game that won't disappoint. While the mini-games aren't great and there are still a few niggles when it comes to trial and error gameplay at times, there is finally a real reason to be optimistic for the future of Sega's mascot for the first time in a long time - and for that reason above any other, I can do little but recommend Sonic and the Secret Rings as a game worthy of your time.

Reviewed by Liam Pritchard for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).