Not the best sonic game out there but at least this one's actually fun to play!
First off, the opening cutscene is what really blew me away. The graphics were incredible (although the rest of the cutscenes are mostly 2-D to fit the "storybook" theme), and the well-written script was voiced very well by Jason Griffith, Dan Green, and the rest of the 4Kids actors. Jason Griffith definitely did a better job voicing Shadow than Sonic, but that's not the point. I also thought that Sega had given up on the chili dog thing, but apparently not! In the beginning of the game, Sonic is summoned by Merlina, a female sorceress, and ironically falls from the sky along with two chili dogs. I was amused.
After you play the first level, the controls seem very diverse and unnatural, mostly because Sonic's going on his own path and you're just moving him from side to side. But after a while, you'll get used to it and realize that it's not a bad control scheme. You use the nunchuk control stick to move Sonic (thank God) and use the A button to jump, while the 1 and 2 buttons are used to activate special items like potions and stuff later in the game.
Now for the interesting part... To make Sonic swing his sword, you have to swing the wiimote, as you may have guessed. This can get really irritating and repetitive, especially in spots where you're surrounded by enemies. The battling technique isn't exactly like "Zelda: Twilight Princess," it's a somewhat simpler style. But it's still pretty fun to slash at enemies. What I wasn't impressed with, though, was that there were no combo attacks. There were a few special moves you could use but no actual combo swings whatsoever. But, oh well...
Oh, and another thing... Whoever says this game is too easy is out of their minds! The first few levels are a breeze but once you get to levels like the Shrouded Forest and Great Megalith, it's very challenging and near impossible to get five stars. The extra missions and stuff are usually pretty simple, but the actual levels aren't. Part of the reason is because the soldier enemies jump up, then fall and swing their sword to attack you, making it impossible to kill them while they're in the air. You press the Z button (on the nunchuk) to block attacks, but it's usually delayed. I would press the Z button but it would wait a few seconds to actually work, which made fighting hordes of powerful enemies a pain.
There was something else I was kind of dissapointed with, as well... Half the time, I felt like I wasn't evn controlling Sonic, that he could get through certain parts of the levels the exact same way even without my help, like in the Crystal Cave level. Sonic was jumping from crystal to crystal and I thought it was really cool until I found out I wasn't making him do it. I wouldn't have cared if he moved on his own just in a few places but he did it three or four times per level. Not exactly what I'd call total control...
The boss battles are mostly things like fighting dragons and knights, pretty much what you'd expect from a medieval-style game. But some of the characters' roles were pretty interesting... Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, and Sir Percival (a.k.a. Shadow, Knuckles, and Blaze) are three other knights you can eventually play as besides Sonic, but you'll have to battle them in the beginning because of their orders from King Arthur. Tails was a Blacksmith, which really amused me. As for Sonic, he had an attitude problem or something in this game! I don't remember him being so sassy and cocky about everything! And I've played a bunch of Sonic games. Oh well... But that cracked me up, really. And Sonic says something after you beat a level, depending on how many stars out of 5 you get. If you get 5 stars, he whistles and says, "That was tight!" And I laugh every time he says it. Thanks for the extra entertainment, Sonic Team!br />
Last but not least, the graphics and music. If you've played any other Sonic games, it's pretty much what you'd expect, amazing graphics, textures, and coloring, as well as epic music. These two things are almost never a problem in ANY sonic game, so I can't say I'm surprised.
Overall, this is a very unique game. It may not be the best SONIC game, but it's a really good game, despite the repetitive controls. If you have a Wii and you're a fan of Sonic or Legend of Zelda, you should get this game.