Wave Ocean you would have seen many times before in screenshots and videos, so we wonвЂ™t bore you with how it looks, because youвЂ™ll already know itвЂ™s pretty much an Emerald Coast-a-like.

Using this dosh, we bought the Light Dash move and entered Wave Ocean by way of a warp mirror. We were tested to run through a set of rings within a time limit вЂ“ upon completion we were given a ranking and a stack of rings that corresponded as a reward for our grade. Contrary to popular belief, the side quests you can find are quite varied in their range and donвЂ™t involve вЂњFed-ExвЂќing yourself from NPC to NPC at all. Sonic, according to the manual, can equip different вЂgemsвЂ™ to his sneakers to perform unique actions using the Right Trigger.ДЄs weвЂ™re poor, weвЂ™re left with accepting an old manвЂ™s plea for help in testing some new shoes in the town. We realised that moves arenвЂ™t given to us right away вЂ“ using rings we collect in the stages we have to buy additional manouevres. To get to the first real Action Stage, Wave Ocean, we need to reacquaint ourselves with an old friend вЂ“ the Light Dash technique. First impressions of the character models and animations are very good вЂ“ it seems after an age of Sonic being quite the cardboard cutout, his personality (as well as all the other characters) is finally nailed in this game. It can only be Tails, as the hyperactive furry convinces Sonic to have him tag along. You donвЂ™t get much of a chance at the start though, for just ahead people talk of a two tailed fox running about. There are plenty of people milling about, and you can chat to a hell of a lot more NPCs this time around вЂ“ colour coded to show whether theyвЂ™re just spouting rubbish, have a clue pertaining to the next stage or want you to undergo a side quest. Think of a cross between SA1 and Mario SunshineвЂ™s Delfino Island and youвЂ™re pretty much there. After an impressively characteristic rescue, the belligerent Doc heads the hero off at the pass (so to speak) and nabs Elise вЂ“ who chucks a Chaos Emerald to Sonic as she is dragged into the Egg Carrier.ДЄnd thus introducing us to the game, with the first thing you see being a town stage not unlike Sonic Adventure-esque Station Square. When Sonic gatecrashes EggmanвЂ™sвЂ¦ gatecrashing, the princess sees Silver within the blue blur for a split second. With missiles.Д®lise seems to get these visions where her homeland is in ruins and flames, as during the intro she has a bit of a zone out. The opening sequence runs very similarly to the many preview trailers weвЂ™ve seen before вЂ“ Princess Elise of Soleanna is about to celebrate her countryвЂ™s festival when Dr. Luckily they said yes, otherwise it would have been a bit of a waste of 15 quid.ДЄs a precursor to our вЂCountdown to Next GenвЂ™ week (kicking off on Monday), we thought weвЂ™d give you a quick rundown of what happens right at the start of the game. So we trotted to SEGAвЂ™s headquarters and asked for an advance test of SonicвЂ™s new adventure.

With only a week to go until the next generation Sonic title hits the UK and Europe, we were keen to see the game in action in its complete glory.

Sonic 06 wave ocean