Sonic and the Secret Rings
Image: Sega

Update []:

It's here! Project Reignition, the free fan-made remake of Sonic & The Secret Rings for PC, is finally available to play in full (that is, except for the party mode, which is coming in a later update).

As outlined in the announcement video, this unofficial revisit of the 2007 Nintendo Wii game introduces several improvements not present in the original, aiming to give players a Secret Rings experience "like never before." Not only have the graphics been updated throughout, but there's also a new time attack mode to dive into, and countless other tweaks to discover, with both the skill system and controls being refined.

To find out more about what's changed, we recommend checking out the release trailer below, which also gives an advanced look at the Party Mode that will reportedly feature online multiplayer.

The free fan-made game is available to download now from GameJolt, if you want to give it a try.

Original Story []: If you asked most people what their favourite Sonic game is, we'd guess that the majority of them probably wouldn't say Sonic and the Secret Rings.

Released in 2007 for the Nintendo Wii, the game didn't set the world on fire on its original launch, with most critics at the time suggesting it was an improvement over other more recent Sonic entries (namely the previous year's Sonic 06), while also acknowledging various issues related to the camera and controls.

As a result, it doesn't typically top many lists of the series's best games today, with most rankings placing other 3D Sonic games like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colours, and Sonic Generations above it.

Despite that, though, it does seem that there are some out there who do still care about the game enough to want to give it another chance in the sun, with a group of fan developers currently being hard at work on a promising fan project called Project Reignition.

This is a fan remake for PC that aims to introduce various changes to create a more enjoyable experience for players, while remaining "largely faithful" to the original title's ideas.

Here are some of the changes you can expect:

  • Controls will be remapped for a traditional controller.
  • Level Select will have an indication for story-critical missions.
  • "Seven Rings in Hand" will no longer be the menu theme.
  • Equipping Skill Rings before a mission will be skipped by default.
  • Skills that improve control will be equipped by default.
  • Skills that are weaker versions of other skills will be removed.
  • Time Break will maintain a smooth framerate.

Project Reignition got a playable demo as part of Sonic Fan Fest 5 last month, but has also just received yet another update, with the developers releasing a new v0.4.2 build as part of this year's SAGE 2025 event, which you can download now.

Here are its key features:

  • Native Controller Support: Keyboard, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Steam Deck
  • Multilingual Support
    • Voice Dub: English, Japanese, and Spanish (WIP)
    • Subtitles: English, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, and Chinese
  • Adjustable Aspect Ratio Support: 16:9, 16:10, 21:9, and 4:3
  • 6 Playable Worlds: Sand Oasis, Dinosaur Jungle, Evil Foundry, Levitated Ruin, Pirate Storm, and Skeleton Dome
  • Brand-new Environments
  • 15+ Remixes and Original Compositions
  • 50+ Skills and Augments

You can download the project here.

[source youtu.be]