Sega has announced that Wii-exclusive Sonic series entry Sonic and the Secret Rings will hit North American retail quite soon, on February 20.

Sonic and the Secret Rings was built from the ground up for Wii, unlike recent multiplatform release Sonic the Hedgehog, and features a very different play style from recently-released 3-D Sonic games. In Secret Rings, Sonic is always running forward, and the player can "steer" him by tilting a sideways-held Wii Remote. Buttons are used to make Sonic slow down or jump, and the game will feature a myriad special moves such as tilting the controller forward to execute a homing attack.

Sonic and the Secret Rings has been garnering interest for returning to the series' roots as well as for largely positive previews—not to mention being a potential bright spot in the somewhat slow trickle of Wii releases system owners find themselves in at the moment.