Super Sonic Speed: ~Sonic Unleashed~

[Durxom]

Now you maybe asking, "What is this Super Sonic Speed thing?", and I have the answer for you.

Super Sonic Speed is going to be a bunch of retrospective reviews by myself, as I go through the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, from present day to its humble beginnings, and discuss the ups and downs and trends of our little blue friend with an attitude.​

Spoiler: The SUPER SONIC SPEED Reviews

2009: Sonic and the Black Knight
2008: Sonic Unleashed
2007: Sonic and the Secret Rings
2006: SONIC the Hedgehog (Sonic '06)
2005: Shadow the Hedgehog
2004: Sonic Heroes
2001/2002: Sonic Adventure 2/ 2 Battle
1999/2003: Sonic Adventure/ DX
1994: Sonic 3 and Knuckles
1993: Sonic CD
1992: Sonic 2
1991: Sonic the Hedgehog​

I hope you enjoy our little escapade through Sonic's history, and creation.​

[hr]

[HEADING=1]~Sonic Unleashed~[/HEADING]

[HEADING=3]Released: Holiday Season 2008
Available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, and Playstation 2[/HEADING]​

Being the first Sonic title to feature the newly created Hedgehog Engine, and the first "next-gen" game to emerge after the huge flop that was Sonic '06, Sonic Unleashed had a lot to live up , plus all the hype it started to create after some of the screenshots were released to the public; was it able to live up to expectations? Let's find out!

[HEADING=3]Story[/HEADING]​

Our story begins with our favorite blue hedgehog ruining another one of Dr. Eggman's plans, and destroying his entire fleet in the process. But the Doctor has a trick up his sleeve! Quickly luring Sonic into his trap and siphons out his Super Sonic energy, he fires a laser blast that breaks the world into pieces, releasing Dark Gaia. But this siphoning also had another unknown effect on our hero, Sonic, changing him into a furrier more menacing looking creature know as the Werehog. How exactly will Sonic be able to get out of this one, and what exactly will this new Werehog power bring??

The story itself for this game is ok, but it is pulled off marvelously by the way it is portrayed. The game seems to think of itself as a Saturday morning cartoon, with cheap gags and laughs, some little action, and some seriousness where need be, but it all seems to flow together and keeps it tip-top shape. So even though it may not be as great as some of the previous Sonic titles storywise, it still somehow works.

[HEADING=3]Gameplay[/HEADING]​

[img_inline caption="Sonic is better looking and faster than he has ever been before" height="200" width="375"]http://xboxoz360.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/sonic-unleashed-oxcgn-21.jpg[/img_inline]
Here is where Sonic Unleashed succeeds, but also somehow faults and fumbles. During the day stages, Sonic excels. The new high-paced speed and action that the Hedgehog Engine(and its modified version for the PS2/Wii) allows, and creates alongside the 3D and 2.5D stages is amazing. Boosting, snaking, drifting, and fast-hopping are the things Sonic finally needed and got and make him finally feel like the speedster that he really is. Unforunately though, the day stages come with a price, and a dark one at that.

By night, Sonic transforms into the new inclusion in this title, the Werehog. As the Werehog, you will be climbing walls, pipes, traversing terrain, and clobbering dark minions. While that might not sound that bad.....it actually really isn't that bad. It controls fine, it's something different, and the Werehog's stages are vibrant. The whole problem here though, is the Werehog levels aren't needed.

This game would have been a damn near perfect Sonic title if it had just included the daytime Sonic stages, but the Werehog was added onto it as well, as part of a gimmick, an idea from Sonic Team, or just to try and keep it fresh.[img_inline caption="Sonic is also a lot hairier and slower than he has ever been before..." height="200" width="375" align="left"]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2008/294/945572_20081021_790screen003.jpg[/img_inline]Both Sonic and the Werehog though, will be able to venture through the world to try and repair it, and visit many exotic locales that feature different gimmicks of their own, but also resemble some real-life locations (Apostos=Greece, Empire City=USA, and Chun-nan=China). Though staying true to most of the gameplay here, there are some cuts in the content of the Wii and PS2 version. Instead of hubworlds like in the 360/PS3 versions, the Wii/PS2 versions contain text based hub areas which are pasted above or use screenshots from the "nextgen" versions; some of the levels are also changed and some areas(Empire City) are removed completely from the game.

So while, both the Sonic and Werehog portions of the game are fun, the Werehog areas could have been taken out to make way for more well made Sonic stages.

[HEADING=3]Sound & Music[/HEADING]​

The sound and music in this title I'm sort of mixed on. The sound is great, like most games are, the noises that are made when hitting enemies, and especially the Sonic boosting are always pleasures to hear. The orchestral music is also surprisingly good, taking a few notes from Super Mario Galaxy, but still sounding good on its own. My major irk in here though are the vocal tracks....they suck.. While that may not be everyone's opinion, I just cannot stand Sonic vocals that are not Crush 40 except for a few exceptions, and these certainly aren't them.

Spoiler: The main title theme for Sonic Unleashed

[HEADING=3]Synopsis[/HEADING]​

Came pretty close to being a perfect Sonic game, but the inclusion of the slow, yet still fun Werehog, brought it down and shouldn't have been included in the first place. Still a solid Sonic the Hedgehog game though, and is a highly recommended pick up or rent just to try it out. Hopefully, if Sonic Team learns from the feedback of this game, they can create an extremely worthwhile Sonic game.

[hr]

This concludes the Sonic Unleashed retrospective review in my Super Sonic Speed line-up of titles. I hope you all enjoyed it. =]

The next title coming up will be Sonic and the Secret Rings(released in 2007), the first Sonic game for the Wii, as well as being the first game in the Sonic Storybook series.

 

[LightspeedJack]

Good review, I loved this game even though everybody else in the world hated it with a retarded passion. If someone says they don't like the day stages, you don't like Sonic games plain and simple.

 

[Oskar K]

lolwut`?

Memes aren't welcome. Read the guidelines please. -Mod

 

[Canadamus Prime]

That was certainly a lot more professional than I've heard a lot of other people talk about this game. For myself, I never got around to playing it; I'd still like to though.

 

[Durxom]

That was certainly a lot more professional than I've heard a lot of other people talk about this game. For myself, I never got around to playing it; I'd still like to though.

Why thank you. That maybe something to do with me though, as I only own the Wii version of the game. I have played the nextgen version a far amount but not as much as the Wii one, so it might be clouding my judgement a bit seeing as how different they are, though the fundamentals stay the same.

And yes it is worth a pick up to at least try it out =]

 

[Rarhnor]

I hope the Sonic's wolf form, is going to be a concrete part of sonic games, and i say this for the sake of Sonic Team. They can't keep rewind history and rewrite it in an other world/time/place. They'll eventually have to let Sonic grow as a character.
If they're not gonna make this wolf form a permanent part of future sonic games, Sonic's franchise will be an all burn and no crash. A one way road to a dead end .

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Hah, I see I'm not the only one with this idea. As someone who still enjoys most current Sonic games, I've considered doing something like reviewing all of the ones I've played, but you're not as lazy as I am =P

Anywho, I agree completely. I liked the Wii version, but since I've gotten the PS3 version I've been debating selling my Wii copy. I will say the day stages (On PS3) lack polish in some areas, but are otherwise an absolute blast to play. I like how the 3D sections make you feel like you're playing Sonic Rush, while the 2D sections are sometimes more classic Sonic style with more platforming, which is something the Wii version really lacks.

It can be fun fighting hordes of enemies with the werehog, but the platforming is very generic. I really wish they had just focused on the day stages, instead. Which reminds me...


*salivates*

 

[Durxom]

Hah, I see I'm not the only one with this idea. As someone who still enjoys most current Sonic games, I've considered doing something like reviewing all of the ones I've played, but you're not as lazy as I am =P

Well, I wouldn't say that, its just a realized a while back that I had all of the main ones except for 2 of them xD so I thought it would be a good idea to go back through all of them, and review them as such.

The only hard part is going to be Sonic '06. I don't have a PS3 or Xbox 360, and I'll have to find someone gullible enough to let me play it with them.

It can be fun fighting hordes of enemies with the werehog, but the platforming is very generic. I really wish they had just focused on the day stages, instead. Which reminds me...

-video snip-

*salivates*

So Sonic Colors is going to be a mix of old-school Sonic plus NextGen Sonic Unleashed..sweet!

 

[GloatingSwine]

This game would have been a damn near perfect Sonic title if it had just included the daytime Sonic stages, but the Werehog was added onto it as well, as part of a gimmick, an idea from Sonic Team, or just to try and keep it fresh.

It would also have been about ten minutes long.

Also, I actually thought the Werehog stages were good. Sure, there's plenty of "because God of War does it" in there, but even some of that stuff is done better here than the game it's copying (the QTE kills, for instance, where the more you've battered the enemy the more time you get to enter the inputs).

The only hard part is going to be Sonic '06. I don't have a PS3 or Xbox 360, and I'll have to find someone gullible enough to let me play it with them.

And someone who is basically immune to pain. That game is so bad it actually hurts.

 

[GloatingSwine]

This game would have been a damn near perfect Sonic title if it had just included the daytime Sonic stages, but the Werehog was added onto it as well, as part of a gimmick, an idea from Sonic Team, or just to try and keep it fresh.

It would also have been about ten minutes long.

Also, I actually thought the Werehog stages were good. Sure, there's plenty of "because God of War does it" in there, but even some of that stuff is done better here than the game it's copying (the QTE kills, for instance, where the more you've battered the enemy the more time you get to enter the inputs).

The only hard part is going to be Sonic '06. I don't have a PS3 or Xbox 360, and I'll have to find someone gullible enough to let me play it with them.

And someone who is basically immune to pain. That game is so bad it actually hurts.

 

[MasterMongoose0]

I liked Sonic Unleashed for a little while...

Then I needed something like 5 more medals to unlock the next zone. What a pointless, arbitrary way to make me go through the levels again- ESPECIALLY the Werehog 15 minute+ sections. I also despised the slow hub world and its obvious need to Be Like Mario. Just give me a good ol' fashioned level select and the day levels and I'll be set. Give me a hub world, nighttime levels, and medal grinding and I don't care anymore.

Sonic Colors does look promising provided they stick to JUST (BLUE) SONIC.

 

[PurpleLeafRave]

That was one of the flashiest reviews I've ever seen, the pictures were so pretty!

My childlikeness aside, I loved this review. It gave me a real insight into of the game, thank you.

 

[Durxom]

That was one of the flashiest reviews I've ever seen, the pictures were so pretty!

My childlikeness aside, I loved this review. It gave me a real insight into of the game, thank you.

No problem! I'm glad you enjoyed, and if you want stayed tuned to these reviews if you want to, I'm going through all of the main Sonic games if that interests you =]