Sonic Unleashed: Yay or Nay?

[joshnickerson]

I've been following this one closely since it was announced, and thus far the reviews seem to boil down to two facts: The "daytime" Sonic stages could very well be the best console Sonic game since the Genny days, and the "night-time" Werehog stages drag the whole package down.

I've yet to play it, but I'm sure some of you here has. So I have to ask... are the day stages good enough to suffer through the night stages? Is it worth plunking down $50, or is it a game I can just rent or wait until it hits the bargain bin along with Secret Rings?

[BHvrd]

Do I want the game? Yes.

Are there other games that require more immediate purchase, yes.

I would wait a month or so for a price drop,but honestly I may try and just plunk down the cash as supporting a well done Sega game is a good cause.

They said the same thing about Sonic Adventure (bigs the cat and others) that the other characters bogged the game down, yet I still loved it.

The fact that there is in fact parts in the game that are as good if not better than old sonic makes this a must. It has looked really good and like the best Sonic game in ages.

More good Sega games FTW.

[Iron Draggon]

Sonic Unleashed? what system is that on?

[jupitersj]

PS2, PS3, Wii, 360

[skaar]

And your mom! hur hur hur

[PDorr3]

I have played it for maybe 3 hours so far....and I hate to admit it but what you are hearing is true.
The Sonic daytime levels are amazing 3-6 minute stages that are indeed the best since the genesis games. The werehog levels are 25-30 minutes long, they are by no means TERRIBLE but are very mediocre and extremely repetitive (Even the music). I will let you know more once I play more.

[Half Japanese]

Sonic, like Mario, has been dead to me for years now. Someone nudge me when either drops their supporting cast and gimmicks and make for a decent game again.

[ubersaurus]

The Sonic stages are indeed fantastic, and are everything you want in a Sonic game.

The Werehog stages are by no means bad, and are sort of reminiscent of a less crazy God of War combat engine, according to my friend. They do tend to drag on a bit longer than they really should, but if you can handle some brawling then they should be fine.

The verdict of my friends and I is that it's the best one since Sonic Adventure 1. Only took 9 years!

[Press_Start]

The Sonic stages are indeed fantastic, and are everything you want in a Sonic game.

The Werehog stages are by no means bad, and are sort of reminiscent of a less crazy God of War combat engine, according to my friend. They do tend to drag on a bit longer than they really should, but if you can handle some brawling then they should be fine.

The verdict of my friends and I is that it's the best one since Sonic Adventure 1. Only took 9 years!

I'm curious, how well are level designs done? Cause' from what I've seen, most levels and enemies look sorta "generic". Do you feel this way? Or does it live up to the hype? Could you say you put up with the first Sonic games on the Genesis?

[SegaAges]

hmm, I am totally swooping this one up here on friday (which is why all i have been doing is playing rb2 to try and pound through that before i get su).

[Icarus Moonsight]

How about a "meh" rather than yay or nay.

Oh, wait. I can always vote "present" right? LOL

I am presently meh.

[Sonicwolf]

Nay, until Sega figures out that going back to the roots of Sonic doesnt involve some stupid gimmick.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Nay, until Sega figures out that going back to the roots of Sonic doesnt involve some stupid gimmick.

Too bad Sonic WAS nothing but a gimmick - he was fast. :P

[Sonicwolf]

Too bad Sonic WAS nothing but a gimmick - he was fast. :P

Alas you are right. But, I guess, it was a gimmick we have all wished at one time or another wouldnt be buried in a relentless storm of other gimmicks. :p

[Iron Draggon]

PS2, PS3, Wii, 360

HMPH... it figures there'd be no PC version... maybe I'll get it for the Wii

[Ikari Warrior]

It's $25 this weekend at amazon with a $5 coupon (UNLEASH5) making it $20. Might be worth it at that price.

[Bojay1997]

It's $25 this weekend at amazon with a $5 coupon (UNLEASH5) making it $20. Might be worth it at that price.

Actually, it's cheaper for the PS2, $10 with coupon.

[nintendoeats]

Sonic, like Mario, has been dead to me for years now. Someone nudge me when either drops their supporting cast and gimmicks and make for a decent game again.
Really? Galaxy didn't do it for you? Mario and co have certainly been whored out over the years, but lets give credit where credit is due: SMG is a damn fine piece of work.

[videogameking26]

Huge fan of Sonic, really enjoying this one as the daytime levels are just so nice with the intense of speed involved, all the platform jumping which makes it feel like the older titles. For the werehog levels at least for me I'm just loving them as it's fun to go try and search for the medals and yes their long and repetive but with me just loving the genre and going around and searching for items I'm loving it.

You can tell they at least tried this time (Team Sonic), didn't give us that crap we got in the first Sonic next-gen in 2006, which I tried to like but in the end their was just to much glitches and gameplay errors it was insane, don't get me started with the camera how bad it was.

In leaving I say the new game in the series is a huge improvement and really should be tried by who likes the genre, for the discount price of $50 you can't go wrong and should pick it up asap!!!.

[RCM]

If Sonic 2006 wasn't so buggy it would have been more enjoyable. It's too bad Sega didn't release a patch...

I picked up Unleashed day 1 for 360 and am amazed so far. The day levels are awesome and make every other 3D platformer (and maybe every other 3D title?) seem stale. It's fast, fun and cinematic, and is kind of what I wanted out of 3D titles (and videogames in general) all along. While I'm not totally thrilled that Sega had to throw in some sort of "non-Sonic" character, the Werehog stages are actually fun and once you know what you're supposed to do you can breeze through them in 15 minutes. And while the day stages are shorter, they're so awesome that they beg to be played over and over again. Hell, even the boss battles are awesome. The day stages remind of a playable version of the opening cinema of Sonic CD.

Anyway, I'm not done with the game yet (can't stop myself from replaying the day stages), but it looks like this may be one of the best games I've played in a while, and I don't say that lightly.

[TheRealist50]

I believe its better on the Wii then the other consoles. Something about being able to control the Werehog better with the wiimote then the controllers.

[Therealqtip]

HMPH... it figures there'd be no PC version... maybe I'll get it for the Wii

I heard the Warehog stages on Wii hurt your arm after awhile

[Poofta!]

Really? Galaxy didn't do it for you? Mario and co have certainly been whored out over the years, but lets give credit where credit is due: SMG is a damn fine piece of work.

yep, and so was New Super Mario Bros.

back on topic: i'll pick it up for 10 bucks for the 360 just to see what the fuss is about, but i will echo everyone else where when i say that untill sega makes a sonic game without a retarded backup cast, without guns and transformations, i wont care.

[Sudo]

I believe its better on the Wii then the other consoles. Something about being able to control the Werehog better with the wiimote then the controllers.

The 360 version is actually better, because the Wii version supposedly has more Werehog stages for some reason. The great graphics don't hurt, either. ;)

[SegaAges]

You know, I didn't have any troubles with any gameplay glitches or camera angles when I got Sonic 2006.

Maybe you guys got an earlier version that was broken or something, I don't know. Camera angles, while they glitched up a little every now and again, it was not bad enough for me to right off the game.

[Dastardly Dylan]

A couple of my friends said that it is actually pretty good. From what I've heard, it has the same gameplay as Sonic Adventure from the Dreamcast, which was the last great Sonic game (besides the Dark Brotherhood on DS).

Do I want to try it out? Yes. But will I buy it? No. I shall rent it or borrow it from someone.

[emceelokey]

Definite YAY for any Sonic fan. I haven't really put in any time into a Sonic game since Adventure 2 and I really didn't like that. I barely remember that one also but I know in Adventure 1 there were a bunch of other charactersyou had to play and I didn't like that much either so pretty much 3d Sonic games haven't impressed me much. I got this in my gamefly and didn't even really want to play it but I igured I'd put an hour or so into it just to be able to get a feel for the game. I ended up putting 3 hours into it in my initial session and ended upkeeping the game from Gamefly.

The day Sonic is all about the speed and when it gets to those levels the game play is pretty much 2d or on rails a la the original Crash Bandicoot games. But it defilitely peared down to fairly basic 2d game play with excessive flash. Plus there a whale in one if the stages which brought me back to seeing that whale scene in the first Adventure game. It definitely felt like an evolved Sonic game from the 16 bit era.

The Dark Sonic is what actually sold me on the game. It plays much like a God of War type of action game but it really beefs out the game with letting you be able to explore the stages in a different way. Also there's a leveling up in the game which just adds to the replay value. The exploration of the stages are somewhat like the Nintendo 64 platform games where have to be at certain levels or have certain attributed to enter or reach a stage and what have you. It a fun progression.

definite YAy form me.

[carlcarlson]

for the discount price of $50 you can't go wrong and should pick it up asap!!!.

Whoa, $50 is a discount price? Ouch.

[Sudo]

Played the game a bit more yesterday, and while I do like it, it definitely has problems. It may sound sacreligious to say this about a Sonic game, but the daytime levels feel a bit too fast. The camera just can't seem to keep up all the time. The controls can be an annoyance at times, as well. More than a couple times, I'd do a homing attack, only to miss the enemy entirely and go falling to my death.

Complaints aside, it is the best Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2 and I'd recommend it.

[emceelokey]

My problem with the Daytime Sonic is not necessairly that it's too fast but that he's hard to control because of the speed. I'd die a cheap death by missing a platform because of how hard it can get to control him at the speed.

[scooterb23]

for the discount price of $50 you can't go wrong and should pick it up asap!!!.


Whoa, $50 is a discount price? Ouch.

Yeah...about that...

Just watched the trailer...Sonic levels look good, I've not enjoyed any of the 3D Sonics at all, so so we'll see how this works. The werewolf stuff? Looks totally stupid. I'll still give it a rental.

[Nebagram]

For me, the daytime Sonic stages are absolutely frigging brilliant, at least once I'd got the hang of using the shoulder buttons to strafe- which became surprisingly intuitive very quickly.

The only downside is that the night stages take eight times as long as the daytime stages and absolutely plod by comparison in the most annoying way possible. Memo for Sonic Team: make an entire game out of the daytime stages as these are the only ones that have any replay value.

[Julio III]

I've had this game since Saturday and enjoy it a lot! To give you my background on 3D Sonics, I really enjoyed Sonic Adventure on launch day for the Dreamcast but hadn't played one since until Sonic & The Secret Rings which I tried and failed to play on only 2 occasions as the game was so horrible. However, Sonic Unleashed is excellent so far. I love the Sonic daytime levels where you can replay them over and over for speed runs. The graphics/sound/overall sense of adrenalin is excellent. I really enjoy the nighttime Werewolf levels as well, it has platformy bits (and some pushing boxes "puzzles") and lots of brawling. I kind of like the exploring and collecting aspects of the game as well and think the hub levels and talking to characters, collecting little things is quite good. So so far its a big thumbs up from me! (though I was expecting it to be quite bad but its great).

Oh, and I have the 360 version. I have heard that the 360/PS3 version was designed by Sonic Team and have different level designs to the Wii/PS2 version by Dimps.

[SegaAges]

bumping this thread. I got it for x-mas.

Wow, this is what I expected from a 360 sonic game, and that is a good thing. I enjoyed the first level so much that I literally called into work to sit at home and play this game.

[The 1 2 P]

for the discount price of $50 you can't go wrong

In what world is a current gen $50 game a discount price that you can't go wrong on? Must I remind you of the recession....

[kupomogli]

I've only played the demo which is only a Sonic stage, but I think it kindof sucks.

The game doesn't really give you a choice where to go. You're basically on a small set path and make a couple jumps here or there at the correct time and that's it. What fun is a game where you honestly get no control over yourself. No matter how pretty the graphics are, I'd like some control over what I'm doing and where I'm going.

[SegaAges]

For all those people needing lives, I stumbled across this little secret while stuck on a section of a werehog stage.

In the first night stage of chun-nan, you will get to a point where the checkpoint starts you off pulling a pole down, shoot way up in the air to get an extra life, and then you go across some platforms killing dudes. Now, get the extra life and fall down to the platform (instead of the way that seemed uber simple of double jumping and grabbing guys, DON'T DO THAT). Keep going doing the platforms. Eventually, you will hit a spot with 2 poles that are vertical for you to climb on, and 2 to swing on after that. There is an extra life in between these 2 poles. Grab it and then die.

What does this do?

You hit the 1st extra life at the beginning of the portion and the 2nd extra life right before you killed yourself, and life respawns, so you will die once for every 2 lives you get. I stopped caring about lives and kept trying to actually get passed that part (yeah, good luck getting passed that crappy part). Before I finally went online to find out how to get passed that one part (about 20 minutes worth of playing that level) I was up to about 30 lives. It is much easier to get them then you think.

Now to get passed that part if you are stuck like I was:
After you get the extra life, you can jump again for a double jump (that is the part I did not know about). You can then grab the little robots and get to the roof top, then hop on the dragon and the rest is cake.

This is not cheating, it would be more like exploiting the fact that they respawn extra lives everytime you die.

Enjoy you other Sonic people. Never continue again. I am playing some harder levels, and have died like 10 times on some levels, but keep going back for more lives, and it is rare that I drop under 15 lives.

[j_factor]

Has anyone played the different versions? Which is better? Some are saying that the Wii version is best due to the Dimps level design, but Dave Halverson said, in his usual exaggerated style, that the Wii version is good, but the 360 version is a "religious experience" by comparison.

[jdc]

I just downloaded the PS3 demo and all I have to say is "wow!!" Silky smooth and fast as hell!

[Rob2600]

The game doesn't really give you a choice where to go. You're basically on a small set path and make a couple jumps here or there at the correct time and that's it.

Isn't that how the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog game was?

[j_factor]

Isn't that how the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog game was?

Not totally, no. The first one was, a little bit, but most people are most fond of Sonic 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. All of which are great about having multiple ways to get from Point A to Point B. It's a big reason why people liked Sonic so much over other platformers of the day.

[Julio III]

Urgh, so, I played this game heavily for a couple of weeks, really enjoyed it. And then I got to the last level and pretty much gave up. I like the main idea of the last level but its just difficult and long and hard and I cannot be bothered. Reminds me of how on Sonic Rush I'm still stuck on the last boss...

[Garry Silljo]

Not totally, no. The first one was, a little bit, but most people are most fond of Sonic 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. All of which are great about having multiple ways to get from Point A to Point B. It's a big reason why people liked Sonic so much over other platformers of the day.

I've noticed quite a few different paths to the goal ring in unleashed's day time levels. I think the new entry is great. I didn't much care for the werehog at first but it has actually grown on me and now I like the whole package.

[emceelokey]

I came for the classic Sonic game play but stayed for the Werehog.

[garagesaleking!!]

i dont want to sound stupid, but what is a werehog?

I played the demo for unleashed on 360, and it was pretty fun. It is very fast paced and runs very smooth. It is pretty jaw dropping just how beautiful it looks.

I would have to agree with one of the other posters though, it does not really give you cany control over where you go, its like one straight path.

[emceelokey]

You don't know what the Werehog is! Haven't you seen the commercials? The cover of the game? The Werehog levels? Ah man.

You = Downgrade.

Seriously. Imagine if Kratos raped Sonic in one of his love scenes.

[j_factor]

Seriously. Imagine if Kratos raped Sonic in one of his love scenes.

I'm having a hard time picturing that. Perhaps you could post a few illustrations?

[emceelokey]

Oops. I forgot to add ...and had a baby.

[j_factor]

I don't think you understood my post. I was requesting furry porn.

[SegaAges]

There are definately different paths to take in the game for both day and night stages.

Like, for example, where I told you that you could get infinite lives, I am sure that you could swing just perfect and go that way, or you could go the easier way.

Day and night stages are as open as you are willing to be.

This is definately the fastest sonic yet, because on the day stages, it is very possible to miss every single chance to branch out and do something different in the level because you flew passed it too fast.

Some of the stuff gets frusterating, but takes time to get perfected (they really didn't want you to just fly through every stage).

Holoska is a perfect example of that. It is either stage 1 or 2 (I don't remember) of the day stages that is a water level. You will know when you get to it, but that level is tougher than hell.

[emceelokey]

To J factor: No I got what yoe were saying but I got so caught up in the idea of how the werehog was born that I forgot to and the "and had a baby part". I didn't just throw out Kratos raping Sonic for no reason you know.

To Segaages: I know what you are talking about. it's like in the middle of the level and there's a bunch of speed boosters that yoh have to hit and dodge a bunch of stuff and jump at the right time. It was class old school cheapd death gameplay.