I just beat Sonic Unleashed. There you have it, why the reason for the tittle of this post. But instead of a review, I just wanted to get off my chest the fact that playing this game even as a big Sonic fan that I am left with a feeling that I can't explain. I was one of those kids that after seeing Sonic for the first time on the Genesis I was all like "screw you Mario". Though I still enjoyed other games, Sonic became my favorite game character. I sadly missed out on the Saturn but that didn't have any real Sonic games on it. Still, it would have been nice to play games like Nights into Dreams and Burning Rangers. Then came the Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were awesome games, they got a lot of really good reviews back in the day. That brings me to a really important side note that I also want to address. Why is it that a lot of people (even a few “professional reviewers”) hate on every 3D Sonic game and go on to say stuff like: “Dude, Sonic and 3D don’t get along” or “Sonic CD was the last good Sonic game”? Sonic Adventure was not a perfect game, but it was a great game. The gameplay was tight, the chaos were a great addition to the whole experience and the story was simple but was just an excuse to make a game. I just can’t stop saying good things about these two games. Gamespot.com gave them a 9.2 and 8.6 respectively. Sonic Heroes is where I think things got bad. The game is ok, the story is great. Metal Sonic makes a really cool comeback as the main villain and Team Chaotix is really awesome to. The thing about Sonic Heroes is that the speed gameplay is kinda lacking, it feels like the character is hovering and really makes me feel out of control. Also the flying sucks. I guess the best part is using a strong character but… not really. We all know what big pile of crap came after that.

Back to Sonic Unleashed. When I first saw the trailer for the game I was amazed, the gameplay they first showed was Sonic running through an African-like level and was in 2.5D. Finally! That was my idea all along, to make a Sonic 3 & Knuckles 3D HD Hyper Ultra Mega REMIX!! Ok that’s asking for way too much I guess. The prospect of a game like that was really refreshing, I had hope. Until I saw the Werehog. That’s the only reason to not like this game. So there is really nothing in the game that makes you saw: “Ok so he’s a wolf, at least the gameplay is amazing so I’ll let it slide”. Take Sonic 06 for example, the trailers even days before the game came out got me super exited. Sadly the best programmer at Sonic Team left (a.k.a. Yuji Naka) and the game had more bugs than a rotten corpse. I’m not saying that that game was good but if it didn’t have all that I guess it could have been a good game and worthy of the name it bares. The new look of Robotnik was badass and Silver was a nice character.

Let me tell you what’s the worse thing about Sonic Unleashed: the Sun and Moon Medals. I HATE THEM. You need a certain number of these medals to either enter a Sonic (Sun) or Werehog (Moon) level. They can be found either in the towns you visit like Sonic Adventure style or in the regular levels. So a big issue here is that Sonic runs fast, WAY too fast. So you want to use a more, slow and explorative kinda guy. Guess who that guy is. Yep, the Werehog son of a bitch. His levels have way more medals than regular old Sonic. So in order to play a great two minute Sonic level, you have to play a few twenty minute Werehog crappy levels. THAT pissed me off. There are other issues like the difficulty and stuff but that’s all minor compared to this.

Lets end this sad story with a little bit of hope. After that other Wii Sonic game, maybe, just maybe, Sega and Sonic Team will wake up and give us real Sonic fans what we really want… SONIC 3 & KNUCKLES 3D HD HYPER ULTRA MEGA REMIX!!

At the time of release I remember Sonic Adventure getting a lot of good reviews and praise. I also remember Sonic and the Secret Rings getting good reviews and praise from reviewers that rightfully blasted away Sonic 06. I didn't like SatSR either to be honest.

I also don't understand the Sonic CD comment. Surely Sonic 3 plugged into Sonic and Knuckles was the best Sonic experience to be had? :D

Thanks for the comment Cloudchaser.

The Sonic CD thing is that I've heard a lot of times that this game is the best and therefor the last good one in the series.
Yeah SatSR got good reviews, and really, I don't understand why. I'ts horrible.

I really wish they would just make a good Sonic game, I know it's a long shot, but I have hope. Someday a good 3D Sonic game will be made.

Theres a lot of stuff I forgot but whatever, like how good Sonic Rush is, both of them are really good games.

Lock-on technology rules. Nuff said.

HI,  ive been reading the post of ur blog and let me tell u hehee that te only one that i could undestand a little bit was te fist one hehee about sonic.. i remmeber the times when u were disapointed with Sonic. and well tne oldies will always roCkS!