Sonic Unleashed

 Reviwer's Note: If you're after a full comparison between the versions of Sonic Unleashed check elsewhere as the differences are only mentioned briefly in this review. However the differences between the SD editions by Dimps on Playstation 2 and Wii are analysed instead if you're interested in knowing which the better version to buy is. Keep reading to find out.
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Some might say that in recent a time there has been a regrettable fall from grace with Sega and the dubious Sonic the Hedgehog titles. You don't need to be a genius to notice it. Sonic Heroes met with a mixed reception, Shadow the Hedgehog was panned by critics, and back in 2006, the highly anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360 met with much chagrin to the gaming community. So with the announcement of Sonic Unleashed, another re-invention of Sega's arguably defective mascot, there is the usual mix of optimism and negativity from Sonic fans old and new.


The story of Sonic Unleashed follows a regular template of Robotnick/Eggman attempting to dominate the world and once again put a stop to by the heroic hedgehog known as Sonic. As he destroys Robotnick's/Eggman's menace at full force the evil Dr manages to subdue the hedgehog and mutate him into a vicious being while fulfilling his plan of splitting the earth and harvesting the power of a legendary being known as Dark Gaia.


Can Sonic Unleashed amend the decline of Sega's most prized IP? Well unfortunately there is no lucid answer for it. Sonic Unleashed plays as if two games in one. By this, it is meant that Sonic Unleashed can't artlessly be viewed as just as Sonic title (which unfortunately, most critics have done). Instead, it needs to be taken into account with an open mind. Sonic Unleashed for the SD consoles (Wii and PS2) is not the same game as what players have on PS3 and 360 but it is still a riveting, perhaps greater, experience regardless. Though atleast all versions benefit from playing as Sonic exclusively this time around.


As much as playing as Knuckles and Tails in Sonic Adventure 1&2 was enjoyable, it has to be said playing an entire campaign as Big the Cat or Amy would no doubt grow on any players nerves after the first hour or so of play. Yet there is none of that in Unleashed. There are no gimmicks while playing as Sonic during the day stages. It is him, running as fast as he can, collecting rings and tearing the metal fibres apart from Robotnick's/Eggman's evil robots. Depending on how fast you are in doing all this, and how many rings you've collected, you're also graded alphabetically (e.g. S, A, B, C) and rewarded medals based on your performance.


Being in a 3-Dimensional state, Sonic can also slide to fit under tight gaps, quick step to avoid attacks and wall jump while still maintain his signature speed. Sonic is so fast that he can run on water and walls too with no problem and if you collect enough rings you can use a boost gauge that temporarily makes him even faster and pound enemies straight into the ground on contact. Add the various grind rails, speed rings, ramps, springs and dash panels and Unleashed almost feels like Sonic Team have perfected the level format. nfact, at times the day stages even transition between a 2.5D format much like the old school Sonic titles in is based upon.


The situation is that the day stages are solely abrupt and overshadowed by the prevalent night stages. The night stages play nothing like the 60MPH+ day stages: no boast bars, no 2.5D sequences grind rails, speed rings, ramps, and springs and dash panels. Much of the blur inducing velocity has been replaced otherwise. Introducing Sonic Team's gimmick to Sonic Unleashed... Werehog.


Admittedly, Werehog isn't as compelling or as delightful as the day stages but regardless the feature is underappreciated. The night stages turn Sonic Unleashed into a congregated semi-action adventure beat 'em up with a focus on fighting and exploration mechanics. Unfortunately while this is a feature that works triumphantly on the HD editions of Sonic Unleashed by Sonic Team, Dimps' more casual take on the two features make it far less diverting for the player. Werehog unsurprisingly, grows repetitive and dull eventually. Most of play is still spent moving from point A to B like in the day stages and you can still hastily complete levels if you wish to do so. Although Unleashed's on numerous distractions that make the pace of the night stages uneven.


One of these diversions involve encounters with Dark Gaia's minions in which you have to use Sonic's enhanced melee capabilities to get the better of the new foes. Think of the fighting as an overwhelmingly condensed version of God of War and you're close to what it actually is. The nunchuck and wiimote acts as Sonic's left and right hand respectively, combining the two can be used to do special attacks and combos. You can grab enemies with a click of B and throw them again with a swing of the wiimote, this can also be done with objects. While Werehog Sonic's combat system is solid and entertaining, once gotten to grips with, it lacks depth. The combo system is rudimentary at best.


Also the lack of variety in foes and the lack of environments to use against them make the night stages all the more repetitive – the HD versions didn't have this problem. Though the HD editions of the night stages were intended for exploration of the sun and moon medals anyway and removing that incentive alone makes the levels less enjoyable. Regardless, when you complete Werehog stages you're once again graded but mostly in terms of your fighting performance and rings gained than speed .


Ofcourse, moving on, the night stages are at a slow pace compared to the consistently speedy day stages and it is disorienting to discover a night stage is ten minutes long compared to the one to two minute wonder of a day stage. What is more disorientating however is that they're in actuality three complete night stages back to back compared to the one day stage and two meagre time trials on the side. This unfair imbalance of night stages over day stages is probably the largest problem of Sonic Unleashed on the SD consoles . Had Dimps developed more day stages and occasional night stages then perhaps Werehog would've made for a nice diversion and the game would've been twice as better received, but apparently not.


Outside of the stages Sonic Unleashed features a hub system that allows you to decide to where to go next once you've found your stalker buddy Tails. This allows you to visit the different areas of the world and talk to the locals about anything concerning your objective, normally the Sun and Moon tablets that enable you to complete stages. They then direct you to the temple in which you can also use you hard earned medals to get rewards such as extra lives, songs from the soundtrack and illustrations.


Fortunately, unlike the HD versions of Sonic Unleashed, finding the medals is not mandatory which makes the pressure of gathering enough of them to play a stage completely irrelevant. Boss fights also make a return to Sonic and are entertaining diversions from the gameplay, especially during the day stages in which Robotnick/Eggman will use his newest giant robot to defeat you and it often parallels to the original 2D Sonic games on Mega Drive also with transitions to 2.5D on occasion.


Some minor issues otherwise, Sonic Unleashed suffers from an occasionally unresponsive camera (especially during the platform sequences on the night stages) and the typically annoying voice cast of Sonic and co. Set by Sega. Now regardless if you think Ryan Drummond or Jason Griffth was the best voice of Sonic, it is has to be said that thanks to some bad writing and hammy acting he just doesn't perform very well.


But Chip, newcomer to the Sonic series, is as vexatious as they come. Needless to say, the cinematics have been developed with a younger audience in mind. Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 2006 tried to reinvent Sonic as the big kids platformer so it tends not to help when you revert the audience to a ten year old watching Digimon instead of a fifteen year old watching Bleach with Sonic Unleashed.


Visually, Sonic Unleashed looks a joy to play on both PS2 and Wii thanks to its bright, bold and beautiful designs as standard of the series. If you're worried as to how similar Sonic Unleashed is between its PS2 and Wii alliterations, allow this review to be rid of them. Obviously, since the Wii is the better console technically it has enhanced visuals that the PS2 edition of Sonic Unleashed does not. The Wii takes use of its superior lighting effects to make Sonic come to life and there are noticeably higher levels of detail on both the stages and characters as well.


Also, likely due to DVD restrictions, the PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed has poorer quality FMV cut scenes and sound effects. They're not earth shattering effects (no pun intended) but it has to be said that the atmosphere of Unleashed is partly lost on PS2 than on Wii due to these failings. Given the choice, it would be best to go with the Wii option instead overall. Sonic Unleashed has a memorable soundtrack, which oddly wasn't developed by the pop-rock fuelling of Crush40 this time around. However it has an orchestral and powerful theme song and it seems care and effort went into each stage's sound design.


Sonic Unleashed is a reasonably sized game given it is a platformer and can be completed within a few weeks of casual play but is roughly 7-8 hours long in play to complete the story. The extras obviously would depend but that adds to another hour or two of extra gameplay overall for all of them. And combine the fact that Dimps' efforts have caused Sonic to return delicately with great sound, graphics, music and day stages. It is an effort worth much approval. Unfortunately the mishap and repetition of the night stages is the only forgivable error made by Sega otherwise. All in all, this comes recommended to Sonic fans and worth playing.