Needs to be leashed again. (Sonic Unleashed)

This has been a rough decade for Sonic The Hedgehog. Ever since his first 3-D excursion, things have been getting worse and worse for The Blue Blur. With the failtastic Sonic The Hedgehog, or better known as Sonic 2006, it's obvious that Sonic Team has lost whatever skill made them create the first big three Sonic games for the Sega Genesis. And, with this game, I'm assured that they will never get that skill back ever again.



Sonic Unleashed was to be the one game that proved Sonic Team could still cut it. I can't blame the whole of Sega though for Sonic's decline. They're probably never told anything that Sonic Team is doing, or else they would've intervened sometime during these past few years. I mean, Sega made Condemned 2 for God's sake. While their movie titles suck, they've been doing well with their own projects.



When you start up the game, you'll notice that the menu screen is very basic. I'm not sure if Sonic Team was aiming for a more "retro" feel, but it certainly feels that way. As you start it up, there is this gorgeous animation showing Sonic professionally owning Doctor Robotnik and his whole Egg Armada. While it looks quite stunning, I wouldn't have minded PLAYING THIS AS A STAGE IN THE GAME instead of watching it. Sonic turns into Super Sonic and corners Robotnik, who activates a giant machine that paralyzes Sonic. The machine fires a giant laser at Earth and literally breaks up the planet, while the machine also seems to be draining Super Sonic of his energy. Robotnik explains that he's unleashed(lol, pun?) some giant monster who was stuck inside of the Earth, and plans to harness it's power to create his dream theme park known as Eggman Land. We see that the monster's presence has turned Sonic into a monster-ish version of his former self. Everyone calls it "Werehog" while I call it stupid. Even though it DOES look a bit cool. Robotnik dumps Sonic and the 7 Chaos Emeralds into the cold vacuum of space and they fall to the broken up Earth below. Sonic then lands on some weird flying midget who isn't Tails and just so happens to have amnesia. Sonic then turns back to normal as the sun rises, and runs off to help this new friend find his lost identity and cure himself while stopping Robotnik and fixing the planet.


The furry become FURRIER!

On paper, the story really isn't that bad. It's by no means anything epic, but it gets the job done. Now that I think about it though, the story is one of the better parts of the game. Thanks to the absence of a lot of the characters in previous games, Robotnik gets a lot more lines and camera time and he's deliciously diabolical for the first time in years.

Graphically, this is one of the best looking games I've ever seen. Every single stage and area is beautifully rendered. It's a treat for the eyes. Sonic's movements are fluid and energetic. Even the NPCs look good.



While I'm talking about all the things I loved about it(all the things it did right), let's talk about the music. This game has one of the best soundtracks that will ever grace your ears. There is rock, there is orchestra, there is music of almost every kind here. There were only two songs I didn't like, and those were the vocal pieces in the game. Aside from those though, every stage has just pulchritudinous music. You'll probably obtain the soundtrack shortly after just playing the game. The voice acting isn't too bad. Dr. Robotnik's voice actor does his job just fine, and I'm still ticked off with Jason Griffith's performance. I don't see why Sonic Team doesn't just hire Jaleel White or rehire Ryan Drummond. But I digress. I played it mostly in Japanese anyway.


Shhhhhh, nobody tell him.

Now, you're probably wondering why I didn't like the game if I liked the story, sound, and graphics. None of that matters, at all, if the game, itself, was a failure. And that's what Sonic Unleashed is. You have two parts of the gameplay. You have super fast 2-D and 3-D Day stages with Sonic, and then you have beat-em-up God Of War/Devil May Cry Night stages as the "Werehog". The Day stages start off easily enough, but soon, every single stage is a test in trial and error. You WILL die at least 3 times per new level. The problem with that lies in the fact that Sonic moves so fast, that you will honestly not be able to keep up with him, and don't bother slowing him down either, as the stages are designed requiring that you go fast, especially the stages halfway through the game. Oh, and be prepared for random quicktime events and be prepared to blame them for your deaths too. The Night stages have you playing as the big and bulky and slow "Werehog" as you beat up every single demon and robot you come across for experience points to power up Sonic AND his "Werehog" form to either become faster or stronger or learn new moves. The only good Night stage is the first one, and the rest become boring and repetitive. Oh, and, near the end of the game, you'll spend more time using your "Werehog" balancing act "powers" than you will anything else as you make your way across stages made of balance beams.


Unlocking a safe is easier than these stupid quicktime events.

To pick one of these stages, you have to enter a stage room, where you literally walk to a teleporter, but they become more and more vicious as you continue playing; the one in Adabat will have you cursing the game. And you'll be cut off from stages if you don't collect enough sun and moon medals from previous stages, so, you'll most likely end up having to go all the way back to other stages and looking around for them. This is, I guess, Sonic Team's sick way of making the game longer.


Grindtastic.

There are also boss battles, but they're nothing to like either. The first one is up against Robotnik, as he pilots a flying beetle robot, and it's impressive, but it's also the only time you'll fight Robotnik until the end of the game. Later bosses are far more disappointing though as they're either mutated monsters or robots piloting robots. They even rehash the first boss in a later level, and there is no excuse whatsoever to do that.


You've got to admit that this looks kind of cool.

The game has plenty of achievements, but they all feel lukewarm and none of them really require a huge amount of skill. The game is only long because of the grinding you'll end up doing for the last "Werehog" level, and because of all the medals you'll have to collect. Under the beautiful surface of this game, lied a terrible and ugly beast that wanted nothing more than to see me suffer. This game is a rental, and should only be a rental. Giving this as a gift is an act of sadism, and purchasing it proves that you HAVE to be a masochist. Sadly, I don't think newcomers should play this game either, or else they'll get the wrong idea of what Sonic games are about, or, at least, what they should be about. Sonic Team doesn't know what they're doing anymore, and Sega refuses to stop giving them money, so, we'll probably see more Sonic in the future, but I still don't think they'll ever get it right. If you ever want to show Sonic to a younger audience, introduce them to Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 instead. But don't do this unless you're just a cruel bastard.



Oh well...