Review: Sonic Unleashed (nowhere near as bad as everyone says it is IMO)

[TheFinalPersonaKeyblade 1,029]

Honestly, I might be one of the few that thinks Sonic Unleashed for the PS3 is, at least, a good game. While I admit that the game has its faults, I had so much fun with it that the positives FAR outweigh the negatives and willing to give a fair and detailed analysis as to why I like it (unlike a certain Youtuber who's name rhymes with "Pirate Tamer").

 

 

Story:The story is that Dr.Eggman tries to rule the world, and Sonic stops him once again. However, Sonic falls for Eggman's trap while he is in his Super Form and is drained of his Super Form, as well as the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman uses the negative power of the Emeralds and awakens an entity from within the Earth known as Dark Gaia. As Dark Gaia is released, Sonic gets some of the negative energy inside him and turns into a Werehog. Eggman then lets Sonic plummet into the nearly-destroyed Earth along with the now-powerless Chaos Emeralds.

As Sonic lands to Earth, he meets up with a flying-mouse-rabbit-thing with amnesia. During their conversation, Sonic returns to his normal self and they both go into town.As they enter, they see an ice cream vendor. As they get an ice cream called a "Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme", Sonic gives the flying-mouse-rabbit-thing the name of Chip. As nighttime comes, Sonic turns back into a Werehog, and finds out he has stretchy powers(insert Fantastic 4, Incredibles, or One Piece reference here). After that situation, they go meet up with Tails,who is on his way to meet Professor Pickle in Spagonia.

As they get to Spagonia, Sonic tells the Professor about the ongoing events, like the drainage of the Chaos Emeralds. The only way the Emeralds can get their power back is to put them in a temple. As Sonic gets this information, he starts his quest to power up the Emeralds and stop Eggman and Dark Gaia. I found the plot to feel a bit stale as it has been done in previous games, but with an interesting twist in the fact that Eggman's plan succeeds from the very beginning.

 

 

 

Graphics: For 2008, the graphics are simply breathtaking,due to it being incredibly detailed and colorful. The animation of all the characters feel like a Pixar movie in a gaming format. Even the stages look beautiful, especially Chun-nan and Eggmanland.

Simply put, this is the best-looking Sonic game to date.

 

 

Music: Oh God, the music is wonderful! Every song in this game is phenomenal(except for the battle music), and a lot of them have a sort of level of detail for each stage that they play in, from the nighttime stage of Adabat or Mazuri, to the day stages of Spagonia and Chun-nan. The best part of the music is how varied the instruments are with each stage. It's like playing a different game, and I mean that in the best possible way.

 

Gameplay: The game is split into two parts: daytime stages and nighttime stages(which I have previously alluded to). The daytime stages consist of Sonic platforming and speeding through the levels to get to the Goal Ring.On a side note, this is the fastest Sonic has ever been, so be analytical of your current environment. The nighttime stages are Werehog Sonic's turf, as he beats the crap out of everything that stands in his way.The enemies that consist of Werehog Sonic's stages are the spawn of Dark Gaia and Eggman's mechs. To be frank, the nighttime stages are just loads of fun, mainly because of how many enemies you can take on, and with how fluid and fast the combat is, just makes it all the more rewarding. While the enemy count isn't as high as Dynasty Warriors, Devil May Cry, or even Kingdom Hearts, just going through waves of enemies feels absolutely thrilling.As you defeat enemies( for both day and night stages), you get experience points, which you can use to go faster, get stronger, more health, more ring energy, more moves, etc.

The daytime stages are where the game truly shines. The controls are extremely tight and responsive(not sure about the 360 version), and the difficulty always steadily increases, so it doesn't feel cheap when you die. The stages offer a high amount of adrenaline just for the sheer speed of this game. The platforming is also present and it feels better than ever. The thing is, in the daytime stages, they can go from a 3D perspective to a 2.5D perspective, in a seamless transition. It is a nice touch to reminisce on Sonic's past history. The level design is also incredibly varied from each continent you go to.

 

Flaws: While a good chunk of this review was gushing praise, there are a few blemishes that knock it down a few spots as one of my greatest games of all time. In the Werehog stages, sometimes when you try to latch on to a floating enemy, you end up falling, most of the time, to your doom, even when it isn't your fault.

Quick-Time Events are also present, in both day and night stages. Rarely has there been a game with good QTEs(exceptions being No More Heroes, Kingdom Hearts 2, and One Piece Pirate Warriors),and Sonic Unleashed is no different. There is one part at the beginning of the final level which requires 3 sets of button prompts, which wouldn't be bad, if they didn't share the same time limit. Now, you may be saying "Keyblade, you're just complaining about something as nitpicky as that." The time limit is only 5 seconds. I rest my case.

Regular Sonic's boss fights all feel the same. You're just rushing to the boss with the occasional QTE. It's not even that fun.

The story feels a bit bland at times. Keywords: At times. Empire City feels unimportant towards the story.The stages themselves are fun, but the continent feels hollow.

 

Final Verdict: Sonic Unleashed is a masterpiece. From its excellent score and mesmerizing graphics to its near-godlike gameplay, Sonic Unleashed is a truly overlooked gem. Also, the final boss is something special IMO.

 

Final score:9/10

 

[Ruby Rose 8,591]

Say what you want, it will never be better than Sonic '06

[Exiblade7 1,917]

I agree with you. I don't think that it is bad as Sonic 06 and I actually liked it. 

[advfox 698]

Sonic Unleashed is actually one of my favorite games in the series. I though the controls in the night stages were too loose and clumsy, but besides that, it was great. 

[Gamerazor247 877]

Sonic unleashed was awesome! Sure the Day stages take sometime to get use to, but now I'm pro, when I played Generations I didn't even struggle in the modern stages.

 

The soudtrack is great, the stages were fun switching from your classic 2D pan to the new angle building up speed.

Than there's the Night stages, I personally enjoyed them, though they do get pretty repetitive as you get futher but its a change of pace that makes it fun.

 

I never understood why people hate on this one, hate on 06 that piece of set >

[GotMilk5101520 573]

Sonic always has and always will have the best music (until Bravely Default) in any video games.

 

i like Sonic Unleashed, so the haters should go F*** themself