Sonic Unleashed - What is it now after four years?

[Dr. Homem]

For some time now we've had a stream of generally good or decent Sonic games, and more than that, almost one month ago it was the 4th anniversary of the game which started this modern era... or not. Since it has been quite some time already, I felt it would be appropriate to have a thread to take a new glance at it, especially since we can see the game in a new light after all those years. That is what I want to look at in this topic.

In the year 2008, after a period of poorly received Sonic games, SEGA decides they are tired of such bad reception. They come in with the idea of a faster game, and with something more to it. In November 18, Sonic Unleashed is born with many expectations yet the result is a game that to this day isn't generally considered "good" by most. Is the game truly that bad? Or is it a case of close mindness to new concepts?

The Werehog

I'd like to start with the most controversial aspect of Unleashed. Many critics slam the existence of Sonic the Werehog just because he is not the Sonic we know. Well, the creation of the character is well-thought to work within the universe of Sonic. You can't really say it is absurd for a Werehog to exist in that context. If there can be a Super Sonic, why not this?

As a lover of video games as a whole, I liked the fact that you can try a different gameplay, within a world I love. Fighting with combos and upgrades, Tomb Raider-style platforming and exploration, puzzles to achieve new skills... Of course, a lot of cricticism in Sonic games is "We never asked for different gameplay". Well, that is where close-mindness is the most visible: simply because we've had bad different gameplays in the past, the fandom will not accept any gameplay other than basic Sonic. Even if it is well-designed and works, and clearly the Night stages fit into that. Technical problems are something else; you can complain all you want about camera or movement bugs, but in terms of concept and design, the Werehog has a very interesting experience to offer.

In all, cricticizing the night levels and the werehog only because of its concept, is like hating on Black Knight simply because Sonic holds a sword. That analysis takes nothing else into consideration except the first impression. Not to mention, the nature of the form allowed for some admirable character development, something which is often overlooked.

The day stages

As the sun goes up, the gloomy atmosphere of the Werehog is replaced by the colorful stages and the Sonic gameplay we're used to. These levels are characterized with high speed action and beatiful scenarios.

These stages feel faster than any other previous Sonic experience, and that is evident for anybody who has played either version of the game. Of course, that also brings a frequently used cricticism for Unleashed and subsequent games - "Boost to Win". But to be fair, that suggests that merely pressing the boost button with no other input is sufficient to clear the game. Anybody who has played the game would know that the boost is suicide in many sections and you'll end up losing all your lives if you just keep pressing that button. In fact, you need to be careful when to jump, boost etc in order to finish.

Objectively, we can put it like this: it was fast, a platformer, controllable and polished. And even with flaws, it is simply fun to play and replay; which is more than many Sonic games have to offer.

Exploring the world

Other than action stages, we have moments of roaming too, in the HD versions. Many found that portion unnecessary. Well, when I completed the game on the PS2 version, where there is no exploration of such scenarios, I didn't miss them. Instead, it had the Temples of Gaia full of interesting puzzles, which is something I personally feel was one of the few things the Wii/PS2 did better than the PS3/360. On the other hand, knowing each city and searching for hidden medals make the experience worthwhile. It can be tiring, yes, but this is only if you want to do everything. And those who do, like it.

Anyway, as for the planet building itself, the world and characters are fleshed out much more than in any other Sonic game before it: Human characters that fit in with Sonic's cartoony art style! Beautifully rendered scenarios in all stages! Diverse and vibrant music! My point is that they put a special love and effort in this game.

Evolution and basis for the future? Or a failure?

Certainly, the concept for the day stages were good enough to be kept - Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations continue with the same formula. Because it works. The Werehog's style was a visible improvement over most other varied gameplays we've seen in the past, as well.

I am not saying Unleashed isn't flawed, and certainly not that you have to like it. But if take the subjectivity aside, we need to recognize what it meant for the franchise as a whole. Speed, beauty, music, challenge, innovation and an interesting story. That was what Sonic Unleashed brought. People say Sonic got back in his feet in Sonic Colors. I personally believe Unleashed well deserves to be included in that designation.

Well, now you can discuss this game, maybe compare it to others, or say what you think about what is written here. And that's all I have to say about that.

[Jack / Joker]

I can honestly say I hate this game after all these years. Sonic Colors and Generations took the best of this game and amplified it while the bad parts were left untouched. I have no interest in playing this game and I only actually own it for collectors' purposes.

I do own the soundtrack however

[Kuzu]

I wouldn't say I hate this game, but I'll just say that Colors & Generations left far better impressions on me.

[TheOcelot]

Sonic Unleashed was a marked improvement from Sonic 06, in that it wasn't complete shit. It had it's problems though like the Werehog stages that were way too long at times, and the difficulty spike-like the utterly ridiculously hard Dark Gaia final bosses. Some of the hub worlds were completely pointless, and the coin collecting just to unlock new stages was cumbersome.

It has a nice soundtrack and is a pretty looking game. The modern Sonic gameplay is fun to an extent, but the levels were rather borrowing and linear. Chip's voice gets annoying after a while.

Overall I don't really like this game. My opinion hasn't changed in four years.

[Faseeh]

This game is awesome. Pure awesomeness. It's got everything I need. I like Generations more, but this is a close second.

Here's how I see it. The Classic Era is an equivalent of the Modern Era. Both started from nothing cos' 06 was that bad. The first game, well yeah, Sonic 1 did a greater job for Sonic compared to Unleashed, but to me, naaah. The second, Colors and Sonic 2, did about the same for him. The last, pretty much did everything done in the two titles before better. So yeah.

The thing I love about Unleashed is the Story. How grand it is. It's amazing. It was a good mixture of dark and cheery, that was not done much better before.

Also, I like Chip, a great character. Also, the NPCs were great and full of life.

The OST is very varied, it's not my most favourite for a few reasons, but it's good.

The level design might be linear, but it has a lot of stuff to break and find and it feels real satisfying to do a perfect run.

My love for this game will just keep increasing till SEGA do everything this did right and mesh it up with everything Generations did right. Then, I'll pretty much have my dream Sonic game.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Christmas NiGHTS

[Vertekins]

What is it now after all these years?

A still highly entertaining romp with a great story, breathtaking visuals, a stonking great soundtrack and a level of love and passion invested in it's worldbuilding and characters by Sonic Team that now in retrospect make me very disappointed in Colours and Generations because they had not a smidgen of that level of detail-orientation or character-building regarding their worlds or NPC's. Unleashed is a beautiful game in many respects but I'm not going to deny that Generations did the Hedgehog stages better.

In all, cricticizing the night levels and the werehog only because of its concept, is like hating on Black Knight simply because Sonic holds a sword.

...and which is no more gimmicky or odd than Sonic's nine forms in Colours considering that they abide by the exact same mechanics as the Werehog regarding how they come to fruition.

Piece of Dark Gaia enters Sonic and he transforms in reaction to it? That's no less odd than a Wisp entering Sonic and him transforming in reaction to it's Hyper Go-On power yet I don't see those forms or even Frenzy form (Who is far more violent and mindless than Werehog ever was) get pulled over the coals. And I'm not on about gameplay or game design regarding these forms, I'm on about their gimmickyness and the way Werehog gets given grief on that aspect.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Vertekins

[Dr. Homem]

...and which is no more gimmicky or odd than Sonic's nine forms in Colours considering that they abide by the exact same mechanics as the Werehog regarding how they come to fruition.

Piece of Dark Gaia enters Sonic and he transforms in reaction to it? That's no less odd than a Wisp entering Sonic and him transforming in reaction to it's Hyper Go-On power yet I don't see those forms or even Frenzy form (Who is far more violent and mindless than Werehog ever was) get pulled over the coals. And I'm not on about gameplay or game design regarding these forms, I'm on about their gimmickyness.

Exactly. And more, he is comical - short legs and stretchy arms - even though he still looks quite intimidating. That keeps the Werehog from being overly serious or dark, while still not becoming silly or stupid.

[Faseeh]

You know NPCs kept calling the Werehog pudgy and short (like the smart dood in Apotos when you first see him when you are a Werehog, "Wow, you've become short!" or something like that) in the game...

I never found him to be short and pudgy.

Ever.

[Vertekins]

You know NPCs kept calling the Werehog pudgy and short (like the smart dood in Apotos when you first see him when you are a Werehog, "Wow, you've become short!" or something like that) in the game...

I never found him to be short and pudgy.

Ever.

I'm a bit more weirded-out by the fact that the NPC's have such mild reactions upon seeing a 4 foot tall hairy, fanged and clawed heavy-set creature walking around with a piece of an abomination against all that is good and holy residing in his body not that they know that but still...

[Dr. Homem]

I'm a bit more weirded-out by the fact that the NPC's have such mild reactions upon seeing a 4 foot tall hairy, fanged and clawed heavy-set creature walking around with a piece of an abomination against all that is good and holy residing in his body not that they know that but still...

Well, these are the same guys who are okay with seeing purple cats twice their size or having their casinos be full of death traps.

[FourCartridge]

From the view point of someone who barely heard about Unleashed, I rented the game a few weeks back and decided to give it a go to see what the fuss was all about;

It's OK. Not "medicore" OK, but "I found myself enjoying it" OK.The gameplay was generally fun even in the Werehog sections(though I guess it's purely cause I upped Attack power, Health, and nothing else). Unresponsive Drifting and iffy button mapping were the main things that got in my way during the Daytime sections, but I recognized the gameplay style I had fun with in Generations(I skipped Colors).

I could see it as an attempt to do 06 right, it felt that way... Though Chip eventually got annoying(then again I always hated the helper fairy archtype).

For the formula itself, It's mostly done it's job, though I personally could stand for it to hang on for one more game. If that little hint about Gens being the last game Unleashed Style though, I'm looking forward as to how that'll turn out.

I will admit I only got to Rooftop Run night though. Whoever designed medal collecting can go DIAF.

Piece of Dark Gaia enters Sonic and he transforms in reaction to it? That's no less odd than a Wisp entering Sonic and him transforming in reaction to it's Hyper Go-On power yet I don't see those forms or even Frenzy form (Who is far more violent and mindless than Werehog ever was) get pulled over the coals.

Wha? I thought Sonic turned Werehog cause the Chaos Emerald's power was drained while he was still using it. Wasn't getting that back the entire reason to go to the Gaia Temples?

Edited December 10, 2012 by Sub-Zero

[DarkLight]

No. Sonic lost his Werehog form when Dark Gaia sucked it right out of him. Throughout the whole game, Sonic was unbeknowingly infected with a sample of it's power.

The Gaia Temples were only used to restore the Chaos Emeralds which would lead to the planet coming back together.

EDIT: What Verte said in much better detail.

Edited December 10, 2012 by DarkLightDragon

[Vertekins]

Wha? I thought Sonic turned Werehog cause the Chaos Emerald's power was drained while he was still using it. Wasn't getting that back the entire reason to go to the Gaia Temples?

Nope. When him and Dark Gaia were bound by the beam of energy used to split the world into pieces, Gaia unknowingly imbued Sonic with a portion of itself which it re-absorbs when it sees him again in order to become complete. Because Gaia only becomes active upon nightfall, the part of itself inside Sonic activates as well, resulting in the transformations.

Even the night enemies exhibit the Werehog's properties; Because they are fragments of Dark Gaia, they have an elastic quality to their bodies and can stretch their limbs just like the Werehog can. Nightmares, Deep Nightmares and Big Mother's have stretchy arms.

[MugiMikey]

I love Sonic Unleashed. I think its storyline is the right balance of lightheartedness and seriousness. It wasn't melodramatic like SA2, Shadow, and Sonic '06, but it also wasn't "kiddy" like Colors and Generations. I actually like this game more than Colors because I feel both the gameplay and story in Unleashed have more substance. I also think it's crazy that IGN's score for this game is even lower than Sonic '06's.

Anyway, I think the Werehog is an underrated character. I really liked the character development he received and the relationship between him and Chip, who I also believe is underrated. I suppose can understand why some people would find him annoying because people also knocked Omochao for flying around and telling you what to do as well. Maybe it's just a poor fad among the fanbase? I also think if the Werehog gameplay was kept but it was Knuckles instead, the game would have been received much better among critics.

Interestingly, you brought up Sonic & the Black Knight, a game which I didn't enjoy. It wasn't because Sonic had a sword, it's because I just didn't find the game fun. I had to stop and swing the Wii remote around so many times which got annoying really quick.

Overall, I enjoyed the game from start to finish and there were only a few parts that actually frustrated me, but that only encouraged me to do better the next time around. Other Sonic games, such as some of the classics and the Adventure titles, left me frustrated in similar ways that Unleashed did, and with enough practice I was able to progress.

So yeah, good game.

Edited December 10, 2012 by MugiMikey

[Rinzler]

Wait. So it's okay to like this game again?

[FourCartridge]

Wait. So it's okay to like this game again?

Aside from Shadow and 06, when has it ever been not OK to like a Sonic game on a fansite?

[ChikaBoing]

Back then if you were a die-hard Sonic fan, and were used to alternate Gameplay-styles, that particulary Adventure 2 provided, you could say that it was a game you liked.

But now that Sonic game have been provided, with just the gameplay, you actually wanted to play, you can safely look back (along with the Adventure games), and feel that it's mediocore.

[Speedy]

To me Unleashed is the best out of the three 'modern' games. Even if we don't look at the Werehog (whose gameplay was fun, btw), it's the game with the most interesting story, it had huge, wonderfully designed stages with great atmosphere and as a whole I just think out of those three games it's the one with the most soul and spirit.

When I say atmosphere, just look at the stages. In Unleashed, we don't only get stages that look entirely breathtaking, but we also get hub worlds in brilliant 3D, with NPCs to interact with and with a lot of things to discover. The hub worlds, the town parts as well as the Entrance Stages gave me a really nice Adventure-y feeling. In a not so subtle way it felt like an homage. Unleashed gives you stages that are part of a little world to explore and highens this feeling by letting you see various parts of this world and letting you get to know some of the folks living there. That gives it life, in a way Color's world map or the white space in Generations can never reach.

Then of course there's the story contributing to the game's atmosphere. It already starts out great, with a showdown between Super Sonic and Eggman. In space. Eggman trapping Super Sonic and using him to power his cannon was a great twist and a dramatic development. Throughout the game the world is in pieces, dark monsters are invading, Dr. Eggman threatens with his Eggmanland plans and Sonic is cursed being a werehog. To me, this story was actually motivating to beat the game and see what happens in the end, if Sonic gets cured and so on.

To be fair, I also liked Sonic Color's story, but mainly for the funny dialogue and good character interaction in the cutscenes. It was a great example how good characters can save a dull plot, because the plot of the game wasn't nearly as thrilling as Unleashed's.

Generations' story was pretty disappointing to me. I like the game, yes, but the story felt boring, with hardly any dialogue, no surprising events, no interesting interaction (and I think it would have so much potential for that...).

Then of course there's gameplay. And I actually like Unleashed better than the other two in that as well. It's a very subjective thing on Colors and maybe I'm unfair towards this game, but I simply felt it has way too much grating platforming. It's no secret I like 3D better than 2D. Funnily, the 2D parts never felt annoying to me in Unleashed. They fit in with the pace and the transitions were smooth. Colors gave us much more platforming, waiting for floating platforms to move us somewhere, than it gave us a chance to run around feeling fast. In most stages, whenever I had just started enjoying going fast I ran into another platforming part. I felt they were slowing me down. Unleashed never did that. As I said, it's very subjective and has more to do with my tastes in gameplay than the quality of it.

Generations handled the balance between running around and platforming better than Colors IMO, but I still prefer Unleashed a little bit.

Another thing about gameplay is controls. Unleashed's and Colors are fine, Generations has for some reason felt slippery to me from the beginning on and in comparison with the others didn't stop giving me this feeling even after I got used to the controls. Only point of critique for Unleashed... Whoever got the stupid idea to put homing attack and boost on the same button? I was glad they seperated it again in Generations... and put it back on A.

Putting all that aside, I like Unleashed for being the more challenging game. Sure, you could rightfully say it has a lot of cheap difficulty everywhere, but at least it has difficulty. Its successors were a lot less challenging. Beating Eggmanland and defeating Dark Gaia felt like an achievement. Defeating the Time Eater? I killed him without understanding how to harm him...

What doesn't mean I don't like Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations a lot. I really do. I just think Unleashed did what it did really well.

[Dr. Crusher]

I still like Unleashed, but I like Colours and Generations far more due to personal priorities.

...That's all I've got on this one.

Aside from Shadow and 06, when has it ever been not OK to like a Sonic game on a fansite?

All the time, apparently.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Dr. Crusher

[Speedy]

Back then if you were a die-hard Sonic fan, and were used to alternate Gameplay-styles, that particulary Adventure 2 provided, you could say that it was a game you liked.

But now that Sonic game have been provided, with just the gameplay, you actually wanted to play, you can safely look back (along with the Adventure games), and feel that it's mediocore.

What are you going to do if I say I actually want to play something like Knuckles' treasure hunting stages again? I also liked the gameplay of the Werehog. The battles you kept being forced into annoyed me, but the stages themselves were nice.

[Dizcrybe]

I used to really like this game. The thrill was just so amazing.

Then, once I picked it up again some time after I beat Colors, it seemed to be a lot worse than I remembered it to be. Sonic himself was just so slippery, kinda like 3D Blast brought into actual 3D. I also fell out of love with the level design, which relied solely on reflexes that no first-time player could hope to have. In Sonic Colors, you were always given enough time to react to everything that came your way.

Also, while I don't think this is a fault on Unleashed's part, I love how the level design is so much more thought out in Colors; there's so many routes to take. There's even a route in Aquarium Park that I didn't know existed until I saw Pokecapn's Let's Play of it.

In short, I don't care for Unleashed too much anymore. Not after playing Colors.

The Werehog was okay, but I felt it was a bit weak in the platforming department, mostly because of the camera.

Edited December 10, 2012 by thapoint09

[-blank-]

Ah Unleashed. What is there to say about this game that other people haven't?

I first got the Wii version for Christmas the year it was released. I had a blast with it, but eventually I learned of the radial differences between it and the PS3/360 (HD) versions. And after hearing about how those were the so-called 'better' versions of the game constantly, I became enamored with wanting to find out for myself. So, I received the 360 version for my birthday in 2010 - and let me tell you, it's been hard to go back to the Wii version ever since, because the HD version does nearly everything better.

The passion SEGA put into this game becomes clear the moment it starts up and you see that glorious opening cutscene, showing Sonic putting the hurt on Eggman's robots before transforming into Super Sonic and going straight for an escaping Eggman himself - only for his cockiness to get the better of him, resulting in Eggman being able to awaken this sinister beast from the depths of the world, splitting the planet apart in the process...and in Sonic himself changing...

From there, the adventure begins.

In terms of the Daytime levels, I'm most certainly not one of those people that consider them to be nothing more than hallways where all you do is boost through them. Actually, I found that I have to be plan where I boost at times, else I will hit an object (Arid Sands is even hard to maneuver through while running normally at times so imagine trying to boost the whole way through) or fall into a bottomless pit.

Either way, they are still a blast to play and I love trying to find shortcuts and other ways to beat my times. And I love how they brought back the gameplay style in Colors and Generations as it is pretty much my favorite between it, the classic and Adventure gameplay.

As for the other half of the game, I'm in that controversial camp of fans that likes the Nightime gameplay better than the Daytime gameplay. The Werehog is very enjoyable to play as. I find it very satisfying just to beat up on enemies, so much that I won't even skip optional groups of enemies I encounter. And the fact that you can learn several new moves through leveling up greatly pleases me and I do like experimenting with combos.

And as odd as those stretchy arms are, they do make the platforming a bit more interesting, giving you the ability to swing on bars and enemies to get across gaps. Hey, I thought it was cool.

I have to give a shoutout to the graphics. Even if the Hedgehog Engine was apparently 'out-dated' when the game came out, that doesn't stop Unleashed from being absolutely gorgeous. Seriously, go look up a video of Jungle Joyride Day (make sure it's the 360/PS3 version), for it is just beautiful.

Unleashed has probably my favorite original OST in the series. Some of my personal favorites include gems such as Jungle Joyride Night, Rooftop Run Day and Night, Empire City Night, Cool Edge Night, Dragon Road Day, and so forth.

I absolutely adore the storyline and characters as well. I love the interaction between Sonic and Chip as well as between Eggman and Orbot (then known as Ergo among fans). And of course Professor Pickle's opening scene still makes me chuckle every time. He has one of the best quotes of the series, indeed. The story itself is pretty much my favorite in the series and I love how the Werehog was a source of some character develeopment for Sonic.

If there's something else I love, it's the whole 'world adventure' theme. Where in previous games you were relagated to a single region, here you get to travel the entire planet as you piece it together. It's quite interesting seeing all the different countries and meeting people of different cultures. They really went all out with this aspect - the hub woulds are very well themed after the country they represent and you can by food and souviners much like those you would see in that country's real world counterpart.

The levels also lend themselves to do something like this as well - from the highways of the USA-inspired Skyscraper Scamper to what looks like the Great Wall in the Chinese styled Dragon Road, I could tell that SEGA did thier research here. Even the music fits with the countries - tell me, doesn't the music of Rooftop Run Night sound very Italian-esque?

All in all, Unleashed is an utterly fantastic game, and it's a shame that Colors and Generations, while fantastic games in thier own right didn't show this level of passion and dedication from SEGA.

[Old dead account]

It had a really good atmosphere theme of traveling the world, and amazing soundtrack and gorgeous graphics and an OK story. But unfortunately, the gameplay was like a huge pile of shit with a few gems sprinkled here and there but overall just not worth getting your hands dirty because those gems were just long thin thing without much substance to them.

Overall just a game I'd really like were it not for the big stink. Colors and Generations FTW

[KHCast]

I definitely like this game. The werehog is probably the best out the the styles other than Sonic and is quite enjoyable once you get used to it. The atmosphere this game brings is amazing, really putting you inside the game and making you feel these locations are real.

However, I digress, the Hubs in the HD version I actually find to be superior to the Wii/PS2 versions umm....static screen thing? I mean the characters have more personality, it's another way for the atmosphere to take hold, and you don't actually have to go through the pointless crap of: finding one person, then talking to another person, then going back to the first person and then finding the last person who will give you the tablet piece needed to continue. Plus it just feels super empty and lazily put together. I find it nice to stop and interact with the lives of the NPS's and do a couple missions fro them to pregress their arc's. While I will say that I would have preferred the temple sections over the actiony like stages.

[Platinumb]

From how Gamesradar hyped me up to this game with how much effort they were putting into it, I was really looking forward to this game. From the first pics we seen with Sonic in pain, to the furry beast that was hinted, to what we have now.

I thought I was in for an amazing time after seeing the first scene which was paying a big homage to the Classic games, but ended with Eggman winning. From there, I thought this would mean Sonic has to now deal with a mechanized world where Eggman wins.

But it wasn't. There was just some Gaia monsters that were just there. Eh.

The game, overall, didn't feel much like Sonic to me. You have Sonic in real-time environments. It didn't feel like a Sonic game, but a game with Sonic in it. It was like taking the Battlefield franchise, and putting it in a fantasy environment. Sonic is a cartoon in his own world, not a hero saving lives in notGreece. It looks nice and all with that cool 60FPS. That 60FPS should be a standard in Sonic games it really did wonders, visually.

The story had no way to draw you in after the first few sections of it. Suspense is risen after seeing that Sonic has let his arrogance and pride get the best of him when Eggman was begging for mercy. It was played out great. It opened up for what happened next and that is when we get Dark Gaia and the world split apart. Oh, and Werehog, the best part of this game. Dark Gaia was threatening and all from the start, but that dwindles as you advanced through the story. Actually, Eggman and everything else that represented evil has had their threat level dwindle because not much happens afterwards except Sonic repairing the world back together. Seriously, the only thing major that happens is that Chip, the friend Sonic makes after the fight with Eggman, remembered that he is of relation to Dark Gaia after restoring one of large pieces of the world. Other then that, you are restoring the world piece by piece with small little things here and there, with some minor details, like Amy appearing.

In a nutshell, the story shows no signs of real struggle between good and evil to keep the player interested like what SA2 did with Shadow. Shadow was shown to be a threat to Sonic right after the first scene you see him in. They did this with Dark Gaia by telling you, but they never show you.

I really don't want to talk about gameplay. It is very abysmal to me; appalling.

...But, whatever.

I understand first stages being the speedy ones. The ones where it should be straightforward or fast, but when just about every level is like that, that excitement you get from the stages dies off very quickly or during that stage. It gets very repetitive when you are not only prioritized to go for the goal, but you also are fed with linearity, automation, and a move that laughs at anyone who expected player input. This has been said by plenty here, though. Lets try something else the gameplay lacks.

Gimmicks. They are used to set an image for a level. When you don't have them, the only way to set the stage apart is the environment and this is what Unleashed did. All of the stages share things from the last one and don't give you much to make you venture to the next stage. Of course, you have the fireworks in Dragon Road or the sliding platforms in Eggmanland, but what good does those do when they don't equate to much? It is like taking all of the gimmicks from Carnival Night Zone (balloons, cannon, water level rising/lowering, spinning pillars, and the long, red diagonal candy canes) and leaving just the speed boosters and claim it to be unique to the rest of the stages.

There was too much use of prior knowledge and other cheapness, like bottomless pits. This was turned to extreme levels in Eggmanland where there were QTE sections where if you missed the button demanded, you were dead. Some sections would rather troll you wih sheer amounts of prior knowledge. Trial and error to the tenth power. Other stages also had very forgiving parts with tons of pits and the "you mess up, you die". It is okay to pull a pit out to increase a little suspense or fear, but not to a point where you become unoriginal with it and make no creative ways to increase difficulty other than pits and QTE sections leading you to death if you dare miss the button demanded.

And it can be done because it has been done before in Sonic games.

Controls are very, very slippery. And people say SA1's controls are aged. They never perfected it. Button placement was designed so you wouldn't notice it much, but once you bother to stop boosting (which you probably won't because the game is designed around boosting) the controls are something like soap. Not to mention the annoyance of mapping the boost button where the homing attack is. Bad move.

The taboo Werehog, to me, was actually fun and reminded me of God of War and Ristar. It provided with more input on the player's part and it was fun stacking up the Unleashed meter and then going on a rampage on Gaia's minions. In Eggmanland, he provided with some cool challenges and a little confusion, but he was fun overall.

In conclusion, I don't see how this style of Sonic is anything special. The gameplay appeals to the speedrunner, the story doesn't do much after the first scene to motivate you to move on other than an evil monster that is...out there. There are a few things the game has done right or I love, like the superb Hedgehog engine that gave us Eggman's dream, Eggmanland. The aforementioned Werehog was great, not for this franchise, but great. Bringing back springs that lead you to unfortunate things was also great. Though, they shouldn't be hinted at with Eggman's face and (maybe) the snicker you get upon impact. Instead, just have them as normal springs and let the player experiment and explore.

It is an ok game by itself, but as a Sonic game, I really don't see anything special in this game. Other than the 60FPS.

Seriously, 60FPS is amazing.