So SatBK was released recently.

[LATER BUDDY]

My GOD I need the music in my hands as soon as possible! The game itself is pretty fun, not great, but definitely one of the better things for Wii, me thinks anyways. However, I honestly can't emphasize enough the magnitude of insane awesome the soundtrack is for this game. The remixes of old themes are great and

THEY INCLUDED "IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! Not in just any old fashion either! It's completely acoustic guitar and a violin. It just sounds so great and gets me teary eyed, XD. I love singing to it, =D.

. There are the general guitar rock tracks there for the traditional C40 fans, but they also have a large amount of other music as well! There are countless songs that are beautiful acoustic guitar picking and epic orchestrals. I can't wait until someone rips it. This soundtrack just got shoved right up there with Sonic Adventure 2 for me. I think I might like it better than Unleashes actually (if not, definitely tied, =3).

Bottom line, if you're a Sonic fan and can stand some of the series' lower value games, you'll probably like this. Now, when I say lower value games, I mean the ones that aren't that impressive, but aren't the scum of the series either. Something like Secret Rings or Rider's 1 probably (just going off my judgment, I hope you get the message here, ^^").

As for right now,

I'm kinda stuck at the Dragon Lair's boss battle where you run toward him dodging his fire and badguys. I tend to die right after I get to his horn for the 3rd time, =/. Other than that, I did get stuck at the battle with King Arthur where you had to chase him. The controls were almost unfair for me once you had to time your attacks with his, UGH. I don't think I'm that great at this game yet though, XD. Great fun though, <3.

[Thirsty Pocket]

This is the first time I haven't watched the release date of a Sonic game like a Hawk. I actually missed it. Normally I don't listen to what other people say about Sonic games. But this time it seems like everyone is in agreement. It's not so good.

I will pick it up... later. When the price drops. Maybe. Since I forgot all about the game, clearly im not so worried about it that I must have it now.

[Gabz Girl]

And this is the part where I complain about the game.

Eggman isn't in it.

Eggman's been in every single Sonic game EVER before this(Tails games aside), so this is a pretty big shock to me. I for one am appalled that they'd exclude a character as old and as important as Sonic himself in such a crass fashion. They could've put him him in- Even in some small role ala Secret Rings. But no. Bah, I hate this game and everything about it.

At the very least, some of the fanart selected was quite good, particularly the one of Eggman aboard his Egg Fleet(Which, no, doesn't count as him appearing in the game).

Knuckles didn't appear in Sonic Unleashed. And he's an important character too. =P

Well...pretty mixed reviews, I guess most are saying it's average. I'm still getting this game next week, but I'll be getting it with low expectations. ^^;

Btw, can anyone tell me how Knuckles plays? And how his theme song is! Is it remixed? OwO

[JaidynReiman]

Actually, I myself frankly am glad they left out Eggman for once. They -always- include him. And in most cases, yeah, its fine because he's the main villain, but in Secret Rings his role was absolutely pointless, and it was extremely short. You don't even go back to finding him, either.

Anyway, I think I myself will grab this game after I get a Wii and simply not get Secret Rings. It seems interesting, and the music is awesome. Plus, the plot twist is stunning. I really like how that played out.

[Edward]

I'm gonna rent this game. To me, this game isn't enough for me to buy the game. Very disappointed at the looks of the gameplay. Sonic Unleashed looks better. :/

[Dr. Mechano]

Actually, I myself frankly am glad they left out Eggman for once. They -always- include him.

Which is why they should never leave him out.

But frankly, I don't see why he should just not appear if he's not the main villain. Him appearing always brings something special to the games, and this game's plot definitely felt like it was missing something because of his absence. I can only follow the adventures of Sonic and his fuzzball friends for so long before I lose interest- Eggman would always make me want to follow along with the story, so his exclusion was a real drag.

[Indigo Rush]

I was rather surprised that Eggman wasn't in myself... I expected him to be Merlin.

[Random Rhyme]

I'll pass on this one since it doesn't seem too great especially since Eggman is left out.

Edited March 5, 2009 by Shade737

[JaidynReiman]

I was surprised, too, but I'm glad they left him out. I don't mind Eggman appearing most of the time, main villain or not, but Eggman wasn't necessary in this game.

[SykoTech]

Thanks El Gran for the spoiler tags, but unfortunately not everyone was using them. Oh well,

without Eggman

I'm even less inclined to start my own file and play it through.

My bro picked it up, and after playing 7-8 stages/missions I'm pretty disappointed. This game doesn't even feel like a Sonic game. It's like what the equivalent of "Sonic Adventure"-style padding would have been in Secret Rings...only it last the entire game. Stopping dead in my tracks, hacking every couple of seconds, extremely short levels, slow sequences...it just doesn't feel like anything Sonic should be doing. 3D Sonic games often have padding in the form of other characters, but this time Sonic himself has become the padding...and he's not even or Werehog or anything.

As a game, it's pretty much the definition of average. Nothing has completely disgusted me, but nothing has remotely interested me either. But as a Sonic game, I find this a bigger disgrace than Sonic '06 or ShtH. No joke or exaggeration.

It's such a shame that this is being passed up as a sequel to Secret Rings. I thought that game did a great of interpretating the Sonic experience into "rail" gameplay, especially for a first try. But instead of fixing its faults and improving the gameplay, they do....this.

EDIT: Just read bolt's post. Nice job summarizing my sentiments of only the 35 mintues I spent playing the game! XD

Edited March 5, 2009 by Stevie J

[Phos]

Ok after this game, the only way Sonic can ever become relevant again is to throw out everything post Sonic 3K and try again. I watched live stream of this game, most people in the stream were concentrating more on the chat than the video (several of them said so).

[YoshiUnity]

I'm having a fun time, tbh.

While it's low in loops and etc., there's a good amount of platforming, and does offer more than the belief of "holding forward/right to win." as some had said in past Sonic outings. Not to mention that the swordplay, once you're used to it, feels pretty satisfying and will allow you to move easier as time goes by, just don't hold forward while using the swordplay or it'll mess you up. A few of the mission are mandatory, but for the most part, they are optional. Plus the control, once again, work fine for me. Don't really know why Matt said that Sonic felt like a tank, he strafe really smoothly.

Also, there is definitely replay value to behold. With plenty of missions and different Knights to play as. (I haven't beaten the story mode yet. Thank my Trig test for that.) They play similar to Sonic, but the do differ in abilities. So playing as Sonic does not mean that you play as so-and-so so easily. Oh and because I feel like yelling it,"CHAOS PUNISHMENT!"

The bosses do feel epic, but as far as the story goes, they were only duels and that Mist dragon. I was expecting more differentiating moments like the Secret Ring bosses. They might be optional but they are not part of the story. And the voice acting and writing is good but is also a step down from Unleashed. (The little 'girl' in the forest tore at my nerves with her crying.) But for the most, it's exceptional. Also there's the occasional drop in framerate but it never interfered with the game input. I actually welcomed it during one of the King Arthur duels.

So yeah, I'm having a good time. Some faults here and there, but it's exceptional.

Edited March 5, 2009 by YoshiUnity

[Ryan Brown]

Ok after this game, the only way Sonic can ever become relevant again is to throw out everything post Sonic 3K and try again. I watched live stream of this game, most people in the stream were concentrating more on the chat than the video (several of them said so).

I'm sick of hearing this. You're talking about scrapping nearly a decade's worth of narrative, exploration and development just for the sake of "roots".

What needs to be done is a look back on what's been done (what works and what doesn't) and actually put time and effort into it. Remaining purely Genesis-style (if that's indeed what you're saying) won't help much in the long run.

That new Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles) or Sonic Adventure 1 everyone's always begging and cutting their wrists for is never coming, but something equally as cool, but in a different way, will come. If you don't believe that, then why bother sticking around and bitching about everything?

Edited March 5, 2009 by Ryan the Game Master

[SuperLink]

Being a UKnian, I won't be getting my hands on the game until next week at the earliest, so I hope someone can answer my questions. I've been playing SatSR again recently, and it feels really loose and unresponsive compared to Unleashed, but I still really enjoyed playing it (just not as much as Unleashed...)

So, my main question is: Is the gameplay better than Secret Rings? In what ways is it better/worse etc.

Next question, are you at all forced to play as the other characters, or are they all optional?

Cheers m' dears.

[Ryan Brown]

Judging from gameplay seen so far, the others are indeed optional, just as Sega promised.

[SuperLink]

That's what I'm hoping for. Not only will it make the game more like Sonic Advance (any character on any stage = win) but it'll stop us from having to use gameplay we don't particularly like.

I have heard (through the whole IGN mishap rumour) that you play as Sonic's buddies in the story mode itself after the alleged "credits plot twist".

[PSI Wind]

MERLINA'S THE MAIN BAD GIRL!(not guy lol

)

CALIBURN IS EXCALIBUR REBORN!

KING AURTHER IS A FAKE!

SONIC'S THE REAL KING

THE KINGDOM IS OFFICIALLY FUCKING SCREWED!

Edited March 5, 2009 by PSI Wind FTW!

[ArtFenix]

From what i can say this game is awesome and i do like every aspect of it! The music, the plot, the ending, the gameplay.. For me it is definetely much better than unleashed (wii), which i some kind of hate..And for me it's the best game over a couple of years! The fact that you can play as Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze is amazing!

Oh, yeah, you can even remove subs and it's just awesome for people, who like making AMV/GMVs like me^_^!

Guys, is there a download link for the final boss's song? I adore it))!

Edited March 5, 2009 by ArtFenix

[Viku]

Even if having some bad thigns in the gameplay i must say...

THIS GAME HAVE ONE OF THE GREATEST SONIC STORIES IN A LONG TIME!

Seriously, the only two sonic games that has a satisfactory story until now were Adventure 2 and Unleashed. i'm not talking about the theme of the game itself. Is the interaction of the characters and the dialogues that really hooked me in.

Caliburn is pretty much the greatest "move teaching character" ever (The only tutor that answers back sonic and treat him as a fool...also, Knave the Hedgehog XD). anothe nice touch is that excepting Shadow, Amy and Blaze (since they weren't in SATSR's story), Sonic knew that they were his real friends (Once he meets the Blacksmith, he inmideatly saiys "nah..." to himself and when fighting Gawain he says "He looks and acts just like some knucklehead")

Each character have it charms and the great music and the animation (that was much more improoved than in SATSR) made the cutscenes really special. Some of the dialogs were amazing. one of my favorites come from Sonic: "I'm Sonic the Hedghehog!I have no Master, except the wind that blows free!" and "Whatever, you oversize letter opener"

Also, Finally after a long time, SEGA pulled up a decent Plot-Twist!! (since Merlina was pretty much the Arthurian version of Sharah, I never expected her to be the one behind everything. And I find it pretty awesome). Also I liked the fact that Sonic got beaten up a lot before the final battle (not because I don't like the guy, but this last game he has shownb kind of "too invincible", specially near the last stages)

Oh and the game has one of the funniest endings ever XD

The soundtrack was amazing, special mention to the SA Themes of the characters (I cleared the game and I heard "It dosen't matter", "Throw it all Away", "My Sweet Passion", what I think was a remix of the music that plays when you fight Blaze in Sonic Rush and "Unknown from M.E.").n Also I friking GLAD that it dosen't have Knight of the Wind or a diferent version of it for the last boss (I was starting to get tired of that)

I feel kind of sad for the lack of Eggman (I really expected him to be Merlin or something), but he wasn't really necesary for the game.

Well, It conclution, Story-wise and music-wise it was incredibly awesome, but the gameplay and controls lacked some shine. Also, the game is kind of short and just like in secret rings it missions change too much between "fun" and "frustratingly bad"

I gave it a 3/5

and once again say: KNAVE THE HEDGEHOG!!!

Edited March 5, 2009 by Viku

[SuperLink]

I'm getting pumped for the story, I have heard some good things about it. Although I gotta say I thought Unleashed's story was pretty poor... Not that it's worse than Sonic 2006's story.

Also can't wait to hear the theme remixes. Man I want the game now.

[Phos]

Are you serious? This game has one of the worst storylines in any game period.

I'm sick of hearing this. You're talking about scrapping nearly a decade's worth of narrative, exploration and development just for the sake of "roots".

The narrative is terrible, there's no reason to save it. NOTHING introduced post Sonic 3K works. If they want Sonic working in 3D, they need to try again, starting over from the beginning.

[Diogenes]

In that case, let's throw out the Genesis games as well, and really start from the beginning.

[Gatestormer]

*Comes out of lurking*

Are you serious? This game has one of the worst storylines in any game period.

The narrative is terrible, there's no reason to save it. NOTHING introduced post Sonic 3K works. If they want Sonic working in 3D, they need to try again, starting over from the beginning.

Sonic Unleashed...

...Daytime

*Goes back to lurking*

[Meow]

Here is where we run into an issue, there are people who like different kinds of Sonic gameplay. The series has changed a lot. The only way to possibly satisfy anyone is if SEGA stops listening to us as fans. We are so divided on what we all want a Sonic game to be like I think it is never going to get better if they try and please everyone. Of course, if they listened to this then I've created some sort of weird paradox and bad things might happppeeeeennn.

The only thing I care about is if the game is fun, and if the game is fun then my need for some entertainment has been satisfied. Getting worked up over different gameplay styles will not change anything in my opinion =)

[Indigo Rush]

Are you serious? This game has one of the worst storylines in any game period.

In your opinion.

The narrative is terrible, there's no reason to save it.

In your opinion

NOTHING introduced post Sonic 3K works.

So we should drop the homing attack, ring dash, light attack, grinding and other great movesets? Along with years and years of plot and character development?

If they want Sonic working in 3D, they need to try again, starting over from the beginning.

Great, I'm up for any ideas you have.