Sonic Unleashed

[-Big The Cat-]

The were-hog actually did some good to this game.

They made the day stages feel less repetitive.

[Komodin]

Would I be judged negatively if I said that I honestly love the daytime stages? I mean, I'm being completely serious when I say that I enjoy playing through them more than I do pretty much every other Sonic game, even the classics...

[MegaMan_EXE]

Sonic's gameplay= good

Werehog's gameplay= bad

I don't want to be force to play as the werehog, it shouldn't even be in a Sonic game. SEGA always finds a way to fuck up a Sonic game.

Dude, SEGA tried something new. Even though I feel the Werehog isn't bad an a pretty good change of pace from the game being all about speed, I will state my reasons why I like the Werehog, in no order:

1. Design: Badass

2. Wide variety of combos: I know a lot of games like this have this, but it's better to have a lot of combos, rather than 1-4 moves, even if it is a button masher.

3. Stretchy arms: Does anyone get Ristar flashbacks? With the long arms?

4. Puzzles: These puzzles weren't that bad, and it gave the Werehog more variety to his missions.

5. Platforming: This felt like a nice change from the past games, and proved that having to hop and jump on platforms wasn't all the game designers had.

[-Big The Cat-]

Don't really see how the day stages are all that great.

They suck.

Edited July 31, 2012 by -Big the Cat-

[Chaos Warp]

Don't really see how the day stages are all that great.

They suck.

Even if they are very linear and based around reaction time a whole lot, I still find them fun. Colours and Gens have better level design though.

[smogfog]

By the way, Sonic Unleashed actual rendering resolution is 880x720.

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?p=1113342#post1113342

[Law]

They suck.

Just like your favorite character.

[-Big The Cat-]

Also, the graphics aren't all that appealing.

The art design sucks, with the realistic setting and all, mainly the influence of human civilization.

It's boring to look at; the lack of colorful settings really let's it down.

Just like your favorite character.

Who? Froggy?

[MegaMan_EXE]

Also, the graphics aren't all that appealing.

The art design sucks, with the realistic setting and all, mainly the influence of human civilization.

It's boring to look at; the lack of colorful settings really let's it down.

You're thinking of 06, aren't you?

Unleashed had the beat art style, and it was cartoony, Pixar like, which is far better than having it be realistic.

So what about the cultural stuff? I think it made the world more real to me.

[Law]

Who? Froggy?

Big the Cat.

[...]

Also, the graphics aren't all that appealing.

The art design sucks, with the realistic setting and all, mainly the influence of human civilization.

It's boring to look at; the lack of colorful settings really let's it down.

Who? Froggy?

>lack of colourful settings.

Yeah... no.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Felix

[Mangoaxe5]

I didn't like the story. It was too silly because of Chip, and I hated how Sonic acted like a better friend to Chip then he did to Tails. They might as well not have bothered putting Tails in the game.

[-Big The Cat-]

You're thinking of 06, aren't you?

Unleashed had the beat art style, and it was cartoony, Pixar like, which is far better than having it be realistic.

So what about the cultural stuff? I think it made the world more real to me.

No, this is about Unleashed.

Sonic Unleashed's art design may have an adequate style, but it's mostly generic.

Say all you want, but all the stages in Sonic Unleashed aren't really distinguishable as "Sonicy".

What's "Sonicy"?

Well, "Sonicy" is Sonic's identity. Anything maybe "Sonicy".

It just needs to try to be and Sonic Unleashed doesn't.

Feel me?

[MegaMan_EXE]

I didn't like the story. It was too silly because of Chip, and I hated how Sonic acted like a better friend to Chip then he did to Tails. They might as well not have bothered putting Tails in the game.

Then how else are they about to travel the world when it's in pieces?

*quistles* Taxi! Er... um... plane?

[-Big The Cat-]

Big the Cat.

I am Big the Cat.

[MegaMan_EXE]

No, this is about Unleashed.

Sonic Unleashed's art design may have an adequate style, but it's mostly generic.

Say all you want, but all the stages in Sonic Unleashed aren't really distinguishable as "Sonicy".

What's "Sonicy"?

Well, "Sonicy" is Sonic's identity. Anything maybe "Sonicy".

It just needs to try to be and Sonic Unleashed doesn't.

Feel me?

Personally, I feel that the different world locations such as Greece and Africa give it a World Around in 80 Days feel.

Hedgehog Engine, anyone? The blur effects were stunning, and still are

[Xenos]

No, this is about Unleashed.

Sonic Unleashed's art design may have an adequate style, but it's mostly generic.

Say all you want, but all the stages in Sonic Unleashed aren't really distinguishable as "Sonicy".

What's "Sonicy"?

Well, "Sonicy" is Sonic's identity. Anything maybe "Sonicy".

It just needs to try to be and Sonic Unleashed doesn't.

Feel me?

...No, I don't think anyone can understand what the hell this means.

It just seems to me you are disliking it for all the wrong reasons.

[...]

I am Big the Cat.

Nah, no you aren't. You're just some dude that has the screen name "Big The Cat.". =P

[Winston]

Sonic Unleashed is probably my least favorite of the Unleashed Trilogy. (yes, I call it that.) It's still a good game though, and I enjoy most of it. The night time levels aren't bad, but after a while they get kind-of old. I love the day time levels to death though, I pop in Unleashed every once in a while just to play those stages. I love the story, and the music is great. Also, the CGI opening is amazing and I love it more than I love life itself.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Andrew GarFred

[-Big The Cat-]

...No, I don't think anyone can understand what the hell this means.

It just seems to me you are disliking it for all the wrong reasons.

Oh well.

But no, the art design is generic and has too much of a resemblance to the real world.

But it's probably the least of the problems the game has.

Even the soundtrack, while quite enjoyable, has a few tracks which are very repetitive, especially the day stage music.

[Mangoaxe5]

One other thing that I hate is how cartoony the humans look.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Vampfox

[SilentDoom]

It was a refreshing improvement from 06 that's for sure. Not necessarily saying it's a great game, but I enjoyed it in a number of ways.

In terms of visuals, it's probably the best game in the series, only let down by an unstable frame rate (real shame to be honest). You can really tell that they spent a lot of time and investment in to everything graphical in this game. The production values are staggering. The opening cutscene is simply mind blowing, and the ingame cutscene quality is easily the best in the entire series. This complimented by a really nice art design. It's how you do a more realistic art design for the Sonic series right unlike 06. Though I do prefer Colours and Generations in terms of the art design, Unleashed still has better visuals that both.

The voice acting is also some of the best voice acting in the series as well in my honest opinion. Only voice I disliked was Tails' but then again, I don't think Amy Palant put in a single competent performance for Tails throughout the entire time she played him and Kate Higgins is a million times better. The soundtrack is also wonderful. One of my favourites in the series only being beaten by Sonic 2, Sonic 1 and Sonic Colours. The Werehog's jazz pieces in particular were wonderful and it's a real shame they got interrupted by that battle theme constantly (which in itself is a good theme, but the level themes are so much nicer and more atmospheric and the battle theme gets real repetitive really fast).

Story is fairly solid as well. The friendship between Sonic and Chip was a nice one to see develop, even if I did find Chip a little annoying for most of the game up until near the end, and the scenes containing Eggman and Orbot (or as he was called at the time, Ergo) always managed to make me smile. Despite the story being a little more grand it than most Sonic storylines, it doesn't actually take itself too seriously and that is definitely a positive in my opinion. Shadow and 06 tried to act hardcore and serious, but their storylines ended up seeming extremely juvenile and poorly constructed and told and ended up (in my opinion) being the two worst storylines in the series.

Gameplay wise, it's an interesting case. The day levels are fun at first, but unless you're a speed runner they kind of lose their lustre. But at the same time, they look so incredible that you can't help but appreciate them and the later levels are pretty cool. They're also annoying in the sense that despite the fact that the game encourages you to play it at breakneck speeds, there's a lot of bottomless pits all over the place which completely break the flow. You can't go slow in this game, it feels too unnatural. You can't even really pace yourself like you could in the Adventure games and the classic titles. You have to go all out constantly or else in my opinion it just doesn't feel right. The game is designed almost purely on speed, but to its credit it pulls it off in spectacular fashion. Yes it's a rather shallow experience, but it's one that you can't really find with any other kind of game (and I swear if I hear that stupid racing game comparison I will actually kick a puppy. It's an asinine comparison).

The Werehog on the other hand, I don't really like at all. I'll never touch the Werehog level's once I've beaten them unless I HAVE to (which I'll come onto in a sec) for a few reasons. It's rather generic in everything it does. The platforming and puzzle elements aren't all that engaging and most of them feel extremely slow paced, especially considering how fast the day levels are and the beat-em up elements aren't particularly interesting either. Why would I play this when I could essentially get the same experience but better and far more interesting from a game like God of War, Devil May Cry or Bayonetta? Finally, the levels drag on for far too long. When I'm spending 25 minutes on a level and it gives me an S Rank then something is wrong. I do quite like the Werehog as a character though.

However, the main issue I have with this game is its pacing. Carbo put it perfectly before. The pacing is all over the place and it feels like there's so much padding (though I still don't think it's quite as bad as 06). You have these lightning fast day levels, then you have the plodding hub worlds, slow ass Werehog levels and worst of all tedious medal collecting. Until you beat the game and can just play which levels you want to when you want it's just a rather weird experience to be honest and this is probably the only thing the Wii/PS2 version has over this one. It's a little more to the point in the Wii/PS2 version. There's no medal collecting to force progression, the Werehog levels are MUCH shorter (though there's way too many of them) and the hub menus are more to the point imo (though rather boring). Apart from that, meh to the Dimps version.

So yeah, better than 06.

[Chaos Warp]

I think what Big is trying to say is that the environments were based too much on real-world locations for him. Me personally, I don't agree. Unleashed took real-world locations and made them look Sonic-y to me, and they did a really good job of that IMO.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Chaos Warp

[Vertekins]

The thing about Unleashed is that it had more genuine excitement from the team invested in it's development. The blogs and articles that the team wrote before it was released spoke clearly of the team's passion for the game.

That and the main story actually lasted for more than 4-5 hours and there was a truly tremendous amount of care and love invested in the development and elaboration of it's world and characters, something neither Colours nor Generations can attest to. You can say whatever the hell you want about Unleashed's polarising gameplay and "questionable" aspects but you cannot deny that it had aspects that Colours and Generations sorely lacked.

Those two games arguably did gameplay better but in sticking so rigidly to that in an effort not to 'offend' anybody, they sacrificed the truly rounded and polished experience that Unleashed offered and a lifespan after the main story had been completed. Which is why I'll always prize Unleashed above Colours aside from other reasons such as Unleashed's focus on actually telling a story and it's superior characterization of Sonic.

That said, whilst Generations is my favourite of the "Unleashed" trilogy, Unleashed is a very close second and it still has aspects that Generations sorely, painfully lacked. Generations might be a...decent culmination of 20 years of history and has greater level design but it lacks Unleashed's heart and soul.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Verte

[MegaMan_EXE]

Just a simple question. What's your favorite music pieces from the game? I'll just post one to save some time.