Does Sonic Unleashed Stack Up?

[Lightspines]

It's been three years since Sonic Unleashed was announced, and two since it was released. I first got it for the Wii, played it for 2 days straight, then never returned to it. A week later, I got it for the Xbox 360. It entertained me for a few months, but then the game started to feel very dull. Thing is, I never even got to Adabat on the Wii/PS2 version, and I haven't bothered beating the final boss on the 360/PS3 version. It was a fun game for a while, but now it's just dull.

In my opinion, it will never stack up like the Adventure series.

What do you think?

I didn't steal this idea from the "does the adventure series still stack up" thread.

[DarkLight]

It's probably too soon to say if the game still stacks up compared to the Adventure games since it's only been three years.

But I will say it's one of my all-time favorite 3D Sonic games,(next to Colors, of course.)

I still have the PS2 and PS3 versions, but nowadays I just don't bother with the PS2 one.

[Scar]

You can't compare a set of games which are drenched in nostalgia (SA1 and SA2) with a game which hasn't been out long enough to have any nostalgia attributed to it.

SA1 and SA2 and Unleashed are all great games, but they all suffer from the same problem; filler. Half (or more) of each game is just useless filler, that doesn't need to be in the game. They seem like methods the developers thought up, to extend gameplay time.

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

Sonic Unleashed was the first Sonic game I bought that I didn't finish.

[sonfan1984]

I haven't played it in a while. I have to get used to the controls again.

[Ferno]

I think Unleashed was epically underrated.

(Talking about the HD version.)

Edited March 5, 2011 by Inferno

[novelty]

To be honest...I am not used to the new game mechanics (Cross-hair for Hone Attacking and whatnot). I think most of the aesthetic qualities of Sonic Unleashed were great as a crowd pleaser, but not great in functionality.

I actually hate the cross-hair...It kind of confuses me to where I want to attack sometimes (Game tells me to hone on the farther enemy while I want to hone on the closer one and vice versa).

Edited March 5, 2011 by Squirtle

[DarkLight]

You can't compare a set of games which are drenched in nostalgia (SA1 and SA2) with a game which hasn't been out long enough to have any nostalgia attributed to it.

SA1 and SA2 and Unleashed are all great games, but they all suffer from the same problem; filler. Half (or more) of each game is just useless filler, that doesn't need to be in the game. They seem like methods the developers thought up, to extend gameplay time.

Was that directed at me?

[ChikaBoing]

I still say:

Adventure>Colors>Unleashed>Adventure 2

Daytime Levels are still my favourite 3d iteration of Sonic,besides Adventure 1.Still replay them frequently, and they are always a good-showoff to friends to make them see what Sonic is about.

Also I like running around in some Hubs,Levels etc. and admire the scenery and spotting the details.

The thing I dislike is the horrible structure on getting to the next level: Constantly talking to Pickle,always hopping between continents,Medal Collecting=Dumb

If it werent those things, I would probably like it more than SA2(even Colors maybe), but for now I'd say they are about on par,but pre-game and doing stuff at will, Unleashed is better.

Edited March 5, 2011 by ChikaBoing

[Glenn]

Well, soon (one hopes) I'll be getting a new PlayStation3 and therefore I'll be forced to recomplete my library of PlayStation3 videogames, including Sonic Unleashed. As of late, I've been stuck with the PlayStation2 version and enjoyed it a few weeks back so much, I made a topic. Alas, it obviously didn't stack up, otherwise we'd all be there right now...

I'm really looking forward to recompleting Sonic Unleashed, now. I did somewhat rush it first time through (when I got my first PlayStation3, I was behind the times and so it came in a large group of "wow, I can play these now" videogames) and I'm determined to enjoy myself. I know it sounds contrary to a Sonic the Hedgehog experience, but some of the hub worlds and gorgeous Day Stages demand a slower pace... stop for a minute in Apotos, for example, and just look out across the sea. Or the sunset in Adabat. The little touches helped make it a true "world adventure", to pinch the Japanese title.

Should this topic prevail for a few weeks, I'll come back and give more detail during my second playthrough. For now, however, I'll stand in full support of Sonic Unleashed... either version.

[LunchPolice]

I think it does. There was a brief period where I was stuck in Shamar's nighttime level, but other than that, it was fine. I do have major complaints, namely with the Werehog's fight-heavy level design, the weird level progression, and the bad filler Act 2s and whatnot, but for the most part, I enjoyed the game and it's story, and it definitely had some genuinely great moments. I think it's a good game, but I understand if people didn't have patience for the Werehog sections.

[ChikaBoing]

Honestly I never got annoyed when enemies showed up during Werehog sections that much. I wasn't excited, but I wasn't annoyed either. The amount of enemy groups was appropriate, and the lenght of the Levels were too, in my opinion. I never was like: "When will this end?" I just really hated going out of my way to collect Medals, which added extra time to the Levels, and that's what sucked.

Edited March 5, 2011 by ChikaBoing

[LunchPolice]

Yeah, the medals became a little annoying near the end of the game.

One of the main problems I have with the abundance of Werehog fights is the MUSIC. ARRGHHhhh, it's SO annoying! Seriously, what's wrong with the regular level music? They could have at least made more than one battle theme!

The fighting system wasn't even bad, there were just too many fights. If they made it so there were way less fights, no battle music, added more platforming(the platforming I found pretty fun actually), shortened the levels and fixed up the controls, I'd probably enjoy the Werehog a LOT more. But I'm getting off-topic here...

[ChikaBoing]

Yeah, the medals became a little annoying near the end of the game.

I actually had almost all the time enough Medals to progress. The problem is getting out of your way to get them doubled the playtime of Werehog Levels and Hubworlds since it's easier to get them there than Day-Levels,and as a whole it made the time you are playing as Sonic even thinner, which is unfortunate.The Medals just sucked alot of fun out of the game.

The fighting system wasn't even bad, there were just too many fights. If they made it so there were way less fights, no battle music, added more platforming(the platforming I found pretty fun actually), shortened the levels and fixed up the controls, I'd probably enjoy the Werehog a LOT more. But I'm getting off-topic here...

Having more(or even most/all) moves avaible from the beginning would have helped too, it would have won more people over and probably made it fun from the get-go(which is how a Sonic game should be!)

[JezMM]

I still have sessions where I play through every day stage usually at least once every two months. I'd say I play through EVERY stage including night time stages maybe once every three months.

This is since I bought it. Was it really 3 years ago? I focking love this game.

(Half those statistics for the Wii version).

Edited March 5, 2011 by JezMM

[Scar]

Was that directed at me?

No, it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular.

I think Unleashed is fun. Its just as fun as SA1 in my eyes. Both of those games had segments you want to play repeatedly, and sections you generally want to avoid.

[CanofEpicSauce]

To tell you the honest truth, I only gave Unleashed a chance because of the fantastic Daytime Stages, which at the time gave people a big WOW. However, everthing else about the game, design wise, was painfully mediocore for me. The hubworlds were boring, the flight sims were atrocious, and don't get me STARTED on that fucking Werehog! I will say the Werehog is not terrible, but it's a pathetic excuse of a God of War clone. Because of those things, combined with the fact that I have Colors, I feel no need to go back to it.

And I know I'm going to get A LOT of hate for this, but after a while, the whole WOW factor that the Daytime stages presented started to wear off a bit for me. A lot of the time, the Daytime stages just felt more like glorified quick time events, a lot of the time I felt like I was being more of a spectator rather than I was the player. There wasn't really much substance in overall gameplay for me. I know a lot of people really like the Daytime stages and I respect your opinions, but as for me, it sort of got a bit stale for me.

Edited March 6, 2011 by CanofEpicSauce

[RidersDX]

To tell you the honest truth, I only gave Unleashed a chance because of the fantastic Daytime Stages, which at the time gave people a big WOW. However, everthing else about the game, design wise, was painfully mediocore for me. The hubworlds were boring, the flight sims were atrocious, and don't get me STARTED on that fucking Werehog! I will say the Werehog is not terrible, but it's a pathetic excuse of a God of War clone. Because of those things, combined with the fact that I have Colors, I feel no need to go back to it.

And I know I'm going to get A LOT of hate for this, but after a while, the whole WOW factor that the Daytime stages presented started to wear off a bit for me. A lot of the time, the Daytime stages just felt more like glorified quick time events, a lot of the time I felt like I was being more of a spectator rather than I was the player. There wasn't really much substance in overall gameplay for me. I know a lot of people really like the Daytime stages and I respect your opinions, but as for me, it sort of got a bit stale for me.

This sums it up for me basically. I was so impressed with the daytime stages at first, but once you realize it's nothing but hold forward and memorization to react to events, it gets boring. I can't even touch Unleashed after playing Colors. The hubworlds were basically useless too, as there was barely anything you could do in them besides have useless conversations with people. I liked the Adventure fields in SA and S06 better, where there was alot more to do in them. Specifically in 06, which actually had the best adventure fields in the series in my honest opinion.

[theJcfreak]

Unleashed was alright, not as good as Colors but better than Adventure (the first one). I've only played the Wii version, I got to the final boss before my save data disappeared mysteriously *glares at younger siblings* so I started over. I haven't picked it up in a few months though, the night stages bore me and the daytime stages are too short.

As to if it stacks up, depends what you stack it against. Against Colors? No way. Against Adventures? I'd put it in between them, better than the first but maaaybe not as good as the second. Against Sonic Labyrinth? It blows it out of the water! Sonic the Hedgehog 3? Doesn't come near it.

[SHAX Hedgefox]

I never played the 360/PS3 version of Unleashed, but the PS2 version of Unleashed is a god-awful mess, with shitty controls, graphics that would make a Nintendo 64 cringe with embarrassment and stupid stupid STUPID Werehog controls and levels.

As for your question, I reckon Sonic Unleashed didn't stack up when it came out, and it stacks up even less now that Colours proved that Sonic games can be good instead of mediocre/average.

[Ferno]

From what I observe, a big share of the people who say Colors craps on Unleashed only speak from the experience of playing the Wii & PS2 versions. It's not really a fair comparison.

[ChikaBoing]

The hubworlds were basically useless too, as there was barely anything you could do in them besides have useless conversations with people. I liked the Adventure fields in SA and S06 better, where there was alot more to do in them. Specifically in 06, which actually had the best adventure fields in the series in my honest opinion.

Actually in Unleashed there was more to do than in SA1(if you want do include the Gaia gates), the hubs were smaller but there was more substance. In Adventure 1 all you could do was...collect emblems I think?And there were barley plattforming elements, Unleashed had some in the Gaia gates.

I can understand if you like more open-fields to run at full speed, but there were far from useless and not having anything to do.

Edited March 6, 2011 by ChikaBoing

[RidersDX]

Actually in Unleashed there was more to do than in SA1(if you want do include the Gaia gates), the hubs were smaller but there was more substance. In Adventure 1 all you could do was...collect emblems I think?And there were barley plattforming elements, Unleashed had some in the Gaia gates.

I can understand if you like more open-fields to run at full speed, but there were far from useless and not having anything to do.

Gaia Gates never really stood out to me. Sonic was a pain to control in them during the day, as he was obviously not made for those kind of areas. And the werehog isn't fun for me to control anymore. I often overlook them, because they really aren't fun to explore in either for me. But yeah, I overlooked those areas.

Edited March 6, 2011 by RidersDX

[SykoTech]

Seems like a strange question to ask, as Unleashed was never really "stacked" in the first place. It was received with mediocre reviews and mixed fan reception. It never had a free pass like the Adventure games did.

Unleashed suffer from the same problems that the Adventure formula introduced. Not too surprising, as it did start off as Sonic Adventure 3. Overabundance of lackluster, filler gameplay and poor hub worlds really crippled it. And that medal collecting thing didn't help either.

The Daytime Stages still rock. I tore myself away from MvC3 earlier to play some today, actually. Adabat has to be one of the best Sonic stages ever. There were some issues like QTE abuse and low platforming ratio (which Colors did a decent job of addressing). But like the Adventure games, the bad stuff overshadows the strengths and potential.

[JezMM]

I had way more fun in Unleashed's hubs just becuase I actually gave a damn. They weren't unnecessarily big, there were no stupid forest mazes (god knows how you DreamCast players had the patience for that crap without the pause map of SADX), and the characters were actually interesting looking and made me WANT to chat to them every now and then, rather than the generic spasming anime robots of SA1 or the zombies who feel the need to conduct an orchestra whenever they're talking of 2006.

As many have agreed on before in Unleashed topic's, Unleashed felt like it took place in a real world. It was actually pretty fun to just "hang out" in the hubs and mooch around, especially Apotos and Spagonia, personally.

With regards to stacking up against Colours, I guess my opinion would be something like Unleashed PS360 > Sonic Colours > Unleashed WiiS2. Though I do still like the WiiS2 version a lot (it helps that I love the cuteness of seeing how they scaled down the magnificant moments of the PS360 version, the cardboard cut out buildings at the end of Spagonia are adorably 3D retro).