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IGN Review of Sonic Unleashed
If there's one console that I'm more emotionally attached to than any other, it's my SEGA Genesis. The minute I got my Genesis at a garage sale, my other systems started collecting dust. And if there was one game I played more than any other, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. Seeing what's become of the Sonic franchise is kind of like running into an old high school friend only to discover he dropped out of Harvard despite having a full scholarship, scared off his one true love with his jealous rantings, and became a heroin fiend more pitiable than likeable. Yes, it's like running into Dave Clayman in the IGN parking garage.
I'm going to do you a great favor and save you some time and money. Don't buy Sonic Unleashed. There, you can stop reading and spend your $60 on something more worthwhile. Like 60 tacos. But if you really just have to know more about the train wreck that is Sonic Unleashed, then I suppose we must go on.
Sonic Unleashed is divided rather evenly into three parts: Daytime, nighttime, and adventure. Think of Sonic Unleashed like a mixed drink. The daytime levels are like good vodka. On its own, a refreshing beverage. Add Kahlua and milk and you have the Dude's favorite drink. The nighttime and adventure sections, however, are no Kahlua and milk. It's more like adding dirt and soy sauce. Even with a lemon twist, that's just not a drink anyone is going to order.
The daytime levels are fast-paced on-rails sections focused on speed. This is what a new generation Sonic should be like. Oh, it's not perfect, but it's the building block for the future of the franchise. The daytime levels with Sonic have only the rarest of framerate drops and are consistently enjoyable. You can actually go so fast that it's hard to comprehend what's even happening before you slam into a wall of spikes, but I can live with the trial-and-error aspects of this design. The biggest issue with the daytime levels is that the jump button is not as responsive as it should be. With a game moving this quickly, you need to have jumps initiate the moment you put pressure on the button. But Sonic is often so slow to jump, you have to go a second earlier than you would normally.
Unfortunately, that's just one third of the game. The other two-thirds are absolute and complete abominations -- the kind of gaming most often made by two half-drunk 40-somethings from a former Soviet bloc country and found in a PC bargain bin.
By day, Sonic is all about speed (and some light platforming elements). By night, the speed is sucked away and Sonic becomes nothing but a mindless brawler. The Werehog is forced to smack around the same repetitive cadre of villains across levels that last upwards of 30 torturous minutes. Mixed into this are numerous bad platforming sections. Here's a tip. If you are going to have platforming in a game where one missed jump means instant death, then make sure you put some sort of proper shadowing that indicates where your character is going to land. That's platforming 101. You have to know where the hell your airborne character is in relation to ground.
Adding to the muddled nighttime design is the bizarre power the Werehog has gained. He can stretch his arms like Mr. Fantastic. Why? Great question. It doesn't really matter the answer (there isn't any that wouldn't encourage your brain to separate from your skull). All that matters is that it's a dumb gimmick that more or less throws egg on the face of longtime Sonic fans.
The nighttime sections are poorly designed, boring and frustrating. But worst of all, they have nothing to do with Sonic whatsoever. Nothing. If you saw a demo of the Werehog without knowing the name of the game, I doubt you'd guess it was actually Sonic the Hedgehog trapped in this misery. I can understand that it's just not feasible to create a 6-8 hour on-rails Sonic experience with him moving at the speed of sound, but that doesn't excuse this dreck being slapped on. The werehog is one of the worst times I've had with any game this year. Wasn't it around the time Old Yeller turned into a werehog that someone had to finally put him out of his misery?
The last third of the puzzle are the adventure sections. These are perhaps the most disappointing, since they often keep you from actually playing the core game. In each of the different continents (which you are trying to glue back together after Dr. Robotnik split them apart) you'll wander the streets talking to citizens for no good reason other than to bolster the amount of hours played. You must search these areas for hidden tokens, used to unlock the day and night stages. There's nothing of value in these sections. It's just a time waster. And waste time it will as this really does eat up a good chunk of gameplay.
I suppose it's not fair to blame all of the problems with the other two-thirds of Sonic Unleashed on Sonic Team. After all, it's Dr. Robotnik who irradiated the hedgehog transforming him into a shape-shifting nightmare. What could Sonic Team do but follow up on Dr. Robotnik's actions? It's not like they control the game's story or anything. Yeah, let's blame Dr. Robotnik. Boooo.
©2008-12-12, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
I'm going to do you a great favor and save you some time and money. Don't buy Sonic Unleashed. There, you can stop reading and spend your $60 on something more worthwhile. Like 60 tacos. But if you really just have to know more about the train wreck that is Sonic Unleashed, then I suppose we must go on.
Sonic Unleashed is divided rather evenly into three parts: Daytime, nighttime, and adventure. Think of Sonic Unleashed like a mixed drink. The daytime levels are like good vodka. On its own, a refreshing beverage. Add Kahlua and milk and you have the Dude's favorite drink. The nighttime and adventure sections, however, are no Kahlua and milk. It's more like adding dirt and soy sauce. Even with a lemon twist, that's just not a drink anyone is going to order.
The daytime levels are fast-paced on-rails sections focused on speed. This is what a new generation Sonic should be like. Oh, it's not perfect, but it's the building block for the future of the franchise. The daytime levels with Sonic have only the rarest of framerate drops and are consistently enjoyable. You can actually go so fast that it's hard to comprehend what's even happening before you slam into a wall of spikes, but I can live with the trial-and-error aspects of this design. The biggest issue with the daytime levels is that the jump button is not as responsive as it should be. With a game moving this quickly, you need to have jumps initiate the moment you put pressure on the button. But Sonic is often so slow to jump, you have to go a second earlier than you would normally.
Unfortunately, that's just one third of the game. The other two-thirds are absolute and complete abominations -- the kind of gaming most often made by two half-drunk 40-somethings from a former Soviet bloc country and found in a PC bargain bin.
By day, Sonic is all about speed (and some light platforming elements). By night, the speed is sucked away and Sonic becomes nothing but a mindless brawler. The Werehog is forced to smack around the same repetitive cadre of villains across levels that last upwards of 30 torturous minutes. Mixed into this are numerous bad platforming sections. Here's a tip. If you are going to have platforming in a game where one missed jump means instant death, then make sure you put some sort of proper shadowing that indicates where your character is going to land. That's platforming 101. You have to know where the hell your airborne character is in relation to ground.
Adding to the muddled nighttime design is the bizarre power the Werehog has gained. He can stretch his arms like Mr. Fantastic. Why? Great question. It doesn't really matter the answer (there isn't any that wouldn't encourage your brain to separate from your skull). All that matters is that it's a dumb gimmick that more or less throws egg on the face of longtime Sonic fans.
The nighttime sections are poorly designed, boring and frustrating. But worst of all, they have nothing to do with Sonic whatsoever. Nothing. If you saw a demo of the Werehog without knowing the name of the game, I doubt you'd guess it was actually Sonic the Hedgehog trapped in this misery. I can understand that it's just not feasible to create a 6-8 hour on-rails Sonic experience with him moving at the speed of sound, but that doesn't excuse this dreck being slapped on. The werehog is one of the worst times I've had with any game this year. Wasn't it around the time Old Yeller turned into a werehog that someone had to finally put him out of his misery?
The last third of the puzzle are the adventure sections. These are perhaps the most disappointing, since they often keep you from actually playing the core game. In each of the different continents (which you are trying to glue back together after Dr. Robotnik split them apart) you'll wander the streets talking to citizens for no good reason other than to bolster the amount of hours played. You must search these areas for hidden tokens, used to unlock the day and night stages. There's nothing of value in these sections. It's just a time waster. And waste time it will as this really does eat up a good chunk of gameplay.
I suppose it's not fair to blame all of the problems with the other two-thirds of Sonic Unleashed on Sonic Team. After all, it's Dr. Robotnik who irradiated the hedgehog transforming him into a shape-shifting nightmare. What could Sonic Team do but follow up on Dr. Robotnik's actions? It's not like they control the game's story or anything. Yeah, let's blame Dr. Robotnik. Boooo.
©2008-12-12, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved