Reviews of Sonic Unleashed - Xbox 360

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I have to start off by saying Sonic unleashed is what many have been waiting for in a Sonic game, platforming mixed with speed and cool new things with less focus on side characters like Shadow and whatnot. I was both excited and dreading the release since the last few 3D games have been disappointing with gameplay and the number of glitches I encountered (specifically the Next Gen Sonic the Hedgehog game and Shadow the Hedgehog).

The game is fast fun and definitely polished, there's no glitches or agonizing load times seen in the next gen Sonic the Hedgehog, they took out the serious story with realistic looking characters and replaced the story with one of more fantasy with more fitting cartoonish characters. The levels go flawlessly from the behind the back running to 2D style running and they've added a few moves like drifting, boosting and quick dashing and thankfully removed the repetitive talking in the levels. The werehog was a big thing I feared from the start but it turns out it's like a less violant God of War (Literally down to the way he attacks, opens doors and finishes off enemies) and it still manages to be fun, though not as fast but it's okay and I'll say why later. You have to level Sonic and the Werehog up separately, though not to the extent of Sonic and the Secret Rings where you're running horribly slow, you go from fast to mach ten. Sonics day levels are pure speed and fun much like Sonic Adventure just MUCH faster when they have to be and more polished so to speech, the werehogs levels are slower but also more focused on combat and some light puzzles, where leveling with Sonic would get you more speed and boost, the werehog gets more attack moves, power and health, and there's also the Tornado levels where you fly with Tails to take down Robotniks (Eggmans) army which is more or less press a certain button to blow up a certain enemy..

The 360/PS3 versions are almost completely different from the Wii/PS2 in every way, the levels are the same theme but are completely different in design, there is no leveling for Sonic and it's done automatically for the werehog. The werehog is more of a button masher than it is the 360/PS3 version where they have a long move list. There's more of an even spread between Sonics and the Werehogs levels, while the Wii/PS2 seems to focus more on the werehog. There is no towns to explore in the Wii/PS2 version, which is more of a picture/text adventure rather than running around, which is fine, but it's fun to see Segas new art style with the human characters that actually fit in this time around.The 360/PS3 version seems to be larger in scale to the Wii/PS2 versions but that's not to say the Wii version isn't good, it's just not as large as the 360/PS3.

I'm so happy with this game, even if you're not a big fan of the werehog levels, there's enough fun in Sonics levels to keep you coming back for more. They don't try to over complicate a story with characters wierd events and certainly no Final Fantasy looking characters. It focuses on Sonic and his Werehog form and has a very fantasy/silly story, but it's very fitting for Sonic I must say. The game is the best Sonic game I've played in along time, and though I expected it to be not great, it turned out to be my favorite 3D Sonic game.

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The game is worth every penny.

Graphically it is mind blowing. The gameplay is awesome for the Sonic levels and surprisingly good for the werehog. The replay value is enormous and the quality of the game overall is through the roof : great soundtrack and CG etc ...

If you love Sonic or not, this is the game you must buy.

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I don't really play games like this. I mostly enjoy shooters; Left 4 Dead and Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 being my favorites so far on the Xbox 360. My girlfriend on the other hand, isn't all that into them. We downloaded the original Sonic, and she's been playing it like crazy ever since. She's beaten it several times and gotten all the achievements.

So being the wonderful boyfriend that I am, when I heard that a full-blown new Sonic game was coming out, I bought it for her.

Verdict: She loves it.

First off, the game is stunning to watch. The "daytime" scenes are easily the high point, as fun to watch as they are to play. And believe me, I've spent plenty of time hanging in the same room, absently watching her play. Sega has finally made it possible to do what everyone always wanted to do in a Sonic game: Go really really really fast, and keep on going.

The nighttime Werehog scenes are more plodding and combat-based, and although they don't overload your senses quite like the daytime scenes, they provide a needed contrast to the overall pacing, and are fun in their own right.

Only a few complaints:

The controls could be a little more responsive. They're not horrible, but sometimes you could just swear you hit that jump button in time as you watch Sonic fall, shrieking to his death.

Also, the life system is unnecessary. This is a hard game, but only truly frustrating when you lose all your lives at the end of a level and have to start back at the beginning. Who hasn't figured out that getting your progress bumped way back isn't any fun? Apparently, Sega.

Oh well, still a very fun game that requires a lot of perseverance from time to time. Highly recommended for fans of the originals.

Honest reviews on Sonic Unleashed - Xbox 360

I had pre-ordered this game in excited anticipation of its release after seeing a few previews online. I remembered those good times as a kid playing with my buddy on his sega and just BLASTING through levels and having a ton of fun. Having played a few of the newer Sonic games, I have been somewhat disappointed in the gameplay for different reasons. Sonic Unleased however has eliminated many of the problems of past games and brought back the feel of the old with some new twists.

1. The daytime levels are great! They are truly meant to be taken at breakneck speed as Sonic should be played, and with the new sonic boost feature, you really can do that. The boost is generated by collecting rings, and as you boost, you attract rings close by like you did in past games by grabbing the magnetic bubble shield. Hit an enemy while boosting and BAM they go flying and are destroyed. And if you play it right, you can pretty much boost at incredible speed through pretty much the whole level. There are a few VERY tight turns, which Sonic has a new feature for called the "sonic drift" where like a car, he slides to take the corner more tightly, but still at high speed. The only downside I find to the daytime levels are two things. One, that with the boost, you go SO FAST that sometimes you miss seeing the proper path and miss the jump you needed to take. This is fixed by taking the level once through at a slightly slower pace, so not a big problem. Two is the tricks. Sonic will go flying off a ramp and a three button combp will appear, hit it right and you will get a bonus, wrong, you don't. As you progress in the game the time you have to hit the combo shortens and becomes very tough to hit in the time given. Again, simply solvable by learning the buttons used better.

2. The night-time levels are not as bad as most people have made them sound, at least in my opinion. The gameplay is slower than day as Sonic is not as fast, but it has its fun as well. The combat on the 360 is well done and the combos he pulls are pretty cool. My only complaint here is with some of the platforming sections (parts of jump, climb, balance, etc.) where things CAN be kinda tough to handle, but again, with practice, its doable.

Overall, I really like this game. Its not as sensitive as past games are so you wont try to tweak his direction and go flying off the other way. And as I said, the speed and combat on the 360 version is great.

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Alright, let's get this out of the way right off the batthe most recent batch of Sonic games have not been very good... and that's being generous. So I approached Sonic Unleashed with cautious optimism and low expectations. Lower then that... we are talking about being marginally impressed that the disk didn't catch fire in my disk drive. So, that was the frame of mind I was in when I started the game for the first time. I have to say, (with that in mind) that I was rather impressed.

The bad first: this is not the return to the kings of gamming status that the blue blur previously enjoyed, it's more of a baby step in the right direction. This makes Unleashed, by the standards of the rest of market, an average gamebut by the standards of recent history it is a good Sonic game. Also on the bad side is the bane of almost all 3D platformersthe camera is not your friend and doesn't always agree with you as to what you should be looking. And this may just be me, (and it probably is) but Sonic's controls are somewhat loose and this can lead to missing some tricky jumps.

On to the good news. The story kicks off with an epic throwdown between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik (look kids, I'm old and I refuse to call him "Eggman" it sounds like a bad breakfast sandwich), but when Sonic uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform in to Super Sonic, Robotnik reveals that the whole thing is a trap and uses the power of the Emeralds to split the world and releases some dark beast trapped inside. As a side effect, Sonic is transformed in to a werehog, a powerful brawler compared to his usual speedster form. Sonic then falls back to earth and lands on a small flying creature that loses its memory. Calling his new friend "Chip", Sonic sets off to try and recover Chip's memory and set things right. But the werehog form stays with himduring they day Sonic his himself, and at night he turns into the werehog. Daytime Sonic has finally regained the sense of speed that has been lacking in the latest entrieseven flashing into old school 2D sections. Sonic can even (finally) live up to his name and gain Mach speed, creating a shockwave in front of himallowing him to defeat enemies without breaking his rhythm to attack. Add to the package quick side-steps and the ability to drift around corners make this probably the best Sonic experience in recent memory. Nighttime brings out the werehog, who's stages play out like a traditional 3D platformer ah-la Prince of Persia or God of War. Ledge climbing, pole swinging, box pushing, and lever pulling are all accounted for. Combo based combat and quick-time event kills round out the packagenothing terribly original, but all of it fairly well executed.

So how does Sonic Unleashed stack up? If you're just an occasional platformer player, or a casual fan of Sonicthis is an average game. While everything is done fairly well, there's nothing too terribly exciting to be found here. But for long time Sonic fans, or for hardcore platformer fansUnleashed is definitely worth a look. It may be average, but it's much better then Sonic has been lately.