Chickaroo Reviews: Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

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Chickaroo Reviews: Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

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So after the abomination that was Sonic 06, SEGA decided to try something new to revive the Sonic series. And things get a little hairy...




Game: Sonic Unleashed / Sonic World Adventure
Systems: PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360
Release Dates:PlayStation 3: 12/09/08 (NA), 12/18/08 (AUS), 12/19/08 (EU), 2/19/09 (JP)
Xbox 360: 11/20/08 (NA), 11/27/08 (AUS), 11/28/08 (EU), 2/19/09 (JP)
Developers: Sonic Team




NOTE: I am reviewing the PS3/360 version. I will do the PS2/Wii version as a separate review another time.




A Hair Raising Situation
Story: Up in space, Sonic was invading Eggman's spaceship aircraft. Once Sonic gets a chance to corner Eggman and stop him, Eggman traps him and steals the power from the Chaos Emeralds, which some how transform Sonic into a werew- I mean, werehog. Eggman uses the energy and splits the Earth into 7 pieces (I kid you not) and unleashes an evil monster called Dark Gaia. Eggman then launches Sonic out of his ship and down to the Earth.
Sonic somehow doesn't die from the large fall and instead falls flat on his face like normal. He notices a little animal passed out on the ground. The animal spazzes out because he can’t remember a thing. He decides to tag along with Sonic, which then he names the animal “Chip”. Together, the two run around the seven pieces of the planet and re-piece the world.




Speed vs. Combat, Day vs. Night
Gameplay: The game is split in many different ways. To explore places and talking to people, you go to a hubworld where you can run around the area and talk to the NPC’s. You can find a path which leads to an area where you can run around the main levels. Now to explain the two different kinds of stages.

Daytime Stages: The daytime stages consist of speed and platforming. Sonic can boost, home attack, slide, and burst his way through enemies and areas. These levels are very fast paced and very fun. You may find yourself going back to a level to find a new path or to beat your time.

Nighttime Stages: Some people don’t enjoy these levels as they are pretty slow compared to the daytime stages. Why? Because this time, it’s combat based. Sonic becomes the werehog at night, which makes him slower. But he is very strong. One addition is his stretchy arms, which are useful for the combat. There are many combos you can do to beat down your enemies. But I’ll tell you this, the combat gets old, fast. Every time enemies appear, the music changes and it just gets repetitive because every time you turn a corner, another set of enemies appears. and it just makes you wanna groan as you mash away the buttons. Besides the repetitive combat, it’s about platforming all over the place. Other than that, these stages are slow.




Pretty Nice If I Say So Myself
Graphics: For an early-ish PS3/360 title, it looks great, even today. The fur on the werehog looks great, the detail in the areas are beautiful. The enemies in the nighttime stages are neon and are bright looking. It’s pretty gorgeous.




Upbeat n’ Snazzy
Music: This game has a great soundtrack. I adore it. All the tracks fit perfectly with the areas, like some jazz while in Empire City (a New York based area), while having an “italian” theme in Spagonia (an Italy based area.) The nighttime boss theme is perfect in my ears
The one track that won’t get on your nerves the first few times, but will eventually, is the upbeat jazz theme that plays when you attack enemies in the nighttime stages. It plays every time you battle. It gets annoying.
Music is composed by Tomoya Ohtani, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, Hideaki Kobayashi,Takahito Eguchi, and Mariko Nanba.




Is it Worth Saving the World?
Overall: Unleashed is a pretty decent Sonic 3D title. The daytime stages are fantastic while the nighttime stages can be a chore after a while. The music is upbeat, but that one track will annoy the hell out of you. It’s pretty enjoyable to run around the hubworlds and talking to everybody. It’s not the best 3D Sonic game, but after the horror that we shall not name, this was an apology gift.

A personal favorite of mine.

Score: 3/5
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