Sonic Unleashed (Wii) Review
Sonic, the famous blue hedgehog, was once a pinnacle in gaming. In the golden era of 8-bit and 16-bit gaming machines, Sonic stood shoulder to shoulder with Mario in terms of popularity. As the years have passed, Sega have struggled to develop a Sonic title that captures the brilliance of the earlier Sonic adventures. The Sonic games were famous for their insane sense of speed, so with the arrival of 3D gaming came a decline in Sonic games. The various modern Sonic titles I have played have been mixed in quality, though even the better ones leave much to be desired. Sonic Unleashed is the title of Sonic’s newest adventure. Will it be the game to bring Sonic back to his former, dizzying heights? Or is it just another nail in the coffin… The premise behind Sonic Unleashed is somewhat unique as it involves Sonic being transformed into a Werehog. At the beginning of the game, you are treated to a beautiful looking cutscene that sets for the scene for the remainder of the game.
In it, Dr Robotnik (a much cooler name than Eggman) traps Sonic in a forcefield that helped him procure the Chaos Emeralds that Sonic was carrying. Robotnik then reversed the polarity of the Emeralds, unleashing a dark force on Earth known as Dark Gaia. On top of this, the world was also split into seven continents and Sonic was transformed into a Werehog. Despite his change (which, consequently, only occurs at night), Sonic must gather his strengths and find a way to restore order to the chaos that has been unleashed upon the world. Luckily, Sonic has help in the form of Chip, another sidekick (there are far too many silly characters in the Sonic universe) who guides Sonic throughout the game. The story in Sonic Unleashed isn’t particularly brilliant, but it works.
The game is divided into 7 continents; each containing a number of levels. As you visit each continent, you will need to visit various locations (in a point and click manner) and talk to the locals to find out where certain important items and locations are. This part of the game is a tad annoying, but thankfully it doesn’t take too long to talk to everybody to get the info you need. The main levels in Sonic are divided into two types, day stages and night stages. Day stages are played as Sonic the Hedgehog whilst the night stages are played as Sonic the Werehog. As each type of level are played in different ways, I will cover them separately, starting with the day stages.
The day stages in Sonic Unleashed are most definitely the superior of the two types. Playing as normal Sonic is all about speed and making your way through a level as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there are fewer day stages than there are night, particularly early on in the game. On top of this, the day stages are over very quickly due to the speed of which you can get through them. In any case, the day stages are exciting and have been designed quite well. In most of these levels, your aim is to just get to the end of the level, much as it was in earlier Sonic titles. Sometimes, you will be able to repeat a level with a slightly different goal, such as collecting a certain number of rings or getting through the level without sustaining any damage. Controls are responsive and there are sometimes different routes in the level that are accessible depending on your skill. Rings are again collected as a form of lifeforce, and a hit without rings still spells death. You’ll also encounter some boss stages which are generally fun though the bosses lack the imagination and creativity of the bosses Sonic encountered in Sonic 1 to 3 in the olden days. Completing the day levels will reward you with Sun medals, which can be used to unlock further levels. There are usually three medals that you can obtain; one for finishing the level, one for collecting X amount of rings, and one for doing it within a certain time frame. This gives you additional incentive to replay a level if you didn’t get all the medals the first run through. Due to the speed and quality of the day stages, you won’t need much motivation to have another go.
The night stages in Sonic Unleashed don’t carry with them the same quality as the day stages. Instead of incredible speed, Werehog Sonic is slow and awkward. Instead of reaching the end of the level in blistering speeds, the aim of these levels is to beat up a bunch of enemies and slowly make your way to the end of the level. Werehog Sonic has a number of combat attacks at his disposal, plus you can learn new ones by collecting gaia energy. Combat is slow and unrewarding however, and the game’s enemies don’t put up much of a challenge. Proceeding through these levels will inform some basic platform skills, such as jumping, climbing poles and so forth. In this respect, things are a little dodgy with unresponsive controls and poor camera angles at times. Combat is also flawed as performing combos requires you to shake both the nunchuk and Wiimote. This is quite hard to do while you’re also trying to move Sonic using the analogue on the Nunchuk. Combat becomes a bit of a tiresome waggle-fest. However, you can play the game using the classic controller or GameCube controller, which provides an answer to this problem. In the end, with quite average platforming elements and a character that seems so damn slow compared the normal Sonic, the night levels in Sonic Unleashed leave a lot to be desired. And to make matters worse, as mentioned earlier, there are more night stages than there are day stages.
Visually, Sonic Unleashed is another fairly average looking Wii game. The cut scenes look excellent, though the in game visuals are bland (particularly the surroundings) and blocky. Textures are average and colour is drab, resulting in a fairly average looking title all around. Aurally, Sonic Unleashed is pretty good, with a fairly good soundtrack that includes some good, rocky tracks. It still isn’t quite as good as some of the music in earlier games (the track in Marble Zone in Sonic 1 is brilliant) but it would be unfair to say it isn’t still good. Tracks on the day stages are generally faster and more upbeat whilst the music in the night stages is a little more moody. Completing Sonic Unleashed won’t take a great deal of time, and once you’ve finished the game, there isn’t a great deal of incentive to play through again. Though the day stages are great fun, the night stages really detract from the game’s overall appeal.
It can be quite a chore getting through the night stages, which can last up to 15 minutes or more each, only to fly through a day stage in a couple of minutes. It’s clear that Sega introduced the night stages as a means of prolonging the games longevity. Though it does manage to do this, it also makes the game a much less enjoyable experience and the end result is a game that is a step in the right direction in some respects, but a step back in others. Sonic still hasn’t returned to his former glory, but after playing Unleashed, there is something in me that says it won’t be too long before this happens. Die hard fans might get something of Unleashed, especially the day stages, but the whole Werehog concept will surely disappoint.
