![]() ![]() The truly great thing about the daytime stages is that not only do they bring forth the wonderful exhilaration of being a supersonic hedgehog, but they accentuate the risk involved as well. Meanwhile, in arctic Holoska, the ice and snow mess with Sonic’s traction, providing extra challenge, and the treetops of Africa-based Mazuri become your racetracks. ![]() Ever want to zoom around the entire circumference of the clock face of Big Ben? In Spagonia, you will. Inspired by real-world locations, you’ll find yourself sprinting through the lush forests of Adabat, treading the sands of Middle-East-inspired Shamar, and squealing above the rooftops of New York-inspired Empire City. It gives a rewarding feeling of discovery, and encourages multiple stage replays and continent visits.Īnd visit these continents you’ll want to, again and again. These powers are doled out to you over the course of the game, opening up passageways and shortcuts in past stages and hubs that were previously inaccessible. Previous Sonic Adventure powers such as the Homing Attack, Lightspeed Dash (allowing you to travel along Rings placed in sequence), the Stomp, and the Wall Jump return as well. Straight out of Outrun 2, this is a powerslide whose directional nuances you can control in mid-execution with nudges of the left analog stick. It’s an invaluable tool, finally taking some of the load off of a lone analog stick in the job of keeping Sonic under control. It’s great for switching rails while grinding sets of them, picking up rows of rings when you see them, and dodging land hazards as well as attacks in Eggman boss fights. One is the Quick Step, which lets Sonic move laterally while in mid-sprint. The daytime stages in Unleashed make all previous Sonic games look slow and primitive in comparison as our favorite hedgehog breaks the laws of physics on a regular basis, and he’s got new moves that solve many of the previous games’ problems, allowing him to go at a steady clip without slowing down, or worse-losing control and falling off the game world. These stages constantly shift from a behind-the-back perspective (from Sonic and the Secret Rings) to a 2.5D sidescrolling view and back again, with no abruptness whatsoever. In the daytime, Sonic is faster than ever before as he zips through track-like stages at speeds that all players, regardless of their background, will have to get used to. Due to this premise, stages in Sonic Unleashed are broken into two parts-day and night. After jettisoning them all, he goes about building a city dedicated to his narcissism, leaving Sonic (along with Tails, and a tiny little sprite-thing named Chip, who’s pretty much Daxter Lite) to put the planet back together, as well as find a cure for his lycanthropy. In doing so, he drains the Chaos Emeralds of their power, breaks the planet apart, and changes Sonic into the Werehog. Sonic becomes Super Sonic… but in a twist, Eggman wins anyway. The game kicks off with an incredible opening CG movie of Sonic fighting Eggman/Robotnik, just like the old days. I liked the Wii version all right, but this one does everything in its power to blow it out of the water, and often-but not always-succeeds. By trying to be a compromise in all aspects of Sonic that have made him popular over the years, the new Sonic Team has actually managed to move the concept of high-speed platforming forward as a result. What’s amazing is that it doesn’t end up as an utter mess because of this-quite the opposite, actually. ![]() Well, Sonic Unleashed is finally here, and while it’s not going to please everybody, it actually tackles this gargantuan task head-on. All of these people have been looking to Sonic Unleashed as the potential solution to their particular Sonic cravings. There are people who want Sonic to go blazingly fast all of the time, people who wish he’d just slow down for some of the surprisingly complicated platforming he used to do back in the Genesis days, and still others who just want him to continue being the coolest thing ever, no matter what that entails. ![]() For others, just not having a repeat of titles like Shadow the Hedgehog and SONIC (2006) will be more than enough. For some people, nothing less than a 2.5D high-definition remake of the original Genesis titles will do. You’ve got the people who’ve become disenfranchised with his console outings, and you’ve got the people who’ve still managed to have fun with them. You’ve got the older fans who were there at the time of his inception. You’ve got the little children who think he’s the coolest thing ever. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has an audience filled with mind-boggling variety. ![]()
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