When I buy a Sonic game, it’s because I want to play ping-pong with an F-16, but forces like my girlfriend and the laws of physics prohibit me. I get the impression that most people have similar expectations. Except for Sega, who decided that Sonic should spend half the game as a slow-ass werewolf. This is absurd, since Sonic already has characteristics of both hedgehog and human, so I don’t know how the hell he can become half wolf, half hedgehog, half person.
The “speed” levels where you play as regular old Sonic the Hedgehog are amazing. They’re nearly perfect. Sonic’s 3d controls have been completely revamped. The archaic spin-dash has been sidelined in favor of new maneuvers: the Flash Step and the Drift. Drifting is reminiscent of Mario Kart, while the Flash Step has obviously been lifted from Dragon Ball Z. These moves work so well partly because the levels are designed to implement them. Drifting around turns and flash stepping to avoid obstacles feels natural. A third technique, the Sonic Boost, allows Sonic to expend his boost gauge to gain a temporary speed burst. The gauge is filled by collecting rings, which also still act as health. The synergy all these mechanics are able to produce is mind blowing; it’s undoubtedly the best 3d control scheme Sonic has ever had. In fact, the speed stages were so much better and more realized than the rest of the game that I felt certain they must have been designed by a different team.
It turns out, I was right. I dug around and found out Sonic Team designed the entire game, with the ironic exception of the levels where you actually play as Sonic. These levels were designed by Osaka-based Dimps, who also developed the excellent Sonic Rush games.
Weresonic is a confusing element. I think that since the major complaint about Sonic adventure was, “We don’t even get to play as Sonic enough!” This is Sega’s little way of saying, “Well, you’re playing as Sonic the whole time,” even though we're not. The reality of Weresonic is that he looks, moves, and for all gameplay intents and purposes is...Knuckles. (For those who are not Sonic-savvy, Knuckles is the red guy in Sonic 3.) The fact that Sega was trying to trick me into playing as Knuckles when I really just wanted to play as Sonic put me off before I even touched the game. But I have to admit, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.
Knuckles’ air-glide has gone the way of the spin-dash, in favor of a double jump. His other traditional moves, climbing things and beating things, are in tact. The controls, overall, are surprisingly tight. Even the waggle based combat works. The camera doesn’t even suck, which is probably a first for a 3d Sonic game.
What does suck is the level design. It’s completely boring -- there’s nothing to do in the Weresonic levels! You fight some things, you jump over some platforms, find a few things to open a door, flip a switch, rinse and repeat. I had horrible flashbacks to N64 platformers. To make matters worse, these portions are sandwiched between some the most enjoyable and dynamic Sonic levels ever designed.
Weresonic's environments are boring, too. There’s the lava level, the desert level, the ice level, ect. But I do have to admit, the moonlit jungle with its haunting soundtrack, and unique aesthetic, at least kept me interested even though I was just doing the same stupid crap over and over again.
A minor problem I had was that sometimes the auto-target feature just didn’t target fast enough for me. I would forgive Sonic Team, if only I wasn’t sitting there holding a pointing device in my hand.
For some reason there are multiple hubs to select levels from. The world selection screen is a hub that allows you to select which level to play, but so are the various temples located throughout the world. The temples are accessible from both the village hubs and the main overwold screen. So Unleashed actually has three different level hubs. Confusing? The developers seemed to think so. At one point I fought my way to the center of a temple, only to be told that we would have to leave, fly halfway around the world to a village, only to be told by a professor that I should go back to the temple I was in and fight the boss. Gee thanks, how would I have ever known that the Ice Boss was in the fucking Ice Temple.
If there are two things that Sonic Team has always done well, it’s music and boss fights. Unleashed is no exception. It features mostly live instrumental tracks, including a strangely placed love song that successfully eroticizes a scene with Sonic and his “buddy,” Chip. But that’s okay with me, one of the reasons I like Japanese games is the homoerotic undertones. The tunes are mostly solid, with a few weak tracks here and there -- although sadly my favorite Japanese NASCAR enthusiasts, CRUSH 40, do not make an appearance.
The boss battles are solid as well , even the Weresonic ones. These epic fights can hold their own against any AAA title. Which makes me wonder, “Sonic Team, why do you have to suck at everything else?” Maybe after this they won’t try to add some weird gimmick to the next Sonic game…er..wait a second:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_and_the_Black_Knight
Oh, fuck.
Well, I hope this guy is right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi4QVN_8y4g
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