Some folks consider Sonic Adventure 2 to be the last in the Adventure line. Some say that title goes to Sonic Heroes and some brave folks claim it's Sonic '06 that deserves the title. Well here I am to put that debate to rest because the true end of the Adventure era before metatextual scripts and nostalgia baiting took over the franchise is Sonic Unleashed.
After the gnashing of teeth over Sonic '06 died down a little (and before Colours and Generations had a chance to become the focus of fans' ire), Unleashed was received with what can be charitably described as a "mixed" response. People praised the wondrous level design, the music, and the art direction that had all gotten a drastic overhaul from '06's take on Sonic's world. Gone were the "realistic" townsfolk and environments and the overly-produced JRPG-esque soundtrack, and in came an incredibly pleasing Pixar-esque art style with a collection of bright and percussive stage music. You take all this in before even experiencing the newly-christened Hedgehog Engine's Ridge Racer style racing approach to Sonic gameplay in the form of the boost system and you realise that Sonic Team has finally done it. They've finally nailed a modern approach to 3D Sonic's style of platforming and it is as close to literal perfection you've experienced since 1998's Sonic Adventure. You cry a single tear of joy as you speed through the opening act and it's following stage in a beautiful Mediterranean-inspired environment with the sun shining down on a speedy little blue hedgehog running through fields and townscapes.
And then that sun passes over the horizon and a sense of dread fills your soul as that same little blue hedgehog suddenly transforms into a hulking furry brute with stretchy arms that voluntarily howls at the moon. The once short and fast-paced platforming level design is replaced with a 3D beat 'em up brawler that lasts anywhere between half an hour to an hour at a time, and... is that JAZZ MUSIC??!? In MY Sonic GAME???!?!?!?
Ok, so I'm being overly-dramatic, but the fact of the matter is that even if you do presently enjoy the werehog stages as I have grown to at least tolerate over time, you cannot deny the fact that being confronted with this split style of gameplay was confusing and you couldn't help but feel at least a little apprehensive of the fact that going between the two styles was how the rest of the game was going to be. The werehog feels slow in comparison to Sonic's regular form, and I don't fully believe that's purely down to their deliberate control choices - there's a noticeable amount of lag when you move the control stick or press an action button and have the response register on the screen in front of you. There were times when the werehog areas would visibly chug before your eyes too and it didn't make for a very flattering impression when combined with a gameplay style that many fans just weren't fully prepared for.
That's not to say Sonic's regular boost stages are perfect either. Performance remains fairly ok for the most part but the uncapped framerate (now a blessing for Xbox owners via playing on backwards compatible hardware) can show the game reaching for 60fps at times before turning a corner and going into the low 20s. At the very least Sonic Unleashed comes just shy of feeling like a polished experience and it's ultimately the optimisation that brings everything down.
And that really is the worst part of Sonic Unleashed really - the game's overall performance and pacing. The Werehog is jarring at first and ultimately does end up breaking the flow of Sonic's regular levels largely due to how long they are in comparison, but I'd wager these design choices wouldn't feel so poor if the game ran at a constant speed or these stages where at a more reasonable length. I have no problem with beat 'em up games featuring long, drawn out stages for a survival challenge, but experiencing the same style of gameplay in a game with a mascot character that's known for "go fast" both in and out of this specific game is incredibly exhausting after a while.
So, the Sonic Adventure angle. Well Unleashed basically ticks all the boxes in that SA1, SA2, and 06 all had in common - that of a Sonic game that focussed on gameplay styles beyond Sonic's basic speed style, with a story that attempted to have a theme of friendship and sacrifice alongside Eggman awaking some sort of ancient Eldritch being. Although while it ticks the extra box of hub worlds to run around in, it doesn't quite reach the multipl story branches to understand the entire narrative. Damn, I guess Sonic '06 really did continue the Adventure legacy...
If you're still here reading this then well don I guess. This has been more of a ramble than I thought it would be in all honesty but Sonic Unleashed just has that weird effect of not knowing what it wants to be. Just like this review.
After the gnashing of teeth over Sonic '06 died down a little (and before Colours and Generations had a chance to become the focus of fans' ire), Unleashed was received with what can be charitably described as a "mixed" response. People praised the wondrous level design, the music, and the art direction that had all gotten a drastic overhaul from '06's take on Sonic's world. Gone were the "realistic" townsfolk and environments and the overly-produced JRPG-esque soundtrack, and in came an incredibly pleasing Pixar-esque art style with a collection of bright and percussive stage music. You take all this in before even experiencing the newly-christened Hedgehog Engine's Ridge Racer style racing approach to Sonic gameplay in the form of the boost system and you realise that Sonic Team has finally done it. They've finally nailed a modern approach to 3D Sonic's style of platforming and it is as close to literal perfection you've experienced since 1998's Sonic Adventure. You cry a single tear of joy as you speed through the opening act and it's following stage in a beautiful Mediterranean-inspired environment with the sun shining down on a speedy little blue hedgehog running through fields and townscapes.
And then that sun passes over the horizon and a sense of dread fills your soul as that same little blue hedgehog suddenly transforms into a hulking furry brute with stretchy arms that voluntarily howls at the moon. The once short and fast-paced platforming level design is replaced with a 3D beat 'em up brawler that lasts anywhere between half an hour to an hour at a time, and... is that JAZZ MUSIC??!? In MY Sonic GAME???!?!?!?
Ok, so I'm being overly-dramatic, but the fact of the matter is that even if you do presently enjoy the werehog stages as I have grown to at least tolerate over time, you cannot deny the fact that being confronted with this split style of gameplay was confusing and you couldn't help but feel at least a little apprehensive of the fact that going between the two styles was how the rest of the game was going to be. The werehog feels slow in comparison to Sonic's regular form, and I don't fully believe that's purely down to their deliberate control choices - there's a noticeable amount of lag when you move the control stick or press an action button and have the response register on the screen in front of you. There were times when the werehog areas would visibly chug before your eyes too and it didn't make for a very flattering impression when combined with a gameplay style that many fans just weren't fully prepared for.
That's not to say Sonic's regular boost stages are perfect either. Performance remains fairly ok for the most part but the uncapped framerate (now a blessing for Xbox owners via playing on backwards compatible hardware) can show the game reaching for 60fps at times before turning a corner and going into the low 20s. At the very least Sonic Unleashed comes just shy of feeling like a polished experience and it's ultimately the optimisation that brings everything down.
And that really is the worst part of Sonic Unleashed really - the game's overall performance and pacing. The Werehog is jarring at first and ultimately does end up breaking the flow of Sonic's regular levels largely due to how long they are in comparison, but I'd wager these design choices wouldn't feel so poor if the game ran at a constant speed or these stages where at a more reasonable length. I have no problem with beat 'em up games featuring long, drawn out stages for a survival challenge, but experiencing the same style of gameplay in a game with a mascot character that's known for "go fast" both in and out of this specific game is incredibly exhausting after a while.
So, the Sonic Adventure angle. Well Unleashed basically ticks all the boxes in that SA1, SA2, and 06 all had in common - that of a Sonic game that focussed on gameplay styles beyond Sonic's basic speed style, with a story that attempted to have a theme of friendship and sacrifice alongside Eggman awaking some sort of ancient Eldritch being. Although while it ticks the extra box of hub worlds to run around in, it doesn't quite reach the multipl story branches to understand the entire narrative. Damn, I guess Sonic '06 really did continue the Adventure legacy...
If you're still here reading this then well don I guess. This has been more of a ramble than I thought it would be in all honesty but Sonic Unleashed just has that weird effect of not knowing what it wants to be. Just like this review.