To anyone who hasn't played Sonic Unleashed yet, or those turned off by its performance:
There is now a definitive version of the game on the Xbox Series X/S, which runs at a locked 60 FPS all the time while incorporating Auto HDR to really make the visuals pop. If you want the best way to play Sonic Unleashed, this is it.
This is worth noting since the game barely being able to hold a framerate most of the time (especially on PS3) is probably the second most pervasive issue with the game. It's one of the games of its generation that's held out the most visually thanks to its strong vibrant art direction tuned to cartooney designs, but the framerate was an unfortunate sacrifice, something that the development team realized when dialing back the lighting for future games in favor of better performance.
You now have the most challenging yet exhilarating-to-master 3D Sonic gameplay feeling as impressive as it looks. The Night stages are still underpar by action game standards, with an easily locked camera and lack of drop shadow unintentionally making platforming more tense, but the wide variety of combos available are smoother feeling without the framerate crying in agony when too many enemies are on screen.
The plot itself is nothing special, but alongside Adventure 1 it hits a well-balanced tone for the Sonic series, neither desperate to be serious like the post Heroes games nor as lackadaisical as the post-Colors era. Oh, and the soundtrack has some of the most distinct feeling pieces from each other thanks to the world trip theme.
Even now though, Medal collecting is still the worst part of the game, and a massive pain even when being able to miss half of them as they're in Day levels not at all built for Sonic to explore. Yet the game is a testament to something as simple as performance tweaks can make a game that much better over a decade after its release.
There is now a definitive version of the game on the Xbox Series X/S, which runs at a locked 60 FPS all the time while incorporating Auto HDR to really make the visuals pop. If you want the best way to play Sonic Unleashed, this is it.
This is worth noting since the game barely being able to hold a framerate most of the time (especially on PS3) is probably the second most pervasive issue with the game. It's one of the games of its generation that's held out the most visually thanks to its strong vibrant art direction tuned to cartooney designs, but the framerate was an unfortunate sacrifice, something that the development team realized when dialing back the lighting for future games in favor of better performance.
You now have the most challenging yet exhilarating-to-master 3D Sonic gameplay feeling as impressive as it looks. The Night stages are still underpar by action game standards, with an easily locked camera and lack of drop shadow unintentionally making platforming more tense, but the wide variety of combos available are smoother feeling without the framerate crying in agony when too many enemies are on screen.
The plot itself is nothing special, but alongside Adventure 1 it hits a well-balanced tone for the Sonic series, neither desperate to be serious like the post Heroes games nor as lackadaisical as the post-Colors era. Oh, and the soundtrack has some of the most distinct feeling pieces from each other thanks to the world trip theme.
Even now though, Medal collecting is still the worst part of the game, and a massive pain even when being able to miss half of them as they're in Day levels not at all built for Sonic to explore. Yet the game is a testament to something as simple as performance tweaks can make a game that much better over a decade after its release.