I grew up with this version (Wii) of Unleashed, and it's always been a goal of mine to come back and beat this thing since I never did as a kid - I think I got stuck on Shamar - and man, it held up. I always thought, in retrospect, that that shorter bursts of speed from this game's boost was really disappointing compared to the continuous boost of the 360/PS3 game and later Sonic games in general, but actually playing this, I kind of like that it makes you think more in the moment on if you want to boost or not. You're pretty much always going top speed in other boost games, but here you have to think "is this a good time to boost? Will I accidentally launch myself into the stratosphere?" Though there are other times where even if it seems fine to boost, you'll suddenly come up on some enemies you couldn't see before and now you can't take an upper pathway, or a boost pad will rocket you into the skybox because they didn't want you to boost there. Overall, though, it's kind of an interesting dynamic.

I like that the settings of this game are more varied than other globetrotting adventures in games. Yeah, Italy and China based areas are typical, but you don't tend to see levels in games based off Greece, southeast Asia, Inuit settlements in the Arctic, or, hell, even the Middle East is often underrepresented, but they're all here and it's really nice. They even got Michigan in here - thanks Eggmanland!

Easily the most controversial part of Unleashed is the main gimmick of the nighttime stages where Sonic gets a bit fluffier, stretchy, and way slower. People really don't like the slower paced platforming, and the very obviously God of War inspired combat. But I've always loved these parts so much. First of all, the vibes are incredible. You're often accompanied by smooth jazz as you romp through the local towns, and while the graphics aren't top tier or anything, I think it's pretty pleasant in the nighttime stages. The combat is pretty shallow, but I think it's fun enough to bear throughout this game.

I made it my mission to go for 100% completion in this game, and it was a blast for most of it. I mostly got all S ranks in the nighttime stages barring a few fumbles, so those were one-time deals. Daytime stages were definitely more troubling, but learning the levels and mastering the movements of this game was really satisfying; the time limits to get S ranks were just low enough to need to work for but not so low that it was frustrating.

But that's just talking for the main levels' goals. The more I looked into 100%, the more annoying it became. In each area of the game (except Eggmanland), there's a shrine that contains 3-4 rooms opened by collecting Sun Medals and Moon Medals, each of these rooms are more or less puzzles where you switch between Sonic as a hedgehog and as the Werehog. These rooms aren't too bad (except on that was particularly annoying), but I eventually found that I needed 69 Moon Medals (that's not a joke, they just happened to go with that amount) to open somewhere around 5-9 rooms - don't remember the exact amount. But I had beaten every level possible. Well, it turns out that you need to collect every single piece of concept art, music, cutscenes, and tips in order to do everything. And the game is really bad about telling you where these are, vague hints of where they are. They don't tell you specific levels - hell, they don't even state the continents by name you just need to know that, say, Chun-nan is the third continent (despite being the fourth on you visit). The game doesn't tell you if you've gotten all the items in a level. It doesn't tell you if a villager in the town has an item for you. It doesn't tell you if a new Gaia Gate has opened up. You just gotta figure it out yourself or find the surprisingly sparse guides people have made out there.

I think the worst part is your reward for doing everything. The level you unlock is the worst one in the game. It's in Adabat for no real reason, you're running on winding paths that make boosting nigh impossible, there's almost nothing on these paths, and getting hit one time makes your restart. You ultimately unlock the special short films which are neat but... c'mon, no one wants to go through all that effort to get those one Wii quality. I don't really expect games to have great completion rewards, but if the path to those rewards are tedious and full of poor menuing, then it's a sad day.

I always knew that if I went back to this game, I'd still like it, but I really didn't expect to get as much out of it as I did. I still haven't played the HD (for lack of a better term) version, but I've always thought it looks fun as hell and cranks up what like about the Werehog and daytime stages tenfold, so I'll be happy to get around to that eventually.

it's almost three in the morning as i finish this up. i started the cleanup at ten p.m. if that goes to show how bad the collectibles are

This was a hard decision for me, while on one hand the story, atmosphere, graphics and even sound design is just amazing, the gameplay is can be pretty stale at times and repetitive unfortunetly. I also wished we would play as Motoko, as in just herself and not in the Fuchikoma, maybe something reminiscent of Max Payne but what we got is still fine.

The gameplay of Ghost in the Shell is a mix of third-person shooting, platforming and puzzle-solving. You technically play as Major, or Motoko Kusanagi for those who don't know, but you're actually just controlling a Fuchikoma the entire game which is less interesting in my opinion. Gripe aside, in this game you'll navigate through various missions in a world filled with political intrigue and technological marvels. The game featured varying mission types, such as rescue missions, stealth infiltration and somewhat annoying but intense combat encounters. One of the most innovative and fun aspects of the game was the ability to hack into enemy cyberspace networks. This mechanic not only allows you to control security cameras and disable traps, but it even allows you to manipulate enemy robots to turn against themselves. It added a small layer of strategy to the game, as you'd have to balance between difficult combat and stealthy hacking.

For the time Ghost in the Shell boasted graphics that really captured the gritty, futuristic aesthetic from the source material. The enviroments are detailed and atmospheric, from neon-lit cityscapes to dark, industrial complexes. The character models are obviously blocky compared to your Last of Us and Hellblade, but the designs were faithful to the anime's distinctive style at least. The game also featured a fitting soundtrack that complemented the cyberpunk setting, which is again fitting of the anime since that music was absolutely perfect in my opinion. Like the anime the music ranged from moody, ambient tracks to adrenaline-pumping techno beats, enhancing the immersive experience of navigating through this dystopian world.

I think this game successfully captured the dark, philosophical themes of the anime. Just like the anime the game's story delved into complex issues surrounding identity, consciousness, and the nature of humanity in a world where techonolgy blurs the line between man and machine. The story, setting and atmosphere is what I love Ghost in the Shell for, unfortunetly the story here took a backseat sometimes to instead focus on action. But I imagine this was just done to not bore the average player, especially nowadays.

As said the atmosphere is something that I adore Ghost in the Shell for, so luckily the atmosphere was undoubtedly one of the game's strongest aspects. The game recreated the oppressive, cyberpunk ambiance of the anime, which fully immersed me in a world of high-tech espionage and political intrigue. From the rain-soaked streets of New Port City to the towering skyscrapers of the city's corporate districts, every location felt like a believable part of the anime's dystopian universe.

Despite it's flaws, Ghost in the Shell is in my opinion a great fucking game, but mostly only for fans of the franchise. I don't think this game is a fitting introduction for anyone wanting to get into the series, but that does not mean the game is bad, I just think it's not for everyone. For people like me on the other hand, this is a great entry in the series and a must-play for fans.

8/10