Sonic Unleashed

by Sega

• Sonic the Hedgehog returns in this platform for Nintendo Wii with 2D and 3D elements
• Different style of gameplay depending on whether it is day or night
• Nine beautiful levels based on real-life locations
• Sonic changes from a Hedgehog to a Werehog
• Classic elements including loops and corkscrews

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0017HIIWW
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 18, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,141 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #18 in Video Games > Wii > Games > Action
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Amazon.com

Transformed and unleashed, Sonic races to save the world...and himself. Sonic the Hedgehog is on an adventure unlike any other. Powered by an all-new engine, Sonic Unleashed blends classic Sonic gameplay with a variety of in-game perspectives to create an entirely new and unique gaming experience. Merging blistering 2D action with meticulously rendered 3D environments, players race through intriguing locations across the globe as Sonic to save a chaotic world.

The other side of Sonic

Sonic and his alter ego Werehog. View larger.

Collect rings for Ring Energy. View larger.

Swing into action with Werehog. View larger.

A New Sonic a New Story
On a quest for world domination Sonic nemesis Dr. Eggman has managed to steal the chaos emeralds once again and this time drained them of their power. As a result not only has the Earth split into distinct sections, so has Sonic. Now he is two beings. During the day he is the usual speed-addicted hedgehog players will remember, but at night he becomes Sonic the Werehog. In either form it is the player's ultimate goal to find the missing chaos emeralds and return them to their proper place in order to set the world and Sonic himself, back the way he should be.

Gameplay: The Two Sides of Sonic
Like nearly all Sonic games, Sonic Unleashed is platform-based. The game combines the feel of 2D side-scrolling that fans of the Sonic series love, with sharp 3D graphics, and throws in an over the back third-person perspective reminiscent of FPS gameplay for good measure. And just as in earlier games, as players race through and explore the expansive world before them, using auto lock to hone in on enemies and areas of interest, they will rely on the power they gain from the rings they collect for a variety of things, but with the new twist of Sonic's split personality, things are a little bit different.

Playing during the day, as you race across the world in the form of Sonic, speed is the main goal. Collecting rings fills you with 'Ring Energy,' which not only provides extra life, but also the advantage of 'Sonic Boost.' With this players can travel at speeds that approximate 300 MPH. In addition, Sonic Unleashed introduces two new features: the 'Speed Drift' and the 'Quick Step'. Speed Drifting is similar to drifting in racing games, allowing players to slide around corners at high speeds, while Quick Stepping is a sidestepping maneuver allowing Sonic to avoid enemies with quick steps to either side. Both keep you moving as fast as possible, so you can get as many rings as possible, which again keeps you moving as fast as possible.

As night falls and Sonic assumes his Werehog form the rings provide a different kind of power more suited to his more menacing appearance. Much slower, but also much more powerful, the Werehog relies on the rings to provide life as well as strength to shield himself from the attacks of enemies. This is necessary because Werehog gameplay, although based in platforming, incorporates significant levels of combat as well. Red orbs gathered as enemies are defeated allow the player to unlock additional combo moves that will supplement the hack and slash and arm stretching abilities that the Werehog always possesses. Whether Hedgehog or Werehog, no matter which form players prefer they will get ample opportunity to explore the two sides of Sonic since each area in the game contains both night and day segments where each form must be played.

Key Game Features:

• Sonic’s World Transformed - Sonic maintains his high-speed abilities during the day, but at night he is transformed into a mysterious dark form with incredible never-before-seen abilities including 3D-action brawling and amazing agility.
• Tight Navigation and Speed Control - Players accelerate to super speed with ‘Sonic Boost’ by collecting rings to increase Sonic’s ‘Ring Energy.’ Using ‘Quick Step,’ players will quickly move left or right to avoid obstacles instantly. Additionally, ‘Speed Drift’ allows players to rocket through turns without slowing down.
• Powerful New Engine and Cinematic Graphics - With its new modified game engine, Sonic Unleashed enhances the classic 2D perspective with mind-blowing 3D stages. Other technology capabilities include global illumination, grid computing, continuous data streaming and an intricate path finding system.
• Enhanced and Expanded Environments - Many unique and fascinating continents offer the player an opportunity to save the world in a dynamic, high-speed experience. In addition to exploring exciting unlockable areas, players dash through up to nine locations resembling real-life destinations including the Great Wall of China, Arctic Pole glaciers and many more.

Whether it's the updated graphics that retain the side-scrolling feel of classic games in the Sonic franchise, an expansive world to race through and explore or the multiple and new ways to play, Sonic Unleashed offers something for players of any age or level of ability.

Product Description

Take an unforgettable journey around the world in Sonic Unleashed! With seamless 3D to classic 2D perspectives, new speed capabilities, and an all new proprietary engine, as well as new combat, movement, functional abilities and platforming, Sonic is UNLEASHED like never before!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Hedgehog up, Werehog down. November 23, 2008

By Sujata Jagota

Platform for Display:Nintendo Wii

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

I was looking forward to this game for a while, and it met my expectations. The hedgehog levels are awesome, they're high speed, and plain awesome, and they're genuine Sonic. Five stars for the hedgehog. However, the place where this game falls is the Werehog. For me, the werehog was just to slow. And like other people said, I noticed there's a lot more werehog than hedgehog. I think Sega should make the werehog action just a little bit faster, so it's actually Sonic. They should also balance the stages a little. If I got a little more hedgehog, this would have been five stars. However, The game still deserves a Bravo, Bravo. I say you buy it.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Unleash Sonic, but leash the Werehog. November 23, 2008

By Daniel Warren

Platform for Display:Nintendo Wii

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I was really - really hoping this game would be awesome. Let's face it, there hasn't been an awesome Sonic the Hedgehog game in almost two decades. Ultimately, this game turned out to be only mostly awesome; but that's good enough for me, and certainly more than we've gotten in years.

The daytime levels are just as incredible - if not more incredible - than anything I ever played in the original Sonic games. These are the reason I bought the game, and none of them disappoint. You've got all the classic Sonic stage elements here; bumpers, loop-dee-loops, and rails. This part of the game feels like a strange combination of Super Mario Galaxy and Excite Truck, and for me, that's a good combination!

During the day, the world fly's by and looks great doing it. The game moves only at 30 frames per second, but it is a very colorful, vibrant, and beautiful 30 frames per second. The speed is also complimented by excellent level designs. With the rare exception of a few poorly placed obstacles here and there, there is never a time where you feel that dying is just part of the game (as it occasionally did in Sonic and the Secret Rings).

They haven't gotten the controls perfect yet. There were a few times I inadvertently flung Sonic over a cliff through no fault of my own (most especially in the Adabat stage), but the control this time is a solid 90% as opposed to the 60% in Secret Rings and the flat out 0% in 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog disaster. For the most part, Sonic Unleashed is very playable.

If the daytime racing stages were the whole game, this would have been a five star review. Unfortunately Sonic Unleashed is actually two games. One is during the day when Sonic races around like mad; the other is at night where Sonic lumbers around as the Werehog.

Sonic the Werehog is essentially a platforming tank, able to bash enemies, climb up polls, and...bash enemies some more; its not that the Werehog is necessarily bad, just pointless and overused. The nighttime stages can be fun, but unlike the daytime stages I can't imagine ever playing them more than once, and what's worse is that you get three Werehog stages for every one hedgehog stage. The game simply never strikes a balance; the Werehog to Hedgehog ratio should at least be 50/50. Instead, the game is roughly 70% Werehog, 30% Hedgehog, and personally, I would have easily settled for just the 30%

Again, its not that the Werehog or the nighttime stages are bad - they're not - the problem is that no one is playing this game to do anything but speed through the courses. The Werehog levels simply don't amount to anything more than a decent platformer, and if it's platforming you're looking for, I say play Super Mario Galaxy, not this.

Still, everything that was great about Sonic the Hedgehog is great again here. This is ultimately what I like to call a good game plus. It's a good game, plus a bunch of other things that not only did we not particularly want, but that we never even asked for.

Don't get me wrong, Sonic Unleashed is a great game. But if you play, play for the racing stages, and leave the Werehog on the leash.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars though it goes a step back it still goes 3 steps forward November 26, 2008

By Dana V. Greenfield

Platform for Display:Nintendo Wii

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

After playing it for awhile overall I can say Sonic Unleashed is probably one of best Sonic games on 3d to come out in awhile. What the game does right is bring the speedy stages we all love and make it fast and simple bringing that same feel you got from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and also not having camera problems like Sonic and Secret Rings.
However there is also Werehog stage like most said there are quite few however it isn't bad as one would think and as you progress through game the stage gets better, but the gameplay does take awhile usually a player will take 6-8 minutes just trying to finish it, that being said the ranking system on it isn't about speed so its easy to get good ranks on it and not have be about speed, rather it trys to get you pull off most points and rings you can under 9 minutes. The ranking on other hand for speed stages are all about how many rings and making it to end of stage at that time limit. Asides from gameplay the soundtrack is pretty good as well some of best graphics you'll see on the Wii and CG cut scenes are great with good story to back it up. My only problems are they should had less Werehog stages,more speed stages, rid of all text screens,The wiimote and nunchuck combo sadly are worst controls of game, and get rid of reptetive task of having to read samething. Overall game is pretty good and does better then Sonic and Secret rings or Sonic The Hedgehog on 360 and it barely does better then Sonic Heroes. My last thing I should say is when playing this game is to use the classic controller or gamecube for more precise controls asides from that most people asides from fans of hedgehog will indeed enjoy this game.