Review: Sonic Unleashed

The story
It's classic Sonic as far as the story goes: a really fantastic looking video at the start of the game explains how Dr Robotnik manages to trap Sonic with a special new ray, harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds he was carrying and use them to crack open the planet. This not only unleashes "Dark Gaia", a mysterious beast within the planet's core, but also turns Sonic into a Werehog when the sun goes down. Sonic must travel around the world, repairing the planet by collecting rings, defeating enemies and returning the Chaos Emeralds to a series of temples.

The game
The game is split into two: during the day, you race around at blindingly fast speeds, collecting rings, running round loop-the-loop tracks and smashing through blocks. The game mode switches between classic side-scrolling mode and "3D" gameplay. By night, Sonic transforms into a much slower, but far more violent beast: enemies encountered along the way have to be defeated before you can move on (Final Fantasy-style), and Unleashed becomes a fighting game. To progress through the game, you have to play both these types of levels, which can be frustrating if you're in the mood for one specific level type and not the other. Because of the change of pace, the daytime levels are over too quickly and the night levels drag on a little, too.

The journey
In other words, how does the plot and game get you from A to B. The answer is, unfortunately, badly. The plot doesn't take you from one level to the next like classic Sonic games, nor does it allow you to choose your own journey a la Grand Theft Auto (you can decide which level to play next, but you won't be able to progress very far). Navigation is by the impressive-looking world map, but you can also travel around by transporting yourself from one continent to the next through a special portal in the temples. By doing so, you totally lose track of where you're supposed to go next. Certain items can only be unlocked by "talking" to villagers, most of whom have nothing to say. Very frustrating.

The controls
As a purist, I've been playing the game using the classic controller rather than the Wii controller and nunchuck; apart from the problem that I always have, and probably always will have with Nintendo controllers (namely that the A and B buttons are the wrong-way around) it's very easy to pick up.

The graphics and music
Quite good; cut scenes are impressive; menus look nice; the day levels look amazing as you run through them at the speed of light, but also hold up well when you stop and have a look around. Night levels look great too, with reflections and lighting effects adding a bit of atmosphere. Soundtrack isn't too annoying, and you can even listen to the tracks in the game's own media player.

The verdict
I got my copy of Sonic Unleashed for £18. That's probably a fair price, but I wouldn't suggest you spend any more on it. If the balance between the time spent playing the levels and the time spend actually getting to them could be sorted out, this would be a good game. As it is, you'll probably be tempted to select "No" more often than not at the "Continue playing?" screen. 4/10.