"Ruined by things that should not even exist in this game! *Edit*"

Come on now, this game had all the tools, but I ended up abandoning it when I became frustrated about how much this game is like a big tease. You ask was the werehog the problem? Well its not, but the fact that even in the real sonic stages, you have to be slow in some cases to find and collect those annoying coins, bad platforming, too many pits, and a camera that decides to move another way to mess you up and die. I am very frustrated because I honestly think this could have been something I didn't need to put up on ebay for $15!!!

Graphics 9/10

Depending on where you are, the visuals looks like sonic is moving through a still picture that goes on for miles. Its interesting, and the visuals are blazing fast. You do literally become the blue blur as long as you are going fast while it last. The daytime levels look very good for the most part. At first, I didn't look right, and I had to get used to the graphics since it looked awkward for sonic to be in a realistic looking game like this. The nighttime levels look pretty mediocre for a PlayStation 3, and it looks like a PS2 game in some levels I think. Then again, the photo realism seems a bit out of place for a sonic game to begin with anyway.

Controls 5/10

I hate it during the daytime stages, and the nighttime stages for some of the time. Even the camera moves when you move. That is messed up. Its as if the game is trying to screw you up itself. Not only is the jumping feels too loose, they expect you to platform in a game with narrow landings, and sonic is like a damn floating balloon that is hard to control, so expect to see your lives go from something like 13 to 5 by the end of certain stages due to bad platforming controls, and other ridiculous gimmicks I will address later. Sonic feels like he is walking and running on oil, and he moves too damn fast to do any platforming to begin with. Back in the Sonic Adventure series, at least he knew how to platform even though he was still as fast as ever. Its as if he decided that he now wants to compete with the Flash so he is even too fast for a sonic game. Pathetic controls also plague the God of War, I mean werehog levels. They even try to make you do platforming in levels you should not even be platforming, and don't give me started on the intense platforming in some act two stages of those werehog levels. Have fun fighting the camera more than the game itself.

Audio/SFX 8/10

The best part about the game. The music for most stages are catchy, and spangonia has the best daytime town theme. No matter what the sonic game may be whenever its good or bad, they always seem to get the music right. You can even listen to it if you find albums throughout the level, and thankfully they are not a **** to find. The SFX are nice to listen to as well, and the doorbell sound effect is pretty comical. Not much to say beyond that.

Story 7/10

To avoid spoilers, I will make it sound simple. Sonic has to take on a new threat that lives in the center of the earth that goes by the name Dark Gaia (sounds like a name of a boss from a SNES RPG ). After a number of events, Sonic has to travel to various places around the earth along with a little furry thing named chip that seems to find chocolate out of nowhere (his name must be a pun -_-), and offers it. *Sigh.* Anyway he has to travel to various places around the earth to collect sun and moon coins, and find Dark Gaia keys to restore power to the chaos emeralds. That is all I know since I didn't play further, didn't really watch the intro movie, and total frustration about how this game could have been good if they took out certain things. Typical storyline for a video game, nothing new.

Gameplay 5/10

At first I though this game was living up, but that was until I played further, and the games flaws became harder and harder to ignore. This game is fun to watch when someone else is playing it, but to play? First off, I was starting to wonder why is it that I can't enter certain levels, and then suddenly the gates open. I stood on the marked space where you enter a stage, and it turns out that it said you need this much coins to pass. Alright, at first finding extra coins was fine, but it got so frustrating to learn that I need to be vigilant for coins, even in daytime stags where you suppose to rush through the stage, and take in the speed, but nope, you have to be slow at some points in the level, and even back track to get those missing coins if you want enough to get through the game. I hate games that psychologically mess with your head. This is nonsense. The coins should be an option things for unlockables or what not, and some of the nighttime level have these ridiculously hard to find coins, and no matter where you look, you can't get a perfect find on them. The coin gimmick should have been scrapped or optional. I don't want to worry about collecting things in a platforming game that relies heavily on speed! Be smart, Sega!

Part 2

Ah, the werehog levels. Now what on earth is a poor man's God of War side game doing in a sonic game? As much as I like God of War, this has no place in a sonic game. It makes no sense to do that. The werehog levels are not really bad, but it was not necessary, and you can do without with maybe more daytime stages? Speaking of daytime stages, These where fun at first, but in a game with oily controls, a camera that plays dirty, and random bottomless pits that are easy to fall into due to level design errors, you will start to find yourself getting frustrated. Its as if they tried to make the stages hard by making them frustrating. That is wrong. I honestly expected this game to be stress free. These are one of those games where you should just blaze through, and not have to worry too much to begin with just like with Sonic Adventure 1. O yes the game's town system. All I have to say that besides the fact that it has good music its really just another gimmick, and most places are just a useless haven to find more coins. At least the adventure fields in SA where interesting, and much better than running around a cramped town where they sell useless items except for a few things.

Overall 5/10

This game was fun to play at first, but I am losing my tolerance for frustration in video games even though I been doing this since 1991. This game picked the wrong person to play, that is for sure. Sure it might be fun to watch on a video website, but its not as fun when playing it. I still have this messed up urge to try out Sonic 06 for the hell of it despite the crap I been hearing about it, and sonic's annoying as hell voice in that game. At least I know what to expect from that, but I can't since I don't own a PS3 anymore. Thank goodness that after some time, Sega, started to redeem itself after this. The werehog was not need, along with the tediousness of collecting coins, and the easy to fall off of platforms. Take all of that out, then this would have not been bad at all.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10 | Originally Posted: 03/29/11, Updated 05/11/12

Game Release: Sonic Unleashed (US, 12/09/08)

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