Going to comment on the soundtrack: For those who ran Cross Country in high school and went to the Manhattan Invitational, can we all agree that Skyscraper Scamper (Day) is the official song of that meet?
Nowadays I really can't help but respect the sheer audacity of the Werehog as a concept, I think there's an appeal there in how flagrantly hokey it is.
Remember ExoParadigmGamer’s review of Sonic Unleashed HD? m.ruclips.net/video/k0AzwtrdxgQ/видео.html m.ruclips.net/video/bEKyc4pR6pQ/видео.html Raise your hand up if you think he’s being too harsh on it yet also has some fair criticisms towards this game at the same time.
@@kieranstark7213 That guy annoys me because he takes things WAY too seriously, like when he's talking about story, he throws around fancy words that really do not belong when talking about the story of a video game meant for KIDS! A good example of this can be found in his Remake or Rebreak episode on the Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Unleashed has always been solid but you can definitely see where Sonic team struggles with trying to get in game length, the pacing is just not good especially if you're not aware of the sun and moon medals going in. The Werehog was terrible in concept but it was fine in execution (there are better character actions games but there's also a lot worse). While it did mark the beginning of a few problematic trends in where Sonic was going forward like with how they would handle the supporting cast, Unleashed was still a solid game.
As someone who loves Bayonetta, Devil May Cry and God of War, the Werehog was a solid attempt of Sonic Teams own beat em up game. Of course the games i listed are miles better because thats the entire concept of their games so theres more depth to them and much more enjoyable. The Werehog couldve been done a lot better but it was fine for what it was. I feel like Knuckles shouldve been the one to take his spot as the playable character
I straight up can't call a game that had a unwanted dull gameplay gameplay style that takes up more than half the game "good" it just isn't for me. Yeah the Werehog isn't BAD but I don't play Sonic for a boring God of War knockoff
@@Soniman001 the werehog is not bad and plus sonic games has had multiple gameplay styles before so a gameplay style thats not sonic like isn't anything new
@@Soniman001 I'll be honest, I'll take the Werehog anyday over the Mech, Treasure Hunting, Fishing or 80% of 06's gameplay styles. At least The Werehog is fundamentally about going to the end of the stage.
It would've been really neat if it was a permanent change to Sonic's character design imo. Would've also made the timeline placement of games after Unleashed much easier.
For those who don’t understand why the Werehog has stretchy arms, it’s because Dark Gaia’s minions also stretch in a way. Just not nearly as much as the Werehog does.
?! I never realized it's Orbot controlling stage robots. That's awesome. And thanks for bringing up the importance of beefy soundeffects for satisfying combat. A detail i don't see brought up much.
Thanks for watching man! Have been watching you since 2013. Yeah, we don't see Orbot in the bosses, but you hear his voice in the Egg Devil Ray Boss Fight, at least. Audio feedback was something I remember being a point when you guys talked about how bad the Time Eater boss fight was.
I would like to say a few things: I believe that this game is a great contender for the best 3D sonic game. The werehog is not the make or break for this game. It’s a controversial topic but it’s only downfall in the werehog’s existence is, in my opinion, how lengthy some of the levels can be. This game is easily one of the most difficult as practice makes perfect for each level. Finally, this game has the best world building. That is an opinion that no one can change for me.
@@Thor-Orion Unleashed, Adventure 2, and Frontiers, the peak of 3D Sonic, the first two being the best at their formulas, and Frontiers starting a new one for the franchise
I think something that should've been mentioned is that Dark Gaia looks terrifying. Especially when it goes into Perfect Dark Gaia and it rips its body apart with blood spilling. Like okay Sega.
@@cliffturbo2146 FINALLY MORE PEOPLE NOTICED THIS!!! I remember back in 2009 when I first got it I was overseas in afghan. When I got to that part I was like... Sonic went Devil may cry and resident evil 5 on us. RE5 because the last stage was by lava.
@@yuzuichikawa I have never played Resident Evil before, but I do get a Devil May Cry vibe from that scene. I had this theory that no reviewers who played and scored the game has ever reached this far and saw this scene. Which is why it still remained so graphically bloody and scary.
@@cliffturbo2146 Watch the last fight with wesker in RE5 and then go watch sonic unleashed last boss. They don't share TOO many things but both characters are fighting last bosses in lava like areas. And what's funny is RE5 and SU came out with months of each other in 2009. xD
@@cliffturbo2146 I mean this is the same franchise that has a child with a disease being shot at, the mentions of Gods, ancient civilization, and dimensions since the classics, parallel worlds, multiple timelines, and multiple deaths.
Can we all agree that regardless of what you think of the Werehog (I actually like the Werehog gameplay), Unleashed is the last time Sega genuinely gave a fuck? It's obvious from the way it looks that they poured a ton of money and talent into it. The story is actually okay without any nostalgia glasses. The voice acting is way improved over before, this is Jason Griffith's finest hour as Sonic. The game is still gorgeous to look at and they had an entire new engine and new playstyle developed just for this one. Compare it to later games, even the good ones, it's obvious that none of them, not even Generations, had such high production values. Let alone drivel like Forces.
@@skibot9974 I dunno, it doesn't seem to be in the same league as Unleashed. Then again, Lost World is the only Sonic game I actively hate with a burning passion, and that's after going into it with an open mind and dismissing the hate it got, so I'm biased there.
@@skibot9974 Yeah, but IIRC all the cutscenes and such are pre-rendered and there's nowhere near the amount of snazz in those. Or anything of worth happening, really. Pontac and Graff aren't very good writers.
@@AllardRT I actually agree with you lol. The only thing I like about Lost World is like half the soundtrack and maybe the level design in the first half of the game. But it's clear to me that not nearly the amount of passion put in Unleashed was put in Lost World.
I would say frontiers comes pretty close to sega giving a fuck about sonic again. They gave us sooo much lore and character depth while also making a fun to play game with great exploration elements and fantastic music. Lets hope they keep up the momentum
I've never seen a video THIS positive about Sonic Unleashed. Most of the time, people either say they love the Day gameplay and hate the Night gameplay or they enjoy the Night gameplay and have issues with the Day gameplay. I'm so happy to see someone love this game as much as I do! Great game, great video 👍🏻
It's simply because it came after Sonic 06. I think people were just waiting for the franchise to die at that point, and didn't take the games seriously.
Because, IGN and other game reviewers couldn't shut their mouths, put away their biases and think for once. And it came out after 06. So it was gonna get bashed regardless.
I liked them. I thought it was a nice change of pace to have actual combat. Not to mention the night stages were beautiful, but that’s me on PS2 and the Xbox game is pretty much a completely different less difficult game.
Fantastic review as always! Your Sonic reviews are really entertaining and are much appreciated, as it is a lot of fun to go back and revisit the franchise. Great work!
Sonic Unleashed is one of the games that made childhood better. I remember when I was 9 or so I taught myself to wake up very early so I’d have an extra hour to play this game before going to extracurricular classes, and trying to finish homework as fast as I could so I could play it before going to bed. I feel that if I were to play unleashed now, I’d still have plenty of fun, beyond the nice feelings nostalgia brings. However, the memories this game brings are also bittersweet because the day I finished the game was also the day my grandfather passed away. I was still very high from the emotions of pride and happiness for finishing the game, then a few hours later I received the news my grandpa died and all those nice feelings came crushing down. Even thinking about this game makes my eyes wet, I guess because unleashed will always take me to the memory lane of that day.
I saw an comment about a guy unfairly shiting on Sonic games without even play it first. Someone replied: You don't have to shiting on it without playing it. And then he replies: l don't need to enter into a sewer to know if it smells. I think that sums up every hater for every media.
As much as I love Generations I can’t deny how great Unleashed is This game along with Colors gave people hope that Sonic can be good again after what happened 06 and It really shows
@@santihjusto and then sega took all the wrong lessons from colors and generations and put them into future games such as bad writing, too much 2d in games that are supposed to be 3d, wisp, and over reliance on classic sonic and nostalgia
Ngl... that would have been cool. Do you think humans also pick up rings and use it as currency. Do humans need rings to survive ridiculous attacks like Sonic does? Now there are so many questions going through my head.
@@trevinodude I think so, all the cassino stages in Sonic games give out rings so it is a currency at least Its also cool to see that all the level gimmicks Sonic goes through are actually built by and for the humans, as seen in Empire City and the car stages in SA2 where we see them
Imagine what it would look like on pc, maybe even with shaders. The Unleashed graphics aren't even at their full potential and even though it's been a whole decade, a video game from 2008 has graphics that hold up to the standards of today and blow quite a bit of video games of the past decade away. Honestly it seems like sonic forces should have came out then and Unleashed should have came out now.
Meanwhile games on the latest gen have been struggling. Its wild how impressive 360 era games were and how disappointing the current era has been so far.
It's visuals and graphic style were far ahead of it's time, as evident by the slowdown and messy framerate/framepacing. Their vision went far beyond what 7th gen consoles could handle, which makes the Xbox Series X patch and PC's Xenia emulator absolute godsends to see Unleashed at it's absolute best.
@@mattm7220 I will never get over them replacing Jason as Shadow. The modern voice is fine, but he needed a few games to be decent. Outside of one misdelivery, Jason already got it in the first game with him as VA because he already had experience from Sonic X. Actually, even the Dreamcast era-voice did it first game, so the voicedirection or actor just did not work right at first here.
@@biscitsgravy Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic and the Black Knight were the games Jason Griffith was really at his best same for the rest of 4kids cast.
@@BitchChill the changes they did make him look elderly for some reason, I don't like it. I'm glad they reverted back to the Unleashed/Generations design in Team Sonic Racing
When I was younger I started listening to Sonic takes from people like SomeCallmeJohnny and Cobanermani456 and I started to get really interested in the franchise, but the bigger more needlessly critical voices got louder and they sort of pulled me away and made me doubt myself. But now that I’m older I can look at the series more critically as art and be open to different viewpoints and have the confidence in myself to be able to form my own opinions based off of watching videos like these. It’s so wonderful to hear your perspective because it’s unique and something you clearly care a lot more about than the 100th person to argue Sonic 06 is bad. It’s so nice to have someone like you validating what I’ve felt deep down for so long about not just Sonic but video games in general, which is that they’re ART and that they should try to have stakes and atmosphere and a vision for something more than its gameplay. Taking risks and pushing boundaries is how you move a series forward even if you make mistakes along the way, and we shouldn’t spend so much time complaining about those mistakes.
I’m glad to see this game is getting some love. I got this game when it first came out I’m 2008 and both reviewers and gamers alike kept talking about how bad it was. Now all of a sudden 13 years later people started looking back at the game and are now saying how good it is.
When I was a kid I wanted to play cool games. Now I want to play fun games and it turns out a lot of the sonic games that I used to cringe at (like unleashed and black knight) are exactly the kind of game I want to play.
A few years back I played Unleashed on PS3 and I think tone wise it’s the best at finding that happy medium between anime melodrama and idiotic jokes. The werehog is just there and does feel like something they did to pad the game out but the scope and tone are excellent.
All Sonic games made by Sonic Team has a soundtrack on another level Hahahaha I said “Sonic Team” so no one can inform me about Sonic Chronicles’s soundtrack for the 1000’th time
With Unleashed, there's those little subtle moments you can see whenever you look closely that tie into the experience - From the Egg Dragoon's attack patterns refrencing prior bosses, to how when first getting transformed into the werehog in the opening cutscene, Dark Gaia's movements when tearing up the world and awakening match Sonic's as he's turning into the werehog. I love these little storytelling details
Unleashed's day time stages were absolute insanity! The way they created a sense of speed was just incredible. The night stages were good for the first few but then just got way too repetitive and tedious.
I absolutely LOVED unleashed... no joke, i got it at launch for the 360 and played it non-stop for weeks. 100%ing the achievements and everything... i genuinely loved playing it and enjoyed it from start to finish
I’m Glad another person Appreciates the Werehog Stages bc I thought they were pretty good. They were basically a chill beat em up Platformer to contrast with the Boost Gameplay and I thought that was a great mix
I don't think he owns a Series X (could be wrong, but he was always more of an PlayStation guy), and even if he did, it's still in 30 FPS due to the frame cap, it just stays at that framerate the whole time, which is still a good reason to play that version over the PS3 one, which can only be played on the console it was made for (emulation notwithstanding) due to the complicated hardware preventing the PS4 or 5 from being backwards compatible, unless you count PS Now, where you have to stream the games, which really isn't good for a game like this, and doesn't improve the framerate anyway. When the framerate is at a consistent 60 FPS, it's most likely footage of Project Unleashed, the mod that puts all of the Unleashed stages in Generations, which does have a PC version which runs at 60. You can tell because the boost gauge is a different color and depletes much more smoothly, and it shows how much more or less time it took to get to a checkpoint than your best run, an element Generations has but not Unleashed.
Are you sure? IIRC neither Unleashed or Generations removed the 30 fps cap, and only Generations was One X enhanced (on any case, I don't mind the 30 fps due being way more stable than before)
This was a really good review. I've always thought Unleashed got more criticism than it deserved and I feel a lot of that came from it just being the game that happened to follow 06. That doesn't magically remove its actual flaws like pacing, handling being a tad clunky at times etc. but it's something to think about.
@@IceisNice_FollowingChrist not even it's objective flaws. Just "hurr durr stretchy werewolf not belong in fast blue hedgehog game for little kiddies."
@@sharzinlalebazri5673 eh....you sure it's not objectively flaws? I know issues people have with it is how it was just tacked on to Sonic instead of being a separate character and it's pacing is too slow.
Haven't played Unleashed but the voice acting really is pleasing to my ears. Amy Palant has improved considerably as Tails, Lisa Ortiz as Amy and Mike Pollock as Eggman are as great as ever and Jason Griffith has finally nailed his Sonic voice which I love so much. He just has this really natural sound to it.
@@ulester3092 To be fair, Roger isn't a bad Sonic, it's the fucking writing that breaks him- just look at the Sonic Boom tv series with okay writing: Roger is incredibly natural as Sonic too, in a more active tone. Jason made for a very good laid-back Sonic. Both are amazing.
A masterpiece of the highest order. I've been annoyed at the bad review scores for 14 years now, probably longer than some people in this comment section have been alive.
While 06 was an end of an era for sonic, Unleashed has always been the last truly ambitious Sonic game. Every game that came after plays it so safe with the writing in particular nosediving off a cliff. This was the Last Sonic game to take its premise even remotely serious. Not necessarily meaning the tone was serious, but rather that it felt genuine. It knew it was a sonic game and held its head high. Nowadays, Sonic games are so self-deprecating that it feels like Sonic himself hates being in the game.
This is my absolute favorite sonic game of all time. It’s gorgeous, gnarly challenging, replayable, the story is like watching an incredibly badass movie, the opening cutscene is amazing, dark gaia is one of if not the best sonic boss ever and the final cherry on top... oh my gosh after completing that long journey... having to practice the controls just enough to get through on the daytime stages (that I went back and started trying to S rank them all... got quite a few so far!) and all the fighting on the nighttime stages and the damn skyscraper scamper and eggmanland level and dark gaia and his hard stage... oh man... after all that... I am rewarded with a song with 2 members of one of my favorite bands. That sealed it right there. Favorite sonic game of all time and it was easily one of the best and most intriguing stories as well as just seeing different places.
the "the epicenter of ecological destruction" is a reference to Sly Cooper, right? Bentley says that about Jean Bison house! But it fits soooooo well with eggman, especially when you remember one of the sonic cartoons where eggman’s goal was to pollute the world, eggman in the first comics also had this goal.
I’m glad the generation that actually played and loved this game, finally lets their voices be heard. The terrible reviews just gave low reviews just because the weirdness of the werehog, really hurt the franchise creatively
@@tiruliru1189 in terms of quality I do agree with you. But unleashed felt grander to me; Maybe because of its aesthetics. But after generations it went down hill for sure
Man, I remember watching the trailers showcasing each stage. I knew Jungle Joyride was gonna be my favorite. Playing the game today holds up and after my exposure to JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, I really appreciate the Ora Ora Punches you can do as the Werehog. 7:46 I never noticed Eggman's face on the tea kettle XD
41:45 - Then came the fantastic news that Unleashed got the beautiful 60fps update! All we need now is a generous PC Steam port that keeps that amazing performance...
3:11 This made me realized the appeal of modern sonic is not speed... is reaction & reflexes. Games like Crash Bandicoot Time Trials can take the speed issue better, even at the cost of senseless memorizing of levels.
You know actually when talking about the werehog's combat, I felt a lot of Yakuza Vibes from it as well. Especially with the whole unleashed thing kinda like a heat mode like in the Yakuza games, the whole combo system itself and how it is focused on hits and killing enemies as fast as possible, the variety of moves. They are both SEGA properties (Sonic Unleashed and the Yakuza games) so it would make some sense but I'm also an idiot and have been doing nothing but playing the yakuza games back to back for the first time so take what I said with a grain of salt.
A guide to how to have a great time with Sonic Unleashed: 1. Explore the level dicckhead, Sonic was never only about speed, treat it like it's Sonic 3K and get those Sun and Moon medals. This applies to the hubworlds aswell 2. Focus on leveling up the "combo" attribute on the werehog, which will unlock new attacks and make the combat go from a drag to actually really cool 3. Speaking of the werehog, actually learn what he fucking does before saying he is too slow. Lots to talk about 4. Talk to the townspeople! They're are not like Sonic 06! They're interesting! Their missions are cool and some have Sun/Moon medals! 5. Use the shops! The food here gets you exp and allows you to level up faster. 6. Speaking of shops, be a completionist! There are about 234676796 collectibles on the game and some of them are in the shops! The game has a lot of content. I really like the game
Me and my brother did something interesting and I played all the werehog stages and he did the mainline sonic ones. We played it together. This is probably my favorite sonic game thats ever been released. It delivered to me in every regard, I still remember the emotional beats of the story to this day. The music was there, the game play was pretty unique and the were how scenes were better than they had any right to be. The boost mechanic brought blinding speed that incredibly thrilling. I love it.
Okay 3 things: 1. Excellent review - so nice to hear someone say positive things about werehog stages for a change (they were actually my favourite part of Unleashed because it was something new). 2. Also finally good to hear someone else be bold enough to say that Jason Griffith is the best English Sonic. No one else has come quite so close to Junnichi Kanemaru's Sonic. 3. Don't stop doing these long-format reviews - they are really well done, and entertaining
Your listing style reviews of games is a double edged sword. I could talk endlessly about unleashed but it seems you gloss over a few things as they really arent very important, but the spectacle they have is enormous. The egg dragoon is an incredible moment because eggman doesnt just want sonic dead by falling down a pit to the earth’s core, he wants to do it by his hand. It doesnt matter that eggman would probably die too, he’s just tearing the stage apart to get to sonic, and even sonic feels that relentless effort to get to him when he says “JEEZE SIMMER DOWN EGGMAN!” Its probably the most intense these two have ever fought in the series’ entire run
11:13 tbf, you CAN still tilt left and right to influence your grinding speed. It's just usually only effective when 1. not boosting; and 2. only really useful for purposefully slowing yourself down.
what they need to do is to have 2 or 3 different states of sonics speed. For instance... when u doing platform sonic is in gear 1 and is easy to control... and gear 2 and 3 are used while speedrunning... activaded by holding down the trigger buttons. It seems so simple to fix the control that has plaguad 3d sonic games for generations now.
The ending theme,"Dear my Friend", actually has a very special place in my heart. I know this girl who is like a sister to me, We knew each other since we were 4 years old. I love her with all my heart and would do anything for her. She recently turned 18 and I played this song to her as her birthday present. Is it corny? Yes! But it is the only song I can think of that tells how I really feel about her.
37:25 --- I hear a lot that the thing that only gets better is sonic music but I don't usually see attention being brought to the people who work on those. Tomoya Ohtani, his team, and everyone involved with the music just simply don't miss when it comes to the soundtracks for these games but I truly think that the Unleashed OST was their magnum opus because of how varied it is, while still feeling like sonic music. There are still tracks that have that banging electric guitar and along with fast instruments and an overall electronic rock sound that's reminiscent of Sonic; however, because you have the day and night stages, each with wildly different pacings, paired with the worldwide concept of the game, it leads to an extremely varied soundtrack that just tries so many different things and ends up really hitting the mark on all of them, at least in my opinion(definitely my favorite sonic soundtrack). Nice video man 👏
Unleashed already has a better metacritic score than Generations and people are saying it’s underrated? Sonic CD, Rush Adventure, and Black Knight are better picks for underrated but not Unleashed.
@@precieux6303 do you not remember when people trashed the game just bc of the werehog thing? It had a negative reputation for a long time, idk why people in this comments section are forgetting that
Sonic Unleashed was, and still is, my favourite Sonic game, albeit I was about 12 when I played it and I played the Wii version of it, but the soundtrack was still fantastic. I never finished it which is sad but the parts I did play I still remember to this day with my favourite track being Rooftop Run Day
Sonic unleashed was a big part of my childhood great soundtrack, gameplay, and I honestly liked sega bringing back a combat system for the game but the one I would always throw my controller for was eggmanland
Funny story. Not only was this game the first Sonic game I played, but this was also the first video game I've ever played, and the one that got me into gaming in general. I was around 4 when this game first came out and my parents owned an Xbox 360 so they bought this game. I played it one day and it was the most insane shit to me. I've never seen anything this cool looking or amazing before. I've obviously gone back and played a lot of other Sonic games since then and my favorite Sonic game now is Adventure 2, but I'll always hold a soft spot for this game and I'm still seriously hoping it gets a PC port so I can finally relive this game in all of it's amazing glory in 4K 60fps. Mini rant incoming: The fact that I grew up playing games like this is what really pisses me off about Sonic's current direction. Games like Forces and Lost world just doesn't have the passion & care that games like Unleashed and Adventure 2 had which is why those games had mediocre gameplay and even worse storytelling. You can see this with the way that Sega just treats Sonic as a joke now. The official sonic twitter is a literal circus of memes. I want kids to grow up playing games as good as the ones we got, which is why I hate those games.
So glad to see Unleashed getting the appreciation it deserves. This, along with Sonic Colors, Generations, Episode 1 and 2, and the Adventure games are the best. The werehog gameplay is actually fun once you get used to the combos and it gets way too much hate, the story is just perfection from Sonic and Chip’s friendship to Eggman’s plan, to pretty much everything. Even as a child, during that ending scene, I actually cried, wanting Chip to come back.
Sonic Colors set the franchise backwards in terms of Storytelling, Characters, and somewhat on level design and Gameplay. And Sonic 4 didn't help in any regard. If they kept the Name Sonic the Portable and not rename it Sonic 4, then I feel that people would be somewhat a lot more forgiving on it. The Werehog is pretty fun though.
@@lightgivemepower6425 God you really can't say anything positive about Colors in this Fandom anymore without some asshole going "well ACTUALLY" like Christ give it a rest
@@Soniman001 don't get me wrong, the DS version of Colors is really good(better than the HD version in Some areas). I love that they brought back playable Super Sonic. The Music is really good. I love how some wisps were utilized in finding red star rings. I don't HATE sonic colors, I just don't like how Sonic Colors set the franchise going backwards in terms of storytelling and characters.
Despite how difficult some of the sun stages were especially when boosting, I LOVED this gameplay in Sonic. Sure i love the retro games but those were so difficult in navigating levels that the Adventure games and Unleashed were SUCH a breathe of fresh air and I never felt as fast as Sonic was always portrayed UNTIL Unleashe came around. Last time we saw Jasons Sonic too sadly enough :(
This game really does have one of the best stories in the history of the series as well as some of the best vocal performances and though I don’t like as much as other games this one definitely is quite amazing
This, black knight, and even 06 are my favorite , besides SA2B! Because these games have something special in them! Something current sonic games are missing nowadays! But watching this to the end. It reminded me of my long journey with it too! Great video and content! 💖
The time Sonic fought a demon monster from hell as a super sayian & werewolf with a Power Rangers Megazord on his side in a lava cave. The most epic Sonic storyline. The Meta Era won't ever reach the level of epicness.
Remember 06? Yeah that time Sonic defeated a super dimensional angelic satan god with super powered chaos attacks. Also brought along his two buddies. 1990s and 2000s Sonic were the best eras ever. Fuck 2010s sonic, the era where Sonic turns from an actual character to a cartoon joke.
I think Sonic could be in a much better place these days if people showed this amount of love to games like Unleashed back when they were released, instead of pretty much just blindly hating it because it was Sonic.
You shouldn't blindly love things either. But I agree the Sonic 06 backlash meant this game never got a fair shake. Imo it's flawed in a lot of places but calling it a bad game or half a good game isn't entirely accurate.
@@Superluigi881 Coupled with the Werehog that gave the critics an excuse to tear Unleashed to shreds, it's a wonder the game was ever able to make it out of the slander.
I've always loved this game. The sense of speed this game gave to Sonic has yet to be matched and I honestly enjoyed the werehog stages. I mean, they made Sonic a stretchy wrestler. How cool is that.
Sonic Unleashed is not only my favorite Sonic game ever, but one of my all time favorite games. The graphics, the gameplay and the soundtracks just sticks! Also, for anyone who didn't buy the adventure pack DLC, I totally recommend it for anyone up for the challenge.
Was so worried you hated Unleashed after the E ranked music fron the last review, thank god, I love Sonic Unleashed, Rooftop Run day is the highest high of the entire series imo.
I have to play Unleashed HD fully, but the effort and charm it shows has always been clear to me. It's a game that oozes creativity, excitement, grandness, and passion that recent Sonic games have been lacking. I hope one day we get a game with a similar heart to Unleashed again. Btw, looking forward to your review on the Wii version, because THAT's the game that truly started my journey into this franchise.
Not gonna lie. Sonic unleashed was the last mainline Sonic game i loved and made me feel satisfied when i finished it. Its easily in my top 3 (Possibly 2nd) favorite Sonic games.
It's amazing how different the WiiS2 and PS360 versions of this game are from each other. I've always felt like the ideal Sonic Unleashed exists as an in-between of these 2 versions. Take most of the stuff from the HD version: the hub towns, the level design and general gameplay, the additional content, it's almost perfect. But now add in the Rank-based system for earning Moon Medals to the day stages, like the WiiS2 version has, and I think a lot of the pacing issues disappear. Maybe even give the Werehog the chance at additional Sun Medals based on combat grade, to incentivize people to invest in his leveling, and I think you've got the best way to smooth out the medal grind. I have no problems exploring Werehog stages, and treating it a bit like a collect-a-thon. But like you said, no one wants to grind a daytime stage to a screeching halt to find medals.
Thank you! It hurts when people trash talk Unleashed but I never really saw it ever since the game released. It's such an amazing game that is flawed. Still, loved it back then and I love it today.
You can actually skip the air boost, I do it on replays of the game. It makes one single medal impossible to get without doing the M-Speed glitch, but the rest of the game functions normally without it.
You feel the PASSION by Sonic Team oozing out of every part of this game. A passion you don't feel anywhere in Forces. Maina should have shown Sonic Team that Sonic is still loved. The movie shows that there is a place for Sonic going forward. It's been a long time since a new Sonic game has come out. I'm praying to see similar passion and innovation as Unleashed in Sonic's next game.
I'm pretty sure I can hear Bentley's voice in my head with that "The lair of the beast! The den of evil! The epicenter of ecological destruction!" line, but I can't remember which Sly game it was from... If I had to guess it would be Sly 2? ...unless I am completely wrong and that wasn't a Sly reference...
I just started your video, so maybe you said this later, but, for me, the drifting in Sonic Unleashed PS3 was highly criticizable since I had a blast with the drifting mechanic in the PS2 version. Honestly, I feel that we would get a masterpiece of gaming if they manage to mix the best aspects of both versions of the game into a remake.
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If you're still not an RPG guy, you should play Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. It's the perfect RPG for people who don't usually play RPGs.
Going to comment on the soundtrack: For those who ran Cross Country in high school and went to the Manhattan Invitational, can we all agree that Skyscraper Scamper (Day) is the official song of that meet?
Nowadays I really can't help but respect the sheer audacity of the Werehog as a concept, I think there's an appeal there in how flagrantly hokey it is.
Love your videos
Remember ExoParadigmGamer’s review of Sonic Unleashed HD?
m.ruclips.net/video/k0AzwtrdxgQ/видео.html
m.ruclips.net/video/bEKyc4pR6pQ/видео.html
Raise your hand up if you think he’s being too harsh on it yet also has some fair criticisms towards this game at the same time.
i love how eloquent this comment is lmfao
@@hihi-nm3uy Same
@@kieranstark7213 That guy annoys me because he takes things WAY too seriously, like when he's talking about story, he throws around fancy words that really do not belong when talking about the story of a video game meant for KIDS! A good example of this can be found in his Remake or Rebreak episode on the Spyro Reignited Trilogy
The Werehog Battle theme has been my alarm for almost 3 years now
*I need to try this*
Sounds like an effective alarm... I might need to try this too.
OMG you have just started a trend of repeatable sonic jazz for alarms for all future sonic fans. lol
It now gives you more misery
Silver's "It's no use" has been mine for that long and then some. Annoying yet all the more effective
Unleashed has always been solid but you can definitely see where Sonic team struggles with trying to get in game length, the pacing is just not good especially if you're not aware of the sun and moon medals going in. The Werehog was terrible in concept but it was fine in execution (there are better character actions games but there's also a lot worse). While it did mark the beginning of a few problematic trends in where Sonic was going forward like with how they would handle the supporting cast, Unleashed was still a solid game.
As someone who loves Bayonetta, Devil May Cry and God of War, the Werehog was a solid attempt of Sonic Teams own beat em up game. Of course the games i listed are miles better because thats the entire concept of their games so theres more depth to them and much more enjoyable. The Werehog couldve been done a lot better but it was fine for what it was. I feel like Knuckles shouldve been the one to take his spot as the playable character
@@hwanniggles187 Not a bad first attempt. They probably had the talent at the time to make something grander in the genre.
I straight up can't call a game that had a unwanted dull gameplay gameplay style that takes up more than half the game "good" it just isn't for me.
Yeah the Werehog isn't BAD but I don't play Sonic for a boring God of War knockoff
@@Soniman001 the werehog is not bad and plus sonic games has had multiple gameplay styles before so a gameplay style thats not sonic like isn't anything new
@@Soniman001 I'll be honest, I'll take the Werehog anyday over the Mech, Treasure Hunting, Fishing or 80% of 06's gameplay styles. At least The Werehog is fundamentally about going to the end of the stage.
Chip leaves Sonic that special ring and begs to never forget him. In later Sonic Games, he's never seen with it on ever again.
In fact, Sonic somehow isn't wearing it by the events of _Sonic and the Black Knight!_
@@lance2580 Yeah, that's messed up on the developers.
It may have been poofed into his fing counter or just left it at home so he doesn't lose it
@@irkenpony17 makes sense we die alot in sonic games so sonic has prepared for that
It would've been really neat if it was a permanent change to Sonic's character design imo. Would've also made the timeline placement of games after Unleashed much easier.
For those who don’t understand why the Werehog has stretchy arms, it’s because Dark Gaia’s minions also stretch in a way. Just not nearly as much as the Werehog does.
I never realized that until now that I read your comment. It's such a small detail that explains a lot and I just noticed it 😂😂😂
?!
I never realized it's Orbot controlling stage robots. That's awesome.
And thanks for bringing up the importance of beefy soundeffects for satisfying combat. A detail i don't see brought up much.
Thanks for watching man! Have been watching you since 2013. Yeah, we don't see Orbot in the bosses, but you hear his voice in the Egg Devil Ray Boss Fight, at least. Audio feedback was something I remember being a point when you guys talked about how bad the Time Eater boss fight was.
Well, originally SA-55.
Probably cause it isn't really important
@@captainmega6310 it’s a cool detail nonetheless, thought and consideration went into it and it’s worth pointing out
@@LateNightHalo why? That's not what makes game... A GAME. I don't see the worth in pointing out the obvious.
The Opening Cutscene of Unleashed is literally a masterpiece. It has that cartoon-but-yet-still-realistic-ish feeling. Even a pinch of anime.
no anime . stop trying to force weeb garbage into good animation
@@cypher838 no it ain’t 🤡🤡
@@keon200 sa2 is the most anime shit. Wdym?
@@keon200 You're really blind.
@@cypher838 Same for you.
This is my personal favorite game of all time.
Hey, I know you.
Same
The Role Model Has Spoken!
Is perfect
same always has been 😈
Man Endless Possibility is one of my all time favorite sonic songs. So inspirational and epic. Literally saves lives.
IKR, great song!
It really sounds like it should be the main theme of the franchise rather than just one game. It's just so fitting to Sonic as a whole
@E se? live and learn? you mean "prepare for my civil rights beam" song?
@@kenm.a.d.7196Same with His World. Honestly both can compete
I would like to say a few things:
I believe that this game is a great contender for the best 3D sonic game.
The werehog is not the make or break for this game. It’s a controversial topic but it’s only downfall in the werehog’s existence is, in my opinion, how lengthy some of the levels can be.
This game is easily one of the most difficult as practice makes perfect for each level.
Finally, this game has the best world building. That is an opinion that no one can change for me.
It's close between this and Adventure 2.
Agreed on all counts!
Getting S rank on the daytime stages feels rewarding, I’ve never felt so good getting S rank on any other sonic game tbh.
@@Thor-Orion Unleashed, Adventure 2, and Frontiers, the peak of 3D Sonic, the first two being the best at their formulas, and Frontiers starting a new one for the franchise
Unleashed would be my favorite sonic game if it weren't for the stupid medal collection.
I think something that should've been mentioned is that Dark Gaia looks terrifying. Especially when it goes into Perfect Dark Gaia and it rips its body apart with blood spilling. Like okay Sega.
Not something you'd expect from a Sonic game.
@@cliffturbo2146 FINALLY MORE PEOPLE NOTICED THIS!!! I remember back in 2009 when I first got it I was overseas in afghan. When I got to that part I was like... Sonic went Devil may cry and resident evil 5 on us. RE5 because the last stage was by lava.
@@yuzuichikawa I have never played Resident Evil before, but I do get a Devil May Cry vibe from that scene.
I had this theory that no reviewers who played and scored the game has ever reached this far and saw this scene. Which is why it still remained so graphically bloody and scary.
@@cliffturbo2146 Watch the last fight with wesker in RE5 and then go watch sonic unleashed last boss. They don't share TOO many things but both characters are fighting last bosses in lava like areas. And what's funny is RE5 and SU came out with months of each other in 2009. xD
@@cliffturbo2146 I mean this is the same franchise that has a child with a disease being shot at, the mentions of Gods, ancient civilization, and dimensions since the classics, parallel worlds, multiple timelines, and multiple deaths.
"The lair of the beast, the dead of evil, the epicenter of ecological destruction!"
-Bentley from Sly Cooper
I got the reference gimmie dat heart.
YES GREAT
You legend
I knew it was from something I recognise lmao thank you
Can we all agree that regardless of what you think of the Werehog (I actually like the Werehog gameplay), Unleashed is the last time Sega genuinely gave a fuck? It's obvious from the way it looks that they poured a ton of money and talent into it. The story is actually okay without any nostalgia glasses. The voice acting is way improved over before, this is Jason Griffith's finest hour as Sonic. The game is still gorgeous to look at and they had an entire new engine and new playstyle developed just for this one. Compare it to later games, even the good ones, it's obvious that none of them, not even Generations, had such high production values. Let alone drivel like Forces.
Truth!!!
@@skibot9974 I dunno, it doesn't seem to be in the same league as Unleashed.
Then again, Lost World is the only Sonic game I actively hate with a burning passion, and that's after going into it with an open mind and dismissing the hate it got, so I'm biased there.
@@skibot9974 Yeah, but IIRC all the cutscenes and such are pre-rendered and there's nowhere near the amount of snazz in those. Or anything of worth happening, really.
Pontac and Graff aren't very good writers.
@@AllardRT I actually agree with you lol.
The only thing I like about Lost World is like half the soundtrack and maybe the level design in the first half of the game.
But it's clear to me that not nearly the amount of passion put in Unleashed was put in Lost World.
I would say frontiers comes pretty close to sega giving a fuck about sonic again. They gave us sooo much lore and character depth while also making a fun to play game with great exploration elements and fantastic music. Lets hope they keep up the momentum
I can't forgive IGN for giving Sonic FORCES a higher rating than Unleashed.
The Minecraft that's just a Kinect and the Kinect itself is terrible
No proplem with forces the proplem is 06 get higher than unleashed who cares about someone rated sonic pocket adventure 10/10
Thats fine because IGN is a joke.
In the Unleashed rewiew the reviewer said he wanted a game to be pretty much like Forces
@@hanezutchins2786 The problem is that a lot of people haven't realized that
I've never seen a video THIS positive about Sonic Unleashed. Most of the time, people either say they love the Day gameplay and hate the Night gameplay or they enjoy the Night gameplay and have issues with the Day gameplay.
I'm so happy to see someone love this game as much as I do! Great game, great video 👍🏻
I enjoy both with just a little more love for day because the scenery seems a bit beautiful and just love the thrill of boosting so much.
@@Esteban-nk3nm That's kinda the appeal of the Boost Formula and for that, it succeeds 👍🏻
I still don’t understand why Sonic Unleashed is NOW getting praise, when it should have, since the beginning.
The game have memorable moments great graphics gamesplay story the game has a lot of great efforts that is why unleashed has a lot of praise
It's simply because it came after Sonic 06. I think people were just waiting for the franchise to die at that point, and didn't take the games seriously.
Because,
IGN and other game reviewers couldn't shut their mouths, put away their biases and think for once.
And it came out after 06. So it was gonna get bashed regardless.
It's not uncommon for a game to be shafted upon relase
Only for much later it comes back, as it's community sees it's strenghs
It's because of the werehog stages, which I loved, but got tired of after a while
I've seen few people who actually like the night stages
I think they can last too long at times
They are not the worst thing but we all like the boost stages more even if some don’t want to admit it
me to
I liked them. I thought it was a nice change of pace to have actual combat. Not to mention the night stages were beautiful, but that’s me on PS2 and the Xbox game is pretty much a completely different less difficult game.
@@ulester3092 I love them equally.
Fantastic review as always! Your Sonic reviews
are really entertaining and are much appreciated, as it is a lot of fun to go back and revisit the franchise. Great work!
Swear I love this mans sonic reviews
Hoodo what are you doing here!
HOODOOOOOO
Sonic Unleashed is one of the games that made childhood better. I remember when I was 9 or so I taught myself to wake up very early so I’d have an extra hour to play this game before going to extracurricular classes, and trying to finish homework as fast as I could so I could play it before going to bed. I feel that if I were to play unleashed now, I’d still have plenty of fun, beyond the nice feelings nostalgia brings.
However, the memories this game brings are also bittersweet because the day I finished the game was also the day my grandfather passed away. I was still very high from the emotions of pride and happiness for finishing the game, then a few hours later I received the news my grandpa died and all those nice feelings came crushing down. Even thinking about this game makes my eyes wet, I guess because unleashed will always take me to the memory lane of that day.
I saw an comment about a guy unfairly shiting on Sonic games without even play it first.
Someone replied: You don't have to shiting on it without playing it.
And then he replies: l don't need to enter into a sewer to know if it smells.
I think that sums up every hater for every media.
As much as I love Generations I can’t deny how great Unleashed is This game along with Colors gave people hope that Sonic can be good again after what happened 06 and It really shows
Sonic adventure 1 and 2, heroes, unleashed, colors, gens and mania give me hope that the 2021 announcement can be an awesome game
I never doubted that Sonic could be good again.
I never thought that 1 game during that time was going to stop Sega from making good games.
Well it was mostly colors that did that. Unleashed was PANNED when it came out, getting lower scores than even 06.
Blame ign.
@@rodrigomorales563 Colors did in a small scale, but the one that really gave hope was generations because it was able to make everyone happy.
@@santihjusto and then sega took all the wrong lessons from colors and generations and put them into future games such as bad writing, too much 2d in games that are supposed to be 3d, wisp, and over reliance on classic sonic and nostalgia
Unleashed and SA2, the two most influential Sonic games to me
Good taste
Sa2 is soooo amazing.
They had solid stories pretty much
@@jaxxxx1984 Correction: some of the best Sonic stories
@@ElectrikStatik900 i guess, black knight is probably my favorite and hasn't been topped yet imo
About the humans in Unleashed, all I wanted was to see a scene with a human using a Spring or another item to fully sell this as a world
Ngl... that would have been cool. Do you think humans also pick up rings and use it as currency. Do humans need rings to survive ridiculous attacks like Sonic does? Now there are so many questions going through my head.
@@trevinodude I think so, all the cassino stages in Sonic games give out rings so it is a currency at least
Its also cool to see that all the level gimmicks Sonic goes through are actually built by and for the humans, as seen in Empire City and the car stages in SA2 where we see them
@@skibot9974 They have to get specialized cars for that I swear! Lol.
@@skibot9974 and they said that why?.
Seriously though its pretty clear by now that current doesn't give a crap about the series continuity
@@skibot9974 spongebob, mickey mouse, and especially mario is the last thing sonic should be like what sonic should be like is...well sonic
Anybody notice that they were able to make the graphics of this game phenomenal, even for a game made in 2008?!?
Imagine what it would look like on pc, maybe even with shaders. The Unleashed graphics aren't even at their full potential and even though it's been a whole decade, a video game from 2008 has graphics that hold up to the standards of today and blow quite a bit of video games of the past decade away. Honestly it seems like sonic forces should have came out then and Unleashed should have came out now.
@@Esteban-nk3nm Plus, I'll take Unleashed and The Werehog over Forces and The Avatar any day of the week
@@Hugo-yz1vb I've been on the Werehog train since release. Everyone else hating on the Holy Hell Hog made me confused.
Meanwhile games on the latest gen have been struggling. Its wild how impressive 360 era games were and how disappointing the current era has been so far.
It's visuals and graphic style were far ahead of it's time, as evident by the slowdown and messy framerate/framepacing. Their vision went far beyond what 7th gen consoles could handle, which makes the Xbox Series X patch and PC's Xenia emulator absolute godsends to see Unleashed at it's absolute best.
"It was 2009 and I was in the third grade" - So this is what it feel like to have become old.
I had to do a double take there, and I'm only a 99 baby
NGL, the 4Kids cast was at their absolute best in this game, especially Jason Griffith as Sonic.
NGL the 4Kids cast should have just become the Sonic Team cast. Replacing them was one of the worst things Sonic Team did to the series.
@@mattm7220 I will never get over them replacing Jason as Shadow. The modern voice is fine, but he needed a few games to be decent. Outside of one misdelivery, Jason already got it in the first game with him as VA because he already had experience from Sonic X. Actually, even the Dreamcast era-voice did it first game, so the voicedirection or actor just did not work right at first here.
Sonic and the black knight
@@IdiotRebecca251 I think that game is also their best performance.
@@biscitsgravy Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic and the Black Knight were the games Jason Griffith was really at his best same for the rest of 4kids cast.
One of the best looking sonic designs now already like 13-15 years old and forces couldn’t even get him right
The design is still the same
@@BitchChill ? No it’s not lol
@@BitchChill absolutely not. Just watch a video of the sonic unleashed model modded into forces and you'll see the difference immediately
@@TusharSundarka The model is different, but the design isn't. Yeah there are slight changes, but it's not anything drastic
@@BitchChill the changes they did make him look elderly for some reason, I don't like it. I'm glad they reverted back to the Unleashed/Generations design in Team Sonic Racing
Finally, now I can die in peace
Don’t die 😢
Wait you're actually dying? NOOOOOOOO
@@theminecraft2516 no matter what happens.
When I was younger I started listening to Sonic takes from people like SomeCallmeJohnny and Cobanermani456 and I started to get really interested in the franchise, but the bigger more needlessly critical voices got louder and they sort of pulled me away and made me doubt myself. But now that I’m older I can look at the series more critically as art and be open to different viewpoints and have the confidence in myself to be able to form my own opinions based off of watching videos like these. It’s so wonderful to hear your perspective because it’s unique and something you clearly care a lot more about than the 100th person to argue Sonic 06 is bad. It’s so nice to have someone like you validating what I’ve felt deep down for so long about not just Sonic but video games in general, which is that they’re ART and that they should try to have stakes and atmosphere and a vision for something more than its gameplay. Taking risks and pushing boundaries is how you move a series forward even if you make mistakes along the way, and we shouldn’t spend so much time complaining about those mistakes.
SomeCallmeJohnny is the last person I would look for a good Sonic review.
@@BradynNewcomerAt least it's not IGN or GameGrumps.
SAME BRO COBANERMANI456 WAS MY CHILDHOOD
I’m glad to see this game is getting some love. I got this game when it first came out I’m 2008 and both reviewers and gamers alike kept talking about how bad it was. Now all of a sudden 13 years later people started looking back at the game and are now saying how good it is.
When I was a kid I wanted to play cool games. Now I want to play fun games and it turns out a lot of the sonic games that I used to cringe at (like unleashed and black knight) are exactly the kind of game I want to play.
@@John-vc8qr I guess that's how most kids feel they rather have cool games and just dismissed the ones they find actually fun
A few years back I played Unleashed on PS3 and I think tone wise it’s the best at finding that happy medium between anime melodrama and idiotic jokes. The werehog is just there and does feel like something they did to pad the game out but the scope and tone are excellent.
@@machovalkarie7896 yes
@@machovalkarie7896 precisely
This game’s soundtrack was on another level
*shamar day intensifies*
😣😣
All Sonic games made by Sonic Team has a soundtrack on another level
Hahahaha I said “Sonic Team” so no one can inform me about Sonic Chronicles’s soundtrack for the 1000’th time
@@golddigginboi2187 jungle joyride bops in the distance
No songs really stuck with me, aside from Rooftop day
@@BitchChill What about Cool Edge Night
wasn't Orbot called SA-55 in this game, like as in Sass, with how much sass he gives Eggman in this game
Indeed.
With Unleashed, there's those little subtle moments you can see whenever you look closely that tie into the experience - From the Egg Dragoon's attack patterns refrencing prior bosses, to how when first getting transformed into the werehog in the opening cutscene, Dark Gaia's movements when tearing up the world and awakening match Sonic's as he's turning into the werehog. I love these little storytelling details
Unleashed's day time stages were absolute insanity! The way they created a sense of speed was just incredible. The night stages were good for the first few but then just got way too repetitive and tedious.
I absolutely LOVED unleashed... no joke, i got it at launch for the 360 and played it non-stop for weeks. 100%ing the achievements and everything... i genuinely loved playing it and enjoyed it from start to finish
Great taste, im guessing you like rocket Knight and sparkster too.
Unleashed is probably my second favorite Sonic game behind SA2. Solid video.
Unleashed is my favorite While SA2 Is my 3rd
Nate Jackson my opinion is the same as yours and sonic mania is my 3rd favorite sonic game
I’m Glad another person Appreciates the Werehog Stages bc I thought they were pretty good. They were basically a chill beat em up Platformer to contrast with the Boost Gameplay and I thought that was a great mix
are you playing on a series x? this is some
of the best fps footage of adabat i’ve ever seen!!
I don't think he owns a Series X (could be wrong, but he was always more of an PlayStation guy), and even if he did, it's still in 30 FPS due to the frame cap, it just stays at that framerate the whole time, which is still a good reason to play that version over the PS3 one, which can only be played on the console it was made for (emulation notwithstanding) due to the complicated hardware preventing the PS4 or 5 from being backwards compatible, unless you count PS Now, where you have to stream the games, which really isn't good for a game like this, and doesn't improve the framerate anyway. When the framerate is at a consistent 60 FPS, it's most likely footage of Project Unleashed, the mod that puts all of the Unleashed stages in Generations, which does have a PC version which runs at 60. You can tell because the boost gauge is a different color and depletes much more smoothly, and it shows how much more or less time it took to get to a checkpoint than your best run, an element Generations has but not Unleashed.
@@TheMGMfan the series x version removed the 30 fps cap and moved it to 60. Most games automatically double the framerate on the series x
Are you sure? IIRC neither Unleashed or Generations removed the 30 fps cap, and only Generations was One X enhanced (on any case, I don't mind the 30 fps due being way more stable than before)
@@SprunkCovers hehe
@@MrOdaddy2011 damn, this aged bad but amazing lol
This was a really good review. I've always thought Unleashed got more criticism than it deserved and I feel a lot of that came from it just being the game that happened to follow 06. That doesn't magically remove its actual flaws like pacing, handling being a tad clunky at times etc. but it's something to think about.
Definitely agree with the drift comments and I think they actually nailed it properly in Generations with the spinball.
framerate is dogshit
It's Good to see Sonic Unleashed Get some love. I really loved this game growing up as a kid.
Me too bro, and I still love it.
Same here ☺️❤️
Some love on RUclips specifically, Unleashed is a religion on Twitter lol
It deserves it
Same
You're becoming just like TheGamingBritShow for referencing DMC in other game reviews and I'm all for it.
Ew...gross...
@@user-nx1rn3wm9z I take it you don't like TGBS
Brittney Logan?????
But nowhere near as insufferable as Gaming Brit 😉
@Reeben 18 Short for Devil May Cry
"But it's not the unleashed experience you know? no werehog, no hub worlds"
Somecallmejohnny - I see this as an absolute win
Lol
I pretty much don't like him now. I feel like he goes where the wind blows and not making his own stances with critical thinking.
The graphics and different locations made it so interesting, if only they added more characters and story it woulda been the best
"so you think the werehog stages are fun and enjoyable?"
"I do. and I'm tired of pretending they're not."
Cool
lol ikr 😂 werehog has it's flaws but it's definitely a fun playstyle and it's so underappreciated because most people can't look past it's flaws.
@@IceisNice_FollowingChrist not even it's objective flaws. Just "hurr durr stretchy werewolf not belong in fast blue hedgehog game for little kiddies."
@@sharzinlalebazri5673 true it's sad
@@sharzinlalebazri5673 eh....you sure it's not objectively flaws? I know issues people have with it is how it was just tacked on to Sonic instead of being a separate character and it's pacing is too slow.
Haven't played Unleashed but the voice acting really is pleasing to my ears. Amy Palant has improved considerably as Tails, Lisa Ortiz as Amy and Mike Pollock as Eggman are as great as ever and Jason Griffith has finally nailed his Sonic voice which I love so much. He just has this really natural sound to it.
To bad the studiopals cast came along
@@ulester3092 "BALDY NOSEHAIR!"
@@ulester3092 I mean it’s not there fault Sega sucks at there job
@@golddigginboi2187 no copyright law in the universe is going to stop me
@@ulester3092 To be fair, Roger isn't a bad Sonic, it's the fucking writing that breaks him- just look at the Sonic Boom tv series with okay writing: Roger is incredibly natural as Sonic too, in a more active tone. Jason made for a very good laid-back Sonic. Both are amazing.
A masterpiece of the highest order. I've been annoyed at the bad review scores for 14 years now, probably longer than some people in this comment section have been alive.
While 06 was an end of an era for sonic, Unleashed has always been the last truly ambitious Sonic game. Every game that came after plays it so safe with the writing in particular nosediving off a cliff. This was the Last Sonic game to take its premise even remotely serious. Not necessarily meaning the tone was serious, but rather that it felt genuine. It knew it was a sonic game and held its head high.
Nowadays, Sonic games are so self-deprecating that it feels like Sonic himself hates being in the game.
Black Knight? But yeah after Unleashed and Black Knight it’s all meta garbage
Honestly this feels like the last hoorah for sonic, it reminds me of halo reach
Then Frontiers comes.
This is my absolute favorite sonic game of all time. It’s gorgeous, gnarly challenging, replayable, the story is like watching an incredibly badass movie, the opening cutscene is amazing, dark gaia is one of if not the best sonic boss ever and the final cherry on top... oh my gosh after completing that long journey... having to practice the controls just enough to get through on the daytime stages (that I went back and started trying to S rank them all... got quite a few so far!) and all the fighting on the nighttime stages and the damn skyscraper scamper and eggmanland level and dark gaia and his hard stage... oh man... after all that... I am rewarded with a song with 2 members of one of my favorite bands. That sealed it right there. Favorite sonic game of all time and it was easily one of the best and most intriguing stories as well as just seeing different places.
the "the epicenter of ecological destruction" is a reference to Sly Cooper, right? Bentley says that about Jean Bison house! But it fits soooooo well with eggman, especially when you remember one of the sonic cartoons where eggman’s goal was to pollute the world, eggman in the first comics also had this goal.
I’m glad the generation that actually played and loved this game, finally lets their voices be heard. The terrible reviews just gave low reviews just because the weirdness of the werehog, really hurt the franchise creatively
Yeah I agree notice after unleashed the games lost that creativity and edge. I liked colors and generations but I felt something was missing...
@@chelsea9641 Sonic Generations and Unleashed are on a similar level of quality.
Anything after Generations, what SEGA made was indeed garbage.
@@tiruliru1189 in terms of quality I do agree with you. But unleashed felt grander to me; Maybe because of its aesthetics. But after generations it went down hill for sure
@@chelsea9641 I feel like both Colors and Generations had creativity put into them.
It's pretty good
Man, I remember watching the trailers showcasing each stage. I knew Jungle Joyride was gonna be my favorite. Playing the game today holds up and after my exposure to JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, I really appreciate the Ora Ora Punches you can do as the Werehog.
7:46 I never noticed Eggman's face on the tea kettle XD
41:45 - Then came the fantastic news that Unleashed got the beautiful 60fps update! All we need now is a generous PC Steam port that keeps that amazing performance...
3:11 This made me realized the appeal of modern sonic is not speed... is reaction & reflexes. Games like Crash Bandicoot Time Trials can take the speed issue better, even at the cost of senseless memorizing of levels.
You know actually when talking about the werehog's combat, I felt a lot of Yakuza Vibes from it as well. Especially with the whole unleashed thing kinda like a heat mode like in the Yakuza games, the whole combo system itself and how it is focused on hits and killing enemies as fast as possible, the variety of moves. They are both SEGA properties (Sonic Unleashed and the Yakuza games) so it would make some sense but I'm also an idiot and have been doing nothing but playing the yakuza games back to back for the first time so take what I said with a grain of salt.
Unleashed will forever be my favorite sonic game, from the gameplay to the music and the story.
A guide to how to have a great time with Sonic Unleashed:
1. Explore the level dicckhead, Sonic was never only about speed, treat it like it's Sonic 3K and get those Sun and Moon medals. This applies to the hubworlds aswell
2. Focus on leveling up the "combo" attribute on the werehog, which will unlock new attacks and make the combat go from a drag to actually really cool
3. Speaking of the werehog, actually learn what he fucking does before saying he is too slow. Lots to talk about
4. Talk to the townspeople! They're are not like Sonic 06! They're interesting! Their missions are cool and some have Sun/Moon medals!
5. Use the shops! The food here gets you exp and allows you to level up faster.
6. Speaking of shops, be a completionist! There are about 234676796 collectibles on the game and some of them are in the shops! The game has a lot of content.
I really like the game
Personally, this is my most favourite Sonic game. Quite a controversial pick as well. It’s not the best Sonic game ever, nor is it the worst.
The game is almost Masterpeace and It's great but it couldn't beat a Masterpeace sonic games like sonic 3 & knuckles & sonic generations
@@Flash-Light-Hope Good point. I played Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Generations. Both are fantastic.
Me and my brother did something interesting and I played all the werehog stages and he did the mainline sonic ones. We played it together. This is probably my favorite sonic game thats ever been released. It delivered to me in every regard, I still remember the emotional beats of the story to this day. The music was there, the game play was pretty unique and the were how scenes were better than they had any right to be. The boost mechanic brought blinding speed that incredibly thrilling.
I love it.
Same. Unleashed story were the story which really moved me.
Me and my older sister did this, though for medical reasons I can't remember who did which levels.
Okay 3 things:
1. Excellent review - so nice to hear someone say positive things about werehog stages for a change (they were actually my favourite part of Unleashed because it was something new).
2. Also finally good to hear someone else be bold enough to say that Jason Griffith is the best English Sonic. No one else has come quite so close to Junnichi Kanemaru's Sonic.
3. Don't stop doing these long-format reviews - they are really well done, and entertaining
If we could have more people like you and him...
If you're going to play Unleashed, the series X is likely your best option because it allows you to raise the frame rate to 60 with fps boost.
Not everyone owns or wants a Series X or Series S. Like me for example.
This and Generations were obviously meant to be played on the next gen consoles. 30fps just couldn't handle it.
I remember playing the Wii version as a kid. I was never able to get past the night jungle levels, though.
Jungle Joyride?
third night stage for jungle joyride was a pain in the ass
Your listing style reviews of games is a double edged sword. I could talk endlessly about unleashed but it seems you gloss over a few things as they really arent very important, but the spectacle they have is enormous. The egg dragoon is an incredible moment because eggman doesnt just want sonic dead by falling down a pit to the earth’s core, he wants to do it by his hand. It doesnt matter that eggman would probably die too, he’s just tearing the stage apart to get to sonic, and even sonic feels that relentless effort to get to him when he says “JEEZE SIMMER DOWN EGGMAN!”
Its probably the most intense these two have ever fought in the series’ entire run
11:13 tbf, you CAN still tilt left and right to influence your grinding speed. It's just usually only effective when 1. not boosting; and 2. only really useful for purposefully slowing yourself down.
This game reminds me of the time that Sonic Team actually gave a shit about what they were making. Good times, good times.
what they need to do is to have 2 or 3 different states of sonics speed. For instance... when u doing platform sonic is in gear 1 and is easy to control... and gear 2 and 3 are used while speedrunning... activaded by holding down the trigger buttons. It seems so simple to fix the control that has plaguad 3d sonic games for generations now.
I remember playing this on the 360, after the 360 got destroyed I found a copy for the ps2 and it was great for an old generation console.
The ending theme,"Dear my Friend", actually has a very special place in my heart. I know this girl who is like a sister to me, We knew each other since we were 4 years old. I love her with all my heart and would do anything for her. She recently turned 18 and I played this song to her as her birthday present. Is it corny? Yes! But it is the only song I can think of that tells how I really feel about her.
37:25 --- I hear a lot that the thing that only gets better is sonic music but I don't usually see attention being brought to the people who work on those. Tomoya Ohtani, his team, and everyone involved with the music just simply don't miss when it comes to the soundtracks for these games but I truly think that the Unleashed OST was their magnum opus because of how varied it is, while still feeling like sonic music. There are still tracks that have that banging electric guitar and along with fast instruments and an overall electronic rock sound that's reminiscent of Sonic; however, because you have the day and night stages, each with wildly different pacings, paired with the worldwide concept of the game, it leads to an extremely varied soundtrack that just tries so many different things and ends up really hitting the mark on all of them, at least in my opinion(definitely my favorite sonic soundtrack). Nice video man 👏
Sonic Unleashed is so underrated, it's the best boost game by far imo
Best boost game? I agree. Underrated? Nah, not at all.
Unleashed already has a better metacritic score than Generations and people are saying it’s underrated? Sonic CD, Rush Adventure, and Black Knight are better picks for underrated but not Unleashed.
Literally everyone has been calling this game underated for 8 months
Some people really need to learn how to properly use the word underrated...
@@precieux6303 do you not remember when people trashed the game just bc of the werehog thing? It had a negative reputation for a long time, idk why people in this comments section are forgetting that
That reference was kinda *Sly* of you to pull off.
Gimme that heart.
Sonic Unleashed was, and still is, my favourite Sonic game, albeit I was about 12 when I played it and I played the Wii version of it, but the soundtrack was still fantastic. I never finished it which is sad but the parts I did play I still remember to this day with my favourite track being Rooftop Run Day
I, too, played on wii. But i did finish it. The final dark gaia fight was a pain in the ass with the motion controls
Sonic unleashed was a big part of my childhood great soundtrack, gameplay, and I honestly liked sega bringing back a combat system for the game but the one I would always throw my controller for was eggmanland
Funny story. Not only was this game the first Sonic game I played, but this was also the first video game I've ever played, and the one that got me into gaming in general. I was around 4 when this game first came out and my parents owned an Xbox 360 so they bought this game. I played it one day and it was the most insane shit to me. I've never seen anything this cool looking or amazing before. I've obviously gone back and played a lot of other Sonic games since then and my favorite Sonic game now is Adventure 2, but I'll always hold a soft spot for this game and I'm still seriously hoping it gets a PC port so I can finally relive this game in all of it's amazing glory in 4K 60fps.
Mini rant incoming:
The fact that I grew up playing games like this is what really pisses me off about Sonic's current direction. Games like Forces and Lost world just doesn't have the passion & care that games like Unleashed and Adventure 2 had which is why those games had mediocre gameplay and even worse storytelling. You can see this with the way that Sega just treats Sonic as a joke now. The official sonic twitter is a literal circus of memes. I want kids to grow up playing games as good as the ones we got, which is why I hate those games.
So glad to see Unleashed getting the appreciation it deserves. This, along with Sonic Colors, Generations, Episode 1 and 2, and the Adventure games are the best. The werehog gameplay is actually fun once you get used to the combos and it gets way too much hate, the story is just perfection from Sonic and Chip’s friendship to Eggman’s plan, to pretty much everything. Even as a child, during that ending scene, I actually cried, wanting Chip to come back.
Sonic Colors set the franchise backwards in terms of Storytelling, Characters, and somewhat on level design and Gameplay. And Sonic 4 didn't help in any regard. If they kept the Name Sonic the Portable and not rename it Sonic 4, then I feel that people would be somewhat a lot more forgiving on it.
The Werehog is pretty fun though.
@@lightgivemepower6425 God you really can't say anything positive about Colors in this Fandom anymore without some asshole going "well ACTUALLY" like Christ give it a rest
@@Soniman001 don't get me wrong,
the DS version of Colors is really good(better than the HD version in Some areas).
I love that they brought back playable Super Sonic.
The Music is really good.
I love how some wisps were utilized in finding red star rings.
I don't HATE sonic colors, I just don't like how Sonic Colors set the franchise going backwards in terms of storytelling and characters.
@@Soniman001 is it a crime to notice that colors level design is mediocre in the second playthrough
@@lightgivemepower6425 what hd the wii dont support hd
Despite how difficult some of the sun stages were especially when boosting, I LOVED this gameplay in Sonic. Sure i love the retro games but those were so difficult in navigating levels that the Adventure games and Unleashed were SUCH a breathe of fresh air and I never felt as fast as Sonic was always portrayed UNTIL Unleashe came around. Last time we saw Jasons Sonic too sadly enough :(
This game really does have one of the best stories in the history of the series as well as some of the best vocal performances and though I don’t like as much as other games this one definitely is quite amazing
This has got to be one of the most relatable RUclips videos I've ever watched. I just replayed Sonic Unleashed with my sister over holiday break.
Unleashed is easily the most underrated game in the franchise and one of my personal favorites
This channel is a fair sonic critique channel and I like it
This, black knight, and even 06 are my favorite , besides SA2B! Because these games have something special in them! Something current sonic games are missing nowadays! But watching this to the end. It reminded me of my long journey with it too! Great video and content! 💖
The time Sonic fought a demon monster from hell as a super sayian & werewolf with a Power Rangers Megazord on his side in a lava cave. The most epic Sonic storyline.
The Meta Era won't ever reach the level of epicness.
You never know- they fired the bad writers
Underrated comment
Remember 06? Yeah that time Sonic defeated a super dimensional angelic satan god with super powered chaos attacks. Also brought along his two buddies. 1990s and 2000s Sonic were the best eras ever. Fuck 2010s sonic, the era where Sonic turns from an actual character to a cartoon joke.
@@undeadbatman9762 06 is an underrated masterpiece.
@@modmaker7617 I would say it's underrated and overhated as well.
I think Sonic could be in a much better place these days if people showed this amount of love to games like Unleashed back when they were released, instead of pretty much just blindly hating it because it was Sonic.
You shouldn't blindly love things either. But I agree the Sonic 06 backlash meant this game never got a fair shake.
Imo it's flawed in a lot of places but calling it a bad game or half a good game isn't entirely accurate.
@@Superluigi881 Coupled with the Werehog that gave the critics an excuse to tear Unleashed to shreds, it's a wonder the game was ever able to make it out of the slander.
I've always loved this game. The sense of speed this game gave to Sonic has yet to be matched and I honestly enjoyed the werehog stages. I mean, they made Sonic a stretchy wrestler. How cool is that.
Sonic Unleashed is not only my favorite Sonic game ever, but one of my all time favorite games. The graphics, the gameplay and the soundtracks just sticks!
Also, for anyone who didn't buy the adventure pack DLC, I totally recommend it for anyone up for the challenge.
Its my 3rd and im so happy people are talking about how good it is
It’s my favourite game of all time
Graphics
@@requiem550 Mine too.
Can you still buy it on Xbox One or Series X?
J has made a review and got a sponsor, fuck yeah.
Was so worried you hated Unleashed after the E ranked music fron the last review, thank god, I love Sonic Unleashed, Rooftop Run day is the highest high of the entire series imo.
I have to play Unleashed HD fully, but the effort and charm it shows has always been clear to me. It's a game that oozes creativity, excitement, grandness, and passion that recent Sonic games have been lacking. I hope one day we get a game with a similar heart to Unleashed again.
Btw, looking forward to your review on the Wii version, because THAT's the game that truly started my journey into this franchise.
the tornado defense stage took me 5 months of trying every night as a kid. I was in literal tears when i finished it
Not gonna lie. Sonic unleashed was the last mainline Sonic game i loved and made me feel satisfied when i finished it. Its easily in my top 3 (Possibly 2nd) favorite Sonic games.
So lovely to hear that other people enjoy this game. This is my favorite Sonic, and I've been embarrassed about that for years 😂
25:29 I will never not think of spongebobs cleats when seeing the werehog now.
It's amazing how different the WiiS2 and PS360 versions of this game are from each other. I've always felt like the ideal Sonic Unleashed exists as an in-between of these 2 versions.
Take most of the stuff from the HD version: the hub towns, the level design and general gameplay, the additional content, it's almost perfect.
But now add in the Rank-based system for earning Moon Medals to the day stages, like the WiiS2 version has, and I think a lot of the pacing issues disappear. Maybe even give the Werehog the chance at additional Sun Medals based on combat grade, to incentivize people to invest in his leveling, and I think you've got the best way to smooth out the medal grind.
I have no problems exploring Werehog stages, and treating it a bit like a collect-a-thon. But like you said, no one wants to grind a daytime stage to a screeching halt to find medals.
Thank you!
It hurts when people trash talk Unleashed but I never really saw it ever since the game released.
It's such an amazing game that is flawed. Still, loved it back then and I love it today.
You can actually skip the air boost, I do it on replays of the game.
It makes one single medal impossible to get without doing the M-Speed glitch, but the rest of the game functions normally without it.
LETS GOOOO *Dababy voice*. Good vid J👍🏿👍🏿
You feel the PASSION by Sonic Team oozing out of every part of this game. A passion you don't feel anywhere in Forces. Maina should have shown Sonic Team that Sonic is still loved. The movie shows that there is a place for Sonic going forward.
It's been a long time since a new Sonic game has come out. I'm praying to see similar passion and innovation as Unleashed in Sonic's next game.
I'm pretty sure I can hear Bentley's voice in my head with that "The lair of the beast! The den of evil! The epicenter of ecological destruction!" line, but I can't remember which Sly game it was from... If I had to guess it would be Sly 2?
...unless I am completely wrong and that wasn't a Sly reference...
I just started your video, so maybe you said this later, but, for me, the drifting in Sonic Unleashed PS3 was highly criticizable since I had a blast with the drifting mechanic in the PS2 version.
Honestly, I feel that we would get a masterpiece of gaming if they manage to mix the best aspects of both versions of the game into a remake.