Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Unleashed, released as Sonic World Adventure (Japanese: ソニックワールドアドベンチャー, Hepburn: Sonikku Wārudo Adobenchā) in Japan,^[9] is a 2008 video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sonic Team^[1] and published by Sega for multiple platforms in 2008. The game follows Sonic the Hedgehog as he attempts to restore the world to normal after his nemesis, Doctor Eggman. The game also focuses on Sonic's 'werehog' form, which he gains during the beginning after coming into contact with the energy of Dark Gaia. Gameplay features two distinct styles, with each being played either during daytime or night-time. Daytime stages incorporate Sonic's traditional platforming and trademark speed, with a combination of behind-the-back third-person viewpoints and 2D side-scroller platforming; gameplay seamlessly transitions between these two views.^[10] Night-time levels see Sonic transform into the Werehog; gameplay slows down to accommodate greater platform play, and involves combat against waves of enemies using the Werehog's brute strength.

The game's existence was first brought to light when Sega trademarked the Unleashed name, and shortly after, images and a gameplay video were leaked to the public in March 2008. Public anticipation for the game was high, owing to the video's demonstration of some two-dimensional gameplay, seen as a possible return to Sonic's platforming roots. However, critical reception for the game was mixed, with reviewers praising certain elements, such as the sense of speed in daylight stages and the graphics and audio that make up the environments, and criticizing others, such as the new Werehog game mechanic, as well as several gameplay and design concepts. Many reviewers felt that Unleashed was ultimately not the title that would be able to reinvigorate the series.^{[11][12][13][14]} Sonic Unleashed was de-listed in 2010, following Sega's decision to remove all Sonic titles with average or lower Metacritic scores from sale in stores.^[15] Despite this, the game was released on the PlayStation Network in April 2014.

Gameplay

Third-person gameplay in daytime levels (Apotos, Xbox 360/PS3 version).

Sonic Unleashed is a platform game in which the player controls the titular Sonic the Hedgehog in two modes: fast-paced levels that take place during daytime, showcasing Sonic's trademark speed as seen in previous games in the series, and slower, night-time levels, during which Sonic transforms into the Werehog, and gameplay switches to an action-based, brawler style of play, in which Sonic battles Gaia enemies (those created by the main enemy in the game, Dark Gaia).^[16][17] Each level takes place on a particular continent, each of which is based on a real-world location (i.e., Greece-based Apotos, Italy-based Spagonia, Africa-based Mazuri, New York-based Empire City,^{[lower-alpha 1]} China-based Chun-nan, Antarctica-based Holoska, Middle East-based Shamar, and Southeast Asia-based Adabat.^[9] In sections of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, the player may choose to advance the time of day in order to play as either Sonic or the Werehog; in the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions, time is advanced automatically.^[18]

Daytime levels focus on Sonic's speed, and to this extent, sees the player control Sonic through fast-moving stages containing both 2D and 3D styles of gameplay.^[19] 2D sections are reminiscent of the Mega Drive/Genesis-era Sonic games, where the player controls Sonic in a side-scrolling fashion,^[20] while 3D sections see the camera placed behind Sonic, so the player may move in all directions. In addition to moves available in past games, such as the homing attack,^[21] new moves are also introduced. For instance, a new sidestep feature known as the Quick Step is available, allowing Sonic to dodge left and right, and a Drift feature, which allows Sonic to make tighter turns without slowing down.^[21] The game also features a gameplay mechanic previously used in the Sonic Rush series called the Sonic Boost, which greatly increases Sonic's speed, allowing him to smash through objects, destroy enemies instantly, or even access different level paths.^[22] In the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, an on-screen "Ring Energy" meter displays how much boost is available.^[22] The amount of boost remaining may be increased by collecting more rings, and is decreased by using the Boost.^[22] In contrast, the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the game represent available Boost using bars, which may be added by performing "Action Chains", destroying multiple enemies in quick succession through the use of homing attacks, or by collecting rings. Japanese game company Dimps helped design some of the stages.^[23][24]

Nighttime levels feature slower-paced, action-oriented levels, in which Sonic transforms into the Werehog, a beast form that has great strength and stretchable arms.^[13] Gameplay here sees the player use a variety of melee and combo attacks to defeat large numbers of enemies, collect items, and move items around to advance through the level, and use his stretchable arms to cling to distant objects;^[13] simple puzzle elements are also featured.^[25] Collecting rings in these levels replenishes the Werehog's health,^[20] while a special move, Unleashed Mode, allows the Werehog to channel his energy into increasing the power of his attacks for a short time.^[26] Nighttime levels are adjusted in the Wii version to allow greater use of the Wii Remote, such that players may control the arms of the Werehog by using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in order to grab onto objects and proceed in the levels.^[18] The Wii version of the game also expands upon the ratio of nighttime levels to daytime, with more than three times as many nighttime levels (twenty-five in all).^[27] After nighttime levels are completed, Dark Gaia Points are gained, allowing access to bonus moves.

In addition to these two gameplay types, Sonic Unleashed also features hubworlds, in which the player may reveal, as well as advance, the story of the game.^[13] Hubworlds operate differently depending on the version of the game being played; the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions feature fully interactive, explorable 3D hubworlds, similar to those in Sonic 2006 and Sonic Adventure, in which townspeople may be interacted with and side quests may be undertaken, in order to gain experience or unlock items, such as artwork, videos and music tracks.^[13][20] In contrast, the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions feature menu-based map systems, in which players simply click on areas to talk to townspeople and find information.^[18] Within both day and nighttime levels are medals that Sonic may collect, two types of which exist: Sun and Moon.^[22] In the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, collecting these medals allows the player to level up Sonic's Sun and Moon stats, and these must be increased to reach new stages in the game, with a certain number of Sun medals for Hedgehog levels, and a certain number of Moon medals for Werehog levels.^[22] Because only the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions feature playable hubworlds, these are also the only versions in which Sun and Moon medals may be found by exploring the towns, talking to the citizens, and completing side quests.^[22] In the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions, Sun and Moon medals are earned after completing stages and clearing their objectives. The medals are used to open up doors in Gaia gates, which can earn bonus content.

Plot

In a cold open, Sonic is pursuing his nemesis, Doctor Eggman, bounding around a fleet of spaceships. After the defeat of several of his robots, Sonic transforms into Super Sonic.^[28] After a brief chase through the airships, Sonic corners Eggman. However, Eggman manages to trap him using a powerful new ray weapon which drains the power of the Chaos Emeralds,^[9] causing them to turn grey and useless. He then uses the Emeralds' energy to fire an enormous laser and unleash a powerful beast, Dark Gaia,^[29] from the center of the planet, which has devastating consequences, shattering the planet into seven pieces.^[28][29] In addition, the ray and drained Chaos Emeralds have the unforeseen side-effect of transforming Sonic into a "Werehog" — a beast form with greater strength and abilities — at night.^[10][30] Eggman then ejects Sonic into space, who then lands safely onto the planet below.

After landing along with the Emeralds, Sonic encounters a friendly creature who appears to suffer amnesia.^[31] Assuming he has caused it with his fall,^[31] Sonic decides to assist him in his quest to find out who he is, and the monster becomes a guide for the player;^[28] Sonic soon gives him the nickname Chip.^[32] Sonic's quest begins, and with the help of some old friends, such as Amy and Tails,^[27] he attempts to solve the crisis by traveling the world's continents, finding shrines that will fix the Emeralds, in order to return the world, and himself, to normal.^[9]

After six of the seven continents are returned to normal, Chip is able to regain his memory; he is in fact Dark Gaia's opposite, Light Gaia.^[33] Since the beginning of time, the two of them had been in a cycle where Dark Gaia would break the planet apart, and Light Gaia would put it back together.^[34] Chip was released along with Dark Gaia, but because both of them were released prematurely, he lost his memory, and Dark Gaia was broken apart.^[35] They are able to place the last Chaos Emerald in the shrine on the final continent at Eggman's new empire, "Eggmanland", but are interrupted by him;^[36] Sonic then defeats Eggman who is using a robot that utilizes Dark Gaia's power. During the battle, the three sink into the core of the Earth and encounter Dark Gaia. Eggman orders Dark Gaia to destroy Sonic, but it turns on him, knocking him away with one of its tentacles, and absorbs the power that turned Sonic into a Werehog, curing Sonic of lycanthropy,^[37] and uses that power to become Semi-Perfect Dark Gaia.

Dark Gaia then attacks Sonic and Chip, but Chip protects Sonic and calls all of the Gaia temples together to form the Gaia Colossus and fight Dark Gaia.^[38] The Gaia Colussus seemingly destroys Dark Gaia, but Dark Gaia is not finished with them or the Earth yet, and consumes the entire world in darkness, becoming Perfect Dark Gaia in the process. Chip then gives the restored Chaos Emeralds to Sonic, allowing him to turn into Super Sonic and destroy it; Dark Gaia then sinks back into the planet, but the battle takes its toll on Super Sonic. Chip saves Sonic by throwing him to the surface, before returning himself to the inside of the planet; he leaves behind his necklace and some parting words. Sonic places the necklace on his hand as a bracelet to remind him of their adventure together before speeding off with Tails, flying alongside him on the coastline in the Tornado plane.^[39]

Development

Sonic Team began development of the game in 2006, after having begun work on the core technology, the Hedgehog Engine, in 2005.^[40] The title was first brought to public attention when the Sonic Unleashed name was trademarked by Sega on March 12, 2008.^[41] Screenshots of cut scenes, artwork, and a video were leaked ten days later,^[41] with the title then officially confirmed by Sega on April 3, 2008^[2] with a small selection of screenshots and an updated video. The game was developed internally by Sonic Team in Japan.^[1] It was originally intended to be the third installment of the Sonic Adventure series^[42] and subsequently, at an early development stage, had the working title Sonic World Adventure, complete with work-in-progress logo. However, the development team began to introduce enough new innovations to separate it from the Sonic Adventure titles,^[43] and so a new title, Sonic Unleashed, was decided upon.^[44] It was then later revealed that the game's name in Japan would in fact remain Sonic World Adventure for its release there.^[9]

Sonic Team decided early on in the development process to reduce the number of characters present in the game, as well as to make Sonic the only playable character; this decision was taken to get more quality out of fewer characters.^[45] While it felt that these ideas combined with traditional Sonic gameplay was a good beginning, it also had to consider how to introduce newer gamers unfamiliar with the Sonic franchise to the series, and so the concept of the Werehog was born, in addition to exploring its own mythology and ideas for the story.^[45] Director Yoshihisa Hashimoto felt from the outset that there would be both praise and criticism, but hoped that long-term Sonic fans would understand and empathise with the ideas and direction the team had taken.^[45]

In terms of technology, Hashimoto remarked that the visual style was born out of desire to see a global illumination solution used for the game's lighting — that is, light reflecting from one object in the scene onto others.^[45] To this extent, development on the renderer for this process began, and the final solution allowed the developers to use distributed rendering over hundreds of computers to calculate lighting for each ten- to twenty-kilometer action stage in around two or three days.^[45] Characters, enemies and objects are then lit at run-time with Sonic Team's "Light Field" technology to blend them in with the surrounding pre-calculated lighting.^[45] Because the game was being developed for two levels of hardware capability depending on the target platform, two development "silos" were set up to work on two separate builds of the game: one for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version utilizing the Hedgehog Engine, and one for the PlayStation 2 and Wii version, which instead utilizes a modified version of an existing, internal Sega engine.^[46] Hashimoto, who had never directed a Sonic game before,^[43] incorporated new features such as a "Quick Step" mechanic allowing players to dodge obstacles with the L and R triggers.^[47] Hashimoto sought to combine the best qualities of 2D and 3D Sonic gameplay^[43] and address the criticisms directed at previous 3D entries in the franchise.^[47] Additional code to dynamically adjust the speed of the game for different situations was used to properly balance its fast pace with traditional platforming elements.^[47]

As well as the unique motion-based gameplay mechanics, the Wii version of the game also supports the GameCube controller, and also the option of using the Classic Controller.^[28] The daytime levels for the Wii were altered to accommodate the motion control-based drift mechanic,^[48] while night-time levels include a mostly behind-the-back view and different platforming styles and combat mechanics.^[18] Developer Dimps, who had past involvement in the Sonic franchise, was involved in the design of the daytime areas for these versions.^[24] In addition, overall, the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions have fewer daytime levels than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts.^[13]

Initially, it was stated that Unleashed was to be intended solely as a single-player experience, and would not offer any multiplayer or online modes. This was cast into doubt when references to online modes were alluded to around E3 2008,^[49] but later interviews re-iterated that Unleashed would have no online modes at all.^[29] However, downloadable content, including additional levels, would remain a possibility after the game's release.^[29] A demo version was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on December 8, 2008^[50] and on the US and EU PlayStation Stores on December 18 and 24, 2008, respectively. The demo does not contain any of the Werehog stages.^[50] On March 12, 2009 Sega released Sonic Unleashed's first downloadable content for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, consisting of four Chun-nan daytime stages and two night stages in addition to two new missions. Since then, more downloadable levels have been added: Spagonia, Holoska, Mazuri, Apotos, Shamar, Empire city and Adabat.^[51]

Speaking after the game's release, Sonic Team member and Sonic and the Black Knight director Tetsu Katano remarked that although he did not feel the Werehog concept was a mistake, time and resources were a limiting factor in the game's production. He also remarked that the Werehog may reappear in future games, or possibly in a sequel to Sonic Unleashed, should one be made.^[52]

Game developer Gameloft announced in May 2009 that it had secured a licensing agreement with Sega Europe Ltd. to produce mobile phone versions of Sega properties, and that its first title would be a version of Sonic Unleashed for mobile phone platforms. It was released in June 2009 in Europe, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.^[3]

Reception

Initial anticipation when the first media for Unleashed was revealed was high, as the demonstration videos hinted at a possible return of Sonic to his traditional platforming roots, especially because of the series' declining quality in recent years,^[14] and a number of poorly received titles in the franchise that preceded it, such as the 2006 game, Sonic the Hedgehog.^[14]

Critical reception to Unleashed was mixed, with Metacritic aggregate scores of 60 and 54 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions respectively, and 66 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions.^{[53][54][55][56]} The added element of motion controls for the Werehog sections, as well as text-based hub worlds and better Werehog level design and camera system, were reasons cited for the higher review scores for the Wii version of the game,^[18][58] though a few review websites, such as 1UP, gave the Wii version a lower score than its Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts.^[11][57] Nevertheless, the game was a commercial success and sold 2.45 million units combined making it Sega's third best selling game during their last fiscal year period of 2008.^[65]

Positive elements of Sonic Unleashed remarked upon by reviews include the environments, such as the "postcard-perfect architecture",^[11] and the graphics, with stages looking "absolutely gorgeous"^[11] and being "very pretty and lovingly animated",^[20] with one reviewer comparing them to a playable Pixar film.^[26] Praise was given to the technical competence of Sega's new Hedgehog Engine as a whole on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, with "bright cartoonish graphics that fly by without a stutter";^[58] however, some complaints were raised about frame rate reduction when large numbers of enemies appeared during the Werehog sections.^[66] Although the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions do not use the Hedgehog Engine, graphics for these platforms were still praised for their high quality,^[19] with the title being nominated for Best Graphics Technology for the Wii by IGN in its 2008 video game awards.^[67] The soundtrack to the game was also praised as being an improvement on more recent installments in the series;^[19] use of an orchestral score, rather than rock as in more recent games, was appreciated.^[20]

An overwhelmingly negative reaction was given by critics to the Werehog concept and corresponding night-time sections, which contributed greatly to the lower than expected review scores. Some reviewers compared the Werehog sections to God of War. Complaints stemmed from the game's change of speed, from high-speed daytime sections to the slower, night-time sections; the "pace-breaking combat levels"^[26] were described as "plodding",^[58] as well as "lethargic" and "combat-heavy".^[11] Further to the change of pace, the new style of gameplay that accompanies the night-time levels was widely criticized, involving "frustrating" platform elements^[58] and combat described as not "terribly interesting"^[68] and "boring",^[58] with "awkward" action sequences overall.^[25] Some reviewers felt that the Werehog as a concept did not mix well with the daylight areas and traditional Sonic gameplay; GamePro's review described them as "dreadfully out-of-place",^[25] while IGN stated that they have "nothing to do with Sonic whatsoever", feeling that the Werehog was "being slapped on" to the Sonic experience.^[64]

In stark contrast to the Werehog sections, many reviewers found the daytime levels to be enjoyable, especially the "exhilarating"^[11] sense of speed they provide; with "the most satisfying gameplay of any Sonic title in years",^[25] the game "perfectly [captures] the feel of classic Sonic".^[25] Many also enjoyed the mixture of, and transition between, 2D and 3D sections.^[26] Indeed, many reviewers remarked that they would have appreciated the game more had it consisted solely of, and expanded upon, the daytime levels.^[11][58][66] GameSpot's review for the Xbox 360 version, however, argued that the controls were "unresponsive" in the daytime levels, and that most of them were "horribly designed",^[61] instead describing the Wii version as a "vastly superior experience", with its daytime levels praised for better control and design.^[60]

Aside from the criticism of Werehog levels, further aspects of the game were criticised, contributing to the mixed review scores. The quests that players must undertake in hub-towns were described as "inane"^[11] and "tedious",^[58] where "figuring out what happens next involves aimlessly wandering through towns and speaking to citizens, only to discover that most of them don't know what we're looking for".^[66] The story and overall tone of the game, including the new character Chip, were criticised,^[66] some remarking that it was too juvenile,^[20] or comparable to that of a Saturday morning cartoon.^[11]

Legacy

The game's original soundtrack, entitled Planetary Pieces: Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack, was released as a three-disc set in Japan on January 28, 2009.^[69] The main theme music for the game is entitled "Endless Possibility", and features Jaret Reddick of the American rock band Bowling for Soup.^[70] The ending theme music for the game is a slow tempo ballad entitled "Dear My Friend", and features singer Brent Cash.

Archie Comics has made an adaptation of Sonic Unleashed featuring the opening cutscene and Sonic's transformation into the Werehog.^[71] A short 3D animated film was released on November 21, 2008, entitled Sonic: Night of the Werehog, which tells the story of two male ghosts who live in a haunted house taking pictures of scared children in order to woo a female ghost, and their frustration with an unafraid Sonic who enters the house with a very afraid Chip. But soon, it's the ghosts who are afraid when Sonic looks at the full moon and transforms.^[72] The film was produced by Sega VE Animation Studio.^[72]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website(Japanese)
• Official website(English)
• Sonic Unleashed at the Internet Movie Database
• Sonic: Night of the Werehog at the Internet Movie Database