Sonic Unleashed: Will it help save Sonic or not?

[Fightbulb]

As a retro Sonic fan I can honestly say that Unleashed is the most promising 3D Sonic game I've ever seen. The Sonic parts look awesome and really fitting of the way Sonic games used to work, and if the entire game consisted of nothing but real, no-bullshit, straight-up Sonic levels, I would be totally psyched about this game.

But what the fuck, Team Sonic. Seriously, I can't think of a single Sonic review from the past 8 years that didn't mention the fact that said Sonic game would be a lot better if it consisted of nothing but levels where you play as fucking Sonic. If I buy a Sonic game for some mysterious reason, I don't want to shoot robots. I don't want to search for chunks of emerald. I don't want to have a gun, or a fucking sword. And I don't want to play slow, arbitrary platforming levels with a character so ill-concieved it makes the designer seem like he was trying to get fired on purpose. I just want to hold my joystick to the right and press "a" occasionally. It really is that simple.

In retrospect this post has a slightly whiney ring to it, but honestly, I'd just love to play a "real" Sonic game.

 

[Mr_Czar]

To quote Gabe from PA : "They make snuff films. Every game they release anymore involves their legendary properties being fucked and murdered. Is that good? Does it need to be quicker? "Sega makes murder porn." "

As much as we deride Nintendo for not changing their core franchises lets look at what happens when Sega DO change their core franchises..well..franchise. Abominations. Thankfully they're not adding more pointless characters to Sonic anymore but they are still intent on fucking it up.

Dev 1: It's done ! Sonic UNLEASHED!
Dev 2: I dunno...he's pretty fast, but is that really..unleashed? Maybe we need to throw in some unneeded crappy combat section.
Dev 1: What? Did you not listen to the fans? This is perfect.
Dev 2: OH OH!! What if Sonic turns into a Werewolf?
Dev 1: What the hell? Are you high? How would that even work? He's a hedgehog.
Dev 2: A wereHOG then!
Dev 1: ...Shouldn't that be hedgewolf?
Dev 2: Whatever man, this is the icing on the cake.

The best Sonic game of the best few years was on the DS and that is because it kept to the formula that people liked.

 

[Not Good]

First off: I'm not gonna buy the game, as I am too poor to afford anything above my own lunch at the moment

Second: As long as none of the other crap-characters that have been spewed forth into this series show up, and if ware sonic doesn't fail (but it's failure appears highly likely) then perhaps Sonic might still have a chance.

On a side note, has anyone read the fanboy article that was published here last week?

 

[blood77]

I hope that it would be great, but I feel that sonic, sadly, died long ago and there may not be much anyone can do to resurrect him.

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

im sure if it sucks, they will try again...and again... and again

 

[Sasha Janre]

I 'hope' the game has at least worked on making Sonic CONTROLLABLE. If he's fast, cool, that's awesome! But the PS3/XBOX360 sonic had a lot of issues but mostly the fact it was just plain ridiculous to try and get Sonic under control, he moved TOO Fast, I suppose. I haven't played a Sonic game until Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for the DS, and I just finished it.

They kept the cast small (well 10 characters to choose from for a 4 person team, but still, pretty small as compared to others) and kept true to the characters' personalities. Sonic was confident and snarky, Knuckles was pissy and Shadow was emo. (Admittedly, this is my only experience with Shadow, I didn't get far enough (see: anywhere) in the PS3 Sonic game to play as him, but whatever).

As for the old games ... they were fun, and said a lot without saying anything. That being said, though, I've never finished Sonic 1. Marble Zone Act 3 was as far as I ever got. I think once I got to Spring Yard Zone. Sonic 2 was easier and I managed to beat it, but I never managed to get past Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles .. they'll always be a fond memory, though. I try to keep an open mind about the games, and I do hope Sonic Unleashe doesn't disappoint. but first, LBP and Mirror's Edge

 

[Bob_F_It]

It appears to me that this game was more angled towards the fanboys, what with the regular levels going to 2D and fuck-fast speeds; isn't that what they've bitched for for the greater part of a decade? Filling a niche market is alright, but this is a mascot here, the guy who's meant to flag some appeal to everyone, which is where the werehog levels enter.
Will it save the franchise? I think the result will be the same as all the other "disappointments". There'll be bitching, defending, and there will follow another game funded by fanboys regardless of the performance of this game.

I'm personally not going to buy it; I'd rather play Wipeout if I were to opt for going at high speed along a linear path.

 

[dukethepcdr]

Sonic doesn't need any new gimmicks to make a game about him. I wish they would make new 2-D Sonic games with the classic gameplay of the first Sonic game only with new levels and bosses. That's all he needs, just some new levels to zip through. Sonic was just fine the way he was back in the Sega Genesis days.

 

[lenneth]

Sonic is like a Nascar race. Fast, repetitive, and likely to make a lot of money with people gullible enough to pay. At this point, I am waiting for him to hit the wall and catch fire.

Pretty sure he crashed and burnt in '06 with the PS3/360 Sonic game

but back on topic, if they keep the werewolf thing to a minimum (80% regular sonic at LEAST maybe 70 if the combat is actually fun) odds are its gonna play as slowly as the Tails/Eggman sections of SA2

 

[GloatingSwine]

They kept the cast small (well 10 characters to choose from for a 4 person team, but still, pretty small as compared to others) and kept true to the characters' personalities. Sonic was confident and snarky, Knuckles was pissy and Shadow was emo. (Admittedly, this is my only experience with Shadow, I didn't get far enough (see: anywhere) in the PS3 Sonic game to play as him, but whatever).

Sonic Chronicles managed to undo about the last six years of constant character assassination that Sonic Team have been putting their characters through.

Anyway, Sonic Unleashed won't save the franchise unless it has interesting levels with technical platforming and lots to explore. Which is what the old Sonic games were. Note for the thickies: Sonic was never actually all that fast, it was all about the tricky jumps and hazardous geography combined with rewards for exploring (Super Sonic on stage 1? can be done, if you really know the levels) in the first games.