I'm the other half, the only game I actively hate in the series is Sonic Skating Simulato-I mean Sonic Heroes. It isn't a "bad" game, but it's incredibly boring which is much worse imo. (Imagine the whole game is just the first quarter of the game 4 times over, to unlock a seizure simulator at the end.) It was a cool concept with poor execution. I love the rest of them. (I did count the GOAT Sonic's Schoolhouse, thanks for asking)
This is something you need to be convinced of? Considering the wide array of different gameplay styles, it was *certain* that this was going to happen. Inevitable even. This franchise is like 30 years old. That means the Sonic games you played as a Kid are so far removed from the current games that kids are playing now. If you were born on the same day as Sonic The Hedgehog (1991), you could have gone to college and had kids. This game now spans 2 generations.
Unleashed is the GOAT of Sonic games. It just...man, does so much right. The gameplay, the presentation, the story, the MUSIC. It's so good, dude. SEGA seriously needs look back at Unleashed and replicate it for future games. Just imagine what a modern Unleashed style Sonic game could be.
@@WadeWalker22 I do play unleashed from time to time on my Xbox one . The last time I played was before my graduation day in high school and it was the final battle with dark Gaia.
I remember playing it back in 09-11 and I always thought that for the high definition and amazing graphics that Sonic was real. The locales being based off real life didn't help. This game solidifies itself as the best game I've EVER played. Bar none.
Sonic Unleashed was so well animated. Not just the cgi but the in game cutscenes and gameplay too. Like you said all is very expressive. Somehow the cutscene quality started to dip for later games, especially in Sonic Forces.
SEGA clearly doesn't care, that's why the rumor of Frontiers being Sonic Team's last chance was and still is so strong and allegedly confirmed by SEGA employees, but Sonic Team genuinely cares, they try to compensate for the lack of budget, time, team, resources and experience they have compared at what they had with Unleashed, Unleashed had brilliant minds at their disposal, people who loved and understood Sonic from years, help from external technology and graphic teams to make the Hedgehog Engine the demon of an engine it is even today and so much much more Is such a shame we can't get this sort of things today and the main team needs to prove the company they can still keep going when most lay offs come from SEGA's questionable management, poor decision making and sometimes anti-consumer strategies Btw the strechy nature of Werehog is due the influence of Dark Gaia, Nightmares do the same but they barely use attacks that stretch their bodies reason why almost no one knows about it
Can I hear reasoning for why SEGA is the one who doesn't care, and it's not just Sonic Team being consistently incompetent? Other SEGA franchises are doing well.
@@magical_pixie_horse7346 Why don't other franchises have this problem then? I'm not sure I'm convinced it's all about deadlines. I mean, Frontiers was in development for 5 years, from what I've heard. Given the trash that came out of that half a decade of work, you can't tell me it was an unreasonable deadline issue.
Honestly. I think it could be true that SEGA doesn't care, but not in the way you think. They don't care to fire everyone in Sonic Team, perhaps because they are friends with many of the top people there and enough money keeps coming.
I’ve always said Id rather see an animated movie like the intro cut Scene to Unleashed than a live action movie. That cut scene is so beautiful, I remember getting goosebumps watching it as a kid
One of the things that really grips me about the older 3d Sonic games is how seriously they took themselves. Games like Colors, Generations, the Boom series, etc. do this weird ironic thing where the games almost make fun of how ridiculous they are. Meanwhile the older games like SA2 and Shadow do have absolutely bonkers plots. But because they're so earnest in telling those stories I can't help but appreciate them.
Being “serious” is not automatically a better thing, being silly and noddy isn’t bad, it doesn’t make the games any less “earnest” or “sincere.” Games don’t have to always take themselves super seriously, you do remember Sonic’s origins don’t you? It’s a series about a speedy, blue hedgehog than runs really fasts and stops an overweight evil scientist, from taking over the world and imprisoning animals in robots.
@@lenarmangum8630 Everything I said in that comment was my opinion. You are welcome to like the campy, nothing narratives of the 2010s games if that's what you like. My point however is that a series that is ashamed of what it is will never be as entertaining TO ME as a series that is bold and confident about what it is. After Sonic 06, SEGA lost confidence in Sonic and started pandering to nostalgia. I don't like that. I like when the games took themselves seriously, felt confident in telling their narratives, and didn't have to shoehorn in Green Hill Zone and metatextual jokes into every cutscene of Sonic and Eggman just talking to each other. Just personal preference, like what you want to like, I could not care less.
Even the 2D games did that 3 and Knuckles especially. When I first played it in origins I was surprised by how epic amd action packed the story was in a speedy acion platformer with no dialogue. God that final fight against eggman was so anime I love it.
@@strideytidey8665 "a series that is ashamed of what it is will never be as entertaining TO ME" That wording is so incredibly full of bias. You see self-aware and light-heartedness as something only caused by being ashamed of oneself, and I think that's really telling. Besides that, saying things like "shoehorning" in Green Hill and metatext is not how you express an opinion. That is an objective critique disguised as an opinion and it's frustrating that you can't tell the difference. If you wanted to be subjective like you claim to, you would describe things as they are rather than being loaded with implicit criticism. The sad part is that I actually agree with you, that the games that take themselves more seriously are generally more well-made story-wise. But you lost me with that overly defensive and spineless rebuttal.
Colors does not make fun of itself ,stop making up bullcrap ,just for you can push this dumb idea of this generation is better than this generation bullcrap
Us Sonic fans who started with Unleashed really share the exact same perspective of this amazing franchise, i felt every single word of this video as if it were mine too. This video felt like a nostalgic trip back to my childhood with a friend who was always there, thank you.
SEGA doesn't care about sonic, but i see sonic team genuinely does, and it can be seen trough games like frontiers or superstars, i can write the reasons i think my point stands, but i'm too lazy to do that lol Edit: Wow this really did the numbers lmao, i got a whole comment section of my own
@@thedredayshow9246 me too, like i atleast hope one day these guys separate from sega and begin an indie studio, because they are clearly talented, they just aren't let work in peace
@@squarethinkingdudeif they do tho then what will happen to sonic franchise? The team obviously wants sonic games to be made amazingly but they cant if they leave, also recently i heard that after frontiers succes sega is giving sonic team a bigger budget and resources as well as more people being hired, so their starting to care again
@@SonicTheBlueBlur15 While i still think sega doesnt care for sonic (see sonic superstars wich is missing levels because arzest didn't ave time to finish), i think there are 2 good outcomes, they begin an indie studio and make a sonic-like to compete against sega, or they actually get the resources and launch sonic to succes, but i still think we will have good not amazing products for a while
@@thedredayshow9246I don't. They can have all the good will and love in the world; doesn't change the fact they're painfully _mid_ developers. If anything it makes them look worse than if they just didn't care, cause this means this is really all the best they can do.
The last big budget sonic game ever made that introducing the hedgehog engine also using until this day and the first 3d boost game and also the first game that makes IGN embarrassing themselves
This video is my thoughts exactly.. Just last night I was thinking how unfulfilling the franchise has been for the last 12ish years and how I always seem to fall back to peak.. (unleashed is my goat always and forever)
Thank you bro for showing Sonic Unleashed the love and praise it deserves, I just wish SEGA could watch this video and see what an impact this game had on me and a lot of other people, really hope it gets a remaster for latest gen consoles and pc.
I have not yet seen this video as of writing this, but I would say that The main thing with Sonic is managing expectations. Frontiers was solid, nothing ground breaking, but solid. Sonic Unleashed is still the best Modern Sonic one to this day in my opinion.
@@PlayPodOGIf it's because of the werehog then let me tell you that Unleashed and SA1(or even 06)weren't the first to make Sonic slow, the classic games didn't feel that fast either, only when you got the "Speed Shoes" powerup, this is *ESPECIALLY* true when you get to levels like Marble Zone where it's platforming central
Nah that outro had me in tears. Unleashed will always be my favorite game and i agree 100% with everything you said. I KNOW they can make a killer game again, and i cant wait for that day.
Okay can we just take a second to appreciate how awesome the editing is in this video? So many REALLY satisfying moments where the gameplay and music syncs up, it shows how long you spent tinkering with it to get it just right. Good stuff, really!
This video encapsulated exactly how I think this game is. Out of all the sonic games that I continue to come back to, it’s always this one. Because almost EVERYTHING about it screams: “We do care”. Remember, this was the game after 06, so obviously they had to pull all the stops to ensure to fans that they CAN make something amazing, and this game just absolutely SELLS it. An amazing game (while not perfect) that stands the test of time
As 3D platformer fan the werehog was my favorite part of Unleashed. Its because of it I got into Sonics core gameplay too. I probably would like day stages over night if the performance was half decent in the day stages (PS3 version). This game really needs an official or unofficial PC port. Emulating them still just has the same performance issues as the original hardware.
There's a mod for Sonic Generations on PC that replaces the normal stages with the day stages of Unleashed. Honestly it plays better than the original most of the time. Not having homing attack mapped to the boost button is a big improvement.
Any sonic game that has you 'on rails' is shit imo. I was spoiled by SA2B. The annoying 'you are intended to move forward' style locked camera drives me insane. I feel like I'm watching a movie with QuickTime events more than playing a game.
@@kiwirooks7299 Probably the only reason I prefer the "on rails" style is because all the 3D Sonics that aren't on rails tend to break constantly and have awful camera angles. Even the free cam parts in the on rails games suddenly feel 150% more broken.
@@flubnub266 that's fair, it's preference. The locked in camera makes me feel like the game is so handholding to the point I feel like I'm just watching a movie. Sonic and the black night on Wii is a perfect example.
I’m playing through this game on and off and, no matter if I’m loving this game or raging at it, I’ll forever be grateful for this game’s theme song for indirectly introducing me to Bowling For Soup
i was born in 2009, so one year after the release of this BEAUTIFUL game. I have an older brother who has a xbox 360 so i used to "play" this game, but, as I was too young, I couldn't understand much. I also have another brother, who has had a PS2, and when he didn't use it anymore, he gave me the console and one of the first things my parents got me was sonic unleshead, for the wii/ps2 version. At first, I was disappointed, because that "wasn't the game I remembered". But after I started to play that I EFFING LOVED THAT THING, but after finishing it and playing some more levels, I stopped playing it. After my brother translocated to Milan, I asked him if I could have the console and he said yes. This was two years ago, so I was 13. I remember enjoying ANYTHING about that game. I played two times the storyline and did all the secondary levels, I managed to maximise the stats of the Werehog and DAMN that was hard, but it didn't feel like it, because I was REALLY happy to play that game. About the medals, I didn't even know what they did, then the game blocked me to enter adabat levels so... I guess I understood what they were used for. I also cried for the final cutscene and the death of chip. Then, A year after that, my brother asked for the xbox back, so I gave it to him, and about the ps2, at the time, I didn't care much about my games so I lost that game and Rachet and Clank 3, another videogame i loved. But, to this day, I still think about sonic unleashed, as my childhood, and I couldn't ask for a better one
I was born in that time frame too and my brother had a Wii u and a ps3 and stuff and I got unleashed for that ps3 a few days ago but I remember on the new PS4 playing sonic unleashed on psn and loving it I literally restarted the game so I could play the day stages cuz i didn’t like the night stages but now I do
I still remember the first time I booted up this game on my old PS3, first time Ive ever played a Sonic game. Hell of an introduction, has been on my mind ever since.
that outro with the voice clips and scenes from the game with endless possibility playing gave me goosebumps. sometimes i want to cry from how much i love this game and look back to playing it on the wii so fondly. i really wish we could get a remaster
@@therealmrarchive Ambition, Passion and Polish. the 3 main points that the entire industry is missing these days. everybody is too scared to actually stick to their guns. and thus their mediocre products get a lot of hate for good reason. Which ends up scaring the companies even MORE and it turns them away from opting for safer routes and getting rid of the very elements their products NEED.
@@KnucklestheEcidna how are they any less scared to stick to their guns now than back then? They revized the whole movement system sonic had had for 15 years in Unleasehed, and people hated it. Now one of their main points of criticism from fans is that they rely too heavily on nostalgia, and you try to say that they are afraid to stick to their guns???? They are sticking too much to them bro. Pick one. You can't use both criticisms, they are literally opposites.
great video, nice writing. I usually don't comment but you really managed to make it interesting and entertaining. And thanks for covering the banger that is the Wii version
Lol it was a last ditch effort to save the franchise but there was no concrete intent for it to be the “final game” ever in the game’s development, and no sonic game has been either
@michaelbullen3104 I swear like 3 months ago I heard smth about unleashed being the last sonic game if It failed that's why they went all out on this game
Sonic unleashed is a great game it was my second sonic game its my second favorite 06 was my first and favorite and its been like that for 10 years and nothing changed so im glad
While Unleashed wasn’t my first Sonic game, that being Adventure DX, Unleashed instantly became my favorite game in the franchise after my first playthrough. There just hasn’t been another Sonic game thats given me the same feel or thrill I still feel whenever I go back to it; especially if we’re talking about the day stages. Frontiers was a good attempt at course correction, but I feel SEGA needs to put more passion into their next title if we’re ever gonna get anything close to if not better than what they managed to cook up with Unleashed.
Another nitpick I would give to the night stages is the combat ost, it gets repetitive FAST, it would’ve been better if each zone had 1 or 2 unique combat ost that fits its culture, probably even have them been dynamic and increase in intensity has you defeat enemies
it brings me great joy to see the sonic game for which i have the most nostalgia (and the one that got me interested in the franchise) is looked upon with such love and endearment after all this time
I meant to comment on this a few days ago upon first watching. I just want to say I love your take on this game and I agree with most of what you said. To me I feel this is Sonic's biggest and most grand adventure in the sense that Sega put lots of love into it. The cutscenes, the graphics, the globe throtting, the symphonic score. It's all beautiful. This feels like what Mario Odyssey was. A grand adventure with beautiful music and a huge love for what makes this character amazing. The cast was small but it allowed the game to be more focused after several games of having large casts. The representation of world countries and their cultures which actually inspired me to travel as I do now (I live in Asia now, originally from America) and just the beautiful detail and attention to everything. The hub world's look nice, Sonic is faster than he's ever been, even more so than Frontiers, going so fast he blurs everything. I love this game, despite always having difficulties with it due to long night stages and difficulty. I hope one day Sega makes another game of this quality. Sonic games have felt so cheap, uninspired and generic the last decade or so. The last game I really liked was Generations and nothing has impressed since then (except Mania). I hope with the success of the movies and Frontiers that Sega becomes more confident in Sonic. Despite the mixed reviews of the games from the early 2000s, the games in that period are so memorable and enjoyable because Sega took risks and made fan favorite characters and made amazing music.
Siiiiiick editing maaaan! This was like a movie. I love this game so much. Always been my favorite Sonic game. I actually just picked it up two days ago! The ps3 version, which I still have NEVER played before. I grew up on the wii version. But man…gotta try the HD! Great vid bro! Keep up the excellent work and editing skills!
I love this game and grew up on Sonic 2 and the Adventure games first. I love Generations, but Unleashed I believe has the better boost feeling and better challenge.
imo sonic unleashed was the peak of the sonic series for me after this game the sonic has never been the same ever again. i loved unleashed. it was Colors that made fall out of the series
No,unleashed was the one who started the fall out,it started the less characters things ,the tails being useless thing,and the more goofy mood being shown with some of chips moments and cubots moments
Don’t forget it has leveling up system that levels up all of the were hogs and regular sonic aspects of combat. It shows up each time you finish a stage to upgrade songs c abilities and werehogs abilities 16:47
this franchise will always blow me away with absolutely stunning things, then give me immediate whiplash with how hard it's fallen. Thanks for letting me know there's a whole different unleashed game I never played, only played colors and unleashed on the wii and I still thought that was peak way back when on blockbuster rentals lmao
Sonic unleash is my first proper gaming console experience, and the reasons i really like opposite themes, with the day and night theme. And still one of my favorite game
I'm saving this video for later, but I know this is going to be gooood. Also, Sonic Unleashed still has one of the best combat systems to this day. All it needed was another moment to shine, and updated for different characters.
Unleashed will always be my favourite. The game is as old as i am, so obivously i played it a bit later. I believe i started playing that in like 2019 and it was my first 3d sonic game. Yet, still the opening scene left my jaw open. Overall i had a very fun experience with this game and it has a special place in my heart. Although, eggmanland was one hell.
That ending edit of Sonic Unleashed was perfect dude. Sonic Unleashed is my favourite sonic game and that edit gave me goose bumps haha. Awesome video :)
I think Black Knight was also one of if not the last game Sega cared about. Back when Sonic felt grounded in the environment he was in and how fought challenges in a meaningful way
YOU MY MAN ARE UNDERRATED AS F*CK. And yes, I also don't think Sega will ever be able to create a Sonic game again that was as good as Unleashed. The models, the gameplay, the graphics, the music, the good (and even at the end, the depressing and sad) story and most important: the cutscenes. It's quite sad to hear and I but I really do think Sonic and Sega were at their prime during Sonic Unleashed. Still looking foreward to an even more improved Unleashed 'ultimate' with PC port!
To me, Frontiers was the start of a new age for sonic, an experimental prototype of where the series is going. Whether it's a triumph depends on if they can follow it up with the full follow-on it deserves
I kinda disagree with the statement that the franchise hasn’t lived up to the same precedent as Unleashed since then. When Unleashed came out people were very divisive / negative towards it. I’d argue Colors and Gens changed everything and had Sonic in a better light than Unleashed despite the change in writers and tone.
the nostalgia hit me too hard when i saw the cutscenes in the video. man it hurts knowing people hated on this! though i wasn't one of them. my family and i spent over multitudes of hours (and probably days lol) on boss fights and levels while playing the game. i got it on my ps3 a year after the game's launch so we were glad our patience to get it was worth the anticipation without the fanbase clouding our thoughts. and we have enough memories to recall about them that we come back together to play it once in a while. ( despite it being a single player title).
14:26 Mentioning the obscure game that's my first (and favorite) PS1 title in a video about my favorite Sonic game? You are no doubt a person of exquisite taste!
This video is so well edited and structured! I was surprised when I looked at your channel. Your subscriber count does not reflect the amount of effort you put into your videos at all. I’m looking forward to your future videos!
This game is awesome! Yeah, it has flaws, I don't think it's perfect, but I'd recommend it to every Sonic fan out there. Yes, you do spend more time playing as the werehog in the main story, but those day stages are some of the best and most challenging ever made, and it actually has more Sonic stages than most other Sonic games when you include the dlc and missions. You can keep replaying all those stages and time attacking them, and that's mainly why I think the HD version is overall better than the wii version. There is the compulsory medal collecting, but honestly, I didn't have to backtrack once since most of the medals I was able to get by exploring the Werehog levels, which I thought had good platforming and I like to explore rather than fight more enemies. While I would have liked to see Sonic's friends, the story was still quite good and worth the playthrough. That opening cutscene is probably the best looking Sonic cutscene ever made, only rivalled by some of Sonic 06 CGI cutscenes. The only other game that rivals this in terms of quality I would say is Frontiers. I think they're now starting to get back to that budget and passion especially with Shadow Generations. By the way, what is the Sonic to Werehog level count ratio? I tried to count one time, and they might be equal, but I'm not sure.
Unleashed saved the Sonic franchise cuz nobody liked Sonic 06 or Shadow the Hedgehog, intro was peak combat system was peak voice acting was peak, music was peak I can't really find anything bad to say about the game other than some of the Werehog stages it was overall a fun game it's personally the best Sonic game I've played so far and it was unappreciated at it's time
The combo potential in the Werehog stages was INSANE; even today, when you master it, it feels like a DMC. I’d say I like the combat better than Frontiers, mainly for the greater variety of movements and the overall satisfaction of getting it right.
Love how you explained each version of Sonic Unleashed. Watching the entire game gives me the right to call out the GOAT of all Sonic games; with Frontiers, I’ll give it the queen. SEGA should definitely make a remaster of Unleashed soon cause I want to experience the adventure
The worse part of the night stages is the Battle music. The background music for the night stages is amazing, but you barely get the chance to hear it due to the background battle music
i loved the werehog so much in the wii version. even though it was very slippery and took some time to get used to, it was really fun. seriously, on the earlier levels i wasnt doing well but in the later stages i was doing so well and getting s ranks constantly. i guess its just that i have a knack for platforming. for combat it was pretty fun as well despite it very limiting, and honestly i prefer the leveling system on the wii version because its technically automatic, its kinda annoying to learn which is the most important ones to level up. but still, it looks like werehog is even more interesting on the hd version (cant play it because i have a bad computer lol)
@@slayer4932 nah i had some fun on the day stages as well, but honestly i dont like the super learny format (especially because i want to get the S-Ranks) that the boost games used. thats why i just preferred the werehog, so much easier to pick up and at sometimes even more fun than day stages.
honestly i find it criminal how lambasted this game was upon its release. i get that it was coming off from 06 and released between the storybook games which put more focus into story than gameplay so i understand people were overall more critical of the next big release and having half the levels be longer combat stages is definitely a put off since people were also criticising the concept of sonics friends having different slower playstyles, ignoring that every platformer had its gimmick stages to help pace the game because doing the same thing over and over does get stale even if it is solid. at least for the traditional 8 hour + experience. but man it was judged so damn unfairly, the game looks gorgeous, was a great translation of the rush playstyle into 3D and was the first to meld 2D and 3D platforming into one game and the werehog while being an entirely different genre was massively fun. while i have my own personal gripes with the game like it beginning eggmans flanderisation, where despite literally splitting the earth in the opening cutscene man is treated as a joke and mr pickle starting the weird obcession with food gags colours and lost world had for some reason, overall even when i was a petty child annoyed at my gameplay style getting abandoned because one game was rushed, never hated the game itself. and honestly those few annoyances have mostly faded, chip is amazing comedy relief because sonic has always had its more campy moments of character banter, chip was more akin to a character like marine or charmy than the bad writing of the 2010's and the ring boost being used instead of trick gauge is a carpel tunnel reduction. like you could do tricks in generations and it has zero gameplay impact much like you could spindash in rush but at its best it was only comparable to the boost when going downhill. like this game really did feel like a transision for the series and it's just ashame the devs got cold feet about their own ideas, even in the high points of the later series it's hinging on referencing the old like its modern simpsons, generations and mania being great games on their own but combined invalidate eachothers existance and make eachother less impactful as anniversary celebrations because there was nothing after worth celebrating, and then fronteirs with its non stop referential dialogue. i innitially liked fronteirs story but as it sat the issues i had with ian flynns writing style just kept creeping back in. by the time new horizons came out i just felt nothing because that story was carried by the theatrics and the dlc just lacked it. like minor rant i legitimately tried getting into the comics both archie and idw multiple times but they have the most yappy self referential dialogue i've seen in a tie in comic, like a comic where silver fights enerjak? 95% dialogue panels a good number of which take up half. or the trope in early idw where a character has amnesia, an old villain gets introduced then powered up then everybody fights on angel island. i honestly have more confidence in prime and the movies than i do the actual main series and its comic tie in especially if they wanna pull a kingdom hearts and make literally everything canon while leaving many canon games with key plotpoints like the shadow bots unavailable to modern audiences.
Finally, someone giving some respect to the werehog. I've always liked this dynamic of unleashed as a kid it adds variety and its a cool idea in my opinion sure the stages are long but I don't mind that I loved exploring the night stages at night as a kid and the night stages are still able to add a sense of scope and scale that day stages have. I've always like the werehog as an idea sure I'm baisis since this game means alot to me since I grew up playing it, and having fond memories of it but I don't care 😅
That’s how you get more combos for the werehig you upgrade his aspects and how you make regular sonic faster and make it easier him to gain rings and have stronger ring gauge 17:52
I loved the night stages too. I had the PS2 version of the game so the game only went as far as the Egg Beetle boss fight, and I was far better during the night stages than day time stages
Sonic Unleashed wasn't the last time Sonic Team cared for Sonic Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were going for a desperate new direction because it's what the series needed, Sonic Unleashed, as ambitious and big as it is, was still a negative reviewed game like most of the mid and late 2000 games were The direction change worked, Sonic Colors and Generations were both recieved better than most of the 2000s games released after Sonic Adventure 2, of course, right after we got Lost World and Forces, but that's already a different story I also think Frontiers was still experimenting with stuff, not because it isn't ambitious, but because they're trying to go further and show they care for the series, Frontiers WAS an important game for the series, it was trying to reach "new frontiers", and for the effort and passion Sonic Team tried putting on it, it rightfully got what it deserved, it surpassed Heroes, the best selling 3D Sonic game for almost 20 years, and it was super well recieved in general, even Kishimoto was getting feedback from the public, applying into the game, taking it in consideration, saying he'll try to apply them in the next games It's impossible to know what will the future games be like and the future of the series in general, I'm not a fortune-teller, but no matter if it's good or bad, Frontiers still is an important game, and I really hope Sonic gets a hopeful future thanks to what Frontiers wanted to stablish, Sonic deserves the world
i agree with this video wholeheartedly but one small thing too, while this may be personal, jason griffith made the game sm better and can we talk about how he had strep throat during all of the voice acting too??
Call me a crybaby but the way you explained why I love this game so perfectly almost brought tears to my eyes (especially with that montage at the end of the video.) you so expertly explained in detailed every aspect of this game. Especially the way you explained the progression in this game. I genuinely feel as if people didn’t engage with the game enough with the problems so many people ran into. I on my first play through never ran into a road block and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t even aware of the fact there was till I saw other people talking about it. The Werehog gameplay is something especially ragged on for no good reason. The amount of times of heard people say the combat was bad and they said they never looked up any of the combos was crazy to me. I don’t even see the point in getting anything other than Combat attack and unleashed as unleashed literally makes you invincible. Another reason why I feel people didn’t have as much fun as I did is due to the frame rate the game would drop. I feel as if the game would’ve kept a consistent 30 (in some perfect world) 60 fps people would’ve had a lot more fun. I’ve heard a lot of people say that’s because of how poorly optimized the game is but not only is this game gorgeous (as you said best looking sonic game to date Frontiers does have better graphics but did absolutely nothing with them) in 2008 may I remind you but also you have to remember the shear scale of the daytime levels and how fast you blast through them (I guess it’s a more valid Criticism against the night stages but still.) You also properly appreciated the day stages more instead of just writing them off saying they’re good but generations improved on every aspect of them. (You can say that in handling but I still don’t fully agree with that statement.) but generations while I still think they’re the best boost levels in somewhat recent years they still feel very clear cut with a path that’s so obviously better than the other and any other path just being overall less fun to go through (an exception being sky sanctuary.) In unleashed however I feel as though there is a lot more expression in which path you can choose there’s often one that’s objectively faster but the others are also often fun to go through and are extremely smooth and flow really well as opposed to generations more slower platforming on the bottom path. (I would’ve talked about the story but this comment is already huge so just know I think it’s good and miles ahead of frontiers in presentation. Also the I simply can’t state how good the soundtrack is like I honestly couldn’t give it the appreciation it deserves.) All in all I really hope swag either gives this game another chance rereleasing it in 60 fps on new gen (Both Xbox and PlayStation.) or try making a game on the scale of unleashed again something actually worthy of the 60 dollar price tag.
there's only 5 fixes unleashed needs in a re-release: - improve the drift to a point where it's controllable like Generations - make the Werehog combat music less frequent, save it for big mid-level encounters - lower the sun and moon medal requirements for progress and make them unlock bonus content like artwork, music, cheats, skins and especially bonus levels (DLC levels and some of the levels that are unique to the Wii and PS2 version) - increase XP gain to the point where like in frontiers you should be able to max out all of Sonic's stats by the time you reach the final level if you played the side content - add the high quality global illumination maps from the E3 build that were removed for performance reasons no need for any Shadow Generations style add-ons or tacked-on moves like the drop dash in the Sonic Generations remaster, Unleashed holds up better than every Sonic game out there bar Shadow Generations. At most if they have to add something add some Knuckles side missions to the game, it always felt odd having Amy and Tails without Knuckles.
the issue with adabat day i had is i didnt realise you had more stages than the ones on the level select screen meaning i needed around 8/10 medals in every night stage, every single hub token,and 90% of day stages. the issue was at one point i had 7/10 on most night stages and needed 14 more medals and its just like where do you start thus making me putting down the game for 2 years and then not reach adabat day for over a year after i started playing the game again, instead opting to grind for s ranks meaning 4 years since starting the game, i still havent finished
I still love this game, and even though the graphics are so much worse, PS2 has to be the go to for me since you actually get to fight dark gaia, it isnt a QTE session, you get to fight the boss yourself and it makes it so much better than just clicking a button every so often.
my issue of werehog stages aren't that "it isn't real Sonic stages" of being fast and anything, but is the quality of the action gameplay on its own, Werehog stages I did feel that it is just a "oh hey, god of war and devil may cry were pretty succesful games....let's copy that" stages, it even had the QTE finishing move just like GoW, they tried to copy those games but they still felt like a downgrade, the only thing that's kinda ok is the platforming, but still there are other games which is way better than Werehog stage for that. Werehog stages are not unique compared to other games, and didn't manage to be as good as them, unlike booster sonic stages, in which there wasn't any other game like that, so it's a unique gameplay and a pretty good one(even to this day).
Usually i always say we need a game like unleashed again, and it might be some nostalgia speaking, but it just does everything right for an ideal sonic game for me. besides the slippery and unresponsive controls sonic had, it was nearly perfect as a sonic game for me and i miss playing this game
It was far from my first Sonic game, but it's still my favorite game, like, ever. Fun fact, this is the first game that has the in-game graphics style that's still in use. The HD version, anyway. I actually played the SD version first, but I absolutely love the HD version. And yes, I actually like Werehog. It's not perfect, but it's pretty fun to get the hang of. Though the day stages are probably the most spectacular things ever made. I don't care if Werehog isn't "Real" Sonic, it's still fun. I don't care that you have to replay levels to max out your stats, Sonic is all about replayability. I don't really care about the length of the night stages in the HD version, I can beat them in a reasonable amount of time. I also don't mind medal collecting in the HD version, it's fun to try to find stuff in the levels. Yeah the Wii version is fun, but the HD version is very fun. This game's opening is probably the highest quality cutscene in Sonic history, and it's a thing of beauty. I too think about Sonic quite a lot. It is my favorite franchise, after all. This game needs to be ported to PC like, right now. Give it the Colors treatment, without making the game worse.
Check out my Patreon!-www.patreon.com/JP2427
2 whole console generations later and machines still can't process the complexity of Eggman's sandwich
Gonna need an 8K machine for that one.
Still find it hard to believe how he destroyed that foot long sandwich in like 3 bites
The subway sponsorship we didn't know but needed in our Sonic game. Next to Pizza hut
Good thing emulation exist and it's getting better and better by the day.
agreed
I’m a keep it real. I’m just convinced that half of the sonic fans are just fans of certain eras rather than a fan of the franchise as a whole
I'm the other half, the only game I actively hate in the series is Sonic Skating Simulato-I mean Sonic Heroes. It isn't a "bad" game, but it's incredibly boring which is much worse imo.
(Imagine the whole game is just the first quarter of the game 4 times over, to unlock a seizure simulator at the end.) It was a cool concept with poor execution.
I love the rest of them. (I did count the GOAT Sonic's Schoolhouse, thanks for asking)
Yep
I like all of it
I'm in love with the franchise which is the story behind it don't even play the games like that i just need the story for it
This is something you need to be convinced of?
Considering the wide array of different gameplay styles, it was *certain* that this was going to happen. Inevitable even.
This franchise is like 30 years old. That means the Sonic games you played as a Kid are so far removed from the current games that kids are playing now.
If you were born on the same day as Sonic The Hedgehog (1991), you could have gone to college and had kids.
This game now spans 2 generations.
They set the bar so high after Unleashed it's been almost impossible to replicate with teams changing so much, visions, and budgets.
Midleashed
@@thefastcommenter7774 themidcommented774
@@thefastcommenter7774 Peakleashed
@@thefastcommenter7774 you had to like your own comment just to justify how sad your opinion is about unleashed 🤡
@@gabelster3729 I didn’t like it though. Watch the like counter turn into 2 as I like it now.
Unleashed is the GOAT of Sonic games. It just...man, does so much right. The gameplay, the presentation, the story, the MUSIC. It's so good, dude. SEGA seriously needs look back at Unleashed and replicate it for future games. Just imagine what a modern Unleashed style Sonic game could be.
Generations better
@@WadeWalker22 Okay, bud.
@@WadeWalker22I played generation but unleashed when you boost you feel faster. And generation the boost it feels like they tone down the speed a bit.
@@samuraix2328 gotta replay it then wished emulation for it was better on smaller pcs
@@WadeWalker22 I do play unleashed from time to time on my Xbox one . The last time I played was before my graduation day in high school and it was the final battle with dark Gaia.
16 YEARS?!? godddd i feel old LMAO. Sonic unleashed will always be a fave to me
I remember playing it back in 09-11 and I always thought that for the high definition and amazing graphics that Sonic was real. The locales being based off real life didn't help. This game solidifies itself as the best game I've EVER played. Bar none.
Being born the same year this game came out just hits man 😌
I’m just a couple months older than this game🤣
@@logan4579For me 2 years old-
Sonic Unleashed was so well animated. Not just the cgi but the in game cutscenes and gameplay too. Like you said all is very expressive. Somehow the cutscene quality started to dip for later games, especially in Sonic Forces.
SEGA clearly doesn't care, that's why the rumor of Frontiers being Sonic Team's last chance was and still is so strong and allegedly confirmed by SEGA employees, but Sonic Team genuinely cares, they try to compensate for the lack of budget, time, team, resources and experience they have compared at what they had with Unleashed, Unleashed had brilliant minds at their disposal, people who loved and understood Sonic from years, help from external technology and graphic teams to make the Hedgehog Engine the demon of an engine it is even today and so much much more
Is such a shame we can't get this sort of things today and the main team needs to prove the company they can still keep going when most lay offs come from SEGA's questionable management, poor decision making and sometimes anti-consumer strategies
Btw the strechy nature of Werehog is due the influence of Dark Gaia, Nightmares do the same but they barely use attacks that stretch their bodies reason why almost no one knows about it
For some reason, I always figured the strecthy nature of Werehog Sonic's body came from his speed that went all in his arms lol
Can I hear reasoning for why SEGA is the one who doesn't care, and it's not just Sonic Team being consistently incompetent? Other SEGA franchises are doing well.
@@danielgrizzlus3950
Sega's unreasonable deadlines. Izuka had to fight for 1 more year of development for Frontiers. They do care.
@@magical_pixie_horse7346 Why don't other franchises have this problem then? I'm not sure I'm convinced it's all about deadlines.
I mean, Frontiers was in development for 5 years, from what I've heard. Given the trash that came out of that half a decade of work, you can't tell me it was an unreasonable deadline issue.
Honestly. I think it could be true that SEGA doesn't care, but not in the way you think. They don't care to fire everyone in Sonic Team, perhaps because they are friends with many of the top people there and enough money keeps coming.
I’ve always said Id rather see an animated movie like the intro cut Scene to Unleashed than a live action movie. That cut scene is so beautiful, I remember getting goosebumps watching it as a kid
One of the things that really grips me about the older 3d Sonic games is how seriously they took themselves. Games like Colors, Generations, the Boom series, etc. do this weird ironic thing where the games almost make fun of how ridiculous they are. Meanwhile the older games like SA2 and Shadow do have absolutely bonkers plots. But because they're so earnest in telling those stories I can't help but appreciate them.
Being “serious” is not automatically a better thing, being silly and noddy isn’t bad, it doesn’t make the games any less “earnest” or “sincere.” Games don’t have to always take themselves super seriously, you do remember Sonic’s origins don’t you? It’s a series about a speedy, blue hedgehog than runs really fasts and stops an overweight evil scientist, from taking over the world and imprisoning animals in robots.
@@lenarmangum8630 Everything I said in that comment was my opinion. You are welcome to like the campy, nothing narratives of the 2010s games if that's what you like.
My point however is that a series that is ashamed of what it is will never be as entertaining TO ME as a series that is bold and confident about what it is. After Sonic 06, SEGA lost confidence in Sonic and started pandering to nostalgia. I don't like that. I like when the games took themselves seriously, felt confident in telling their narratives, and didn't have to shoehorn in Green Hill Zone and metatextual jokes into every cutscene of Sonic and Eggman just talking to each other.
Just personal preference, like what you want to like, I could not care less.
Even the 2D games did that 3 and Knuckles especially. When I first played it in origins I was surprised by how epic amd action packed the story was in a speedy acion platformer with no dialogue. God that final fight against eggman was so anime I love it.
@@strideytidey8665 "a series that is ashamed of what it is will never be as entertaining TO ME"
That wording is so incredibly full of bias.
You see self-aware and light-heartedness as something only caused by being ashamed of oneself, and I think that's really telling.
Besides that, saying things like "shoehorning" in Green Hill and metatext is not how you express an opinion. That is an objective critique disguised as an opinion and it's frustrating that you can't tell the difference.
If you wanted to be subjective like you claim to, you would describe things as they are rather than being loaded with implicit criticism.
The sad part is that I actually agree with you, that the games that take themselves more seriously are generally more well-made story-wise. But you lost me with that overly defensive and spineless rebuttal.
Colors does not make fun of itself ,stop making up bullcrap ,just for you can push this dumb idea of this generation is better than this generation bullcrap
Us Sonic fans who started with Unleashed really share the exact same perspective of this amazing franchise, i felt every single word of this video as if it were mine too. This video felt like a nostalgic trip back to my childhood with a friend who was always there, thank you.
SEGA doesn't care about sonic, but i see sonic team genuinely does, and it can be seen trough games like frontiers or superstars, i can write the reasons i think my point stands, but i'm too lazy to do that lol
Edit: Wow this really did the numbers lmao, i got a whole comment section of my own
S.T. always tried their best with the scraps Sega gave them regarding Sonic. That's why I admire Sonic Team so much.
@@thedredayshow9246 me too, like i atleast hope one day these guys separate from sega and begin an indie studio, because they are clearly talented, they just aren't let work in peace
@@squarethinkingdudeif they do tho then what will happen to sonic franchise? The team obviously wants sonic games to be made amazingly but they cant if they leave, also recently i heard that after frontiers succes sega is giving sonic team a bigger budget and resources as well as more people being hired, so their starting to care again
@@SonicTheBlueBlur15 While i still think sega doesnt care for sonic (see sonic superstars wich is missing levels because arzest didn't ave time to finish), i think there are 2 good outcomes, they begin an indie studio and make a sonic-like to compete against sega, or they actually get the resources and launch sonic to succes, but i still think we will have good not amazing products for a while
@@thedredayshow9246I don't. They can have all the good will and love in the world; doesn't change the fact they're painfully _mid_ developers. If anything it makes them look worse than if they just didn't care, cause this means this is really all the best they can do.
Possibly the best opening cut scene to a sonic game that’s for sure
this video is a love letter to Sonic Unleashed and I'm all for it
The last big budget sonic game ever made that introducing the hedgehog engine also using until this day and the first 3d boost game and also the first game that makes IGN embarrassing themselves
I always thought the play style of the night stages would fit Knuckles really well.
I honestly think it would be better suited for chaos 0 honestly.
Wade Whipple you mean
@@pikminarmy7538what
I think it would be cool so that the knuckles night stages are basically just night version of sky chase
I can't tell you how much I love Sonic Unleashed. Just hearing the theme at 0:56 gave me goosebumps lol...
This video is my thoughts exactly.. Just last night I was thinking how unfulfilling the franchise has been for the last 12ish years and how I always seem to fall back to peak.. (unleashed is my goat always and forever)
Bro casually dropped the hardest Endless Possibility edit in the end and thought we wouldn't notice
Thank you bro for showing Sonic Unleashed the love and praise it deserves, I just wish SEGA could watch this video and see what an impact this game had on me and a lot of other people, really hope it gets a remaster for latest gen consoles and pc.
Sonic Unleashed will always be the best game for me.
Sonic unleahed was the last game with every ounce of soul and love put into it
So we're just going to pretend Frontiers suddenly doesn't exist? you guys are pathetic
Sonic colours was amazing
@@robyjacker never played
@@robyjacker That game sucks and the fact you retards compare it to Unleashed explains why the series gets worse.
I have not yet seen this video as of writing this, but I would say that The main thing with Sonic is managing expectations. Frontiers was solid, nothing ground breaking, but solid. Sonic Unleashed is still the best Modern Sonic one to this day in my opinion.
I'd say it's the best sonic in general
@@ssg-eggunner fucking ew
@@PlayPodOG what's better than unleashed then?
@@ssg-eggunnerNOTHING MY BROTHER UNLEASHED ON TOP 👆💯💯💯🗣🗣🗣
@@PlayPodOGIf it's because of the werehog then let me tell you that Unleashed and SA1(or even 06)weren't the first to make Sonic slow, the classic games didn't feel that fast either, only when you got the "Speed Shoes" powerup, this is *ESPECIALLY* true when you get to levels like Marble Zone where it's platforming central
Nah that outro had me in tears. Unleashed will always be my favorite game and i agree 100% with everything you said. I KNOW they can make a killer game again, and i cant wait for that day.
Okay can we just take a second to appreciate how awesome the editing is in this video? So many REALLY satisfying moments where the gameplay and music syncs up, it shows how long you spent tinkering with it to get it just right. Good stuff, really!
This video encapsulated exactly how I think this game is. Out of all the sonic games that I continue to come back to, it’s always this one. Because almost EVERYTHING about it screams: “We do care”. Remember, this was the game after 06, so obviously they had to pull all the stops to ensure to fans that they CAN make something amazing, and this game just absolutely SELLS it. An amazing game (while not perfect) that stands the test of time
As 3D platformer fan the werehog was my favorite part of Unleashed. Its because of it I got into Sonics core gameplay too. I probably would like day stages over night if the performance was half decent in the day stages (PS3 version). This game really needs an official or unofficial PC port. Emulating them still just has the same performance issues as the original hardware.
I’m pretty sure there is fan remakes but my ps3 runs day stages pretty well
There's a mod for Sonic Generations on PC that replaces the normal stages with the day stages of Unleashed. Honestly it plays better than the original most of the time. Not having homing attack mapped to the boost button is a big improvement.
Any sonic game that has you 'on rails' is shit imo. I was spoiled by SA2B. The annoying 'you are intended to move forward' style locked camera drives me insane. I feel like I'm watching a movie with QuickTime events more than playing a game.
@@kiwirooks7299 Probably the only reason I prefer the "on rails" style is because all the 3D Sonics that aren't on rails tend to break constantly and have awful camera angles. Even the free cam parts in the on rails games suddenly feel 150% more broken.
@@flubnub266 that's fair, it's preference. The locked in camera makes me feel like the game is so handholding to the point I feel like I'm just watching a movie. Sonic and the black night on Wii is a perfect example.
my brother was really into unleashed, cool dive down memory lane
As a Sonic Unleashed fan and this being my favourite sonic game this YT video was well crafted and I rate this video a 10/10
Sonic unleashed was amazing because it defined how a 3d sonic game should be
I’m playing through this game on and off and, no matter if I’m loving this game or raging at it, I’ll forever be grateful for this game’s theme song for indirectly introducing me to Bowling For Soup
I don't understand why the reviews are so mixed. I was blown away when I played it, but I was expecting it to be kinda bad.
i was born in 2009, so one year after the release of this BEAUTIFUL game. I have an older brother who has a xbox 360 so i used to "play" this game, but, as I was too young, I couldn't understand much. I also have another brother, who has had a PS2, and when he didn't use it anymore, he gave me the console and one of the first things my parents got me was sonic unleshead, for the wii/ps2 version. At first, I was disappointed, because that "wasn't the game I remembered". But after I started to play that I EFFING LOVED THAT THING, but after finishing it and playing some more levels, I stopped playing it. After my brother translocated to Milan, I asked him if I could have the console and he said yes. This was two years ago, so I was 13. I remember enjoying ANYTHING about that game. I played two times the storyline and did all the secondary levels, I managed to maximise the stats of the Werehog and DAMN that was hard, but it didn't feel like it, because I was REALLY happy to play that game. About the medals, I didn't even know what they did, then the game blocked me to enter adabat levels so... I guess I understood what they were used for. I also cried for the final cutscene and the death of chip. Then, A year after that, my brother asked for the xbox back, so I gave it to him, and about the ps2, at the time, I didn't care much about my games so I lost that game and Rachet and Clank 3, another videogame i loved. But, to this day, I still think about sonic unleashed, as my childhood, and I couldn't ask for a better one
I was born in that time frame too and my brother had a Wii u and a ps3 and stuff and I got unleashed for that ps3 a few days ago but I remember on the new PS4 playing sonic unleashed on psn and loving it I literally restarted the game so I could play the day stages cuz i didn’t like the night stages but now I do
I still remember the first time I booted up this game on my old PS3, first time Ive ever played a Sonic game. Hell of an introduction, has been on my mind ever since.
To this day Sonic unleashed will always be my favorite video game of all time
that outro with the voice clips and scenes from the game with endless possibility playing gave me goosebumps. sometimes i want to cry from how much i love this game and look back to playing it on the wii so fondly. i really wish we could get a remaster
Bro you deserve much more subscribers. Your content and editing is amazing.
my favourite game of all time ❤️
something something ambition and passion
And polish
30 min summed up by this yea
@@therealmrarchive Ambition, Passion and Polish. the 3 main points that the entire industry is missing these days. everybody is too scared to actually stick to their guns. and thus their mediocre products get a lot of hate for good reason. Which ends up scaring the companies even MORE and it turns them away from opting for safer routes and getting rid of the very elements their products NEED.
@@KnucklestheEcidna how are they any less scared to stick to their guns now than back then? They revized the whole movement system sonic had had for 15 years in Unleasehed, and people hated it. Now one of their main points of criticism from fans is that they rely too heavily on nostalgia, and you try to say that they are afraid to stick to their guns???? They are sticking too much to them bro. Pick one. You can't use both criticisms, they are literally opposites.
YOU WANNA KNOW WHO ELSE HAD AMBITION??? stalin
great video, nice writing. I usually don't comment but you really managed to make it interesting and entertaining. And thanks for covering the banger that is the Wii version
This video makes me wish we got a remaster of Sonic Unleashed. Please Sega, people do love this game. Please.
This game was meant to be the last sonic game from what ive been told
Lol it was a last ditch effort to save the franchise but there was no concrete intent for it to be the “final game” ever in the game’s development, and no sonic game has been either
It was not meant to be the last sonic game
Sonic adventure 2 was supposed to be the last sonic game
@michaelbullen3104 I swear like 3 months ago I heard smth about unleashed being the last sonic game if It failed that's why they went all out on this game
Sonic unleashed is a great game it was my second sonic game its my second favorite 06 was my first and favorite and its been like that for 10 years and nothing changed so im glad
ong bro first its 06, then unleashed, adventure 2, frontiers, generations
06 caught my heart as a kid nd same with unleashed, they were my first introduction to the sonic franchise especially since im born in 04
06 being a favorite? what?
@@PlayPodOG oh my favorite sonic game
While Unleashed wasn’t my first Sonic game, that being Adventure DX, Unleashed instantly became my favorite game in the franchise after my first playthrough. There just hasn’t been another Sonic game thats given me the same feel or thrill I still feel whenever I go back to it; especially if we’re talking about the day stages. Frontiers was a good attempt at course correction, but I feel SEGA needs to put more passion into their next title if we’re ever gonna get anything close to if not better than what they managed to cook up with Unleashed.
Same
Another nitpick I would give to the night stages is the combat ost, it gets repetitive FAST, it would’ve been better if each zone had 1 or 2 unique combat ost that fits its culture, probably even have them been dynamic and increase in intensity has you defeat enemies
ya I always hated the combat music for werehog. I just want to listen to the regular exploration music in those stages.
it brings me great joy to see the sonic game for which i have the most nostalgia (and the one that got me interested in the franchise) is looked upon with such love and endearment after all this time
I meant to comment on this a few days ago upon first watching. I just want to say I love your take on this game and I agree with most of what you said. To me I feel this is Sonic's biggest and most grand adventure in the sense that Sega put lots of love into it. The cutscenes, the graphics, the globe throtting, the symphonic score. It's all beautiful. This feels like what Mario Odyssey was. A grand adventure with beautiful music and a huge love for what makes this character amazing. The cast was small but it allowed the game to be more focused after several games of having large casts. The representation of world countries and their cultures which actually inspired me to travel as I do now (I live in Asia now, originally from America) and just the beautiful detail and attention to everything. The hub world's look nice, Sonic is faster than he's ever been, even more so than Frontiers, going so fast he blurs everything. I love this game, despite always having difficulties with it due to long night stages and difficulty. I hope one day Sega makes another game of this quality. Sonic games have felt so cheap, uninspired and generic the last decade or so. The last game I really liked was Generations and nothing has impressed since then (except Mania). I hope with the success of the movies and Frontiers that Sega becomes more confident in Sonic. Despite the mixed reviews of the games from the early 2000s, the games in that period are so memorable and enjoyable because Sega took risks and made fan favorite characters and made amazing music.
Funny cuz odyssey devs were unleashed devs too
@@ssg-eggunner wdym by odyssey? For some reason, Mario odyssey comes to my mind lmao
@@Supersonic6427 yeah mario odyssey is what i mean
Siiiiiick editing maaaan! This was like a movie. I love this game so much. Always been my favorite Sonic game.
I actually just picked it up two days ago! The ps3 version, which I still have NEVER played before.
I grew up on the wii version. But man…gotta try the HD!
Great vid bro! Keep up the excellent work and editing skills!
I love this game and grew up on Sonic 2 and the Adventure games first. I love Generations, but Unleashed I believe has the better boost feeling and better challenge.
imo sonic unleashed was the peak of the sonic series for me after this game the sonic has never been the same ever again. i loved unleashed. it was Colors that made fall out of the series
Colors was so empty. Just a bunch of repeated levels. 0 effort was put into the story.
Why? What about Generations? That was a love letter to Sonic.
@@user-vi4xy1jw7e don't mess with sonic fans, they never think before saying anything.
No,unleashed was the one who started the fall out,it started the less characters things ,the tails being useless thing,and the more goofy mood being shown with some of chips moments and cubots moments
Don’t forget it has leveling up system that levels up all of the were hogs and regular sonic aspects of combat. It shows up each time you finish a stage to upgrade songs c abilities and werehogs abilities 16:47
this franchise will always blow me away with absolutely stunning things, then give me immediate whiplash with how hard it's fallen. Thanks for letting me know there's a whole different unleashed game I never played, only played colors and unleashed on the wii and I still thought that was peak way back when on blockbuster rentals lmao
Sonic peaked at this game imo, after this it was downhill up until frontiers and now shadow gens. Shadow gens is another step in the right direction.
Sonic unleash is my first proper gaming console experience, and the reasons i really like opposite themes, with the day and night theme. And still one of my favorite game
I'm saving this video for later, but I know this is going to be gooood.
Also, Sonic Unleashed still has one of the best combat systems to this day. All it needed was another moment to shine, and updated for different characters.
Unleashed will always be my favourite. The game is as old as i am, so obivously i played it a bit later. I believe i started playing that in like 2019 and it was my first 3d sonic game. Yet, still the opening scene left my jaw open. Overall i had a very fun experience with this game and it has a special place in my heart. Although, eggmanland was one hell.
There are 4 Sonic games that I consider the pinnacle of sega. That is CD,SA1, unleashed, and generations
That ending edit of Sonic Unleashed was perfect dude. Sonic Unleashed is my favourite sonic game and that edit gave me goose bumps haha. Awesome video :)
I think Black Knight was also one of if not the last game Sega cared about. Back when Sonic felt grounded in the environment he was in and how fought challenges in a meaningful way
YOU MY MAN ARE UNDERRATED AS F*CK. And yes, I also don't think Sega will ever be able to create a Sonic game again that was as good as Unleashed. The models, the gameplay, the graphics, the music, the good (and even at the end, the depressing and sad) story and most important: the cutscenes. It's quite sad to hear and I but I really do think Sonic and Sega were at their prime during Sonic Unleashed. Still looking foreward to an even more improved Unleashed 'ultimate' with PC port!
Love it or hate it, Sonic Unleashed was truly inspired
Man what a video. The way you put it all together gave me goosebumps at the end. You're good, you're really good damn it
well thank god its been confirmed that they are finally going to be making high budget sonic games again
To me, Frontiers was the start of a new age for sonic, an experimental prototype of where the series is going. Whether it's a triumph depends on if they can follow it up with the full follow-on it deserves
The ending was absolutely beautiful and so many chills
I kinda disagree with the statement that the franchise hasn’t lived up to the same precedent as Unleashed since then. When Unleashed came out people were very divisive / negative towards it. I’d argue Colors and Gens changed everything and had Sonic in a better light than Unleashed despite the change in writers and tone.
I really don't see how they didn't put enough "effort" in Frontiers. The game was unfinished, it's not about effort, the vision *is* there
the nostalgia hit me too hard when i saw the cutscenes in the video. man it hurts knowing people hated on this! though i wasn't one of them. my family and i spent over multitudes of hours (and probably days lol) on boss fights and levels while playing the game. i got it on my ps3 a year after the game's launch so we were glad our patience to get it was worth the anticipation without the fanbase clouding our thoughts. and we have enough memories to recall about them that we come back together to play it once in a while. ( despite it being a single player title).
14:26 Mentioning the obscure game that's my first (and favorite) PS1 title in a video about my favorite Sonic game? You are no doubt a person of exquisite taste!
This video is so well edited and structured! I was surprised when I looked at your channel. Your subscriber count does not reflect the amount of effort you put into your videos at all. I’m looking forward to your future videos!
This game is awesome! Yeah, it has flaws, I don't think it's perfect, but I'd recommend it to every Sonic fan out there. Yes, you do spend more time playing as the werehog in the main story, but those day stages are some of the best and most challenging ever made, and it actually has more Sonic stages than most other Sonic games when you include the dlc and missions. You can keep replaying all those stages and time attacking them, and that's mainly why I think the HD version is overall better than the wii version. There is the compulsory medal collecting, but honestly, I didn't have to backtrack once since most of the medals I was able to get by exploring the Werehog levels, which I thought had good platforming and I like to explore rather than fight more enemies. While I would have liked to see Sonic's friends, the story was still quite good and worth the playthrough. That opening cutscene is probably the best looking Sonic cutscene ever made, only rivalled by some of Sonic 06 CGI cutscenes. The only other game that rivals this in terms of quality I would say is Frontiers. I think they're now starting to get back to that budget and passion especially with Shadow Generations. By the way, what is the Sonic to Werehog level count ratio? I tried to count one time, and they might be equal, but I'm not sure.
Unleashed saved the Sonic franchise cuz nobody liked Sonic 06 or Shadow the Hedgehog, intro was peak combat system was peak voice acting was peak, music was peak I can't really find anything bad to say about the game other than some of the Werehog stages it was overall a fun game it's personally the best Sonic game I've played so far and it was unappreciated at it's time
I must say what an intro! Great start to the video!
This video is insanely good, kinda disappointed that it has only 33k views where it deserves WAY more for the effort
The combo potential in the Werehog stages was INSANE; even today, when you master it, it feels like a DMC. I’d say I like the combat better than Frontiers, mainly for the greater variety of movements and the overall satisfaction of getting it right.
Love how you explained each version of Sonic Unleashed. Watching the entire game gives me the right to call out the GOAT of all Sonic games; with Frontiers, I’ll give it the queen. SEGA should definitely make a remaster of Unleashed soon cause I want to experience the adventure
The worse part of the night stages is the Battle music. The background music for the night stages is amazing, but you barely get the chance to hear it due to the background battle music
Honestly, a Sonic Unleashed remake with some of Frontiers combat would have my money immediately.
"the last time sega cared about sonic"
sonic generations existing
Yep!
i loved the werehog so much in the wii version. even though it was very slippery and took some time to get used to, it was really fun. seriously, on the earlier levels i wasnt doing well but in the later stages i was doing so well and getting s ranks constantly. i guess its just that i have a knack for platforming. for combat it was pretty fun as well despite it very limiting, and honestly i prefer the leveling system on the wii version because its technically automatic, its kinda annoying to learn which is the most important ones to level up. but still, it looks like werehog is even more interesting on the hd version (cant play it because i have a bad computer lol)
ew. the werehog makes this game unplayable
@@PlayPodOG day stages are straight unplayable due to performance at the very least you get a somewhat stable performance with werehog
@@slayer4932 nah i had some fun on the day stages as well, but honestly i dont like the super learny format (especially because i want to get the S-Ranks) that the boost games used. thats why i just preferred the werehog, so much easier to pick up and at sometimes even more fun than day stages.
honestly i find it criminal how lambasted this game was upon its release.
i get that it was coming off from 06 and released between the storybook games which put more focus into story than gameplay so i understand people were overall more critical of the next big release and having half the levels be longer combat stages is definitely a put off since people were also criticising the concept of sonics friends having different slower playstyles, ignoring that every platformer had its gimmick stages to help pace the game because doing the same thing over and over does get stale even if it is solid. at least for the traditional 8 hour + experience.
but man it was judged so damn unfairly, the game looks gorgeous, was a great translation of the rush playstyle into 3D and was the first to meld 2D and 3D platforming into one game and the werehog while being an entirely different genre was massively fun.
while i have my own personal gripes with the game like it beginning eggmans flanderisation, where despite literally splitting the earth in the opening cutscene man is treated as a joke and mr pickle starting the weird obcession with food gags colours and lost world had for some reason, overall even when i was a petty child annoyed at my gameplay style getting abandoned because one game was rushed, never hated the game itself.
and honestly those few annoyances have mostly faded, chip is amazing comedy relief because sonic has always had its more campy moments of character banter, chip was more akin to a character like marine or charmy than the bad writing of the 2010's and the ring boost being used instead of trick gauge is a carpel tunnel reduction. like you could do tricks in generations and it has zero gameplay impact much like you could spindash in rush but at its best it was only comparable to the boost when going downhill.
like this game really did feel like a transision for the series and it's just ashame the devs got cold feet about their own ideas, even in the high points of the later series it's hinging on referencing the old like its modern simpsons, generations and mania being great games on their own but combined invalidate eachothers existance and make eachother less impactful as anniversary celebrations because there was nothing after worth celebrating, and then fronteirs with its non stop referential dialogue. i innitially liked fronteirs story but as it sat the issues i had with ian flynns writing style just kept creeping back in. by the time new horizons came out i just felt nothing because that story was carried by the theatrics and the dlc just lacked it.
like minor rant i legitimately tried getting into the comics both archie and idw multiple times but they have the most yappy self referential dialogue i've seen in a tie in comic, like a comic where silver fights enerjak? 95% dialogue panels a good number of which take up half. or the trope in early idw where a character has amnesia, an old villain gets introduced then powered up then everybody fights on angel island. i honestly have more confidence in prime and the movies than i do the actual main series and its comic tie in especially if they wanna pull a kingdom hearts and make literally everything canon while leaving many canon games with key plotpoints like the shadow bots unavailable to modern audiences.
Superb video 👏long live the original Hedgehog engine and Unleashed. A remake one day would be a dream come true
Finally, someone giving some respect to the werehog. I've always liked this dynamic of unleashed as a kid it adds variety and its a cool idea in my opinion sure the stages are long but I don't mind that I loved exploring the night stages at night as a kid and the night stages are still able to add a sense of scope and scale that day stages have. I've always like the werehog as an idea sure I'm baisis since this game means alot to me since I grew up playing it, and having fond memories of it but I don't care 😅
That’s how you get more combos for the werehig you upgrade his aspects and how you make regular sonic faster and make it easier him to gain rings and have stronger ring gauge 17:52
This video is so so good, thank you JP2427
FINALLY someone who likes the night stages as much as I do :D
I loved the night stages too. I had the PS2 version of the game so the game only went as far as the Egg Beetle boss fight, and I was far better during the night stages than day time stages
Sonic Unleashed wasn't the last time Sonic Team cared for Sonic
Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were going for a desperate new direction because it's what the series needed, Sonic Unleashed, as ambitious and big as it is, was still a negative reviewed game like most of the mid and late 2000 games were
The direction change worked, Sonic Colors and Generations were both recieved better than most of the 2000s games released after Sonic Adventure 2, of course, right after we got Lost World and Forces, but that's already a different story
I also think Frontiers was still experimenting with stuff, not because it isn't ambitious, but because they're trying to go further and show they care for the series, Frontiers WAS an important game for the series, it was trying to reach "new frontiers", and for the effort and passion Sonic Team tried putting on it, it rightfully got what it deserved, it surpassed Heroes, the best selling 3D Sonic game for almost 20 years, and it was super well recieved in general, even Kishimoto was getting feedback from the public, applying into the game, taking it in consideration, saying he'll try to apply them in the next games
It's impossible to know what will the future games be like and the future of the series in general, I'm not a fortune-teller, but no matter if it's good or bad, Frontiers still is an important game, and I really hope Sonic gets a hopeful future thanks to what Frontiers wanted to stablish, Sonic deserves the world
Yeah because people hated that gem and it was but I think gens was the last time they cared
i agree with this video wholeheartedly but one small thing too, while this may be personal, jason griffith made the game sm better and can we talk about how he had strep throat during all of the voice acting too??
Call me a crybaby but the way you explained why I love this game so perfectly almost brought tears to my eyes (especially with that montage at the end of the video.) you so expertly explained in detailed every aspect of this game. Especially the way you explained the progression in this game. I genuinely feel as if people didn’t engage with the game enough with the problems so many people ran into. I on my first play through never ran into a road block and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t even aware of the fact there was till I saw other people talking about it. The Werehog gameplay is something especially ragged on for no good reason. The amount of times of heard people say the combat was bad and they said they never looked up any of the combos was crazy to me. I don’t even see the point in getting anything other than Combat attack and unleashed as unleashed literally makes you invincible. Another reason why I feel people didn’t have as much fun as I did is due to the frame rate the game would drop. I feel as if the game would’ve kept a consistent 30 (in some perfect world) 60 fps people would’ve had a lot more fun. I’ve heard a lot of people say that’s because of how poorly optimized the game is but not only is this game gorgeous (as you said best looking sonic game to date Frontiers does have better graphics but did absolutely nothing with them) in 2008 may I remind you but also you have to remember the shear scale of the daytime levels and how fast you blast through them (I guess it’s a more valid Criticism against the night stages but still.) You also properly appreciated the day stages more instead of just writing them off saying they’re good but generations improved on every aspect of them. (You can say that in handling but I still don’t fully agree with that statement.) but generations while I still think they’re the best boost levels in somewhat recent years they still feel very clear cut with a path that’s so obviously better than the other and any other path just being overall less fun to go through (an exception being sky sanctuary.) In unleashed however I feel as though there is a lot more expression in which path you can choose there’s often one that’s objectively faster but the others are also often fun to go through and are extremely smooth and flow really well as opposed to generations more slower platforming on the bottom path. (I would’ve talked about the story but this comment is already huge so just know I think it’s good and miles ahead of frontiers in presentation. Also the I simply can’t state how good the soundtrack is like I honestly couldn’t give it the appreciation it deserves.) All in all I really hope swag either gives this game another chance rereleasing it in 60 fps on new gen (Both Xbox and PlayStation.) or try making a game on the scale of unleashed again something actually worthy of the 60 dollar price tag.
there's only 5 fixes unleashed needs in a re-release:
- improve the drift to a point where it's controllable like Generations
- make the Werehog combat music less frequent, save it for big mid-level encounters
- lower the sun and moon medal requirements for progress and make them unlock bonus content like artwork, music, cheats, skins and especially bonus levels (DLC levels and some of the levels that are unique to the Wii and PS2 version)
- increase XP gain to the point where like in frontiers you should be able to max out all of Sonic's stats by the time you reach the final level if you played the side content
- add the high quality global illumination maps from the E3 build that were removed for performance reasons
no need for any Shadow Generations style add-ons or tacked-on moves like the drop dash in the Sonic Generations remaster, Unleashed holds up better than every Sonic game out there bar Shadow Generations. At most if they have to add something add some Knuckles side missions to the game, it always felt odd having Amy and Tails without Knuckles.
the issue with adabat day i had is i didnt realise you had more stages than the ones on the level select screen meaning i needed around 8/10 medals in every night stage, every single hub token,and 90% of day stages. the issue was at one point i had 7/10 on most night stages and needed 14 more medals and its just like where do you start thus making me putting down the game for 2 years and then not reach adabat day for over a year after i started playing the game again, instead opting to grind for s ranks meaning 4 years since starting the game, i still havent finished
That game id amazing just astonishing its one of best games that really show sonics capabilities and character
I still love this game, and even though the graphics are so much worse, PS2 has to be the go to for me since you actually get to fight dark gaia, it isnt a QTE session, you get to fight the boss yourself and it makes it so much better than just clicking a button every so often.
I grew up watching cobanermani456 play this game mario bros u and those games back then and i loved it
my issue of werehog stages aren't that "it isn't real Sonic stages" of being fast and anything, but is the quality of the action gameplay on its own, Werehog stages I did feel that it is just a "oh hey, god of war and devil may cry were pretty succesful games....let's copy that" stages, it even had the QTE finishing move just like GoW, they tried to copy those games but they still felt like a downgrade, the only thing that's kinda ok is the platforming, but still there are other games which is way better than Werehog stage for that.
Werehog stages are not unique compared to other games, and didn't manage to be as good as them,
unlike booster sonic stages, in which there wasn't any other game like that, so it's a unique gameplay and a pretty good one(even to this day).
Usually i always say we need a game like unleashed again, and it might be some nostalgia speaking, but it just does everything right for an ideal sonic game for me. besides the slippery and unresponsive controls sonic had, it was nearly perfect as a sonic game for me and i miss playing this game
I’m pretty sure the last time Sega fully thought out everything was Wii-ds era
You forgot the best part being the absolute orchestra of the music
It was far from my first Sonic game, but it's still my favorite game, like, ever. Fun fact, this is the first game that has the in-game graphics style that's still in use. The HD version, anyway. I actually played the SD version first, but I absolutely love the HD version. And yes, I actually like Werehog. It's not perfect, but it's pretty fun to get the hang of. Though the day stages are probably the most spectacular things ever made. I don't care if Werehog isn't "Real" Sonic, it's still fun. I don't care that you have to replay levels to max out your stats, Sonic is all about replayability. I don't really care about the length of the night stages in the HD version, I can beat them in a reasonable amount of time. I also don't mind medal collecting in the HD version, it's fun to try to find stuff in the levels. Yeah the Wii version is fun, but the HD version is very fun. This game's opening is probably the highest quality cutscene in Sonic history, and it's a thing of beauty. I too think about Sonic quite a lot. It is my favorite franchise, after all. This game needs to be ported to PC like, right now. Give it the Colors treatment, without making the game worse.
I simply LOVE Sonics characterization in Unleashed as well. Wish freaking Prime took notes.