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Trailer Review: Sonic Unleashed

Posted by John Constantine



Yes, Sonic Unleashed does look good, idiotic title be damned. A lot of folks talk about how Sonic’s fallen on hard times in recent years. Every time a new console Sonic gets announced, it’s hyped as “the one”, the Sonic game that brings back the ‘Hog’s glory days, when he wasn’t playing second fiddle to Mario just so people would pay attention to him. And every time, the game turns out to be, at worst, a steaming pile of crap (Sonic Heroes/Riders/PS360 Self-Titled) or, at best, a competent imitation of past success (Sonic Advance/Rush). Unleashed’s luscious presentation, fun music, and pure speed are certainly tantalizing but who knows how this game actually plays? Will it be a purely on-rails affair, a la Sonic and the Secret Rings, or are you actually doing more than making Sonic go right and left? When does he turn into a werewolf? Who knows. At least it’s pretty.


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Comments

Amber Ahlborn said:

Hey now, no mention of Secret Rings?  That's the only 3D Sonic game I actually like.  

June 18, 2008 9:52 PM

Derrick Sanskrit said:

In all fairness, the two "competent" series you mentioned were both on portables, not consoles.

I don't care how engrossing and cinematic it makes the game feel, I am not down with over-the-shoulder Sonic gameplay. Even though Adventure 1 & 2 were fun, they felt decidedly slow and methodical in comparison to the glorious Genesis originals. This is a case of not needing to reinvent the wheel so much as remove the ridiculous spinning rims from the perfectly good wheel before the pedestrians have seizures looking at your atrocious wheel...or something like that.

June 18, 2008 11:59 PM

Danro said:

Was he previously on a leash?  Anyway, Sega should watch your Ratatat mash up to get a feel for the kind of music the kids are listening to these days.

June 19, 2008 1:06 PM

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about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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