The one thing about working this Tech Talk For Families Review gig is that I get a chance to try out some gaming franchises that I have, up till now, given a cold shoulder. Such is the case with Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve seen the kids playing Sonic on the video game consoles at the local gaming store, and unfortunately the spinning and whirling blue blur bouncing around the screen, hitting and ricocheting off of everything in sight, just held so little appeal for me that I figured, “why even bother?” And then recently Sonic Unleashed for the Sony PS3 fell into my lap and, well, I was obligated to give it a second look. Soon I discovered that there is more to this game than the blue blur that I have come to associate with the name “Sonic.”

It’s Like Night and Day

In this recent incarnation of Sonic the Hedgehog, our hero harnessed the power of the Chaos Emeralds and transformed into Super Sonic, and then went to town destroying the precious machinery of his archenemy, Dr. Eggman. However, Dr. Eggman had plans of his own and trapped Super Sonic, robbing him of his powers. He reversed the polarity of the Chaos Emeralds, releasing the dark energy within, which he channeled into a beam that he then fired at the world. The result ripped the world into 7 separated continents floating around a central core. This also caused the release of the colossal beast known as the Dark Gaia. It is Dr. Eggman’s hope to use the Dark Gaia to take over the world. In the meantime, Sonic went through a bit of a transformation himself, growing fur, muscles, sharp teeth, and a bit of attitude. In a nutshell, Sonic the Hedgehog had become Sonic the Werehog.

Daylight and Sonic the Hedgehog

During the daylight hours, Sonic takes on his normal Hedgehog appearance and game play consists of the hyper speedy blue blur that I’ve come to associate with the game. Movement through these levels switches back and forth from 2 dimensional side view to 3 dimensional views as you follow Sonic zooming down the depths of the screen. I’ll have to admit that the whizzing blue blur does tend to get one’s adrenaline pumping, but as Sonic zings past certain things, I can’t help but wonder if they were important to the story development of not. A lot of Sonic the Hedgehog play requires fast thinking and strategically timed pushing of certain buttons. Trust me when I say that if you do not do it right, Sonic will die, and then you get to try to do it right again, and again, and again.

Nighttime and Sonic the Werehog

When the sun goes down, Sonic transforms into a Werehog with fur, teeth, muscles, and stretchy arms, which can grab and pummel Sonic’s enemies. In this mode, the game switches to a slower paced, walk through, 3rd person, adventure-type game where Sonic the Werehog must use his new talents to overcome obstacles and use his new fighting abilities to combat his enemies, which consist of robots and monsters. I found these stages of the game a little more aligned to my usual pace because it gave me a moment to explore and collect the things that I needed. This is not to say it was any easier, just a little less hectic, if that is at all possible.

A World Divided

The overall object of the game is to restore the 7 fractured pieces of the world to their rightful places. To do this, Sonic must travel to the 7 continents and find the Gaia Temples where he must restore the Chaos Crystals, and thus heal the planet. Traveling to the 7 continents and unlocking the paths to the Gaia Temples involves visiting the continents both during the day and night in order to complete certain quests. Because game play switches back and forth between Hedgehog and Werehog play, it keeps the game from becoming stagnant. I’ll have to admit, though, that there were times I became frustrated because I just couldn’t seem to hit the right sequence of buttons at the right time. This was clearly evident at the end of the levels, when the game gives you a score. I can only assume that there are As, Bs, and Cs, because all I could manage to get were Ds and Es.

Helping Sonic battle the evil plans of Dr. Eggman are Tails, Professor Pickle, Amy Rose, and Chips, a flying imp-like character who has lost his memory, yet is full of advice to help Sonic solve certain obstacles. Also lending a hand are the villagers of the various continents that Sonic visits. They help guide Sonic as to where he needs to go.

During game play, Sonic collects certain items like records, videotapes, and souvenirs of his travels. These items allow you to replay the music and video scenes from the game. Also, Sonic collects experience points to allow him to “level up” certain aspects of his character. What’s interesting is that you level up Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Werehog separately; you can give Sonic the Hedgehog Speed, while you give Sonic the Werehog Strength. Leveling up also allows Sonic to learn new moves, most of which require one to learn and master a certain button pushing sequences to pull off, which then begs the question, “What’s so wrong with just giving me a bigger stick?”

Overall Impression

The first thing I noticed about the game was it’s rating which was E for everyone, 10+, due to Animated Blood and Fantasy Violence. After playing the game for a bit, I realized that the Animated Blood was a misnomer, as there wasn’t any that I could see. So I allowed my son, 7-year-old Nikolai, to play the game. The 10+ rating is accurate, as Nik found the game fun, but a bit difficult. That said, he’s decided to give the game 80 Thumbs-Up out of 100. I was surprised to find the game quite fun. I believe that it had a lot to do with the game play switching back and forth between Day and Night. I also discovered that of all of the video games I’ve played so far, I actually like the music associated with this game… weird. Anyway, I’ve decided to give Sonic Unleashed 7 Dancing Elephants out of 8.

Parting Thoughts

The thing about Sonic is that he moves fast and he dies just as fast. At one point, I was 10 seconds into a speed run when Sonic suddenly died. I turned to Nik and asked, “What happened?” His response was, “I’m not sure.”