Greetings ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to Sonic Month 2. Today we'll be looking at a game that helped bring Sonic out of the darkness, Sonic Unleashed for the Xbox 360 and PS3. (Also released on PS2 and Wii) With the abysmal reception of Sonic '06 and Sonic Genesis, Sega desperately needed to rethink their Sonic game plan. Sega decided to advertise what worked with Sonic so well in the past, speed. With the brand new Hedgehog Engine to generate the graphics as Sonic goes through the level, Sega knew they could make Sonic as fast as they needed to. However, when the Werehog was announced people started throwing fits as if they had completely ruined a game that hadn't even been released. When it was released in 2008, people often gave the day stages very high praise and the night stages...not so much. So how do I think this game holds up? Let's find out.

Graphics
     Like I said, the Hedgehog Engine (which is somehow very often mistaken to be a physics engine) helped the game tremendously with its graphics. The engine loaded certain level graphics when Sonic reached a certain point in the game, making loading far less of an issue than in '06. In terms of looks, this is one of the best looking games I've ever seen. In fact, it was nominated in Spike's VGAs for best graphics, being the only "non-realistic" looking game to be on the list. The models, enemies and levels all look far better than in '06. The backgrounds are also nicely done, adding even more eye candy to the game. The animations are smooth and are far less puppet-like than in '06. (By the way, you might want to get used to me comparing this to '06 simply because this game was the next main series Sonic game after '06) Overall, a very good looking game.

Sound
     The music is some of the best music in the series and possibly my favorite part of the game in general. The main vocal theme of this game is Endless Possibility which is sung by the lead singer of a band called Bowling for Soup. I think it's a really good track and can describe Sonic really well. The stage music is also very good providing not only atmosphere, but also really catchy tunes. My favorites being Cool Edge (Day), Windmill Isle (Day), and Rooftop Run (Day). I also really love the orchestral pieces for the opening theme and the final boss theme. There aren't any tracks I hate really, it's just that the night stage themes are kind of forgettable. I don't know why, maybe it's just that because I play the day stages more, I end up listening to those tracks more. Or maybe it's just that the day stage themes are that much better, I don't know.

Addictiveness
     To be honest, I don't go back to this game very often, but when I do, I play the day stages. Granted, I had some amount of fun with the night stages, but not nearly as much fun as the day stages. I don't really plan on playing this game again until I commentate over it, which won't be for a while. (a.k.a. Until I get something to record my consoles with) I don't go back to collect any medals or anything like that because I figure that since I've already beaten the game, there's really no need to do so.

Story
     In the opening cutscene we see Eggman on his main ship, laughing maniacally for some reason until Sonic shows up, trashing all his robots in what is possibly one of the most awesome scenes in Sonic history. Eggman decides to jump into one of his giant robots that he conveniently keeps with him and tries to kill Sonic. Obviously, it doesn't work, but just after Eggman grabs Sonic in the robot's hands, Sonic goes Super because he actually managed to find the Chaos Emeralds before the game began. Eggman escapes and Sonic gives chase on to another one of Eggman ships. Eggman manages to trap Sonic in some machine that not only took away his Super Sonic powers, but also the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman somehow turns Sonic into the Werehog during the process and sends Sonic and the Emeralds down to Earth. Sonic then meets a character named Chip, who has lost his memory due to Sonic falling on him. That's just the opening, but the rest of the plot is pretty good and worth a look in my opinion.

Depth
     This game definitely has a lot to offer, even without DLC. There are tons of Sun and Moon Medals to collect throughout the game if that's your kind of game. The day stages provide really high speed action and the night stages are for those who like beating stuff up. There's pretty much something here for almost any type of gamer. My main problem with this version of the game though, is how you have to collect a certain amount of Sun or Moon medals in order to advance the plot. And if you're anything like me, looking everywhere for those medals gets really tedious really fast. It's just one flaw that I find with this game, but when you actually do advance, it's pretty darn fun.

Gameplay/Controls
     This game has Sonic doing what he does best, running and jumping. However he does have some new abilities. You can press the X button when locked on to something to perform the homing attack, which feels a little weird to me. Pressing X while running will allow you to boost. Boosting not only lets you blaze through the levels in the blink of an eye, but it also attracts nearby rings. You get other upgrades later on as well. That's just the day stages though, going into the night stages, you controls the combat-oriented Werehog. You can attack enemies and get combos, do special moves, throws, and other stuff like that. The controls are fine for both day and night stages, but I do prefer day stages. While the Werehog isn't terrible, I think people's main problem with the Werehog is that it doesn't belong in a Sonic game. I like the way he handles just fine, but I do agree that this type of gameplay isn't Sonic like. Overall a decently good experience.

Overall, I feel that while Unleashed certainly helped pull Sonic out of the dark age, it didn't fully bring him back. It did some things right that would later be improved upon. With great music, good controls, and a decent story, I give Sonic Unleashed for the 360 an 8.5 out of 10. Next time, we're looking at Sonic Colors for the Nintendo Wii. Until then, PEACE!

Well, awesome review man! Very lengthy and detailed. You have pretty much summed up the whole game and I don't have anything else to say now but just keep these awesome reviews coming!