3.5/5 ★ – WoahItsFlug's review of Sonic Unleashed.

Unleashed is one of those games I've messed around with for years and years. I got it when I was in elementary school and ever since I've tried several times to get through it. This year I finally commited, playing both the wii and xbox 360 versions and... I still couldn't finish it. This game is tough, because I WANT to be able to say it's as incredible as it always is in my head. But every time i sit down and play it, the cracks begin to show. Between both versions, the night stages are slow and repetitive, and the way acceleration works plus the lack of drop shadows in the 360 version make precise platforming annoying. In the 360 version, pacing screeches to a halt every hour or so as you have to backtrack theough levels and hub worlds to find medals. This problem isn't present in the Wii version, but the tradeoff is that some levels are entirely cut, and the hub worlds are replaced with uninteresting visual novel-style menus. For the 360 version, the pacing issues ultimately turned me off. For the Wii version, the day stages weren't sonincredible that they could make it worth playing the night stages, like on the 360. The day stages in both versions are great. Obviously, they're much more impressive on the 360 with the more powerful hardware, but the Wii version's are still a lot of fun. This is where the boost formula worked best in my opinion. It isn't the most refined version, but I think it best achieved the feeling of power they were going for. The game's presentation on 360 is incredible and still more or less the gold standard for the series 18 years later. On wii, it's a whole lot crustier, but I do find some charm in the way the game looks. All the sharp edges and texture warping almost remind me of that PS1, DS sort of look. And of course, the soundtrack between both is top tier, srill probably the best in the series. With all the ups and downs, there's one thing that makes me stick by this game through it all: the vibes. I know that sounds silly, but this game has such a genuine spirit of adventure and freedom to it, such ambition and clear passion for the series and a desire to drive it forward into a new era; it's a game that is in many regards the last of its kind for the franchise (at least until Frontiers came out) and it's incredibly interesting to revisit.