Sonic Unleashed?

[Neo]

An issue that's somewhat of my concern and which I haven't seen being addressed by anyone is this game's longevity. I'm afraid it's going to be really short.

Short in the sense of the time it takes you to get to the ending (bad ending, if there's two, which there is, of course) from the start of the first level. I'm sure they're going to pad it out with 2000 missions like they always do, but I still miss my rather extense Sonic games of old.

Adventure 2 had 30-ish stages, and while half of them were direct copies of one another with different lighting effects and textures, they were mostly invariably fun. Now that I look back on it I feel like a dick for complaining there were really only four different settings in the entire game. (City/Highway, Island, Desert/Pyramid and Ark.)

Now how many stages does this game have again? Around 10? About on par with Adventure, Heroes, etc. But this time around you don't have different characters to play as, so once you finish that you're done. Then you'll have to resort to performing at least 50 action links or finding the hidden Chao to tide you over. This is a shame, because since Black Knight is the true sequel to Secret Rings, I'm assuming it's going down the "massively mission-oriented" gameplay -- with this one making two games doing it within a very small time frame.

Then again, Black Knight has playable Knuckles and Shadow now, which I assume are more than just graphical skins and actually change the gameplay rather dramatically. Which game is the "new Secret Rings", now?

Unleashed actually feels pretty on-rails -- almost every single 3D segment I've seen which isn't Werehog seems to be set in some sort of narrow hallway or an otherwise very limiting path, and 2D is bound to a fixed axis by pure definition -- and then we have that footage of that grassy field scene in Black Knight, which though I still believe is firmly locked on a certain path, sure feels open-ended. Wouldn't it be funny if the games ended up actually being their own opposites?

[Dasher]

Black Knight has playable Knuckles and Shadow now

wait...what!?

and I really want knight to be superior to rings, i hated rings with passion, for the single fact that trying to control sonic was like trying to control a giant dog on a leash who needs to take a huge dump asap.

[Ngangbius]

Black Knight was confirmed to have Knuckles and Shadow as optional playable characters. But that is in another thread.

I do miss when the games got fucked up do to poor decisions like team gameplay and guns, instead of just general incompetence in programming.

The stupid game-related decisions and sloppyness in programing was always here since Sonic Adventure. The only difference is some consumers are finally noticing that the people who makes these games barely improve--mainly because they are rushed as hell just in time for the holiday season, and insert more gimmicky shit that it becomes more and more indistinguishable of what made the franchise so great in the first place. This game doesn't seem to be an exception.

[Isuka]

From what has been shown so far, it looks like the running stages could be pretty short, but there's no telling about the werehog's ones. Not that making them longer would be that great of an idea, but it would be nice of them to give us multiple paths into those too, so the secret ones could be harder, longer and more rewarding.
So far I really liked nighttime Chu-nan and Spagonia BGM, at least the werehog's stages won't (also) be an aural rape. Other than that I still don't like it, but I see they care about the product's playability and QA. "When you're at the bottom, the only way to look is up."

I do miss when the games got fucked up do to poor decisions like team gameplay and guns, instead of just general incompetence in programming.

I thought we had both of them way back when, although not to the laughable extent that it got with '06. And add to that "dimensional-time travelling and explicit furry contents" and "bland Sonic-in-the-world-of-[popular cliché setting]-themed game".
Seriously, the Adventure games were supposed to be some kind of "reinterpretation" of the series, a fresh start for trying new and cool things, they weren't supposed to be interpreted as a "series' identity crisis" or anything.

[gr4yJ4Y]

So on the Wii's Nintendo Channel it lists Unleash's US release as October 21. I think it's a typo...

[Dasher]

http://www.playmagazine.com/index.php?f ... ame_ID=760

Interesting, did I miss this issue? darn.

EDIT: Found another interview!

In the latest issue of the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine they interviewed the Lead Game Designer of Sonic Unleashed. Here it is:

ONM First off, can you give us a brief overview of what you're doing with Sonic Unleashed?

YH This game will have different types of gameplay - Sonic will be going on a great adventure around the world. By using various new action systems, players will be able to experience a brand new high-speed action game for Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic will also have new abilities in this title.
As a development team, we originally started off this project planning to create Sonic Adventure 3. In our minds, this has more in common with the older Sonic Adventure series. It has no relation to Sonic the Hedgehog (the 360/PS3) or Sonic and the Secret Rings.

ONM What brings on Sonic's transformation and what new abilities does he acquire?

YH Trapped by Dr. Eggman's evil plan, the powers of the seven the chaos emeralds is misused and something changes in Sonic's body. As for what he will be able to do with these new abilities, you will have to look forward to hearing more soon!

ONM Why have you decided to bring another new character into the Sonic the Hedgehog universe?

YH We wanted the Sonic fans to love Sonic even more. Also, for the people who are not familiar with Sonic, we think that this will be a great way to introduce them to Sonic the Hedgehog. Those who are not familiar with Sonic, will be able to easily enjoy some of the new gameplay modes. For those of you who are familiar with Sonic, the new modes will provide a change! With the two main elements of 'evolution' and 'bold change', we believe players will be able to enjoy the new Sonic the Hedgehog.

ONM Sonic and the Secret Rings was a great game. Have you taken any elements from this game or Sonic the Hedgehog?

YH We have not installed any features directly from Sonic and the Secret Rings, but one of the new features - Quick Step - will allow Sonic to move left to right quickly, so that could be something that looks similar to to what you have seen in Sonic and the Secret Rings.
We only used the Wii Remote to control in Sonic and the Secret Rings, but the players will also use the Nunchuk controller in Sonic Unleashed. Sonic Unleashed was developed from scratch and will purely be Sonic's new product. Of course, players will still be able to enjoy Sonic's symbolic actions such as Spin Attack and Homing attack.

ONM What new enemies can we expect in the game?

YH There will be a lot of new robots created by Dr. Eggman appearing in the game. The robots will be both comical and cool mixed together, but there will also be some darker monsters that will appear. Some are small but big ones will be about seven metres tall. We tried to add as much variety to the enemy characters as well. Other various gigantic mechanical and boss monsters will appear in the game too.

ONM Finally, can you tell us about some of Sonic's new moves?

YH Three of the new moves include Sonic Boost (by collecting rings, Ring Energy will fill up, which you can use to dash through the course at high speed), Sonic Drift (players will be able to take a short turn at any sharp curves while running through the course) and Quick Step (when running in high speed with an obstacle ahead, players will be able to move left or right rapidly). We'll also have other new actions in the game that will be revealed later.

[Majestic Joey]

I just realized that if the werehog segments end up actually being really fun, what's stopping sega from making a new Ristar?

[Dasher]

You know? that's what I also was thinking about, I mean he swings, he grabs and his arms stretch farther than stretch armstrong.

I guess they think people don't like Ristar anymore.

[Zeta]

I just realized that if the werehog segments end up actually being really fun, what's stopping sega from making a new Ristar?

The fact that it's not Sonic.

[Dasher]

I just realized that if the werehog segments end up actually being really fun, what's stopping sega from making a new Ristar?

The fact that it's not Sonic.

Well, it is better for Ristar to stay dead than to revive and get butchered it like what happened to other characters we know.

[Dasher]

Found it! enjoy!

http://www.tssznews.com/2008/04/28/a-lo ... ver-story/

[Dasher]

Music will also play a part during the gameplay, changing during different parts, such as when Sonic engages his Sonic Boost move

Oh! I'm all into that! ...its looking good so far, really good, Cant wait for that demo. Also note that this game was officially Sonic Adventure 3, and the man in charge was wizard at Sonic Adventure titles including lead Chao programmer (crosses fingers for some type of Chao garden of some sort... hey! the SA2 garden was addicting OK!?) But what really matters here is Sonic and his gameplay, producer Hashimoto seems to know what hes doing, so far so good and not too shabby if I do say so myself. I feel the passion of this new team is genuine and that they are actually helping Sonic in many areas that needed help asap.

Question! is the PS3 weaker than 360? I hear alot of people bashing the PS3, while I thought the 360 was the weak one, what is going on?

[BlazeHedgehog]

I don't think you can say much about the power of the PS3 vs. the power of the 360. They both have varying strengths and weaknesses. There is, though, one rule of thumb:

Games that were designed for the Xbox 360 are usually difficult to port to the Playstation 3, and when you have a multi-platform game designed with the Xbox as the lead platform, the PS3 version usually suffers for it.

The opposite, however, is true - PS3 to Xbox 360 ports are much, much easier in comparison.

[Dasher]

I see, that certainly sucks, thanks for the info.

[Oompa Star]

Just because a console is the best of the bunch doesn't mean more people will buy it. Ever since the 32-bit era, the most powerful hardware was always behind at least one of it's competitors in sales. The Nintendo 64 sold less than the original Playstation, the Xbox was behind the PS2, and PS3 is lagging behind the Xbox 360. Some may argue that the first console of each generation would inevitably win, but then the Saturn and Dreamcast would have been very successful. The point is, more power does not mean more sales.

[Zeta]

Just because a console is the best of the bunch doesn't mean more people will buy it. Ever since the 32-bit era, the most powerful hardware was always behind at least one of it's competitors in sales. The Nintendo 64 sold less than the original Playstation, the Xbox was behind the PS2, and PS3 is lagging behind the Xbox 360. Some may argue that the first console of each generation would inevitably win, but then the Saturn and Dreamcast would have been very successful. The point is, more power does not mean more sales.

Note that the common factor in all of those is excellent third-party support. The N64, Xbox 1, and Ps3 are all lacking on that.

[Dasher]

The tides may turn with the PS3 soon, also! I got good news! it seems Sonic is able to kill enemies with just his normal jump again! unlike the Sonic06 atrocity!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtfnDakhcts

its on 2:43

Also good to see randomness like two pelicans which you can bump into (and People) and that enemies die in just 1 hit, at least the robots... for now.

[Frieza2000]

Sonic Adventure 3

That reminds me, there was mention of town stages a while back but we haven't heard anything of it recently. I think they would be a good move. They'd give the player a moment to absorb what's going on between the blinding speed and the demon slaying and extend the game's length. Maybe they'd even make them big enough to be considered free roaming platformer levels.

[Dasher]

They said that the stages will be now on a map as opposed to warp rings, So im guessing this game will feel like SA2 and SA1 fused.

[Isuka]

Note that the common factor in all of those is excellent third-party support. The N64, Xbox 1, and Ps3 are all lacking on that.

Wii basically destroyed this preconceit, too.

[Dasher]

Could this be a town?

[Dasher]

One thing that Im still wondering is if this game will have the Daytime/Nighttime timer...as no info has been released I assume that it does not.

Still, I do find it curious that the Official Japanese Sonic World Adventure website has that timer, Daytime Sonic and Nighttime Werehog.

[Spike]

You can check out some new screens over here:

http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=56768

Also, this image in particaular has caught my eye:

game.

SonicUnleashed_0180.jpg (189.17 KiB) Viewed 6274 times

I'm really hoping we get more stop 'n wait sections like this in the

[Dasher]

Really nice! liking what I'm seein so far, like that Water look really nice and rings placed on the air besides the loop.

[DackAttac]

One thing that Im still wondering is if this game will have the Daytime/Nighttime timer...as no info has been released I assume that it does not.

That reminds me, there was mention of town stages a while back but we haven't heard anything of it recently. I think they would be a good move. They'd give the player a moment to absorb what's going on between the blinding speed and the demon slaying and extend the game's length. Maybe they'd even make them big enough to be considered free roaming platformer levels.

In general, where have the details been on this thing? So many things have been mentioned in passing (the wiki page still has these tidbits on minigames I haven't seen any evidence of whatsoever) but all we ever see is that damn first level, over and over and OVER. The game's coming out pretty soon and there's not a lot to go on.