Sonic Unleashed - PS3 version

Graphics

Sonic Unleashed is the second Sonic game released on the PS3. The graphics are similar to Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), with some differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. This blog actually shows the variations between the 2 versions of the game.

Story (7/10)

The story in Sonic Unleashed is quite simple. Dr Eggman uses the Chaos Emeralds to break the world, to release Dark Gaia. Super Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds have their energy drained, turning Sonic into a werehog. The game is centred around restoring power to the Chaos Emeralds.

Gameplay (3/10)

Besides Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Unleashed has some of the worst gameplay features out of the Sonic franchise. The day stages focus on getting to the goal in the shortest possible time, while the night stages are more like a hack and slash game, rather then a Sonic game. A new feature added to this game is the switch between 2D and 3D in the levels, to try and recreate the success of the earlier Sonic games. While the game starts off easy, it becomes really hard not far into the story. Unlike previous Sonic games, if you die when the lives counter is at 1, not 0, then its game over. Unlike most games, where moving forwards, then backwards either slows down the character, or they slide, Sonic makes a small circle. That would be fine, if there was another way to slow Sonic down.
In one particular day stage, you have to air boost to a narrow ledge. Then you notice there’s a collectable on the other side, but to slow down, you have to slide, and there’s a possibility that you wont slow down before you hit the spring, making you miss the collectible. Even if you stop, moving backwards is annoying, as halfway through, the camera decides to moves, and you end up walking of the edge.


In one night stage, you have to fight a titan on top of a building. The best strategy it to attack from behind, but it can still sometimes hit you if your not perfectly behind it. While your dazed, it does a shockwave attack, and you fall to your death. That would be fine if it did it once, but it killed me about 15 times this way, and its not that hard to kill.

Some enemies that are encountered in the night stages. Image comes from Sonic News Network.

The best part about the game is the boss fights, because there’s more chance of beating it before a game over then a regular stage, mainly due to the lack of common enemies, who love to smash Sonic off the edge, and into darkness.

Sound (7/10)

It has some good music, but not the best compared to other Sonic games. A lot of the time, I wasn’t paying attention to the music, I was trying to beat the stage.

Replay Value (4/10)

Besides the major flaws in this game, it still can be fun if played in moderation. There are side quests that can be completed, although it’s hard to tell what item is for which quest. But in terms of starting a new save file, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really enjoyed the game.

Overall

Sonic Unleashed is a decent game, and is a step in the right direction for Sonic Team after Sonic The Hedgehog (2006). However, unless you are a fan of Sonic games, it would be best to rent it to see if you like it. I’m just glad they didn’t decide to call it Sonic Adventure 3, and ruin the Adventure series.

Pokemon HeartGold/Soul Silver - the remake of Gold/Silver

Graphics (7/10)

The graphics are the same as they were in Diamond/Pearl versions. At times the screen will zoom out so much, that the character sprites look really bad.

While the DS has been shown to display graphics that rival the Nintendo 64, the actual pokemon battle screens are still 2D, which is a disappointment.

Images come from IGN.com

Story

Story-wise, it is hard to give a value out of 10. The story is just like every other pokemon game, beat the gyms, defeat a Team something, beat the elite four, catch all pokemon. While it remains faithful to Gold/Silver, unlike FireRed/LeafGreen, there is not much story added to the game. There are some new areas, but not an actual story to them. The only added story is regarding the versions legendary pokemon (Lugia/Ho-oh), but it just prevents you from getting the pokemon until you gain all 8 Johto Badges.
The other new parts of the story come from WiFi events, and normally concern legendary pokemon, except for the special Pichu.

Gameplay (8.5/10)

When compared to the Gold/Silver, HeartGold/SoulSilver has more to offer gameplay-wise. There’s the Battle Frontier, which I haven’t actually tried yet. There’s also the new Pokeathlon, which is like a games event. I only have tried once, not liking it after I lost to a team due to them getting bonus points like “always last”. For more information on the pokeathlon, visit http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokeathlon.shtml. The Safari Zone, which wasn’t in G/S, makes a return with new features. It is fully customisable, with the ability to switch various “zones” around. You can also add blocks, which can lure rare pokemon from different regions, and aren’t obtainable any other way, except for trading. Other then that, the gameplay is the same as Gold/Silver, besides the touch screen features. One thing that really annoys me is the new GameCorner. The European versions (and possibly the American version) have had the slot machines removed and some new game added. There is no more trading money for coins, which is what I did to get 9,999 coins for Porygon. Instead, you have to earn 9,999 coins, which I could not be bothered to do.

Sound (7.5/10)

The sound is an updated version of the sounds in G/S. The only problem I have with pokemon game sounds is that after a while, it gets annoying, especially in caves where Zubat seem to be everywhere. As a bonus feature, there is a gift if all 16 badges are collected, the GB sounds, which changes the music to the 8-bit version from G/S, except for the areas with new music.

Replay Value (8/10)

Once you beat the Champion, the area of Kanto opens up, and the adventure starts all over again. There are 493 different pokemon to catch, and some only appear on certain days or times of the day. It will take a while in order to catch them all, and it has many features that will entertain the player for a while. However, replay value also includes restarting the game from scratch, and this is not the type of game that you would want to start all the way at the beginning again. The fact that HG/SS only has one save file, like all pokemon games, makes people not want to restart the game, especially with the WiFi events held only during certain times.

Overall

I would recommend buying HG/SS if you don’t mind playing pokemon games, or you want a good RPG game for the DS.