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Sonic Unleashed; LAST UPDATE: 11/24/2008
Topic Started: Mar 23 2008, 07:49 PM (6,573 Views)
SoniCalvin
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Shuffle. Shuffle.

Never owned a Dreamcast, so I can't really comment on that game. I've heard some negative things about it, like the genre. Granted that it wasn't a fast-paced game, but it was a party game. You can't hate it for that.

But I think people hated it more because of the cheating computer.
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dl316bh
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It was basically a thinly veiled Mario Party rip off. I never had a Dreamcast either, so I can't speak from experience. Most of the buzz on it I heard was that it was mediocre.
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SoniCalvin
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Mm. It being a ripoff of Mario Party was probably another reason as to why it was so disliked. But I need to ask. How can you hate a game developed by Hudson Soft?

...

Actually, when you look at the horrible SWAT Kats game they made a few years back, they probably must've made some other horrible games too.

...Man, they took a perfectly good cartoon and butchered it.
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SoniCalvin
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Oh. Oh! Oh dear...

This trailer seems inspired by... by... Cloverfield.
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SoniCalvin
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As E3 approaches ever so closely (as a matter of fact, it starts today), I look at Camp Sonic for any more articles or previews of Sonic Unleashed, and I see an article in gaming magazine, gamesTM.

gamesTM
 
We're sitting cross-legged on a beanbag in the legendary Sonic Team offices. A presentation of the latest Sonic game was supposed to start ten minutes ago, when a Sega representative speaks up, saying: "Sorry for the delay. One of Sonic Team appears to have gone missing." And with excellent comic timing, an anonymous voice calls out from the back of the room: "I think you'll find he left years ago." The reference to the now departed Yuji Naka is obvious.

The joke is something of a low blow, but it's one that's taken in good humour, despite the uncomfortable truth that Sonic without Naka hasn't produced great results in the last two years. A couple of hours later, Sonic Unleashed's director Yoshihisa Hashimoto concedes that Sega hasn't quite perfected Sonic in 3D until now. "The team understands, very well, the critical reception to past titles," he begins. "I agree with some of the critics; many of their comments were quite reasonable in my opinion. So for this title one of our main aims is to address those criticisms. I think the team has done a very good job so far, so I'm quite confident that we can show the world the Sonic The Hedgehog game that we've all been waiting for."

The Sonic game we've all been waiting for, at least as far as Hashimoto believes, is Sonic Unleashed -- a game that started life as Sonic Adventure 3 but has evolved into much more. Anyone who saw the trailer that was leaked onto YouTube earlier this year will already be aware of Unleashed's major innovation -- the glorious return to two dimensions. Ever since the release of Sonic Adventure, popular conception has claimed that the series will always work better in 2D, and Sonic Unleashed's series of profile loops and jumps certainly attest to this. Yet Hashimoto isn't ready to give up on 3D just yet. "Although we are using classic 2D gameplay, this isn't really about going back to the roots," he claims. "We know that the side-scrolling view is very popular with fans and we respect those feelings. Personally, I'm also a fan of the 2D view. Essentially though, we're trying to take the best elements of what works in 2D and what works in 3D to make the best possible combination of the two."

The result of this previously untested blend is a platform game that may well be perfectly suited to the hyper-speed gameplay of Sonic. Periodically swapping between 2D and 3D, it genuinely plays to the strengths of both perspectives. The two-dimensional parts are used for the pixel-perfect jumps and loops while the 3D sections focus on combat and lane-switching twitch gameplay. "There are a couple of guidelines we followed in designing the levels," explains Hashimoto. "The first is that each 2D or 3D section should last around 15-30 seconds. The second is that the overall stage should be no more than five minutes long. We try to switch between 2D and 3D as often as possible so that no one sequence lasts too long. The idea is to create a pace that never allows the player to grow bored."

That sense of pace definitely exists in the four levels we've seen so far. The constant switch in perspective actually heightens the sense of momentum and the points at which the camera cuts from one angle to another have been picked to punctuate the flow as dramatically as possible. One of the most spectacular examples of such a moment that we were privy to took place in the Great Wall of China stage, in which Sonic launches into a three-dimensional jump, drops through the mouth of a giant stone dragon and then grinds along its snaking back as the view switches to a widescreen side-scrolling shot.

For anyone worried that the 3D sections might be those most likely to let the side down, fear not. Sonic Team has retained the parts that always work -- rail grinding from Sonic Adventure, lane switching from Sonic And The Secret Rings -- and added a few new touches to capitalise on the perspective. Happily, many of these flourishes seem inspired by some of Sega's most immediately playable arcade games. Take a tight corner and Sonic can pull off a drift power slide -- a la OutRun 2 -- in order to keep his speed up. Approach what looks like a dead end, meanwhile, and Sonic can slide beneath the gap at the bottom -- a move that should be familiar to fans of the little-known Wild Riders.

For those paying attention, yes we did just mention a stage based on the Great Wall of China. In fact, every one of the nine locations of Sonic Unleashed is based on a real-world environment. So far we've seen a Spanish villa, an African desert plain, the aforementioned China, and New York City.

Though a far cry from Sonic's traditional environments like Green Hill Zone and Casino Zone, the stages of Sonic Unleashed are still anything but realistic. These are familiar locations, only rendered in Sega's distinctive visual style, with a perfect day's weather and a series of spectacular eye-catching set pieces. Hashimoto explains, "One of the main themes of the game is about Sonic travelling around some very different places, so we wanted to create a sense of him existing in an actual world full of different countries. In fact, you may not know this but the Japanese title of this game is Sonic World Adventure.

So from the earliest stages of development, this 'travel' theme has been at the forefront of design. The aim is to make the player feel as though they have moved far around the globe in a very short amount of time." The lead CG artist on Sonic Unleashed, Sachiko Kawamura, adds: "In making the game, we wanted to make the levels look like somewhere the player has always dreamed of going, rather than a completely fantastical setting. The familiarity of the level designs should give the user a better feeling of having travelled around the world."

The new direction that Sonic Team has taken with its most famous character is certainly one of the best we've seen in years, but this wouldn't be a true Sonic game if we didn't have a couple of nigging doubts. First, there's the fact that we weren't permitted to actually play the game during our preview. This is standard practice at such an early stage, of course, but as we watched Hashimoto misjudge a jump and accidentally fall prey to a bottomless pit during his demonstration, we couldn't help but feel concerned. Second, there's that other major aspect of Sonic Unleashed that Sega was unwilling to talk about during our visit: the mysterious 'werehog' that has appeared in early promotional art for the game. Does the modern Sonic Team have what it takes to realise a hulking, violent alter ego for Sonic without sacrificing the core appeal of the franchise's gameplay? We remain unsure and only a lengthy hands-on later in the year will set our minds at ease.

After recent disappointments like Sonic The Hedgehog and NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams, we're reluctant to get excited about the potential of Sonic Unleashed. What we've seen so far looks genuinely brilliant, but we've learned from our experience that such brilliance can all too easily be squandered. For now, we're awaiting our first significant chance to playtest the game before deciding on which side of the fence we sit. If the final code plays as well as it looks, however, November 2008 will bring the best 3D Sonic game ever conceived, not to mention one of the greatest 2D Sonics as well.


Should we be worried?

I should think so.
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SoniCalvin
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HEY, IT'S AN ALL-NEW E3 TRAILER FOR SONIC UNLEASHED!!!

Yeah, it's low-quality, I'm complaining too. Will have to wait for a higher quality video. But the CGI bits look bloody gorgeous. And look at this! WE FINALLY HAVE SOME WEREHOG GAMEPLAY IN ACTION!!! ... Now if Werehog's arms weren't really stretchy. Looks like someone's trying to imitate Mr. Fantastic.

And what's with the choice of music? Yech.
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SoniCalvin
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GameSpot's E3 coverage gives us a closer look at the gameplay.

I have to be honest. After seeing some of this... I'm excited for the game, but I'm a bit worried. For one thing, did you see Sonic's bit in the daytime section of China? The guy made a couple of mistakes that led to his death. Mistakes that I, and most likely a lot of other Sonic fans are familiar with.

Cross your fingers.
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SoniCalvin
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IGN had a talk with Sega about three of their upcoming games, including Sonic Unleashed. I was expecting them to go into a bit of detail about Unleashed, but really, the only interesting thing I could find out of it was that there will be no space or pinball levels in the game.

Just thought you all should know.
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dl316bh
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Good. Space levels are so cliche when it comes to this series.

By the way dude, you're seriously the first person I've ever seen to do six posts in a row. Unless it's something really important, you'd be best served to just edit the previous post.
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SoniCalvin
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Pf. Now that I look back, that was a bit ridiculous of me.
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frungus
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I liked watching that demo. This game looks WAY more than promising.
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SoniCalvin
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As usual, I looked at Camp Sonic for any Unleashed updates, and there was a magazine article. A while back, a foreign magazine named Level Magazine said they would have information on Sonic Unleashed on the 22nd of July. Well, it's the 22nd of July, so here's the translated article from Camp Sonic.

Quote:
 
The GHOST OF SONIC
Sega is doing a lot of great things right now, they no matter what they do, it doesn't seem that they will ever be able to re-establish Sonic as we remember him from the mid 90's. LEVEL has met the man who will prove us wrong.

[Editor Note: The first part was deemed unrelated, and was not translated.]

The next generation of Sonic games will be created by people that feel like you and me. At the front stands Yoshihisa Hashimoto, a young programmer who has worked backstage with the series since the late 90's. He has made mental notes of all bad steps taken under the projects, and has dreamed about getting a chance to make everything right one day. Now he finally has that chance.

NEW NAKA
Hashimoto is, just like Naka, a perfectionist. They both have a background as programmers, but that is the only thing they have in common. Naka always saw the technical aspects first in his games, like screen movements and how Sonic's feet moved on unequal ground. Hashimoto sees that as a second part. His focus is tempo.

-It is really important that the player always faces a balance experience, explains a really engaged Hashimoto to LEVEL when we saw him in Tokyo. We are always jumping between 2D and 3D in Sonic Unleashed, without ever staying in any one perspective for more than 4 minutes. When passing the 4 minute time line the player starts to drop his/her interest, and that is when we change the perspective.

The development of Sonic Unleashed started with the working title of Sonic Adventure 3, which also points us in the direction they are heading with this game. In many interviews Hashimoto seems to take distance from games such as Sonic and the Secret Rings, which is pretty special for a Japanese game producer within a big company.

Under the demonstration, a self-confident Hashimoto stands and curiously observes the first spectators. It is obvious that he is proud of his game, which gets even more clear when he greets old, new and hesitant fans.

-I think this will be the Sonic game everyone has waited for, he says with a smile. We have successfully managed to add new gaming elements, and at the same time we have been going back to the roots.

The roots follow the 2D parts of the game, but the new parts have not been presented to us yet. They seem to be built like a role-playing game system for upgrades between the levels. Sonic walks around in a city, talks to different characters and buys access to more moves, like higher jumps, better acceleration or the ability to drift - a beautiful and unexpected move that is showed in the first trailer sequences.

After a couple of slow Sonic games it is easy to think bad about another city with elevator music and long dialogues, but Hashimoto claims that this is an important part in the minute time-based balance.

-If we had cut from one 4 minute level directly to another, the result would have been tiresome for the player and it would have been all too short. Getting back to the city becomes a little place to breathe for the player.

WORLD'S FASTEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME

[Editor Note: We've skipped through part of the text, as it's all Sonic Chronicles related vs. Sonic Unleashed.]

Hashimoto says that he looks forward to his Canadian colleagues' game, but it is obvious that he has his own vision of the series' future, and that does not include stylus pens or turn-based battles.

In his world, Sonic's success shall be reduced to four perfect minutes at a time.
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frungus
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Heheh.

I don't know if anyones seen this yet, but this trailer is badass.
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SoniCalvin
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Ugh... look at one of my above posts.

http://forums.the-bbxrae-shrine.net/index....dpost&p=2082249

Honestly, are you really looking up on this game's progress? Stop posting stuff that I've already put up.
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frungus
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SoniCalvin
Jul 24 2008, 06:41 PM
Ugh... look at one of my above posts.

http://forums.the-bbxrae-shrine.net/index....dpost&p=2082249

Honestly, are you really looking up on this game's progress? Stop posting stuff that I've already put up.

Uhhhh.... not AGAIN. But seriously. I try to check all major sonic websites, or gamespot, or Sega websites everyday. I'm just..... not exactly big on looking back on posts. I'll try better. But for now....

My opinion of Sonic Unleashed Theme. (Though nobody cares.)

I only watched it in low res on youtube, so I couldn't read the writing. But when I read it on the official site, I got so excited about the singer. See, Bowling for soup has been (sadly) my favorite band for... years. So it was really kick ass to me.

And everybody is hating on the music, but my opinion is......... Wait for it........... THE BEST SONIC THEME SINCE THE FIRST SONIC GAME! Not only was the music catchy, (so catchy I have the song and video on my Ipod) but the lyrics were cool. And the singer was cool. It went with the fast pace of this game. (Considering sonic can reach, like, 300mph in the game.)

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