Sonic Unleashed is a very thrilling game, given that you give it time to get used to. No problem for Sonic fans.
Daytime Stages:
In the day, Sonic Unleashed offers a new, far better approach to the term 'Sonic Speed'. Simply put, this is because these stages are primarily about rushing to the end, which should not come as a surprise. Any Sonic fans who purchased 'Sonic the Hedgehog', on the Xbox 360/PS3, will find that these stages are like a much improved version of the 'speed stages', on terms of the speed. However, on Unleashed, Sonic does not have to continuously run, there are many more available commands, and Sonic can explore the stage far more freely. If you are capable of simply blasting through any of the daytime stages, then this game offers a lot of thrill.
The background music playing in the stages contributes excellently to the excitement of the game, because the music always effectively matches your surroundings, and the sound of it changes as you use the 'Sonic Boost' command (for speed), so that it is higher pitched, as if the Doppler effect is implemented into the gameplay.
The bad things about daytime stages are that it is always almost impossible to complete any stage on your first playthrough, as it would require lighting-fast reflexes. However, after a few playthroughs of the same stage, you should have managed to have remembered the main problems lurking in the stage, and overcome them. Additionally, there are very few irritating and unfair glitches in the gameplay, which can send you off-course in a stage and to your abrupt death. However, these glitches can be overcome by remembering where they are and finding a different way around the stage in the future.
To summarise the daytime stages, I would say that they are very thrilling.
Night-time Stages:
In the night, you play as 'Sonic the Werehog', and the style of play is completely different. These stages are very similar in style to the gameplay of platformers, such as earlier versions of Prince of Persia, as Sonic must frequently fight with enemies and then follow complicated routes by swinging on poles or shimmying across walls. As a gamer who likes this genre, I have enjoyed playing through these stages, although i have not enjoyed them as much as the daytime stages. Also, a factor of the night-time stages which is noteworthy is the fact that instead of having rings to support your life, you have a life bar. However, rings do restore this life bar. The influence of having a life bar is that it can bring frustration if you can not recover your health. This was something which pleased me originally on other Sonic games, although whether you like the idea of a life bar or not is up to you.
The music in night-time stages is always very different from the music in the daytime stages, although it matches the theme of the stage in the same way as before. This, unfortunately, can easily be disregarded, as you frequently find yourself hearing the same battle theme playing every time you enter combat. On the other hand, this battle theme is not particularly repetitive, and it represents the 'Werehog-style' combat very well.
A poor attribute of the Werehog stages is the fact that they can be exceptionally long and as such frustrating on your first playthrough. On this first playthrough, stages can take anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour (Including dying and restarting from checkpoints). This can be particularly frustrating, as if you die during an attempt to get the top rank on a stage, you will almost definitely fail to get this top rank, and will have to go through the arduous journey of the long stage again. Despite this, if, on your first playthrough, you only desire to complete the level, then the lengths of night stages can be ignored.
General comments:
The graphics of this game in the day and night are exceptional, and are far improved from its predecessor, 'Sonic the Hedgehog'. The landscapes which you will find yourself blasting through are always very strongly themed, for example, there is a stage set in an Asian country, and it features the Great Wall of China and many dragon-shaped paths.
The plot of Sonic Unleashed, as it is in all Sonic games recently, is quite cheesy, and the humour can be old-fashioned or more appealing to younger audiences. The dialogue in the game is also cheesy, although it is a dramatic improvement from come of the previous Sonic games.
Finally, you may have noticed that throughout this review, I referred to the term, 'Sonic fans', and commented that they may like certain factors in the game. This is because I believe that Sonic games can only be properly enjoyed without a learning process by people who have played Sonic games before, and have gotten used to the unique controls and handling, which are often a problem for people new to Sonic. However, in this game, the camera control is greatly improved, and is often automated, so that you always know where you are going. On top of that, the handling in Sonic Unleashed, i believe, would also be far easier to become familiar with much more quickly.
Overall, I believe that the purchase of Sonic Unleashed could be a good one for anyone - particularly Sonic fans. It would be just as much of a good purchase for people new to Sonic, as long as they give the the game time, and become strongly familiar with it, as people do with fantastic games like Fallout 3 and Oblivion.