High speed, action-packed brawling makes for a solid game... But not great...
But I'm going to talk about Unleashed, so let's get to it!
Sound/Music: 8/10
As with almost every sonic game, Unleashed has great music. Whether it's the upbeat tempo of the day stages, or the laid back jazz feel of the night stages, it connects on all points, not one track sounding the same. Some tracks sound very ethnic. Chun-nan has a oriental-sound to it, while Shamar sounds quite arabic. Also Jason Griffith, has improved greatly from 06(his werehog voice quite possibly even better than his hedgehog, and he never says "long time no see"), Tails actually sound like a boy (finally!), and Chip-despite what you've heard-is not annoying in the slightest, as he never says anything during levels, and might say something during boss battles. What keeps this from being a 10, is Sonic, constantly saying the same phrases, when he jumps, and boosts
Gameplay: 7.0/10
Daytime, and Nighttime. Either of the two may not be for you. Daytime stages bring back the raw speed that is natural for the blue blur, and also has some platforming elements. the Sonic Boost adds even more speed.
Nighttime stages offer beat-em up gameplay, with some puzzle, and platforming aspects. The werehog has some speed, when you hold down the Left or Right Triggers (on the 360). But beat-em ups have never focused on speed anyway. The controls are quite simple, but practice is recommended so you won't get your spiky-blue ass handed to you. IMO, some professional gaming reviewers, might really suck at this game, and give it poor scores as a result. What keeps this from being a 10, is the level up aspect-while not annoying, just doesn't fit in a Sonic game (the sun, and moon levels are a different story)-, and the Quick-time events. I elaborate on them more later.
Graphics: 7.5/10
While in general, the detail in the stages is spot on, the enemy design is a bit bland. Eggman robot aren't that much different-Egg Fighters, Egg-Shields, Egg-Knights and Egg Shooters are simply upgraded versions of Egg Robos-which make up for Half of the Eggman robots you'll run into in day stages, and most of the Eggman robots you'll run into in night stages. Others such as smaller enemies, almost only exist to reach higher places. The enemy design in Dark Gaia's minions, are more diverse, and you will run into a variable mix of them in each level, usually running into Nightmares, and Deep Nightmares-both aren't difficult to beat, but in numbers, can be deadly (especially when different types of other enemies are present as well). The laziest enemy design is the Eggman bosses. One is a combination of the first two, and the design of the two is different, but quite similar. The final Eggman boss, fought in Eggman Land, is a modification of the one seen in the opening cut scene, and a weaker version at that!. Dark Gaia Bosses are very different however. In some stages, the framerate slows down when there is alot of action on screen. This doesn't happen much however.
Controls: 8.5/10
I touched on them in gameplay, but I'll go in depth here.
They aren't hard to learn, and are simple. The Homing attack is a different button than the jump, to prevent accidentally Homing attacking an enemy. The Ring Boost can be done on the ground and in the air, as long as there's not another enemy around. This brings up a tip I must give: use boost wisely. When boosting near rings, the rings come toward you, but unnecessarily boosting can lead to running into spikes, or your death-remember that. Also, wait for the targeting cursor to come up, if you are homing attacking. if not, you'll to an air boost, going by your target, and most likely to your death. The werehog's controls are more forgiving thank goodness, but as I mentioned, practice in areas where falling to your death is not a risk.
What bothers me about this game:
One of them, is the Sun-Moon medals. while not too much of a burden, in later levels they become a problem, especially in the last day stage before Eggmanland, where you need to be at maximum day medal level 7, which requires 120 sun medals, over half of the available in the game. At that time, you may not have, even 100. they slow down the pace of the game considerably. Also, some levels are just outright cruel. Not due to glitches, but level design, so it's forivable, and some of the harshest, aren't mandatory. My biggest gripe, is that this game relies far, far, FAR TOO MUCH on Quick time events (QTE)! Every mandatory day stage has one, aside from the very first. While failing them, early on only means you'll get less rings, possibly fewer points, and a slower time, later on, they are much less forgiving, when failing, means, you'll hit an enemy, spikes, or even die, especially, in Eggman land, and on the final boss, where if you mess up, you WILL die. The worse of them, is the Tornado Defense stages-only two thank goodness-that relies 100% on QTE. It's the only stage I have never did again after completing it.
Glitches?
Not many, but there are some. In Shamar night, I glitched through the floor, to my death. This has happened to me only once, so I consider it a freak accident. Something similar happened to me in the final level-I glitched through the tubes, i was sliding in, and died. Again, a isolated occurrence. But one glitch isn't one. In the Eggman Land HUB (which you unlock after beating the game), in the tunnel past the entrance to the Eggman level, if you air dash to the right corner, in the back of the tunnel, you will end up glitching through, and falling to your death, losing a life. You'll respawn at the entrance of the HUB, and can't repeat it. This is only a glitch, you have to go out of your way to activate though.
Summary:
This game is among the best sonic console games to come out since the Adventure series. This game didn't single-handedly bring sonic back to where it was in it's Genesis days, but it's a step in the right direction. If you own a 360, or a Wii, and are a Sonic fan, you have no reason to not have this game. I would at least rent this before you buy. This game may not be for you. This game is at least worth playing for a while.
overall/average score: 7.75
rounded to the nearest whole number: 8
My time is up, and I thank you for yours! Have a great day!