Sonic scanned and Unleashed

by Chris Greenhough { Apr 14th 2008 at 3:00PM }

The latest edition of the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine comes with an extensive eight-page preview of Sonic Unleashed, complete with gameplay details, fresh screenshots, and an interview with the project's lead designer, Yoshihisa Hashimoto. There's also new information aplenty on Sonic's darker alter-ego (dubbed "Were-Sonic" by the magazine). Apparently, this character only appears at night, can traverse stages using his longer arms (ONM describes this as "Donkey Kong-esque"), and is slightly slower (yet more agile) than regular Sonic. Oh, and he's not evil. Just ... different.

Speaking of being different, Hashimoto appears super keen to disassociate the game from more recent Sonic outings, insisting that Unleashed will have "more in common with the older Sonic Adventure games" and "no relation to Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3/360) or Sonic and the Secret Rings." Hit up French site Wiiz for the rest of the preview.

Gallery: Sonic Unleashed

Tags: onm, platform, scan, sega, sonic, sonic-unleashed

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force @ Apr 14th 2008 3:07PM

Sometimes, Sonic looks like Vegeta.

SoshiKitai @ Apr 14th 2008 3:13PM

Really? His personality reminds me more of Goku's.

TheWarlock @ Apr 14th 2008 3:32PM

Huh, thats strange. Sonic has always reminded me of Goku. It might have to do something with this go-lucky attitude and his Hair, aside from the overall friendliness that only they can portray while fighting someone.

Were-Sonic... interesting... sort of like Goku when he does Golden Oozaru.

spazzook @ Apr 14th 2008 3:12PM

first of all...sonic is nowhere cool as vegeta....

secondly vegeta would have been the most bad ass character for smash bros

thirdly... its obvious that sonic tranfsorms into werewolf sonice...w/e creature...

i'm a little skeptical about this one

"If I fight kakarot in the first round, the first thing i'm going to do is punch him in the stomach!"

"Servant woman, Servant woman! Why did you bring me a pink shirt!"

Tom @ Apr 14th 2008 3:27PM

hehe. They ALWAYS say the newest sonic game will be closer to old sonic! ALWAYS!! But guess what? They never ARE. Honestly, they just need to replace EVERYONE on team sonic with whoever did sonic Rush. Then I'd buy a sonic game. I'll pass on Wolf Link....er... I mean, Were-Sonic,

sonicfan @ Apr 15th 2008 3:34PM

no way tom most of current sonic team helped create. go sonic

Chachi @ Apr 14th 2008 3:33PM

this game looks like it might be pretty cool.

Mr Khan @ Apr 14th 2008 3:44PM

!

If those are the actual Wii screens, i can't see the difference

I'm getting kinda amped now

TheOverlord#2(Toon Link FTW)(1461-5875-9923) @ Apr 14th 2008 3:48PM

Looks awesome...I'll be waiting for the reviews though.

Oh, and Sonic Team made Sonic Rush, Tom

Hopefully it is Sonic 2-D/3-D and no bad camera angles EVER, then it'd be worth it. Sonic games that have let you go around without a straight path are always plagued with ok to bad ratings. (Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively)

WhatIsThatThing @ Apr 14th 2008 5:53PM

Sonic Rush was made by Dimps, a second party of SEGA. Not Sonic Team directly. Dimps was also the maker of the Sonic Advance games for GBA.

Mr Khan @ Apr 14th 2008 7:33PM

Oh, aye, 4Kids is a curse on all American otaku, i remember when One Piece dropped 4Kids and started going with Funimation, I swear it became a completely different show

Then Toonami dropped One Piece without warning, bastards

Mr Khan @ Apr 14th 2008 7:33PM

damnit, should reply to comment below

Haohmaru @ Apr 14th 2008 3:52PM

The Sonic X anime was almost as horrible as DBZ. Almost. Besides that and the obvious Super Saiya-jin homage in the games, that's where the comparisons end.

The more I see of this game, though, the more interesting it seems. I'm a little iffy about Were-Sonic, but I think all the naysayers are a little too quick to cry "wolf." (Pun fully intended.)

SoshiKitai @ Apr 14th 2008 3:59PM

Sonic X was BEYOND horrible compared to DBZ. :O
That was just plain lame.

If you were a little boy and watched DBZ- it was beyond awesome. The lame dialogue mixed in with the extremely unnecessary action was everything a boy could wish for! :D

(I was a fan of the DB series since I first saw DB in Japanese... as the little hyperactive runt that I was when I was a tod: this show was beyond awesome, and everything else afterwards :D)

Shameless pitch: Everyone should try Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the Wii. Like I've said over and over again: Even DBZ haters loved it. (ask most of the players)

Mr Khan @ Apr 14th 2008 4:11PM

You thought DBZ was horrible?

fah, where's your sense of camp?

hvnlysoldr @ Apr 14th 2008 4:28PM

KAME HA ME HA ME HA!!

hvnlysoldr @ Apr 14th 2008 4:29PM

World give me your energy!

SPIRIT BOMB!

Haohmaru @ Apr 14th 2008 6:24PM

I'll be honest: I did find both significantly less horrible when I watched the uncut Japanese episodes without the 4Kids and Funimation dubbing, respectively. Especially Sonic X - 4Kids totally butchered that show. As for Dragon Ball, I'm actually a pretty big fan of Akira Toriyama's art style; I just prefer the pre-Saiyan Saga manga, when Goku was a kid. There was more humor and charm, and the storylines were better then in my opinion. That being said, I won't deny that Tenkaichi Budokai 2 is a great game for what it is.

SoshiKitai @ Apr 14th 2008 6:45PM

Understandable. Lots of people would agree with you. :D I loved Dragon Ball myself, I watched that show a lot when I was a tod.

But watching DBZ for us, is like watching an acceptable version of Professional Wrestling. Just ridiculously awesome. :P
And yeah, Funimation did do some ridiculous things with it. Some are acceptably lame.
The new boxsets of DBZ is a heaven-granted collector's item. Able to choose Japanese and English voices, bgm, and subtitles.

And 4Kids? Obviously awful. I don't know who the heck keeps watching their shows to keep them alive.

Anonymouse @ Apr 14th 2008 4:22PM

"no relation to Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3/360) or Sonic and the Secret Rings."

Not that Secret Rings was bad. But y'know people are still stuck on RPGs and similarly slow games nowadays, can't keep up with the gameplay so everyone gives it a low score.

jtedesco33 @ Apr 14th 2008 4:37PM

If it isn't completely 2d I want nothing to do with it. There has not been a 3d sonic worth taking a crap on yet, why would they make a good one now.

TheWarlock @ Apr 14th 2008 5:48PM

I seriously have to ask: Are you blind or just retarded? Ask any gamer on this post or in the world for that case and they'll say some of the best sonic games ARE in fact [oh god, here it comes] 3D. Just to name a few: Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Rivals. Something called "Good Game Taste" if you didn't already know.

SoshiKitai @ Apr 14th 2008 6:29PM

Whaoh, careful Warlock... claiming Shadow the Hedgehog is one of the best 3D Sonic games could get you murdered around these parts.

*slowly backs away into the shadows, to avoid any crossfire*

Haohmaru @ Apr 14th 2008 6:35PM

I enjoyed the original SA as long as I was playing Sonic's levels; the same goes for SA2 - I despised going on "treasure hunts" as Knuckles. I thought Sonic & the Secret Rings was pretty well executed. The only thing I really hated about it was how very slow Sonic moves at the beginning, and the overemphasis on replaying levels for goals. The latter isn't much of an issue if you don't "have" to beat the entire game in one sitting, though.

TheWarlock @ Apr 14th 2008 7:21PM

@SoshiKitai

Alright, alright, I may have gone a little overboard with Shadow the Hedgehog. Just felt like lashing out is all :)

BPM [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186] @ Apr 14th 2008 4:35PM

No way those could be screenshots of the Wii version... could they?

samfish @ Apr 14th 2008 4:47PM

Probably not, but after seeing Secret Rings, I really don't expect to see much difference aside primarily from resolution between the Wii and PS360 versions.
The high rez shots we saw leaked were pretty, but not exactly graphical marvels upon closer inspection. Lots of low-polygon models for backgrounds and stuff like that. Hopefully that means Sega is making the Wii version the lead platform and scaling up to the PS3 and 360.

Mr Khan @ Apr 14th 2008 4:51PM

I agree with what Samfish says, going by Secret Rings as a model, the screenshots they have seem about right

Also, why would ONM put it in if it weren't the Wii screens?

samfish @ Apr 14th 2008 4:42PM

"insisting that Unleashed will have "more in common with the older Sonic Adventure games"

Yeah, that's...really not a good thing, IMO.

BPM [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186] @ Apr 14th 2008 4:57PM

WHY DID I JUST FALL THROUGH THE FLOOR?!

Mr Khan @ Apr 14th 2008 5:01PM

lol, so true. At least in Sonic Adventure's case

Adventure 2 was pretty solid, rare for modern Sonic Team games

samfish @ Apr 14th 2008 8:31PM

That's what'll happen when you let your giant, iron jaw drop on the floor.

DqHam @ Apr 14th 2008 4:59PM

I want Ryan Drummond back!

Brento @ Apr 14th 2008 5:10PM

Why all the hype for a franchise that has been running on fumes since the masterpiece that was Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast?

SoshiKitai @ Apr 14th 2008 5:37PM

Because it might be good. It claims to go back to the olden days. I think the reason is pretty obvious.

Brento @ Apr 14th 2008 6:10PM

I bet Poison's new album will be good too. And Pauly Shore's new comedy-I bet that'll be good also. Or maybe these ain't the early 90's anymore and it's time to bury the dead.

SoshiKitai @ Apr 14th 2008 6:27PM

Soo... Sonic should go dead?

Sonic's style of speed is all there is to run off of. And previous installations have died ONLY BECAUSE of the speed (other than awful dialogue and storyline).
The 2.5D is what this game tries to sell... a little bit of the 3D "pizzazz" and a bit of the 2D love. With 2D being the main foundation for speed. (3D and speed has had problems since graphics have become the mainstream in most games... the 2.5-look is supposed to simplify that problem)

To claim this should die in hype, is to say that SEGA should just lie down and die. And if that's what you're saying, then I'm sad at how many great games you've missed out on with this type of metro-thought.

Haohmaru @ Apr 14th 2008 6:41PM

I don't see how you could NOT expect this much hype. A return to 2D gameplay is what a lot of longtime Sonic fans have been clamoring for on NWF and elsewhere.

Brento @ Apr 15th 2008 7:15PM

dude just let it go. is it that important that you have to keep on going on and on. Brevity is the virtue of the noblest of bloggers.

SoshiKitai @ Apr 16th 2008 12:51AM

I ain't a blogger though. O_o I "comment" short, and have the ability to "comment" again. (As long as that button's there, I'm gonna' do it as many times as I can to make sure that I defend my point)

If I WERE a blogger, I would've gave it all in one-go, being careful with all my words, and minimizing at my best. Buut, I'm not yet. Sooo... I don't pay as much attention as I should be. Thanks for being so concerned as to reply a day later though. :P