Sonic: Unleashed (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2)

common sense media says

The speedy blue hedgehog grows some claws.


parents & educators say
  • 50% say violence is an issue
  • 50% say there are positive messages

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this game stars Sega's chipper blue hedgehog, and that he occasionally morphs into an evil looking monster with long claws, sharp teeth, and menacingly arched eyebrows. But his looks are deceiving; at heart, he's the same noble mammal gamers have loved for the last two decades. Still, he is a little more aggressive than normal while in his more intimidating form. He swipes at enemies with his fists and grabs and throws them to the ground. It's mild fantasy violence, but its pervasive and perhaps more than some people might expect from the usually tame game hero.

Educational value: Not applicable.
Positive messages: Sonic and his friends are clearly good guys with altruistic motivations.
Violence: The fighting, which involves plenty of punching, grabbing, throwing, and the occasional laser beam, is cartoonish and generally unrealistic. It is, however, quite pervasive.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: This game is part of Sega's decades-old (and remarkably prolific) Sonic the Hedgehog license.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.

More on Sonic: Unleashed

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the game's sense of speed. Did you have a hard time controlling Sonic? If so, did the difficulty affect your enjoyment of the game? Did the game's designers do a good job of providing you with enough warning for upcoming obstacles and perils? You can also discuss Sonic's alter ego. Was he likeable even as a scary looking monster? Did you prefer playing as one of his physical forms over the other?

What's the story?

What's the story?
SONIC: UNLEASHED opens with a lengthy and spectacular CGI movie that wouldn't be out of place in a blockbuster disaster movie. It depicts the hedgehog's arch nemesis Eggman cracking open the planet's crust from the comfort of his spaceship in hopes of remaking the world into Eggman Land. Meanwhile, he turns our loveable blue hero into a strange and menacing monster, then kicks him out of the ship and sends him hurtling down to the world's fissured surface.

So begins Sonic's adventure as a kind of werehog; a creature that exists as a super speedy hedgehog by day and as a ferocious (but in a good, evil-fighting way) monster at night. Levels are divvied up for these two personas; half take place in the sunshine and see Sonic sprinting at breakneck speeds over hills and through loops, while the other half occur in the evening, where Sonic's darker form battles evil robots and uses his stretchy arms and clawed hands to climb and swing around environments filled with treacherous crevices.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
The levels that take place during the day recall Sonic's glory days, when the little blue furball zipped around the screen so fast that the player's greatest challenge was simply anticipating what came next and deciding whether Sonic ought to stay his course, slow down, or perhaps jump. They switch seamlessly between a rear perspective, which allows players to control Sonic's movement from left to right as he avoids various gaps and spiky perils, and a side angle that feels a lot like the perspective of Sonic games of old -- had the hedgehog been moving through them at five times the pace. It's fun, habit-forming stuff.

Unfortunately, the game drags when Sonic changes form at night. His alter ego is capable of doing pretty much the same basic things that game characters have been doing in platform games for ages, such as climbing posts, shimmying along precipices, and smacking around hordes of bad guys then collecting the bits of energy they leave behind. It's not that these traditional platform levels have been badly designed, but rather that they bring nothing new to the table. There will be times when players wish the game was composed solely of the speedier missions.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2
Not available online
Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer: Sega of America
Released on: November 24, 2008
Price: 49.99
ESRB Rating: E10+ for Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence

This review was written by Chad Sapieha
 
 

Review It

 

Review Sonic: Unleashed





Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
 

What parents & educators say

14
Based on 4 parent & educator reviews:
  • 50% say violence is an issue
  • 50% say there are positive messages

Most useful reviews by all members

obnoxiousm
educator and parent
 
The Werehog as a Symbol of Teen Challenges?
First off, I should give you some perspective on my review. My little icon says parent reviewer, but I'm actually an educator, fresh out of student teaching. I'm also a lifelong Sonic fan; I wrote the expert mode walkthrough for the foul-mouthed Shadow the Hedgehog on Gamefaqs. I'm something of an expert on the series and its themes and this is my second-favorite installment. The plot is simple: Eggman cracks open the world to unleash Dark Gaia, an ancient evil, and use it to build and power his world empire. He has to use Sonic to do this, which turns Sonic into a monsterous creature with a warm heart at night. He sets out to right the world, and along the way he meets amnesiac Chip and helps him find his identity. Sonic is moodier and more aggressive as the werehog, and at night he must fight evil spirits spawned from Dark Gaia and take their power into himself. Over time we see other characters possessed and even transformed by Dark Gaia's fragments, but why aren't Sonic and Chip effected (well, at least not emotionally for Sonic?) I personally read the game as symbolic for the process of growing up and putting your life together as a teenager, lain against a backdrop of saving the world from itself. Sonic is both a normal heroic being and something new, different, and tinged with Dark Gaia, and yet he resists all temptations to do evil, just as a moral teen can resist the urge to do all those usual risk-taking things they do. Sonic's friendship with Chip, responsible fighting, and determination in the face of apparent ill health are great role modeling for kids, teens, and even adults like me. My only concerns for younger kids are the violence, and for older ones, the consumerism. There is a lot of fighting and the final boss fight involves eye-poking. You do not want your little ones mimicking this! By 13 your kid should know how serious violence can be in the real world, though. For older kids... there are two versions of the game, the normal version (Wii/PS2) and the HD version (360/PS3). The actual level content is different, but the story is the same, and it's something of a cheap ploy to get more money. If your younger teen has one and you have any say in it, make them get all the medals and beat the final boss before they waste money on the other version or the DLC. The Wii version, at least, is a rather easy game, I barely therw myself at it and am already ranked in the top 20 of the site at which I compete in it. Gameplay wise, it's excellent. Controls for the werehog are consistent, few glitches, fun fighting and seeing as the werehog and traditional speed as Sonic. I don't really enjoy the day levels as much as night, but that's typical of me, not other players. Fighting gets a little annoying once you reach the final continent. The music is also beautiful--see if you can spot the Green Hill reference in Adabat Night!

ecoglass
kid, 13 years old
 
its so cool i played it

reviewerdudeguy2
teen, 16 years old
 
night levels:ok day levels: awesome
during the day, sonic unleashed is a fun and exciting, rollercoaster like experience with the series exciting speed and trademark moves. At night though, sonic is the lumbering werehog. Although the werehog levels are actually not bad, there are to many and they take a long time. Its 70% werehog and 30% hedgehog when it should be the other way around,

Yangy
teen, 15 years old
 
Average quality game, with the day levels being out of this world and the night levels being rather a chore to complete. Long cutscenes don't help.

larlar327
teen, 14 years old
 
Good!
No violence in day stages. Much violence in night stages. Animated blood is shown. Night stage are horrible.

whyamiusingthi ...
teen, 17 years old
 
Best Sonic game ever
Easy controls (during day only), good plot, realistic locations, occasional comedy from Eggman, and good examples of friendship.

blaze408
kid, 10 years old
 
Play before you juge!
You get bored after awhile but there's no scary parts don't just look at a pic of sonic glowing eyes and say: "aw , since this looks scary I don't want it"

Zero65
teen, 14 years old
 
Fear the night.
The blue blur's first "real" 3D outing was back on the Dreamcast, known as Sonic Adventure. A little while later, Sonic Adventure 2 was released on the Dreamcast as well, but ever since then, the quality of 3D Sonic just went down and down. (SA and SA2 were both ported to the Gamecube - if you can find them at your local pawn shop, check them out) So, does Unleashed bring back the fun? Yes... kinda. The game is split into two different types of levels: Daytime levels, which are fast paced levels which are played as Sonic the Hedgehog, and nighttime levels, which are slow combat-focused platforming stages, played by Sonic the Werehog. The daytime levels are great: speed-of-light action and great stage design. Isn't that what Sonic is supposed to be? However, the same cannot be said for the nighttime levels, which is sad, because there's more Werehog stages and they take longer to complete. Gamers of all ages and experience will find the Werehog levels clunky and monotonous. Not to mention that you have to talk to people found in a hub world, but the only purpose it serves is length extension. Now for controls. For the Wii version, stupidly tacked-on motion controls just blow. Thank God that you can use a Classic Controller or a Gamecube controller to play, and it works just fine, but I still had some issues with the Werehog levels with unnecessary deaths. I then downloaded the 360 demo of the game, but the controls were just game-breaking. Sure, the 360/PS3 graphics are definitely prettier, but if I'm going to have this much trouble with it, it's not worth the time. Message to Sega about your upcoming title, Sonic Colors: Stop throwing in useless gimmicks and give what people want: A Sonic game that's just about Sonic... the Hedgehog.

 
10 and up.
sonic unleashed is a good game to buy but expect a little bit of violence throughout the game the ps2 and the wii version is better then the ps3 and the xbox 360 because in the ps2 and the wii version you don't have to build up scores to get a good grade all you have to do is race and beat the time to get a good grade but the ps3 and the xbox 360 you have to build up scores and do a lot of tricks to get a good grade there are long cut scenes that are a waste of time the controls can be a problem at first but with enough practices you should be fine and the message is about friendship and teamwork.

RoronoaZoro9
kid, 12 years old
 
Awesome game, but complicated controls
This game is awesome.I rented it and I loved it. It is very entertaining and never really gets boring.It is actually kinda violent but nothing that will affect your kids. The controls can get more complicated as they go along so you got to be very good with remembering, but really this game should be for kids 7 and up.

StephanieRocke ...
teen, 14 years old
 
I can't believe what happened to me...
I don't play games and stuff but my brother does. I saw him playing this game on his PS2 and I was highly into it. Now I have it installed to my PSP. I enjoy racing ...Really ....I think I am going too far as a girl in the game.

TimStarz09
teen, 14 years old
 
Not Violent, But Fast
This game isn't exactly violent, in fact the most violent I think I saw was explosions, but it goes at a pace that I think may be too fast for younger kids. It goes at a very fast pace and you need to act quickly in order to get stuff done. In a nutshell, don't play this game while you're sleeping!

Jonesy
teen, 16 years old
 
This game is sooooo boringgggggg
my little brother rented it and me and my sister both agree strongly that it is very slow. Also it is to easy i think the Sega company could have done a much better job.

Sonic the Hedgehog
teen, 16 years old
 
Way awesome game; some older themes
Violence: During the day, there isn't much violence. You simply jump on enemies. At night, you beat up "nightmare" enemies with fistfights. At the end, a being called Dark Gaia spills excessive amounts of green blood. Sexy Stuff: Some of the townspeople missions have mild flirting in them. Language: In a boss fight, Sonic the Werehog (Fanged Sonic) shouts "Geez!" Consumerism: It is the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Plus in the cut-scene "Opening" and "Dark Gaia Awakens", a SEGA Dreamcast is seen in the background. Bad Messages: Dr. Eggman's robot assistant occasionally insults Eggman. Eggman destroys the planet so he can make a theme park named after and glorifying him. Bad Role Models: If Eggman loses a fight, he whines and complains Easy to play: Daytime missions are rather easy to get through, but nighttime missions are more difficult, but with practice, they are easier to get through. Good Messages: At the end, John 15:13 is reinforced: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Good Role Models: Sonic and his friends fight day and night to save the world. Overall: Excellent gift for ANY Sonic fan. Recommended for 10+.

Iwaki
teen, 14 years old
 
Not for anyone.
- Amy Rose gets sexually groped in this game. - The Werehog is known by the world wide web as a pedophile. - Message seems to be "KILL ALL RANDOM SH*T". Seriously. - Excessive violence, it seems to have worse violence than Team Fortress 2. - I felt insecure playing this game.

mr cow
kid, 12 years old
 
the worst part about this game is the flying part. It took me like a month to beat.

kkkarkarsis
kid, 12 years old
 
Don't get this for Wii
I love this game, but it's reallly hard on the Wii. There are some parts of the game when you have to walk across a very thin bars/pipes. On the 360 version you can controll it better, on the Wii it's hard because it goes to fast you can't really controll the speed when your walking on it. I'd get it for 360 for sure.

Diligo
teen, 16 years old
 
Get it for 360 or PS3 BUT NOT FOR Wii !!!!!
This game is ok I mean I do love sonic myself and the WEREHOG thing is pretty cool but when I got it for Wii I realized that there were fewer levels then when I saw the trailer on gamefly so I got it for 360 and I was like WHAT THE!!! THE ONE FOR 360 HAS MORE LEVELS THEN THE Wii ONE!!!!!!!! so if you want more levels for Sonic Unleshed get it for 360 or PS3.

sonicfan1
kid, 9 years old
 
The semi to the best game
the game is good but kids got to know sonic before playing because if they don't they might get nightmares

Samuel M.
kid, 11 years old
 
Sonic gets some chipped claws
One of the worst games to hit the Xbox 360. Ever. The game runs surprisingly slow, and has you repeating the same kinds of battles over and over again. The game is repetitively difficult, and a waste of time, muscle, money, and talent. The worst aspect of Sonic's history ever since his games hit the iPhone. This game objectifies a good reason to fear the night, but also objectifies a good reason not to buy it.

An independent voice for families
Age-appropriate reviews
 

vote now

Will you play Sonic: Unleashed?


Already played it? What do you think?

 

About our rating system
ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age