You Were All Wrong About Sonic: Unleashed

Addressing The Werehog In The Room

Werehog stages are much slower, more exploration based levels compared to the daytime alternatives and feature Sonic battling through hordes of Eggman robots and Dark Gaia minions, and navigating through various platforming puzzles. Though this aspect of the game was the part that lost most fans and critics upon release, it's actually one of the more thought through and interesting things Sega have thrown out over the years.

Given how the franchise is currently stuck in the cycle of just reusing old gimmicks or throwing out a few classic Sonic levels to appease the fans over and over again, there's no denying turning Sonic into a Werehog was at least original and something new to the franchise. And, like the daytime sections of the game, everything is handled very well from a technical point of view. The controls are slick, the combat is both satisfying and far better than the likes of Rise of Lyric later down the line managed, and actually having a Sonic dedicate some time to 3D platforming is something a player can appreciate.

There are roughly three Werehog levels to every normal Sonic stage in the Nintendo Wii version, which is admittedly a bit excessive for a Sonic THE HEDGEHOG game, but that's only because Sega knew the Werehog levels were the place to go to show off their blue mascot with new funky motion controls the best. However, for the most part, these levels are all pretty easy to burn through and shouldn't trip up a player once they get into the swing of things.

It's easy to get sucked into thinking that these parts of the game are just outright bad because that's what their reputation suggests, but once a player is able to look past that and enjoy the game for what it is, there's plenty of satisfaction to be had in both rampaging through hordes of Eggman machines and taking the time to fully explore the charms of Unleashed's stages.