Zero Punctuation Review: Sonic Unleashed

Without even listening to his review, lemmie just say that I've always hated Yhatzee. What a stupid gimmick - it's about as original as the AVGN. Speaking really fast about how every game ever sucks is not reviewing, and it honestly pisses me off that this dude is someone that people listen to.

Especially when his opinions on most games suck.

 

Holy shit, he pretty much nailed the game in under 5 minutes.

Too bad Sega isn't going to shove a bullet in Sonic's head any time soon....

Also, rofl on it being on the front page of Digg in less than like, 2 hours.

 

He didn't nail shit. It's not a valid complaint to bitch about how the character is stale. You don't play the character, you play the fucking game. That was another terrible review.

But before I begin review shitting, I should ask - does tweakers claim about keeping review bitching to a minimum extend beyond the unleashed thread?

 

I know it isn't relevant but I beat you to the punch on this matter.


Also this is one review of his I disprove. Here is my quote on this same topic on a different forum:

 

I laughed, but I don't really take him seriously. Calm down, kids

 

He used Wii boxart in the video, but mentions explorable hubs and such, which don't exist in the Wii version.

Personally, I just take Yahtzee's reviews as entertainment; nothing more.

 

I was busting up laughing that entire review.

 

Like I said in the Unleashed topic, it just wouldn't be Zero Punctuation without angry British ramblings. Everyone needs to mellow out.

 

Eh, I forgot about that.

Still though, what I meant by him "nailing" the game - I kinda thought that Sonic went way too fast, and making Sonic a Werehog was not a well thought out idea (it probably would've worked but I think they must've worked with the idea months before the announcement. Just the fact that they did changes to his gameplay even during E3 and that he's mentioned internally as "EvilSonic"). I also agree with him on the way of getting Acts unlocked (collecting medals, etc).

I don't agree that it was as worse a game as Sonic Next was (but hey, I didn't play the Wii version in depth, so - shoot me). And I did get that "oh another sonic game, it's probably trash" vibe that all reviewers seem to do these days whenever a new Sonic game comes out.

 

This...

was hilarity

 

I found that review absolutely entertaining and pretty spot on. I have to agree with him on one thing though, the only reason Sonic is still alive today is due to pure nostalgia from the successful Genesis/Megadrive games. Without them Sonic would be surely dead at this point.

I stand by my argument on SEGA giving Sonic a huge break until they can find solid ground for the franchise instead of chugging out so many titles doomed to be nothing more then sub par or anything less for a quick buck.

I will defend Sonic Unleashed on one point though, Yahtzee complaining about the speed was a bit rubbish. There has always been trial and error in Sonic games since Sonic 1. I highly doubt anyone who's played any of the old games on a first time have gone through them without making a mistake or losing a life a couple times.

 

That's pretty bad, and it's always been a horrible case with any fanbase, but Sonic is an exception. The fact the media has the same general consensus on Sonic nowadays should be a sign for SEGA to do something about it already rather then twiddling their thumbs like innocent children and making more of these absurd titles. Honestly, as a long time fan I don't know how much more of this I can take.

Unleashed was good game but it still wasn't enough to hold up my hope in the franchise. The Werehog was honestly such a stupid idea, and SEGA's statement on making Sonic's stages too big and having a short game is absolute bullshit on their part. I would rather play a FUN successful game rather then have it caved in with obnoxious storylines and ridiculous characters that last no more then one game and stray far from the purpose of being a Sonic game entirely.

 

Did I miss a memo? Do we all hate Unleashed now or something? I'm always late to the bandwagons.

I'm seriously considering trashing this thread, for the record.

 

It's kind of a vicious cycle. Maybe giving Sonic a "break" can be a good thing, but they still need to make money. *Because* past games have been sub par, Sega doesn't think they can survive for a few years without Sonic, so they have to resort to churning out quantity instead of quality, to squeeze out a few more dollars.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

That said, Unleashed leans more towards quality, but it's not quite enough. While the game itself is not too bad, the franchise still has a bad reputation, and while I would love to see it be praised once again, at the rate things are going, it's not particularly hopeful.

 

SEGA has many other wonderful quality titles under it's belt it could use instead.

For the record MadWorld looks like an absolute blast to play and the visuals are practically eye candy to the average joe.

Jet Set Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, Space Channel 5, Samba Di Amigo, NightS, I could go on. They could always NOT be lazy buggers and try developing an entirely new IP in the meantime instead of dragging Sonic's corpse around on the leash trying to attract as much cash as possible. The most they'll get is an angry media and a swarm of flies known as the fans it's seemed to create overtime.

SEGA needs to rework their priorities badly if they hope to survive. If they can't live without Sonic for a few years, then something should have already been done so awhile ago to prevent this sort of thing happening. It's ridiculous.

 

Yahtzee is a closet Sonic fan.

 

I wouldn't even say closet. The intensity of how upset he genuinely seems with the game communicates that fact well :P.
Also, in his little Game Damage show (see the end of the review), he says openly that the Megadrive sonic titles were 'good fun'.