Sonic Team, the remedial class they are, has been in the laboratory for almost exactly a year "reinventing Sonic."  Here's what they came up with.

Video (QT)


Alright, look.  Yeah, he's a fucking werewolf for some reason.  Yeah, the story doesn't seem altogether great.  When I watched this video, though, it was the closest I've come to shitting my pants in a long time.  It looks good, not great.  They could polish a lot of the stuff up, especially Sonic's running animations.  I'm more interested in the execution of this concept.  I'd felt they should go "3D on a 2D plane" for a while now, and this could be the first REALLY GOOD Sonic game in a long time if they do this right.

Don't fuck this up, SEGA. 

Edit:  Not fake.  Here.  Have more screenshots.

I also have it on middling authority (e.g. some guy who claims to be in touch with a SEGA rep on the Penny-Arcade forums, so take that with a grain or two or salt) that this is an all-or-nothing project for SEGA.  Whether this means they give up entirely if it is bad remains to be seen, and would probably be a no-lose situation regardless *snort* *chortle*

In other words, the entire fucking company, not just Sonic Team, is working on this game and giving it as much time and money as it needs.

First, we apologize for our fault to post those fake news about the Sonic plot and the confirmation that it would be 2D, gameplay-wise. However, we go on with our own new facts: SEGA is launching SONIC UNLEASHED with a HUGE production budget and it seems not only SONIC TEAM is involved but a very huge part of SEGA’s developer teams including those from Japan, the US and, apparently for the first time, even Europe. There seems to be one clear mission: Rebuild the Sonic brand and prove it could work in 3D environments.

[1223 ][/1223] Hey, SEGA filed a copyright claim in an attempt to make all the media about this game disappear.  To reiterate, it's an actual leak, not HOHO WE SAID THE INFO WAS COMPROMISED BUT ITS REALLY NOT.  This is NDA-breaking shit.  They apparently weren't allowed to let anyone know this game existed until May.  The dudes responsible for this are as good as fired, probably.

P.S:  It's up in the air as to the legitimacy of these screens and video.  If this is fake, SEGA should hire these fucking people.

Not really, the screens and video were taken from a Sega FTP.

Sweet.  Then all that's left to do is comment on what we want to see even though sega never listens ugh

Edit:  Wait, what?  They pulled it off a SEGA FTP?  Jesus, dude.

Reinventing for the 4th time now? Gee wizz; does Sonic have a transforming car robot in this installment?

So far there is no side kick chars and it looks to be strongly Sonic v Robotnik from everything pic wise so far.

Edit:  Wait, what?  They pulled it off a SEGA FTP?  Jesus, dude.

That was the story said when they were released, the person who showed them said they got it off of (iirc) Sega of Europe's FTP (might of been Japan/America), they didn't say whether they worked there and LOL SURPRISE or if they hacked into it, but yeah.

I like it. Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2 are in my top fave PSP games. They're side-scrolling/3D Sonic goodness that this Sonic Unleashed seems to have captured. If that's really the deal, then I'm all for it. Manbearpig or not. There's a few screens there showing Sonic becoming Super Sonic, and one with Eggman in the background while Super Sonic is in the centre of a device/platform. Can we possibly shrug off this Werewolf form as a biproduct of the Doctor's experiment? It probably has something to do with those tricky Chaos Emeralds. It usually does.

Looks shitty. Looks like it plays exactly the same as Sonic Adventure 2, except the camera has more of a tendancy to stick to the side rather than hang behind.

Sonic was never about holding right and watching the level zoom by behind you. The thing that, back in the day, made Sonic stand out against Mario wasn't just the speed, it was the fact the levels were not on rails. Yeah, Mario always had his secret pipes and blocks with vines hiding inside, but Sonic games always had multiple routes per level, secret passages, hidden powerups, the bonus level/chaos emerald system, etc. A reason to play it through more than once (that isn't fucking EMBLEMS or OK NOW DO THE STAGE WITHOUT GETTING HIT).

In the video, all the guy does is run right and jump occasionally. That might be what some people think about when they think about Sonic, but as someone who played the old games to death when he was little, it sure isn't what I think about.

Also, werewolf? Wtf.

Wow that looks like a pile of shit.

I bet they just make crappy Sonic games because they know everyone will buy them anyway, hoping that they're not as bad as their friends and the reviews say.

Yeah what I liked about old Genesis Sonics was zooming through the level and then seeing a little side passage and going "where does that take me?"

It never ceased to amaze me how you could pretty much fall off any part of a Sonic level and just end up on another route. And man... WEREWOLF. Why, why the hell would they do something stupid like that. Hasn't this constant reimagining of the Sonic universe been what has ticked off their legion of fans? I mean, imagine if Nintendo took the next Wii Mario game and gave Mario two Desert Eagles  and a tuxedo and made him rub noses with high society while sneaking around a mansion looking for secret weapon plans.

I mean, imagine if Nintendo took the next Wii Mario game and gave Mario two Desert Eagles  and a tuxedo and made him rub noses with high society while sneaking around a mansion looking for secret weapon plans.

Haha, that actually sounds pretty funny. Maybe it would be Luigi's Mansion. Seriously.. Mario could be stuck in almost any situation and it would work, as long as it isn't overly serious or realistically violent.

Sonic on the other hand NEEDS his traditional "hip and cool" setting. Werewolf.. Man.. Hahahaha!!!!

Looks like what I was playing on my master system a hundred years ago with prettier backgrounds and shittier camera angles.

And a dumb werewolf gimmick.

Well actually this looks sort of fun which is a big step up from other recent Sonic games.

To elaborate on my previous posts, I'm calling guarded optimism at this point (like I do with every console Sonic game ever.  It's in the Bible, you fucks, look it up).  The fact that it's been a year and they've come up with this, which basically looks like the Genesis titles on steroids, that says to me that, unlike last time, they actually took a nice, long look at what made the original games work.  Their interpretation may not be everybody's; you can't really please everyone.  More importantly, this carries with it the implicit assumption that they have not figured out how to make a free-roaming 3D Sonic game work yet.  They tried a "reinvention" with that style of gameplay.  It bombed hard.

Part of me hopes to God that they'll get it right this time (by my definition, "getting it right" means making something at least on par with Sonic Rush/Sonic Rush Adventure), and the other part doesn't want to even put it on my wish list for fear that Sonic Team will pull the same old sleight of hand they always do--coating an unplayable game with shiny paint.

Edit:  I also hope Dimps is involved, because that will greatly increase its chances of being decent.