Interview with SoA Producer on Sonic Unleashed
Gamespot was lucky enough to interview Sega of America team producer Patrick Rileyk during Sega’s Gamer’s Day on May 14th, and Patrick was kind enough to share a few things we haven’t heard before.
Since the first screenshots for Sonic Unleashed were revealed, there was a lot of speculation as to where some of the locations were in the game. Some suggested that one of the levels looked a lot like Greece, which was later confirmed to be true by Sega. In the interview, Patrick reveals that the level is actually the very first daytime level in the game, and is more specifically Mykonos, Greece.
During the first few stages (such as Mykonos and a level based on Europe — which is confirmed to be about the 4th level), the player will spend time learning Sonic’s new abilities, such as the the Sonic Drift and Quick Step. Throughout the game, as Sonic gains experience, he will be able to learn new abilities as in previous titles. All stages are said to be based off real world locations.
There have been other concerns in the Sonic community in regards to the new Ring Energy Meter that shows in the HUD of several Unleashed screenshots. According to Patrick, ring energy is filled by collecting rings, but the rate at which you collect rings also plays a role in how fast the meter is filled. Using ring energy will allow Sonic to “engage another new mechanic called Sonic Boost“, which will essentially send Sonic soaring at speeds up to 300mph.
“It’s kind of a turbo for Sonic“. Yeah… Kind of.
It was reiterated in the interview that Sonic Unleashed is about Sonic. There will be times that you play as other characters throughout the game, but about 95% of the time, Sonic will take the stage.
Chao Gardens, Night Stages, Weresonic… What say you Patrick?
“We’re not talking about that yet…”
“Um, uh, we’ll be talking about that at a later date…“
“Closer to E3…“
YES. That’s not too long a wait folks. Remember, the Summit gathers between July 15-17th this year!
Thanks for the heads up Mike!
93 Comments
the speed of ring collecting affects the rising of the meter..
This practically means that if one wants an S rank,you most likely have to boost at the right parts,and keep a ”flow” up.
I hope the levels play well then…
I can’r wait for this game! I woundering wich other characters is playable. I hope Tails and Knuckles is Playable. And does anyone know if it a adventure mode like in Sonic Adventure, if it is a adventure mode it will ber really fun.
Sorry for my bad englsih. :(
Judging the game’s engine,the guest characters will most likely be tails and knuckels.
I don’t really see shadow fitting in a major role.
1/20 of the levels would be a guest role..
That most likely means that %95 was meant as”almost always sonic”
We already know that the game will have 7 words with an emerald.
I think those worlds will have 2 day levels and 1 night level each.
Most likely they will have bossfights to.
Bossfights…what will those be?2-d? 3-d? mix? Adventure style free movement?
wow, I can’t wait until we get more info on chao gardens, night stages, weresonic, etc…
I think the “turbo” will be an excellent addition to the gameplay, adding more speed =]
AHA! The fact that SEGA didn’t openly say no to the inclusion of Chao Gardens/Chao Garden-esque areas is a sendoff that they WILL be in the game.
I’m starting to wonder if SEGA’s going to rename this game Sonic Adventure 3. I honestly hope so. I expect a whole lot to be revealed at E3.
Levels will be based on real world locations? Lets all guess what they’ll be.
Casino level = Vegas
Ice Cap = Antarctica
Emerald Coast = Where’s the greatest beach on Earth?
@ everyone talking about Chao gardens – Patrick was referring to several different items when he said they’d talk about more at a later date. Don’t jump to conclusions just yet.
@ Mike – If they made a Casino styled level in Vegas, I’d be thrilled =)
casino level,,,yea….i like that…
in retro and handleds sonic games, casi siempre we have..
1st beach level,,,
2 a toxic, fabric, level
3 ruin, mystic level
4 casino, park, music level
5 sometimes fire level
6 ice or water level
7 eggman stage, in earth or space stage, or maybe cibernetic levels
well, in this game, will be much more ralistic in that fact…for now we saw europe-greci-african (in trailer), and some artworks see like china/japan. i hope see, a city level too.
The first screens showed a base,so that will be a stage to I think.
I think this sonic game is really going to be really fun!!!!!!!!!!!
And mostly when you collect rings in this game, Makes sonic even faster than ever!! And that’s what we like about sonic, Speed, Rails, Hops, Dash Boads, And all that stuff. And I really hope that we play as Sonic’s wereHog form! Because I really want to! Come on sega! Let us play as sonic’s werehog form!! Please!
@aubery: Of course we’re going to play as the werehog! They have night levels for a reason…
@mike:
Emerald Coast = San Diego! XD
@ Hannah:
Well after looking through Google Earth. I think the obvious choice for a beach level would have to be in Bora Bora. The place itself is just so surreal.
@ mike the Bora Bora beach that u mentioned looks like wave ocean from sonic 360
Is Sega going to rename this game to Sonic Adventure 3?
What new characters will be playable and included?
Will there be a Chao Garden with the races, raising a Chao?
What kind of levels will be?
What kind of bosses will there be?
How will I get Chaos Emeralds? Will the Chaos Emeralds appear itself after completing a stage?
@ Jonny:
They might rename it, after all they did change Wildfire to Secret Rings. Other than that nobody knows any of the things you’re asking.
1. Will there be a Chao Garden?
2. What characters are going to be playable?
3. Will there be hubs?
4. What kind of action stages are going to be in this game?
5. What kind of bosses will be in this game?
6. Is Sonic Unleashed for Nintendo Wii going to be a good version that Dimps is creating?
7. Will Sonic Unleashed for Nintendo Wii support a Wii Remote/Nunchuk, Nintendo GameCube controller, and Classic Controller for Nintendo Wii?
8. Will Sonic Unleashed for Nintendo Wii have good graphics?
9. How will I get the seven Chaos Emeralds in Sonic Unleashed?
@Jonny
1. Possibly.
2. Probably Knuckles & Tails. For they said “His Best Friends will appear in the story.”
7. They’re working on it.
8. They are trying to make them as similar as possible to 360/PS3 versions.
They are really the only questions I can answer. We are still reasonably low on the Important information.
Sega, will there be a adventure mode that we can explore
the Town? And will we only play as sonic in this game?
Oh, and thanks hannah.
@Aubery
Yes, they have confirmed there is a town, but it’s is not essential to progress through the story. It’s there for side quests etc. to probably make the game more lengthy.
SEGA says that wewill be able to play as an alternate character (Excluding Weresonic) in certain parts of the game, but 95% it will be focused on Sonic.
Sonic can boost and reach speeds of up to 300 M.P.H? Whats the fastest Sonic has ever moved in a game? I know that in Sonic 06, there are “Mach Speed” areas. 760 MPH… I think that was the record…
Crysis City… I’m pretty sure in that stage… you were literally going at Mach Speed.
@Blah
Probably, but did they have a speed meter in that game? I can’t remember. You could reach speeds around 270 M.P.H in the Sonic Riders series….but that was with Hoverboards.
I just watched a Crysis video on youtube… I do not think that was literally Mach Speed… it may not even be 300 MPH! For some reason… in my memory it was that fast.
Cool information. I didn’t think SEGA would use a real location.
About other characters… Does that mean that, while we’re playing, we’ll get to some levels during the story, in which we’ll have another character? What ever happened to Character Select? The ability to play with the character we want through any level(s) we want? It’s sounding too much like Sonic Next-Gen. Well, it’s too soon to start complaining. I’ll just hope there’s a Story Mode and Free Play Mode for us to move freely through a world (2D or 3D) and with the character we want. It can be an unlockable. SEGA has been forgetting about adding cool ones to the games. Either way, if there’s no Free Play, I hope the Story Mode (possibly, the only mode) is fun to play. :)
I’m not liking the Boost idea very much. I like to play Sonic Rush. But it gets exhausting to play it knowing that if I want to reach great speed and S ranks, I must keep that button pressed as much time as I can. It’s fun, but I wouldn’t want SEGA to add that same thing to other games. I’m glad the classics weren’t so complicated.
I’ll keep my hopes up for this game. It’s sounding good. :)
Come on people! Lets talk about the 300 MPH boost!
@Blah
…It’s Fast? XD
sonic
@mike: For a beach zone. I would have to go with Florida, Hawaii, or Australia.
for a Snow zone. Antarctica, Alaska, or Russia. Maybe even the north pole
For an Eggman zone. Could be a Factory in England or In the outer limits of some city.
Vegas is a great idea i hope they do that.
Finall, I would like to pridict that there will be a South America Zone & it will resemble the mistic ruins in SA. Im willing to bet money on it… like vegas! Woop this is exciting
1. Is Sega changing the name title from Sonic Unleashed to Sonic Adventure 3?
2. I hope the Wii Version will sell well and be successful!
3. What do you mean that his best friends will appear in the story mean?
4. Which best friends will appear in story?
5. Is Silver, Amy, Dr. Robotnik, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Shadow, Omega, Rouge, Gamma, Big the Cat, Cream, Big the Cat, Tikal, Blaze going to appear in this game?
6. Is Sonic Unleashed for Nintendo Wii going to be a good version by Dimps?
7. How will the seven Chaos Emeralds appear?
I find it slightly odd that there are multicolored talking animals in a game that’s supposed to take place in OUR world.
Not to mention that there are randomly appearing rails in midair, along with pathways that suddenly become loop-de-loops and the like.
And where are all of the people mid-level?
But these are minor aesthetic issues at most. Catering to the above would do nothing to improve gameplay, let alone dampen it. The game is best off as is. I just thought I should bring these things up for the heck of it. (After all, what Sonic game hasn’t faced these problems?) XD
Everything else seems fine.
I vouch for Miami or somewhere else in Florida for being the ideal spot for a beach level.
Come to think of it, Daytona Beach would be rather appropriate…
@Blahblah – Sonic’s Earth is an alternate version of our Earth, like the many separate versions of Earth in comic book continuities. It’s a world built around and on the basis of Chaos and therefore…things are really freakin’ crazy. The best explanation I can give for the rails and loop-de-loops is that they’re for the convince of Extreme Gear riders and that all the people in the level were evacuated by G.U.N. to a safe zone after Eggman sent his robots in. I mean, this Earth has a great evacuation record, seems the entire population of Station Square was able to get to the top of the building and cheer Sonic on before the Perfect Chaos battle, and Westopolis (and Central City, before it was taken down by the Eclipse Cannon in the pure Dark path of Shadow’s game…) was/were fully evacuated. …and the fact that I had to type ALL of that out seems to indicate how different Sonic’s Earth is from ours…man, this reminds me of the last part of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song. XD Just repeat to yourself, “It’s just a show, I should really just relax~”
It’d be nice to see versions of places from our Earth in their own respective Sonic versions. Seeing as all seven continents will be represented, I can’t wait to see what kind of city they’ll choose for the “United Federation” level…maybe back to Central City or Station Square, or maybe a city based on Seattle, Chicago, or New York. Surprise me, Sonic Team, especially since that’s all you’ve been doing since the leak. XD Anybody who still thinks Sonic lives on Mobius in the games is going to blow a gasket when they see this. (HITTIN’ J00 IN DAH FACE WIT CANON)
The whole mobius thing was kind of semi-rectonned later on.
I wonder… will the levels be based on locations,of literally be those locations..
That would make a key diffirence.
@ *SOS:
Any & all Eggman Zones = IN SPACE!!! or hundreds of miles below the Earths surface in an evil underground lair.
Then again the good Dr. does seem to enjoy destroying the planet and roboticizing all furry critters into a life of slavery, so a giant factory would be in order.
I hope they have a Mystic Ruins like level too. That’d bring back memories. I just hope they don’t bring back the music that kept asking me “Heeeey, how are ya’?” XD
@ game sonic fan:
Yes… Sonic.
@ Mike: LMAO i never realized that before. I know the song in my head though and when you said that, I could hear it
I’ve never played a game with a Chao Garden in it before (only having a PS2) so I do hope they include a Chao Garden. I feel Sonic’s Earth is not parallel to our own but a bridge between our universe and a universe that is ruled by utter chaos where nothing lives but neither does everything dies. The whole world falling apart at it’s edges by the utter chaos within it. However that’s my own thinking on the case. Speaking of Chaos does anyone know what Chaos actually is. Is it some over ruling force like a god? Something tearing at peoples minds? Or is it something natural like Chaos who was made of water?
I want a trial and a ( easy) mission mode.
The city which is on some of the screens looks like Soleann Oo it looks so beautiful and real, I wish I could life there xDD
I can´t wait for that game, and for Sonic Chronicles too
easy?
..I rather want balanced difficulty.I know what you meant,the difficulty of extra missions can be really high in some games.
But it’s also nice to have a good challenge at times.
i think they should put Emerl on this game.I think putting him in the game will be more cool.
emerl does’t seem to fit at all here.
And he has exploded now right?
dragonite@:
You are right with that ,and yes e exploded but if he would appear, the story must relate how he survived of the explosion.dont feel that i am threating bad someone or something , i just want to teel what think.
Well… G-merl kind of works against this.
Was he not made from old emerl parts?
Ah..wiki tells me he was made from emerls data.
And I suposse it was visible to sonic when he went exploded?
If he is ever going to return,it better be sonic battle 2.
And if he returned in this game,his revival would be a very large sub-plot,which isn’t going to happen by the looks of it.
Emerl is a to demanding character to have a role in this,sorry.
The only character that now truly is floating in the borderline of being in or not is Shadow.
He could make a cameo perhaps.
Tails,Knuckels,and Amy are most likely going to be playable chars if they are in this game.
(And Amy would be intresting,as because the whole wherehog drama might grant us a great cut-scene.)
Hmm. I think a game with G-merl or Emerl would be good, but I don’t think an Amy Werehog scene would be all together that good. Then again that may be bias no being a very big Amy fan.
95% Sonic, eh? Doesn’t leave much room for other characters. Probably only 1 other player, 2 at most. Hopefully Knuckles and/or Tails.
I hope Chao gardens are in.
This game better have a level in New York City
“95% Sonic, eh? Doesn’t leave much room for other characters. Probably only 1 other player, 2 at most. Hopefully Knuckles and/or Tails.”
I hope Knuckles or Tails turns out to be playable characters, too. If Sonic Team picks Shadow, Blaze or some new character over them then I’m gonna be pissed. I’m getting tired of Knuckles and Tails being pushed aside over these new characters.
I personally think picking some of the new characters would be a good idea after all the characters of Knuckles and Tails has been explored so much, I think exploring Silver or Blazes character more would be a great idea.
if shadow would appear i think rouge should appear too.i think it doesnt make sense shadow appear and rouge not.