LEVEL Magazine Looks at Sonic Unleashed
You may remember when we first posted about LEVEL Magazine back in June, simply stating that more details would be revealed on the 22nd of July. Well, reader and friend, Jonas Eldin, has been on the lookout for the campers, and picked up an issue earlier today, which he promptly sent our direction soon afterwards, complete with scans, and selected excerpts translated.
The GHOST OF SONIC
Sega is doing a lot of great things right now, they no matter what they do, it doesn’t seem that they will ever be able to re-establish Sonic as we remember him from the mid 90’s. LEVEL has met the man who will prove us wrong.
[Editor Note: The first part was deemed unrelated, and was not translated.]
The next generation of Sonic-games will be created by people that feel like you and me. At the front stands Yoshihisa Hashimoto, a young programmer who has worked backstage with the series since the late 90’s. He has made mental notes of all bad steps taken under the projects, and has dreamed about getting a chance to make everything right one day. Now he finally has that chance.
NEW NAKA
Hashimoto is, just like Yuji Naka, a perfectionist. They both have a background as programmers, but that is the only thing they have in common. Naka always saw the technical aspects first in his games, like screen movements and how Sonics feet’s moved on unequal ground. Hashimoto sees that as a second part. His focus is tempo.
- It is really important that the player always faces a balanced experience, explains a really engaged Hashimoto to LEVEL when we saw him in Tokyo. We are always jumping between 2D and 3D in Sonic Unleashed, without ever staying in any one perspective for more then 4 minutes. When passing the 4 minutes time line the player starts to drop his/her interest, and that is when we change the perspective.
The development of Sonic Unleashed started with the working title Sonic Adventure 3, which also points us in the direction they are heading with this game. In many interviews Hashimoto seems to take distance from games such as Sonic and the Secret Rings, which is pretty special for a Japanese game producer within a big company.
Under the demonstration, a self confident Hashimoto stands and curiously observes the first spectators. It is obvious that he is proud of his game, which gets even more clear when he greets old, new and hesitant fans.
-I think this will be the Sonic-game everyone has waited for, he says with a smile. We have successfully managed to add new gaming elements, and at the same time as we have been going back to the roots.
The roots follow the 2D parts of the game, but the new parts have not been presented to us yet. They seem to be built like a role playing game system for upgrades between the levels. Sonic walks around in a city, talks to different characters and buys access to more moves, like higher jumps, better acceleration or the ability to drift – a beautiful and unexpected move that is showed in the first trailer sequences.
After a couple of slow Sonic-games it is easy to think bad about another city with elevator music and long dialogs, but Hashimoto claims that this is an important part in the minute time based balance.
- If we had cut from one 4 minute level directly to another, the result would have been tiresome for the player and it would have been all too short. Getting back to the city becomes a little place to breath for the player.
WORLDS FASTEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME
[Editor Note: We've skipped through part of the text, as it's all Sonic Chronicles related vs. Sonic Unleashed.]
Hashimoto says that he looks forward to his Canadensis colleagues game, but it is obvious that he has his own vision of the series future, and that does not include stylus-pens or turn based battles.
In his world, Sonic’s success shall be reduced to four perfect minutes at a time.
Huge thanks to Jonas for his contribution! You can check out the updated LEVEL Magazine Scans below.
81 Comments
Still no Wii -.-
@BanoX93: Nope, probably won’t see anything strictly Wii related unless it comes officially from SEGA, or from a source that covers Nintendo only. The showcase version seems to be built for the 360 and PS3, which utilize the Hedgehog Engine.
when are we going to be able to see HD wii screenshots?
Im beginning to lose faith in the Wii version.
It’s like they are avoiding talking about it like the plague.
Maybe we will see some info on it later on.
I like what I’m seeing so far on the 360/PS3 version though.
So, this new director is entirely sure that this game will be a success… he claims himself to be a sonic fan himself… i have trouble about understanding that… since i don’t think alot of sonic fans would come up with the concept of sonic turning into a werehog…
but whatever.. i really want this game to be awesome, we’ll just have to see.
Come on guys they are properly working really hard on making the wii version as good as possibly can,don’t loose faith, i haven’t
From what I’ve seen from the scans the wii version seems to be shaping up nicely
I’m also worried because I do not have a ps3 (too expensive)
and they seem like they don’t want to “spill” any information about the ps2 version
So.. basicaly I’m worried If someone agrees with me please let me know
“Naka always saw the technical aspects first in his games, like screen movements and how Sonics feet’s moved on unequal ground. Hashimoto sees that as a second part. His focus is tempo.”
So thats why Sonics feet flap around while hes running XD (I’m a perfectionist too if you couldn’t tell >_>)
Well… I really hope this game turns out good, and I hope Sonics levels aren’t too linear…
@Slimpy a animal:
I’m worried too, it seems weird that they don’t want to show any info on the Wii and PS2 versions… I really hope they don’t release an unfinished attempt to copy the PS3 and 360 versions…
to be honest i don’t really care about the ps2 version but i hope they release some new wii footage
@Total chaos VII:
I thought the Wii and PS2 versions where the same, they aren’t?
no they are not and by the way.
if Sonic Team is making PS3/360 version and Dimps is making
Wii version who is making the PS2 version of the game?
@KuroBit: Well I remember reading somewere that they had one group working on the ps3 and 360 version and another group working on wii and ps2 so that theyre both good or something so im guessing that they are the same :?
wii and ps2 are having different versions becouse on the Wii they are going to make exclusive levels to use the wiimote and nunchuck and that kind of stuff so i think the ps2 version is going to be made by another group
Wow, so theres going to be 3 different versions of Sonic Unleashed?
This…. was….. going to…. be…. SA3?? *twitch* *twitch* WHY NOT!!!
@SonicFanr.1: That’s because they keep on coming up with unoriginal hedgehog OCs who inevitably come into a relationship with any of the main characters. :P There’s a very big gap in originality for some fans. ’sides, nobody ever said that Hashimoto HIMSELF came up with the idea for the werehog.
Hm, it does sound quite interesting, although I never thought that the town stages had…elevator music. >___>;; I personally would like to see more shots of the town stages, although…the Wii screenshots of the game would do…
Alright. It’s sounding better by the second. I’m really anticipating this game now….but first….I’ll settle for the demo.
i bet if it was Sonic Adventure 3 th game woulg have Chaos >=[
@BanoX93: Yeah I want to see more about the Wii. Seeing as how some people, oh like, the glorious UmbreonTheDark, only have a Wii to play this game on. It makes me want to get a 360 only for this game, but I will SO not do that.
This makes me happy. I thought before the transitioning was every 30 seconds.
Hey, David! Did you get my contact?
Just Wonderin’.
I’ll be getting a 360 for this game and MK vs DC…
…but the Wii version will be fine.
@Jujuchan: Considering most people’s ideas of the recent direction of the Sonic franchise, if they were to have this being Sonic Adventure 3, a LOT of people would be calling bloody murder.
Sonic Team/SEGA needs to restore something resembling faith in the franchise for a lot of people before they could do something as impressive as following up Sonic Adventure 2. At least in my opinion, I personally wouldn’t mind a SA3. *nods*
@RockerDuDe: Hm, well, Sonic Battle had Chaos 0 in it, so they MIGHT bring him back. A ton of people love Tikal, so they might bring her back as well. Perfect Chaos could kick that purple dragon monster thingie TO THE CURB. Or just blast a laser at it. Honestly, Perfect Chaos with the positive Chaos energy of all seven emeralds? Maybe have those forms of Chaos that we see in the Dark Chaos and Light Chaos Chao? I…was prepared to write you off, but when you think about it, if they handled it well, it would be a great idea. :)
@David Leggett: are their any other scans we should be lookin out for? and have you gotten around too checking those PS2 scans i sent?
@BanoX93: yeah i’m getting a wii version and a PS3 one so i can see the difference it’ll kinda feel like playing half a new game cause the level’s and other things are different
“The next generation of Sonic-games will be created by people that feel like you and me. At the front stands Yoshihisa Hashimoto, a young programmer who has worked backstage with the series since the late 90’s. He has made mental notes of all bad steps taken under the projects, and has dreamed about getting a chance to make everything right one day. Now he finally has that chance.”
That is exactly the kind of case I’ve been trying to prove. It isn’t fair to dismiss such a game another “disaster” when it is an entirely different team.
Kudos to you LEVEL. right on the money ^_^
@ Kev: Wait, you have scans showing the PS2 version? How does it look compared to the Wii screens from NP?
Honestly, I’m more excited about Black Knight than Unleashed Wii.
Because Unleashed Wii looked unpolished, like some graphical effects were missing, like Sonic, enemies, and that spring weren’t covered by the building’s shadow in the Europe shots, etc.
I’d love to see a real video of the Wii version, as well for Black Knight.
I’m still baffled as to why Sega would not make the Wii version the lead version, even Takashi Iizuka believes that the Wii is the best console for Sega’s family-friendly games, hence why Nights JoD was a Wii-exclusive, when it could’ve very well been on the 360 and PS3 as well, the controls certainly never stopped it from happening.
Thankfully Sega is making up for that misstep by not only making a new Wii-exclusive Sonic game, but the Secret Rings team no less!
AND, both Secret Rings and Black Knight are part of the now named “Storybook Series”, so there’s MORE to come!
My educated guess, as to why Unleashed is leading on the 360 in the first place, is this:
1. The Hedgehog Engine, has been in development on the 360 for three years, obviously Sega at the time wanted to make a high-end next-gen engine, and the 360 at the time (2005) was the only next-gen console with it’s dev kits available to developers. Wii dev kits weren’t available (at least the final ones) until July 2006 IIRC.
2. At the same time, Sonic 2006 was being developed for all three consoles. And obviously the 360 version was the lead version, that was going to be Sega’s first next-gen Sonic game, and they very likely assumed that it was going to sell BIG due to the graphics, higher-than-usual-quality soundtrack.
3. They very likely didn’t see how hard Secret Rings would SLAM Sonic ‘06 in the long run (VG Chartz has it at 1.66 Million copies, while both versions of Sonic ‘06 are around 1.21 Million combined… yep.).
SR:
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=2104
Sonic ‘06 360 (0.73 Million):
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=2113
Sonic ‘06 PS3 (0.48 Million):
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=5712
The quality difference obviously had a part of it, but let’s say, that the Wii got Sonic ‘06 instead of SR, isn’t it obviously it would still outsold both of the other versions?
It all about the demographic. Zero Gravity according to VG Chartz early on, was outselling the PS2 version by over 3 to 1!
The PS2 version never even made it to Japan! And the PS2 version of Unleashed will also not be releasing in Japan!
Sega did severely underestimated Sonic’s fanbase on the Wii, and the highly likeliness of the PS3 and 360 version selling well blow expectations (said expectations obviously being really high), will bite their ass off in the end.
It’ll be Sonic ‘06 vs Secret Rings all over again!
Not to mention how some PS3 and 360 Sonic fans may very will be discouraged after Sonic ‘06 to not bother buying Unleashed, that could possibly be a fact! Of course that may only apply to those who don’t go onto the Internet. :P
If Unleashed on all platforms, pulls a “Sonic ‘06 vs Secret Rings” again, Sega may as well have Sonic never touch the PS2, 360, and PS3 again, not even with a ten foot pole!
Phew, that was long! XD
i just hope that the game is awesome even if is on crappier graphics,
the actoin is what it couunts(for me)
@Nano: yeah i think so too cause does anyone remember sonic 06 graphics were really good but game play not and sonic secret rings didnt have the best graphics but played wonderfully
I wouldn’t be worried about the Wii version. The only reason we’re not seeing any Wii screens because, natural, the 360/PS3 version look better. It’s just for eyecandy, really. I’m sure the Wii version will look good for Wii, and what’s the diffrence anyway. As long as the gameplay is as good / better than the 360/PS3 version (which we’ll all hope is any good to begin with), then nothing else matters, but we won’t know that untill the game’s released, so don’t worry.
(End of rant)
@iNAUDiBLE: no matter what the title would be, a lot of people would be calling bloody murder. Hell, many people are already doing it now, what with the whole werehog thing.
Fact is, Sonic lost a lot of credibility, and needs a constant stream of excellent 3D games to get some of it back. Unleashed might be a great start, if and only if it gets a lot of love. (and if the reviewers don’t bash the game (read: werehog sections) for the sake of basing it – they did it before).
Let’s hope Hoshimoto lives up to his promising ambition.
@LightningLuigi: That logic actually works. Hell, if I had spent 3 years developing a game engine just for Sonic, 75% of all game footage I’d release would be from the consoles that utilise the engine. Since the Wii doesn’t, that’s fine with me. However, I would like to see some game footage from the Wii in September – October.
Ok. I just want to know if Sonic and the Black Night is real. Second off i saw some stuff, and put together that there might be a modern Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Is this true?
Dunno bout a movie, I’d also like to see this stuff you saw.
But Sonic and the Black Knight has been confirmed, it’s a sequel to Sonic and the Secret Rings in what’s supposed to be a Trilogy called the “Storybook Series”
Why bash the werehog parts of them game. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 both got really good reviews and not even half of each game was truely about speed.
In SA1 there are 6 playable characters in the story and only two of them were traditional gameplay (Sonic and tails) New elements were the Teasure hunting (Knuckles), Shooting (E-102 Gamma), Traveling through the levels slowly (Amy), and the terrible fishing part of the game (Big).
In SA2 there were only 10 speed levels (Sonic and Shadow) out of about 30. And Treasure hunting and shooting returned for Knuckles, Rouge, Tails, and Eggman.
Both these games were great and huge accomplishments (except for the fishing) so I think that it will be very unfair if Sonic Unleashed gets points taken off its reviews just because of the werehog. Its a new element that looks great and add alot more context to the game.
I personally think that Sonic & the Black Knight will be better than Unleashed for Wii. I lost all hope for whatever goodness the game could of had.
WOW I AM SOO PSYCHED! I can’t wait for unleashed. Personally the sys. does not matter to me, well I only have a wii, so technically it does but honestly the game itself is most important. I saw the E3 trailer right now and I was totally blown away. I’m not talking about the Euro Tour or that weird village like place, or the teaser, It was the one with the main theme playeing and cut scenes from the storyline. The werehog gameplay looks great so far. There was one part where sonic was carrying a key stone like in SA1 but the action was great! It’s not like anything i’ve seen in a sonic game. Sonic the Werehog PWNZ! Seriously I don’t think the werehog thing won’t be anything to complain about, its gonna be great! As long as the keystone makes rare appearances then there shouldn’t be a problem. Sorry my post is long but I was soo excited I just had to rant. I don’t even go to this website regularly at all (my first time) I just HAD to get this out of me. I’m gonna go type Sonic unleashed E3 trailer into my google bar again!
@BanoX93: How do you know if we’ve bearly seen anything about Unleashed for the Wii or Sonic and the Black Knight?
I personally am getting the 360 version, but might also get the Wii version if its significantly different, however I won’t buy them at the same time. I don’t have that much money to spend. Thank you Job!
@BanoX93:
What is it with you people? Why are you bashing the Wii version when all you’ve actually seen of the game are a few early-stage pics from a magazine! Give it a chance! I can pretty much guarantee you that the graphics in the Wii version will be at least as good as those in SatSR, if not significantly better.
@Final Rush: This is a valid point. Remember those 2 CG Cutscenes for Secret Rings? The one where you first see Erazor Djinn, and then at the end? Those were HIGH-QUALITY cutscenes. and the levels themselves were forces to be reckoned with.
I’ve never had a problem with the Wii, I plan on getting this game for the Wii Regardless, but everyone who bashes it just needs to take a breather.
@Final Rush: I’m not saying it will bad. I’m saying SEGA is being a 360 fanboy and wont show off any other version only becasue of GRAPHICS! I want the Wii version to be awesome, but with pretty much no screens or no trailer, I dont know what to think about it anymore.
@Lyon the Groundhog: All though Secret Rings had impressive visuals, SU still lacks because SonicTeam isnt using the hedgehog engine. And after seeing the scans of the Wii version, the game looks like it’s flat and no good type of colour what-so-ever. I hope thoughs were scaning flaws because I am still getting the Wii version. What I want to see an exclusive Wii trailer and new HD screens.
They always show the most technologically impressive version of a game, unless that system doesn’t have the install base to support that exposure. You’ll see more as we get closer to release date, but Sega’s still in the “wowing” stage of promotion. Therefore…you show off visuals.
@BanoX93: Last I checked, the Hedgehog Engine was mostly playing with speed and high-speed rendering. Correct me if i’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I’m not.
What the Hedgehog Engine does is, allows the game to buffer and render as such a fast rate, that it can keep up with Sonic’s “300MPH” Speeds, allowing for a fast paced game.
While the Wii is not using the Hedgehog Engine, I think it was said they are using a SIMILAR engine, meaning that it may not run AS fast, or there may be some slow downs, but that has NOTHING to do with the visuals themselves.
Now, bringing back a dead subject, as I feel users should feel free to acknowledge this if they already haven’t, TSS and Blue-Blur.org have some info on Sonic and the Black Knight from NP’s AUG issue
http://www.sonicstadium.org/news/sonic-and-the-black-knight-new-info#more-2016
There’s a TSS link for those of you interested in reading up
personally, now I have THREE Sonic games I need to save up for D;
@Lyon the Groundhog: You made some very good points, but after hearing the gamespot live demo I heard that the Hedgehog engine will be have advance lighting affects as well as draw distence. So, can have a high poly-count but seeing as they wont use then Hedgehog engine, Sonic himself will look as if he has no lighting affects. Please you must understand, I’m not trying to say the Wii version will be bad. I’m just mad that SEGA didnt use the hedgehog engine for the Wii version.
dont you see sega is trying to get us to lose hope in wii version but as i have said the wii graphics can be as good as 360 SU wise but other than SU the poor BABY wii (as in it still hasnt been updated 5 times and it came out two yyears ago) if Nintendo keeps updating wii it will have graphics AND gameplay to be reckoned with. encourage the wii spread comments like this accross the web and BLAM our dreams of the perfect system will have 100% happened (they are only at 75% now) good speech huh? AND ITS TRUE THE WII SHALL BE PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s hope that Hashimoto-san really knows what he’s doing.
Then perhaps we might get a better game than SA2 and SA1 combined.
@Lyon the Groundhog: oh god. just read the info on your link. Is that all real. if it is sega is taking a huge risk. It look really out there and a little bit corny. Fighting with a talking sword might be kinda cool I’d get it but I dont have a Wii (weeps)
This Hashimoto sounds cool. but…
‘If we had cut from one 4 minute level directly to another, the result would have been tiresome for the player and it would have been all too short. Getting back to the city becomes a little place to breath for the player’
sounds good, makes the game longer, but in sonic 06 they were completely useless. I can understand their role in making a game longer but sheesh please no insane loading scripts. They were the worst part. Otherwise some of those mini games were sorta fun…… most drove me up the wall but…. some
Either way IT MATTERS NOT! the more I hear about this game the more exited I get!