Content Hedgehog's Top 5 Video Games of All Time

#2: Sonic Unleashed
(Only the 360/PS3 version, the Wii/PS2 version sucked)

I'm Content Hedgehog. You knew there was going to be a Sonic game on here somewhere. And at the risk of sounding like too much of a fanboy, I decided to limit it down to only picking one game from the series for my top 5. Now for those of you that are actually into Sonic games, I'm probably going to get a lot of crap for this, but I actually prefer the later titles in the series. The earlier games were fun, but with the technological limitations of the time period, I just can't say there was anything amazing about them.

Now when the Dreamcast came along, things were different. You could finally be a part of Sonic's world in a full-blown 3D adventure. There were some parts in the Sonic Adventure games that were just plain awesome, namely the intro stage along with the cheesy dialogue in SA2. The Sonic and Shadow levels in SA2 were amazing. Same goes for the Sonic and Tails levels in SA1. But unfortunately, these games were also bogged down by graphical limitations and other annoying gameplay styles.


But this post isn't about the Sonic Adventure games. This post is about Sonic Unleashed, the generally poorly received second Sonic title in HD after Sonic 06. While I can see many of the points the reviewers bring up, everyone can agree on one thing - the daytime levels in this game were awesome. The game was split into two parts, levels that took place during the day where you ran around as Sonic, and levels that took place at night, where you played as Sonic as a "werehog," crawling around beating up enemies.

The night-time stages were terrible. But the day-time stages... They blew my mind. The amount of graphical detail that went into these levels is incredible. I could play any one of these levels over and over again and never get tired of it. Take a look at a run-through of the ice themed level for example:



The speed... the intensity... the music... the atmosphere... Everything about this level is incredible. Although to be fair, I suppose you have to be into this sort of thing to really appreciate it. The only thing bad about this game was, again, the werehog levels, which is why it is only #2 on the list...