User:TheJoebro64/drafts/Unleashed
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Sonic Unleashed is a 2008 platform and beat 'em up game developed by Sonic Team[lower-alpha 1] and published by Sega. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog as he attempts to stop Doctor Eggman, who shatters the world with a powerful laser and transforms Sonic into the Werehog, a werewolf-like beast. Unleashed features two gameplay styles. Daytime levels retain the platforming and speed of previous Sonic games; as Sonic, the player races through stages that shift between third-person and side-scrolling gameplay while collecting rings and avoiding obstacles. In nighttime levels, the player controls the Werehog and engages in combat with hordes of enemies. Outside the main levels, players can explore hub worlds to converse with townspeople and advance the story.
Development began with the creation of the Hedgehog Engine game engine in 2005, before full-scale production started in 2006. Unleashed was conceived as the sequel to Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), but became standalone after Sonic Team introduced innovations to separate it from the Adventure series. Director Yoshihisa Hashimoto sought to create the ultimate Sonic game, blending the best qualities of 2D and 3D gameplay and addressing criticisms of previous 3D Sonic games. Rather than use additional characters to include new game mechanics, Sonic Team introduced the Werehog to appeal to newer players without alienating existing fans. Unleashed features the series' first symphony orchestra soundtrack, primarily composed by Tomoya Ohtani.
Anticipation for Unleashed was high; video game journalists saw it as a possible return to form for Sonic following a string of poorly received games like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Unleashed was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 in late 2008. It was commercially successful—selling 2.45 million copies—but received mixed reviews. Critics praised the daytime gameplay, graphics, and music, but criticized the Werehog, nighttime gameplay, story, and hub worlds. Many felt Unleashed, while an improvement over the 2006 game, was not the game to reinvigorate the series. It was among the Sonic games delisted from retailers in 2010 following Sega's decision to remove all Sonic games with below-average Metacritic scores from sale.
Unleashed, despite mixed reviews, influenced subsequent Sonic games, including Sonic Colors (2010), Sonic Generations (2011), and Sonic Forces (2017). In the years following its release, it became popular among fans and has been reappraised by journalists as one of the best Sonic games for its production values, fast daytime gameplay, and experimental nature. Unleashed was added to PlayStation Now in March 2017 and was added to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S's catalog of backward-compatible games in November 2018.