Now as we all know another Sonic game is upon us, and we all want to know if the Sonic Cycle is once again in full force or not. Well I am here to confirm that the Sonic Cycle has once again been proven the all-knowing Sonic prophet as Sonic Unleashed is brought down by the awful controls of "Sonic the Werehog", and no, I'm not joking, that's actually how the game says it. It's sickening really. For reference of what the Sonic Cycle is, look after the break for the picture.



Now I will not claim credit for this at all. Nope, not mine. Someone at Neogaf made it, but it proves the point.

Where to begin? Well, I will say that the Sonic portions of the game are pretty fun, fast and entertaining. There are some bad parts however like trial and error levels and levels where you go into you realize you can't beat until halfway through the level. The game doesn't mention that you may not be able to finish the level before entering it, or blocking it off so you can't go in and die, and die, and die some more. But the game is more open like Super Mario 64, but unlike Super Mario 64, even if you glitched out the last world from the get-go, you could beat it. That is not the case in Sonic Unleashed I'm afraid. But I'm making it a much bigger deal than it is, actually.

Now, onto "Sonic the Werehog" or "Sonic of War" I should say. Let's start with the music, namely the music that plays when you face enemies. It's the same jazz tune over and over again. And since combat scenes only last a few seconds sometimes, it gets rather repetitive. As for the combat, it's okay. Not great, not bad. Now what really brings the Werehog levels down in quality A LOT is the fact that in every level, without fail, there is a design choice known to players as a "Dick Move" that really makes the subpar controls really shine. For example...

There's an ice level in the game. Imagine ice pillars that collapse a few seconds after climbing onto them. Now you have to get on one side of the pillars then jump to the next one. Now, Jump in this game is done by pressing the A button, and in certain situations you can move the Analog Stick to point you in the direction you want to go. Not in these situations though. To move from pillar to pillar you have to Press A twice in a specific order (long press then a light tap) to move, and then while in mid-air, a green signal appears and you press the B button to grapple to the next one. But keep in mind that the camera is not in an ideal position here, so when you jump you're not jump directly to the next pillar. You must correct yourself with the analog stick while in mid-air or you will die. Oh, and this occurs twice more in the level.

This, ladies and gentlemen happens in every level (not the situation) but where you must perform some act they don't tell you what to do or the controls freak out and you die. A LOT. I'm sorry, but this is why imitators always fail and why Sonic Team is one of the worst level designers in the industry today. The game has some pretty nice graphics, a really good soundtrack in Sonic stages, and a great design (especially on the villagers, at least compared to the last Sonic game), but the controls are just not there, along with the camera. It's shit like this that really makes me question a developer's sanity. Especially for a Franchise that was once as loved as Mario.