Just wanted to say I’ve been playing the 360 version quite a lot recently, and it’s getting better and better! If only you could ignore the werehog bits full-stop, but I’m satisfied with just playing them once and moving onto the Sonic bits. There’s some stunning levels, the music is amazing and it looks gorgeous, it’s just got a few flaws – the first night stage for Chun-nan is appalling, absolutely terrible. Other than that I’m really enjoying it!

You can ignore the werehog bits?! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! I’ll likely play them the first time through for completion’s sake, but knowing I can play the speedy stuff without the slow stuff later makes me feel a bit better about the game.

As for the rest, I can see where you’re coming from too. I really probably should reserve judgment until after I get a chance to play the game, but when I read that clip, it just seemed like a cop-out to me, particularly when all the experimental stuff has been dragging the series down for so long. Even the Sonic Adventure line, though still very fun, was dragged down a bit by it, though not nearly so much as the games that came after that.

And you probably are right when it comes to business sense. I guess a lot of the really good stuff doesn’t sell as well as 20 hours of gameplay and the latest graphics. It happened a lot last generation after all.

Hopefully once I get a chance to play it, I’ll see the same thing you did, in that it’s a step in the right direction.

Still, I would really like to see what Sega could do this generation if they really buckled down to make a blockbuster game again. Perhaps once they have the financial backing again.

I understand what Sonic Team are trying to say, and in a way I agree with their intentions. Look at the detail in Unleashed, and then multiply that by the necessary hundreds of miles to sustain that over a six or twelve-zone game.

I don’t think it’s good business sense for Sega to spend huge amounts of money on what could ultimately be a six or eight hour game. I think they’re conscious about creating value-for-money for themselves as well as their customers.

It’s not perfect, but I will say that Unleashed is definitely a step in the right direction, although perhaps it’s two steps forward and one back. We’ll definitely see more Hedgehog Engine-based games though, so there’s plenty of opportunity for Sega to get it right!