Mixed into this are numerous bad platforming sections. The Werehog is forced to smack around the same repetitive cadre of villains across levels that last upwards of 30 torturous minutes. By night, the speed is sucked away and Sonic becomes nothing but a mindless brawler. By day, Sonic is all about speed (and some light platforming elements).
IGN SONIC UNLEASHED PS2 PC
The other two-thirds are absolute and complete abominations - the kind of gaming most often made by two half-drunk 40-somethings from a former Soviet bloc country and found in a PC bargain bin. Unfortunately, that's just one third of the game. Sure, there are going to be a few moments that require such precise movements that you may get temporarily frustrated, but still the daytime sections are the best Sonic has been in many years. You'll run on top of whales, slide down the spines of dragons and bobsled through icy canyons. There are some really fun sequences across the various levels. It's in the daytime where Sonic Unleashed unloads all its creative juices. But Sonic is often so slow to jump, you have to go a second earlier than you would normally. With a game moving this quickly, you need to have jumps initiate the moment you put pressure on the button.
The biggest issue with the daytime levels is that the jump button is not as responsive as it should be. You can actually go so fast that it's hard to comprehend what's even happening before you slam into a wall of spikes, but I can live with the trial-and-error aspects of this design. The daytime levels with Sonic have only the rarest of framerate drops and are consistently enjoyable. Oh, it's not perfect, but it's the building block for the future of the franchise. This is what a new generation Sonic should be like. The daytime levels are fast-paced on-rails sections focused on speed. Even with a lemon twist, that's just not a drink anyone is going to order. It's more like adding dirt and soy sauce. The nighttime and adventure sections, however, are no Kahlua and milk. Add Kahlua and milk and you have the Dude's favorite drink. Think of Sonic Unleashed like a mixed drink. Sonic Unleashed is divided rather evenly into three parts: Daytime, nighttime, and adventure. But if you really just have to know more about the train wreck that is Sonic Unleashed, then I suppose we must go on.
There, you can stop reading and spend your $60 on something more worthwhile. I'm going to do you a great favor and save you some time and money.