"One rule... Stay in the light."

A Vin Diesel quote from Pitch Black may seem like a strange place to start a review for the latest Sonic the Hedgehog release, but no words are more fitting that Riddick's when it comes to the blue speedster's latest adventure.

If, like myself, you are over twenty, it's likely that Sonic played a huge part in your childhood gaming life. Back in his 2D, 16-bit heyday, Sonic was well known for his blistering speed, in your face attitude, and - believe it or not -stellar gameplay. This might come as a shock to some of our younger readers who have grown up on the gruel-like diet of Sonic Heroes, Sonic Riders, and the truly abysmal Sonic the Hedgehog on Xbox 360 (the full price release, not the Xbox Live Arcade conversion of the classic original, which is well worth a play) - but back in the day, Sonic traded punch for punch with Mario in terms of both sales and gameplay.

These days, however, if you've played the games then you know that Sonic has become a mere shell of his former self; a slew of poor releases has slowly ground down even long-standing fans of the series, to the point that we sadly just don't care any more [It's true - I was really excited about Sonic the Hedgehog on Xbox 360 but it was the final nail in the coffin and since then I've had no interest whatsoever in playing another new Sonic game. Mournful Ed]. Yet try as we might to not care, the fact of the matter is that - even after events came to a head with the travesty that was Sonic the Hedgehog on Xbox 360 and PS3 - us loyal fans still hope against hope that Sonic Team will do us proud with their next release, that they will return to the series' roots and bring our favourite blue-haired hedgehog back to the forefront of quality gaming.

This year, SEGA and Sonic Team have released Sonic Unleashed - is it the return to form that we have all been awaiting for so long or simply another failed experiment to sit alongside the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Heroes? Well, it's a little bit of both; to bring us back to Riddick's earlier quote, Sonic Unleashed is essentially two different games - one of light and one of dark. One of these is a fantastic game, a return to everything that we loved about Sonic in the first place, while the other, well, it simply doesn't belong; not only is it overly simplistic and technically flawed but it also has no place, either stylistically or historically, in Sonic's legacy.

When the sun is up, Sonic is back to his best, tearing through sun-kissed levels at blazing speeds, collecting rings and navigating simple but satisfying platforming sections, wiping out enemies as he blurs past them. When playing these bright and colourful levels you truly believe that Sonic Team have finally got it right - that they have managed to bring Sonic into the third dimension without diluting or sacrificing the core gameplay that has always been so vital to the series' success. Sadly though, as soon as the sun goes down, the gameplay sinks along with it; for some bizarre reason that entirely escapes me, Sonic Team has decided to almost ruin the first great Sonic game in years by inexplicably splicing it with an underwhelming, technically flawed God of War rip-off. You see, after the sun sets, Sonic turns into a Werehog. Yes… a Werehog. There is something in the storyline about Sonic getting trapped in one of Dr Eggman's ray beams in the (admittedly fantastic) intro FMV, but why this turns him into a gruff-voiced werehog is anyone's guess, as is why he then has stretchy arms akin to those of Mr. Fantastic and Mrs. Incredible. Why? Who knows? I don't even think SEGA and Sonic Team know; it certainly has little to do with the story, which sees Eggman up to his usual tricks, this time splitting the world into pieces and separating the landmasses from the planet's core in an attempt to unleash and harness the power of Dark Gaia.

Sonic Unleashed might be a game suffering from severe schizophrenia but when dealing with Sonic's light side it's as fun to play through as any of the classic 16-bit titles from the Nineties; it's a pleasant return to fast-paced gameplay, filled with rails, rings, loops, multiple routes and solid (if unspectacular) platforming and combat - and thanks to the all-new Hedgehog Engine and the hugely improved camera, Sonic both looks great and is easy to control.

The first batch of 3D Sonic games on Dreamcast weren't actually that bad, offering up some decent level designs and a solid sense of speed; what always kept them from greatness (beyond the obligatory inclusion of unwanted secondary playable characters) was the often disastrous camera, a problem that has plagued every 3D release since and been a constant thorn in Sonic's side. For the most part, the Hedgehog Engine has completely removed this issue, giving Sonic Unleashed a solid, fixed camera angle that makes traversing the landscape a much more pleasurable experience. Even better is how the camera seamlessly changes from a 3D perspective to an old school 2.5D perspective for a certain proportion of each level; even with the game moving at lightning fast speeds, this transition occurs flawlessly, adding a sense of homage while never having a negative impact upon the gameplay. If anything, these moments serve as a welcome reminder as to why you fell in love with Sonic in the first place.

It's also testament to the new game engine that the 3D aspects of the levels are just as much fun; the sense of speed is breathtaking, with basic movement mapped to the analogue stick and a new, greatly appreciated, sidestep button (available via the left and right bumpers) activating a quick dash for gliding effortlessly past oncoming obstacles. Jumps are still a bit off the mark but they're good enough for the most part and Sonic's standard homing attack is now much tighter and generally more accurate. Beyond these basics, there is also the added inclusion of a slide button that's essential for reaching record times and a speed burst button that uses the rings you've collected to push Sonic's speed up yet another notch. All of the controls are responsive and mapped to the controller in an intuitive way, making Sonic Unleashed a pleasingly simple game to get the hang of; you can tear through the level as fast as you like or you can explore the multiple routes, collect rings and find the hidden items scattered around each location. To put it simply, this is how Sonic should play in a 3D world - it may not be perfect, but Sonic Team has wisely taken all the positive aspects of the last decent Sonic game, Sonic and the Secret Rings on Wii, and built upon them with great success, choosing the path of refinement rather than complete overhaul.

At least, that is, until we return to those accursed werehog levels; the fact that Sonic Team has managed to get so many things right in the daytime levels, finally making the successful transition from 2D to 3D gaming, makes it all the more disappointing when the sun goes down and you are forced to play through the overly long, poorly conceived werehog sections. As a long standing fan of Sonic and a huge admirer of the daytime levels, I find it both aggravating and perplexing in equal measures that SEGA thought it would be a good idea to allow these slow, cumbersome levels to take up such a huge portion of the game's running time, a series of lengthy segments where Sonic, in his bizarre werehog form, must slowly and repetitively beat up an array of mindless enemies via a collection of simplistic attack combinations and quick time events.

Playing out like a dumbed-down take on God of War, you simply move from one location to the next, bashing out simple, repetitive button combinations to clear the surrounding area of lifeless, painfully stupid enemies before moving on and repeating ad nauseum. You also get to smash up crates and doors in exactly the same manner, collecting coins to replenish your health and red orbs known as Dark Gaia Force that increase your 'unleashed level', which when maximised allows you to 'unleash' your powers and become slightly stronger and tougher for a short period of time. As well as periods of smashing everything in your path that culminate in either a boss battle or a large-scale enemy attack, you also have to complete platforming sections that put your stretchy limbs to an alternate use; as with the rest of the werehog portion of the game, these sections prove largely fun-free, this time thanks to a troublesome camera that constantly gets stuck behind walls. It also doesn't help that the camera often offers you a poor perspective when it comes to figuring out your position in relation to the level when jumping - a rookie error if ever there was one, which inevitably leads to much falling off and bad language. The high levels of slowdown are also distracting - a problem that is strangely abundant in the lumbering werehog levels yet all but non-existent in the strikingly fast Sonic levels - something that points to the werehog levels being a late addition to the party. These levels aren't a complete travesty and at times they are even competent in a child-friendly way, but they stop you from playing that great Sonic game that you purchased; slow-paced, combat-orientated gameplay - often lasting in excess of thirty minutes at a time - is not why you buy a Sonic game.

If there is one thing that the werehog levels are good for, it's earning upgrade points for Sonic's various attributes, such as speed and jumping. At the end of each stage you are given the usual summary screen, providing basic performance details along with the now customary level grade. You are also given the opportunity to raise the stats of either Sonic or his werehog alter ego to improve their basic abilities; although they don't make a huge difference to the overall gameplay, maxing out all of 'normal' Sonic's stats is essential if you want to start challenging the big hitters in time-based level runs.

Beyond all the Werehog shenanigans, Sonic Team has also seen fit to add the now obligatory hub world in an attempt to further pad out Sonic's bloated list of unnecessary features. To be honest - unlike many fans of the original Mega Drive classics - I actually quite like the idea of a hub world in Sonic games [A system that worked rather well in the underrated Dreamcast classic Sonic Adventure, Sonic's most successful foray into 3D to date, in this editor's humble opinion! Ed]. They have the potential to give you a break from the high-octane gameplay of the action stages (well, the Sonic ones at least) and they work brilliantly in games like Super Mario Galaxy and Banjo-Kazooie, so when implemented well, a hub world could be a worthwhile component of any future Sonic release. The hub world of Sonic Unleashed has all the elements needed to be a success; an ever-expanding hub world that opens up as you complete levels and gain new abilities, a collection of unlockable items that encourage exploration and key items in the form of moon and sun tokens that are required to progress further into the story. However, despite looking good on paper, in practice it feels disjointed and is more often than not a hindrance to gameplay.

The problem is that the hub world is actually a collection of very separate hub worlds that represent each continent of the planet, so any sense of progression is immediately diminished when you are forced to jump from area to area, rather than moving through a seamless, ever expanding area akin to the extremely effective hub of Mario Galaxy. The other problem arises from the fact that you are forced to converse with each continent's largely gormless collection of inhabitants in an effort to find out where to go next, something that wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the incredibly poor dialogue and voice work that you have to put up with along the way. Further padding has also been added in the form of a few mini-games to be ploughed through as you move from one continent to the next, which include time trials and quick time events. They're usually competent but they're far from necessary, placing them firmly into the filler category to join the hub world and the werehog levels. Sonic Team has gone crazy for quick time events, it seems; every aspect of the gameplay is rife with them - from the daytime levels to the werehog levels and even the shooting mini-games, you never go long without a good old QTE. In fact, the shooting mini-games actually serve as little more than an extended quick time event session; it's a shooting game with no shooting to speak of - bizarre.

Once you complete the story mode, having forced yourself to persevere through the myriad of hub worlds, werehog levels and mini-games, Sonic Unleashed finally becomes the game that you wanted in the first place. With all the action stages unlocked and no silly story to worry about, you can get on with replaying the collection of awesome daytime action stages in order to earn those elusive S grades and break the fastest time records. Only when the story mode is complete and you can finally sidestep all of the unnecessary filler does Sonic Unleashed become the game that we all wanted in the first place. Get to this point and suddenly you realise just how much potential there is for replayability; of course, you can also go through the werehog levels again - if you are so inclined - but unless you're looking to max out the achievement points, it's unlikely you'll want to bother.

As flawed as some of the choices and gameplay mechanics are in Sonic Unleashed, one thing that Sonic Team has definitely nailed is the visuals. The game worlds look stunning, both stylistically and technically, and the Hedgehog Engine really has brought Sonic's world to life like never before. Sonic himself has never looked in better shape, either; taking cues from the 16-bit days, SEGA and Sonic Team have toned down the 'to the max' Sonic and replaced him with the more effortlessly cool Sonic that we all know and love. All of the environments have been rendered with loving attention though, and while the fast paced daytime levels steal the show, the night-time werehog levels are just as artistically sound and caringly imagined.

The hub worlds too, aren't the most exciting places to explore but you can at least take solace in the fact that they too are very easy on the eye; from the architecture of the buildings to the smaller details and fantastic character artwork of each locale's populace, every hub world looks both distinctive and vibrant. In fact, it wouldn't be unfair to say that the world has a certain Pixar-like quality to it; it may be lacking that extra layer of polish but every aspect of its design is very pleasing. It's a shame that the irritating voice work lets down the rest of the stellar presentation, but fortunately every other aspect of the audio design is top notch. Collecting rings is still accompanied by that reassuring 'ker-ching' and the soundtrack has returned to the more orchestral scores of yore, giving the game a more epic (yet at the same time pleasingly retro) feel. As for that annoying voice acting, you can mercifully change it to the more bearable original Japanese track if you prefer - thank you, SEGA!

SEGA's releases have been very hit and miss in recent years and Sonic Unleashed seems the perfect example of their current position within the market. On the one hand you have games like OutRun2, presenting SEGA at their best and forgoing marketability for classic gameplay and successful homage, whereas on the other hand you have games like the recently released Golden Axe, presenting SEGA at their worst by removing the heart and soul of the original experience, only for it to be replaced with what the marketing team clearly thought was the 'in thing'. Sonic Unleashed sits somewhere in the middle of these two extremes; at its best, it feels just like the Sonic games you loved so much on the Mega Drive and at its worst it feels like a cynical cash-cow, dreamed up by marketing execs to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Get past the irrelevant filler and Sonic Unleashed becomes the game we all wanted - it's just a real shame that we have to work so hard to fully unleash it.

Reviewed by Liam Pritchard for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).