This was the version I grew up with. It was a love hate relationship because I had difficulty controlling the Werehog on the Wii specifically. Felt... “janky”.

Going along with your point Jason Griffith actually had strep throat while recording for this game which made the screaming even worse.

I played Unwiished first, so you can imagine how excited I was when I got the real version.

I remember dying an absurd amount of times trying to grab ledges as the Werehog.

3:58 that was just music to my ears. PURE. NOSTALGIA. Thank you. Also, well timed ad

Congrats on the sponsor!!

This was my version of the game when I was younger and saw reviews of this game when they used footage from the hd game I said “hey that doesn’t look like the game” and when they said something that was exclusive to the hd game I said “that’s not part of the game what are they talking about?”. Edit: Thanks for all the likes

Don't worry about doing sponsorships. GET PAID, MAN!

never thought id watch a video 8 seconds after it came out

Sonic Unleashed for the Wii was my childhood man I don’t even care for how people dislike it. I still very much think the Wii version did the sun and moon medal collecting far better than the original.

I still think that the boost system from this version should have been how the boost was handled going forward. Having to activate the boost at certain points instead of being able to keep it on at all times made the timing more calculated, and it added a bit more challenge to the levels.

I played the Wii Version first and it was my favorite game in the series when it first came out. Although I prefer the grander scope of the HD version there are certain boss fights that I liked better on the Wii, and I prefer the way the medals are here since it doesn't drag down the pacing. Personally, I think the definitive Unleashed experience would be to combine elements from both.

I had this version as a kid. Never finished it because I couldn’t get passed egg man land. Many years Later when I was a teenager would pick up the ps3 version and actually finished it without realizing they were different games. I learned that in some random KZfaq videos

This was my first version of Sonic Unleashed. When I first played the 360 version, I was mad that the Wii version didn't have as much as that version. But when I saw how long it took to beat the 360/PS3 version and how frustrating some later stages can be, it made me appreciate the Wii/PS2 version more. While there are things in the HD version I like more, I will prefer the SD version when it comes to wanting to finish the game.

I have a friend with the same Big Chill figure.

The Wii version of this game was the version that I was familiar with since 2010, so playing the proper version on the 360 in 2019 was a huge surprise because I didn't know it was a whole different beast. Heh Thanks for this nostalgia overload of a video, it was great!

I'm still glad that I lived with the PS2 version of this game. It felt like the combat really works as the pacing is quicker, and it felt satisfying doing combos onto enemies in this version than the PS3/360 version. Though, there are some minor nitpicks, but I've still enjoyed it more.

Ah yes, the version of Unleashed that I grew up with and was confused when I looked up gameplay on KZfaq, only to find that my version was cut short in many aspects. I still had a great time, though: I even started trying to S-Rank all stages (stopped shortly).

The PS2 version of this game is, from what I remember, my first game ever. It was extremely frustrating, especially for my 8 years old self, but very rewarding when you beat it: Daytime stages felt like driving a car beyond the consented speed limit, while at the same time, trying to jump over pits and beating a time limit, and the Werehog gameplay, while more fun to me since it felt like you had more control over your actions since brawling was the main thing, platforming was a nightmare due to the unresponsive controls, and the "running mechanic": the Werehog can both walk on two legs, or run with all 4 of his limbs, but to do so, you had to *press the analog level, while still going forward* , which resulted in several moments when you were at the edge of your seat. I never beat the Dark Gaia final boss since I sucked at dodging his 4 claws as Super Sonic (then again, I wasn't even 10 when I tried to beat it). Still, a very nostalgic game, thank you for your review.

This was a pretty good look at unleashed for the Wii. I can appreciate what it did and it’s almost “beta-like” precence compared to unleashed HD. Now I’m super excited for that black Knight review.

Getting sponsors and a patreon?! He’s on top

"Wii Werehog." Heh. "Wiiware Hog." ;)

I grew up with the Wii version. I was excited for this game for the same reason I was excited for Twilight Princess (hero displayed on one side, wolf form displayed on the other and a more grim theme). I remember the Eggman Land stage being tough as nails so I'm glad it wasn't as long as the HD version. This is still one of my favourite Sonic games and I didn't mind the werehog stages myself but the precise platforming required could get a bit tedious. Then again, maybe I'm just not "spoiled" by the HD version because I have yet to try it. People compare the HD version to Generations and I didn't like the boost mechanics as much in that game, it was so instant and easy to fill. I much prefer the boost from the Wii version because it feels much more limited and less overpowered, but that's my personal take on it.

This was a nice quick video. I really am enjoying the Sonic retrospective so far. Keep up the good work!

I wasn't even aware that there were two different console versions of this game until after I beat it on the Wii as a kid. That kind of blew my mind, I've only ever seen that done between consoles and handhelds up until that point.

It's really nice to see a reviewer around my age give his takes on some of my childhood games. Thanks for it!

i find it fascinating just how different the hd and sd versions of unleashed are. it really does show how porting games to new consoles isnt all as simple as you might think. great video j!

Glad to see the Wii version finally getting its respect

I got a Wii the year it released. I was one of those people who kept going back to game stop hoping they had one in stock lol I had a very similar experience with the SD and HD versions of Spider-Man 3 in 2007 and Sonic Unleashed in 2008. I was confused why footage I saw online was different to what I was playing and eventually picked up the HD versions of both these games. At the end of the day I prefer the SD ones for both and the main reason is in unleashed, no bs medals having to collect and imo everything from Eggmanland on is much better in the SD version than the HD one. Especially that final boss. Yikes 😬 For Spidey it was just that you got the black suit earlier, it had Morbius and Shriek in it, and was more fun over-all to me. I really miss the “same name, different game” concept. I understand why it’s not popular anymore, but at least think it should’ve stayed for licensed games. Come to think of it, this is the only time it happened with Sonic isn’t it? Huh. A neat novelty at the very least either way.

3:18 can't wait for the Ben 10 retrospective

3:47 “Dithers everywherrrrrrrrrreeee…” LMAO 😂 I wasn’t ready for that

I like how the thumbnail has a pre-rendered promotional model of the werehog with the Xbox logo and an in-game model with the Wii logo

This was my first Sonic Game! YAY

Sonic unleashed wii was fun experience imo

The cutscenes actually were skipable in the HD versions. Just thought I'd let you know.

It'd be cool if, in the event SEGA decides to port Unleashed, they go for a hybrid port which includes the gameplay from the HD version, but stages and mechanics from both. Sun/Moon medals could be earned like in the SD version, as well as collected like in the HD version, to account for the increased stage count.

this was the version that i grew up with, specifically the wii version, and if they do remake unleashed, i hope the wii levels can be unlocked as i have so much nostalgia for this game

3:50 I was so waiting for an Exo reference thank you so much

I played this version as a kid. Didn't know about the version on 360/PS3 til later.

I've always preferred the Wii version (even beaten it 100%), but a huge part of me feels like it could've turned out even better if the PS2 version didn't exist. Maybe if Dimps' time hadn't been divided, we could've gotten Wii versions of Mazuri and Empire City, better graphics, and the like. Plus, several of the optional missions take place in exclusive areas, so I believe the intention was to include more daytime acts to compensate for the increased amount of Werehog, instead of the mission-based progression. Like seriously, I get that it was still profitable, but were there really that many people clamoring for a new PS2 Sonic game in 2008?

I prefer the wii version for various reasons, but the one that makes me love it, is the art desing of the levels, both night and day, but night to me is the best, how everything looks, from the use of colors in the sky, the places and their desing, the colors palette, even the text font used in night sections.

The PS2 version was the 1st sonic game I owned. I still love it and I would bot mind playing it again. Also I think we can all agree that the final boss on the SD version is better than the HD version

Back then, I used to play it on the Wii. Childhood memories. The Wii just wanted to be different.

This was the version I played when I was a kid. I didn’t get the HD version until I was 20 so this is one of the sonic games I have the most nostalgia for, as well as black knight, shadow and heroes

What about Sonic Unleashed on the mobile 👀

I’m so excited for the Black Knight video!! I hope it really ends this era of Sonic videos well! Also I do have a question will you be doing sonic rush and rush adventure after black knight or will you not be able to cover those games?

I never liked how you had to restart chunks of gameplay upon death as the werehog, but nothing was ever more mind-numbing than having to climb THAT clock tower, and I'm happy for our Wii brothers and sisters if they actually got to skip that part, besides the 2 hour long final bossfight, that is. Overall great video and many thanks 😊

I personally played the version on the Wii and I'm in the same camp who had no idea there was a version for the Xbox or PS3 I remember playing it so much as a kid and found the motion controls for the Werehog pretty solid, especially when it came to the platforming. But then again, haven't played that one in at least a year or two because I got stuck on Eggman land I thank you for actually touching on the Wii version because like, how you said, it gets sleeped on a lot(almost as much as the flip phone version) Hope you have a good day and good luck with that patreon!

i grew up playing the wii version when i was a little kid couldnt even get past the homing attack tutorial.

The Wii version was the only one I ever knew so I had no idea what people meant when they said hub worlds

Fun fact: jason griffith was indeed sick when recording for the werehog

I honestly just prefer the wii version because it seems more atmospheric. you could tell that what they lacked in design they made up for in things like the loading screens, gaia gates and the hud. everything that you wouldnt even think twice about usually is given immense thought and I love that and always have. seriously the ONE thing I seem to consistently remember from this version of the game from my childhood is the loading screens LMAO.

Hi J I Am Glad You Are Growing And Expanding Your Channel, Keep On Doing What Your Doing I Hope You Hit 100k Soon 😉👍

I prefer most things about the HD version, but the one thing I like more about the SD version is the level design for the night stages. They feel way more expansive and they change as you progress through them. For example in Arid Sands you start out in the heart of the city Shamar and end in these ancient ruins in the middle of the desert. It felt like the developers really tried to make you feel like you were on a trek towards the temple. Compare that to the HD version where you just kinda hang out in the city, beat up some monsters, do some platforming, then the stage ends. Also, breaking the night stages up makes them feel less like a slog.

The Wii has a software image blurring effect, so that's why the game looked blurry even with all that technobable. Playing this game on the Wii gamepad has been a lot of fun.

3:59 "Fun isn't something you consider when balancing the -universe- *Sonic Unleashed* , but this does put a smile on my face"-Thanos (kinda)

3:19 If I may suggest a video review of the PS2 and Wii Ben 10 games.

Why is it that you always manage to upload a new video when I'm in the middle of watching (or rewatching) one of your older ones? This is the third time in a row that it's happened. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. 👌

I was absolutely OBSESSED with this version as a kid, due to coming across a Sonic parody of the "Chevy's Girls" song from Saturday Night Live on deviantART which mentioned this version (the author had received it and Season 2 of Saturday Night Live on DVD for Christmas.) Thus, I will never look at it in a negative aspect. I also don't call this version Unwiished. I call it "Unleashed" (WITH THOSE QUOTATION MARKS) because of the deviation writing it that way. I never actually played it, though, because we just didn't get it. My program I go to actually has it in their collection of Wii games, but we can't use the Wii right now. The opening cutscene of the game, with Sonic being drained of energy and screaming, was my favorite thing as a kid. I... I was weird.

I grew up playing it on the PS2 and since I didn’t have a memory card I never had a safe file but man playing the entire game and learning new skills and how I could speed run it every Saturday morning is just a nostalgic memory and makes me miss being a kid again

This game was my childhood

NOW WE NEED A VIDEO OF THE CELLPHONE VERSION

I'm pretty excited for the Black Knight video. I've seen some mixed opinions on it, but no real full reviews, so I want to see if it's worth checking out.

I had this version as a kid. Also, you might want to shout out a little known piece of Sonic fan history that mentions this version. It's called "Sonic, Sonic" and it's a parody of a song from Season 2 of Saturday Night Live with Sonic characters. Sung by Amy, Sally, and Mina, the song right off the bat mentions "Unleashed" (with quotes.) The refrain even has the line "It's Friday night on my new Wii." Unfortunately, the creator (who will remain anonymous) disowned and later forgot about it. But Danny has done a good job of keeping it alive. I read the original upload in 2009 and wondered, "What the heck," but I guess it had a subconscious effect on me, since I ordered Sally and Mina plushies from Setsunakou later on. Love this video! Keep up the good work!

My 2 cents: I prefer the PS2/ Wii version to the hd versions. Partly because of the pacing improvements you mentioned, as well as a few other aspects that I think last-gen Sonic does better: - The gaia gates were more enjoyable hubs than the towns, mostly because they let you explore them at your own leisure. Also, I love the tune used for these hubs. - I actually prefer how Sonic controlled in these games, since handling felt much tighter, even at low speeds. - While I will agree the brawling was even more boring in these games, I kinda prefer the designs of the night stages here, since they placed more emphasis on competent platforming. Also, breaking them up into smaller stages is a godsend. The werehog is best taken in small doses.

I ended up beating this game when I was like 6 or 8, when I played Unleashed on PS3 like a year or two ago I ended up getting my ass whooped

I can't believe I've been watching all these Sonic videos and haven't subscribed until now

"Wii Warehog" I get it.

yknow when we said we liked you getting sponsors that didn't mean open a patreon. Nah im joking lmao

I grew up with the Wii Version. My only acess to the PS3/360 Version is PSNow (which I don't have)

i was waiting for this. i used to play this port all the time lol

I got the wii version when it came out and only ever played that, I had no idea that there was such major differences between it and the other versions. I remember being excited in particular for the hub worlds but they never appeared, when I got to eggman land, I decided to look up where all this dang hubworlds were, only to discover that the wii version not only lacked them, but a bunch of other features. I was so so crestfallen by this, I never beat it.

Ah big chill. Good memories.

Only thing I'll admit the PS2/Wii versions had over the Xbox360/PS3 versions was the Gaia Gates being bonus mini levels and the use of the Sun and Moon medals. Instead of being mandatory to progress the story, they're used to unlock more levels of the aforementioned Gaia Gates, and were given to you depending on the rank you get after finishing a level/challenge.

Seeing this made me remember how weird the order of versions of Unleashed I've played. The first one was by Gameloft on the mobile phones (that's the only device I had that's not under the "only allowed on weekends" for me to play). The second one was the PS2 version on PCSX2 (kinda slow since the computer back then wasn't as powerful). Then the last one was the PS3 version, which was gifted to me as a birthday present by my brother.

I only played the Wii version, so seeing all these higher quality cutscenes just made me want to flip off of a Balcony realizing what I'm missing

One thing that unwiished did something better than the hd Is the sun and moon medals

The version of unleashed i played throughout my childhood until I got the 360 version. I remember being annoyed with the motion controls for the werehog.

Another sonic video in the same month yay

Man, you didn't even talk about the Action Chain system. Instead of only being able to fill the boost gauge by collecting rings, you can chain together actions (surprising, I know) like ring-dashing, defeating enemies, drifting, and hitting dash panels to get a lot more boost. Along with the ring-level-up system (which additionally solves the issue that most Sonic games wrestle with where you lose all your rings when you get hit once) and the boost being press-each-time rather than hold-it-down-for-continuous-boost, the Action Chain system is why I think Unleashed Wii is the best boost gameplay Sonic has ever had. You have to be a lot more strategic with your boosts and your other moves, while making the error part of the trial-and-error gameplay not as frustrating (you don't lose all your rings, but your boost gauge shrinks by a level). It's the solution to the (sometimes unfair) criticism boost games get for being "hold boost to win". Getting good enough to get an S-rank is fun, and getting an S-rank isn't needlessly frustrating: it's simply beat the level under a certain time, but in order to have enough boost to reach that time, you'll need to chain actions together and use the accessible alternate paths you mentioned. Taking damage doesn't automatically mean you won't get an S-rank, though it will be harder. I like it a lot better than using points to determine rank. Also, as bad of a rap waggle controls get, the Werehog levels are much more fun with the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Heck, the whole game seems more fun with Wiimote and Nunchuk (not to mention I didn't run into most of your issues with controls and movement, probably because you used a Gamecube controller), though maybe that's because I'm used to playing it with Wiimote + Nunchuk

Interesting to hear your thoughts on this! I played Wii Unleashed first, and I loved it so much that I bought a used Xbox to play the other version. While I certainly agree with a lot of the faults you mentioned, I just don't mind them personally. The Werehog's incredibly basic, but I think its stages are a blast to speedrun. And while the compressed cutscenes aren't ideal, I actually prefer them to the Xbox ones because the frame rate's less distracting. I'm probably just nostalgic though. Either way, great video! Your passion for the series really comes though. :)

will you ever cover the rest of the dcau? Like static shock, the zeta project, lobo and Gotham girls (which is available on the birds of prey show dvd, third season is worth it). and movies like Batman and Harley Quinn, Justice league vs fatal five and Superman Brainiac Attacks ( Which isn't canon but has the same art style, design and voice actors as STAS. It just doesn't fit into the timeline)

I'd like to see the Boost in this game make some kind of return since I think it'd be a great starting point on say "Bridging" the Boost and Adventure Style Gameplay. Also, minor detail, but I LOVE how Sonic will Spin Dash when you boost over a Dash Panel in this game. I know he(usually) does the same in Generations, but this game gives the blue streak effect.

I still find it insane that young me played the wii version and I had no idea that it was an entirely different game from the legit version.

Yknow, I'm not gonna lie, this was the first version that I played back in 2008 on the ps2 and honestly after I learned about the HD Version, I always thought that the HD version was definitively the best but now nah. Now I still love that game but I'll have to wait to make my own version of that video to explain.

The Ps2 version Werehog levels will always be the best, especially the Chun Nan ones

This was the version I grew up with so imagine my surprise when I learned about the hd version

This was the version of Unleashed I played as a kid. Only played the main version for the first time like a year ago. If I had had to collect all those sun and moon medals and had to deal with the real eggmanland as a 10 year old, I would’ve never finished it.

As someone who grew up with unleashed and colors, I have an extremely hard time playing generations because the movement feels so stiff and clunky. I actually prefer the movement from these, but maybe thats just due to the fact that I played this first

What I call a workout.

I'm thankful they brought it to the wii, because that's what i grew up with and loved unconditionally

The Wii version of Sonic Unleashed is one of my favorite version of Sonic Unleashed to play along with the HD version. The Wii version was my introduction to Sonic Unleashed and I got obsessed with the game. I didn't star playing the HD version until I got it on PS3 in 2014 and that version is also great.

My favourate sonic game is sonic unleashed

I'm waiting for the Forces review, and I really wonder if you'd tear into it the same way you did X6 or just call it bad on the most apathetic way possible like ZX Advent

My mother gave me and my sisters both Super Mario Galaxy and Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360 edition) for our 9th birthday and god damn, she blessed our souls that day 🙏🙏🙏

Unpopular opinion: I kinda preferred the medal collecting in the HD version. Yes, it’s nice to have the medals rewarded to you when you perform well. But the keyword there is “perform well”. I was, and still am, terrible at standard Sonic levels. On aaverage, it takes me 10 minutes to be a Sonic stage on my first try. Unless I get a ton of practice, I usually get C, D, or E ranks. So when medal collecting is based on how well you do, and you’re not very good, you’ll be stuck for a very long time. Which is what happened when I played on the PS2. And I can’t farm lives to give me more chances because the perma-lives are blocked by the medals too. I only got stopped twice during my playthrough of the HD version, and I’d go and grab missing medals in the Werehog stages (which were easier for me than the Day stages) or give the Professor souvenirs and I’d be on my way. So personally, I feel like the HD version is more beginner/noob friendly. Yea, I took 1hr and 18min to beat Eggmanland, but at least I had 99 lives!

Congrats, you totally deserve the sponsorship and the support from patreon. Honestly, I'm always astonished by your huge dedication and amazing quality. Keep up the excellent work man!

This man is upgrading. Go for the goal dude!

*MY MAN IS GETTING SPONSORS* Keep it on track bro!

Ngl I wish they combined some bosses and stages from bothe versions cuz each version had something they did better than the other version for each stage