I still can’t process the fact that this cutscene is from a 2008 sonic game. Outstanding animation, voice acting and character writing with few dialogue. What an intro

The fact that a big budget Hollywood sonic flick couldn't even come close to this intro, more than a decade later. Really shows just how special Unleashed was.

This cinematic just cements Eggman as one of my favorite video game villains. It takes a lot of effort to make a character go from evil and conniving to pitiful and then back again within the drop of a hat while keeping them threatening.

I still baffled that we never get an opening cutscene as good as this one yet.

Fun fact: near the beginning, when Eggman notices Sonic has arrived, in the Japanese dub, he says Sonic out loud, questioning how he’s here. That’s taken out of the English dub, and I feel like it fits much better, as it serves two purposes. A) Eggman realized that Sonic was finally here and started taking action, and B) it shows that Sonic needs no introduction.

One reason why I adore the opening cinematic to Sonic Unleashed, is something that Dazz mentions-there's hardly ANY dialogue yet it says everything that needs to be said about the characters through the animation. It isn't until everything's "Calmed down" so to speak that they speak. It isn't until Sonic thinks he's WON that he decides to gloat. I think often people kind of get Sonic confused; they think he's JUST cocky, and that's all there is to him. Kind of like how people think Shadow is just edge when he's in reality quite complex due to trauma. Sonic as well, is more complex than people think. And you can see that in the opening animation; Sonic focuses up, he grimaces, he grits his teeth together when dodging the firepower, he skids to a halt during the loop de loop, all the while showing complete focus. He grins only when he thinks he's DONE it when he thinks he's out of danger, when he KNOWS he's going to get out of it. He grins when he escapes the barrage of attacks, he smirks as Super Sonic at the end cause he's practically god in that form, he grins during that slowmo shot cause he KNOWS he's fast enough to outpace the robot. But when he gets close to Eggman, that's when he grits his teeth and again zeroes in. Another thing to note when he's talking about Sonic's new design a bit, you see him slip, you see him just EXHAUSTED from the pain he was in...it's RARE to see Sonic in this state, and the fact that the second film, took notes, and had Sonic so beaten down, only to not give in, THAT'S. Sonic. To his core. It's never about chivalry. It's never about being able to gloat at the end. Sonic just has to do what he needs to do, to get the job done. That's it. And THAT'S Sonic. He just had to learn that lesson himself in the film verse. Sonic can get serious, Sonic can get upset, Sonic can be kind (as shown in this game "do I need a reason to want to help out a friend?"), Sonic can feel pain, and Sonic can feel ANGER. That seems to be a big one writers tend to forget about nowadays that I'm GLAD is in the films; Sonic can get PISSED and it's OKAY for the hero to get PISSED under the right circumstances. And this opening does a great job at showing his WHOLE personality rather than just one trait. I feel like Sonic himself is at his best in this game; this game shows who Sonic REALLY is.

It's crazy how the animators of Sonic 06 and Sonic Unleashed's cutscenes got to work on the Paramount Sonic movies.

Facts sonic unleashed cg cutscenes are some of the greatest cinematics I've ever seen in a video game, I wish Sega would do more of that with marza animation

I still can't believe that Mike Polluck went from voicing for low budget mock-buster movies like Ratatoing to being the voice of one of gaming's most iconic villains for more than a decade. Truly inspirational.

5:34 love it when we get reminded that sonic is a child. His mocking, his messing around and not taking somethings too seriously? Yeah because he’s a child! And I love this boy, look at him go!

4:55 Fun fact: Marza Animation also animated the 2019 movie: “Lupin III: The First”.

I like how Dazz makes fun of THAT shot of Sonic screaming in absolute agony being in every thumbnail ever about this game yet also has it as his thumbnail for this video that talks about the game. Niiiice. Self aware humor. Like it.

Did you know that there's a deleted scene in this cutscene when sonic gets electrocuted, the animators were originally gonna show sonic's skeletal system?

The team behind that CGI Lupin the Third movie could've done a whole movie like this cut-scene.

I remember seeing this at a friend’s house when I was about 7, and I was COMPLETELY AWESTRUCK. I’d never seen anything like it. The only Sonic exposure I had was Smash bros, the racing game on the Wii, and most of all, the Cartoons with Jaleel White. I didn’t really identify Sonic as much as a Video game character in the same way I did Mario. I’d never seen anything like it, and I haven’t since.

I loved how Eggman was so full of himself, thinking he won without opposition despite Sonic still being alive (he could have unalived him if he truly wanted to), that he simply discarded both Sonic AND The Chaos Emeralds, as if Sonic couldn’t do anything to restore the Emeralds, he didn’t care. In his mind, he already won and he’s beyond having to worry about Sonic anymore.

I remember getting Sonic Unleashed on my birthday as a kid & that intro blew my mind lol. Still impressive.

I wish we just got an animated movie of sonic just like this. No live action adaptation. No realistic human characters. Just some soul shaking action. Just a beautifully animated cinematic masterpiece like this opening cutscene of the ongoing clash between the heroic sonic the hedgehog and villainous and intimidating Dr Robotnik. A cinematic masterpiece cutscene that came from 2008. 2008! Imagine if it was reanimated now by that same company or even a company like Pixar. Just gives me goosebumps talking about it. I’m that hyped. I yearn for this to happen

16:01 The way I see it, this camera pan is a very subtle piece of foreshadowing that Eggman’s about to turn the to tides again, as he slowly takes more of the frame without us noticing.

I always love and cherish the Sonic Unleashed opening. Since it was my very first sonic game. Basically exposing myself to something new. The cinematics, the action, the music and etc. As a kid I never knew Sonic and who he was. But Unleashed really made his character very interesting to me, and why I became a sonic fan. And the story that also connected with the characters very well. That is what I loved about Sonic Unleashed. I may have played other sonic games after that but Unleashed will always be my favorite and "THE" Sonic game for me. Many childhood memories came from that game and I will always cherish it. I just wished Sega could make a port for the newer consoles like what they did with Sonic Colors.

Ok, we love the Sonic Unleashed opening cutscene, and it’s been analyzed to DEATH, so how’s about we next analyze Pac-Man World 2’s climax before the final boss, now THAT’S a cinematic cutscene.

It’s a damn shame, because although Unleashed ultimately came out to be a “decent” Sonic game, i don’t think any of the other games’ cutscenes that released after have been able to truly recapture this feeling of freedom and joy, to see these two all out. Oh also to have full ass cg cutscenes-

If your interested there’s another Sonic game cutscene you should check out. Sonic and the secret rings had some pretty good cutscenes. The Sonic unleashed cutscene was always my favourite that and the sonic night of the werehog short.

16:08 believe it or not the moving camera has a purpose for the viewers. a static camera shot (that is fairly long with dialogue) can feel overly static, and can cause an un-interest in the viewer, so the slow circulating camera shot allows our eyes to constantly move, even if just slightly, to make us feel more immersed in the scene.

I have seen so many cutscenes, and none have captured my heart quite like Sonic Unleashed's opening. The smoothness, the colors, the lighting, the beautiful showing without too much dialogue. You could create a whole film with this alone, and I would never get tired of it! I love this game so much!

Just imagine that unleashed cutscene was a sonic level

Marza Animation Planet’s imagination to 3D animated action set pieces is unmatched. They did this opening also did Lupin III The First and both Sonic movies (for CGI).

You literally just uploaded this as I was driving to the cinema to watch the movie

Fun fact: When Sonic is being eletrecuted, there was a few frames where you could see his skelecton like classic anime moments when a character is getting shocked, it was removed as it was demeed too dark for the audience it was going to be mainly shown to.

Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 and Unleashed are honestly where I think Sonic peaked in general.

The best intro cinematic for my second favorite Sonic game ever, losing only to SA2, and right above S3&K

I remember that watching that cutscene for the first time as a child, I loved it so much, I rewatched it at least 50 times.

It really sucks that there's hasn't be an opening this good or animation this serious in Sonic games anymore.

For being made 14 years ago, it's insane to think that it looks almost as good if not better than most MODERN triple A games

The new movies action was pretty close to this, but this is amazing. You can’t do this with live action, but animation pretty much has no boundaries.

To make it even more interesting, the people who animated this opening cutscene are the same people/production company who did the Sonic film- Marza Animation Planet. Nice. 😀

This opening is probably better than most movie openings

Just the title told me what you were talking about. Haven't seen the video yet but sonic unleashed's opening cutscene is so amazing I love it. I owned the game and every time you boot up the game you can skip or watch the cutscene. I chose to watch it every time obviously since it's the best.

I love the fact this cut scenes shows egg man as a actual villain that is threatening

I remember when I first got unleashed and saw this scene. It’s easily the sickest cutscene in a Sonic game.

I bought the game again after watching the movie, the super sonic was almost 1 on 1 with the unleashed one

After seeing this cutscene on the internet a few years ago, I thought it was mind blowing. Today, I still find this cutscene breathtaking, action packed and animated beautifully like a movie. I did think the 06 had a great opening, but this is easily the best one. Truly, a franchise that has its downs but also has it ups 😎

Seeing cutscenes like these makes me wonder why we haven't gotten a 3D animated Sonic movie in this century

This is what we wanted more of in a Sonic movie--not a roadtrip buddy comedy that focuses on the humans and downplays the Sonic.

Thank God, finally some one dissects this cutscene, I was waiting for this for so long

I love the sounds you can hear from sonic's footsteps hitting the ships floor and other surfaces, the lighting and textures are just amazing quality almost like whoever made the opening wanted to make sure it was perfect. The stretch and bounce effects used to show movement are top notch. chefs kiss to this amazing example of great direction and quality to a product.

Oh yeah seeing this cut scene as a kid blew me away back then when I was watching it with my cousin (he had gotten the game when it came out). It was amazing. Seeing it again now really reminds me of how good it was.

You do know that the same people who animation this Marza and Blur Studios did animated the Sonic Movies right?

Fun fact people who worked on sonic animation helped with the sonic movie 2

damn this opening really is amazing

This cutscene is so iconic I knew what the video was about before I even clicked on it.

One thing that I don't think most folks tend to bring this up is how this opening intro takes place at the FINAL BOSS level. It literally is the endgame of Sonic's journey here. So many things pretty much goes to show just that: Sonic is in space for starters, the entire fight just feels like Sonic's final level, Eggman taking him on headstrong with everything he's got, Sonic having all the Chaos Emeralds at his disposal, so on and so forth. Not only that, but it's also a final boss level where Sonic actually LOSES and Eggman reigns victorious for once in his life. Sonic's loss also just feels so effing genuine, too. No other Sonic game can ever come close to having this bitter tasteful feel of defeat and losing the battle. The disclosure of this cutscene starts with the end of one adventure, and then it ends with the start of a new one. A wonderful way to kick a Sonic game off, man!

There's a reason Sonic Unleashed was, and still is, my favorite Sonic game of all time The cutscenes were flawless, the levels were nice (although Eggmanland can go die in a hole) and the revival of physical combat in a Sonic game via the Werehog. And I never got bored of playing the game either

This makes me wish that Marza made a full movie

I'll NEVER get tired of seeing this cutscene, it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL. THIS is what a Sonic Animated film would look like! You know SEGA is in deep-shit when this masterpiece that is now 14 YEARS OLD beats ANYTHING they've made now.

I got sonic unleashed a couple of months ago, and even before then I loved this cutscene. I especially love the squash and stretch of Sonic.

The first time I watched the opening cutscene to this game I forgot that it was from a game, I thought I'd accidently put on a film it was so good

This is such a great intro. I always compare it to Mario Galaxy’s intro as they have a lot of similarities. A video on that opening would be awesome

6:55 lol the irony of seeing Jim Carrey firing a Machine Gun

Small thing but I do believe it's technically a sunrise since when he lands in Apotos he turns back in a Hedgehog right away. Brilliant video, I adore this cutscene

21:20 It might just be my imagination, but I think Sonic's fur briefly flickers from grey to blue.

The way which you did this Analysis makes me think of a future video for you to do with a side by side of Ratchet & Clank's Original Cutscenes and the reboots(the in game or the movie itself). When you see both the two feel completely different in how the characters act in both the original and reboot. However the only problem would be the length of the script you would be writing. So it might be a 2 to 3 parter since it wouldn't just be doing the first cutscene. Unless you have a smart way to compress it while getting the full picture out in a single video that should be interesting. Heck you could make another video about the "That Scene that changed" since the original game had 3(or more) scenes that made it stand out with it not being as cut and dry as expected with it's cartoon characters.

Sonic Unleashed needs a remaster, it deserves more love than it got.

Yoo.....Eggman must have mad paper for an entire damn SPACE FLEET

I still can't believe that a younger Sonic from the movies didn't believe anything that Eggman said in Sonic 2 when he was Super Sonic and was proven right, but the teen Sonic in Sonic Unleashed got distracted enough to get such a massive blunder oof.

I love the fact that you mentioned the parallels between Dark Gaia and Sonics transformation into the Werehog. Even tho this cutscene has been analyzed to death, for somereason ppl don't talk about that but I really like that detail.

For a few cutscene suggestions -Sonic Adventure opening cutscene -SA2 Hero opener -SA2 final cutscene

Here is a fun fact for you: Supposedly for what i have researched about this single cutscene, there are 3 versions of this single cutscene alone, the final one you see in the final game, Skeleton Sonic, and Wacky Face Sonic Wacky Face Sonic its that one picture with the weird face that everybody uses for memes, but i do think they changed the face for the final version because if you look closely the entire scene looks more pixar-ish with a very squash and stretch style to it but right until when sonic is getting the emeralds ripped out from him his face looks more "moderate" looking instead, im theorizing that they scrapped that face from the final cutscene because if i recall correctly the lawsuit of Ken Penders was happening at that time and afterwards Sega did those mandates and one of them was "Sonic cant have extreme emotions" and therefore that face was way too "extreme" so it got cut. Skeleton Sonic its the same cutscene as final but the change here is that when sonic is getting the emeralds ripped out and he starts to transform the skeleton of sonic comes out in a flash of negative image, that one isnt too hard to assume why it got cut from the final version of the cutscene because come on its Sonic's skeleton and looks freaky as shit, still i really like that because it goes with the whole horror oriented thing they had going on with the werehog, you can actually watch this version of the cutscene on YT but is a very brief clip and might not look all to good, you just search for "Sonic Unleashed Skeleton" and the first few searches should do the trick, if not just search Sonic Unleashed Twisted, he has a video with cut content of Unleashed and it has the skeleton sonic thing in it. So, somewhere in Marza's vaults they have 2 versions of the intro cutscene of Unleashed.

I love this game dearly. It was one of the best games ever, and didn't deserve a lot of its hate..

What an amazing work. I absolutely love these kind of in-depth reviews concerning camera angles, lighting, framing and all. Could you do one of these for Mortal Kombat Armageddon's intro? It's regarded as one of the best in the whole PS2 library.

I remember being just 7 years old when Unleashed was first released & I *STILL* recall seeing this opening cutscene for the first time & just being absolutely blown away. I'm now 20 and I can STILL remember seeing this fresh. The animation was God-tier for being a product of 2008. This shit had me mystified as a kid & it definitely played a role in fueling my passion for the animation industry that I want to work in someday. This opening had me on edge & I remember actually being like "Oh no! Sonic was caught! Oh no! He's having his super form literally ripped out of him! Ouch. That's gotta hur-WAIT. What-What's happen-oH MY GOSH. Sonic is growing claws...fangs...and- WOW. OK. He got beefy REAL quick! Oh no! He's a Werehog now!"

Finally someone appreciates this beautiful piece of Sonic animation🙏 I remember back when I was a teen, I rarely skipped the intro cutscene while playing unleashed on my wii because it was just that good!!

Thank you for reminding me (not that i need one 🤣) why i adore this opening scene so damn much! UGH its EVERYTHING the new games are missing and what i hope Sonic Frontiers can maybe bring back. Great video, freaking superb!

Sonic unleashed is still my favorite sonic game. Ever since 2008

Damn, it's crazy that only after the release of Sonic 2 the movie, all the KZfaqrs want a slice of that Blue Hedgehog pie.

The intro was made in 2008 but to be honest it looks better than a lot of stuff we have here in 2022

This whole cutscene practically embodies Sonic.

Sonic Unleashed was my favorite game when I was younger- I don't remember much of it, but I do remember the cutscene at the beginning when I first saw my brother playing the game (it was his originally since he was obsessed with Sonic too at the time) and I was absolutely fascinated with it. Sonic was always a big part of my childhood and this video brought up such big nostalgia- I wanna find this game and play it again now

Sonic Unleashed, and this cutscene in particular, served as my introduction to the Sonic games. Hope they make more cinamatics like this in the games to bring in more fans

Let's be real: Sonic Unleashed CGI cutscene has the Top-Tier 3d movie animation. This is DEFINITELY one of the Sonic "Primes": Sonic Unleashed. By the way: I love the game so much.

Imagine an entire movie animated like this. A cartoony, almost Pixar style that would age very well. I don’t think they should make the animation “realistic” because it would be very jarring . 😀 The entire movie focuses on sonic. And there are no human, main characters besides eggman. 😯 Could you imagine how bogged down the pacing would be if they focused on human characters no one cares about, and not sonic? 😐 Wouldn’t it be great if Sonic’s personality was a cross between his cool 90s self and his sarcastic modern self. It would be a bad idea to have him make only jokes and references about modern things because they would age horribly. 😐😐😐

18:42 in one of there original versions of this cutscene or maybe it's still there idk but when sonic is being zapped by the electricity they made it so you can see his skeleton flashing for a brief second.

Just like Portal 2, Sonic Unleashed a pretty old game but its graphics still hold up to this day. I sometimes like to imagine what a remaster of either would look like with today's graphics. -yes, I brought up my favorite puzzle game for no reason whatsoever. cry about it.-

This is the best cinematic opening I've ever seen.

I am so glad I am not the only one who thinks this cutscene is fucking gorgeous.

Final fantasy 10. There’s some pretty good cutscenes in there, the blitz ball scene, arriving to the blitz ball city, yuna and Tidus, the team saving yuna. A lot of scenes

I remember when the internet was going bonkers over Werehog Sonic, it was a weird time.

This is a great breakdown of an amazing cut scene!

Shoutout to the camera man being able to follow the action

Whenever daz uploads you know it’s gonna be good

Sonic and his werehog form is awesome!

I remember seeing the cut scene and finding it amazing a while back, glad to see it get recognized by others!

When I first saw this as an 8 year old, I just had a big ass smile on my face and was in awe the whole time. Made me so excited for the future of sonic games after unleashed, but sadly nothing has lived up to the spectacle of unleashed and this cutscene. Frontiers was a good effort, and I hope they continue to bring back the magic they once accomplished with unleashed again. 15 long years later and this cutscene remains some of the best we've ever seen from Sonic period.

I forgot how good this cutscene was! I watched gameplays of the game and I remember watching it thinking of nothing. But a deep analysis makes it more amazing. Since this game was around 2008

The fact that this still stands as my favorite Sonic animation in the entire series after almost 15 years is crazy to me! Sonic Prime has some cool animation(in some episodes anyway) but it's just not quite where I would like. The tone of that show doesn't help either and while I can still find things I like about it, I still long for the day where we can have a Sonic animated series or even a full movie with this level of quality. The tone, the audio design, and of course the animation, is so perfect! It's a shame we haven't had anything else quite like it in the franchise.

I'm convinced 90% of the budget was put into this intro cut scene.

I still can’t believe this was the first ever cutscene I ever saw of sonic. Still remember getting my very first sonic game being sonic unleashed for the Wii and popping it in and seeing this scene for the first time

Nice to see some love for this game outside of the Sonic fandom bubble, it's something I VERY rarely see, even if it's just the intro cutscene

Unleash is my favorite sonic game opening of all time

That intro cutescene from Unleashed is so good. I will never understand why the filmmakers won’t just make an animated sonic movie. The live action sonic movie is fine, but its just an average live action adaption, at its best its just a 6.5/10