Ultimately, when you spend a good chunk of the game wishing you were playing a different section, you know something isnвЂ™t working. As weвЂ™ve already mentioned, you can approach the classic Sonic levels in a number of ways, with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore when you tire of the вЂ™30-second dashвЂ™ approach. It could be argued that the Werehog sections add a dose of variety to the constant speed of Sonic, but such a change of pace really isnвЂ™t necessary.

And while it looks good and plays adequately, itвЂ™s just not Sonic. Pocket gamers will no doubt have seen or experienced a dozen or so games that play out pretty similarly to the Werehog sections over the past year or so. Make no mistake, these sections are far from sub-standard. Occasionally the screen will freeze in place and youвЂ™ll have to wade through a predefined number of spawning baddies before you can progress. Suddenly you find yourself in control of a lumbering oaf, who replaces SonicвЂ™s agility with the ability to clobber enemies and a kind of grappling hook to reach certain elevated spots.Д®nemy encounters here boil down to hammering OK/вЂ™5вЂ™ to set off a flurry of combination attacks, or jumping and hitting the same key to initiate a powerful ground-pound manoeuvre. The problems really arise when you reach the first Werehog stage. There are some excellent diversions, secret areas and alternative routes to discover, but if you want to you can tear through each stage at a terrific rate, with only the odd (forgivable) technical stutter when you really put your foot down. In time-honoured tradition, when you take a hit you spill all your rings, leading to a mad dash to scoop as many back up as possible.ДЄs hinted at before, Gameloft has nailed the defining aspect of Sonic вЂ“ the speed. ThereвЂ™s the usual ring-collecting mechanic which, as always, doubles as your health. Otherwise itвЂ™s pretty much Sonic as we know and love it. A leaderboard keeps tabs of your fastest times. Other concessions to mobile include a Time Attack mode, which lets you select any stage and tasks you with running through as quickly as possible.

SonicвЂ™s trademark Spin Dash move (here called Sonic Ball) has also been improved for the mobile platform, with the previously awkward method of holding Down/вЂ™8вЂ™ and tapping another key simplified by omitting the tapping stage. Up/вЂ™2вЂ™ makes you jump, while OK/вЂ™5вЂ™ activates your Sonic Boost attack move вЂ“ which is extremely useful when you encounter an enemy at high speed and donвЂ™t have time to jump.

ItвЂ™s an excellent start, with Sonic moving swiftly and smoothly through some beautifully twisting environments via the thumb-pad or numerical keys. You alternate control between Sonic and his Werehog alter-ego, with our hero kicking things off. Although it takes a number of cues from the console game of the same name, Gameloft has very much crafted a bespoke mobile Sonic experience, which pays off with a sympathetic control system. Unlike previous Sonic mobile games, which were (admittedly decent) ports of classic Mega Drive games, Sonic Unleashed is built from the ground up for the mobile phone. But it also reflects the problems inherent in the game itself. ItвЂ™s a fitting analogy given Sonic UnleashedвЂ™s premise of a split personality Sonic, with our blue hero regularly turning into a brutish Werehog. The afflicted protagonist is inevitably torn between their true side, which is good and pure, and an unrefined and destructive alter ego. In film and literature, stories about werewolves tend to be tragic affairs.

Sonic unleashed mobile