Opening thoughts, I really loved this game to begin with. It started strong and it persisted all the way through the Classic and Dreamcast era. The presentation was astounding, the colour and design as captivating as I could expect, but I was dissapointed that I could not stop to appreciate some of the sights by movement of the right analog.

The story was pretty superfluous, with nothing really worth remembering, not even the predictable ending. The characters felt really under-developed and my favourites such as Knuckles and Silver had very little screen time (though, in Silver's defence, his rival fight was pretty cool). Even Vector had more screen time! They really could have done more to improve all this.

Boss battles, however few, were challenging and, at times, frustrating, but once you got the hang of it, having finally worked out the weaknesses and how to exploit them, it became much more fun. Then came the final boss. I was there for a good while, panicking that there weren't enough rings present and he kept slowing time. And no song? No Crush 40 for the final song? Shameful.

Gameplay was everything you'd expect from the demo; very fluid, and although you'll hit a few snags here and there such as hitting a wall or speeding away from the camera. Classic Sonic is a preferred varient when compared to Modern, and although today's Sonic is an entertaining ride it really does feel like just that, a ride. You seem to follow a few fixed paths and it's impossible to stear away from them and explore somewhere else.

And now for my gripes. Like I said, it started strong but when it came to the more recent levels, Crisis City and Planet Wisp in particular, it really felt as though the game couldn't be bothered with them. Crisis City really annoyed me; I hoped that it may somewhat redeem the terrible level designs of the original but instead it lasted for nearly as long as the original level and there are many things that'll just sap your rings away, creatures and spikes just placed clumsily in silly places. I felt it more of a grind in these two levels and I can't say I'm eager to replay them. I did enjoy Rooftop Run, however; very vibrant and inviting, and although Unleashed really doesn't rank high in the Sonic series I felt the level really ran smoothly in both Classic (especially) and Modern.

Final thoughts, a really enjoyable game and by far, in my opinion, Sonic's strongest next gen title thus far. But the adventure did feel somewhat short and Sega's bad tendencies to give up in certain areas had not changed much. I'd give it a fair 8/10. I'd have served a nine for a stronger story and a whole ten for a more smoother gameplay throughout.