NIGHT AND DAY

How the HD versions differ from the Wii and PS2 offerings

There are two distinct versions of Sonic Unleashed

– the primary version, released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and a somewhat cut-down version created for the Wii and PS2. Both of them tell the same story and feature the same gameplay styles, but there are a number of key differences between them. The HD versions have full 3D town environments to explore between action stages, and require you to collect sun and moon medals to unlock additional stages. Additionally, an experience system allows you to level up Sonic in both his regular form and the Werehog.

By contrast, the Wii and PS2 versions lose the 3D hub worlds, with all of the inter-stage action taking place through menus and static backgrounds. The daytime stages all have different designs compared to the HD versions, and there are fewer locations to visit due to the omission of Empire City and Mazuri. These versions are very heavy on the night-time stages, with over three quarters of the game played as the Werehog, and if you’re playing the Wii version you’ll also have motion controls added to the experience. The game also loses the minigame set in Tails’ Tornado plane, and the level-up system has been simplified and only used by the Werehog.

The Wii and PS2 versions were actually slightly better received by reviewers at the time, but we still prefer the HD versions. The best way to play the HD version today is via backwards compatibility on the Xbox Series X/S, as the game hits its 30 frames per second target much more consistently than on original Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware.