New Sonic Unleashed stages released

[Drunk Michael Myers]

The patch is the most important thing IMO, so I am appeased….. for the moment. I got used to waiting around when the game first launched, so a little delay in the DLC isn’t going to kill me anytime soon.

Still, a reason would be nice. But maybe that’s in the pipes as well.

PSN Updates is Thursdays only so, Maby next week.

And about the Patch. Since i deleted my Save file, i am now replaying the game since last week. I got to the buring bird boss, wich had some really bad framdrops. Now after the update, it is clearly better. Alot better. Though small sections like the first tripple robot boss in Spagonia is not fixed, and the Chun-Nan adventure field is not fixed.

[SuperStingray]

I played through them all. Let me give a quick rundown.

Day 1-1

It's not too difficult, but there is an abundance of spikeballs. There might be a "trial-and-error" part or two, but it's a better hardmode for the main stage than Chun-nan's was.

Day 1-2

This one requires great precision and timing. Just don't rush it and everything should be fine. It's a good twist on the original level.

Day 4

Sunset on Spagonia. You won't find much greater scenery elsewhere in the game. This one is a laser-robot chase from beginning to end. Be extremely careful though; there are several bumps it's easy to trip on. It's a bit cheap though, as they are rather hard to see coming since they're camouflaged on the ground.

Day 5

Now THIS is the reason I love the homing attack. You get an excellent panoramic view of Spagonia as you jump and fly towards the clock tower. It's a straightforward level, but it's probably my favorite DLC level yet.

Night 1-2

This one's a hide-and-seek type level. Switches to open the next part of the level are hidden within buildings. To get to the goal ring, you have to find like 15 switches in a small pair of rooms. Some are very hard to find, but it's an interesting twist.

Night 2

This one has a cool new environment: the sewers of Spagonia. There are moving pegs, wheels and flamethrowers all over the walls. There's a fair share of brawling, but it's mostly platforming.

[SuperStingray]

I played through them all. Let me give a quick rundown.

Day 1-1

It's not too difficult, but there is an abundance of spikeballs. There might be a "trial-and-error" part or two, but it's a better hardmode for the main stage than Chun-nan's was.

Day 1-2

This one requires great precision and timing. Just don't rush it and everything should be fine. It's a good twist on the original level.

Day 4

Sunset on Spagonia. You won't find much greater scenery elsewhere in the game. This one is a laser-robot chase from beginning to end. Be extremely careful though; there are several bumps it's easy to trip on. It's a bit cheap though, as they are rather hard to see coming since they're camouflaged on the ground.

Day 5

Now THIS is the reason I love the homing attack. You get an excellent panoramic view of Spagonia as you jump and fly towards the clock tower. It's a straightforward level, but it's probably my favorite DLC level yet.

Night 1-2

This one's a hide-and-seek type level. Switches to open the next part of the level are hidden within buildings. To get to the goal ring, you have to find like 15 switches in a small pair of rooms. Some are very hard to find, but it's an interesting twist.

Night 2

This one has a cool new environment: the sewers of Spagonia. There are moving pegs, wheels and flamethrowers all over the walls. There's a fair share of brawling, but it's mostly platforming.

Act 2 isn't based on trial and error?

It's called "reaction time."

[Ichigo Storm]

http://www.youtube.com/user/1stkirbyever

For anyone wanting to see the new Spagonia DLC, this dude's got videos up. Act 4 looks stunning.

Edited March 27, 2009 by Nack-San

[JezMM]

Actually since the update, I've noticed two ugly things... first of all the little loading pause where the music restarts on the title screen after you press start.

And secondly, since the patch, changing the music volume has no effect until you start the game, and then quit and return to the title screen. Even as you see the volume bar decreasing in front of your eyes, no change will happen...

Act 2 isn't based on trial and error?

One level is a giant "Secret Rings" section, one level is a series of QTE's, one level is just "hard mode" and one level is a giant pitfall.

No, Act 2 isn't based on trial and error. I died maybe 4-5 times trying to beat it and never felt cheated once. I completely saw what was coming, didn't react at the right moment and was punished for it. Are Sonic games not allowed to be hard without a big warning sign before every obstacle saying "LOOK OUT!"?

What exactly do you mean by Secret Rings section? Are you talking about Act 4? Coz if so I'll agree that level was a bit poo, but I don't see anything that Secret Rings-ish about it other than being on rails. Secret Rings is an awesome game, lol. And which level is a series of QTEs exactly? Act 2-2 had two QTE ramps in it if I recall (and some of those shooty things, but they're hardly QTEs considering their controls are universal and never randomised), and Act 4 had one jump pad sequence, so dunno what you're referring to by that. Nothing wrong with hard mode for a standard long level considering they become piss-easy after multiple speed-runs. And while the pitfall level wasn't anything amazing, it still required nothing but reactions and skill to get across.

So... yeah, with the exception of Act 4, which I agree was crap, could you elaborate a bit more on what exactly is wrong with these levels? Because I simply don't get it.

Edited March 27, 2009 by JezMM

[Eternal EX]

As most people who downloaded the DLC, it's a good one. I kinda prefer chun-nan nights over these night stages but ehh its just my opinion. The day stages are great and ACT 2 v2 was great! I think that may have been my favorite stage out of this whole pack, it took the best parts of the original and made it 3x better. BUT the downside to it, it was the 1st time since the shamar boss that I got a E rank.

[SuperStingray]

As most people who downloaded the DLC, it's a good one. I kinda prefer chun-nan nights over these night stages but ehh its just my opinion. The day stages are great and ACT 2 v2 was great! I think that may have been my favorite stage out of this whole pack, it took the best parts of the original and made it 3x better. BUT the downside to it, it was the 1st time since the shamar boss that I got a E rank.

I sometimes aim for E ranks just for the music.

[Eternal EX]

Thats kinda pathetic.

[SuperStingray]

Thats kinda pathetic.

Don' chu judge me!

[Sega DogTagz]

Don' chu judge me!

Rather than killing your ego by making Sonic preform an Epic Fail, you could just boot up the E rank bgm on the ol' gramophone back in the prof. lab.

[Phos]

No, Act 2 isn't based on trial and error

So that's why there's a reappearing extra life on ev ery safe spot?

[JezMM]

So that's why there's a reappearing extra life on ev ery safe spot?

Because, like EggmanLand, it's a hard stage, and you will die many times, as I did, on your first couple of attempts. Hence they give you infinite lives to beat it with so, if you run out of lives, you don't get frustrated and give up on the level. Developers acknowledging they made a really hard stage =/= stage is trial and error.

Never quite understood the infinite lives reasoning on EggmanLand being unfair either.

People say the lives show Sonic Team is saying "We know this stage is broken, so here's a ton of lives to beat it with!" I always have seen it as "We know this stage is fucking hard and you're gonna die a lot because of it, so we're going to give you infinite lives to get through it because we know it'd suck if you got near the end and then ran out. That's not fun at all."

What IS kind of weird how Sonic Team acknowledge the lives system is dated while continuing to use it. Not that it bothers me mind you. I like having lives. It's a good feeling collecting 99 through lots of play, and in Secret Rings and Black Knight, the lack of lives made me never feel threatened to just plow through the game.

On Unleashed, it's the lives (or in my case now, keeping my lives at 99 for the sake of my own sense of achievement), that keep the concept of dying undesirable to me. For that reason as well I'm actually fairly okay with scores being reset after death too.

Sorry, I've sort of gone off on a tangent of thoughts here, but point is I don't feel that the developer giving you infinite lives shows they know a level is broken. As I said before, Sonic levels are allowed to be hard sometimes. That's what they seem to be going for in the bonus levels anyway. Extremely challenging stages that have unconvential use for the obstacles you've seen on the regular stages or unique set-ups (such as Act 5, which tests your homing attack skills to the limit). And what some people percieve as "trial and error" I percieve as "this game is nucking futs fast, you better damn keep up because it's going to be hard". Yes, the game becomes much easier when you're familiar with the levels, but that's true of anything.

[123654]

People say the lives show Sonic Team is saying "We know this stage is broken, so here's a ton of lives to beat it with!" I always have seen it as "We know this stage is fucking hard and you're gonna die a lot because of it, so we're going to give you infinite lives to get through it because we know it'd suck if you got near the end and then ran out. That's not fun at all."

Exactly. It really gets on my last nerve when people say that. They know full well giving us so many extra lives is nothing short of a good thing in a stage like Eggmanland.

[SykoTech]

http://www.youtube.com/user/1stkirbyever

For anyone wanting to see the new Spagonia DLC, this dude's got videos up. Act 4 looks stunning.

Thanks. Looks fun, I love the use of reflex challenges in the Daytime Stages. Can't wait to master them.

Ps3 Sonic Unleashed 1.2 Patch(44 MB) out now!

No DLC though. As i said earlier in this thread, the DLC will not make it to PSN this month.

Awesome. No so much the patch, as I never was really bothered by the few issues the game has, but it shows that they aren't completely ignoring the PS3 version. Hopefully DLC will be here shortly. I can patiently wait now that I at least have a sign.

[Phos]

Actually, I went back and tried act 2 again, and decided it wouldn't be trial and error if not for the controls.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

I'm not happy at all...I got the PS3 patch...hopefully PSN will release the Chun-nan and Spagonia DLC on the same week...

Has Japan got this Spagonia pack at any interest? o.O

[Link451]

Exactly. It really gets on my last nerve when people say that. They know full well giving us so many extra lives is nothing short of a good thing in a stage like Eggmanland.

Yeah. These levels Sonic Team obviously purposely made extremely hard, so they want to make them a bit easier for the player by giving them plenty of chances.

Anyways, I still need to play the Spagonia stages. I really regret having started over my file now. Too bad Sonic Team couldn't have told us they'd be releasing extra stages sooner.

[Detective Shadzter]

I'm not happy at all...I got the PS3 patch...hopefully PSN will release the Chun-nan and Spagonia DLC on the same week...

Has Japan got this Spagonia pack at any interest? o.O

Just done some searching about and it seems Japan PSN has received the Spagonia pack too -

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/sonicunl...ag=topics;title

[Blue Blood]

Hey, you know how the Chun-Nan pack fixed the quiz lady glitch (it wasn't the free patch) do we know if the Spagonia pack has included any hidden bug fixes? I've not had a chance to check yet.

[Thrippa]

I'm not happy at all...I got the PS3 patch...hopefully PSN will release the Chun-nan and Spagonia DLC on the same week...

Has Japan got this Spagonia pack at any interest? o.O

Where is the patch posted? All I can find is the Demo and the trailer. Is there somewhere else I need to look for patches?

[Drunk Michael Myers]

Where is the patch posted? All I can find is the Demo and the trailer. Is there somewhere else I need to look for patches?

Just start the game

[JezMM]

Whew, after about 6 hours worth of constant playing I finally S ranked all the DLC so far. If anyone wants any tips, I'll be glad to share, though when it comes down to it, the main solution to all of them is "Play them over and over until you play them really fucking good". All Werehog stages are easy to S rank if you're leveled up. Just fight every enemy and beat them without dying. As for day stages...

Chun-Nan Act 1-2 (S-rank score estimate: 200,000+)

Don't bother with the secret spring for a rainbow ring near the start if you are doing that, the enemies on the regular path are worth more points. Try to beat every enemy you encounter, but don't go for ones that aren't in your way, and don't go back for ones you missed. The main key to getting an S rank is beating the stage without getting hit, which means learning the stage off by heart, AND, hoping for a little bit of luck on the final robot chase. Getting hit towards the end will halve your ring count, and you really need as many as possible to get an S rank. Learn the stage and hope to god Eggman's robot doesn't spam his shockwave move at you. Dodging bombs AND his laser are simple, but when you're jumping you can hardly move left or right.

Chun-Nan Act 2-2 (S rank score estimate: 100,000+)

It's safe to get hit a few times, according to the video I used as a rough guide, merely finishing in 3 minutes with a fair few rings (about 60 or so) should get you an S. Again it's a case of learning the course off by heart and performing as flawlessly as possible.

Chun-Nan Act 4 (S rank score estimate: (100,000+)

Time is a big factor in this one. While the classic S rank strategy of rainbow rings might seem tempting, it's not worth it. When you get the choice of blue spring to jump panels or leaping across to a light dash ring trail, head for the ring trail, it's faster. At the end, make sure to correctly perform the QTE, light dash across to the spring and air boost to the finish.

Chun-Nan Act 5 (S rank score estimate: 100,000+)

Go fast... REALLY fast. Learn the course and keep boosting as much as possible all the way through. Make sure at least once to use the triple grind rail about a third into the course... jump to head through a rainbow ring near the end, and carefully move to land on the single grind rail below and jump off at the end of the rail to sail through four rainbow rings. These rainbow rings are present on all the laps, but they will only give you points once, so don't worry about missing them on future laps. With the exception of the first, each lap has some rainbow rings in the last stretch of the course before the jump up to the starting point. Learn where they are and use them. On Lap 2 there are three in a row pointing to the goal, and then three that shoot you up to the goal right next to it. Be careful as the first set of three have a tendancy to kill you if you don't boost again before hitting the water. On Lap 3 there are two sets of two before the goal, but you can only go through one, I recommend the one NOT to the far right. There are three rainbow rings up high near the goal, but I haven't worked out a way of reaching them... they even dissapear as you get near them due to it loading the setup for the next lap. On the final lap there is a single lone rainbow ring hanging around in the final area... look out for it as it's quite tricky to catch. There are also two to the far right as on Lap 3. You can only choose either the lone one or these two. Whichever you find easiest I suppose. Finally, remember not to panic if you hit a bomb... they cost rings but won't kill you. Spike balls however, watch out for, they will kill you instantly.

Spagonia Act 1-2 (S rank score estimate: 200,000+)

Nowhere near as hard as Chun-Nan's hard mode. Just learn the course and make sure not to get hit during the final run. If you've mastered regular Spagonia this shouldn't be TOO much trouble. Despite the abundunce of new enemies and bombs, the flying eggman robots at the end tend to have the same attack patterns as in the regular level, so if you've played the regular one to death, the Eggman Robots shouldn't be too unpredictable.

Spagonia Act 2-2 (S rank score estimate: 100,000+)

Rather more generously than the original version of this level, an S rank is pretty easy to get. Just finishing the level without dying got me an S. Practice makes perfect.

Spagonia Act 4 (S rank score estimate: 100,000+)

Learn the course, don't get hit. Your biggest problem on this level is remembering to watch out for the small walls that trip Sonic up, as every Eggman robot on this level WILL hit you right away if you aren't boosting. You want to finish fast and with lots of rings, so boost the whole way, and if you can hit the rainbow ring and destroy a few extra Eggman robots that you don't really NEED to, it'll all add up. Just be careful not to make any silly mistakes in doing so.

Spagonia Act 5 (S rank score estimate: 100,000+)

Finish FAST, REALLY fast. Take the right route near the start, and pull off all the light dashes and homing attacks necessary to stay on the upper route of the level after the grind rail you'll eventually reach by following the right route at the start. You'll go through plenty of rainbow rings, and should be able to finish in under 40 seconds. This got me an S. EDIT: After a second playthrough, I discovered, speed isn't everything, you can get your score just that LITTLE bit higher by hitting every enemy possible with homing attacks at the start of the level, before heading right. Defeat every enemy you can before you head for the green electric enemy to take the right route.

Hope that helps anyone who liked the DLC enough to try and S rank it like myself (though mainly it was because I'd already S ranked everything and needed to restore the status quo on my file now that these new unS-ranked levels had shown up, lol).

Edited March 27, 2009 by JezMM

[Thrippa]

Just start the game

Okay, I started it. And I played a level, and restarted it and went to options to make sure there wasn't one for 'Install Patch'. How do you know there's a patch if it never tells you there was one? And does it just install in the background? (And you needn't roll your eyes at me; for 25 years I've had to download patches to install them, unless they were on a disk, so it's a reasonable expectation.)

[Drunk Michael Myers]

1: Make sure you are online on your console.

2: Insert the disc into the gaming system

3: Start the game.

4: There will be a message saying: There is a patch avilable.

5: The patch will be downloaded automaticly.

6: The patch will install it selfe

7: The game will now restart. The end.

If this does not happen, you may contact SEGA or Sony/Microsoft(depending on wich console you own) if there is a problem. Also, make sure you have at least 44MB of space on youd HDD.

Edited March 28, 2009 by Michael Myers

[Gamerguy21]

I'm pretty sure the patch isn't up for the US PS3 version yet. I just checked my PS3 version, and got nothing. This could also be another case of Sonic 06, where Japan and the UK get PS3 DLC, but the US doesn't...

But anyway, I'm probably just gonna buy the 360 version tommorow and I might sell the PS3 version while I'm at it. I'm sick of waiting for DLC that might never come...

Edited March 28, 2009 by gamerguy21