New Sonic Unleashed stages released

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

Wow Jez, you had a glitch I had before, at least I think it was a glitch, where those yellow lines were and they never went away. Also doesn't anybody wish for a patach to make Eggman Land to go back into place? Also, can't wait for new DLC!

[ovarloard]

That's odd... on the picture of the igloo with the swastikas, the two on the left are normal swasticas, with the outside going clockwise, while the so-called swastika on the right seems to be facing the other way.

Here's a swastika:

And here's a Buddhist good luck symbol (I think):

[Phos]

For anyone else as curious about the Swatzicas as me (yes, hard driveless meant I had to play through from the start to Holoska to investigate this)... I took a photo for prosperity.

Sonic visits GBermany during World War II.

But these days all is well.

Reminds me of this.

I'm not expecting anything aside from new levels for existing continents... though I'd love a Flying Battery Zone.

[JezMM]

^ That was awesome.

In other news though, MAZURI PACK IS UP! On 360 Marketplace in the UK at least anyway. Downloading now. It promises 3 new stages and 3 new missions, so I'm guessing we'll get a setup similar to Spagonia like Day 1-2, 2-2, 3, 4 and Night 1-2 (not a new area, but rearrangement) and 3.

Edited April 30, 2009 by JezMM

[Detective Shadzter]

Thanks for the reminder JezMM, I overslept and almost forgot about checking the marketplace for new DLC

[JezMM]

Review time! SPOILERS OF NEW LEVEL GIMMICKS/SET-PIECES AHOY

Day

Act 1-2

Pretty fun, but no moreso than the original level. In fact, it seems to alternate between unaltered level and altered level on a 10 second basis. Appropriately, since this is Sonic's second main stage, this is the easiest of all the "hard mode" stages so far. The main new difficulty comes from enemies placed on drifting corners so you have to boost AND drift, as well as plenty of spike balls around the pole-swinging areas and wall-run.

Act 3-2

Yes, thank god, they didn't rejig the evil-to-S-rank lap race. Instead we get a VERY unique rearrangement of Act 3, in which the level loops round forever, and the goal ring is at the top of the tree. It's a bit of a puzzle to find your way up there, and if that isn't enough you must first collect 300 rings before heading to the goal to win the mission. Bonus points for aesthetics, the camera angle has been altered on this level giving you a very cool start, and a nice view of the savannah throughout the stage.

Act 4

Very fun. An entirely 2D stage which sees you using wall jumps, swing poles and various other Mazuri exclusive objects to get to the top of a tower in the Citadel. You must also complete a couple of puzzles along the way to get rid of some flamethrowers that block your path. Good stage, but a time limit may frustrate some players. Aesthetically, you have a nice view of the city in the background, and it's daytime as usual.

Act 5

VERY cool. Despite this being a seperate act, this is the third "mission as oppose to new level" stage... as it's set in the Egg Beetle boss arena, around the Gaia Temple. You start off with an Aero chaser fight, a full lap around the arena, followed by a 2D platforming section that has you passing over the top of the Temple, then a clash with the Interceptor, another lap round (followed by without a doubt one of those most awesome and cinematic QTE ramps in the game), another 2D platforming section across the middle, followed by one final half-lap aero-chaser segment. It's a really fun stage, though I'm dissapointed that the final section wasn't as cinematic as the rest. Quite a long level too, but forgiving, do not worry. I S-ranked first time simply by not dying.

Night

Act 3

A fairly straightforward stage made up of pulling switches and using swingy poles to get through. Has one Big Mother fight along the way and a Titan fight at the end, and is set between large stone walls of the Citadel. Very ordinary stage, but nothing bad either.

Act 4

AWESOME stage. This is the treetops stage we saw in the promotional Mazuri wallpaper at night. It seems to be set in the distance of the ending of Act 1, you can see the final area of Act 1 in the distance one way, and Eggman's base in the distance the other way. But alas. Yes, very cool stage. I've only played it once so far, so I can't talk for the whole of it, but there seem to be a fair few alternate routes through and scope to explore. It's too bad there are no medals to collect on DLC, because there would be tons to do in this stage otherwise. In the end it's just up to you whether you want to go back and try the other routes. Oh, also, this stage is very long. Almost as long as Act 1, if not just as long. Feels like a proper stage.

I'd say this pack is on par with Spagonia. Every stage is fun, and none of them anywhere near as hard as previous packs. All you Eggmanland haters, rejoice!

Edited April 30, 2009 by JezMM

[Blue Blood]

I WAS RIGHT! SC Act 4 night was one of the first levels we ever saw when information about the game was first leaked.

I cannot believe they actually did it, crafty buggers. It's easily one of the best night stages, too. Platforms, hammers, running.

That said, the daytime stages are less than fun. Boring in fact. I've yet to be bothered to complete act 5, but am I right in assuming it's just laps around the boss arena?

[JezMM]

I've yet to be bothered to complete act 5, but am I right in assuming it's just laps around the boss arena?

It basically goes One Lap round -> 2D Platforming Section -> Another Lap round -> A different 2D platforming section -> Half lap round -> Done.

Edited April 30, 2009 by JezMM

[Blue Blood]

We posted at appoximately the same time so I didn't see your post right away. =P

The nights acts are way easy to S rank. On both of them I died at the last checkpoint and still got S ranks on my first try. Not that I'm cpmplaining. Did anyone else feel that the lighting in SCact3 night was brighter and 'sharper' than usual? It looks cool that way.

[JezMM]

We posted at appoximately the same time so I didn't see your post right away. =P

Lol, sorry. I didn't notice, I assumed you just didn't read my review coz you didn't need too (you seem to have the stages yourself after all) lol.

Did anyone else feel that the lighting in SCact3 night was brighter and 'sharper' than usual? It looks cool that way.

It did look quite cool (most noticable on the results screen). They seem to randomly use different lighting effects on different levels... (Chun-Nan Night Act 3 is a good example of this).

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

Wow, Mazuri?! I been waiting for this! Mazuri doesn't have too many stages. Despite them being slightly like missions than stages in daytime I will still take Mazuri with a grain of salt!....But I can't get it.....I havn't got any of them, I am poor. Anyone got any points I can use? lol

[Eternal EX]

SEGA did you not listen to what I've been saying for the last month. SHAMAR not mazuri! Damn! Oh well atleast its a few new stages. (i think)

Okay now that i finished this pack time for my review.

DAY

act 1-2: GARBAGE. That stage was not meant to be in a hard mode.

act 3-2: LOVE the lighting! but i just didnt really like the design of the stage.

act: 4-1: ehh not my favorite stage but it gets the job done. Nice lighting here as well.

act 5: This is where you money went! I mean wow this has to be the best stage on the whole pack. Just as jez said, 1st lap you dodge and battle with the 3 robots, next lap is well you go off course into the stage a little then have a qte (btw one of the nicest one's in the game), 3rd lap your battling/outrunning the bot that chases you. I dont think I've ever out ran that damn thing til today. 4th is round 2 with the 1st set and then the stage ends.

Night

act 3: this is a very boring stage. You swing to the end where a titan, big mom and the smaller enemies await you. For some reason the TITAN is a beast.

act 4: Very nice stage but was I the only one who felt very confused? I swear I was lost the time I was climbing the tree(s). At the end awaits a titan (strong a fuck) and smaller enemies. You kao-kin (unleased mode) should be ready by the time fight the last set of strong enemies.

At the end of the day this is not the best DLC but it beats the hell out of holoska. 3.5/5

Edited April 30, 2009 by SHADIC360©

[Drunk Michael Myers]

Just had a look on the EU PSN Store at whats there for Sonic Unleashed already, and I for one cannot wait for a new DLC pack that will not be available on the EU PSN! WOO! .. ... Come on... update and give us the old stuff already! I don't want it but it would be nice if I had the option to get it!

Spagonia Pack was released today!

[Vertekins]

Downloading now. Must say that the act which takes place around Mazuri's Gaia temple sounds really interesting. And it will be quite peculiar playing the Werehog stage around the trees when that screenshot was stuck in my mind when stuff about Unleashed was......ermmm...first unleashed.

[Eternal EX]

Woah! I just destroyed the ROBO CHASER! I didnt think it would happen in the 360 version but it did! GO Sega for doing a qte right!

[DaBatGuy]

The US PSN has just updated and we got....(drumroll)... nothing! Hopefully they won't make us wait so long for the new content like they did with the Chun-nan/Spagonia packs. I'll be playing my MvC2 demo in the meantime anyway.

[Drunk Michael Myers]

The US PSN has just updated and we got....(drumroll)... nothing! Hopefully they won't make us wait so long for the new content like they did with the Chun-nan/Spagonia packs. I'll be playing my MvC2 demo in the meantime anyway.

Is the demo out alredy? *Logging on my Us account*

[DaBatGuy]

Is the demo out alredy? *Logging on my Us account*

Yep, but it's pointless unless you have a skilled buddy and a spare controller.

[Drunk Michael Myers]

Yep, but it's pointless unless you have a skilled buddy and a spare controller.

Well, i did have just those two things...and who dosnt have a second controller anyway?

[Ichigo Storm]

...and who dosnt have a second controller anyway?

*sheepishly raises hand* um....me?

Anywho I'm really lovin' the Mazuri pack. Best set of them all so far. I'm kinda thinking though that the patch was for the new dramatic camera angles cause I really haven't noticed a difference on world map

[Dr. SEGA Monkey]

Wow....I haven't been downloading any of the Unleashed DLC, but I'm really tempted to get the Mazuri stages.

Day Act 3-2 is beautiful. And it looks fun too:

And Night Act 4 looks fun too:

The other stages in the pack look great too, but these 2 stood out the most for me.

[JezMM]

I've S ranked all the new stages so if anyone is looking for tips:

Day Act 1-2

Just grab every rainbow ring and take out every enemy you can, getting through the stage without getting hit. Avoid pointless hard routes, for example the pole swinging before the wall run... drop down and earn the extra points from beating the enemies. Estimated S-rank score: 150,000.

Day Act 3-2

Collect 500 rings before you head for the goal. As long as you have about 15-20 seconds left, you should make it. It's hard, and you will have to learn the stage. Try to imagine the stage as having three tiers, upper, middle, and lower. The ring layout changes each lap round the tree, but only on the tier you've done. There are only three laps, after that new rings will stop appearing on that tier. Essentially I found the best way was do three laps sticking to the lowest route, before moving on to the upper and middle ones (it's harder to stick on one route here, so it may take you a few runs round to get every ring). You'll need to collect about 90% of the rings on the stage to achieve this. Don't miss a single 10 ring either. Estimated S-rank score: 50,000

Day Act 4

This one will need a step-by-step guide as it's a complex level, I'll do my best.

1. Hop and homing attack foward into the rings, then boost up the ramp and wall jump into three 10-rings (not boosting will only grant you 2 10-rings).

2. Push X on the launcher and wall jump up, but don't head into the checkpoint yet. Turn around, and wall-jump at the very highest point of your jump and then hold right to go through the rainbow ring for an extra 1000 points. Don't use a boost to make it to the rainbow ring, you'll just homing attack a spring below.

3. Carry on as normal, learn the level to be quick.

4. However slow and steady wins the race when you must push the switch. Every point counts, so time your stomp carefully so you don't get hit by flames on the way down to the switch.

5. Learn the level to finish the rest quickly. There's no need to take any alternative routes from this point on.

It's a very hard level to S rank, but thankfully very short and fun. Keep trying until you're fast enough to get an S rank (when I went through the level to write down this guide, I got an A, even though I've managed S, lol). Estimated S-rank score: 100,000

Day Act 5

Easy, just beat the stage without dying. You can get hit tons on this stage and still get a good score. Estimated S-rank score: 100,000

Night Act 3

Learn the level and beat it quickly. I thought this one would require some Critical Attacks to beat first time I played, but a later playthrough granted me an S rank with minimal effort. Estiminated S-rank score: 150,000

Night Act 4

Super easy to S rank. I got it first time so all I can say is if you're having trouble, learn it and play faster, or do some critical attack finishers to boost your score a bit. Estimated S-rank score: 100,000 or possibly 140,000.

[DaBatGuy]

Kinda late and pointless now but, I browsed through the Japanese PSN store and it looks like they have the Mazuri DLC as well. Hopefully this means it'll appear in US/EU later this week too.

[Detective Shadzter]

I was on the PS Store last night and noticed the EU got the Spagonia pack, so at least EU PS3 users are half way there now.

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

I was playing through Holoska Day Act 3 and ended up in a glitch. I also gone through the stage and was running on the water until I ran to the end of the wall. But here is the first glitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue6WFGXhtQY...re=channel_page

Edited May 5, 2009 by Nights