Filmmaker Reacts: Sonic Unleashed Opening Cinematic 

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Still the best video game opening ever made.

Fun fact: in the game’s manual, it briefly describes the opening as “Sonic and Eggman’s FINAL BATTLE”. So if it weren’t for Eggman’s plan to harness Dark Gia’s power, they were looking to end things between them once and for all

One thing to note, In regards to the idea that both Mario and Sonic have fun doing what they do, I feel there is a key difference in perspective. Mario has joy and optimism IN THE FACE of adversity Sonic has fun and excitement BECAUSE of adversity When it comes down to it, Sonic is an adrenaline junkie 😅

basically Unleashed starts just at THE ENDING of almost every other sonic game -sonic already travelled all the levels -gathered the emeralds to transform with them -invade eggman's base and fight his final robot -sonic wins transforming in super sonic but instead of ending there this time eggman was ready to use this cycle for his advantage, transforming the normal ending of the journey in the starting point of a new one and i think that's genious

One insane thing about this cutscene is that it was made in 2008.

According to Sega, they said this was one of their most amazing projects, and the cutscenes were made separately from the game.

I love how a guy with just a little knowledge about Sonic can also have that "oh no" moment when the emeralds are ripped away from Super Sonic. Most fans feel that weight because of how many times they have used Super Sonic in the last level, the last boss. Im so glad how that power is conveyed in the scene so that even without context, you understand that its serious when that transformation is ripped away.

It's still shocking how well animated this is for 2008. I'd legit have watched a full length movie of this.

I love how much squash and stretch Sonic has in his animations here. If you pause anytime during Eggman's robot hand chasing him you'll get very wacky Sonic stills

The monster that was awoken named Dark Gaia has infected Sonic with its power. A lot of people get this confused, but Sonic actually didn't turn into a werewolf. Since Sonic absorbed Dark Gaia's power he ends up looking like one of the basic enemies in the game that were created by Dark Gaia's power. Due to Sonic's pure heart however, he was able to keep his mind from being corrupted.

I think it’s cool how when Sonic starts transforming, his movements mirrors Dark Gaia, already implying whatever is happening to him is connected to this monster coming out of the planet.

The fact that this game came out in 2008 astounds me. The animation here is better than most films today. Gotta love Marza Animation Planet, they're so good at animation. Gotta recommend their short films Night of the Werehog, which is about Sonic and his friend Chip from this game encountering mischievous ghosts, and Ghost Tale, a short they made for 2023 Halloween about said ghosts. Really incredible stuff

So this will probably inevitably be mentioned by someone at some point. But this game was done by the person who did the Metarex Saga in Sonic X. That season was known for its darker tone and more mature themes, especially given it was in a kid's show.

The Chaos Emeralds basically are the chaotic energy of life in the form of crystals, which can be transformed into power by someone who know how to connect with this energy.

I find it funny how he talks about it seemingly being light hearted and all that while the planet gets destroyed plus I’d love to see him react to night of the werehog 😂

It's very fun and light hearted "Earth proceeds to split in half"

Some lore context -the gems are the chaos emeralds,7 rocks that turn sonic into super sonic (the goku transformation) -Eggman zapped in with some dark Gaia energy,dark Gaia the big thing that came out of the planet and opposite of light Gaia -the energy transforms sonic into a furry for some reason

This cutscene alone makes me question eggman's net worth😂

when he transforms its literally just called super sonic

The fact this was Sonic over a decade ago, and no other Sonic game could come CLOSE to the level Unleashed was on.

Sonic Unleashed sort of starts at where a normal Sonic game would have almost ended. He collected the chaos emeralds and went to space to fight Eggman, resonant of Sonic 2, except in this fight he loses, and the entire world splits open

"Super saiyan,, "Crystals,, "Oh yes, jim carrey. Such a good eggman,, Those beginner sonic fans 😂 never gets old. I am surprised you didn't say: He's using the dragon ball like emeralds!

06:34 Yes. Truly the Possibilities are never-ending. He sees it. He sees it now.

Sonic is a god killer and this intro just shows how easily he can beat Eggman's armies.

So glad you pointed out the music! They actually did something brilliant with the songs. There are two themes, one for Sonic and one for Eggman, being played back and forth all dependent on who has the upper hand in that moment. The triumphant music you pointed out is a good example of what I mean! But then at the end, when the big purple monster appears, _Dark Gaia’s_ theme plays, completely overtaking Sonic’s _and_ Eggman’s themes. It’s developed further as the game continues, but this is essentially the first moment communicated to the Player that Dark Gaia is a third party, rather than an extension of Eggman. They actually continue this clever use of music through the rest of the game too. If it ever interests you, AlTheBoi made a great video on it Always fun to see someone experience this intro for the first time. I’m really glad you enjoyed it! ^-^

It's Super Sonic. Whoever uses the power of the emeralds to transform in this golden state, they are called "Super *Insert their name*". So if it were Shadow transforming, then it's Super Shadow.

This cinematic animation and the quality imo was way ahead of the standard back then, which is a good thing.

A little bit of context 7 Chaos Emeralds are the mystical gems of the Sonic series, possessing them grants the user power from their thoughts, and all 7 makes the user borderline invincible. When a character like Sonic grabs them, they gain a transformation, becoming stronger and faster, becoming their super form. (Super Sonic, Super Knuckles, etc.) Sadly, after using them, they scatter and disperse, meaning they’d have to be collected again, like the Dragon Balls. In terms of gameplay… it depends. In some games, you can get the Emeralds from Special Stages and use them in the levels. Using the Super Form requires 50 Rings, at minimum, and the form burns your ring count. In other games, like Sonic Unleashed, it’s only for the final boss. Of course, that also means villains want them for their own means. The werewolf-lookin form is the Werehog. Sonic was infused with the power of an ancient beast called Dark Gaia, the manifestation of evil and negativity. The energy turned Sonic more beastly and rough, but in a twist of fate, the form doesn’t change his personality. Which is a pretty awesome story thing. Sonic is such a beacon of positivity that he can’t even be mentally corrupted by an outside force.

I would LOVE to see you react to Night of The Werehog. It was made a little while after Unleashed and looks surprisingly better than this opening CGI cutscene, especially when it comes to using Squatch and Stretch.

Super Sonic just looks so gorgeous, the power radiating off of him, and that subtle shininess like how he was in Sonic Adventure, Adventure 2 and Heroes is such a brilliant touch!

I searched for an analysis like this for this cutscene a week or two ago and couldn't find anything decent. So I was very happy to see this. Puting Sonic and the chaos emeralds into a Dragon Ball perspective, Super Sonic is like Super Sayain if Goku had to use the dragon balls to achieve that power each time, and the Chaos Emeralds are like the Dragon Balls expect instead of granting wishes they are a near infinite source of power.

The lore for stuff like the Chaos Emeralds in regards to how they appear is an anime concept called Hammerspace where they’re able to put objects away in an implied metaphorical pocket without explanation. It usually happens off screen or blocked by something. But this is a case where they had him summon them with no hands, sorta confirming for the first time that he’s not physically carrying them on his person the entire time. Since there, there’s been in-game transformation animations where he poses as the Emeralds appear around him before he transformers in a flash.

Omg the sonic is my favorite series is my favorite I'm so happy you react to it.

ah yes, the best cinematic in the sonic franchise

Unleashed was actually my first Sonic game ever (and is partially due to that still my favorite to this day, closely followed by Frontiers and Mania), and boy howdy was this intro one hell of an introduction :D

welp, here comes the loredump (mostly my interpretation of things, so please don't take it all as full facts): 1 - The Chaos Emeralds are seven powerful gems that contain basically chaos itself, just one allows people with the will to perform amazing things beyond normal, like teleportation or time manipulation, and collecting all 7 grants you incredible power that used correctly could make you invincible. Such is the case on Sonic, who harnesses the energy of the emeralds on his own to transform into the (almost) invincible Super Sonic using the positive energy flow of the emeralds. He can also kinda summon them at will and also like, feel them, something that's never really explained beyond a strong connection to the things which do have a mind of their own sometimes. 2 - The creature sealed within the planet is Dark Gaia, the embodiment of darkness itself who awakens every eon or so to engulf the world in a darkness above anything else, usually put back into slumber by its opposite, Light Gaia. In this specific case, Eggman used the power of the emeralds to force Dark Gaia's awakening, splitting the planet in 7 pieces. As a consequence of the impact, Dark Gaia, not being fully recovered from his slumber, couldn't withstand it's own form and divided itself across the world to regain its power using the darkness inside all living beings, to soon regain itself and fulfill the prophecy, as the Gaia Manuscripts foretold. 3 - Related to Dark Gaia, beings that hold some amounts of Dark Gaia's energy within them are subject to various effects, from simply a very pessimistic demeanor to complete transformations into dark beings who normally lose all control. Sonic transformed into the form known as "The Werehog" as an unexpected effect of Eggman's machine, which while draining the energy of the emeralds injected Sonic with some of Dark Gaia's power. The why a werewolf exactly is beyond anyone, but it made for some pretty hard AMVs if memory serves right (it likely doesn't). Oh, and there's literally no context nor explanation to that huge fleet or how Sonic got up there, it just starts like that and then gets absolutely no mention afterwards, that was just normal Sonic stuff at that point lol another fun little thing, as Eggman's about to fire the laser, you can see a Sega Dreamcast on his seat.

The planet has an atmosphere double the size of earth. So no they aren’t actually in the vacuum of space.

Oh wow. This is a surprise. Wasn't expecting a Sonic Unleashed reaction. This is one of my first Sonic games along with being my favourite one. I honestly believe that this game was ahead of its time. The story was interesting. The difference between the day and night stages was great. I'm feeling so nostalgic Incredible to think this intro is from 2008

I like how he said that this planet is a sick place to have game play possibilities... (6:30) It's almost like the possibilities are... endless... 👀

The form in the beginning is called Super Sonic

Nature vs technology has been a big theme in the series since the first game, cool that you picked up on that.

straight up starting with peak Sonic

Easily one off the best video game openings of all time

“What’s happened to sonic something’s not right that’s not right man” 😂

Would never have thought I'd see Sonic content from Philip, super excited for this!

I'm subbing. I'm a Sonic fan and the way you reacted to the Sonic Unleashed opening was awesome! If you want to learn more about our favorite blue blur just ask me or any other fan who's been around this guy for a while and we'll help you out buddy.

I never realized this until today, but sonic just turned a bunch of ships into debris. And where is that debris going to go? Into earth

When this game originally came out, a lot of people hated on it and didn't like the parts of the game where you played as Werewolf Sonic (aka Werehog). But over a decade later, a lot of those people that hated it at first have come to appreciate it, and now it is a very beloved game in the Sonic community. You can find it in many people's Top 10 Sonic games

I loved watching your reaction to this cutscene as both a gamer and former film student. Sonic Unleashed is my favorite game of all time. Period. I've done 100%. I speedrun it (close to 3:30:00 at this point and practicing new tricks). It's a masterpiece, and this cutscene stands as a testament to the love and care the team poured into this game. Also the "that is not normal" comment made me laugh lol. Loved the video!

I really wish there was a Sonic movie with animation like that, I would really enjoy it

With how good this looks I just can’t believe this was 2008! Even the sonic frontiers cutscenes don’t look this good!

God i miss old Sonic games on the PS3/Xbox360. While the gameplay wasnt too great most of the time, they had some of the most entertaining stories ever, the best cutscenes ever, and the best music ever too and thats what made them so special to me

Sonic the hedgehog 2006 also has an amazing opening cutscene done by the same animation team! you should definitely react to it!

The transformation at the end is called the Werehog (it's like a werewolf) and it's caused by the Dark Geia energy that was released when Eggman split apart the earth.

Bro, I love so much the Werehog transformation, is so amazing & if you don't know, Sonic The Werehog can stretch his arms & he's so powerful like Knucks, is so crazy but is so fantastic in my opinion.

I wish the sonic movies had this beautiful art style instead of live action trend bs but i still like the movies they are still good

This might be weird, but i kinda love how this opening shows us that Eggman sees sonic as a Genuine Threat. Like, the second he realises sonic is here, he sets his entire fleet on him.

my favorite sonic game ever made tbh

This blew my mind as a kid and still does to this day

It’s such a treasured piece of Sonic content to this day and I absolutely love it.

Sonic Unleashed is not only an amazing game but it still got one of the best cinematic cutscenes in the whole series, nothing will top this

The intro with the music makes this the best Sonic game opening to date

Sonic transforms using the chaos emeralds. Just one allows certain users to control time and space, which is usually just warping from one short location to another. In some locations, each one offers a different ability. Some individuals, like Sonic, can use all 7 to have a super form.

People said the days levels where you play as a regular Sonic what are the best parts but the night levels as werehog are slower and based on combat and puzzles.

This is my childhood game, this is where I still learning more about sonic. There’s more CGI animation like in few other sonic games, including the Mario and sonic at the Olympics game’s series. There’s night of the werehog that is also represented this game but as its own mini movie. It’s fun to watch, especially on Halloween. #sonicunleashed

That infectious Philip smile and energy 😊

This is still the best animated sonic opening, everything about it is just peak sonic. 💙

As a fan of both Sonic and Dragonball, I absolutely love when people call Super Sonic; Super Saiyan. I love the dragon ball inspirations in Sonic

The same company who made the CGI cutscenes for this game also created two short animations with it as well. “Night of the Werehog” and “Ghost Tale”. Though Ghost Tale only has the ghost seen in Night of the Werehog

ik its not sonic but cant wait for him to react to the new honkai short anime

i feel like this vid is the perfect thing to show someone an example of a good sonic game. people hate on it because the werehog form stages go on for a bit long but genuinely stunning visuals and animation for this, best 3d sonic game for sure

This opening still gives me chills from when I first played it as a kid

6:32 I guess you could say endless possibilities

As much as I am a huge Sonic Adventure 2 fan, the opening to Sonic Unleashed is honestly one of the best looking, even after all these years! Can you believe this was back in 2008?!

Marza Animation Planet did an amazing job on their early 2000s Sonic projects. I really hope Sega decides to hire 'em again for future titles now that Frontiers has sold well enough to justify the costs of bringing them in again in the future.

Sonic: Night of the Werehog is short Halloween special made by the same people, to promote the game. It feels like a Pixar film. It both game and short came out in 2008. DEFINITELY worth watching

The game is split into two main gameplay styles. One is the Day Time stages where you play as normal Sonic. The other is Night Time stages where you play as Werehog Sonic. The general consensus in the Sonic fan base is that the Day Time stages are good and that the Night Time stages are bad.

This has long been revered as one of the greatest video game opening sequences of all time, even by today's standards (They don't make 'em like they used to...) Those are the Chaos Emeralds. Usually you have to fight the strongest sub-bosses or solve the hardest puzzles in a very limited amount of time just to collect one of them. In this game, Sonic actually starts with all 7 but, as you can see, they ended up drained of their powers. Over the course of the game, you have to recharge the Emeralds and leave them behind instead of collect them... to fans who have played these games for a while, it's almost like we're playing the game backwards here.

One of my favorite sonic games and sonic storylines! They really raised the bar with this game

This time he pissed on the Earth

I love this ❤ this scene is actually wat got me into sonic 😍 gives me goosebumps everytime, i shiver watching it XD and this was released in 2008!

Sonic Team will never make another 3D Sonic game this good and feels so complete ever again. You should definitely check out the other Marza shorts. There’s funny short clips of Sonic and Chip doing things. Also have Night of the Werehog to watch. This is my favorite video game of all time. I own it on Wii, PS3, PS2 and have the soundtrack.

"On the juice"? Dude, you are retro!

When Sonic turned into a Werehog, he was taking in Dark Gaia's (The monster coming out of the Earth) energy

So basically what happened at the end there when Super Sonic got caught in Dr. Robotnic's trap and when the laser fired while Sonic was connected to the purple shocks, as the laser was breaking the earth apart to release Dark Gaia, some of that power was transferred over to the source of the beam, aka at that moment Sonic and the Chaos emeralds, then he sort of inherited the power of Dark Gaia and became a werewolf or as he is known in that form, a werehog. In classic werewolf fashion it only appears at night, but Sonic isn't in a feral state of mind he's still just 100% humorous blue blur Sonic but can punch with beefy stretchy arms and kick with his legs. Would have been real interesting if he was kind of feral and rabid or was heading toward that state of mind with each night that passes, as he progressed through his journey to restore the planet and the emeralds.

this opening lives rent free in my head

This isnt even the only visual thing with that CGI in & for the game and if you think Dark Gaia is terrifying now, you have to see the cutscene before the fight with Dark Gaia as Super Sonic.

love how this game is basically “sonic the hedgehog if it were a movie” they really went all out for this game

Sonic Unleashed Is My All-Time Favorite Sonic/Video Game Ever. I Would Literally Pay Money To Watch This 6 Minute Masterpiece At A Movie Theater On The Big Screen. The "Super Saiyan" Form Is Called "Super Sonic". Which He Can Transform Into Once All 7 Chaos Emeralds Are Obtained. As For The Werwolf Form, That Is "Sonic The Werehog". The "Alien" Eggman Awoke Is Called "Dark Gaia". And The Chaos Emeralds Energy Drained & Were Filled With Dark Gaia Energy, Resulting In Sonic Transforming Into The Werehog. Sonic Unleashed Is A Day & Night Style. During The Daytime, Sonic Is In His Regular Form. But During The Nighttime, Sonic Becomes The Werehog.

6:30 “That’s gonna be a sick place to have like gameplay, possibilities…” I guess you can say “Endless Possibilities” (Context: The song is the main theme for Sonic Unleashed)

Thanks a lot for a reaction to this, such an amazing opening! Pixar sonic is by far the best version sonic🙌🏽

Hands down my favorite sonic game

Sonic is linked with the chaos force. Now this is where it can be argued how they work. When having multiple Chaos Emeralds in hand they shrink but when used they grow in size. So in this bit I think he has them in his glove and when he used them they teleport around him. The game is good the only thing I didn't like much was the last level. It took me so long to beat it.

I love this game, the werehog is fun, as long as you ignore upgrades for normal sonic, it is one of the most cinematic sonic games, and that’s why it’s one of my favourites, they didn’t shove every character in there for the sake of it but the characters that are here definitely prove that if they never stopped the unleashed way of doing things, the sonic series could have stayed like this.

2008, from 2008 man and it STILL looks this fantastic, they went from unfinished 06 to the best sonic game. The budget, the art direction, the music, the gameplay ideas were just outta this world and they made an amazing artistic game out of it. This was my genesis sonic growing up, my PS2 was the best part of my childhood, even though I played the worse version as a kid, I remembered the game literally looking like the xbox version 🥲and now having played both I can say they both still are amazing games. we didn't appreciate it as much at the time as much as we do now, they really just absolutely nailed this opener, there is a lot of lore through the game you hear, unlock and can piece together with environments but it's an interesting idea starting in the middle of sonics adventure, he already had the emeralds, he was already after eggman, then you get little bits hinted from eggman what he did recently to make sonic go after him with the gaia manuscripts and he knew something would happen when he found a way to lure sonic and shoot the emerald power and then the camera work signifies some sort of connection between werehog sonic and dark gaia forming out of the earth. Just... 🤌

This is still, hands down, the best opening cutscene to any video game anywhere! I hope Sega gives Sonic Unleashed a remaster!

One of thr best Sonic intros, even still

in all these years i never realized how much sonic’s werehog state resembles goku’s great ape form 😭 it makes so much sense considering how super sonic is inspired by super saiyan

This opening cutscene was 2008 on the PS3, Xbox360, Wii, and PS2 btw