Trivia / Sonic Unleashed

• Ascended Fan Nickname: Sega adopted the Fan Nickname for Sonic's lycanthrope form.
• Cross-Dressing Voices: Chip is voiced by the male Anthony Salerno in English, but voiced by the female Ryōko Shiraishi in Japanese.
• Cross-Generation Video Game: Unleashed is technically two separate games — the original was released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 while a reformulated port came out on the less powerful Wii and PlayStation 2. Barring the PS3 version, all of them were released on the same day (outside Japan).
• Cut Song: The Wii/PS2 version misses out on both Savannah Citadel tracks, as well as the level and hub themes for Empire City. The 360/PS3 version doesn't include the full-length Gaia Gate theme, which only appears in a very short cut-scene in the HD consoles version.
• Dummied Out: The Wii/PlayStation 2 version also seemingly had at least several, full length "Act 2" Daytime Stages for at least some of the countries, but these maps are just used for certain optional missions instead, often limiting you to only a small portion of them, with some areas not being used for any mission.
• First Appearance: Of Orbot (although he wouldn't receive that name until his next appearance).
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The game's signature vocal track, "Endless Possibility", has yet to see any sort of streaming release outside of Japan. A likely reason for this is that Jaret Reddick was a one-time guest vocalist for the Sonic series, and attempts to have the song licensed for rerelease would probably be a big undertaking. Even so, this is a weird exception when the game's soundtrack and every other vocal Sonic song have been readily available on streaming services. The live version performed at the Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony concert is available on streaming services, however the vocals are provided by Nathan Sharp, with the original Reddick version still being absent. It is also absent from most games that feature large collections of Sonic music, such as the later Super Smash Bros. titles and Sonic Frontiers. For unknown reasons, Sonic Generations was the only exception.
• No Export for You: The PlayStation 2 version was primarily developed for American and European audiences, and never saw a release in Japan. Because of this, it's also the only version of the game to lack a dedicated Japanese voice track.
• Refitted for Sequel: A version of the day-night system was originally planned for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), but was cut due to that game’s rushed production. This game revisits the idea.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: "Endless Possibility" is not included on any music streaming services likely due to legal issues surrounding Jaret Reddick's vocals.
• Throw It In!: When recording the English dialogue for Sonic, Jason Griffith had a hoarse voice due to a strep throat. He used this voice for Sonic's Werehog form.
• Two Voices, One Character: In the Japanese version, Sonic's regular form is played by Jun'ichi Kanemaru and his Werehog form is voiced by Tomokazu Seki.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Early concept art for Sonic's transformed state was a Yeti◊.
  • Meta-example here; The Hedgehog Engine was originally intended to be licensed out to other developers. This never happened however, and it appears to have been completely internalized as of the release of Generations.
  • Some early reports for the game suggested Knuckles and Shadow would be playable, but they're nowhere to be seen in the final product.
  • Early concept art reveals that Sonic's werehog form was originally called "Beast Sonic" at one point.
  • The game originally started out with the intent to create the third Adventure entry. However, as development progressed and new elements were introduced, it eventually took on an identity of its own and officially became seperated from the Adventure games. The game's Japanese title (Sonic World Adventure) is a leftover from this plan.
  • Chip went through a wide array of different designs before the team settled on the final chihuahua-like design in the final game.
  • The game's cover was originally meant to use lenticular printing at one point, in which Sonic would shift between his normal and Werehog forms depending on the angle you look at it. This was ultimately scrapped in favor of depicting Sonic's normal and Werehog forms as two halves instead. Presumably due to costs.

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