15. Sonic Unleashed (2008, PS2 / Wii / PS3 / Xbox 360)

Sonic Unleashed gets the 3D Sonic platformer formula exactly half-right, as it’s split into two distinct styles of gameplay. The daytime sections feature the typical 3D-style platforming, while night stages are combat-focused affairs that turn Sonic into the infamous “werehog.”

The day sections finally nail 3D Sonic platforming. Before this game, 3D Sonics often felt clunky and unevenly paced, with level designs that didn’t really let Sonic be fast. Unleashed gets it right, with levels constructed to let the blue blur just run, drift, and rail-grind seamlessly between 2D and 3D sections. But for some inexplicable reason, Sonic Team decided not to stop there, instead adding awful, laggy werehog sections in which Sonic plods through nighttime versions of earlier levels fighting monsters with his weird werehog powers. (Also, it’s hilarious that the world gets cracked into seven pieces at the beginning of the game but everyone seems remarkably ok about going on with their lives.) Oh Sonic Team, you were so close.