And judging by SEGA’s recent admission that the ‘hog’s past few outing haven’t been all that great, then ‘rock bottom’ is certainly where its once proud mascot finds himself nowadays.

With his 16-bit heyday now a rapidly fading memory and a string of disappointing attempts to take the Spiky Blue One into the third dimension, it’s fair to say that Sonic’s seen better times.

Indeed, were it not for the occasional cameo in Smash Bros. Brawl, or the inevitable re-releases of his Mega Drive games on Virtual Console and Live, we’d probably be sat here wondering just why SEGA’s attempting to keep the little guy going.

But that’s exactly what SEGA’s trying to do with Sonic Unleashed – and on this occasion, it may just have struck upon a formula that could restore some of the its mascot’s former glory.

The fact we’ve been saying the same thing for years – only to be disappointed on neigh-on every occasion – means we now approach each new Sonic game with a strong sense of caution. But even with this in mind, Sonic Unleashed makes a lot more sense than all the misguided attempts that have gone before it.

This new found sense of optimism comes not from what Sonic Team has included in Unleashed, but rather what it’s removed: a whole dimension, to be precise.

In much the same way that Capcom has opted to keep Street Fighter IV’s gameplay strictly 2D, so Sonic Team has realised that certain things simply work better without the third dimension – Sonic included.

Although the all-new game engine – appropriately dubbed ‘Hedgehog’ – enables the action to be presented from either a 2D or a 3D perspective, the gameplay will be predominantly two dimensional.

And furthermore, it should be quick as well. With your basic path set, players can look forward to Sonic doing what Sonic does best – blazing across the landscape, tearing through loops, grinding along rails and using blistering pace and well timed jumps to access new areas.

But while the side-on camera views especially would give Unleashed the appearance of a vintage Sonic game, there have been a few modern twists added to spice things up.

Essentially, these are designed to keep the momentum up: the familiar homing jump attack is back, and is joined by the speed drift, which – as the name implies – allows you to drift around corners at speed.

Players will also be presented with the occasional quick timer event, with successful completion of these allowing you to access other areas in the game.

But the most significant of these additions is the Sonic Boost mode. This is charged up by collecting rings, and once unleashed, gives Sonic an extra burst of speed, akin to Burnout’s boost system.

Even the graphics will help make this a blisteringly fast gaming experience. Although Unleashed may look pretty handy in the screenshots that have been released, it’s the rate at which the game moves that’s been the most pleasing aspect of the visuals so far.

Everything from the speed blur to the slight buffeting of the camera, helps create a very convincing sensation of speed. And because this is a 2D game running on a 3D engine, SOnic Team has been able to pick out the most dramatic camera angles for the various set pieces.

While we won’t be able to tell for sure just how well this works until we’ve had the chance to sit down and play it, simply watching Sonic bouncing off springs, launching off ramps and tearing down hills is a strong indicator that Unleashed is heading in the right direction.

But yet, we’re not entirely at ease with Sonic Team’s latest vision for its titular character.

Primarily, our main concern isn’t with Sonic himself, but his ‘warehog’ alter ego. The basic idea behind this is that as day turns to night, so our supersonic spiny chum mutates from his usual sleek self into a hulking big beast, with stretchy arms and brute strength aplenty.

Needless to say, this does take the edge off his speed, placing more emphasis on fighting and exploring. On the plus side, Sonic the Warehog will have around 30 moves, and no shortage of enemies to use them on. But incorporating different styles of play into its games has traditionally been a problem area for Sonic Team – just look at the various Sonic Adventure games and the 2006 360 and PS3 title for proof of that.

Nevertheless, we have a cautious sense of optimism about Sonic Unleashed.

Sure, we’ve been here before with other Sonic games, only to have our dreams shattered. But thanks to a combination of cutting edge 3D visuals and very traditional 2D play, Sonic Unleashed certainly looks like it’s moving in the right direction.

Let’s just hope Sonic Team doesn’t screw it up between now and Christmas.