Editing Sonic Unleashed (section)

===Background===
Ever since its debut in 1991, the [[Sonic the Hedgehog series|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series]] has been one of [[Sega]]'s flagship franchises, and [[Sonic the Hedgehog|its eponymous protagonist]] became the company's mascot and one of the most recognizeable characters of all time. A variety of games were released for Sega's [[Sega Mega Drive|Mega Drive]] and [[Sega Game Gear|Game Gear]], but did not see as many releases for the [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]]. Two games, ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'' (1998) and ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' (2001) were released for Sega's [[Dreamcast]] and helped compensate for the lack of ''Sonic'' titles on its predecessor.<ref name="HoStH">{{Cite book |date = 6 September 2013 |title = [[The History of Sonic the Hedgehog]] |publisher = Les Editions Pix'n Love |chapter = History |isbn = 978-1-926778-96-9}}</ref>

In early 2001, after the failure of the Dreamcast, Sega went third-party. In 2003, the first multiplatform ''Sonic'' game, ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'', was released to mixed reviews. 2005 saw the release of ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]'', which was negatively received due to the tone contrasting that of previous games. In 2006, the series' reputation plummeted with the release of the highly-anticipated ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', which was critically panned by fans and the press alike.<ref name="HoStH" /> Other games, like ''[[Sonic and the Secret Rings]]'', ''[[Sonic Rivals]]'' and ''[[Sonic Riders]]'', all released in 2006 too, were not received with much enthusiasm either.