It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen a game starring Sonic the Hedgehog worth picking up. As I think back, Sonic & Knuckles seems to be the last title in the series that really got it right, though a case can also be made for Sonic Adventure. Still, even that game came back in the days of the Dreamcast, so it’s been quite a while since our anthropomorphic speedster friend made a title worth caring about. Sega is hoping the tide has finally turned with their latest offering, Sonic Unleashed.

This year at E3, we got to see the new title (scheduled for a November release) in action, and it does indeed seem as though a lot of the magic has come back. Levels are divided into day and night stages, with each featuring a specific sort of gameplay. Daytime levels are all about speed and platforming, while nighttime focuses on combat.

Digging into the first daytime level, it was clear that the development team understands what made Sonic fun in the first place all those years ago: pure speed. Flying across the screen at a breakneck pace, knowing that you would need catlike reflexes to make the next jump or take out an upcoming enemy was what made the series so exhilarating back in its heyday. The sensation is back, and now, thanks to the power of the latest generation of consoles, it’s even faster. The game uses the new Hedgehog engine which has been in development since 2005, specifically for Unleashed. The developers claim that Sonic can reach speeds of up to 300 mph in some levels, making him into little more than a blurry blue bullet, just how we like it.

Peppered into these stages are precision platforming segments, which were also hallmarks of the series years ago. In one level, we saw a giant rotating set of platforms that had to be traversed in a particular manner, as you would expect in any title such as this. At certain points, Sonic would jump from one platform, bounce through a string of enemies and then land on the other side, again evoking feelings of nostalgia.

Of course, other Sonic games have tried this speed-thrills approach, but most were hamstrung by awful controls. This time, Sega has decided to keep things simple, only adjusting controls for very specific and helpful additions. The addition of a “quick step” button is most welcome, as now Sonic can alter his course ever so slightly on the fly, allowing you to pick up rings and avoid obstacles without careening off the track or into an enemy. I don’t now why it took so long for this concept to come to pass, but now that it’s here, I couldn’t be happier.