Hedgehog Engine

The Hedgehog Engine is the new game engine for PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Sonic Unleashed. It spent 3 years in development. The Hedgehog Engine is a graphics engine, and has no bearings on gameplay style. It is only compatible with the PS3 and Xbox 360, because the Wii's hardware isn't powerful enough to its Next-Gen lighting and visual effects

Light-field technology
As well as featuring camera position changes and a blend of classic elements from other Sonic games, the Hedgehog Engine also uses a revolutionary new piece of technology. This was called the Light-field, which can create CGI quality graphics in the in-game graphics system. The basic concept of the Light-field is that light bounces off every single thing on screen, creating an ultra realistic look on the area around. Also, not only did the graphics around Sonic change, but so did Sonic's model. Light is reflected off him too, to make sure that he didn't look 'out of place' as many reviewers would claim from past Sonic games. This was the longest part of the Hedgehog Engine to make, taking 3 years to develop.