Sonic X Shadow Generations makes Sonic look better than ever before thanks to its graphical makeover and additional playable campaign featuring the one, and only, Shadow the Hedgehog. With the spotlight on Shadow, players can now play as him in all of his glory while being treated to cinematic sequences that, quite frankly, look cool as hell.
It looks like we’re remaking each and every Sonic game thanks to the Sonic anniversary. This isn’t a callout; this is a statement. As a fan of Sonic (primarily the SEGA Genesis games), I’m thrilled to see games of my childhood and adolescence become updates and rereleased for gamers today. I won’t dispute the notion that many folks may still be attached to the live service giants that dominate console playtime as of 2024, but the fact that SEGA is willing and able to spend the development time to make classic games accessible for gamers of all ages is worthy of praise.
I sit before you a fan of the 2D Sonic the Hedgehog games. Think of the SEGA Genesis titles like Sonic, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3, along with the most recent Sonic Mania. In my review of Sonic Superstars, I praised it for being the “real doggone deal” by making bold moves through redefining high-speed platforming mechanics without compromising on the 2D-glory of the source material of the Genesis era. The major draw of 2D Sonic games is that of its momentum: Players are given a multitude of paths to which they can build momentum. It’s a matter of their ability to maintain that momentum to truly experience the thrills of Sonic speeding across the screen.
To be fully transparent, I have watched more of Sonic Generations than I have played it. This 2011 platformer was originally released during the seventh generation of consoles (PS3, XB360) as a part of Sonic’s 20th anniversary. It was a return-to-form for SEGA’s figurehead, blending classic 2D-platforming along with a 3D-perspective involving mach-speed platforming. Its amalgamation of 2D and 3D platforming was praised for by players back in the day, especially coming out of the 3D-era of Sonic games that seemingly forgot SEGA’s roots.
It’s 2024, though. We’re no longer plagued by questionable game design that presents us with our favorite hedgehog in an environment where he doesn’t belong. By that, I mean Sonic Unleashed. I won’t go into Sonic Frontiers being worthy of your time, but I bring this up as a way to caution some of the nostalgia players might feel in returning to Sonic Generations in a few short days. We’ve had excellent remakes and fan-inspired games over the past few years…
…so how does Sonic Generations hold up today?
Personally, I’m torn. I realize now that I have rose-colored glasses replaying Sonic Generations as a part of Sonic X Shadow Generations. Maybe that’s a good thing for me to recognize, especially since I’ve had my moments in giving Sonic’s classic platforming the benefit of the doubt when playing the remastered levels (which have mainly been given a graphical facelift) as of late.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a bundle package, containing a remastered Sonic Generations along with a brand, spanking new Shadow Generations. Shadow Generations runs parallel to the events of Sonic Generations, giving players a glimpse of Shadow the Hedgehog’s side of the story. He’s no palette swap of Sonic, mind you – Shadow comes equipped with unique moves, new levels, and a separate set of open-world mechanics that mirrors that of Sonic Frontiers. I’ll touch on all of this in a moment, but know that Sonic X Shadow Generations acts as a 2-for-1 package deal.
Before getting into the nitty gritty of Sonic Generations and Shadow Generations, I want to emphasize larger form similarities between these games. Think about Shadow Generations as the inverse of Sonic Generations: Levels are divided into two acts, with one act giving a 2.5D perspective whereas the other act is primarily in 3D perspective behind the hedgehogs as they zoom down ramps and through curvy lanes.
The 2.5D perspective is the Generations‘ games attempt at instilling the classic 2D platforming of Sonic’s past. In many ways, the levels of Sonic Generations feel familiar up until Sonic is launched into the air and off of springboards into the background, occasionally skewing the perspective of the level and giving the illusion of depth. Despite these modernizations, these classic-inspired levels should feel familiar…until you start to realize how the changes in perspective warp some of the core Sonic level design elements most players love.
By that, I mean classic Sonic’s multipathed levels that ensure replayability (within some degrees of freedom). In my review of Sonic Superstars, I praised its behemoth levels that branch out every which way and encourage players to replay levels over and over to min-max completion times into oblivion. The joys of speedracing, ya know?
The classic-inspired levels in Generations offer an illusion of level enormity. Yes, they’re smaller. Yes, they contain SOME branches. They unfortunately push the player into a specific path very early on. Replayability of these levels comes down to seeking out collectibles in the form of red coins, hidden Chao, and coin fragments. Collecting items on pre-determined paths kills the freedom of attempting to speedrun a level. These concepts aren’t mutually exclusive, but those with a completionist’s itch will feel like their freedom to go fast has been impacted in all the wrong ways.
The 3D levels in Generations fully utilize cinematic tricks, shifts in perspective, and high-speed behind-the-hedgehog segments to create a feeling of momentum. These levels are designed to be harder than the classic levels (which are arguably hard by today’s platforming standards) because of the precision needed to keep Sonic and Shadow grinding on rails and narrow paths. Momentum can only be reached if you boost your hedgehog with a button press, but falling off the path of into a bottomless pit and returned to a decent checkpoint feels…well, sluggish.
The 3D levels will be an acquired taste for some players, especially those like me with greater familiarity with classic Sonic. They’re more difficult in the sense that there are more opportunities to test players’ timing, precision, and patience. It’s exhilarating to boost down a narrow path, but it becomes frustrating when I miss a jump or don’t grab a collectible coin at a very specific angle.
My personal frustrations with the 3D levels aside and general aversion to change, I very much prefer the 3D levels in Generations than the 3D implementation in, say, Sonic Frontiers. The Sonic games are known for their momentum, meaning that the player’s focus should be on a relatively linear path so they can get as fast as possible without the distraction of a large open space that might or might not facilitate players reaching high speeds. Generations’ 3D levels are linear in the sense that you can’t get lost or sidetracked by meaningless content that doesn’t encourage the speed.
The past few paragraphs apply to both Shadow Generations and Sonic Generations. Let’s discuss some of the smaller differences before I wrap this review.
Sonic Generations is constructed differently from typical Sonic games in the sense that levels can be completed in any order and selected from a hub – The White Space. Sonic can walk through the 2D White Space and select a level of the player’s choosing. Upon completing the three levels and each of their acts, additional trial levels become unlocked, of which the player is to complete three before being able to fight the boss.
Some of the trials are unnecessarily difficult, with most feeling like tests of patience rather than tests of skill in the grand scheme of things. One trial has you obtain a single coin and then tasked with getting to the end of a level that’s full of traps. Taking damage means that you lose the coin, so it’s back to the start if you make a single mistake. I understand that Sonic and speed running can only be tested in a small set of ways, but I’m not a fan of trials that require me to be cautious and slow down as to complete a level with an arbitrarily narrow win condition.
Shadow Generations, on the other hand, focuses on Shadow and gives him time in the spotlight. SEGA meant it when they said that 2024 is the Year of Shadow. Here, Shadow is given more than just reskinned levels and a 3D White Space hub to explore between levels. He has his own set of powerups (called Doom Powers) that serve as additional weapons for his arsenal and tools for traversal. He can stop time, making for some really cool platforming segments involving missiles being launched from the ground.
Switching from Sonic Generations to Shadow Generations was easy, barring the uniqueness of Shadow’s Doom Powers. I entered Shadow Generations with the perspective of the game relying on momentum and fast-paced platforming. With Doom Powers, I kept forgetting to activate them and/or utilize them properly, ultimately killing momentum in situations where I needed to use a power (Doom Spears) to open a path. I’m sure that some players won’t have an issue, but the additional inputs proved to be a mental hurdle for me.
Sonic X Shadow Generations makes Sonic look better than ever before thanks to its graphical makeover and additional playable campaign featuring the one, and only, Shadow the Hedgehog. With the spotlight on Shadow, players can now play as him in all of his glory while being treated to cinematic sequences that, quite frankly, look cool as hell.
