Containing both a remaster and a new experience, Sonic x Shadow Generations is a great time.
What Is It? Sonic x Shadow Generations is a bit of a confusing package to explain. Sonic Generations is a 2011 game which is split between classic 2D Sonic gameplay and modern 3D gameplay. Shadow Generations is a brand new game which features a similar level split. Generations and Shadow are two separate games and are accessible as such through the main menu.
For the Sonic portion, there is an appropriately light story about a time traveling demon swallowing worlds, capturing your friends, and generally wrecking havoc. It does the job to explain why new and old Sonics are interacting with each other and doesn’t bother you for too long. Same goes for the Shadow portion. Perfect for a game like this.
Sonic Generations is navigated through a hub world. This allows you to enter a number of different style levels: normal zones, challenges, mini-bosses, and boss fights. Zones and challenges have separate modes for both classic and modern, you must beat a total of 30 different things along the way to see the credits, with most of those being the nine zones in both classic and modern modes. There is also a playable Sonic pinball machine in the hub, I definitely sunk some time into that.
Playing in classic mode means you will spend your time in 2D side-scrolling levels. Most of that time is spent propelling yourself forward as fast as possible, hitting boosts, loops, etc… The action is occasionally broken up with some true platforming sections and enemies to get through. Modern mode switches to a behind-Sonic 3D view much of the time. You can now move in all directions, although you are mostly limited in certain directions, this is not a true open, 3D platformer. Except when it is, because there are brief sections throughout which do allow for free movement and a classic 3D platforming style. Modern mode also switches to a side-scrolling view at times.
Challenges have you replaying sections of the zone levels with some goal to accomplish. Some are as simple as beating a speedrun time or collecting a set number of coins. Others have you pairing with your rescued companions to leverage a special ability of theirs in some way, utilizing specific power ups to finish a level, and a few other variations. The mini-bosses are mostly fun while the main bosses are mostly pretty bad.
Shadow Generations is structured the same way: classic and modern levels, challenges, boss fights, and a hub world. While the overall setup is very similar, everything in Shadow Generations is just a bit better than that in Sonic Generations. The level designs are improved, the hub world is 3D, massive, and more fun, and the challenges and boss fights are all much shorter but way more fun.
The Best Part: The modern levels. I had never spent more than 15 minutes with a 3D Sonic game before this. These levels in Sonic Generations are a lot of fun, even with some rough edges. Shadow Generations builds on them not by reinventing anything, but by sanding some rough edges to make a wonderful experience.
The Worst Part: The boss fights in Sonic Generations. There are three main boss fights followed by a final boss. The first two are absolutely mediocre, with the third main boss being the best by a mile. There are frustrating control bits, really strange design choices, and other issues. The final boss, however, is one of the worst final bosses I can recall playing. It is entirely unclear what you need to do to actually hit the boss and your companions yelling at you to “hit a button to change Sonics” doesn’t help at all. When you figure out what to do in order to hit the boss and stay alive (you need to grab coins to avoid death), you realize the fight is incredibly easy, just annoyingly time-consuming by design. A true dud, I was very glad that I had Shadow Generations to play after this boss, otherwise having it as my lasting impression of this title would have been disappointing.
The Verdict: Going into this game, I had never found a Sonic game I really liked. I have some vaguely fond memories of playing one of the Game Gear titles as a kid, and had a decent time with Sonic Mania more recently, but neither are anything I would ever consider revisiting. Sonic x Shadow Generations is far from an all-timer for me, but it does slot in as my favorite Sonic title by a wide margin.
The main driver for me are the 3D levels. These hit a “Crash Bandicoot in warp speed” mark for me that I never knew I needed. These levels in Sonic Generations lay the groundwork and the new Shadow levels refine them into something special. I enjoyed the classic style levels as well, but having some many other different things to do between the modern levels, challenges, and bosses is the right balance for my tastes.
Sonic x Shadow Generations is worth a shot, even for those like me who don’t have any strong attachment to Sonic.
How to Play: PlayStation 4/5*, Xbox One/Series, Switch 1/2, PC
*console played on for this review
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