SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS REVIEW: IS SONIC BACK…AND HAS SHADOW ARRIVED?
PLATFORM: PS5 (ALSO AVAILABLE ON PS4, XBOX SERIES X|S, SWITCH, AND PC)
HOURS SPENT IN GAME: 8 HOURS
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS is a reminder to franchise fans and skeptics alike, that while both characters have experienced their fair share of blunders, they've also seen some incredible success. That makes the question surrounding this 2 in 1 bundle simple, is this game successful at showing that Sonic Team have been successful? Is this a package that could be recommended to series vets and newcomers alike that want to experience the best of what the Sonic franchise has to offer? And what does this title mean for the future of Sonic games? In this review, we'll take a deep dive into both games to answer those questions -- starting with Sonic Generations.
sonic generations
The Revamped Sonic Generations
Originally released in 2011, Sonic Generations sought to highlight and celebrate some of the Blue Blurs most iconic levels, music, and boss battles. Now, in 2024, Sonic Generations returns with a new coat of paint, ready to again remind fans that despite Sonic's shaky history, he's still one of the greatest video game icons of all-time. I actually never played the original Sonic Generations, so the question for me wasn't how good of a remaster this would be, because it's more important to question whether or not this game can effectively deliver on nostalgia while also improving on the franchises worst characteristics: bad controls and subpar stories.
A Story That Technically Works...With Not Much Else To It
For those raising an eyebrow at my complaint about Sonic's traditional lack of lack of story, trust me, I know no one plays Sonic games for the plot. I, like many others, play Sonic games to run fast, kick butt, and fly around as Super Sonic to a killer Crush 40 track at the end of the game. However, games that only dip their toe into creating a story often times create a narrative that only becomes an obstacle -- something so thin that you’ll likely just want to speed past so you can get back to the action. This is why even to this day, I regard Sonic Adventure 2 as the greatest Sonic game ever made, not only because of the impeccably designed controls that were ahead of it's time, but because it also featured a great story with genuinely compelling characters. Unfortunately for Sonic Generations though, it's guilty of dipping a toe without fully jumping in and committing to a great story.
The basic gist of the Sonic Generations story is this: a mysterious entity places the world in a timeless, lifeless, and colorless void, prompting classic 2D and modern 3D Sonic to work together to fix what's been broken. The premise of the story technically works, as it gives reason for 2D and 3D Sonic to exist in the same timeline together, creating the set up for the unique level design structure which we’ll get to later.
This is where Sonic Team have dipped their toe in with a great idea, without at any point fully jumping into it. Why is this a problem? Because in order for this game to avoid being nothing more than a list of remixed levels, it needs to give not just a clever reason to play through them, but a compelling one. Interactions between characters never rise above the obvious "we've got to figure out what's going on" dialogue. Even interactions with Shadow, the franchises most compelling character, are nothing more than surface level trash talking. Yes, the story does a good job of setting up the circumstances of the world, but it fails to tie together a purpose as to why we're playing these classic 2D and 3D levels. It feels like these ideas are running closely in parallel with each other without ever crossing paths -- because when I'm playing through City Escape, there's nothing within that level from the story set up that gives reason for me to be there. This is due to what I feel is an over-designed aspect of the game known as "challenge stages"".
Between levels in Sonic Generations, you'll navigate a 2D hub world filled with rails, springs, and platforms -- a design aimed to make it fun to travel from one mission to the next. Within the hub world are a number of challenge stages, which are remixed versions of the remixed "action stages" that contain a variety of different challenges within them. These challenges range from racing to the goal against a cloned version of Sonic, to completing an abbreviated version of the main action stage with just one ring, and many more. The nice thing about challenge levels is that they offer fresh ways to experience action stages, adding to the game's overall replay-ability. However, the downside is that they're required for you to complete in order to obtain boss room keys.
Thankfully, you don't have to complete every one of these stages to get all of the required boss keys, but other than being a nice switch up to the main levels, they don't add much to the game. In an experience focused on hitting you with waves of nostalgia, that flow of fun shouldn't be interrupted with extra stages that feel like extra fat to the experience. All I ever wanted to do while playing this game was go from one throw back level to the next without interruption. I would have liked to have seen Sonic Team streamline this experience by placing the requirements to access boss rooms within the main action stages themselves. Not only would this keep the flow of the experience consistent, but it would tie the purpose of playing these throwback action stages in with the premise of the story in a deeply effective way which would have resulted in a more cohesive experience.
Level and Control Design: Almost A Homerun
I'll just come right out of the gate and say it, the level design in Sonic Generations is excellent. With the idea to create a game that includes only the greatest hits from the franchise, the bar is set quite high, and the quality of these levels lives and dies based on the creativity baked into them. Safe to say, these levels are living.
In each action stage, you'll play through two acts, one as classic 2D Sonic, and the other as modern 3D Sonic. Act one serves as a remixed 2D version while act two serves as a remixed 3D version — and this is where it gets interesting. For example, playing through act one of the remixed City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2 means you're playing through a 2D side scrolling version of the traditionally 3D level. As a kid who grew up playing 3D Sonic games, it would have blown my mind to know that this was even possible. The 2D version of this level features tons of creative little changes too, such as rolling down the streets of San Francisco on a skate board instead of the helicopter propeller like in the original, or performing the classic G.U.N. truck chase in 2D side scrolling fashion, while blasting an incredible remix of Escape from the City. Want to flip that experience on its head? Try playing as 3D Sonic through Chemical Plant Zone, and have your perception of this level forever changed by experiencing it in 3D.
While the level design soars, the boss designs and a number of character control choices fall flat. The thing I love most about Sonic games is experiencing killer boss fights with killer soundtracks. Sadly, both the 2D and 3D boss battles feature obtuse gimmicks and controls that make me want to blow by them at Super Sonic speeds rather than enjoy their moment to moment gameplay — but at least the still look pretty cool.
As for the levels themselves, Sonic generally feels great to control. 2D Sonic is taking what is essentially a victory lap as he feels as smooth as he always does, and 3D Sonic feels pretty good too for the most part, save for one big issue. 3D Sonic feels stiff and unsatisfying during behind the back lane running sections of levels -- especially when hitting top speeds. Multiple 3D Sonic games have featured these sections, and they never fail to feel awkward. Additionally, each 3D Sonic level features a short 2D section within it. With their being entire levels dedicated to 2D Sonic, it's an odd and highly redundant choice for Sonic Team to have designed the 3D levels in this way. It makes me wonder if this was a decision made based on a lack of confidence in their 3D level design. I hope not, because the 3D levels were designed quite well!
The Verdict
The main question at the top of this portion of the review was: Does Sonic Generations deliver on nostalgia while also improving on the franchises worst characteristics: bad controls and subpar stories. With deeply creative remixes of classic levels like Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, City Escape, Ocean Palace, and more, Sonic Team went above and beyond by not only making them nostalgic, but by offering memorable, fresh takes on them. However, while there is certainly fun to be found in the celebration of playing through Sonic’s greatest hits levels, the overall experience is held back by an underwhelming story that doesn't tie the purpose of the game together, underwhelming boss battles that feature obtuse controls, and a bland hub world. So yes, the game delivers on nostalgia through creatively designed levels, but seems to fall flat in every other area of the experience, resulting in a rather average game... as much as I hate to say it.
M.O.B.G. SCORE:
5/10 = AVERAGE
SHADOW GENERATIONS
Shadow Generations: All Hail Shadow, Heroes Rise Again!
In 2005, Sonic Team wanted to inject some edge into the franchise, so, they gave Shadow a gun and taught him how to swear. Copious amounts of edge aside, Shadow the Hedgehog the game gave Shadow his well deserved time in the spotlight by diving into this past, and providing deep exposition on his identity crisis as "the ultimate life form". Shadow Generations seeks to bring him back into the spotlight by celebrating his most popular levels and by diving deeper into his story than ever before. Going into this game, my main question was this: does Sonic Team do Shadow's character justice and finally put him on equal footing with his Blue Blur counterpart?
The Story of the World's Ultimate Lifeform
In the main menu, Sonic Team have included an option to experience a condensed, animated version of Shadow's story to get you caught up if you're unfamiliar with it. This short covers Shadow's origins, his relationship with Maria, and the tragic events that turned him into an anti-hero hell bent on vengeance. By including an animated short centered around Shadow's beginnings, Sonic Team are showing a deep amount of care for this character and how he is presented to the player. This is not only a fantastic set up for his new story, but it makes a great first impression for a game with high expectations.
The gist of Shadow's story in Shadow Generations is this: our embattled anti-hero is fighting an internal struggle on a few different fronts. The first is with his past. His constant suffering over the events that changed his life and his purpose keeps him emotionally tethered to the lifeless Space Colony Ark where he once lived a happy life. He watches over it constantly, guarding something that is no longer there. The second battle is with his identity, which is tied to Black Doom, an evil, other worldly entity and leader of the Black Arms Army. Like in Sonic Generations, Shadow's timeline has also been sent to an empty void of time and space, and Black Doom aims take advantage of situation by taking control of Shadow's mind and body, allowing him to become an all powerful ruler of the universe once again.
As a way to influence Shadow into giving in to Black Doom's will, he forces a number of his abilities onto him. What's great about the way Sonic Team have positioned Black Doom's approach, is that it ties the storytelling and gameplay mechanics into a streamlined experience. These two aspects of the game feed off of each other resulting in a deeply compelling experience. Every time Shadow gains a new Doom ability, not only do we see Doom's influence further take shape, but we in turn see his resistance to it become more aggressive -- resulting in red hot story tension that steadily builds throughout the game.
Shadow's Silky Smooth (chaos) Control
I can recall the feeling of relief I felt when I first gained control of Shadow. Relieved to feel how smooth and intuitive he felt to control. Though his homing attack shares a different control scheme than the traditional double tap it normally does, it still felt snappy and responsive. Blasting through levels on his iconic skates felt as smooth as it ever has, and even at top speeds, the control was still there -- feeling like a high speed train about to fly off the rails but still manages to barely hold on. Unfortunately though, Sonic Team have not solved the behind the back lane running issue, as they still feel stiff and unresponsive.
In contrast to his immense speed, Shadow can also perform Chaos Control, a move that stops time completely for five seconds. This is especially useful when encountering obstacles that are too fast to overcome at normal pace, or if you just want to be a badass and move through time like a shapeshifter. Shadow's base move set feels great to control, but what about the Doom abilities?
Shadow's Doom abilities serve as extensions of his base powers. Most are great, but some are a bit clunky. The first Doom ability you’re given are Doom Spears, a throwback to Shadow's classic Chaos Spear attack first seen in Sonic Adventure 2. It stuns enemies, allowing you to go in for the kill uninhibited. This ability uses the same aiming technique as Eggman and Tail's mech's use in Sonic Adventure 2, which essentially allows you to lock on to multiple targets while on the move so that you don't have to slow down in order to take down enemies. This ability feels smooth and responsive, as does Doom wing, an ability that let's you literally fly like Superman, allowing you to flat out skip entire portions of levels -- though, you don't access this until the late game so you can't really skip much. The only ability that felt obtuse was Doom surf, a power that places a stingray shaped Doom under Shadow's feet allowing him to traverse over water. To be fair though, it’s not the design of ability that’s clunky, rather, it’s the way the game asks you to use it in boss battles that feels clunky.
For example, in the battle against Metal Overlord, you're tasked with using Doom Surf to knock water debris back at him as a means to do damage. However, the same input that is used for directional dashing is tied to the input used for attacking targets. This results in a situation where you are constantly moving out of the way of a target you're trying to hit it. The way to get around this is to awkwardly time your attacks on the debris so that you can collide with them. Eventually this feels normal, but I feel the design of this mechanic wasn't given the care needed to make it feel intuitive. Regardless, despite this design hiccup, it doesn't define the overall quality of the Doom controls, as they generally feel intuitive, fun, and powerful!
Radical Highway Is Back!
Aside from serving as a deep dive into Shadow's story, Shadow Generations also serves as a celebration of his greatest levels. This game takes a creative approach to tying together the story and your purpose for playing these throwback missions. As you make your way through the likes of Final Chase, Rail Canyon, and even levels from games Shadow wasn't featured in like Chaos Island from Sonic Frontiers, you'll constantly encounter Black Doom. When he appears, the level will be manipulated into something visually dizzying and almost unrecognizable.
For example, when playing through Rail Canyon from Sonic Heroes, Doom appears and turns the level into a shattered and chaotic version of Radical Highway from Sonic Adventure 2. As Shadow fights his way through the constant and dizzying rearranging of time and space itself, Black Doom tries to use the confusion to lead Shadow to Doom, but he never gives in, making me marvel at his level of determination to fight against Doom's control. I interpreted Doom manipulating the time and space around Shadow as him trying to manipulate Shadow's mind, a perspective that provides a level of immersion into a Sonic/Shadow game I don't feel I've experienced since Sonic Adventure 2. Doom's reoccurring appearance in these levels, in addition to the world being thrown into a timeless void, provides the sort of connection I felt was lacking in Sonic Generations between the story premise and your purpose for playing through throwback missions -- resulting in an experience that feels cohesive and complete.
While playing Sonic Generations, I got to wondering if Sonic Team would carry the two act level design over to Shadow Generations in order to create some form of consistency between the two titles. There's no "classic Shadow" to revolve a first act around like in Sonic Generations, so, I thought maybe there would be two acts of each 3D level. However, as it had done numerous times up to that point, Shadow Generations subverted my expectations by not only including two acts, but making one of them 2D. For the uninitiated, up until now, Shadow has been a strictly 3D character, having never broken into the classic Sonic era of level design. With Shadow making his 2D debut, he has shattered the dividing line between classic and modern Sonic history. But even still, if this is a game meant to celebrate the history of the the Shadow franchise, shouldn't it do so by celebrating his 3D history?
This was when I realized that Sonic Team were taking this opportunity to not only celebrate the past, but also look to the future by doing something they had never done before. Initially, I was put off by these 2D levels as they didn't feel like they belonged in a traditional Shadow game...but this isn't a traditional Shadow game. These 2D levels feel great to play through, as all of the design characteristics that make the 3D levels feel intuitive have been carried over to their 2D counterparts. Playing 2D versions of every 3D Shadow level I had grown up playing was a mind boggling experience, and one that I won't soon forget. Is 2D Shadow the future of the franchise? Perhaps one day, we'll look back on this unique experience as the start of something revolutionary for Shadow.
The Hub World....Inspired by Sonic Frontiers?
Sonic Team have expanded on their semi-open hub world design from Sonic Generations with a much larger, 3D open hub world in Shadow Generations. Though it clearly takes inspiration from Sonic Generations with its purposely lifeless appearance, I can't help but feel that the open zone areas from Sonic Frontiers have also influenced this design. Like in Sonic Frontiers, the hub world in Shadow Generations is a vast space filled with what seems like haphazardly placed rails, springs, and platforms. However, the design of this layout, as haphazard as it may seem, creates a fun means to get from one action stage to the next. Part of what makes this hub world work is the fact that there is actual story exposition that happens within it, rather than it just appearing throughout the levels and their various cutscenes.
The Verdict
If you look to the great amount of care that went into handling Shadow's story, how it ties into the premise of celebrating his greatest levels, how he feels to play, and the emphasis put on creating a strong, cohesive experience, it's safe to say that Sonic Team have begun to place Shadow on equal footing with Sonic in regards to his importance as a character. I only wish this had been it's own standalone game, because Sonic Team certainly gave this title enough strength to stand on its own. However, with the cliffhanger that appears after the final boss battle, I feel confident that there will be more to the story, and that we may get to see Shadow in his own standalone title sooner rather than later. Shadow isn't just a character with a compelling narrative, he's a force to be reckoned with within the Sonic Universe with unique abilities that are begging to be tapped in to. For now though, Sonic Team put Shadow on the right path to take the spotlight, because to me, Shadow IS the future of the Sonic franchise. Whether that happens alongside with Sonic, or by himself, is yet to be seen. Either way, I can say without hesitation that for these reasons, Shadow generations is a GREAT game, and one I can recommend to those looking to learn about Shadow and celebrate his history.
M.O.B.G. SCORE:
8/10 = GREAT