Sonic Generations Review

Posted By Yousif A. about 1 year, 6 months ago

Sonic Generations Review

Sonic Generations Collectors Edition Feature, 9.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

Since his transfer to 3D, Sonic has not been the greatest. Sonic in 3D sucking is as well known in gaming as Hideo Kojima’s love of lengthy cutscenes. However, after Sonic Colors came out last year, there seemed to be a glimmer of light at the end of the three dimensional tunnel. Somehow Sonic team had found a way to make Sonic entertaining again. Then Sonic 4 happened. It seemed like Sonic Team may have just got lucky and my once beloved childhood hero was back on the road to a slow and painful death.

Upon Sonic’s 20th anniversary (which makes me feel really old), we who keep the faith, are treated to Sonic Generations, a blend of classic 2D and modern 3D sonic, travelling through re-imagined levels from the blue blurs history. Really, it’s make or break time for Sonic. Does this game speed its way up the scoring system or does it fail to get off the starting blocks?

The story, thankfully, is quite simple. A strange creature has captured Sonic’s friends, sending them to points through time and Sonic must complete each time zone in order to free his friends and eventually catch up to the villainous being behind it all. It turns out Sonic’s past self has been brought to this nexus of time too (the HUB for level selection). In gameplay terms, all this means is Act 1 is a 2D Sonic level and Act 2 is 3D Sonic.

Due to the design and music, this is the best level in the game

The game is split into 3 sections, each containing 3 levels and 1 boss. These sections could be seen as eras from Sonic’s past. Roughly these era’s translate to Mega Drive (Genesis), Dreamcast/PS2 and finally current generation. With the exception of ‘Sonic 3′, ‘The Secret Rings’ and ‘The Black Knight’, every console release has at least an appearance in this game. Sonic CD even sneaks in as a boss fight.

Each level (or zone for you old school fans) has been masterfully re-envisaged. Elements of the original version remain, but ultimately they are completely new levels. Astoundingly, Sonic Team have managed to keep the feel of each level, faithfully redesigning the level while keeping the aesthetic of the original in mind, even when modern Sonic visits a level that was originally 2D and vice versa. Modern or Classic, nearly every level is beautifully crafted in design, with only a few of the final Acts sticking out of an otherwise extremely enjoyable ride. Despite these few hiccups, every zone visually, shines out and makes this the best looking Sonic game ever released.

Each act has the additional challenge of collecting 5 red rings too. These can be in some really devious places and only by playing the level, seeing them as you shoot past and then replaying the level with the express goal of getting that ring are you likely to get them all. These red rings unlock bonus material in the HUB, ranging from concept art to music from the entire series, which can be played in any level you like from then on.

Sometimes Sonic Generations can be beautiful

The question you should ask yourself before changing the music is, why? Sonic Generations has a brilliant soundtrack, comprising of remixes based on the original audio for the level. While classic Sonic gets music reminiscent of a high quality Genesis track on every level, Modern Sonic really gets the best treatment here, with the modern takes on Greenhill Zone and Chemical Plant standing out as some of the best zone music in any Sonic game. There are some duds in the soundtrack if I’m honest. Sky Sanctuary was one of my favorite tracks in Sonic & Knuckles, but here it just didn’t reach the same level of quality for me. The boss music is hit and miss too, which doesn’t help their cause.

As I previously mentioned, boss fights in the game are a real let down. Much like the levels, these are re-imagined version of previous bosses from the series, however every one of them has received a major overhaul and actually plays completely differently from the original versions. Despite these being either incredibly difficult originally (Death Egg robot) or a major dramatic piece (Perfect Chaos), all of them fail to inspire desperation or excitement. In fact, while the game remains relatively glitch free, the bosses tend to have a couple of frustrating control issues. Even the final showdown fails to deliver. I finished the final showdown in the game by holding X on the controller and doing nothing else the entire time.

Ironically, the game has 3 Sonic villains hidden throughout the main HUB, who you can challenge in order to win a Chaos Emerald. Now these, while not considered boss fights, are absolutely brilliant, delivering exactly what you wanted from the main boss fights. Metal Sonic, Shadow and Silver all appear to take on the fastest thing on earth. Once again, these are redesigns of original fights, but this time ramped up to 11. Nothing quite says awesome like smashing into Metal Sonic and watching him drag along the floor, shooting sparks everywhere as you run past him.

Somehow Sonic Team made a section with Silver good.

Of course all of this could only be enjoyable if Sonic handled correctly. You’ll be glad to know classic Sonic has not been touched and unlike Sonic 4 handles exactly like the Genesis era. The real make or break is modern Sonic. Weep a tear of joy Sonic fans, he handles like a dream. The problem with the original 3D games was the slightest movement would send you in that direction at full speed, but in generations this has been tackled. Now when wanting to head left (for example), Sonic will now lean in that direction, meaning smoother directional control. For faster movements, a tap of the shoulder button will have Sonic make a quick step in that direction, while holding a trigger will have him skid round corners (think Mario Kart drifting). Honestly, I think Sonic Team have finally got it. Not only do both Sonic’s handle exactly how they should, but the sense of speed in the game is terrific. Never has Sega’s mascot felt so good and it only took them 12 years.

If you feel the need, you can buy more skills for Sonic from a section in the HUB, modifying both Modern and Classic Sonic. These can range from putting the flash jump from Sonic 3 on classic Sonic to giving modern Sonic infinite boost, but removing his ability to collect rings. To unlock these you’ll have to complete challenges.

Don’t panic people, these are nearly completely avoidable events if you just want to complete the game. To unlock the boss for an era, you must complete one challenge from each level in the era. Those who just want to breeze through though can find challenges that can be completed in 1-2 minutes each and get on with the main event.

Do you remember chainsaws in this bit? No, me neither, but there are now

I’m going to be honest, half of these challenges are terrible and reflect the level of quality that most people think Sonic games have achieved in the last 10 years. Several of them contain glitches or events that simply don’t work with the control scheme. At the same time, there are some genuinely great challenges. The challenge to unlock the aforementioned infinite boost had you completing a short level using the ability with traps everywhere. It was as a challenge that not only was achievable, but was difficult due to reasonable factors and not the limitations of the control method.

These challenges, bulk out the game quite a bit if you play all of them, which is probably a good things as the main campaign (as it were) can be completed within a few hours. While incredibly enjoyable, the fact that many players will now be quite adept at controlling Sonic, the game poses little challenge with the now implemented reasonable controls. For that reason, unless you’re a Sonic fan or have more money than someone like myself, I would hold off a couple of month for a price drop or simply rent the game.

Sonic Generations is a great effort from Sonic Team, showing that when they focus on Sonic himself and leave gimmicks and other concerns behind, they can really create something wonderful. There is the occasional hitch along the way, which is unfortunate considering the game is so short, but it doesn’t ruin the experience. Combining a straight out Sonic game with refined controls, a great soundtrack and a blast from the past really worked out well. I’m expecting a plethora of DLC for the title to be released over the next year, as the design of the game really lends itself to this idea, and perhaps adding Tails and Knuckles as optional characters through DLC could really allow them to focus on getting these characters right in 3D as well.

This game was purchased on Xbox 360 by the reviewer from his local GAME store. The title was played for roughly 8 hours and was completed. Not all of the challenge courses were attempted, but the majority were.

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