Sonic Generations Review

Sonic the Hedgehog has endured a great deal over the years. Sonic had his glory days on the Sega Genesis in the early nineties, rivaling Nintendo’s Mario for mascot supremacy and being one of the most recognizable faces. In the last decade, the quality of Sonic games has declined, and many have considered most recent titles mediocre at best. Despite that, Sonic still holds a special place in the hearts of many today; he just hasn’t been put into situations that made the Sonic experience so compelling in recent titles, and many fans have begun to grow impatient. These fans finally have something to be excited about because Sonic: Generations is the definitive Sonic game we’ve all been waiting for.

Story

The story will jump out at you immediately in Generations, and in a good way. We join Sonic’s cast of characters at a birthday party where a brand new enemy to the series, The Time Eater, appears. The Time Eater disperses Sonic’s friends throughout different places in Sonic’s history. This brings us to the level select screen called ‘White Space.’ In ‘White Space,’ everything is drained of color, and each of Sonic’s friends is stuck in a different level comprised of re-imagined levels from previous Sonic games. The story is simple enough, giving the game the extra boost it needs, rather than speeding through levels like a typical game.

Two Sonics

A significant feature of Sonic Generations is that it features two separate Sonic characters, resulting in numerous gameplay differences and considerable variation. There are two different acts for each level, one for each Sonic. Act 1 is generally the more straightforward act to complete and is played by Classic Sonic, while Act 2 is a bit harder and is played by Modern Sonic. Classic Sonic levels are generally 2D, and he uses all the moves from the original Sonic games from the Sega Genesis, like the Spin Dash. In contrast, Modern Sonic levels are usually a mix between 2D and 3D, and he uses moves like his homing attack.

White Space

The level select screen creates an excellent atmosphere. Sonic Team made a world different from most games for Generations to take place in ‘White Space.’ At first glance, it’s just a white world with some levels and nothing more. As you start to complete different levels, the colour starts to return. You can interact with the other characters as the color returns and the world is revealed. The primary levels are just the tip of the iceberg, though.

As you progress through the levels, challenges open for each level, testing speed, ring collection, and defeating enemies in races. For the collector, there’s also a Collection Room with art, music, movies, and characters collected through various means throughout the game. The Skill Shop rounds out a complex world with great perks you can buy. These are obtained through points you earn to complete levels, which I’ll touch on more later. As you can see, ‘White Space’ creates a new experience never seen before in a Sonic game.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Sonic: Generations is simply stellar. I can’t remember when I had this much fun with a Sonic game. Not only do you have one great experience, you have two. Each Sonic brings completely different elements to the table. Playing as Classic Sonic brings back feelings of the Genesis days with a modern-day twist. The levels are fluid, with multiple paths to the goal and many obstacles and enemies. There isn’t a lot of variation to the Classic Sonic levels, yet they’re still incredibly fun to race through.

Playing as Modern Sonic is where this game comes into its own, though, with many different things to use and the homing attack taking out numerous enemies in seconds. The 3D levels make all the difference in fun, seamlessly switching back and forth from 2D with incredible speed. I flew through levels so fast that I couldn’t believe I was reacting to what was happening around me in time. Speaking of time, as with other Sonic games, time is of the essence in Generations. The quicker you are and the more rings you collect, the better you score at the end of a level. The scoring system is based on a school-like grading system.

Scoring/Boss Battles

An ‘S’ is the highest mark (practically perfect) you can get, going above an ‘A.’ Then there are the bosses, who take a different approach this time. Instead of having just one boss per set of levels, there are now two. There’s a boss that you race that you can beat at any time, and then there’s a boss that you have to collect keys from challenges to battle, and it is typically the most difficult boss to defeat. The race bosses bring back iconic characters from the past, such as Shadow and Silver, while the challenge key bosses are mostly re-imagined from previous games, except for the final boss. With each defeated boss, a chaos emerald is unlocked.

Final Thoughts

Sonic: Generations is the most complete Sonic game released recently. Sonic Team returned the fun and speed to a much-beloved series that had fallen on hard times. The Skill Shop brought something new, allowing players to buy things like bubble shields, 10 rings upon restarts, extra lives, a Genesis controller to play Sonic 1, and other valuable skills to complete levels. To put it quite bluntly, Sonic: Generations is beautiful and a joy to play. The barely existent online modes and lack of other playable characters and multiplayer options are a concern, yet not a huge problem. Sonic: Generations is a single-player game at heart, and it has far exceeded my expectations in every conceivable way.