Sonic Generations

In 1991, a little blue hedgehog named Sonic burst onto the video game scene and gave Sega a legitimate chance of holding its own against the mammoth that was (and still is) Nintendo. 20 years later, Sega has been rolling out the Sonic media, culminating in the new game Sonic Generations. Does this Sonic game live up to the high quality of the original titles or does it stumble and fall like many of the Sonic games have in the past decade or so? Let’s speed dash our way into Sonic Generations to find out. 

Story                                                                                          

Let’s begin with the one thing that the old Genesis games had, but you needed to read the manual to get: a story. Sonic Generations weaves together two different versions of Sonic (the classic 2D one and the new 3D one) in an adventure that spans time and space. A mysterious force sends Sonic’s friends hurdling through time and it is up to Sonic to get them back and stop this new threat.

The classic Sonic and the new Sonic eventually team up to take down the evil together and the story is very simple from there. Both Sonics will take to a level and clear the zone to bring the “color” back to the world. Once that is done, the world is restored and one of Sonic’s buddies is released from limbo.

There is a decent twist at the end of the game, but not one that is too terribly crazy. It is a Sonic game, so it is meant for slightly younger audiences. So, if you are expecting Heavy Rain then you really don’t know much about Sonic do you? The story gives ample reason as to why things are happening and it provides enough focus to string together otherwise random levels.

Gameplay

Sonic Generations does a fantastic job of balancing 2D and 3D gaming to give gamers a full package. In the first act of each level, the classic Sonic will take to a 2D version of the level with some tweaks; certain parts will move into the 3D realm but you don’t control Sonic during these parts, so the 2D sidescrolling remains the same. Then in the second act, the new Sonic will attack a 3D version of the same level with all the new mechanics that the current Sonic games have. These 3D missions will also feature some old-school 2D parts so there is a ton of variety.

The game does a pretty good job of warning the player of an impending drop, especially in 3D mode, but sometimes there are places where Sonic will get caught up in a fast run and then fly off an edge. This isn’t very common, but it feels really cheap and you waste a life easily.  It is also slightly ambiguous at times as to where you should be going but for the most part the game is clear on where to go.

Levels maintain their additional power-ups and things like Spikes and Rockets lead to an all new gameplay experience, which is fun. Playing City Escape and flying off jumps with the skateboard is one of the more memorable power-up experiences in the game.

There are three areas in the game, each consisting of three levels, challenges and a boss battle area. Then a final level, the final boss battle, is added in at the end. So the game has a decent amount of levels, though it could have used maybe one more area of three.

After completing both acts in all three levels, challenge gates appear and allow Sonic to go back into the world with a new objective. Many of the challenges add in an extra character to help Sonic and they add a lot of replay value to the game. There are five challenges for each level but the challenge is different when you switch Sonics, so there are really 10 per level.

Sonic will need to complete one of the challenges to unlock the “Boss Gate Key” for the level. Once a single challenge is completed in all three levels of the area, Sonic can use the keys to unlock the boss battle. The keys need to be physically collected however, so don’t forget to pick them up after beating a challenge!

The boss battles are interesting affairs as some are hard to get a hold of at first and some are very easy to grasp the concept. But each battle is against a classic enemy and is much more in-depth than the old-school, 2D Sonic bosses that I am used to playing (not having played a Sonic game in its entirety since Sonic & Knuckles).

And, to top this all off, there is also a special group of “rival battles” where Sonic will go to a special stage and go one on one against rivals like Shadow and Metal Sonic. It can take some time to understand exactly what you are supposed to do to beat these enemies but once you figure it out, these levels are probably the most fun of the whole game. Once you beat them, you are given a Chaos Emerald.

One interesting thing to note is that the game allows you to play the levels and acts in any order you choose (as long as you have unlocked the area) so players can play the “last” part of a section first if they want. This also means that the menu screen consists of some platforming jumps to get from one challenge gate to the next. Hint: You can jump on the names of the levels.

Once you are done with the main quest of the game, you can re-enter the menu world and finish up any challenges, replay levels or check out the in-game extras (more on that later). I love it when games do this and hate it when they don’t (I’m still mad at you for that Fallout: New Vegas!).

All in all, the gameplay is quite a bit of fun and will keep you coming back for more, whether you are a classic Sonic fan or a new Sonic fan. Both are well represented in the game and you will have a blast playing through the levels as both Sonics. The challenges and rival battles are also fantastic so the gameplay is thoroughly enjoyable. 

Presentation

The levels are all famous levels from Sonic’s past including the Chemical Plant, Crisis City and more. All of these levels are fantastically rendered and re-imagined in both the 2D and the 3D worlds. The only real issue with the graphics is that levels with lots of grass (Green Hill and Planet Wisp come to mind) are a bit nauseating to look at from the 2D perspective. The levels are still nice, but it takes a little bit of getting used to before you stop feeling queasy.

The selection of levels is really nice and really shows that the Sonic Team knows which levels worked and which didn’t work over the years. It would have been nice to see some other classic levels from the older games that I played but the newer levels that I had never played before were all fun so it balanced out. Old school fan or new school fan, you will definitely find a level that is great for you.

The graphics themselves are fantastic in the game; the environments, the characters, the colors and everything else blends together to form a fantastic package of eye candy. This is the way that Sonic should look and it’s good to see that the Sonic Team was finally able to bring out the great art style of Sonic’s classic adventures while adding in a new-school twist.

Some environments in cut scenes are a tad blurry; this isn’t very common but it is worth noting. The visuals in the game are almost perfect and lend a lot of credence to the fantastic design of the classic Sonic levels. Some levels might be upwards of 20 years old, but they are still fantastically designed.

The sound in the game is phenomenal and everything from the sound of Sonic touching down on the ground to the sound of 2D Sonic’s jumping in the air is perfectly packaged in this game. The music is the traditional music from the classic levels and the tracks still sound amazing (listen to the song in City Escape and tell me that isn’t just awesome).

The sounds of classic Sonic revving up and 3D Sonic bursting have some great bass to them and everything is as it should be. Even the classic menu screen music from the first game makes an appearance and that is something that had me smiling from the moment I popped in the disc.

Finally, there is an awesome video slideshow that plays alongside the credits at the end of the game that shows the classic levels you just played through from their original Sonic games. The small video gives the game’s logo and it just makes people like me even more nostalgic. There is a cut scene at the end of the credits and if you want to see that quickly, you can fast forward through the credits. I’ve never seen that before in a game and it is awesome.

Extra Content

In addition to the regular gameplay and the challenges, the game also features a ton of additional content like artwork, music and character bios. These can be collected in the form of red circles in the levels and can be accessed in the extras area on the far left of the “menu world.” The music can be switched up and cut scenes can be re-watched there. There are also character bios for Sonic’s friends and enemies. It was nice to be able to read a small description of these characters, seeing as most of them came into the Sonic series after I stopped playing the games.

There is also an upgrade system that allows Sonic to purchase and equip special abilities like a bigger boost bar or faster stopping power. These upgrades can make the game a lot easier and are earned through gameplay so it all seems very fair and appropriate (you don’t feel like you are cheating when you turn on special abilities).

The skill shop also features a special item in the form of a Sega Genesis controller. This controller can be purchased and used to play the original Sonic: The Hedgehog game on the Sega Genesis. To play the classic game you will need to find the Genesis console in the challenge gate area around each level on the menu world. It is a nice addition to the game for someone who doesn’t have their Genesis still in their bedroom (I don’t fall into that category by the way).

Final Thoughts

Sonic has gone through quite a genesis (pun totally intended) in the past 20 years and most of that has been bad. But Sonic Generations undoes all of the problems of the previous Sonic games and throws two different Sonic experiences together to form an incredibly fun and satisfying experience.

The characters, levels and charm from Sonic’s past come together, are re-invented and are put out on the table for fans to enjoy and there is very little wrong with this package. Sure some levels might be a bit nauseating in parts and there are some cheap traps in the gameplay but these issues are few and far between. If you are a classic Sonic fan, you will get nostalgia; if you are a new Sonic fan, you will get great 3D gameplay and if you are just a fan of good platforming games, you will get just that.

Sonic Generations is one of the best games of the year because it gives us a great re-interpretation of the sidescrolling and platforming genres—two genres that haven’t had much attention due to the massive trend toward shooter games and RPGs in today’s gaming world. Check out this title, you won’t regret it.

Written By: James Pungello

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