Sonic X Shadow Generations
Released: October 22nd, 2024
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega
Systems: PC, PS5 (reviewed), Switch, Xbox Series X/S
You know which Sonic game was really quite good? Sonic Generations. It had some infuriatingly bad moments, because it was a Sonic game, but it was one of the most consistent of the series in terms of design, quality, and entertainment.
Most importantly, Classic Sonic did this little thing where he’d stomp around with pure squee if you got above an A rank at the end of a level. It was the single most adorable thing that has ever occurred in a Sega game, and it still is.
Generations was always a gorgeous game, a testament to the underrated loveliness of the Hedgehog Engine, so I’d been waiting patiently for an updated release with a fresh coat of paint. Such is the predictability of this medium that I knew it was coming. All I had to do was wait.
One thing I couldn’t have predicted was Sonic Generations returning with a Shadow-flavored expansion that contains some of the best level design the series has ever had. Despite some obligatory toss, I’ve been impressed by exactly how much Shadow steals the show.
Sadly, there are no guns, and I’m not being sarcastic. I very sincerely hoped Shadow would pull out the ol’ assault rifles again. Ah well.
Sonic X Shadow Generations consists of two separate entities sat next to each other. You have the original Sonic Generations in a remastered form, and a standalone game starring the hedgehog who has definitely asked more than one woman online why she’s blocked him even though he subs to her Patreon.
Shadow Generations is really good!
After Sonic Frontiers, it’s such a relief to see that Sonic Team still remembers what real level design looks like. I was mostly interested in this package for the remastered content, yet the new campaign held my attention with a clenched fist. Shadow gets his brood on across a selection of mostly great stages that manage to be stylish and polished in equal measure.
Sonic’s post-3D gameplay and presentation feature many combustible elements that don’t always play well together, but a lot of care’s been taken to ensure it all gels this time. There’s a sweet cohesion between the speedy movement, frenetic camera, layered environments, and mechanical gimmickry, allowing for a game that constantly switches perspectives and styles of play without confusing either the player or itself.
Shadow Generations features some of the tightest level design the series has ever had.
There’s very little wasted space between the tracks, platforms, and rails, all of which flow into each other smoothly with clear visual telegraphing. While the camera is constantly changing distances and angles, it does a grand job of keeping the player and the road ahead in clear focus. That’s all before some immensely rewarding speed sections with all the obligatory loopies n’ springies.
There are certainly some bumps in the road, a few wonky areas, and the series’ usual slippery physics remain hard to trust, but for the most part it’s a hell of a ride. Well, at least until both acts of the last stage, a pair of horribly laid out shitshows with messy platforming and horrendous visual communication.
Shadow’s terrific stages are embedded in a hub world that laughs at my dislike of wasted space. Unlike Generations’ scrolling screen of stage selections, this one is a sprawling void with clumps of platform sections scruffily strewn about. It‘s a boring hassle to navigate, not least for the fact that unlockable rewards for exploring scrape the bottom of the content barrel. Sorry, but concept art is never worth going out of one’s way to unlock.
There’s “fast travel” in the form of a proper stage selection menu, but it’s for levels you’ve already finished. Otherwise you’re wandering around a bland void that feels every bit like it’s there to inflate the game’s length via arbitrary barriers and pointless backtracking.
In order to fight a boss, you have to platform your way to the battle’s entrance, which causes a bunch of special challenge stages to appear, then platform to those, beat them all, and return to the boss entrance once you’re done. There is no reason for the process to be such a waste of time, at least no reason that would suggest good faith.
Similarly to the ones in Generations, challenge levels offer alternate versions of the main stages with extra gimmicks or new layouts. Some are about using Shadow’s time freezing ability to navigate rapid hazards, while others may task players with defeating a certain number of enemies or collecting stuff. Quite unlike Generations, most of them are fun. They’re also quite forgiving if you just want to blaze through them for the boss keys.
Much as I like them individually, I’m disappointed these stages are obligatory hurdles that serve no purpose other than to hamstring the player. Not only do I resent the way they’re presented, it breaks the pace of the campaign to have such a stuttered sequence of playing levels, watching cutscenes, backtracking a bunch, replaying tracts of stuff you’ve just played, and backtracking some more.
I’d have much rather had challenges as optional content with more worthwhile completion rewards instead of hurdles to story progress. If nothing else, the challenges themselves deserve better than to be used in such a vulgar fashion. Many of them are brilliant! I should be pleased by their presence, not annoyed at their imposition.
Speaking of things that do not please me with their presence… what the fuck is up with those boss fights?
While latter day Sonic games aren’t exactly known for great boss encounters, and Generations itself has some rubbish ones, Shadow’s handful of battles are downright embarrassing. Not only are they super messy, they’re so rudimentary they barely qualify as “gameplay.” They’re slow, they’re clumsy, they’re almost no threat. The first boss, Biolizard, is such a lifeless slice of mediocrity I almost wondered if Sonic Team had left a placeholder sequence instead of a real fight by mistake.
Shadow’s less edifying moments may be frequent, but they’re not detrimental enough to take too much away from what works. In addition to the usual platforming action, gaming’s angriest hedgehog acquires a suite of powers during his adventure, starting with time stoppage before adding electric projectiles, a stingray for surfing on water, and an alternate gloop form that turns him into gloop so he can gloop his way through environmental gloop.
None of these powers are particularly brilliant, but they’re not bad either, simply offering some ways to mix up the gameplay a little. That said, the stingray controls a little too awkwardly, and I really dislike the violent way it shunts left and right when you attack with it. Otherwise, everything falls under the category of stuff I wouldn’t miss but don’t mind.
Oh, and I reiterate that I really do mean it when I say I’m disappointed there aren’t guns.
Look, 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog was a bad videogame, but if Sonic 2006 could get its spotlight in Generations then Shadow’s literal solo game deserves a full dedication. The very point of this package is to celebrate games both old and new, so it’s downright glaring to not have Shadow spraying bullets and fucking up tanks. Despite how ludicrous the concept was, a Sonic-based shooter could absolutely be done well, and I’m gutted there’s no glimpse of it. One assumes Sega’s snub is for rating reasons, which only makes it sadder.
You know, I think what I really want is a proper remake of Shadow of the Hedgehog. In fact, yes, yes that is exactly what I want.
We ain’t getting a remake of Shadow today, but we do have the remaster of Sonic Generations to talk about and, yup, it’s good! For the most part, the game’s exactly as I remember it, with a mixed bag of levels ranging from brilliant to bullshit but mostly falling on the side of fun.
It’s probably my age showing that I’ve been getting screwed by muscle memory when swapping between Modern and Classic Sonics, but aside from trying to do homing attacks with the wrong hedgehog I’ve had a lovely time going back to reimagined versions of such hit zones as Chemical Plant, City Escape, and the all-time banger that is Rooftop Run.
Except for that bit at the end of Rooftop’s Classic stage with the clock and the mines, because that part can go to hell.
Stuff I hated from last time is still no better. Sky Sanctuary remains disappointingly sloppy, and even though the challenge levels aren’t quite as obligatory as Shadow’s ones, the fact you have to do any of them sucks because of how badly conceived most of the bloody things are. Those Rouge stages are a disaster.
As one would expect, the visuals have been updated so an already beautiful game looks moreso. Interestingly, the original game’s script was rewritten and freshly dubbed, which I personally don’t have much of an opinion about because I can’t remember a bloody thing about the story and wouldn’t care if I could.
Apparently some crueler dialog was altered, so I can only assume the game’s been called “woke” by angry men claiming to be lifelong Sonic fans despite never having played a Sonic game. Or indeed any game.
The old Casino Night DLC is included, but it’d be supremely screwed up if it wasn’t so I’m not going to hand out a trophy for it. Good little pinball table though. Additionally, they’ve added the Drop Dash ability that first emerged in Sonic Mania, allowing Sonic to hit the ground rolling - a very useful boon considering how often I’ll take damage in Classic stages because Sonic missed an enemy by a nanomargin and uncurled. Is it just me?
Other than that, they’ve added collectible Chao to find in each level. So uh… yeah. That is also something. I guess.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a great remaster of a great game with a great new game tacked on.
While the all-new Shadow portion is a breezy affair that attempts to look denser with cheap padding, it handily justifies itself with some of the very best 3D Sonic gameplay to date. The remastered side takes a very pretty game and pretties it further, adds a few new bells, and that’s all it really needed to do.
Even though I famously hated Frontiers and still do, I want it to get a direct sequel because I want a version of the game I can actually love. That said, playing Sonic Generations X Shadow has me hoping Sega never forgets that kind of game either, because I’ve been reminded that when 3D Sonic platforming is good, there’s nothing quite like it.
There’s nothing quite like it when it’s bad either, to be fair. What the fuck was that Biolizard fight all about?
8/10
