Sonic Generations....a Sega/Sonic Team game

It's hard to imagine that 20 years ago, Sonic the Hedgehog was the new guy on the scene. The original games on the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis for our cousins on the other side of the Atlantic) were massive successes and still hold up today in terms of playability and challenge.

It's fair to say though that in recent years Sonic has not had the best of times. It seems ever since Sega pulled out of the console market Sonic hasn't been able to catch a break and his most successful appearances have probably been teaming up with one-time rival Mario in the Olympic titles from Nintendo. His solo outings getting a mixed reception at best.

So here we are now 20 years down the line and after several false dawns, could Sega have finally nailed a new Sonic title?



The answer is a not-entirely-resounding yes...kind of.

Sonic Generations is basically a 'greatest hits' collection of the last two decades. You name a Sonic game, chances are it's represented here.

The 'plot' finds modern Sonic celebrating his birthday when a monster appears and sucks Sonic and his friends through holes in time. While searching for his friends Sonic and Tails run into younger versions of themselves. With time being destroyed, both Sonics use their speed to restore time by racing through various points of their history.

Each of the zone has two acts, one for classic Sonic played entirely in 2D and one for modern Sonic which mixes 2D and 3D gameplay.

The 'classic' levels are an absolute blast to play and make you wish the entire game was done the same way. This is what Sonic 4 should have felt like. In these sections the game plays exactly like it did back in the day with a few modern graphical twists. Run from A to B collecting rings and avoiding spikes and other perils.

The 'modern' levels while fun, are less successful. While there are moments of greatness when tearing through Green Hill Zone and the like at top speed and when it reverts back to 2D there are some issues. One of the biggest problems with 3D platformers is that sometimes it is very hard to judge a jump and that is unfortunately the case here. Sometimes you don't even see a gap until you're plummeting to your doom. The controls are also a little harsh with the window to perform a move being so miniscule on occasion that you'll spend a lot of time unintentionally diving in to oblivion. You'll be getting frustrated a lot more than you'd like to.



The game looks and sounds stunning at times. Although there is sometimes a lot of pixelation during some cutscenes, the actual levels themselves are extremely bright and colourful or dark and dingy when they need to be. Also the various versions of Sonic theme music from over the years is great.

The games length may be another cause for concern. Playing through the various zones, boss fights and challenges to finish the game could probably be done with a decent amount of skill in about 4-5 hours. However there is a lot to do. Gaining an S rank on all stages will take some time, as will completing all the challenges with both versions of Sonic. There are also red rings hidden accross all the main zones which you'll not get on your first run through. Completing the game to 100% will take some doing.

There is no multiplayer aspect to this game, but there are two online modes. Ranking attack requires you to complete a level as quick as possible, while 30 second trial sees you try to get as far as you can through a level before the time runs out. If you have friends with this game look out for their times represented by signposts throughout the levels. Both modes have leaderboards which will no doubt see you having 'just one more go' to try and move above your mates.

Achievement wise, the majority of the gamerscore will come from simply playing through the game, but there are a lot of achievements for doing things like completing challenges fulfilling certain requirements in different stages and gaining S ranks. At the time of writing there are also a couple of achievements which are apparently glitched for some players.

Overall, Sonic Generations is almost great. If the game had concentrated solely on the 2D levels and expanded on that, then it would have been fantastic. Unfortunately the problems with the 3D sections hold the game back. That said, the game still has a lot going for it. There is a lot to do once you've finished the story and the potential competitiveness of the leaderboards will keep you coming back for more.

7.5/10

Nice review mate, I was thinking of picking this up but might just rent it instead now, I wasn't too interested in the 3D sections and after hearing about the various problems I can see myself not enjoying those sections too much. I really wish we could get another good 2D sonic game.

Good work Sir!

Not the classic I was hoping for. Nice review though mate

good review mate i may look at this for my next rental looks pretty good to me. Love playing the sonic games always have

Good review. I'll be getting this at Xmas as myboy is a huge SOnic fan.