My hands on with Sonic X Shadow Generations was short and sweet. Four levels, two for Sonic and two for Shadow. I arrived at Sega’s Sydney offices, they took me about 30 minutes to blaze through, and I was on my way back to the office.
There wasn’t really anything in those 30 minutes that I didn’t expect to see, but I certainly didn’t leave unhappy, either. The Sonic levels were both Green Hill Zone, the legendary opening stage of the original game. The first act replicates classic 16-bit era Sonic, complete with sound effects and era-appropriate music.
The second act transports you into a 3D level reminiscent of the Sonic Adventure games. Because Sonic Generations originally came out in 2011, 13 years ago , I can show you what both of these levels look and play like. Here’s the Classic version.
And the Modern version. Imagine those videos running in 4K at a high frame rate, and that’s what I played. For some of you reading this, that news will lock this deal right up.
Copy sold, see you later. For those who never played it, these videos are instructive in that you can see what Sonic Generations was trying to do. It launched in an era where 3D Sonic had been the series’ dominant format for years.
Attempts to revive the 2D side had had mixed success — the Bioware RPG (yes, Bioware RPG ) Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood remains a high watermark and feels like a beautiful fever dream to this day. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 , on the other hand, is quite rightly fo.
