Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: SEGA
Genre: Platformer, Action-Adventure
ESRB Rating: E
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, PC

With the celebration of Sonic the Hedgehog’s 20^th birthday comes the creation of a new game and a new adventure. Sonic Generations, was released to honor this special occasion and I’m happy to say it’s the most fun I’ve had with my favorite, blue hedgehog in a long time.

Simple yet fun

The game brings back that simplicity in video games we all used to know. With only the move, jump, and boost button at our finger-tips, and an objective that’s only ever straight or to the right, you’ll be able to grab the controller and immediately recognize what you need to do. Of course, the game is extremely fast-paced, and this is one of the few games you can kind of actually “feel” the speed as you burst through the levels. You have to time your jumps and crouches and hit enemies properly to access secret areas that will make your trek through the levels a lot quicker. It’s basically a race against yourself and your own reflexes.

Despite how easy the controls themselves are, the game itself is rather complex and can be pretty difficult at times. You can run through the whole game the longest and easiest way possible if you want but if you want to be faster and more dynamic, timing your moves is the way to go, and because you’re moving so fast, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Two Sides to the game with two sides to a character

Even though all of Sonic’s friends do make an appearance in the game, they are not playable like in previous titles. So to make up for it, you get to play as two different Sonics, modern and past Sonic. But what exactly does that do? Well, you get to run all the levels the game has to offer in two completely different perspectives, which is a really neat concept.

As modern Sonic, you get to run the levels much like how we’ve seen him recently in game like Sonic Adventure and Sonic the Hedgehog. Modern Sonic in this game is pretty dynamic. He’s extremely fast, faster than we’ve seen him before. The memorable homing attack will be making a return and a couple of other skills such as the ring dash will be made available as you progress through the game.

Unfortunately, Modern Sonic doesn’t have the ability to charge into a blue ball, but he has a nifty new technique called “boost” which literally is what it is, a boost. Of course, we’re talking about Sonic here, so his boost sends you soaring through the levels, absolutely crushing everything in your path.

When you choose to play as past Sonic, the levels change to fit the moment. The stages are turned into side-scrolling platformers much like how they were in the days of the Sega Genesis. Past Sonic has access to the ball-charge attack to make him go faster and only the ability to jump onto foes to reach higher, inaccessible areas. Playing as past Sonic brought back memories and being able to run modern levels in this perspective was really awesome.

High-Speed Prettiness

Even though the game is a platformer, the design of the levels is glorious in every way. The game has stunning graphics and visuals that it doesn’t even need because you zip straight through them at breakneck speeds, which is a sad waste. Some of you might just stop for a second to look at the artwork done in the game because it’s just that pretty.

Though I haven’t got to try it out for myself, the game has the option for 3D in not only the 3DS, but the console versions as well. The way the game was designed, it must look amazing in 3D.

I can also say that I haven’t come across any noticeable bugs. The game is as fluid as ever and anything done wrong is primarily user-error and bad timing as you are running the levels at incredible speeds. It’s fine because even if you mess up, there’s a different path for you to take so you don’t get stuck in a level stranded, unable to do the next thing.

All about gameplay, less about story

The game’s story isn’t all too impressive but it fits the moment. The game starts at Sonic’s birthday party, where a giant monster sucks up all his friends and apparently sends them back in time and being the hero you are, well you got to go save them. That’s all you need to know really. The rest is more amusement for the younger crowd, which is fine, as the dialogue is cheesy-funny especially when the modern characters talk to past Sonic who doesn’t talk at all.

The way the game is set-up sort of combines old and past Sonic games. There’s a story there, it exists, and it helps set-up how everything came to be and all much like the modern games, but at the same time, it’s still a stage to stage instanced type of game like the older ones. Everything is set-up quite nicely. You’re allowed to roam a sort of limbo-like area where everything is all white and choose whatever stage you want to play, as new or old Sonic. After you beat a stage, you get a cut-scene and continue the story. So yea, there’s a story, but the game focuses more on gameplay, which could be the reason for the game’s success.

Besides the main stages that revolve around the plot of the game, once you beat a stage as both past and new Sonic, you get access to a whole set of challenges and some of them can be pretty fun. I’ve enjoyed my time beating Tails and his airplane at a race in Green Hill or helping Knuckles hunt for treasure. Aside from neat little extras like that, there’s the classic “race against the clock” and beating the stage before it all falls apart behind you so there are plenty of things to help test your skills.

My favorite extra stages were the “Rival Battles”. You’re able to go against some of Sonic’s most infamous rivals such as Shadow the Hedgehog and Metal Sonic to try and win their chaos emerald. The stages you fight them in also bring back old memories like the Space Colony Ark when you’re going against Shadow.

As you complete challenges and levels, you unlock additional artworks to browse in the gallery and music from all the previous games such as hits by Crush40. I don’t have very much, but I was able to see concept art for characters in Sonic Heroes and early designs for Shadow in Shadow the Hedgehog.

The Rundown

Well, I can’t say it’s the greatest game of all time but the game itself is fun and sometimes, that’s all you need right? After a slew of disappointing releases from recent years, Sonic Generations was a glimmer of hope for my favorite blue mascot.

If you pay attention to Sonic and his games, this game will be very enjoyable. I grew up with Sonic so I know quite a bit and Generations makes references to pretty much all of his past games. From the infamous “Green Hill” zone to “City Escape” to “Speed Highway” from Sonic Adventure 2, this game takes everything from the past and re-vamps it to a whole new level. It’s interesting how they’ve blended everything into one. It’s a blast from the past and it’s a great way to celebrate Sonic’s anniversary.

tl;dr - Too long; Didn't read

With a slew of disappointing Sonic releases, Generations far exceeded expectations. It’s easy and simple for any player to just jump in and play. The game combines the best of Sonic’s history with old levels and characters made new and with two different playable perspectives, it’s overall just fun to play.

Aesthetics: 4.0

GamePlay: 4.0

Story: 3.0

Quality: 4.0

Overall Score: 4.0