Sonic hasn’t had the best of the luck these past few years. From the embarrassingly broken Sonic 06, to the downright ridiculous Black Knight, the blue hedgehog had certainly lost the momentum gained from his Mega Drive days. But with the Colours and Sonic 4 releases in 2010, it certainly appeared that Sega and Sonic Team were (finally) listening to the complaints and criticisms from fans and critics. Now, with Sonic Generations, it’s clear that Sonic is well out of his long slump and back on top form.
What is Sonic Generations?
While celebrating his birthday, Sonic and his friends are attacked by a mysterious monster that throws them all through time and space. Waking up in a white abyss, Sonic comes across something he didn’t expect his younger (and better) self from the 16-bit era games. Both Modern and Classic Sonics must travel through their past adventures to figure out how to stop time from falling apart.
Sonic Generations combines the gameplay from the original games, right up to the recent releases. Modern Sonic plays from a 3D perspective, but occasionally changes to 2D side scrolling, while Classic Sonic plays only in 2D. Playing as Classic Sonic is very nostalgic, playing exactly like the Mega Drive games - in other words, what Sonic is best at. The Modern Sonic levels are very fun, very fast, and finally prove that Sonic can be done properly in 3D. However, when compared to his Classic counterpart, it is obvious that Sonic is best at what he does when restricted to a 2D field.
Classic Meets Modern
What’s both great and sad about Generations is how beautiful it looks. Every single level (three from each era - Classic, Dreamcast and Modern) all look absolutely stunning, especially seeing Green Hill Zone brought up to date in stunning HD. The sad part, though, is that unless players like to go through each zone slowly - which is unlikely - the gorgeous scenery and environments will simply go past in a blur.
Aside from the main levels, challenge acts open throughout the progression of the game. There are 10 on each level - five for both Sonic’s. These vary from doppelganger races to curiously strange team work challenges with characters from the series. They also range from very fun and challenging to very dull and frustrating. One features Vector from the Chaotix Team, and it’s by far the worst part of the entire game.
Generations also has something for the high scorers out there. Each level (including the challenge acts and bosses) all give out grades at the end, depending on how well players do. It’s especially gratifying to get the elusive S rank - which requires a perfect score and no deaths within the level. Getting the high scores is surprisingly addictive, giving the game more replay value than expected. Getting 100% also unlocks a wealth of Sonic’s history; the best unlockables being art work from over the years. It’s amazing to see just how far along Sonic has come along since 1991.
Conclusion
While it's certainly refreshing to see Sonic back on form, Generations is still lacking in some departments. Some of the bosses are certainly a let down, especially since the majority of them are based on Modern Sonic. To make this truly nostalgic, more levels from the Classic era would have been better, as they were in the days when Sonic was the top of his game. Gameplay wise, Modern Sonic's controls feel slightly clunky, especially while going slow. Which is a shame, because when he moves fast - he's very fast.
The most important thing about Generations is that the only playable character is Sonic, and no-one else. No stupid gimmicks, no pointless characters - just pure Sonic. At long last, the developers have finally realised what is needed to make Sonic great again - or really, what isn’t needed. Hopefully Sega decide to bring back Classic Sonic, as he’s the better of the two. That aside, Generations is a fantastic return to form for the blue mascot, and hopefully this run will continue into Sonic 4: Episode II.
Mark Timlin - I've just finished my Journalism degree at Sunderland University, which started in September 2006. During my degree, I have: Taken ...
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