Firstly i would like to say i was extremely sceptical about Sonic Generations, so much so that i couldn't bring myself to buy it and instead had to rent it. This is mainly because of the way Sonic games have been declining in recent years, although Sonic was the very first game i played at home and one of the main reason i love games as much as i do, like most fans I've just lost my confidence in one of gamings biggest icons. Also this review is based purely on the console version of the game and not the handheld DS version which features different levels and bosses.
Sonic Generations doesn't have the best storyline of any game, but Sonic games have never been big on story. The main plot line is that Dr. Eggman has come into contact with a being know as the "Time Eater" after being defeated by Sonic in Sonic Colours. He then uses the Time Eater to go back in time and erase all the points in time where Sonic has defeated him, in doing so the present Sonic is sucked into white space while enjoying his 20th birthday party. Here he meets his younger self and together work towards saving their friends and time. This was fine by me, i didn't expect much of a story when trying to join the two ends of the franchise together and by Sonic standards it was a decent attempt. What confused me was when you find out Eggman has joined forces with Dr. Robotnik but there is no mention of why this name change occurred. For those who don't know, Dr. Eggman was the original Japanese name but when translated to English the name changed to Robotnik and since Sonic Adventure he has been known as Eggman in English. As far as I'm aware, this name change occurred because of Sonic calling him Eggman as a reference to his shape but i would have liked a scene where the past and present Eggman discussed this just to put my mind at ease.
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| Look familiar? |
When it comes to gameplay there are two very distinct styles, which is expected. As far as classic Sonic goes, i couldn't have asked for better. It plays and feels exactly as it used to but with an increase in speed making timings very important. I loved playing as classic Sonic and for the most part i would play every level possible as him, it was extremely fun to play as him and required just enough skill to make levels challenging but still being fun to run through. Present Sonic requires a bit more skill to get through levels and while fun to begin with the increasing amount of different abilities to learn detracted from the pleasure of just running through a level while dodging enemies and collecting rings and by the end i was running through these levels just to get them out the way. The main problem with present Sonic's levels is the same problem that most Sonic games have had had recently, the camera. While a 3D world for sonic to run around seems like a fun idea on paper it just never works when the camera is constantly zooming around trying to make the game seem fun. The only time I've seen a 3D world work for Sonic is in Adventure 1 and 2 and since the Sonic remake in 2006 they've had no success. Because of these camera problems it would sometimes mean replaying levels as present Sonic because of ledges that couldn't be seen or enemies being ran into because the camera was revolving round Sonic in a way that obscured the enemy completely. When enemies were visible, however, it was obvious that a lot of care had went into them. Playing through some of the earlier levels you will see many enemies that you will remember and they behave exactly as they used to and even when playing as present Sonic they still behave roughly how you would expect in a 3D world. Bosses on the other hand seemed a bit slapped together, almost as if they finished the game then thought "It's a bit short, let's throw some bosses in.". Although i do like the idea that you can choose to fight the bosses as either classic or present Sonic, it still didn't save them from being very mediocre and dull boss fights.
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| The modern takes on classic levels are beautiful. |
By far the best part of Sonic Generations is the levels. Throughout the first half of the game there was a massive smile on my face as i ran through all the classic levels from every Sonic game. If there was one thing to improve her it would be to have more of them. One level from every game worked really well but i would have liked to have seen maybe two or three levels from each game, especially from the original Sega console games. I still loved the levels they did have in the game though, seeing beautifully re-made HD versions of iconic levels that are still fresh in mind was brilliant and was a massive part of my enjoyment of the game. The only problem i had with the levels were the final few, but that is probably because i haven't played the last few Sonic games so levels from Sonic (2006), Unleashed and Colors didn't have as much appeal to me. Some of the most memorable parts of Sonic Generations for me was running through some of the classic levels and watching as the events of that level in the classic game played out. For example, while playing in Sky Sanctuary (Sonic and Knuckles) you get to see the Death Egg taking off before finishing the level in a very similar way as was done in the original level while using various environmental items to help you finish like the transporter orbs, bouncing clouds and the moving poles that all featured in the original game.
As much as i think that the levels are the best part of Sonic Generations, i must say that i could happily listen to the music for quite a while without getting bored. As is to be expected, for each level the corresponding music has been remade as well and to a very high standard. For every classic style level (i.e. Sonic 1 up to Sonic and Knuckles) you will get a modern take on the 8-bit music and while playing these levels as present Sonic you will get a modernised version of the music using guitars etc. For later levels that feature already fairly modern music you will get a re-mixed version of that levels music while playing as classic Sonic and as present Sonic you will get to hear a faster paced version of the music that featured on that level.
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| Look how he's grown over the years, awwwwwwwww. |
It's a shame that Sonic games have been declining recently because i really would love to see Sonic do well again. It's worked time and time again for Mario, why not Sonic?
Sonic Generations gets:
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| 5 Chaos Emeralds (out of 7) |
X-Box: IkasuKiller
PS3: Ikasu-Killer
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