When Sonic Generations released back in 2011, as a fan of the series, it was a truly wonderful time. Sonic Team had seemed to find a good formula with its 2D/3D blend of gameplay whilst Generations would dip into the series history giving classic zones like Chemical Plant and City Escape a modernised makeover. With the hedgehog’s adventures now taking an interesting new open world direction with Frontiers, getting the chance to revisit Generations in 2025 has been a nostalgic and exciting time. Better still is the newly added content starring everybody’s favourite moody anti-hero Shadow.
Let’s start with the familiar Sonic Generations, an adventure that sees the blue hedgehog racing through nine zones from his previous outings and taking on a few familiar bosses to. For fans, it was and still remains a truly awesome trip through time, seeing the likes of Sky Sanctuary turned from its 2D sprite-based skyscape into a three-dimensional wonder taking you even deeper into parts you never could before.
The structure of the game sees players taking on two versions of each zone, the first fully 2D, playing as classic Sonic while the second a more modern 2D/3D hybrid as the lankier modern Sonic. Every zone is a thrill to race through – even with the sometimes clunky and finicky controls and movements of Sonic fighting you – and bosses too provide fresh spins on familiar battles. Players will also need to complete shorter challenges at points, these taking on the form of collecting rings, taking out enemies or utilising a Sonic pal to get to the end goal. While most are optional, they feel like a way to pad out what is a pretty short adventure overall and not necessarily a fun way at that.
Sonic Generations still runs and looks great despite being over ten years old. The colours and detail really pop off the screen and slowdown is kept to a minimum. In terms of new content, there’s very little to write home about beside the additional of three hidden Chao in each Zone, something I tended to ignore. Look, the game already has you searching for five collectable rings so why would I want to look for more stuff?
While Sonic Generations may offer fans something that they’re warm and already acquainted with to race through, Shadow Generations is quite the opposite, an all-new adventure that features plenty of fresh and exciting ideas. Taking place simultaneously with Sonic’s story, Shadow winds up finding himself pulled into the White Space (much like Sonic), this version taking the edgy hedgehog back through stages from his past though. Each zone – much like the original Generations – is split between two act with the first offering 2D/3D gameplay and the latter focused purely on side scrolling. Players will even tackle challenges too. So far, this all sounds very similar right? Well, this is where things take an interesting turn. The White Space takes inspiration from Sonic Frontiers, an expansive 3D environment packed with collectables to discover and gradually unlocked as the story progresses. It acts as a neat playground in which to explore or experiment with movesets, where minutes can slip by aimlessly wandering in hopes of uncovering a few new pieces of unlockable artwork or lore.
Unlike Sonic, Shadow has access to a growing lineup of abilities awarded for finding relics throughout the adventure. From firing off projectiles to slowing down time to surfing along water to literally flying, each not only proves a lot of fun to execute but actually feels useful in and out of stages. Seriously, it’s hard denying the cool factor of cruising across water instead of falling victim to it like a certain blue hedgehog (take that Sonic!)
Despite playing similarly to Sonic Generations, everything about Shadow’s effort feels improved. The way he controls was immediately apparent to me, Shadow’s movements be they at blistering speed or slowed and more precision focused devoid of those frustrating twitchy and cumbersome moments I’d face with Sonic. Challenges were more engaging, so much so I wasn’t happy until I landed myself a top tier S rank on each. Zones – while not as iconic as the likes of Green Hill or Seaside Hill – deliver where it matters when it comes to design and spectacle, some stages even seeing Shadow travel through a Dr. Strange-style transition into a trippy version of Radical Highway.
To be fair whether you’re playing Sonic or Shadow’s stages, they both offer the series famed time shaving, fastest route hunting hook that makes them so much fun to return to. And return I certainly found myself doing whether that was trying to perfect a waterless run in Chemical Plant or grinding to a S rank on Rail Canyon. While you can likely breeze through both adventures in around ten or so hours, speed runners will love replaying their favourite stages with my playtime tripling after rolling credits.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a great looking game. While it’s disappointing the Switch version doesn’t see the sixty frames treatment other consoles do, things run smoothly enough with environments busy with detail. On the topic of presentation, this is another high point, the game bursting with awesome remixes, turning even previously mediocre tracks into bangers. In fact, the soundtrack has found a spot in my morning playlist driving in to work.
While the Sonic portion of the game is starting to show its age, there’s still plenty of fun to be had revisiting classic zones and taking on Eggman once again. It’s the Shadow adventure though that is the true standout. Polished, exhilarating and clearly made with a real love for the character, Shadow Generations is a fantastically fun time and turns Sonic X Shadow Generations into a must for fans of the series and platforming fans alike.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review copy provided by SEGA
