Sonic the Hedgehog has seen a resurgence in the mainstream circles since the live-action film rebooted the franchise in 2020. At the same time, the film itself wasn’t without issues, from its redesigned character work and story almost to the month of its release. Despite this, the film was a huge success, loved by a new generation of fans while also appeasing ’90s fans at the least. Since then, we’ve had many reworked classic games, new games like Sonic Frontiers and even a second successful film. Fast-forward to 2024, and we’re heading into a third film featuring the legendary character Shadow. To whet the appetite of Sonic fans, SEGA released the Sonic x Shadow Generations video game.
Sonic x Shadow Generations Bridges The Gap Between The Movies And Games
Video game adaptations have become all the buzz in Hollywood over the past five years. While there has always been a rocky relationship between hardcore fans of the games and the studios producing live-action films, a handful of late adaptations have broken the mould, providing an excellent launchpad for executives to continue the push. With titles like Arcane, The Last of Us, Cyberpunk, Super Mario Bros. and even Sonic the Hedgehog, fans have eagerly and cautiously awaited the next big hit, hoping for its success.
Sonic x Shadow Generations is in a somewhat unique position as a game, almost bridging the gap between video games and movies by setting up a character specifically for the film, simply as an introduction to those who aren’t already familiar with the franchise’s favourite anti-hero. The game is a showcase to create buzz around the Shadow character and a remaster of the Generations game from 2011 – with a twist.
1. A Tale of Two Perspectives
The introduction of Shadow to the Generations game adds a new layer to the storyline. While players kick off with the original story from Sonic’s point of view, as you progress, you unlock a different part of the story that is viewed from Shadow’s perspective. While it doesn’t go into the full details, it does lay the foundation for Shadow’s story, but it focuses more on his nemesis, Black Doom.
It’s a brilliant touch to add a much larger dynamic to a known story and showcase that there’s more to things when viewed differently. The writing ties in beautifully and doesn’t feel out of place or something that was just slapped together for the game’s sake. The Sonic franchise hasn’t always been blessed with the best stories, scripts, and writers in its 30+ year history. So, it’s quite a relief that Sonic X Shadow Generations works from the view of a solid storyline.
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2. A Literal Change of Perspective
With the story from the game featuring two perspectives – that of Sonic and Shadow – there’s also a ‘physical’ change of perspective in-game. Almost every world has different stages where the perspective changes between 2D and 3D.
While Sonic has always been a 2D side-scroller game at its core, there have been several attempts to modernise the franchise with attempts at 3D worlds. However, given Sonic’s speed and showcase, 3D worlds don’t do well when you have almost 360° movement capabilities. Most often, these games would give me headaches and cause some visual issues that couldn’t be maintained for all that long.
With Sonic x Shadow Generations, much of the 3D environment and gameplay has been fixed. There are two mechanisms that the developers use to perfect this aspect. Speed isn’t required when you’re in a more free-roaming mode, where players can explore a broader range of movement. You can simply explore, collect and complete. However, when it switches gears to showcase Sonic and Shadow’s proper speeds, there is more of a set pathway, like an endless runner video game – think Subway Surfers.
The game often does a great job of merging these two perspectives as you blaze through the stages. The switch of perspectives can sometimes also catch you by surprise, so you’re constantly on your toes throughout, creating a mix of anxiety and excitement.
3. Something Old, Something New
Although it’s not the first time we’ve encountered this feature, having the old and new Sonic in the same game is still a treat. Sonic X Shadow Generations brings many new features and functionality, even to the characters.
For starters, you can play the classic and modern Sonic. What’s even better here is that the two variants are hot-swappable in the middle of the game. While the classic Sonic does the Spin Dash, the modern Sonic does a forward Dash without the spin. The latter is excellent for jumping between objects that are further apart than that classic Sonic can jump. Utilising both of their abilities on the fly is a great addition.
Speaking of abilities, Shadow brings a host of new powers to his arsenal. These are known as the Doom Powers and include useful abilities to assist in completing the Shadow stages. These powers include surfing on water and flying decent distances over obstacles. However, the ultimate power must be stopping time, known as Chaos Control.
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4. Beautifully-Crafted Worlds
As with most Sonic titles, we almost always get the classic worlds like Green Hill, Chemical Plant, and Sky Sanctuary. Sonic X Shadow Generations does a great job recreating these worlds, which are crisp and bold, while still keeping its classic charm. They receive a graphical makeover, and new elements are scattered throughout, like the 3D perspective switch mentioned earlier. Shadow’s world-building also receives a refresh with worlds like Radical Highway, Rail Canyon, and the Space Colony Ark. There are a few new gameplay dynamics thrown into the mix as well, requiring users to skate on multiple lanes (again, like Subway Surfers), duck under objects (in both perspectives), slam from one enemy to the next and much more.
Even when you’re not traversing the remastered worlds, users can chill out in the new White Space. This area is used to switch between the different worlds to progress through the game, but it also provides a lot of fun tasks with hidden achievements and objects to add to your collection. As you complete each world, Sonic and Shadow can do more in these zones, with Shadow even gaining new power abilities.
5. Finally, the Fast-Paced Action Sonic Deserves
Nothing beats a fast-paced Sonic game. And this game is super-fast on many of the different levels. While some worlds may see you taking your time to traverse and explore, you can still choose to blaze through them in a couple of seconds. Whether you’re using the Spin Dash or skating on rales, plenty of fast-paced action can be had.
Added to this is the change in perspective every so often. Players must be on their toes to avoid obstacles and enemies and keep all the rings you’ve collected. At the same time, there are bonuses to be unlocked for speed runs, so returning to each stage repeatedly to beat your personal best becomes a fixation. With every new run, you get to optimise your path, with varying routes and shortcuts added that you’ll need to discover for the best-timed run.
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