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To celebrate Sonic's 20th anniversary, Sega decided to take their fans back to the past for a nostalgic ride, with not only modern sonic, but with also classic Sonic from the good ole' Genesis days. Check out the review!
Sonic Generations begins with Sonic going to a surprise birthday party where his friends are enjoying time together. But before Sonic can even finish eating his chili dog, an uninvited monster crashes the party and captures Sonic's friends and leaves him in a world without color. Moments later, Sonic stumbles upon his younger self and they both agree to help rescue their friends. The story is simple and straightforward, similar to the 16-bit games. Those wanting a more cut scene-driven story, such as Sonic Adventure or Sonic Unleashed, won't be too happy about this since many things aren't explained, such as the appearance of Big the Cat, but the game is so fun that it doesn't really matter.
There are two styles of gameplay, classic and modern. Act 1 of every level will have you playing as Sonic in his classic form and will take you to familiar places such as Green Hill Zone and City Escape. All of his basic moves return like, running, jumping, and spin dashing. The level designs of these stages are mostly in 2D, but there are moments where the camera will change angles, giving a 2.5D effect, like when running through a loop. In Act 2 of every level, you'll be playing as modern Sonic. His stages are similar to his recent games, like Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, and really focus on speed rather than platforming. Unlike classic Sonic, modern Sonic has the ability to boost. The boost gauge requires that you have enough rings, so collect them whenever you can. No other game has been able to create such a great sense of speed such as this game. He also can lock onto enemies for a homing attack, slide, drift around corners, and side step.
Other than the main stages, there are also missions. These are the side quests of the game which I encourage you to play, because otherwise the game would be kind of short. The types of challenges range from Time Attack, Battle, and Race, just to name a few. In one challenge, for example, you'll need the help of Tails to fly over spikes and other dangerous looking distances that you wouldn't be able to do without his aid.
The skill system is a new feature that offers power ups for use in stages. You can unlock different skills like shields, power sneakers, treasure scanner, and even the ability to become Super Sonic. Each skill costs a certain amount of points, so you can only have a few in your equipment. Choose wisely based on how many points you have and how much the skill costs. These skills can help you in tough parts of the games, so I suggest using them.
The graphics are quite amazing. Green Hill Zone really comes to life with the next-gen power, offering lush environments including rushing waterfalls, palm trees, sunflowers, tiki statues, checkered patterns, and ramps. There's even a big robot fish that tries to gobble you up. This game and Sonic Unleashed are the best looking Sonic games yet.
The collection of songs is huge in this game. You'll hear many remixes of original songs arranged in the styles of electronica and rock 'n' roll. Many of the songs from the old games are here untouched in the Collector Room's Music Mode just for your hearing pleasure as well, but you first have to unlock them by beating the challenges. Other goodies such as artwork and character information can be viewed there as well.
Overall, Sonic Generations is great. It's Sega's response to the people who wanted the old Sonic to return, and they got what they wished for. I strongly recommend playing this game if you want a great gaming experience with everyone's favorite hedgehog. Also play Sonic Generations for the 3DS. Most of the stages are brand new and it's not a port like most console games that have handheld versions, so it's really worth playing.
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