Sonic X Shadow Generations

Playtime: 30.5 Hours

Sonic X Shadow Generations is probably the best Sonic game I have ever played. While it is not my favorite, I think this is a return to form of how a sonic game should be.

I'm going to split this review into two, first speaking on Sonic Generations, and the second part on Shadow Generations.

Sonic Generations is a really fun game that allows the player to play in both 2D and 3D perspectives. While the story is honestly not that interesting, good or memorable it makes up for it with the quality of the gameplay. There are 9 main acts, split into 18 levels, 90 side-challenges & 7 bosses. While the levels are fun, the side-challenges can be a drag to get through, due to the amount of them and my hankering to get the S Rank for each one of them. I was getting tired of the side-challenges after beating the first 30 of them.

Nearly all of the levels are fun to play, one's that I would be happy to go back to and replay to get the collectible Red Coins & Chaos. However, Crisis City in 2D has an annoying platforming section where wind can push you back and consistently make you miss your jumps, and so many people have complained about Planet Wisp's level design that I don't think I could add on anything that hasn't already been said about it.

So while the gameplay and level design is spectacular overall, it is only brought down by a bad level or two. There's a lot of replayability in trying to find the best path to complete each level the fastest. Since I finished this game before as just Sonic Generations, I turned the music off and watched TV while playing it. This was a mistake, because I forgot just how good the soundtrack for this game is.

I'm not usually one that appreciates the Collection Room for games, but for this one, I must have spent about two hours just listening to the music in the collection room. Crush 40 have consistently put out fantastic music and I recommend you give them a listen as well!

Something I wish they did add, was all the content in the 3DS version of Sonic Generations. Even as an unlockable for beating the game, I would have been very happy that version available. For those that don't know, Sonic Generations 3DS is an entirely different game to the console counterparts, with almost the entire game being in 2D. I would hate to see this software be lost to time.

Overall, fi you are looking for a fun game with great music, level design and gameplay. Sonic Generations is for you! Just don't expect much in terms of story.

Shadow Generations is in my opinion, the best made Sonic game. I have played over 20 of them, and this is the most well-crafted game. In terms of gameplay, story & level design.

Shadow Generations is noticeable slower than Sonic Generations, and I never realized how much of a good thing this was. It made Shadow feel a lot less floaty, and his ability to stop almost instantly made for a lot more controlled experience.

All of the levels are really fun to play, and none of them overstay their welcome. The game is noticeably shorter, consisting of 6 stages making up 12 levels, 30 side-challenges & 4 bosses. The only level that gave me trouble would be the last one, Radical Highway, that had some awful moving platforms. However, once I learnt the stage better, it became one of my favorites.

This game has my favorite boss fight out of any Sonic Game. Metal Overlord is such a fun & amazing boss fight to play, paired with the music, the game makes you feel like such a badass.

The writing is also surprisingly well done. Shadow is not a total edgelord, he is a hedgehog that follows his own path. There is a certain humanity in the villains I never expected to see. Boss Fight 3 wanting the right to exist, Boss Fight 2 trying to gaslight to himself that he is truly the strongest. It's amazing how much character is in this game that doesn't have much dialogue to begin with!

However, I do have some complaints. I really hate the white hub world shtick that both generations game uses. It would have been much cooler if the different stages bled into each other rather than being so distinctly seperated. The collection music is not nearly as good as Sonic Generations and the collectibles can be extremely tedious to get if you aren't using a guide.

But if Sonic Team makes games like this in the future, It would be in the right direction for the next Sonic games. I really didn't Sonic Frontiers open-world, but enjoyed the levels. I enjoyed both in this game. And I am excited to see what Sonic Team is cooking up next.