Game Review XXI: Sonic Generations

It's been a long time since our friend in blue, Sonic the Hedgehog, came out with his self-titled game back in 1991. Since then, we were given 20 years of him: the pros being his speed, new abilities, and attitude, down to the cons, consisting of a bad fanbase, voice actor changeups, and bad reviews. Even so, he still pushes strong, and last month's release of Sonic Generations is proof of that. (This review has a spoiler content, so if you don't wanna know in advance who you're up against, keep it moving... I repeat, there are a few spoilers.)

The story begins when he and his friends celebrate Sonic becoming the big 2-0. From out of nowhere, a menacing creature kidnaps all of his friends, sending them to parts unknown. Now he must find where his friends have ended up, but this time around, he's going to get some unexpected help... from himself.

Ever since the remade Green Hill Zone seen in Sonic Adventure 2 / SA2 Battle, I kinda figured they'd redo other past stages, but not like how it turned out. Before we get into that, though, let's look at who we control. Common to the majority of titles, we assume control of Sonic as usual. I'd say that's all, but you're controlling TWO versions of him. This game is where past meets present. Most of Sonic's friends appear as well, but like Sonic, Tails meets his past self, and so does someone else. Even though they're the same character, both versions play differently from one another. The short-spined, chubby one retains his core classic controls, solely 2D platforming with the use of the Jump, Spin Attack, and Spin Dash. This time around though, the Spin Dash is also mapped to a button for easy access. The taller, darker, and talkative Sonic follows his modern gameplay from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, invoking abilities like the Homing Attack, Boost, Sliding, and Wall Jump. Much like the aforementioned games, his Boost can knock away enemies, and actually change the stage music the longer it's in use, and reverts back to normal when you stop using it.

The stages sort of act like the way Zones were broken up in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, consisting of 2 acts per stage. Act 1, which you play as soon as you hit New Game, uses the 2D Platforming style of the Genesis/Mega Drive, while Act 2 plays like his recent adventure titles, going fast on breakneck speed. Every 3 Stages are part of a specific era, each with reimagined acts for each hedgehog, as well as a few rival and boss fights. Just because you are familiar with them, don't be fooled into thinking you can beat them the same way. They are as follows:

• Genesis/Mega Drive Era

1.  Green Hill (Sonic The Hedgehog [1991])
2.  Chemical Plant (Sonic The Hedgehog 2)
3.  Sky Sanctuary (Sonic The Hedgehog & Knuckles)
   Rival: Metal Sonic at Stardust Speedway - Bad Future (Sonic CD)
   Boss: Death Egg Robo (Sonic The Hedgehog 2)

• Dreamcast Era

1.  Speed Highway (Sonic Adventure / SADX: Director's Cut)
2.  City Escape (Sonic Adventure 2 / SA2: Battle)
3.  Seaside Hill (Sonic Heroes)
   Rival: Shadow the Hedgehog at Final Chase (Sonic Adventure 2 / SA2: Battle)
   Boss: Perfect Chaos (Sonic Adventure / SADX: Director's Cut)

• Modern Era

1.  Crisis City (Sonic The Hedgehog [2006])
2.  Rooftop Run (Sonic Unleashed)
3.  Planet Wisp (Sonic Colors)
   Rival: Silver the Hedgehog at Crisis City (Sonic The Hedgehog [2006])
   Boss: Egg Dragoon (Sonic Unleashed)

The musical score for each act has been redone, as have the stages and enemies themselves. The more popular of these remixes was the Classic version of Sonic Adventure 2's City Escape, done by the same people who did the score for the original song. The majority of the "Classic" remixes are more techno-like, while the "Modern" remixes had more emphasis towards rock primarily. In addition, if you collect red star rings and musical notes from challenge gates, you could hear and use other songs from other games, including Free from Sonic Free Riders, and the original Green Hill music. Some of these hidden tracks have also been touched up a notch or two.

Controls and Gameplay are alright. Sega and Sonic Team listened to the fans concerns, as they warned players of dangerous areas. From time to time, I still end up flying off, but the problem isn't as bad as fans make it to believe. The game also has a skill system, and though you can't upgrade the skill points you can use, you can buy new ones with points gathered in game, and you're given 5 slots for both Sonic versions, so you can customize them to play your way. Voices heard are the same ones spotted in both Sonic Free Riders and Sonic Rivals 2, with even Classic Tails getting a voice (but not Classic Sonic, unsurprisingly...) Another bonus is that if it was pre-ordered ahead of time, you would get a minigame stage made from Sonic The Hedgehog 2's Casino Night Zone. But as an actual stage, the 3DS port may feature this, along with other stages from other games. Boss and Rival battles have been redone to fit the current gameplay in the console port (with the exception of  Metal, who you must actually defeat this time), while the 3DS port follows a play style for the battles similar to Sonic Rivals. The 3DS version also features different bosses, which I'll review in the future.

Sonic has had quirks over the years, but this is a good way to relive those 20 years of supersonic speed. Sonic Generations scores: as a Sonic game, a perfect 10, but as a game in general, a 9 of 10. Long live the speed of the spiky blue hog with attitude!