Sonic X Shadow Generations Review – by Guggs

At completexbox we are very much community driven, and welcome guest articles, opinion pieces and reviews. This Review of Sonic x Shadow Generations developed by Sonic Team, Published by Sega, is written by the very talented Guggs.

Spiky blue spines, red shoes and constantly on the move, Sonic the Hedgehog was my first introduction to video games. The blue blur’s pursuit of the Chaos Emeralds was a formative one, which opened my eyes to the platforming genre and video games in general. Growing older meant my gaming habits changed, but with each upcoming release the Sonic Universe always held my interest and drew me back in. It’s fair to say that across the years some of those releases have varied in quality and left me with an air of uncertainty when sitting down to play – Whether it was the disappointment of Sonic ’06 or the absolute joy I felt when playing 2017’s Sonic Mania, being a Sonic fan has never been dull experience.

When I heard that 2011’s Sonic Generations was getting a remaster and being packaged with a new adventure, featuring Sonic’s arch-rival Shadow, I felt ambivalent. After playing through Sonic x Shadow Generations, that ambivalence was largely resolved as I discovered that Sega and Team Sonic have not only polished what was a great game upon its original release, but have crafted a genuinely fun, exhilarating experience when the spotlight shines on Shadow.

You could be forgiven for comparing Sonic’s side of SxS: Generations to a band’s greatest hits compilation, with levels across the campaign taken from various pre-2011 releases. If you’ve not played the original or want to replay some of the franchise’s more memorable stages, this is undoubtedly the best way to do it. The updated visuals, vibrant colours and reworked cinematics make this the best-looking Sonic experience to date, and it’s a testament to Sega that levels released some three decades ago hold up this well to this day.

As excellent as everything looks on screen it’s important to mention how wonderful it sounds. Hearing the Chemical Plant Zone music immediately filled me with nostalgia and the option to select the music for each level was great. You do have to find some of the tracks by finishing challenge mode levels, but it’s a small price to pay if it means you can spend the rest of the game listening to that one piece of music you seemingly can’t get out of your head for hours afterwards.

Each stage is split into the traditional two Acts – The first, a classic 2D side-scroller, with the second in a 2.5/3D platforming style with the camera switching to behind the character. Previous 3D Sonic games have often been the most divisive, fortunately they don’t outstay their welcome and I found myself enjoying switching between them. Despite being a remaster, the scale of everything felt that bit bigger and ambitious. That isn’t to say that they’re not completely without fault, there are moments where movement speed and the 3D view don’t complement each other, resulting in unnecessary deaths and the need to restart timed challenges, but overall, they’re a nice change of pace and help give SxS: Generations another string to its bow.

Although I knew what to expect when playing Sonic’s side of the game, my curiosity had long been drawn to what we might get from Shadow’s experience. In 2005, Shadow’s starring role as a protagonist was heavily criticised for its darker tone and mission structure. When starting to play through Shadow’s side of the game I had no idea what to expect, by the end of my time with Shadow, I had played one of my favourite experiences of the year. The story is still a little darker and more mature than Sonic’s, but the aesthetic and attitude has been captured well, meaning fans finally have a Shadow story they can be proud of.

The story runs parallel to the events unfolding in Sonic’s adventure and sees Shadow journeying into his past following the reemergence of his nemesis, Black Doom. It’s a familiar tale of good vs. evil, with the end of the world at stake. Although the battle of protagonist vs. antagonist has been seen throughout the Sonic Universe, Shadow’s battle is one of the more interesting takes on it.  This is in part due to the addition of Doom Powers, a collection of six powerful tools used to help even the playing field.

Doom Powers range from being able to surf on water, crafting Doom Spears to throw at unsuspecting enemies as well as creating new pathways in levels by hitting out of reach buttons, and after collecting fifty rings, being able to transform, sprouting gargantuan gliders from my shoulders allowing me to skip entire parts of levels as I raced to the finish, and allowing me to tackle stages with a different approach.

I found the biggest and best inclusion to my arsenal was Chaos Control, which is available from the moment you step in to Shadow’s shoes. Defeating enemies allows you to fill up your chaos gauge and when you hit MAX, you’re able to manipulate time, freezing objects and enemies, allowing you to momentarily make more troublesome areas and situations easier, as well as giving you a few seconds to catch your breath and plot your next move. Boss battles also benefit of these newly acquired powers, a particular highlight saw me using Shadow’s surfing ability to kick up objects at a fleeing foe, allowing me to charge max out my Chaos Control bar, before dishing out some devastating damage. These powers help give Shadow’s adventure its own identity but also succeed in making it a memorable one. I had a lot of fun revisiting levels and using different powers as I attempted to beat my times, and I was glad to see that Shadow’s powers are available to use in both classic and modern modes. One of the only drawbacks to Shadow’s side of the game is its length. It took me around six hours to complete and certainly left me wanting more.

The campaigns aren’t the only content available. Challenges force you to get creative and are shaped in numerous ways. Shadow’s collectibles are centred around finding collection keys, found in various regular and challenge stages, these keys gift rewards ranging from music and artwork, to plot summaries for previous Sonic games. Whilst some of the keys are in plain sight, others require you to get creative to retrieve them. I’m not one to shy away from a difficult platforming section, and it’s nice to see that some require you to master Shadow’s movement if you want to grab them. Whether it was racing to the finish against another version of Sonic, using balloons and bouncing on bothersome enemies to reach my goal, or collecting rings and attempting to get to the goal within a certain time, I enjoyed all of them and found myself opting to replay some to get the coveted S-Rank.

With over 140 stages across the traditional campaign, challenge stages and boss battles, there’s plenty of content to keep you going – and there’s still more to come. Team Sonic recently announced the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie pack, giving Shadow a new look featuring the voice of Keanu Reeves, as well as adding in the Tokyo stage DLC, inspired by the upcoming movie.

Although similar in many ways, I enjoyed spending time in the games’ hub worlds. You’re able to select stages and explore as both Sonic and Shadow, with Sonic’s being the same as the original game, while Shadow’s ‘White Space’, a new playable space for a 3D Sonic game, allowed me to explore using Shadow’s powers, as well as choosing which, if any, optional activities I’d like to try my hand at. This may not be an inclusion that many stop in awe to take in, but it’s these small additions by Team Sonic that help further your experience and deepen the immersion.

I played a lot of this game with a smile on my face, it was exactly what I’d hoped for going in, and plenty more else on top. Sonic Generations is one of the best releases in the series post-Mega Drive, but the addition of a genuinely fun adventure which gives Shadow the moment he deserves makes this not only one of my favourite Sonic releases, but one of my favourite releases this year.

My only remaining hope now that the foundations for future adventures have been laid, is that Sega and Team Sonic continue to build on them, so that both their iconic mascot and his fans, get the games that they both deserve.