Long-running franchises often have to walk a line with regard to what direction they take over the course of decades. Sometimes, sticking with a particular gameplay style in a long-running franchise runs the risk of making the franchise grow stale with audiences, as well as denying developers the chance to explore new ideas. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has perhaps been the most notorious recipient of this phenomenon. SEGA’s flagship franchise has undergone countless reworks in styles of gameplay, leading the IP to be what many would argue to be an inherently inconsistent one. Throughout the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Sonic had undergone a transition from linear 2D platformers to the “Adventure-style” approach in the series’ early 3D outings. Sonic Adventure and its sequel offered various playable characters with significantly different gameplay styles to bolster a varied adventure, if making for an overall experience that featured proportionally less high-speed platforming action. The mid-2000s saw various types of experimentation for the blue blur. For every successful experiment such as with the boost-fueled gameplay of Sonic Rush, there was also a deeply flawed experiment in the form of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic ‘06. Many of Sonic’s titles throughout the 2000s were ambitious in ideas, but seldom had the development time to see them completely explored, making for titles that had their charm, but were far from the high quality set by earliest titles in the franchise.

By 2011, things had started to change, though. 2008’s Sonic Unleashed introduced what became known as the “Boost Formula” era of Sonic. Unleashed borrowed the concept of utilizing a meter that allows the player to boost at high speeds from Sonic Rush and applied it to 3D levels that were far larger and more dynamic. The catch? Unleashed was mostly bogged down by the “Werehog” gameplay - a beat ‘em up portion of the game that took up the majority of Unleashed’s runtime. The daytime levels of Unleashed were incredibly promising and offered a then-needed refresh of the franchise’s direction. 2010 saw the release of Sonic Colors, a follow-up to Unleashed that took out the Werehog levels and fully focused on delivering the high-speed, boost-filled gameplay of the daytime levels of Unleashed. The result ended with one of the most highly regarded games in the Sonic franchise, giving fans optimism for what future games would have in store. Come the series’ 20th anniversary the following year, SEGA further refined the boost formula with Sonic Generations, a celebration of the Sonic franchise featuring levels and references to the series’ mainline games. Like Colors before it, Generations quickly garnered adoration from series fans and newcomers alike, making for a game that’s seen as something of a modern classic for the franchise.

After SEGA enjoyed the success of Generations, it was back to experimenting with the IP. 2013’s Sonic Lost World was a departure from the boost formula and opted to go for more of a Super Mario Galaxy vibe to mixed effect. While I personally enjoyed the version of the game available on Wii U and PC, even I can admit that the game has instances of rough level design and an overall lack of cohesion to it. The following year saw the release of the infamous Sonic Boom titles, tie-in games to a new animated series that are, to date, some of the lowest-rated titles for the series. 2017 then saw the release of the painfully mediocre Sonic Forces - again, inconsistency had plagued the franchise. While Forces was a return to the boost formula, the game employed uninteresting level design making for gameplay that is not necessarily bad, but is almost impressively unremarkable.

What made Forces increasingly disappointing was that it followed up the brilliant Sonic Mania from earlier the same year. Mania was a game from a far smaller team that had a decidedly smaller scope, and yet its fantastic level design, music, and polish made for an experience that was leagues above the effort from the “AAA” developer. Put simply, the quality discrepancy between Mania and Forces was a telltale sign that things for this franchise needed to change. A new direction was needed - one that could ensure that future games in this series are consistently high quality, while still leaving room for the experimentation that SEGA and Sonic Team are evidently interested in taking advantage of.

It would take a few years, but in 2022, SEGA and Sonic Team finally found their new direction with Sonic Frontiers. Barring the game’s infamously poor draw distance that sees mid-air platforms and obstacles culling not far from where the player is navigating, Frontiers delivered one of the best experiences the Sonic IP has ever offered. Relatively polished controls, solid level design, great music, and an open-ended overworld map that gives players lots to do, Sonic Frontiers was a fun exploration for what the series could achieve. That said, it can be argued that Frontiers is a glorified peek into the potential of the new ideas brought about by Frontiers rather than being a complete package that fully realizes its own potential off the bat. There’s room for improvement with Frontiers’ new formula, and for two years, there was no assurance that this formula would be expanded upon or if it would go the way of Lost World’s gameplay style and never be revisited.

The next 3D title in the franchise would arrive in 2024 in the form of Sonic X Shadow Generations, a sort of crossbreed between a remaster and a brand new game. Not unlike 2021’s Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, a half-remaster, half-expansion of the 2013 Wii U game, Sonic X Shadow Generations offers two separate experiences immediately available in the game’s main menu. One half of this package is a remaster of Sonic Generations, the very title that instilled a new confidence in this franchise over a decade ago. The other half is Shadow Generations, a new game that directly follows up on the ideas explored in Sonic Frontiers that also narratively examines Shadow the Hedgehog’s character and history, a smart decision given the character’s presence in the recently released film, Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Put simply, Sonic X Shadow Generations is both a refreshing reminder of the past accomplishments of this franchise as well as a promising look at the possibilities of the gameplay ideas introduced in Frontiers. Like the original 2011 release before it, Sonic X Shadow Generations offers a newfound and refreshing sense of hope for the future of this franchise. If future titles see the consistently high level of quality offered in this package, I can comfortably see this franchise entering a new golden age. Let’s investigate why that is.

For those unfamiliar with Sonic Generations, this is a game that revisits different levels representing different mainline games throughout Sonic’s history up to 2011. From Green Hill to City Escape to Planet Wisp, Sonic Generations gives players opportunities to see new interpretations of familiar levels. What makes this concept work as well as it does is the execution of the Act structure. Each Act 1 of stages is a 2D stage with Classic Sonic and each Act 2 of stages is a boost formula Modern Sonic level that combines 2D and 3D sections to create high-speed platforming that has a far faster pace than Classic Sonic’s romps. This inherently means that every level is going to be given new perspectives. Chemical Plant from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 becomes a familiar yet exciting level when adapted into a 3D level with Modern Sonic. Likewise, it’s fascinating to see how Speed Highway from Sonic Adventure gets adapted into being a level that works in a fully 2D context. Every level brings with it an excitement over how it will be reimagined either in 2D or 3D. Even after over a decade, it’s still a joy to see how Generations realizes 2D levels with grand 3D set pieces and how it recontextualizes elements from originally 3D levels to work in a 2D context.

2D level design takes notes from the Genesis/Mega Drive era of platformers, with high routes generally being faster but more difficult to stay on, while lower routes often necessitate slowing down and having more linear segments of platforming. There’s a reason why thirty-year-old platformers adopted this design philosophy - it allows each level to have dynamic difficulty that folds to the player’s ability to time jumps properly, smartly space bops on enemies to land jumps to higher areas, and rewards the player’s improvement at doing these with segments that allow for more speed. Indeed, getting through stages more quickly is a reward in and of itself, as players with good platforming instincts and skills will be given tighter platforming and navigational challenges on the higher paths that are earned by their play style. That said, Sonic Generations’ 2D levels are rewarding to go through no matter which path you take. Some levels offer more options than others, but tight level pacing makes each Act 1 go by rather comfortably.

The elephant in the room for Sonic Generations’ 2D levels is that of its physics and speed imbalance. The reason why the Genesis/Mega Drive/Sega CD games have aged as well as they have is because of their strong use of physics to realistically depict building speed that makes the very act of gradually getting faster be intuitive and fun. Sonic 2’s Emerald Hill excellently teaches the player to roll down its long, downward hills, which, realistically, make the player gradually gain momentum and great speed when reaching the bottom of the hill. Physics is one of those game-feel concepts in game design that’s easier to understand and illustrate when the controller is in your hands versus through words on a screen, but it’s something that’s fundamental to making many of 2D Sonic’s games feel so intuitive to play.

Sonic Generations famously doesn’t mirror the physics by some of the earliest games in the series. 2017’s Sonic Mania practically perfected the utilization of physics and game-feel in a 2D Sonic context, making going back to the 2D levels in Sonic Generations feel a bit jarring. Sonic X Shadow Generations gave Sonic Team an opportunity to tweak the physics and make the game feel overall smoother and more intuitive to play, but this opportunity has mostly not been taken advantage of. In Generations, 2D Sonic still takes a tad long to get to a feel running cycle, and rolling down ramps doesn’t build speed in a satisfying, realistic way. What does build speed and is unquestionably Classic Sonic’s best option for gaining speed is the famously overpowered Spin Dash move. Generations is the move’s most overpowered incarnation, as doing a Spin Dash lets players fling themselves across large parts of level geometry. It’s no doubt satisfying to pull off, as maintaining such a speed with well-timed jumps and enemy bonks can lead to long instances of ultra-fast speed and skipping over entire chunks of levels. As fun as it is, though, it definitely undercuts and even trivializes some sections of levels.

The imprecise physics and the overpowered Spin Dash make for a somewhat uneven feeling that never quite goes away. What doesn’t help is Sonic X Shadow Generations’ addition of the Drop Dash, a move borrowed from Sonic Mania that lets Sonic charge a Spin Dash in mid-air that activates upon touching the ground. The inclusion of the move is neat in theory, but in practice, it’s practically unusable. Unlike its overpowered counterpart, the Drop Dash barely pushes Sonic’s momentum forward, often not even being able to give the player enough speed to get through a loop. It’s an underwhelming addition that functionally serves as one of the only new gameplay additions to the Sonic Generations side of this package.

Every level’s Act 2 sees Modern Sonic blasting through stages that blend 2D and 3D sequences. Like with the 2011 game, these often serve as the highlights of the game, save for some detrimental exceptions. Generations mostly works on the framework built by Unleashed and Colors before it, resulting in levels that feel fairly polished, if a bit slippery to navigate. Sonic’s control in 3D has never felt entirely responsive here - something that’s best replicated during the diving sections in levels like Chemical Plant. Luckily, Generations’ levels are constructed in a way where they don’t often require precision platforming in a 3D space - but in the few instances where the game does require such a thing, Sonic’s slipperiness does feel noticeable. This is another thing that could have improved upon in this release of the game, but is frustratingly left alone, despite the Shadow Generations side of this package offering fantastically responsive 3D control.

Imperfect control aside, when these 3D levels work, they really work. They combine spectacle, twitch-reflex jumping, switching between lanes, drifting, and attacking enemies to reveal alternate paths. Like the 2D levels, the routes that require more work to reach often result in a snappier playthrough of a level. Routes that are reached without smartly using boosts and homing attacks lead to instances where the player will often need to complete decidedly slower level sections.

The worst sections of Sonic Generations’ 3D levels are when it forces the player to conform to stage-specific gimmicks or set pieces. They aren’t in every level, but when they rear their head, it’s always to the game’s overall detriment. City Escape’s minute-long sequence where Sonic is being chased by a truck is an appreciated reference to Sonic Adventure 2’s iconic conclusion to its first level, but in Generations, this sequences overstays its welcome and takes up a third of the level’s overall runtime. Not only is this sequence long, but it requires practically no input from the player and cannot be skipped in any way. The most egregious example of this, though, is with the game’s final level, Planet Wisp. In both Acts of this level, the player needs to use Wisp Powers - carryovers from Sonic Colors - however these significantly slow down the pacing throughout both acts. In Planet Wisp’s second Act, the player is forced to use the Rocket Wisp to navigate vertical areas. Problem is - this power is slow, is used too frequently throughout the level, and doesn’t even represent Sonic Colors that well, given that most levels in that game could be completed with using Wisp Powers at all. In Generations, the Rocket Wisp is required to progress and forces the game to end with what is unanimously considered to be the game’s worst level. These moments dampen an otherwise exhilarating experience that is captured across each of Generations’ levels. They aren’t deal breakers necessarily, but they do drag down a mostly fun experience.

Of course, Sonic Generations is a fairly short game due to only offering nine levels with two acts in each level. Most acts take 2-5 minutes to complete, meaning that the overall experience goes by quickly. This bolsters the game’s replayability in conjunction with the variety of routes to take in each level, however what doesn’t bolster replayability is the game’s padding. To make the game’s runtime longer, Sonic Generations requires the player to engage with the missions that task the player with navigating challenges. At best, these are mini-levels that test the player’s ability to use certain skills or power-ups. At worst, they’re either “races” that effectively make the player run through the full level again or are janky, experimental sublevels that use a secondary character’s abilities. These are clearly only here to make the game’s runtime longer. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I do take issue with the fact that completing some of these challenges is required to make story progress. The player thankfully doesn’t have to do too many challenges to progress to boss fights, but it’s still an unnecessary addition to the game that’s as irritating to be forced to do now as it was in 2011.

Boss fights are one of Sonic Generations’ less interesting aspects to talk about. For the most part, they do their job and are mostly harmless to the overall experience - that is, with one big exception. The game’s final boss fight is famously one of the worst parts of the entire game thanks to using a different gameplay style that isn’t intuitive nor empowering to use. Sonic Frontiers is proof that making unique mechanics and gameplay styles for Super Sonic sequences can be spectacular and stylish, but Generations’ implementation of such a fight is sloppy at best. This, in conjunction with Planet Wisp being a weak final level, makes Generations end on a bit of whimper.

That doesn’t take away the fact that Generations still stands as a mostly fun experience that holds up well. There are some control imperfections and flaws with the game’s structure that forces the player to engage with some side content to progress, but the levels throughout Generations are so good that all of this is easy to look past to an extent. When the player has to navigate around obstacles, enemies, and level geometry one after another, there’s a certain flow that’s distinct to Generations’ gameplay, making the game feel like nothing else out there. That, beyond anything else, is perhaps why Generations is remembered as fondly as it is - when everything clicks in a level, Generations is a truly special experience. The game’s imperfections are substantial enough to hold the game back from excellence and there’s too few levels for my liking, but this remaster has succeeded in reminding me that Sonic Generations scratches a certain itch that no other game can.

Of course, the remaster of Sonic Generations is only one side of Sonic X Shadow Generations. What many people are coming to this game for is the brand-new campaign, Shadow Generations, an adventure that spans across various levels in Shadow’s history. Given that Shadow has obviously been in less games than Sonic himself, this logically means that Shadow Generations hosts less levels than Sonic Generations, a game that already feels light on level count. Shadow Generations makes up for this, though, with having some of the most well-crafted levels that Sonic Team has ever put together. Indeed, Shadow Generations feels like a proper follow-up to Sonic Frontiers, both in its hub area that’s reminiscent of the Starfall Islands in Frontiers, and the levels that fully realize the potential of Frontiers’ cyberspace levels.

Shadow Generations hits the ground running with its first level, Space Colony Ark, which combines multiple levels from Sonic Adventure 2, and introducing the conflict between Shadow and Black Doom mid-level, making for levels that are quick to shift from one aesthetic to another in a way that feels both narratively engaging and exciting to play through. After completing the first Act of this level, the player gets introduced to the open-ended hub world that takes the right lessons from Sonic Frontiers’ design approach to the Starfall Islands. Unlike Sonic Generations where the nebulous White Space is simply a 2D hallway that connects each level and its surrounding challenges, Shadow Generations’ version of White Space features obstacles and tools to move around the space that makes the hub world feel like a smartly interconnected level in and of itself. It’s more compact than Frontiers’ Starfall Islands, which actually works to the game’s benefit, leaving room for little downtime between instances where the player needs to do something, whether that’s switching grind rails, homing attacking enemies, or bouncing on springs.

The hub world of White Space acts as a fantastic complement to Shadow Generations’ more involved levels that display a wide variety of level gimmicks. While the game hosts less levels than Sonic Generations, the two games end up having similar runtimes thanks to Shadow Generations’ levels featuring more to do in them, in no small thanks to the inclusion of the Doom Powers, abilities that are gradually given to the player as they make story progress through the 5-hour-long campaign. These added abilities are primarily used as opening up more areas of White Space, however they are used in levels enough to make their inclusion feel justified without being too frequent that they become an annoyance or overbearing presence. In addition to the Doom Powers is the inclusion of the Chaos Control mechanic, which is effectively implemented as a way to freeze time briefly. This is used in various levels to turn projectiles into pathways or gain access to certain railways only possible through utilizing Chaos Control.

This isn’t the first time that Chaos Control has been given to the player, however this is easily the best implementation of the mechanic in the series to date. Chaos Control is primarily more helpful in the game’s challenges, which, yes, do make a return. Unlike their presence in Sonic Generations, though, Shadow Generations’ challenges feel more like proper extensions of levels rather than retreads or janky inclusions. Many of Shadow Generations’ challenges test the player’s use of Doom Powers and Chaos Control, creating challenges that have a distinct flavor to them that the main levels don’t quite provide. Make no mistake: this is still padding, but it’s an objectively better method of padding than what was done in Sonic Generations. The challenges are more rewarding and challenging to complete and feel far less like busywork. I would still much prefer if they weren’t required to progress the main story, but the challenges offer a good excuse to play more of the game.

The most impressive thing about Shadow Generations is how consistently good it feels to control Shadow. The game is clearly built off of Sonic Frontiers’ movement foundation, and the polished feel of Sonic in that game translates over here beautifully. Shadow controls so well in this game that it highlights just how slippery Sonic feels in Sonic Generations by comparison. Shadow hits the perfect balance of speed and precision in a 3D space, and this tightness in the control makes navigating through each of Shadow Generations'‘ levels feel all the more rewarding and fun. Like with Sonic Generations, Shadow is at its best when it has players combining the different skills in Shadow’s toolbelt one after the other that creates a flow and rhythm to each level that the player goes through.

Shadow Generations is a decidedly slower game than Sonic Generations in terms of sheer movement speed, but that honestly works to Shadow Generations’ benefit, as the slightly slower speed gives greater opportunity for levels to be dense with things to do while still being well-paced. More than anything, the levels in Shadow Generations prove that the formula established by Frontiers has long-term value to it. Navigating a large obstacle course to reach smaller, more focused levels creates very little instances of downtime in Shadow Generations, making for a game that’s short but very sweet as it makes players accomplish a lot in only a little bit of time.

More than anything, Shadow Generations is a peek into what this franchise is capable of. Like Sonic Generations accomplished in 2011, Shadow Generations is a celebration of the history of its titular character while also refining the gameplay of previous entries to make an experience that feels remarkably fun and polished. Sonic Generations promised a future of Boost Era gameplay founded in Sonic Unleashed that didn’t serve many more games. Shadow Generations now finds itself making a similar but different promise - one that shows that Sonic Team is capable of smartly designing interconnected levels that host dense, roller-coaster ride levels and how such a design approach can have merit well into the series’ future. Whether or not that promise is realized remains to be seen, but I find myself more hopeful about the direction Frontiers took the series in after having played Shadow Generations.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is a remarkable blend of past, present, and future. As a remaster of Sonic Generations, it reminds us of the legacy of this long-running platformer franchise and the many peaks and valleys its run through over that time. Sonic Generations has mostly aged well, but is still victim to some imprecise controls and unnecessarily forced padding. Meanwhile, Shadow Generations is an indicator of the progress that Sonic Team has made over the last decade. With tight controls and dynamic, smartly constructed level design, Shadow Generations is a great representation of what polished Sonic gameplay can and should be moving forward. Moreover, this game gives further merit that the bold direction that Sonic Frontiers took the series has some genuine momentum to it and can be doubtlessly applied to both larger and smaller scale adventures.

Sonic fans have found themselves making a similar statement over decades: the future of this franchise looks bright. Or sometimes…it looks dire. In each of those instances, it follows times where Sonic Team finally found a streak with a winning formula, such as their releases of Sonic Unleashed, Colors, and Generations. On the other side of the spectrum, games like Sonic ‘06 and Forces have made it clear that things needed to change.

It’s hard to say if this time will be any different. Sonic Frontiers was a great new direction for the series, but it saw room for improvement. Shadow Generations builds upon this formula and has proven that it makes for some damn good gameplay, but it remains to be seen if this formula is something that Sonic Team will stick with, or if it will end up leading to a mediocre of even bad game somewhere down the line. What I can confidently claim, though, is that it’s promising to be a Sonic fan at this time. As someone that’s been in and out of this franchise over the years, I feel an unprecedented momentum coming from Sonic Frontiers and Sonic X Shadow Generations. There’s a palpable confidence coming from SEGA that gives me faith that future titles will keep building on what Sonic X Shadow Generations has built. If anything, Sonic X Shadow Generations provides hope that such confidence is warranted. The quality on display here still has room for improvement, but it’s undeniable that this game provides a unique flavor of fun that’s unavailable anywhere else in the games industry. All SEGA and Sonic Team need to do at this point is to keep improving upon the formula here to make that unique flavor even sweeter.

Final Grade: B

Thank you very much for reading! What are your thoughts on Sonic X Shadow Generations? As always, join the conversation and let me know what you think in the comments or on Bluesky @DerekExMachina.