Sonic Generations is still not great, it has possibly one of the worst bosses in any sonic game. Shadow Generations is an amazing DLC to Sonic Generations. The white space world is more dynamic and interesting and the challenges are way more fun to complete. It is definitely an upgrade from the original but it’s a tad too expensive for a rehash of a 2011 game with a DLC strapped on.
When Sonic Generations came out in 2011 it was a celebration of Sonic through the generations. It was when Sonic Team stopped trying new ideas and started to re-use the most popular aspects of the franchise. Sonic Generations was successful enough that Classic Sonic started to show up in other games where he shouldn’t like Sonic Forces. It also led to the creation of Sonic Mania proving that there was a desire for “classic style’ sonic games in the modern era. Classic Sonic’s levels played like the side-scrolling original games on the Genesis, whereas Modern Sonic played more like Unleashed or Colors (The Boost Era).
You can choose to play as Classic or Modern Sonic, each Sonic has his own style of level that matches the era he comes from. Depending on who you play as to finish off the level you will get a different cutscene commenting on which Sonic saved the day. If Classic Sonic is the savor your friends usually comment on how small and different he looks, and he says nothing back. In the 2011 version Modern Sonic was also silent during these cutscenes which was strange so they changed that in this remake.
They did make improvements to regular Generations, adding Chao throughout the levels that players can find. However, there is no Chao garden to take care of them, which is yet another missed opportunity. You can view the Chao you collected in the collection room along with art, music and movies. They have a similar collection room in Shadow Generations but you can also collect pieces of Gerald Robotnik’s journal which you can actually acquire in real life if you purchased the physical edition.
In Shadow Generations you go to previous levels from Shadows past similar to Sonic (except for some reason there is a Sonic Frontiers level and Shadow wasn’t in Sonic Frontiers so easy asset reusing maybe?) but instead of side scrolling Shadow’s white space is free roam. The more bosses you complete the more upgrades Shadow gets that allows him to traverse the white space more. There are little challenges throughout the space that will reward you with concept art once completed. You can also acquire concept art (blue), music (yellow) and Shadow’s history (green) by collecting medals throughout the levels. Bring the medals back to the hub to unlock the boxes. Just skating around completing challenges and looking around was honestly a blast.
There is a Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Movie Pack but the term pack is misleading. It’s a single level where you play as Shadow from the movie voiced by Keanu Reeves. You get to run through the streets of Tokyo getting chased by G.U.N. You can collect movie posters that you can view in your collection room. You are basically paying 6 dollars for a single level. I’m just glad the level had a remixed version of Westopolis which is what I was waiting for the whole Shadow DLC.
Shadow Generations is a major upgrade from Sonic Generations, it has fluid cutscenes,epic boss fights and a better hub world. I wish they completely overhauled Sonic Generations to be more like Shadow Generations because it is the superior game in the pack. If you have never played Sonic Generations before then this is a better choice then going with the older version. If you have played Sonic Generations before then I would recommend buying this on sale and just playing Shadow Generations.
I’m going to give 3 ratings, one for Sonic Generations, one for Shadow Generations and one combined.
Sonic
Shadow
Sonic X Shadow
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