Sonic: Generations

Date Acquired: Rented from Redbox on 11.11.11

Date Completed: 11.14.11

Thoughts: I really don't want to spend a lot of time talking about where Sonic games are now and where they used to be. I think that's been done to death, everyone knows, and the criticisms made against 3D sonic are well known. Unfortunately, when a game like this comes out to celebrate Sonic's history and embraces both his 2D and 3D games, bringing up that tired topic is somewhat relevant to this game. The hook here is that you are playing through the game as both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic. At any point before a level you can switch between them. It's an interesting idea, but ultimately didn't come across as much more than a gimmick. Modern and regular sonic control identically and have identical powers. There is no advantage to using one over the other, and certainly no reason to switch between them. Even if you're thinking you want to play as classic Sonic for nostalgic purposes, that doesn't come across nearly as well as it could have. For starters, I found the screen very blurry when I was moving. I know it's a speed game, but I've never thought a Sonic game was difficult to see due to screen blur. It could be old age, it could just be me, and I did adapt to it, it didn't make the game unplayable or anything, but it did keep me from noticing which Sonic I was playing as at a given time. So there is that, for almost the entire game, I had no idea which Sonic I was using, and it affected the game, not one bit.

The game itself is very short. Or at least, it can be. Each act only has 2 levels: a 2D level and a 3D level. The levels are inspired by and taken from various Sonic games throughout the years, the exact titles of which are listed in the end credits. Even the music is taken directly from the original games that inspired the levels, which in some case is great, and in some cases makes you want to tear out your ear-holes. With only 9 acts and 2 levels each, you fly through the game pretty fast, but there are a lot of optional challenges you can do as well, and I would say doing them is necessary to really experiencing the game. Some of these are things like speed runs, or fun extrapolations of small sonic ideas, like at the end of the level in Sonic 3 when you could knock the sign into the air and then keep hitting it and knocking it up until it finally touches the ground, giving you more points the longer you keep it in the air. There are whole challenge levels like that, and they're fun, because they don't tell you you failed if the sign hits the ground a few times, you just lose points. It works well, and the challenges are fun, although a few of them were almost unplayable. One specifically where you're supposed to move to the beat with the big purple cat, I couldn't do it no matter how many times I tried. It kept me from an achievement, but overall the challenges were a good addition, and you do have to complete 3 in each act to progress to the next act, but you get to choose which challenges you feel like trying, which is nice.

I would say I enjoyed the 2D levels more than the 3D levels, but the 3D levels were done well. The game does a good job of auto locking you and helping you run in a straight line in a 3D plane, there are 3 lanes basically, and to switch lanes, or sides of the screen is just a simple tap of the analog stick, but Sonic keeps running straight. Emplying this method makes it possible to keep the speed of Sonic alive, but not ruin it by making him run into stuff and off ledges or what not. Maybe it's not 'true 3D' but it's a good solution to a problem that has plagued this franchise.

My biggest gripe with the game is probably the final battle. It is just so.... obtuse. It is very hard to a) figure out what is going on at all, then b) figure out what your'e supposed to do, and c) when you do it, figure it out, do it again, because of course, it's a sonic game, so you have to do it 3 times. It is really, really poorly done and unresponsive. There was a time when I thought I just wasn't going to be able to beat it. I watched youtube videos and people could do it, but they could never say how, they just recommended a few strategies.

There was kind of an interesting moment at the end of the game, when the bad guy is defeated (bad guy, like we don't all know it's egg man) and Modern Sonic is saying good bye to old Sonic, and offers him these words of encouragement: "The future is going to be great!" All I could do was think sadly of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knght, Sonic Heroes, Sonic and the Secret Rings, etc. But again, I don't want to dwell on those games. I want to dwell on this game, and last year's Sonic Colors. Credit where credit is due, Sega is making good Sonic games again. We're on a 2 game streak. He's not back to the level he was in his Genesis heyday, and he may never reach that again, but his games are fun to play again, and that's all I ask.