Developer: Devil’s Details
Publisher: SEGA
Rrp: £19.99 (STEAM)
Released: 11th November 2011
Available on Steam
Played using: A Xbox 360 control pad
Before I start this review I feel I should mention that I have not played any games featuring Sonic since the late nineties when I played them on my Game Gear. Nor have I watched or read any material of featuring Sonic in that time. As such I have no idea who most of the characters are beyond Tails, Knuckles and of course the main character.
In Sonic Generations you get to play as both the classic version of Sonic (rendered in 3D but constrained to 2D) and the more modern incarnation (though not Sonic Boom modern).
The game is separated into multiple play areas that you can travel to through a large white expanse that acts as a level selection area. Each of these areas is split into two acts, the first is played with the classic version and the second with the modern version. One you have completed those two acts and unlocked all your friends in a given area Challenge modes open up. In order to progress in the game you must complete at least one challenge per area and collect the Boss Key.
The Challenge areas come in several different flavours such as racing against your doppelgänger or getting to the end of a level with only one ring.
There are also Red Stars that you can collect in the levels to unlock artwork and music, this can also be done by completing Challenges and ringing the bell that appears above them.
On completion of an act you are awarded shop points based on your performance. These shop points are used in the shop (found on the far left of the level selection area) to buy skills.
Don’t assume that buying the skill means it’s instantly available for use, you have to equip them first by attaching them to a skill set. Each skill set only allows a maximum of five skills and only up to one hundred points worth. What do I mean by that? Well each skill costs a set amount of points to use, for example the ‘Speed Up’ skill costs twenty points. So if you equip that you now have only four slots left and eighty points to work with. Thankfully there are five skill sets for each version of Sonic.
The mechanics when playing as the two types of Sonic are very different to each other. Anyone who played the original sonics should be familiar with the way Act one Sonic (or Classic Sonic) plays. There are some small changes but nothing too drastic, just little things like a temporary forced perspective change, which quickly reverts to the classic style. Act two Sonic (the more modern version) however, is a very different story. The camera is generally placed behind Sonic but changes quite regularly depend on the action on screen. The environments we in 3D meaning that Sonic now can dodge left and right while running. Sonic also has a homing attack that will hit a nearby enemy or jump pad that a gene reticule will highlight if you press [A] while jumping.
Finally there is the Boost ability, if you press [X] while running Sonic can go even faster than he normally would. Using this Boost will deplete energy that can only be replenished by collecting rings, killing enemies or performing tricks when jumping high.
To be honest, both the Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic have many more mechanics that occur during the game but all of these are situational to the level, whereas the ones above are consistent throughout the game.
I do have some rather major issues with this game though, or rather I have one major issue and that issue is the lack of communication when introducing new mechanics. Granted, the game does usually give a small video before a level starts if a new mechanic or move is introduced, but quite often it neglects it entirely, or, worse still, it tries to tell you the mechanic as your playing. This can be very confusing and hard to hear when you’re playing, the final battle is especially hard to understand.
When it comes to my final thoughts on Sonic Generations I find that I’m torn. I had a lot of fun from this game and laughed a few times but not because of anything the game did to intentionally make me laugh. I mostly laughed at the over the top-ness of it, the way it seemed like it was desperately trying to seem ‘cool’. Most of the actual fun I had was in the act one stages, the modern Sonics controls and movement felt awkward to me.
I think this might be more of a game for those that have kept up with Sonic, personally I found the whole thing to be a bit too short lived even with all the challenge stages.
If you liked that then perhaps try;
Rayman: Legends
Sonic CD
Freedom Planet
