Sonic Generations - Game Review

Sonic Generations is a 3D Sonic platformer that was released in the United States in 2011. This game commemorated the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog by combining levels from all prior Sonic Games and has play styles from both early and recent sonic titles. 

I finally purchased Sonic Generations on Steam after wanting to play it forever. I originally bought the game for the Nintendo 3DS, but this version felt like a lot of good content was cut out, so I ultimately ended up returning it. I have heard good things about the game from almost everyone, so I figured I'd try it out myself for the PC.

Sound

If there's one thing Sonic games do consistently well, it's their music and Generations is no exception. The music is upbeat and immersive, offering a unique sound to each level. In fact, most of the music in Generations is a remix of previous Sonic songs, which not purposefully made me feel nostalgic, but also offered a new and fresh feeling to the levels as well (I'm looking at you City Escape). If anything, take a minute to look up the soundtrack on YouTube, you won't regret it.

 Graphics

This game is all around gorgeous. The enhanced graphics of the stages (Especially the older ones) are absolutely captivating. Not only is every level colorful, but the environments are extremely detailed. There is often a lot going on in these levels, which is sometimes distracting and can be confusing, but it ultimately didn't bother me too much. The only issue I have, is that there are also certain levels where they are intentionally dark to create the mood. This sometimes made it difficult to see enemies and obstacles and could be very frustrating. While I recommend turning up the brightness, it also ruined the aesthetic of the level.

 Story

To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure what was happening with the story. At first, the characters are shown at a birthday party for Sonic, and then they are all kidnapped and turned into statues. As the story progresses, the cut scenes continue to make no sense to me, which in all honesty isn't much different than any other Sonic game I've played. While I don't think the story is strong or particularly interesting, I don't think it really detracts from the game's experience.

Gameplay 

While the graphics and sound were great and the story irrelevant, the gameplay was definitely bothersome. I felt like the controls were often very loose and difficult to figure out. Sonic runs fast, which is a major point of his character, but often times I felt like I didn't have control over him and he was just doing whatever he wanted. Jumping from platform to platform was very difficult, because the inertia from the fast pace would constantly cause me to fall. I was never fully able to figure out how to properly time jumps and it just ended up being frustrating. While this does make the game mechanics more realistic, it only ended up making me nauseous in the end.

While I did like the ability to play as either first generation Sonic or second generation Sonic, I would have much preferred to choose one or the other. I am not a huge fan of classic sonic and started playing during the Sonic Adventure era. I would have preferred to play just the "Act II" levels, which had a more modern feel. I did like, though, that each level had both options and felt like it really expanded the world.

 Overall

I think Sonic Generations is the best Sonic game we've seen in a long time. It effortlessly combined both classic and modern Sonic in an aesthetically beautiful game all while making me feel terribly nostalgic. While I wasn't a huge fan of the game play, it didn't completely ruin the experience for me. I still enjoyed exploring the world of Sonic in all of the gorgeous high definition detail that the game provided. I would ultimately give Sonic Generations a 7.5/10. So trust your feelings, live and learn, and give Sonic Generations a try.