Title: Sonic Generations
Developed By: Sonic Team
Published By: Sega
Based on: The Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise which this year celebrates its 20 year anniversary
Console: Playstation 3 / XBox360 (There is a 3DS version of the game due to be released as well)
Release Date: November 2011
Genre: Platforming
Audio: English/Japanese
Subtitles: English
Region: This review was conducted on the Playstation 3 version of the title. There is no difference between this version and the XBox360 version
Special Thanks: Sega Australia, for providing me with a review sample of this title.
After 20 years with almost too many games to count, a “best of” anniversary compilation of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has been released. Instead of being just a set of games, it is a completely individual storyline that merges both old and new games together into the HD collection. I didn’t get to enjoy the classic Sonic games, with my entry to the series being that of Sonic Adventures 2 on the Nintendo Gamecube so I never really had the opportunity to check out the side-scrolling era of the series. Therefore, for those who like me have been brought up in the Dreamcast and current generation of Sonic gameplay, this will be your chance to see how the old gameplay functioned without thinking you shelled out money on a 20 year old game. With the last few installments being ambitious but potentially not reaching the standard set by the Dreamcast/Gamecube era of games in my books, does this game live up to my expectations? Read on to find out!
Keeping to the standard of every other game review I write, the storyline needs to be discussed. The whole purpose of this game is to hit you with nostalgia from the last two decades of the series therefore the storyline is only there to give you a purpose to continue on with the game, therefore is nothing stellar but does the job. It is Sonic’s birthday and all his friends have gathered round to give him a surprise birthday party. They are such thoughtful friends that they give him a present of a hotdog…. despite there being a plateful of them on the table behind them. As he sets himself up to take a bite out of it, a mysterious force comes in and captures all his friends leaving him alone in Green Hill Zone – the first ever world he appeared in. At the same time, Sonic of the past is running through Green Hill Zone and notices the dark force as well.
The mission of these two are to rescue present Sonic’s friends who have each been trapped to a world, restore each of the worlds by playing through a modern and classic version of the level and of course, defeat whoever is behind the mysterious force who is altering time. With the exception of the two Sonics (With only the modern one saying anything) and both modern and classic Tails, none of the other characters hold any weight to the story and have no more then a couple of lines each throughout the game. At the same time, the storyline is perhaps less complex then the more recent Sonic games, but at the same time was effective in both not overcomplicating things (So no damsel in distress or ability to turn into a werewolf) and just giving the viewers the nostalgia hit.
As you may expect, it was not possible to just port and rehash graphics over from the original games into this collection, but instead everything has been redesigned and given that HD touch to make it extra special. Even in the cases of levels such as City Escape which is pictured above where a level already existed for it they kept some fan favourite elements of it such as the skateboarding down the streets and fleeing from the truck, and improved upon them through extended length, shortcuts and non-linear routes and then for everything else they redesigned it for the benefit of both old and new gamer alike. They really do a great job regardless of the level in keeping the environments both active and beautiful. For levels either classic or modern that were designed for the opposite type – they were not always successful in breathing new life into the levels and keeping them diverse, but still made them interesting to play through.
In the game there are essentially three characters that jump between past and present – Sonic, Tails and Eggman with the others remaining exclusively classic or modern, and the differences between the two make it easy to identify who is who. Just as they bring the old levels back, they also chose to bring some of the past characters into the present and into HD, but retaining some features that set them apart from their counterparts by giving them a more simplistic external appearance and stature as well as voice and emotion changes (Eg. Classic Sonic cannot speak but instead uses emotion more then Modern Sonic who would rather talk). Irrespective of their designs, the two Sonic designs are both suitable for their different gameplay styles which will be mentioned a little later in the review.
There were a few complications of the design and camera which must be noted – primarily in the Modern Sonic sections. The game provides you with the ability to boost Modern Sonic to speed through the levels, however in quite a few of the opportunistic moments to use said boost, the game would suddenly fly me off the stage to my doom fairly sporadically. As well, there were also times where I found the camera got stuck leaving me with no choice but to fall off the edge of the world as I somehow made it to an area I was not supposed to. These are primarily it seems linked to the speed Sonic travels, and have been problematic since the first few games, but is a lot less buggy then before.
The Sonic series has always had a memorable discography, and this game makes good use of it but not only allowing you to collect music through Red Rings spread out through the levels, but also by including a number of remixes for each of the levels in the game to give them more of a modern tune to them. The remixes are hit or miss but lean more towards the hit side – and as an avid player of the Adventures line of games, it was good to see a number of the lyrical appearances receive remixes such as Escape from the City and Live and Learn (Fortunately while that song does sound like something out of a cheesy childrens anime, it is a catchy J-Rock song. While not all Sonic songs could be added to the game, they had a selection well respective of the series. The voice actors haven’t changed all that much over the last few years – so the voice acting is of suitable quality and perhaps a bit less eccentric and over the top in comparison to prior games. But do be warned, most characters would be lucky to get a dozen voiced lines in this game.
As you might be able to guess, the game has you taking control of both Sonic’s with each having their own unique style of gaming. Act 1 is played by Classic Sonic and has you navigating the sidescrolling “2D” environments of the nine worlds included in this game. For those more used to the 3D platforming style of gaming, this may take a while to get used to as you no longer have a homing attack – leaving you to jump on your enemy and hope their spikes do not kill you. Act 2 is played by Modern Sonic and claims to be a high-speed play as you switch between 3D and 2D environments. The game has some brilliant 3D parts to the levels which really do both Sonic’s justice, however there is too much 2D element in it – meaning that your fast-paced playthrough is usually hampered by floating pillars or traps which usually require you to slow down to complete. To the levels credit however, the number of paths you can take is highly satisfying and at times allows you to shave 30 plus seconds off the final time. I enjoyed the basic gameplay, even if I kept jumping trying to do a homing attack on Classic and trying to jump on enemies in Modern. It should appeal to both hardcore and casual fans of the series, as the difficulty rises exponentially, especially near the end of the game where levels take three times as long and do require more of a “try and see” approach to them.
Moving on to other elements of the gameplay, the nine stages in total are split up into three different eras – Megadrive Era, Dreamcast/Gamecube Era and Current Era, each containing three zones and two boss battles. The Sonic games have never had challenging bosses in the first place – but as they have brought back classic enemies and bosses they have also designed new battle styles often involving either action racing or navigating a course of platforms you can fall off – my favourite being the return of Perfect Chaos, one of the few Sonic Bosses I never really understood the battle system for. After you have completed a set of levels, you are able to do one of many challenges for each of them. A number of different challenges are provided such as complete stage X with one ring, complete the level with the use of a companion or even a time trial stage of a level against a Ghost Sonic. These will allow you to both collect Red Rings and collection notes – both of which provide new concept art or music to view or play at your leisure as well as build up points to “Level Up” sonic by adding skills to him. The challenges are for the most part fun and often alter the stage for increased difficulty although some are rather dull such as digging for X amount of treasure with Knuckles before you run out of time.
The game is very short – with nine worlds, two main acts in each and seven bosses, I was able to complete this game in a day with very little effort – so for those who want a main gameplay that will last you a bit longer, there are a fair few other Sonic games on the market that will last you for longer – such as Sonic Unleashed which I am still currently working my way through. However, for those who either love the classic Sonic gameplay, love challenges and collectibles for each individual stage or just want to show your kids there was more to Sonic then there is nowadays then this might be a good choice for you. Trophy hunters will also be pleased that the games trophies are moderately easy to unlock until they start asking for all S-Ratings (Perfect Timing + No Deaths).
Personally, it has been about a year or so since I last touched a Sonic game and honestly there hasn’t really been a Sonic game this generation that stood out to me in terms of memorable gameplay. However, after playing Sonic Generations and seeing what they have done with the game, it has given me hope that the next instalments will be as memorable. Who knows – I might be sitting here writing a review for Sonic Generations 2 released twenty years from now!
Final Score
Storyline/Character Development: C
Design: A-
Music/Voice Acting: A-
Gameplay: B
Replayability: B-
Personal Opinion: B+
Overall Score: B+
