Sonic Generations

Opening thoughts, I really loved this game to begin with. It started strong and it persisted all the way through the Classic and Dreamcast era. The presentation was astounding, the colour and design as captivating as I could expect, but I was dissapointed that I could not stop to appreciate some of the sights by movement of the right analog.

The story was pretty superfluous, with nothing really worth remembering, not even the predictable ending. The characters felt really under-developed and my favourites such as Knuckles and Silver had very little screen time (though, in Silver's defence, his rival fight was pretty cool). Even Vector had more screen time! They really could have done more to improve all this.

Boss battles, however few, were challenging and, at times, frustrating, but once you got the hang of it, having finally worked out the weaknesses and how to exploit them, it became much more fun. Then came the final boss. I was there for a good while, panicking that there weren't enough rings present and he kept slowing time. And no song? No Crush 40 for the final song? Shameful.

Gameplay was everything you'd expect from the demo; very fluid, and although you'll hit a few snags here and there such as hitting a wall or speeding away from the camera. Classic Sonic is a preferred varient when compared to Modern, and although today's Sonic is an entertaining ride it really does feel like just that, a ride. You seem to follow a few fixed paths and it's impossible to stear away from them and explore somewhere else.

And now for my gripes. Like I said, it started strong but when it came to the more recent levels, Crisis City and Planet Wisp in particular, it really felt as though the game couldn't be bothered with them. Crisis City really annoyed me; I hoped that it may somewhat redeem the terrible level designs of the original but instead it lasted for nearly as long as the original level and there are many things that'll just sap your rings away, creatures and spikes just placed clumsily in silly places. I felt it more of a grind in these two levels and I can't say I'm eager to replay them. I did enjoy Rooftop Run, however; very vibrant and inviting, and although Unleashed really doesn't rank high in the Sonic series I felt the level really ran smoothly in both Classic (especially) and Modern.

Final thoughts, a really enjoyable game and by far, in my opinion, Sonic's strongest next gen title thus far. But the adventure did feel somewhat short and Sega's bad tendencies to give up in certain areas had not changed much. I'd give it a fair 8/10. I'd have served a nine for a stronger story and a whole ten for a more smoother gameplay throughout.

The past 10 years has been bumpy for our blue Hedgehog since Sonic Adventure 2 was released. Games such as Sonic Heroes was fun but games like Sonic the hedgehog 2006...not so much. We had a glimmer of hope with the day stages of Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colours was a great gem. But the question is.....can Sonic move forward with Sonic Generations? Yes! It can. Generations is a homage game celebrating 20 years of our love-able blue hedgehog with recreations of our favorite levels such as Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, etc. It gets better! You have two game-styles in Generations. The first game-style is Modern Sonic which has the game-style seen in the daytime levels of Unleashed and Colours. The second game-style is classic Sonic! Yes, you read correctly! You play as classic Sonic in 2d platforming like you did in the Genesis era! The game is very short which is a bummer but it has a lot of replay value with the tons of side missions, trying to s rank, unlocking upgrades, etc.

Long story short, if you're a Sonic fan you'll love this game! I for one am excited to see what adventures Sonic will have in the future!

As a fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog series for most of my life, I've been playing since Sonic 1 & 2 on the original SEGA Megadrive, Sonic 2 being my favourite. Unfortunately I was unaware of Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic CD being released, until Sonic Gems and Mega Collection. Instead, when it was released, I got Sonic Adventure DX and 2 Battle on the Game Cube, and Adventure 2 Battle took over my life as my favourite Sonic game ever. That title now stands next to Sonic Generations as I can't decide which is better. Generations made me relive "Classic" Sonic on some of the greatest stages ever created and faced some of the best bosses ever created! From Green Hill right up to the final boss, everything about Generations makes me want to keep playing, and Modern Sonic wasn't just boosting through the level, and although that's his style, I didn't mind, being a fan of the old platformer style (thankfully I'm not one of those Sonic fans who say that Sonic died since the start of the Modern Era, where-as I've enjoyed every single title, Heroes, '06, Secret Rings, Black Knight, Unleashed and Colours) and am thankfully he was slowed down a bit, although the homing attack irritated me since it stopped dead in the air then fell down, unlike Adventure 2 where you kind of got some speed from it. I wouldn't agree with the comment above about Sonic Colours being a good match to it, this is much, much better. Although I'm not pleased with the voice actors, I couldn't care less in this game, unlike Colours with its' cheesy dialogue and Roger's stupid voice. Anyway, the game deserves the 5 star rating, and I can't wait to get the collector's edition I've ordered. Can't wait to see what the 25th Anniversery will bring, since the 20th went out with a bang! No, A SONIC BOOM!