Sonic Generations: Two Years Later

[Soniman]

2012 has been a pretty lax year for the hedgehog, so far we've had the underwhelming Sonic 4 - Episode II which did nothing but renew the bad taste in people's mouths leftover from playing Episode 1, and in less than a month we will have All Stars Racing Transformed, which is looking to be a good game on it's own, but most fans are still left waiting in the wings for when the next big budget title will be announced so the hype train can rev up again. Though before we do, I suggest we take one last in-depth look at the celebratory Sonic title that brought all past eras of Sonic into one big birthday package, I'm of course talking about Sonic Generations. Given the fact it was TSS' birthday recently and also the fact that nearly a year since the release date of Generations HD, I though it would be appropriate to have one giant topic dedicated to dissecting the fuck out of it.


 

After the relative success Sonic Colors more people where willing to give Sonic another chance again, most likely wondering if Sonic Team can keep their quality streak going or if Colors was just a fluke and they'd mess up again with the next game. Fortunately most critics where one over the instant they saw Classic Sonic show up in the teaser trailer as was most of the fanbase. What couldn't go wrong after all? Simple classic Sonic gameplay from day's past combined with the refined and well received modern gameplay in recent years and both Sonic incarnations running through stages from the Hedgehog tried and true history, it couldn't fail I tell ya! Either way, lets review all the ground that was covered by this game and see what parts where well done and what parts…aren't as much.
 

Green Hill Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog, the game that started it all. Sonic the Hedgehog and the Sega Genesis was the first game that threatened Nintendo's supremacy in the video game market, this was partly due to Sega's cleverly aggressive marketing campaign the put the blue blur in the spotlight. As for the game itself, it's still a decent experience, but you can obviously tell that the seres was still trying to find it's groove, specifically in the way in the momentum physics where implemented and how the level design didn't always compliment it, either way it's still a very influential game regardless.

What other stage other than Green Hill could have been chosen? It just simply had to be Green Hill, it's the first Sonic stage ever, so it's kind of important. No matter how sick you were of the stage beforehand, Generations as a whole would simply feel incomplete if it didn't have this as its first stage.

That Green Hill looks absolutely stunning in this recreated form. The way the geography is arranged combined with the checkered colors

Classic Green Hill Zone is a pretty robust level, it has a decent amount of paths t take and it does pretty good job of getting the player acclimated to the somewhat dodgy Classic Sonic controls. Other than that there really isn't anything else that I can say about the stage.

Modern Green Hill is kind of a disappointment though, the 3D is excessively linear and requires almost no input from the player (especially the later half) and the 2D is very unremarkable and also not ver engaging. Again, it helps the player to get acclimate to the general controls of Modern Sonic, but it's still a lousy level on it's own.
 

Chemical Plant

Sonic 2 is a game known by many to be the first game they played, and the most popular title overall. And why shouldn't it be? Sonic 2 took everything that was done in Sonic 1 and improved it 10-fold, the level design was larger and more suited to Sonic's momentum based abilities, the music was catchier and more fast paced, it introduced the fan-favoite character Miles Tails Prower as well as series mainstay Super Sonic. It was also the start of the Death Egg Saga a overarching epic that would extend into the grander sequel known as Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Personally Sonic 2 is my favorite Sonic game ever, it just has a certain charm to it that honestly no Sonic game has been able to recreate, I guess that's just due to the magic of it being my first Sonic game, I honestly love it to death.

The choice of Chemical Plant as the representative stage was a good one, it's one of the most notable stages in the game barring Casino Night (which got a spotlight itself in the HD and 3DS versions surprisingly) and consistently the most enjoyed.

Chemical plant has a loving amount of detail put into its recreation, it looks dark, gritty and vaguely steampunkish. It's great to see all the little touches in how the Chemical Plant functions (which you can frequently see in the background), it all really gives a sense of the horrors the good doctor can think up.

Classic Chemical Plant Zone hits all the major notes in the level design as the original, such as the intertwining tubes, energy tubes shooting every which way, Grabbers and Landers and moving boxes. Classic Chemical Plant doesn't really do anything new other than mixes and matches these specific stage gimmicks/badniks in new ways, really this is what Chemical Plant Act 3 would've been if it was in the original Sonic 2.

Modern Chemical Plant is actually fairly intense, the stage starts out with Sonic running down the tube section (and you're even given the opportunity to jump from one pipe to another one from across the way, which kinda blew my mind the first time I saw it) and then after some Unleashed-Esque drifting, grinding, and quickstepping you enter the 2D section which has a brief underwater section and some 2D platforming. The pace picks up again when you enter 3D and go down a water slide al Cannon's Core and then a really cool skydiving section where you have to dodge dozens of the blue energy spheres. We then come upon another hefty 2D sections with some water puzzles and a rising water section similar to the original stage, but the general forgiving stage design doesn't really make it all that difficult to avoid. The final area of the level is when things get crazy, the entire Chemical Plant starts to go up in flames you end up in a extremely flashy yet not all that compelling grind and sidestep sequence which lead you towards the end of the level. Chemical Plant is a pretty average stage, it focuses more on thrills and excitement rather than extremely well made level design and I think even that aspect was done a lot better in Speed Highway, but I suppose for the second level it's pretty robust.
 

Metal Sonic

Metal Sonic is probably one of Sonic's only rivals who is still after his head, not having a decently large role since Sonic Heroes it was nice to see him again and back with vengeance. The rival fight is pretty decent for the first "boss" in the game, Metal Sonic has an decent array of attacks, he starts of with a charge tackle which you can counter pretty easily, then he sends energy beams down at you which again is fairly easy to avoid and then promptly powers down and leaves himself open to attack (which is kind of silly and is a thing that has always bugged me certain bosses). Then he has a more clever attack where he hits the lamp posts and sends them careening after you which is fairly tricky to avoid, but still nothing special. Finally he charges for one final attack and comes barreling towards you, ramming into several platforms in the process, and aftar some careful dodging you land the final hit and send Metal Sonic blasting off again. Anyone who is vaguely skilled can have this fight finished in less than two minutes, it's incredibly easy.
 

Sky Sanctuary

Sonic 3 and Knuckles is what many seasoned fans refer to as the best Sonic tile ever, and for good reason. The stages where bigger than they ever been and filled to the brim with multilayered pathways and dozens of areas to explore, you had the option to play as up to three characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles), each with their own unique abilities that helps them to access areas of the level that would otherwise be inaccessible to other characters and it also increases replay value significantly. They're also the additions of blue sphere and Hyper Sonic, the former is an addicting re-work of the special stage concept and the former is a game breaking monstrosity that makes the game a dozen times more fun than it already is. Finally, the overarching Death Egg Saga epic finally reaches it's climax and we actually get a surprising amount a well told backstory and mythos concerning the Sonic universe, and all of it without any dialogue! That's incredibly impressive for a 16-Bit Genesis game. I put this game right just under Sonic 2 as favorite Sonic game, and really Sonic 2 only wins out due to nostalgia, it really is the best of the best.

That being said, Sky Sanctuary was a great choice, as the penultimate stage it's where all the plot points of the game reach their climax and the major locals of the game can be seen (specifically Angel Island and the Death Egg).

What I like what they did with Sky Sanctuary is how they focused and expanded on the architecture which is lovingly detailed and gives the stage a lot more character, that combined with the overgrowth makes the stage visually quite studding. The Death Egg looks great, though I wish it would have more of presence during the stage, perhaps mimicking the triumphant scene of it rising through the cloud like in the original game. Also, Angel Island is missing completely from this level which is a shame, also no Mecha Sonic!

Classic Sky Sanctuary is really well designed, the appeal here is that the original Sky Sanctuary was transitional stage, and not really as robust as the other stages in the game. Here though, we get a fully developed level out of the stage.This level mostly focuses on the main gimmicks of the original like the bouncing clouds, pole, Egg Robos and the rotating platforms, and we also get a neat little throwback to the Marble Garden Zone-esque floating platforms that move the faster Sonic runs. The level also consists of many secret paths and areas to take, like a lot of them, and that's what makes this stage so great to play, and I think this philosophy rings true near the end when you reach the iconic crumbling tower segment, and you see that there was three other ways you could've gotten up the tower (indicated by the red rings on each path).

Modern Sky Sanctuary is a great stage, probably the second best Modern stage behind Seaside Hill. From the outset you have a lot of alternate paths that are open to you with some neat gimmicks such as the cool usage of cloud bouncing like in the original as well as some 3D platforming.You then enter a room another stage filled with rotating platforms and straight aways, which is again, completely 3D and reasonably well designed. The 2D areas are also reminiscent on the classic areas, one of its main features is the presence of Egg Robos and how they can affect the route you take (as some of them can block certain paths, forcing you to take another one). Also another particular gimmick I really appreciated was the the crumbling ruins, as it affected the stage in a cool way and actually presented legitimate increase in difficulty. The stage then ends with a crumbling stairway section (which is really just for show as it's pretty easy to avoid) and a quick boost to the goal. Overall the stage was really great it focuses a lot on it's own assets (clouds, teleporters, rotating platforms, crumbling sections, poles, etc) and not on heavily reliant on non-characteristic blocky platform sections.
 

Death Egg Robot

For a Non-Super Sonic boss to represent the Classic Era, Death Egg Robot is a good choice. Im sure most people who played Sonic 2 remember how insanely hard his fucker was, but don't worry, he's much more easier to deal with than he was in the original (though I personally wouldn't consider that a good thing). The fight starts with you avoiding the Robot's easily avoidable attacks and attacking his easily revealed weak point. After that you end up in a room where you trick the Robot into attacking specifically placed bombs. After you do this once the fight ends in a flashy and gigantic explosion. This fight was…..pretty disappointing to say the least, I know his Sonic 2 incarnation was hard, but you didn't have to make this so pathetically easy. I would have liked a bit more thought and difficulty being put into this fight, that whole bomb segment is nothing but luring the Doctor into stupidly attacking obviously placed targets, it's just lame
 

Speed Highway

Sonic Adventure was the first true leap into 3D for the hedgehog, and it was a pretty shaky start, all thing's considered.it was a new era for Sonic all things considered, characters like Sonic an Eggman went through significant design changes (brought on by then artist Yuji Uekawa) Instead of focusing primarily on the Sonic gameplay and building the the playable characters around that. They opted to inject some other almost completely unrelated game play styles that no one asked for. Regardless it at least gave the series a defined style that would continue to be "improved" art time went on. I like Sonic Adventure, it has a distinct style to it that I find endearing. Yeeah it has aged about as well as milk but it's rotten milk that I can still get a kick out of.

The choice of Speed Highway is an okay one I guess, i'm pretty sure they were trying to go for the most popular choice but I would have greatly preferred Lost World (due to it's overall relevance to the plot and Dreamcast Era Boss) or Windy Valley just for the sake of variety.

Despite that, Speed Highway looks great, the neon styled skyline and the brightly colored billboards and advertisements seriously gives the stage a very cool look to it, I also appreciate the fact that this is the first Sonic level in a long time that takes place at night, which helps it stick out more in the Generations level list.

Classic Speed Highway is pretty cool, it makes use of several of the original stages' gimmick like the moving conveyer platforms and the giant yellow shovels launchers, I also like the good use of slopes and curves and wished they were utilized often in more of the classic stages. It's also really cool to see Sonic going through several interior buildings like a mall complete with escalators and marble walls. I am kind of disappointed that the rockets and helicopters weren't utilized in more interesting ways other than mid stage transitions, an actual controllable rocket/helicopter section could've been pretty ace. Eh whatever, it's a good stage regardless.

Modern Speed Highway is the fucking essence of cool. Id like to see it as basically the perfection of the Unleashed-Style of gameplay with narrow streamlined pathways, exciting moments, and general high speed action. Despite being linear however, they're as still a metric ton of alternate pathways and secret routes you can take t ensure that you almost never play the stage the same way twice, which is a problem I had with a lot of stages in Unleashed. What I love about it that while some high speed stages kind of lose their general flow when it hits 2D, the 2D here is actually really well handled and with a some skill you can also run through the with relative ease. The only problem I have with this stage is that it's way to short, which is why I think they should have added the At Dawn section as well. Overall I think it's a great stage, pretty much my second favorite level.
 

City Escape

Sonic Adventure 2 is/was a fan favorite among many fans, often referred to as Sonic' last good game before the recent upswing in quality. It introduced Shadow the Hedgehog, previously Sonic's greatest rival and anti-hero, it also introduced the grinding mechanic, streamlined the Treasure Hunting and Mech Shooting gameplay, and also tighter controls for the Speed levels, mostly due to more linear level deign. The story was also a lot more darker and "serious" when compared to past Sonic titles, though that is pretty debatable. And it also famously refined the Chao Garden from SA1 and had had players sinking hours into raising and training the little critters, a trait that many still fans STILL ask to be implemented in the current games. I don't really care for SA2, I really see it as a significant downgrade from its predecessor in my aspects. Sure I loved it as a kid and even today it has many cool moments I can still look back on fondly, but as a whole, eh.

The choice of City Escape was one that makes sense, it's also SA2's most popular (and probably funnest) stage and it''s the level most people remember from the game. I would have preferred something a bit different though, like an Ark stage (since visually the stages looks interesting) like Crazy Gadget or Final Rush, but I suppose they wanted to choose a stage that had a lot of visual set pieces and nostalgia value…to bad it had to be a city level.

City Escape looks nice, though not as much as other stages. The colors don't really pop out as much as they do from other stages, though I do like the extra greenery they decided to place around the the stage to make it look less grey and the abundance of silly billboards and advertisements really helps to give the stage some personality even though it was sort of done already in the last stage.

Classic City Escape is really awesome. Part of what makes this stage unique is the way the G.U.N Truck is utilized, throughout the course of the stage the G.U.N Truck constantly affect the layout of the stage, and how the player can progress depends on if you can outrun the G.U.N Truck before it fucks shit up. Another cool gimmick was the new ability for Classic Sonic to use a skateboard, it's really cool because unlike Classic Sonic it actually has pretty accurate momentum physics not to mention that they're are ton of ramps where you can pull of sweet tricks. Overall it' a good stage that makes good use of the original stage's gimmicks, unlike……..

Modern City Escape is kind of a bland stage. I think the main problem with it is that the developers wanted to hit all the major set pieces and leave it at that. You get a reasonably expanded on street board section, and then some okay 3D areas, and then a visually stunted building running throwback (it happens so quickly that it isn't nearly as cool or impressive), then some average 2D sections (though it was cool of them to add pole swinging mechanic) and then a G.U.N Truck chase sequence which is really cool at first, but on repeated playthroughs it becomes boring and systematic. It doesn't really do anything outstanding, it's just…meh.

 

Shadow

Shadow was quite the popular character back in the days of SA2, where he was seen as the aloof, badass antithesis to Sonic and he actually had a respectable character portrayal, but nowadays you'll see him at the butt of many jokes along with the rest of Sonic cast, and you can chalk that one up to not having a decent character portrayal since his debut. Unfortunately his boss battle doesn't really do him any favors, since all it is, is a boring race to the finish to see who can Chaos Control each other in the face first, when anything does happen it's when Shadow or Sonic get Chaos Control, then you get to participate in an underwhelming side step section to damage Shadow or avoid his Chaos Spear. it really doesn't get any interesting than that. An underwhelming fight overall and isn't to much better than the original.
 

Seaside Hill

Sonic Heroes had some pretty big shoes to fill with the massive popularity SA2 had built up especially concerning how it would handle Shadow's death and eventual return. Unfortunately Sonic Heroes was seen as a relative disappointment in that regard and it's usually the 3D Sonic game that everyone forgets about, often criticized for it's slippery controls, stupidly campy writing (abandoning all the "mature" themes SA2 established) and story, the fact that you have to play the same game four times in order to complete the entire game, and underutilized Team gimmick. I know I probably shoved this fact into everyone's faces by now but I must reiterate that I really like this game (maybe even love) as it was the first Sonic game I ever owned so it holds a special place in my…..chest area. The music was great and stylistic, the artsyle was great, the tropes where fun and original, and the gameplay s fun and decent enough that I can have fun with it anytime.

Seaside Hill Zone was a pretty…..awful choice for the Sonic Heroes stage though, especially when you consider the massive variety in its level selection. Casino Park, Egg Fleet, Hang Castle, Mystic Mansion, Bullet station, any of theses stages would of been a better choice than Green Hill 2.0, it just feels like such a huge waste.

Seaside Hill does looks great though, I think the main attraction here is how excellently detailed the water effects are, they glisten in the sun and you can clearly see the coral beneath and it's all so lovingly detailed. As for geography, the juxtaposition between the Green Hill-esque checkered textures and the white and red Ocean Palace ruins really makes the visuals stand out a lot more and it at least makes it somewhat visually distinctive from Green Hill.

What I like about Classic Seaside Hill is that is seems to harken back to past water Sonic stages, most notably Labyrinth an Hydrocity Zone.You spend chunks of the level underwater fighting against the current. And they're plenty of secret paths to take and it shows in the background where you can see the lost opportunities to access those areas. At the end of the level they harken back to the original Ocean Palace boulder chase by having a 2D pseudo boulder chase sequence. It's a pretty nice stage, but it doesn't rock my world, despite the giant boulders.

Modern Seaside Hill is a fantastic stage, easily the best stage in the game to me. It has everything I would want out of a Sonic stage, wide ope areas, dozens upon dozens of multiple pathways, and a buttload of secret nooks and crannies to explore. They're are so much to see and discover in this level, you can stick to the beach below, the high, hard to reach areas on top, and all the stuff in between, it's just great. The stage also doesn't skimp on the 3D platforming, something that was heavily missing from the Modern Sonic games (especially Sonic Colors), and it's perfectly serviceable even if Modern's controls are bit stiff for it, but hey, it gives them plenty of room to improve from here. One thing it does that I wish City Escape did more is that it took Seaside Hill/Ocean Palace's established stage gimmicks and expanded upon them. The bobsled section is featured as a entirely optional mini game that does a good job in breaking up the general monotony, and the turtle section is brought back as a multi faceted platforming section, and the boulder chase is reworked into an entire death path filled with giant boulders (it's pretty easy to avoid, but at least it's something fresh). There are also some underwater sections in the later 2D half of the game, but they're so minimalistic that you can stay out of them for the entire play through. Overall Seaside Hill is a fantastic stage and it represents the kind of care and attention to level design that i'd like to see in future Sonic games.
 

Perfect Chaos

Perfect Chaos was a good choice for the Dreamcast Era end boss, the other two fights with Final Hazard and Metal Overlord required Sonic to have a buddy with him, not to mention both of those fight where in the air, a feature I'm sure Sonic Team wanted to save for the spectacular final boss. What I like about this fight is that it's just as much of a level as it is a boss fight, throughout the level Perfect Chaos attacks you and it just gets more and more intense as you progress through each section of the fight, and by stage 3 he's throwing tentacles, lasers, missiles, and tornados at you. It's at stage four where things reach their climax and Chaos just tears up whatever roads they're are left and you are left to participate and a touch and go 3D Platform section in order to get to Chaos' weak point, it's especially harrowing due to the fact that Chaos could decide to destroy the platform you're currently residing on. It's a shame that Chaos is a pretty easy boss than can be defeated rather quickly, I think they're should've been more to his "second phase" than just one hit, oh well it's still a good fight.
 

Crisis City

Im sure everyone has the fondest memories of Sonic 06, such a wonderful game. Doesn't everyone just love how utterly broken the controls were, how they're glitches everywhere, how convoluted and melodramatic the story is, how the game is filled to the brim with shovlerware-esque gameplay that no one asked for? And especially how this game utterly destroyed any semblance of a reputation that Sonic had left? Sarcasm aside, no one wanted to hear of this game ever again, and bringing any of it back from 06 didn't really fill people with a lot of hope. But unfortunately, 06 is a part of Sonic's history and whether we like it or not, we have to acknowledge it.

Im a bit miffed at the choice of Crisis City, I know it's probably the only stage anyone remembers from that game but still as fall as variety goes I would of chosen something like Kingdom Valley (the only other decent looking stage imo), or hell, anything other than a third fucking city level.

While not to different from the original, Crisis City looks tons more vibrant and easier on the eyes it's actually real great scenery gorn and I can almost accept it being a Sonic stage. They've even taken the liberty of making the stupidly dark looking Iblis monsters a lot more cartoony so they blend in better with the general series.

Classic Crisis City is enjoyable and actually pretty intense. From the start the main attraction of the stage is the fact that everything is crumbling around you and you have to be quick on your feet to avoid the hazards. Of course I have to mention the part that everyone remembers about the stage, where Sega pulls a fake out with the goal post (which was utterly hilarious by the way) and the stage continues with a windy platforming section through the trademark fire tornado. The level design itself is serviceable, having a healthy amount of platforming and enemy bouncing (even more hilarious considering the enemies are bloodthirsty lava creatures) and a fair amount of difficulty, it's pretty good.

Modern Crisis City is kind of a standard stage, there's a decent number of 3D platforming and homing attack chains, but a lot of the time you're in 2Dscrewing about with a boring lava stomp puzzle gimmick that really doesn't feel satisfying and just feels tedious because all it's doing is slowing you down and completely killing any momentum you had previously. The stage is somewhat redeemed at the end with an intense section where you're racing towards the fire tornado at full speed and you have to do your best at dodging the cars flying in your direction and it actually does a really good job at keeping the player on their toes. Crisis City is an alright stage, but it it really should've been more ambitious. Still a shitload better than its original incarnation at the very least.
 

Silver

Im sure everyone knows of this lovable character, he's most notable for having an annoying voice (at the time) a bratty personality, and the most utterly broken boss fight seen in a Sonic game, needless to say he's not a very popular character at all in most circles. Now the question is, does the Generations incarnation work to improve his stained image? Well I can safely say yes, Silver's rival boss fight is actually really fun and enjoyable overall, pretty much the best rival fight in the game. Sliver has a decent array of attacks to keep you active in the fight (unlike Shadow's fight) and gets more and more intense as it goes on. And I just have to mention that it feels extremely satisfying whenever you land a hit on Silver, the sound is akin to bones crunching, that coupled with the fact that at the end of the fight Silver gets crushed by his own trash ball just makes the whole thing all the more rewarding.
 

Rooftop Run

Sonic Unleashed was the initial spark that gave people hope that Sonic could bring himself back from the abyss that his reputation had fallen in. The Sonic gameplay was completely overhauled into a functional and fun formula that was less likely to fall apart via technical blemishes, the entire world was recreated in a wonderful pixar-like style, Sonic and Eggman got their proper cartoony designs back (as well as the other recurring characters), it really looked like Sonic was finally back on top again…..to bad he really wasn't. Sonic Unleashed unfortunately suffered from a lot of game design issues that deterred most folks from calling it success. The Medal Collecting was seen as tedious and unfair in most cases, the Werehog (whether you liked it or not) was yet another alternate gameplay style that no one asked for, and more often than not people wanted to use play the Sonic levels and just skip over all of the padding. I personally don't care for Unleashed all that much but I do appreciate all the love, care, and attention that was put into it's development. The world was lovingly crafted, the musical score was excellent, and just the production values in general were top notch, I wish to see that kind of effort put into a future Sonic game….but with all the bad and tedious stuff removed.

I shouldn't be to mad that Rooftop Run is yet another city level due to the fact that most of Unleashed's levels where cities/villages anyway, but good lord that could of at least chosen a city level with more variety to it, Dragon Road immediately come to mind, that stage would've been great as it's far enough from defined term of "city" that I would have absolutely no qualms with it being in Generations. But I suppose the developer choose Rooftop Run due to it being the fan-favortie stage, so whatever.

That said, Rooftop Run looks great, I like the theme of the level taking place during a festival of sorts, complete with confetti, balloons (of the normal and hot air variety), and blimps. It all makes it look a lot less bland than the original. I would have liked some of the residents from the hub world to appear like Proffesor Pickle, his assistant, and many others. Oh well, it still looks nice.

Classic Rooftop Run is a fun stage, if not somewhat difficult and lengthy.The stage starts off with some stage hazards via deadly saw blades and Unleashed badniks, right after the ground section the game take a fairly interesting direction by going underground and taking place in a…wine cellar I suppose, there you dodge giant barrels pushed by badniks like something out of Donkey Kong, it's a cool nod to the Werehog stage that had a similar theme with the barrels. The stage then ends pretty fantastically, after you leave the wine cellar area you come up to the iconic clock tower where you take part in some really difficult platforming and dodging deadly laser from near invincible enemies, once you reach the top of the tower you take part in some pole swinging and smack the clock face into a nearby blimp. Sonic then board the flaming blimp and get to fuck up some badniks before exiting spectacularly and hitting the goal post. It's things like that, that really give the a stage it's own identity and works to make is better as a whole.

Modern Rooftop Run is a more compact version of the original, it hits all the major notes like the clock tower, side step step section, the chase sequences, but the stage as a whole..flows a lot less more consistently that the original due to increase focus on platforming and stage hazards. Other than that I really don't have much else to say about the stage, it has some nice alternate paths some cool moments, but I don't think ti really does anything better than some of the other stages. if you loved the original you probably won't love this stage as much, if you haven't played the original, it probably won't be your favorite stage from his game.
 

Planet Wisp

While Sonic Unleashed was a game that was massively hyped and ended up being a relative disappointment, Sonic Colors had a tenuous hype train that actually had a good payoff in the end. While definitely not the AAA Sonic game most fans wanted and are still waiting for, Sonic Colors proved to be the good solid title that people wanted and maybe it was just the game that the Sonic series needed. The combination of solid (if a bit bland) platforming and general gameplay, versatile power-ups, straightforward unfiltered Sonic gameplay with no padding or BS to get in your way, and a great original art style helped it get a leg up on most of it's 3D predecessors. It should be no secret that I love this game for all the reasons mentioned and consider it my third/fourth favorite game right behind Sonic 2 and S3&K.

The choice of Planet Wisp for a end stage is a somewhat odd one. For a final stage I would of gone with something like Asteroid Coaster or an expanded Terminal Velocity, but I guess they wanted to turn Planet Wisp and it's factory setting into something akin to Scrap Brain, which is alright I guess.

Planet Wisp looks great, it gives us a glimpse of how great Sonic Colors could've looked if it had gotten and HD release. The obvious charm is in how great the forest areas look without looking similar to other Green stages like Green Hill and Seaside Hill and more like an alien world, complete with the wisps bouncing about, stars and Sonic's entire planet seen in plain view. The factory areas aren't to different in appearance from the original though, they're pretty much the same thing but in HD.

Classic Planet Wisp is kind of a not very good stage. The main problem with it's stage is that it spends way to much time with classic Sonic in Spike Wisp form, all you do is take part in some boring ass Spike Wisp puzzles that just get really grating as the stage goes on. And apparently the developers thought to arificaly increase the difficulty by extending the level to nearly ten minuets, sadly that doesn't make the stage more challenging and fun, it just makes everything more tedious. What they should of done was have classic Sonic by himself running through a Scrap Brain inspired Planet Wisp, and the Spike Wisp is occasionally and optionally available to use to access otherwise inaccessible parts of the level, rather than strictly having them for designated puzzle solving, a regrettable waste of a good concept on a bad stage.

Modern Planet Wisp is a lot better, but still a relative letdown. The begging forest area was fantastic, It had wide open areas and plenty of paths to take, I would have liked it if Modern Sonic focused on that area due to Classic Sonic focusing excessively on the factory area, but unfortunately Modern also gets to the factory and cool space also slows to a relative crawl. They added some new gimmicks and stage hazards like the buzz saws, rockets and rail carts (which was a sort of interesting mechanic) but it really isn't enough to stop it from feeling samey. Speaking of Rocket, the Rocket Wisp makes a return but this time he functions a bit differently from his original incarnation, in this game you are supposed to charge him up before release, which I don't see the point to really, it's not like the Rocket Wisp is used in any cool or unique ways all it's used for is breaking barriers and that's probably because the Rocket Wisp wasn't that versatile to being with. It's because of the Rocket Wisp's mundane usage that we get a rather unsatisfying ending to the level as it doesn't really end in a spectacular or understandable manner, all you do is Rocket Spam through some barriers and the level just ….ends, boo. They seemed they wanted to cram all the Planet Wisp Acts from Colors into one level but they really should have focused on making it a well rounded and fresh experience, rather than a overall mediocre one.
 

Now it's time for a change of pace.

Egg Dragoon

Egg Dragoon is a great boss choice to represent the Modern Era, it's easily one of the most badass creations by the good doctor and it was one of the most intense fights in its original incarnation (where you're a lumbering Werehog). Like the Silver fight, I believe what makes this fighter enjoyable is the good amount of varied attacks he can pull off…..well maybe not varied in itself, but the ways you can attack in different ways certainly are. For example when he uses his ice attacks you are given a chance to homing attack the body, or when he to wall jump and dodge more ice shots you are given another opportunity, and how about when you're in 3D and he sends missiles after you and you can quickstep out of the way (or choose to grind if you can reach them) and then be quick enough to avoid his separation attack and get a hit on hit? And finally there's an entire a sky diving portion where you have to dodge more oncoming missiles and get in close enough to land a hit. Notice the skills Sonic has used? Boost, quickstep, grinding, skydiving, and wall jumping? The boss fight really is a test of nearly all the skills the player had learned up to that point, in that sense the Egg Dragoon feels more like a final boss then the actual final boss. Of course I have to mention the fact that Eggman will not shut up during these fights, always spouting quote after quote, and while Eggman quotes are usually hammy and delightful, you can only heard "TIME FOR A CHANGE OF PACE!!!" so many times before you go insane. It's a good fight regardless, and it least isn't the worse case of quote spam as we'll see coming up next.

 

Time Eater

Time Eater is not a good final boss fight, Time Eater isn't even a mediocre boss fight, it's awful, horrible, a all-round deplorable way to end an otherwise good game. Part of why Time Eater sucks so much is because in addition to Sonic's friends not shutting the fuck up and spouting meaningless lines that don't help at all (HOMMING SHOT!) the fight itself is so poor in explaining what the fuck is player is supposed to do that most of the time you're just aimlessly flying around just trying to stay alive due to your constantly depleting ring count. It's only after an extended amount of time that you finally get the gist of how you have to go about damaging it. You have to have Modern Sonic boost into the core while dodging oncoming HOMMING SHOTS!!111. Classic Sonic almost does fuck all, sure you can use him to occasionally damage the Time Eater, but it would just be easier to stick to Modern Sonic the entire time. For the finale Time Eater throws a giant sun at you and that's when you perform the final attack, and to end on a high note, we get a musical nod to Sonic 4, a game that I'm sure everyone has fond memories of.

Wow this fight really sucked, I really think they should stop trying to make Super Sonic into a boss fight (because none of the 3D one have really been outstanding) and just focus on making normal Sonic fighting against the final bosses (something like Colors) where there's at least some semblance of skillful play involved rather than thrusting the player into a completely unrelated flight simulator where you have to learn all the controls quick or you'll die. So yeah, this was a terrible boss, and it was a bad way to end this game


This is the main meat of the game, and after Time Eater we get a generally nostalgic trip down memory lane one last time in the credits sequence, and at the end we get a touching moment where Sonic fans from around the world wishes Sonic a happy birthday.

And that's about it for the main part of the game, quite the ride when all's said and done, what did you think?

Edited November 4, 2013 by Soniman

[Semi-colon e]

As much as the Modern stages of Sky Sanctuary (I really wish they'd picked an actual Sonic 3 level, it's kind of ironic the one they pick was half a level originally) and Seaside Hill are technically the best designed, I find Speed Highway and Crisis City to be my favourites, even a year on.

Speed Highway is for pretty much the exact reasons you said. I was initially disappointed in it until I discovered some of the insane shortcuts, and it's one of the best looking levels in the series. Crisis City I've talked about enough, but the challenge, the music, the graphical detail, the platforming, and just the general pacing of the level make this one of my favourites in any Sonic game. It's also the first Sonic level in years to be challenging but not ridiculously cheap (aside from the very first troll section with the enemy chain).

It's kind of odd, because I felt Speed Highway and Crisis City were the strongest Classic levels too, except for maybe Sky Sanctuary.

I don't really care for Green Hill at all and the Classic stage for Rooftop Run I find kind of not that fun to play. Planet Wisp is fairly bad as Classic Sonic, but I think I actually like it more than Rooftop Run. I actually really like the Modern stage of Planet Wisp, despite how 2D heavy it is.

I found Classic Chemical Plant to be strictly inferior to the original, but Modern's took it in a different direction. I really like the progression of this level even if it's mostly 2D and the 3D is mostly boosting. It's about normal with some ways to see a lot of the area until the end of the sky diving section, and then some alarms go off. Then you see some broken things in the background in the 2D section afterwards, and then more things and water tanks break as the factory fills. Then you go instantly into the 3D finale where everything's exploding around you. It's really cool actually, even if not the best level ever.

City Escape's okay I guess, I totally agree with Soniman on this one, particularly with regards to the Modern stage. City Escape didn't really do anything special for me compared to the other 3 city levels, and this is the one I'd replace first, despite how iconic it is.

I think the bosses are fun aside from Time Eater of course. Perfect Chaos is my favourite for being like a level, but Egg Dragoon and Silver are also really good fun.

I was initally disappointed in this game, but it grew on me a lot as I just enjoy it so much. I still enjoy it a heck of a lot, but i don't play it as much as I did when it first came out (as I pretty much played it all the fucking time back then).

Also it's been a year already? It's been one fast year. I suppose in terms of Sonic games I've played since then that I hadn't before I had Episode 2, 06, and Unleashed... urrrrrgh.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Semi-colon e

[Scar]

To be honest the game was never truely that amazing from the beginning. Its just the first Sonic game I could sit down and Enjoy right until the end. There was very little there that put me off continuing to play the game and nothing that contradicted what I feel like I should be doing in a Sonic game.

THAT is probably where all the praise comes from.

"Sonic Generations is not the game the franchise deserves, but its the game that the franchise needs"

Edited October 27, 2012 by Scar

[Emmett L. Brown]

Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations have a special place in my chest cavity for being the first Sonic games since the series went 3D to have absolutely no frustration from start to finish. The levels were all just fun, exactly as they should be. Challenging at times, but never unfair. Often easy, but never feeling too automated. Generations hit the sweet spot for me.

Still, even I have to agree that some of the level selections were blunders. A maximum of 2 city stages should have been used instead of 4, and Seaside Hill really was the worst possible choice they could've made from Sonic Heroes. The only level less interesting is Frog Forest/Lost Jungle, and even that would score points for not being a Green Hill Zone successor.

I personally want Sega to make a Sonic Generations 2, if only to get to play the many awesome level remakes they missed out on. Some would cry "stagnation!" and demand that the series try something new every single game, but honestly when the franchise hits all the right notes, it's a good idea to play the same tune twice. I certainly didn't complain about there being two Sonic Adventures, and I'll be head over heels for two Sonic Generations. Ice Cap, Lava Reef or Death Egg proper, Lost World with all its Indiana Jones goodness, Crazy Gadget or Final Rush, Mystic Mansion or Egg Fleet, heck even Shadow the Hedgehog had a lot of levels that would look awesome with a new coat of paint and an upgrade to classic and modern gameplay.

[Winston]

Sonic Generations is probably one of my favorite Sonic games, but only because of the nostaglia. It's good for a anniversary celebration, but I never want a game this short and lacking again. Everything in Generations was pretty fun though, the Modern gameplay was pretty much the same from Colors, just alot faster and a bit more 3D, and the Classic gameplay was pretty awesome itself. It wasn't exactly "classic Sonic" gameplay, but it was still fun and probably their best try at the Classic Sonic gameplay. My favorite stages have to be City Escape, Rooftop Run or Seaside Hill, modern and classic for each. I like those stages because the music in those stages are awesome and I find the most fun out of them. If we were going by Classic, Dreamcast, and Modern era, I'd probably say Sky Sanctuary, City Escape and Rooftop Run. Well, none of the stages are bad, they are all great fun, but I just have a select few that stand out. While my favorites bosses are probably Death Egg and Egg Dragoon, I didn't care much for Perfect Chaos. The game isn't obviously the best, but Sonic Generations does good at what it was meant to be, a celebration.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Crash Freddicoot

[Faseeh]

This game. THE ONE GAME I CAN ADMIT ANYWHERE I LOVE TO UTTER BITS. I can never ever say I hate this game. I can not even manage to lie. I'm just like that.

Soniman pretty much said my thoughts on this game. There is something that I think this game needs a special shout out on. The damn soundtrack. Colours has originality going for it but man, this soundtrack is pretty much one of my most favourite from the series. All our life bundled into one amazing pack. The remixes were all amazing, at least to me.

The gameplay is pretty much the best we've got out of the Unleashed formula but it does have flaws. The 2D sections seemed useless, redundant for Modern Sonic. Well, at least the 3D made up for it for the most part. The controls need to be improved too and if they are gonna do Classic again, they really need to nerf the spindash and improve the physics to be at least close to the Genesis ones.

The difficulty of this game wasn't that good honestly. I honestly didn't have problems with that though. I just hope that the challenges next time need to be more challenging. The challenges were all fun and amazing too, especially that Action Master Challenge. It was really nice playing through it.

The hype sure paid of. Generations, my favourite video game to this day, here's wishing you an advance birthday! <3

Yeah, you were short and you were just based on nostalgia but you did everything else well too... Other than the story. Here's me hoping the next Sonic game does better than Generations in all that it did badly.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Faseeh

[Crash]

If they had put Live Life by Crush 40 on the credits I would have cried.

Generations is mainly loved because we were all blinded by nostalgia. Looking at it now though, I don't think it's as good as we thought. Green Hill was the best choice of the stages, it wasn't the best to play but the best choice. My favourites are Sky Sanctuary and Seaside Hill (They should have done Egg Fleet though .).

[Diogenes]

It's still lame. It's a game that survives off of nostalgia, spectacle, and basic competence.

[SoniClub]

Sonic Generations deserves all the love it can get.

I play this game next to previous titles like '06/Unleashed/Colours and am astounded by the level of progress, and quite simply, the 'fun' factor. Generations is a ridiculously fun game, something I think, amongst a hightening critical awareness/opinion voicing amongst players, we often forget is the very point we play games. Design aspects such as a simplistic overview/design, while they can seem annoying/basic to us, allowed this game to appeal to much wider audience, particularly one that has been very cynical of Sonic for a long while.

Finally, a game I can play with friends, and instead of being embarassed, their minds are blown. Keep up the gun-truck/massive chomper/building-wall-running/ruin crushing fun Sega.

[Sami]

I fucking love this game.

I mean, it's no secret. I practically spazzed upon seeing the teaser trailer, and was massively hyped from the moment we saw gameplay. Playing it for the first time was absolutely amazing, just like playing through it for the second, third, and fourth times were. The levels are all fantastically designed, the visuals can be absolutely stunning, it's a load of fun to play, and it really captures the charm that makes me love to play Sonic games.

Sonic Generations is my favorite Sonic game, and for good reason. There's never a moment where I'm disappointed to play a level, or get frustrated with annoying design. It may not be perfect, but it's so great that I honestly don't mind. All that really needs improvement in my eyes is the storytelling - once Sonic Team has that down, I'll be completely and totally satisfied with the franchise; something that hasn't happened in years.

[Bright Eyes]

It's still lame. It's a game that survives off of nostalgia, spectacle, and basic competence.

Not quite. I'm a mega fan of Sonic Generations and it stands very sturdy as a fantastic game in its own right.

Maybe it survives off the fantastic level design (bar some duds), the focus of Sonic gameplay that resembles what defined the earliest Sonic games, the superb polish and attention to detail and the smooth gameplay that, aside from some incredibly stupid blunders, is free from glitches.

Sorry to rant but I get annoyed when people claim that Sonic Generations is somehow not that good and only succeeded because it focused on nostalgia. I consider Sonic Generations to easily be the best Sonic game since Sonic and Knuckles and it deserves as much praise as it gets.

[Diogenes]

the focus of Sonic gameplay that resembles what defined the earliest Sonic games,

No. This simply is not true. The modern gameplay doesn't have a damn thing in common with the Genesis Sonics, and Generations Classic is basically Sonic 4 HD.

and the smooth gameplay that, aside from some incredibly stupid blunders, is free from glitches.

This is what I mean by "basic competence". It's like the fanbase has been so burned by games like '06, that suddenly not slipping through the geometry or dying during scripted segments is some great accomplishment.

[Bright Eyes]

No. This simply is not true. The modern gameplay doesn't have a damn thing in common with the Genesis Sonics, and Generations Classic is basically Sonic 4 HD.

This is what I mean by "basic competence". It's like the fanbase has been so burned by games like '06, that suddenly not slipping through the geometry or dying during scripted segments is some great accomplishment.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Bright Eyes

[Sami]

This argument has been done millions of times.

You don't know what you're getting yourself into.

[SilJeff]

Other than me finding the bosses to be utter shit aside from Perfect Chaos and maybe Silver, I really liked it.

But I do find some things funny.

First, this game out of all of the 7th generation Sonic games is the one that seems to need DLC. Afterall, 06 and Unleashed got them. Of course, SEGA being SEGA, they are not giving us some. I mean come on, this game is ridiculously short. It NEEDS some more levels.

(DISCLAIMER: this may just be my GameFAQs experience talking. If so, I apologize. That site does things to your head) Second, like all 3D games, once a couple of months past, most of the fanbase now hates this like all the others. And I can say with almost 100% certainty, the same thing is going to happen with the next one too.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Mr.Snarf

[Faseeh]

If they had put Live Life by Crush 40 on the credits I would have cried.

[...]

Saying that Classic Sonic is basically Sonic 4 HD is a massive exageration. Sonic 4 was not so much bad because the physics did not resemble the classics but because the physics were flat out bad. The floating around and lack of any momentum was just a baffling design flaw that would apply to any platformer. In regards to Classic Sonic, maybe the rolling isn't good enough for you, the spindash is overpowered or there are too many scripted events but don't come out with nonsense that it's Sonic 4 HD. The Classic Sonic physics are perfectly fine (besides the spindash and irritating scripted events) and if you say otherwise you are probably living in a Classic Sonic fairyland. And I'm a Classic fan.

As for Modern Sonic, get off it. The Classic Sonic games whole selling point was that they were sidescrolling platformers that ran at a speed never before seen. They just happened to be amazing platformers with great level design. Oh wait, that's kind of what the majority of the Modern Sonic levels are like.

The game is not 'basic competance'. It is a great game that, like other great games, falls victim to dumb developer oversights and mistakes.

[Bright Eyes]

Really? Over that awesome medley that we got? I'd honestly have it for the Final Boss though, haha.

Honestly, nope. Let's see 3/4 of Unleashed, 1/2 of Colors and 1/9 of Generations. That's pretty much more than the majority. Many of the Modern Sonic levels really aren't that good in the design. Boostfest, linear hallways, QTEs, cheap challenges are what makes Unleashed's bad. Colors had pointless 3D section that were there for mostly spectacle, the 2D was full of block platforming and was boring and unengaging at quite a number of times. Generations... Green Hill is the worst we got.

[SilJeff]

Really? Over that awesome medley that we got? I'd honestly have it for the Final Boss though, haha.

Honestly, nope. Let's see 3/4 of Unleashed, 1/2 of Colors and 1/9 of Generations. That's pretty much more than the majority. Many of the Modern Sonic levels really aren't that good in the design. Boostfest, linear hallways, QTEs, cheap challenges are what makes Unleashed's bad. Colors had pointless 3D section that were there for mostly spectacle, the 2D was full of block platforming and was boring and unengaging at quite a number of times. Generations... Green Hill is the worst we got.

[Diogenes]

Saying that Classic Sonic is basically Sonic 4 HD is a massive exageration. Sonic 4 was not so much bad because the physics did not resemble the classics but because the physics were flat out bad. The floating around and lack of any momentum was just a baffling design flaw that would apply to any platformer. In regards to Classic Sonic, maybe the rolling isn't good enough for you, the spindash is overpowered or there are too many scripted events but don't come out with nonsense that it's Sonic 4 HD. The Classic Sonic physics are perfectly fine (besides the spindash and irritating scripted events) and if you say otherwise you are probably living in a Classic Sonic fairyland. And I'm a Classic fan.

[...]

I have a question, what is a 'QTE'?

[Faseeh]

I've gotta agree with Dio here, the Classic levels in Generations ARE Sonic 4 HD (Quite funny, since that game is purportedly in HD). The physics are piss poor, the jump is hard to control, the spin dash is broken, and it just feels boring, and not fun at all.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Faseeh

[Bright Eyes]

I've gotta agree with Dio here, the Classic levels in Generations ARE Sonic 4 HD (Quite funny, since that game is purportedly in HD). The physics are piss poor, the jump is hard to control, the spin dash is broken, and it just feels boring, and not fun at all.

[Diogenes]

They're equally as worthless in creating a classic-styled Sonic game

[Bright Eyes]

So do you have any reason besides insisting it? Between the physics being crappy and the level design basically never taking advantage of them, there's really not even a point of having them. It's about as much "classic Sonic" as Super Mario World.

Modern Sonic is not a good platformer. Its platforming is among the most basic kind possible. For a character with such unique abilities, they barely ever do anything with them, and when they do it's usually highly scripted. Sonic is a character built for curves and yet he's placed in a world made of squares. All the modern gameplay does that resembles the Genesis games is "go fast", and it does it in the shallowest way possible.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Bright Eyes