Written by: Mark

 

 

 

It is hard to believe that iconic video game character Sonic The Hedgehog is now twenty years old and to celebrate this Sega has released the inevitable video game.

 

It would be fair to say that in recent times Sonic games have never really recreated the magic formula which made the original games such a success and with this in mind I approached "Sonic Generations" with a little caution but as the following review reveals I need not have worried as Sonic is once again back on tip top form.

 

 

The storyline in Sonic Generations is pretty neat and fits in well with the theme of the game. This sees Sonic and his friends holding a party to celebrate his birthday before a new enemy to the series The Time Eater comes along and kidnaps the characters dumping them in various time zones.

 

What is particularly good about this is that it is up to Sonic to rescue his friends and each of these time zones represents a themed zone from previous games in the series across the numerous platforms and games throughout the history of the franchise.

 

 

The story sees Sonic trapped in a cloudy white zone where the modern day incarnation of himself teams up with the classic Sonic to explore the various areas and tackle challenges before defeating numerous boss characters and unlocking new areas.

 

Along the way various cut scenes appear as new characters are met to explain next steps of the story and whilst story driven Sonic games have never really been that popular this one works pretty well. Perhaps it’s the whole style of the game or the revamped stages from the history of the game which helps this but either way it sets the scene nicely and helps things to flow.

 

 

The gameplay itself mixes both classic side on levels and 3d affairs and I have to say that these work incredibly well and the transition between the two is almost flawless which is even more impressive when you take into consideration the speed of proceedings. To help during the faster stages Sonic now has a lock on ability where he can target enemies with the press of a single button and a second press means he can string together attacks. This again works well but does take away some of the classic style Sonic gameplay which may not impress long term players of the series.

 

Traditionalists may also find the level mix a little too much but personally I found this to bring something new and very welcome to the series and certainly left me with plenty of ‘wow’ moments. This is even more impressive with how the classic levels have been re-designed and whilst things have had a makeover you still know which stages you are on. It hard to describe this in words but believe me once you play the game you too will be blown away with the way things have been put together.

 

 

As previously stated each stage is set out into different themes from various games in the franchise and each of these throws up different challenges. These range from the classic Sonic stages which are broken up to utilise both the classic and modern Sonic characters which both have differing abilities which can have an effect on how levels are played.

 

Also new to the series are the challenge stages which need to be completed before you can access boss stages. These challenges offer a nice amount of variety from speed races, ring collecting challenges, one life stages and many more. For the most part these challenges work well and add a nice amount of variety however some can feel like a chore to play. Thankfully not all challenges have to be completed before boss stages can be accessed meaning that you can leave the more mundane or frustrating ones and come back at a later date.