Sonic x Shadow Generations preview impresses fans

Sonic Shadow Generations
Sonic Shadow Generations

Sonic X Shadow Generations is a fantastic combination of one of the Blue Blur’s classics and a new helping of smartly designed Shadow levels built around his own abilities. After spending some time with it, it has become one of my favorite Sonic games. Sega and Sonic Team have learned from their recent attempts, Frontiers and Superstars, finding clever ways to weave the best ideas of those games into a major refresh of a fan favorite.

For Shadow the Hedgehog, this is his definitive game. Half of Sonic X Shadow Generations is remastered from 2011’s Sonic Generations, which was highly rated back then. It features a few new elements, like the adorable Chao hidden in each 2D and 3D stage.

Though the level designs are mostly unchanged, they hold up just fine.

The Chao are a nice homage and perhaps a hint at the return of the Chao Garden from Sonic Adventure 2. The real draw of Sonic X Shadow Generations is the all-new campaign filled with creative reimaginings of Shadow’s stages from his past appearances.

Shadow’s five-hour campaign is separate from the Generations storyline but follows a similar structure, with stages split into 2D and 3D sections. Shadow’s stages maintain the fast-paced appeal of Sonic’s, enhanced by his unique abilities like the Chaos Dash and Doom Wings, which allow for varied paths and gameplay experiences. Shadow’s Chaos Control ability creates fantastic moments, such as freezing time to destroy an incoming missile in a flashy mini cutscene.

Shadow keeps all his abilities for his 2D sections, ensuring they feel just as dynamic as his 3D stages. Besides the main stages, there are various challenge stages with objectives like destroying enough targets or finishing a hazard-filled level with a single ring to unlock bosses and the next set of stages.

Fans impressed by shadow’s new levels

You need to complete all challenges to acquire necessary keys, adding an extra layer of depth. With combined campaigns, Sonic X Shadow Generations offers over 150 stages, including traditional, challenge, and boss stages, providing 15 to 20 hours of gameplay. Completing the Shadow campaign unlocks a harder difficulty option for replaying bosses and challenge levels.

The game also weaves new storylines between past Shadow appearances, offering more context to his narrative in games like Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Adventure 2. These moments range from fascinating to exciting and always leave you wanting more. Shadow’s campaign includes fun reimaginings of some of his best stages, such as Radical Highway and Rail Canyon.

Each stage leverages his abilities effectively, introducing new powers like Doom Surf, which makes water levels more enjoyable by riding a shadowy manta ray. Boss fights in Shadow’s campaign are creative, utilizing his new abilities for engaging, memorable encounters. One standout involves a metallic dragon that Shadow chases on water, creating a unique and thrilling battle.

The only downside is the 3D stage inspired by Sonic Frontiers, which feels empty and overly reliant on a new sludge-based upgrade reminiscent of one of the weak aspects of Sonic Colors. Despite this, the overall experience is highly enjoyable, with engaging challenges and collectibles in the hub world. Sonic X Shadow Generations evolves the all-white hub world of Sonic Generations into a three-dimensional exploratory space.

Exploring this hub and completing optional activities like collecting rings offers multiple rewards, including artwork and music, enhancing the game’s replayability. In conclusion, Sonic X Shadow Generations successfully marries nostalgia with innovative gameplay, catering to both long-time fans and new players. It stands as a benchmark for what Sonic and Shadow games should aspire to be.

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