That was my first reaction upon playing Sonic Generations. The last console based Sonic Game I played/owned was Sonic Adventures 2 for the Dreamcast. I dabbled with the DS ones via rental but didn’t exactly enjoy them that much. There hasn’t been much really entertain me since that period. Sure the was Episode 4 but it felt very sluggish compared to most sonic games. The weight of Sonic was too much in that one.
So when Sonic Generations came out, I was surprised by it. It marries the beloved 2D gameplay from the Genesis era with the 3D gameplay of the Sonic Adventures ones. Gone are the unnecessary side characters you had to play to unlock the rest of the game, no its all Sonic this time around. Not just one type, but two. The game starts out by playing through Green Hill Act 1 using Sonic from the Genesis era. The level itself I’m pretty damn sure is a 3D side scroll version of the original Act 1-1 from the Sega Genesis game. It was enough so that I knew where I was going and where a good deal of the hidden paths where. Then to play the world in its 3D behind the back mode was awesome!
The game plays on the tropes that made up the last several console releases on top of the originals. References to the various games are made during the cutscenes as well as poking fun at it’s worst ones. Sure enough Genesis era Sonic is a silent protagonist which makes it more amusing since everything is pantomimed.
The music for the game is by far one of the best I’ve heard for the series. It features both the original tunes from the Genesis era as well as remixed versions for use during the modern sonic acts. The sound even distorts when travelling at high speeds while as modern Sonic. If I find this soundtrack on iTunes, I’m soo getting it!
I originally got the Playstation 3 version of the game however I may consider getting the PC version of the game as well. The PS3 version is pretty good already but after seeing the graphics and frame rates of the PC version, I’ll consider it for a future steam sale purchase.
It’s been a long time since Sonic has had a good console game!
