If Sonic Frontiers' open-world experiment wasn't quite to your liking, then Sonic X Shadow Generations looks to be the modern Sonic game you need to play.
Before getting into things, I'll temper that argument ever so slightly by admitting that I don't have a truly exhaustive view of the Sonic franchise. That's not to say I have anything against the Blue Blur — I have sampled a solid amount of Sonic's strongest titles over the years, and as a streaming writer, I've seen all the movies & shows, to boot. It's just that I was first and foremost a Mario kid.
But with that out of the way, I recently got the chance to go hands-on with a handful of levels from the PS5 version of the Sonic X Shadow Generations — including levels from both games in the collection — and over a week later, I'm still desperate to jump back into the action.
After sampling Sonic X Shadow Generations, I've got a need for speed
Sonic Generations still comes recommended as one of the best Sonic games you can play, so I won't dwell too much on what I sampled from the remastered base game. In brief: I raced through Acts 1 and 2 of Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant, and had tons of fun. Sonic still controls well enough, and the action still comes with a blistering sense of speed, one that wasn't hampered by any performance issues that I noted whatsoever.
Seeing as the big draw for this new collection is the addition of Shadow's standalone campaign, it makes sense to focus on the selection of levels I played from his campaign. Ahead of the Ultimate Life Form's appearance in the third "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie later this year, Shadow's taking on his old nemesis in his own standalone time-hopping adventure.
Excitingly, this new content just might be the strongest part of Sonic X Shadow Generations. As Sonic's moodier counterpart, I got to play through two levels Kingdom Valley (as seen in Sonic 06) and Space Colony Ark (Sonic Adventure 2), and took on two bosses: Biolizard and Metal Overlord.
It feels like Sonic Team has put some real effort into dreaming up this new content. Shadow has access to a suite of powers that make him distinct from Sonic, even though the levels are designed to feel just like those in Generations, just more in line with Shadow's edgier vibe.
His signature Chaos Control power allows you to stop time, allowing you both extra time to dodge attacks and the ability to even turn would-be projectiles into temporary platforms as you race to your goal. Other abilities like Doom Spear and Doom Surf afford Shadow a powerful ranged attack or confer the ability to zip across bodies of water, with other abilities like Doom Blast, Morph and Wing to be unlocked later down the line.
The levels themselves were impressively put together; if anything, they're faster and more fearsome than Sonic's stages. The two I played boasted multiple routes and cool setpiece moments that were stitched together fluidly, always preserving the sense of momentum. Kingdom Valley was probably the standout; it packed in everything from grindable water jets, a castle wall chase and even a helping hand from a giant eagle.
That said, I was also impressed when Black Doom showed up partway through Space Colony Ark, fundamentally altering the level in a trippy mood. And with level design this strong, I'm intrigued to see what the Frontiers-inspired White Space hub world (which wasn't part of the demo I played) will look like, and what secrets it hides.
Arguably the only disappointment was the bosses, especially Metal Overlord. Neither it nor Biolizard was all that challenging, but having to chase the hulking mass around a mostly on-rails water section using Shadow's Chaos Surf power meant that the fight outstayed its welcome.
Overall, though, Sonic X Shadow Generations has left a very strong first impression. The base game was a nostalgic celebration of Sonic's past and remains a solid installment, and the new content I've played feels like an equally strong (if not better) celebration of everything Shadow the Hedgehog. So strong, in fact, that I'm almost certainly going to be picking it up when the full game arrives in October.
Frankly, if the rest of Shadow's campaign is as fun to play as the levels I had access to, then I think Sonic X Shadow Generations could well end up being one of my favorite releases of the year. And as someone who's not up to date with every single Sonic adventure, that's absolutely not a sentence I thought I'd be writing in 2024.
