Sonic Generations: Back On Top Form

Well, that last article I wrote about Sonic feels pretty asinine right now.

Allow me to backpedal with all force and fervour:

Sonic in its purest form is the best thing ever.

Sonic Generations is a loveletter to not only the fans of the blue blur, but to the franchise itself which has not only made me feel like a pigheaded buffoon for criticizing his prior games but has almost made me want to go back in time and slap my dad into trading my SNES for a Mega-Drive. The recreations of the classic levels and themes are stellar and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more Sonic-y experience anywhere in the series.

Nostalgia is a major player in the game, not just because it reminds you of how you felt when you played the Sonic games of old, but also because it makes you remember: Hey, those games were pretty fantastic, weren't they. Then I felt bad for- as the kids say- 'slagging him off'. How could I have forgotten fighting Perfect Chaos? Or the Egg Dragoon? Or the feeling as the long grass whipped at my knees at the start of Planet Wisp Act One in Sonic Colours.

Let me just say this off the bat though: Even if the game hadn't been a selection of brilliant stages from Sonic's history, or even been about the hedgehog. Even if it had been called GENERIC PLATFORM CHARACTER RUNS THROUGH STAGES it would still be one of the most entertaining, fast-paced and beautiful looking (and sounding) games of this generation. This said, it's undeniably the definition of what a Sonic game should be- and proves without a shadow of a doubt that Sonic is going nowhere.

Except towards the right of the screen.

Let's start off with what makes Sonic Generations so marvelous: The game-play. From the moment you start the game (discounting the title screen) you are plunged into an immediately identifiable Sonic game. The controls are tight, the physics on 'classic' Sonic are close to perfectly recreated (with occasional foibles that present themselves occasionally) and you run from the left of the screen to the right, crushing baddies and looping loops. That's literally it for the classic stages- occasionally you'll hop on a skateboard or use an ability from a more contemporary Sonic game, but these elements only enhance the classic experience rather than breaking the sense that you're playing what the old games always aspired to be, finally realised two decades later.

The 'modern' stages are another matter entirely- not in a bad way in any shape or form- in that these stages are complex, speedy and occasionally make you want to destroy your controller. These are actually the stages that I preferred, but that's a personal preference: The game's quality is balanced and consistent throughout, yet revisiting stages from the Mega-Drive at a thousand miles an hour in full 3D was incredibly satisfying. The sheer, instant acceleration that Sonic is gifted with is particularly impressive in Generations, as is a redefinition of the controls and level-design. You had far less freedom of movement in Sonic Colours than you did in Unleashed, but in Unleashed the levels were poorly designed and often led to cheap deaths.

Cheap deaths no longer occur.

That, in a game which moves as quickly as this one, is an absolute triumph of level-design. It is possible to intuit the course of a level- and not because you are funneled down a single path. The levels are as well-designed as they were in Colours, but the fiddly platforming bits are far nicer, and the ability to switch "lanes" and drift at will make a welcome and much-needed return.

All in all, the game plays like a Sonic game- but without the cheapness or flaws which the previous titles highlighted. In short, Sonic Generations learns from the franchise's mistakes as well as its merits and trims the fat to the point that the game is pure, unadulterated platforming fun. Story is also fairly under-done, which is a nice change from previous cutscene-heavy Sonic titles, and what few cinematics you see are laden with franchise history, in-jokes and some brilliant Saturday-morning cartoon humour which actually made me 'LOL'.

Graphically the game is a joy to behold. The Hedgehog engine is a technological triumph, as has been proven before by Sonic: Unleashed (which, if nothing else, was a brilliant-looking game). As I have said previously the classic levels- particularly Chemical Plant Zone (a childhood favourite)- look utterly stunning as they whiz past you, both in classic and modern settings. The 3D (or 2.5D, whatever) presentation of these levels is incredible, too: Water pipes burst and towers crumble as you race past, and everything looks as it should. Even the characters themselves, from Classic Sonic to Silver the Hedgehog look exactly as they should do, high-polygon models and clean, crisp textures making the world of Mobius (or wherever) look as it always should.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the game's sound design: The whole game, from start to finish is full to the brim with iconic tracks which have been remixed, rebranded and re-awesome'd into a form which made me eargasm for the eight hours the game took to complete. It was a constant chorus of cacophonous beauty which dwarfs the musical accomplishments of- and I'm not just saying this because the experience is fresh in my mind- every game this generation. Forget the seedy electronica of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, or the orchestrated glory of the Halo 3 soundtrack- this is perfection in musical standards.

It's unsurprising that the game surpasses the majority of titles given the pedigree of musical gems it had to work with. Sonic the Hedgehog has been accompanied over the years by some of the greatest video-game music ever to grace the ears of players, and I'm glad that the emphasis on nostalgia has stretched into the realm of sound in such an impressive way. You can also select tracks from other Sonic games- such as the Splash Hill theme from Sonic 4- and play them in any stage you like.

By now you've probably decided that I'm licking this game's bumhole a little too much, so let me just say that there are some fairly major flaws to the package. The game took me eight hours to complete- which is fairly impressive, for a Sonic game, when you think about how quickly the others can be finished, but there's simply not enough content to keep you going for a long time. The 'challenge' missions can be a lot of fun, but a lot of them feel like padding- an attempt to make a short game last longer, and some of them just aren't fun.

Most of them are though- especially the ones featuring Sonic's friends- the re-inclusion of Charmy Bee being my favourite mission in the game, using his ability to conjure platforms to cross to inaccessible areas- oh God, forgive me, I'm praising the game again, I digress.

Other than the less-than-stellar length of the game my only other issue is that the game has no multiplayer. No player-two sitting beside you as Tails trying desperately to keep up with the screen, no racing or battle modes. Maybe this is a good thing? The inclusion of a tacked-on multiplayer is even more obnoxious than not having one at all (I'm looking at you, Mass Effect 3) and perhaps we actually made a lucky escape.

All in all I'd give the game a solid 9/10. Maybe 10- simply for the ending. I'm not going to ruin it for anyone, but trust me: It's the most inspiring and brilliant ending I've seen in a long time and makes up for the ending that Batman: Arkham City failed to provide for me.

Happy birthday, Sonic.

Toby Ellis