Sonic x Shadow Generations reviewDeveloper: Sonic TeamPublisher: SegaPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out 25th October on PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PC (Steam)
After years of experimenting, Sega has now established two types of 3D Sonic level. The first are the open zones of Sonic Frontiers that give the hedgehog the space and freedom to unleash his speed, the sort of wide open design only possible (just!) on modern hardware. The second are the tightly-focused, mostly linear stages that evolve the side-scrolling original games into 3D rollercoasters with dizzyingly shifting perspectives, a design first popularised in the Sonic Adventure games.
It’s the latter style that Sega has absolutely nailed with the brand new Shadow campaign in Sonic x Shadow Generations. These might just be the best 3D levels in a Sonic game to date – and the blue hedgehog is barely to be seen.
Sonic x Shadow Generations is predominantly a remaster of 2011’s Sonic Generations, but now – to celebrate the Year of Shadow and his appearance in the forthcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film – Sega has tacked on an all-new campaign for Shadow the Hedgehog that runs in parallel. It’s also releasing DLC to tie into the film, though that’s not available until December. Just as Sonic was sucked into White Space to relive his past in both Classic and Modern guises in the original release, so too has Shadow in his own, entirely separate, story.
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That means a rehash of plot points from previous games (Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic ’06 mostly) as Shadow confronts Black Doom and his tragic origin story. But more so, it’s an excuse to revisit and enhance maligned stages from the past in modernised form.