As the title says, this is my review for Sonic Generations, which I should have made quite a long time ago. So, I shall cover some of the key features of this game, specifically including the graphics, music, difficulty, overall enjoyment, each level for 3D mode and 2D mode, and more. So let’s start this out now.

Music – The music in Sonic Generations is no where near a small amount, compared to other games in the series, or other games that are outside the series. It mainly consists of remixes of other sonic songs in the series, the original songs in the series, and one new song featured in the Time Eater boss battle. The choices for songs to include in the game were pretty good, and the remixed versions made the already good songs even better, with some examples being Green Hill Zone (Modern), Rooftop run (Classic), and Egg Dragoon (Boss Battle). Some songs that they included that were preserved well and still kept great included Open Your Heart (When unlocked), Super Sonic Racing (When unlocked), and It Doesn’t Matter. The song in Time Eater’s stage was well done, but kind of short, which makes it a bit repetitive boring after awhile of listening to it. The credits tune for the game was a pretty nice compilation of all the original tunes of the levels featured in the game, making it a bit of a fun reminiscent reward for completing this whole game. To rate the music in this game, I’d give it about an 8 or 9. While these remixes are good, and the preserved songs are equally great, it does make you wish that they had included some more songs into the game that were brand new.

Graphics – time to cover this area of the game, where I probably won’t have as much to talk about. The graphics in this game were pretty well done, when you compare them to the previous games in the series, or just those previous levels. Outside of the actual levels, the graphics were about standard leveled on the Xbox version, and pretty beautiful on the actual PS3 version of the game. For Xbox, while it was actually bright, colorful, and nice looking, it did give off that pixilated, scratchy edged look in some cases, most notably seen when you start the game up and see the opening logo. Now, when you look at the PS3 version, it’s beautiful, smooth, and very colorful. Everything looks rounded so well, the stages are always bright and lovely, and the colors are beautiful and crisp. And the opening logo isn’t as edgy and scratchy as the Xbox version. The PC version of the game basically has the same graphics level as the Xbox, depending on how high of a level you have it set at and what type of graphics card you have. If it’s a low standard card, you’re not going to get the beautiful, bright and lovely graphics of the PS3 one. If you have a really good graphics card, you actually could reach that level of graphics of the PS3, but not many people have a graphics card at that level, so almost everyone that would get the game would have to suffer with the Xbox 360 styled graphics. Overall, it’s pretty hard to give the graphics of the game a good rating, because of how different it is depending on what you’re using, so it’d probably be a 7.5, since it’s not really constant between the versions, and it could look pretty ugly when you have a low graded graphics level.

Difficulty – Aw great, do I seriously have to go over this for the game? Anyways, this game is definitely one of the easiest games in the whole Sonic franchise, excluding those lame spin offs like Sonic Pinball and such. For Modern levels, all you needed was a huge amount of rings, the knowledge of how the boost option works, alright reflexes, and you’re basically close to mastering each level. The skill features didn’t help out either when you had the right ones set. For example, Endless Boost. That made you almost invincible throughout the game. Luckily, SEGA made the right move, and made it so that you couldn’t gain rings at all from Endless Boost, so if you get hit once without Boost being used, you’d die. And for Classic sonic, the Ring Time feature made it so all of your opponents would basically self destruct and turn into rings, making you basically be able to walk right through an area without any problems. However, you only get four chances to use this feature, and it only lasts for a small time, so it doesn’t make you a god of the level, basically. Not to mention that most enemies help you get to higher locations and such, so by eliminating them, you’re kind of getting rid of some of your great shortcuts. Though, these skills are all obtainable after you finish some of those extra stages, so it’s not like they hand you them right off the bat. Plus you have to finish more than one of the special stages for the skill, making it even more of a wait till you get them. Now, forgetting about the skills, and focusing more on the actual standard game play. Sometimes, some of the stages are slightly more difficult than others, but they’re still pretty easy. For example, Green Hill Zone is pretty much just hoping you can get to the higher locations by using homing attack at some locations and just jumping slightly in others, like on a certain rail grinding area. While in Sky Sanctuary, you would need to actually slow down sometimes (Unless you’re basically God at Sonic games, like KAKIPI1000 on YouTube) to make sure you don’t fall and die, which could happen at multiple different locations during that level. For Classic, it’s slightly more difficult. While going through the levels, you will need a bit faster reflexes and have to plan out your moves sometimes, because Spin Dashing through some parts could lead to a bottomless pit, for example, in Crisis City Zone. Other than that, the enemies are a bit slow paced, and there aren’t very many in certain levels, making it easier to go through the levels. Not to mention, now, when you get crushed, you don’t instantly die like you used to. You just get flattened like one of those old school cartoon characters, which is kind of annoying, since there are multiple occasions where this does end up happening in the game, most notably seen in Rooftop Run, Classic AND Modern. Not to mention, depending on how many rings you had when you get hit, you don’t end up losing them all on most occasions. This isn’t that annoying, since this isn’t the first time SEGA decided to make that move (Sonic Unleashed being one of the first occasions of this happening, I believe?). Now, for the Red Star Rings search, I loved how difficult they made them to find. You would have to go through the levels so many times to be able to find at least 3 of the 5 star rings, and the hints that Sonic’s friends gives you aren’t all that obvious, making it still a challenge to find all the Star Rings in the levels, especially in the Classic levels, where there are SO many routes you can take to try and find them. Now, for the Boss and Rival battles, they are probably the best thing available if you love a challenge. After beating the boss the first time, you are then given a Hard Mode difficulty, which in most cases, makes the boss really difficult to beat, like Egg Dragoon. Overall, the difficulty I’d give this game would be about an 8, because, while the basic levels are really easy, especially with skills on, they give plenty of challenges throughout the game that repay you for the fact that they set the levels so the newer fans could beat them.

Overall Enjoyment – Now that we have covered that extremely long discussion of the difficulty, it’s time to go over the overall enjoyment. So, unless this is your first Sonic game ever and you hate it, you won’t end up being very disappointed. This game is basically a gift for those who love the Classic Sonic and for those who love the Modern Sonic. So no matter which one you like, you’ll still get your favorite Hedgehog at his finest. And plus, if you’re not sure if you like the other version of Sonic, this would basically be your chance to find out, with 9 main levels for Classic and Modern. Now, moving from that, this game is actually very enjoyable. For Classic Sonic, while the levels you loved have a little bit of a change in them, you still get areas in the level that throw you back to the original versions, like in Chemical Plant Zone. The same can almost be said for Modern Sonic, and even then, most of the remixes for the modern levels were even better than the original versions, like in Crisis City Zone (Yes, that was a reference to how badly made Sonic ’06 was done). The boss levels weren’t all that bad either, actually. Some of them had some perfect remakes, like Death Egg and Egg Dragoon, while others kept the charm of the original battles from the games they were featured in, like Perfect Chaos and Metal Sonic (Speed Highway). And yes, I’m aware that I was saying how the skills weren’t all that good earlier, but the skills DID actually add in a bit of enjoyment into the game, like the Acceleration, Blast Off and Boost Gauge Up skills, which help you get to the fastest point you could get to (Skills are only in the Story Mode, though. Not Online Mode). Now, covering Online Mode, it was actually pretty enjoyable, ignoring the bit of a load you’d get by moving down the list to get to the stage you want. You get to actually try in a time trial to try and basically race against others to get a good rank on the worldwide rankings, proving who really is a master at Sonic games. Although, it seems that there are more people who go for Classic rather than Modern, so it’s less challenging for those who like the 3D ways (Although, that’s more of a problem with the players, rather than the actual game service). Overall, I’d probably give the enjoyment about a 9 or 10. This game features basically everything a Sonic fan would want in their game, going from fast paced levels, to sweet skills, all the way to Online Rankings and more.

Now, onto to the part of the review that will take forever. This’ll not only be a pain for me to type out, but for the reader to go through as well. The actual levels in the game (Yep, I’m actually doing it).

Green Hill Zone – the first level in the game, starting up right when you select Story Mode. This level features a beautifully upgraded and remixed version of the first level of Sonic the Hedgehog (Obviously). As the first level of the game, it isn’t all that to difficult. You get to see the lovely background, featuring beautifully designed water, mountains, flowers, etc. while going through those loop de loops and bouncing off the jump pads you loved in the Genesis games. While, over in Modern, you get to view even more of the beautiful scenery while performing even greater tricks throughout the level, like rail grinding and drifting. The level also has a nice standard finish time of around a minute and a half to two minutes, so it’s not like you’re putting up with a torturously long and annoying level. Overall, this level is graded at about a 9.

Chemical Plant Zone – Level Two! Here, it’s basically self explanatory. You’re racing through a chemical plant. Here, the scenery is filled with blue and yellow transportation/water pipes, giant buildings with orange lights, and the evil pink water. This game isn’t too difficult, but it does provide some difficulties, such as running up hill trying to avoid bombs, flying down a container with the blue gel flying everywhere, and the danger of drowning still around. The Classic zone’s music remix was alright, still holding the original tune recognizable without a major change, while it was kind of unrecognizable sometimes during the Modern zone. Overall, I’d grade this level at about an 8.

Sky Sanctuary Zone – Level Three! In Sky Sanctuary, you’re in a flying temple like location, where there are EggRobo’s all over the place trying to make sure you don’t get by. For the scenery here, you get to view a lovely blue sky filled with white fluffy clouds, along with the original sight of the Death Egg floating up into space, while running through a white ancient temple. Here, the music in Classic zone, like in Chemical Plant, holds the same resemblance as the original tune. Basically, SEGA saw that if you have something good already, why go and change it up? They saw this only for Classic Sonic and his Classic levels, though. For Modern, you get an upbeat, climatic and that heroic moment like tune. Basically the perfect remix and song, but it does give you the feeling that the level was put in too early, kind of. Overall, this level gets a rating of 8 and a half.

Speed Highway – Level Fo--- *shot*. Again, the name of the level kind of tells you already what you’re going to go through. You’re racing through a highway during the night time! The scenery consists of giant city buildings, signs, and –wait for it- cars and a highway! This level is oh so surprising. Now, to be serious, for Classic, this level is kind of difficult. Throughout the level, you have to make sure you don’t fall down the bottomless pits that are all over the place throughout this level. Modern is kind of the same, but there aren’t as many bottomless pits, making it a bit easier than the Classic levels. The music in Classic’s level is a bit of a techno like tune, trying to sound a bit more like it’s from the Genesis. And in Modern, like they did with Classic, they basically held onto the original style that they did for the music. Overall, this level gets about an 8.

City Escape - Level Five! It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction for this level. Just as obvious as the others, you’re running and skating through a San Francisco styled city. In the scenery, you get a TON of buildings, a nicely done ocean like background in the far distance, and a then a ton of broken down buildings when the G.U.N truck chases you down :3. Here, your enemies are a bunch of enemies from G.U.N, including the Mono Beetle, the G.U.N bots, and the G.U.N Truck. However, they sadly made it so the actual truck doesn’t hurt you, but the blades only (Until you get to running on the side of the building, or if you’re in Classic mode, where it WILL hit you and have no blades). Not to mention that the bottomless pits are present, as always. The music in this level consists of only Escape From The City (for Classic, it actually is the only thing) and the Chase tune. The remixes for these songs are absolutely amazing, where they turn it into a techno tune for Classic, and a more upbeat, lively tune for Modern. The Chase tune stays close to the same, with very little recognizable changes. Overall, I give this level an 8 and a half.

Seaside Hill/Ocean Palace Zone – Level Six! To be honest, despite the scenery, I didn’t really like this level too much. Not really sure why, excluding the whole labyrinth styled zone for Classic. You get a lovely ocean scenery with lots of islands and a temple like ruin. The danger in this level consists of the EggBots, Egg Hornets IIRC, the Piranha bots, and drowning/sinking. You’re basically just trying to get through the level as quick as possible, not really much of a back story for it. The music in this contains a not-really-remixed-at-all tune of Seaside Hill for Classic, and a tiny-bit-more remixed version of Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace combined for Modern. Overall, I’d give it a bit of a 7. I don’t know why I don’t really like it, it just gives off a boring vibe. :/

Crisis City – Level Seven! Now, here’s one of my favorite levels of the game! Here, you’re running through a city that has been destroyed by the creature known as Iblis, and you have to basically race against time to get out of there as soon as possible. The enemies in this level consist of the Iblis monsters, like the Iblis Worms and such. You also have to avoid the flames and lava pits, bottomless pits, tornadoes (Classic) and tornadoes carrying cars , and debris (Modern). You also get trolled by the Sign Post in Classic’s zone. The music in this level was perfectly redone, giving a beautiful violin tune for modern, and a techno and guitar combo for Classic. Overall, I give this level a 9.

Rooftop Run – Level Eight! This level is absolutely amazing, to be completely honest. In it, you’re racing against an EggBot Fortress throughout the level. In it, you get a lovely colorful background filled with buildings that look way too close to each other, hot air balloons, and a deep blue sky. The dangers in this level consist of Egg Fighters and Aero Chasers, along with some bottomless pits and falling platforms. The music in this level is absolutely AMAZING. In Classic, you get a beautiful disco like rendition, and in Modern, you get an equally beautiful violin rendition of this song. Overall, I give this level a rating of 9.

Planet Wisp – The Level That We Wished Never Happened! In all honesty, I think this is definitely the worst level in this game. In this level, you’re racing through the Wisp factory, trying to destroy the factory, or shut it down, or something. The enemies consist of the EggRobos, Egg-Wasps, CrabMeats, bottomless pits, rockets, and so much more. Basically, you’re just on a cart through the whole level, just boosting on it, trying to get to a higher cart, to boost on that one. But that’s during Modern’s level. For Classic, you’re just basically opening up passageways by using the spike wisp to activate switches. This level is more or less just a puzzle level. The music in it isn’t all that well done, in all honesty. Classic’s tune is the techno version of the song, and Modern’s version is an alright upbeat violin or piano like tune, but it gets boring quickly, since you spend about 5 to 6 minutes just trying to beat the level. Overall, this level actually gets a ranking of 5 from me.

Now, for the final grade of the game! Due to all of the features mentioned above (And so man more reasons), I give this game a whole rating of a 9. It truly is an amazing Sonic game, probably the best in the series, but it does have some flaws in the game, but it still doesn’t make it a bad game, because if that were the case, almost every game would be pretty bad Thank you for your time, and I hope this review was very informational, or something

Oh I have heard you loved this game. Now I can see the good detail on how much you enjoy it. I like it. The boss battles and throwbacks are cool. The game is perfect for Sonic lovers new and old.

Great review, I really enjoyed reading it. I have been wanting to play this sonic game ever since it first came out. It looks like they have been trying to get sonic back to his classic roots...back when he was cool.

It's a great review, I myself don't like sonic much there are a few of his games I enjoyed but not many.

I have been very curious about this game, but I have been pretty cautious with Sonic games past Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. The stories there were completely amazing and well developed. However, after playing Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic and the Secret Rings, I have really been losing faith that they can make another Sonic game with as story as well developed as Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. So what exactly is the story of this game? Is it well developed? Basically, is this just another thing where the game play is just as fun as always but lacking in story? 

This reminds me of vizwiz's review from a couple months ago on the original sonic's.

I guess it makes sense to review every level and spoil the game for those who didn't beat it.

Anyway, I thought it was amazing, personally.