Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Rather than the crossover its title might suggest, Sonic X Shadow Generations is an unusual combination of remaster (of 2011's Sonic Generations) and brand new game, Shadow Generations, spotlighting Sega's brooding bad boy hedgehog just in time for his cinematic debut.
For the most part, Sonic Generations remains the same game it was over a decade ago: a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey excuse for classic 2D Sonic to cross paths with his modern-day 3D version, players switching between each incarnation to play through remixed classic levels from across the series' history. Original Sonic plays as you'd expect, speeding through strictly 2D levels, spin dashing through enemies and zooming around loops. Modern Sonic slips between 2D and 3D, with skills such as a homing attack to chain jump between enemies and plenty of rail grinding, channelling the likes of the Sonic Adventure games from the Dreamcast era.
As a remaster, there's not much to sing about. It looks, well, fine enough – bar some worryingly low frame rates in places – and a few bits of dialogue have been tweaked, but otherwise it's very much the same game Sonic Generations was 13 years ago. That's no bad thing, as it remains one of the better Sonic the Hedgehog games, but players shouldn't expect a no-expense-spared upgrade.
Does it make sense to slow things down in a Sonic game? Not really. Is it cool as heck, allowing Shadow to dart through worlds in Matrix time? Yes.
Instead, the focus is really on Shadow Generations, essentially Shadow's first solo game since his underwhelming self-titled outing in 2005. Broadly, it follows what Shadow was up to during the original events of Sonic Generations, as he's pulled into a temporal anomaly and forced to confront his past, and his connection to the intergalactic conqueror Black Doom. If you're not versed in wider Sonic the Hedgehog lore, it's surprisingly dark territory that can also risk drifting dangerously close to edgelord fanfic, but developer Sonic Team successfully threads that needle, making Shadow's history – particularly his relationship with his human sister-figure Maria – feel tragic rather than try-hard.
Yet even though it's narratively the mirror to Sonic Generations, Shadow Generations can't help being the better game. Partly, you can thank those 13 years of general advancements in game development for that – the visual differences alone between this and the remaster it comes with are staggering, Shadow's game boasting some truly stunning set pieces and none of the frame rate issues – but it also speaks to a greater confidence on Sega's part of what modern Sonic games can be.
There's a dash of Sonic Frontiers at work here, notably in how Shadow's hub world is a vast open field crammed with rails, platforms, and bounce pads to race around, along with plenty of hidden collectibles to find. More tellingly is how Shadow's stages combine the blend of 2D and 3D from Sonic Generations but add a host of new abilities unique to Shadow.
The signature superpower is Chaos Control, which allows Shadow to freeze time to better dodge hazards or reach alternate paths through levels. Does it make sense to slow things down in a Sonic game? Not really. Is it cool as heck, allowing Shadow to dart through worlds in Matrix time? Yes. He's also kitted out with evolved "Doom" abilities, unlocked after clearing each level. These include the likes of Doom Spears, allowing Shadow to hurl javelins of dark energy to take out enemies or activate remote switches (auto-targeting for these helps but even then can still be tricky, given the speeds you'll be moving at) and Doom Blast, which hurls enemies into the air before launching them into the distance – a flashy way to cover huge distances and reach new areas, given Shadow can immediately give chase with a homing attack.
All of these new powers exist in service of what can only be described as "playable spectacle". Almost every frame of Shadow Generations is designed to pop your eyeballs with physics-defying movement around gloriously impossible locations, where you might hop from conventional "run to the right" Sonic gameplay to chase sequences through collapsing realities as they splinter into infinite fractals, all without missing a beat. It's frequently stunning.
The main downside to Shadow Generations is its brevity – a relatively meagre six main stages with two acts apiece. It's padded out somewhat with impressive boss fight stages and tricky challenge levels, each testing players to master Shadow's new abilities, but more space to explore the possibilities of Shadow's new powers would have been welcome. There's plenty of replay value at least – Shadow's game is noticeably tougher than Sonic's, making it harder (and ultimately more satisfying) to achieve an S-rank score on each level. His levels tend to be longer with more branching routes through them too, allowing plenty of exploration to hunt down collectibles.
While the lack of ambition in Sonic Generations' remaster may disappoint some, the fresh ideas and frenetic mechanics of Shadow Generations makes this package more than worthwhile. Sega declared 2024 the "Year of Shadow the Hedgehog", and this package makes the claim hold up.