When Sonic Generations was released over a decade ago, fans of the series around the world celebrated the Blue Blur’s most successful Sonic title in years – one that bridged the gap between classic Sonic and modern Sonic. Now Sega returns to one of their most critically acclaimed Sonic titles with a re-release of Sonic Generations, which includes new content in the form of Shadow the Hedgehog levels. And to my surprise, that new content is incredibly fun.
The Summer Games Fest demo for Sonic + Shadow Generations separates the two Sonic levels from Shadow’s newly built content. For Sonic, the two courses available were Green Hill Zone as Classic Sonic and Green Hill Zone as Modern Sonic. To call these levels drastically different, or even slightly different, from the original Sonic Generations release would probably be a stretch. Both Green Hill Zone stages are functionally the original release in higher resolution. This is not a remake of Sonic Generations in any way, nor should it be expected to be.
That said, Sonic Generations is popular for a reason, and both levels were still fun to play. In the Classic Sonic version, the shorter and apparently younger Sonic goes through a traditional version of Green Hill Zone that could have been lifted from one of the older 2D titles. Modern Sonic, meanwhile, grinds on rails, stunts on enemies, and escapes a giant robot fish in the sky while blasting through it.
The Shadow side is where the Sonic + Shadow Generations get interesting, offering brand new and more modern content in Shadow’s own iteration of his past. The only platforming stage available to Shadow is Space Colony Ark, combined with the Biolizard boss battle, both from his debut game of Sonic Adventure 2. The final level was in the 3DS version of Sonic Generations, but this was created from the ground up . for this release and was not ported from that 3DS version.
In Space Colony Ark, the level ping-ponges past a massive space colony. It is a tutorial of Shadow’s Chaos Control ability, which freezes time and all objects around him to attack or use as platforms. A missile barrage coming from an enemy cannon can be an option to forge a new path with the proper use of Chaos Control, which is time-limited. If you fail, that’s another reason to replay the level and try to get better.
Through the Ark, Shadow will experience occasional cinematic moments, such as using Chaos Control on a rocket so big he has to hit it multiple times to send it backwards into the space fortress he came from and blow it up .
Halfway through the level, a familiar alien visits Shadow, changing the world around him. He ends up in a crimson city that resembles Westopolis from Shadow’s own 2005 game. As Shadow chases the alien enemy through a world being literally built around them, the speedster hedgehog interrogates the villain through environmental dialogue and short cinematic scenes. For the Shadow fans in the audience, don’t worry that they’ve reverted the story for this iteration.
The other Shadow level, the boss fight with the Biolizard, is less ambitious but still fun. It’s a standard Sonic series boss fight, mostly involving dodging waves of energy on the ground and then jumping to the boss’s weak point for a few punches and kicks, as Shadow likes to do. At the end, Shadow again hits a large amount of energy back at the opponent, but it remains cool even if it has been used before.
At the end of each phase, Shadow uses his homing attack to reach the top of the Biolizard’s back and deal major damage. It’s a classic Sonic boss battle trope, but making it up there still feels frantic and fun.
I can’t emphasize enough how unnecessarily hard Sega goes on these shadow levels. For what feels like a small addendum to an otherwise simple release, it’s clear that Sega is trying to create something decently memorable within the series for the new Sonic Generations content. It may be a hackneyed comparison that will make veterans of the 16-bit console wars shudder, but just as Bowser’s Fury was the standout in Super Mario 3D World on Switch, I suspect Shadow’s levels will steal the show for Sonic Generations.