A blast to the past. Sonic is back.
Like most Sonic fans, I believe Sonic Adventure 2 was the last great Sonic game, and after that it seems it went downhill. Sonic Heroes was mediocre at best, and games like Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 nailed the coffin.
It seemed the Sonic series was done for. Then came Sonic Colors, and I began to feel better about it. But what we have here with Sonic Generations is more special than I can put into words. What we have here is a lot of people's childhoods being brought back in one of the best ways possible.
From the moment I saw the title screen and heard the remix of the original Sonic the Hedgehog title music, I knew I was along for the ride of my life. The game is very short; I beat it in less than 4 hours. But the replay value more than makes up for the shortness of the main game.
There is much variety in level design and gameplay, there are around nine zones to play, all either 2D or 3D remakes of Sonic levels of the old. From the classic Green Hill, to the modern City Escape, it's packed full of nostalgia. They even did a terrific job remixing the music. I am thoroughly impressed.
Every zone has two Acts, Act 1 is always with Classic Sonic, and plays entirely in 2D; where as Act 2 is always with Modern Sonic and plays mostly in 3D, but will seamlessly shift to 2D from time to time. This actually kind of bugs me, but it's done very well, so I won't complain.
There are four bosses, the first three being remakes/tributes to older Sonic bosses. The last one, of course, I won't spoil. But it's new.
It's a wonderful little game that must be looked at from the viewpoint of a Sonic fan. But even if I weren't a fan of Sonic, I would be impressed at the effort Sega went to to make such a nostalgic video game. I await in anticipation and a bit of anxiety for the next Sonic game.
I highly recommend Sonic Generations, whether you're a hardcore Sonic fan like I am, or if you just want a fun platformer to mess around with. It's short, but you will be replaying all the levels over and over.
May the blue blur live on.