GameLight Review - Sonic Generations

Official Site: http://www.sega.com/games/sonic-generations/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/71340/
Source: Youtube Channel MachinimaTrailer

Developer: Sonic Team (Xbox 360, PS3), Devil's Details (PC), Dimps (3DS)
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, [PC], 3DS (3DS version is different)
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Genre: Platformer, Action-Adventure

Pros:
+ Beautiful graphics with dynamic level designs
+ A tribute to all Sonic games that released before it
+ High-speed gameplay with incredible boss battles
+ Great remixed tunes and levels of past Sonic games
+ Incredible gameplay on Classic 2D and modern 3D side alike
+ Easy to pick up and play, but still provides a decent challenge
+ A game that fans and non-fans could enjoy

Cons:
- Missing out on a LOT of reference and nostalgia if never played a sonic game
- 3D portions of the game might be challenging for new players/non-gamers
- No Multiplayer of any form other than online leaderboards
- Very short game if played through without playing the extras

Recommended: Absolutely!  Veteran or New to the series, fan or not, Sonic Generations is a game that anyone could enjoy.

Sonic Generations is like a huge "Thank You" from Sega to the fans for supporting Sonic through the 20 years.  It takes all the greatest elements of every Sonic game ever made with the best levels, music, and mechanics to create the ultimate homage.  With half of the game played as Classic Sonic while the other half is played as Modern Sonic, fans of both the 2D era and 3D era will have their fill of Sonic action.  The game is fast-paced, slick, and stylish as a Sonic game should be.  The game challenging but never overwhelming.  Some of the challenges will be a bit frustrating, but the main game is mostly great.  The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, the music is exciting, and the gameplay is solid.  This is definitely the best Sonic game I've played in years and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys videogames and not just Sonic fans.

Aesthetics
Art-style: 2.5D and 3D
+ Bright, colorful, and dynamically changing environments
+ Faithful recreations of levels in both 2D and 3D games
+ Crazy fast semi-auto-pathed scenes that run smoothly and stylishly
+ The animations are slick and modern, but captures the essence of their origins
+ The music remixes of past songs are amazing
+ A lot of the sound effects are similar or the same as its origin
+ All boss battles are large in scale and has a sense of Sonic's speed
+ The white space is an interesting presentation for level selection


- A few instances where the camera is at an odd angle and blocks vision
- I really want to find flaw or fault in graphics or audio, but there isn't that many
Aesthetics: 10/10

Buttons
Controller: Keyboard or [gamepad] (I didn't try keyboard at all)
+ Familiar controls to those who've play Sonic games
+ Tight and responsive controls for the craziest of speed and platforming
+ Speed-ups and bumpers will direct the player to prevent odd direction pathing
+ Advanced techniques are taught slowly and progressively
+ There's a single button for a spin dash for classic Sonic now

- Some running parts have odd problems where Sonic keeps going to one direction
- Spin dashing (2D) or boosting (3D) on slanted area causes Sonic to turn around
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Run and jump to get to the goal
+ Taking the best levels and having both 2D and 3D play favors both sides of fans
+ Despite having the modern graphics, the game holds the essence of the originals
+ Simple story, but makes a plausible case for why all the past levels are here
+ As usual, each level has multiple paths that can be taken
+ Levels are faithful recreations of the originals with believable counterparts
+ Besides the main game, there's challenges, collecting, and online leaderboards
+ Lots of characters in past Sonic games make an appearance a help out
+ A really cheap DLC that adds a Casino Night Pinball game

- Some of the challenges aren't that fun and have questionable design choices
- For videogame veterans, the game could be considered "too easy"
- Sadly, no multiplayer of any kind (cooperative, race, etc.)
- An extra set of levels from Sonic 3, Sonic Rush, and Sonic CD would be nice
Concept & Content: 9/10

Duration
+ Despite taking a lot of the first levels of each game, progressively gets tougher
+ The game progression is played at the player's choice, can ignore most extras
+ Levels can be replayed for higher scores and collecting red coins
+ Challenges can be replayed for higher scores, or be ignore for the most part
+ Online mode posts highest scores on leaderboards for competitive aspect

- If challenges were ignored, the main game is actually incredibly short
- Some of the challenges feel like dumb time fillers for the game
Duration: 8/10

Fun
+ Hearing Green Hill Zone's theme and in 3D brought a tear to my eye
+ The 3D renditions of the 2D levels blew me away
+ Gameplay felt great for classic and modern side
+ Going super fast while staying in control is how Sonic games should be
+ I loved the boss battles, they were all so exciting (Silver was the surprising one)
+ I was so happy to see all the auto-path scenes work flawlessly
+ The music remixes are so great, I can't stop listening to them
+ Final boss made good use of both Sonics and left a good impression of the game

- There's a few challenges I just don't like (especially the one with Rouge)
- It would've been nice to have some sort of multiplayer (co-op, race)
Fun: 10/10

Overall
The last Sonic game I played and enjoyed was Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS 7 years ago.  I have tried Sonic games from then till now but have only purchased Sonic 2006 last year to play through and only go through 1/3rd of it (completed Sonic's Story) before I gave up.  It was a painful experience and one that's still fresh in my mind which was why I quickly bought Sonic Generations when it went on sale.  What scared me was seeing the "Crisis City" level from Sonic 2006 in Sonic Generations, but even that level turned out to be really fun.  Everything that's great about Sonic games have been brought together and put into a single game.  The graphics are bright and colorful, the music is exciting and nostalgic, and the gameplay is fast and exhilarating.  Even after completing the game, I can't stop thinking about how exciting the boss battles were, how fast I was going speeding through enemies, how beautiful the levels looked, or how catchy the songs are as I listen to them.  I would definitely recommend this game to any gamer, Sonic fan or not.  What really concerns me now is "how in the heck is Sonic Team going to outdo this creation?"  Overall: 9/10