Review: Sonic Generations

At this point the Blue Hedgehog has been plastered all over the world of gaming and you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't played any of his games. This makes his recent fall into drug abuse and impotence all the more depressing, yet for some reason fans have kept coming to his show, even if he doesn't. It's safe to say that their persistence paid off with Sonic Generations.

Look familiar?

Generations serves as an homage to the history of Sonic. You have seen all these levels and bosses before, but it was either a long long time ago, or it wasn't very fun. That's all different now! The levels design is excellent and there isn't a dud in the 9 available (well... Planet Wisp is debatable). Sonic controls well and the boss fights are some of the better set pieces in recent memory.

Sonic controls as he should and the ACT 2 levels are all runny-jumpy-fun. The ACT 1 levels are a throwback to classic Sonic and bring back memories of all the frustrating console-destroying sibling-fighting of the early 1990's. The cutscenes have some weird texturing and Tails earns his "Grating Character Voice of the Week Award". Actually, he can split that with the rest of the supporting cast, all of whom serve absolutely no purpose within the storyline of the game besides giving Sonic something to "rescue".

The inclusion of leaderboards is always a good idea, and the 30 second distance challenges are surprisingly addicting. I also would like to send a muffin basket to whomever decided to put the original Sonic the Hedgehog game as a fully-playable extra under the circumstances that he doesn't share it with the guy who said they shouldn't put in Sonic 2 as well.

If it seems like I have a bit of a crush on this game, it's a fair analysis. I have been waiting and hoping for Sonic to return to his glory of being "playable". Yet, Sonic is a being of irony, and he would truly live up to expectations if Sega sunk this series right now.

3 of 4