Game Review: Sonic Generations

Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Nintendo 3DS

Price Range: £24.99- £34.99

Age Rating: N/A

Genre: Adventure, Action

Design

Sonic celebrates his 20th birthday and Sega have decided to release a game to refelect this, after the disaster that was Sonic Unleashed I am sure that Sonic fans around the world were expecting this game to be a great deal better, well to be honest Sonic fans... you will be disappointed. The story follows two Sonics; the original sonic who can only jump to attack and the new Sonic who has many more moves as they fight to save their worlds which have been merged together by a great pig purple time eating monster, it's a storyline that really leaves much to be desired. The level selection seems too vast with no destiniction between actual levels and silly challenges after these levels, keep in mind that you must complete four challenges before you can battle the boss from that zone, something that for me seems relatively pointless, challeneges should be optional not compulsory. There is also the addition of powerups for both Sonics which would have been great if they actually made a difference to the levels you play through. The only saving grace in the design aspect of Sonic Generations is the familiar levels and soundtrack from the original Sonic games that we all know and love along with some pretty decent graphics and mildly amusing cutscences but thats as far as it goes.

 Gameplay

The game plays out just like all other Sonic games of the last five years, select a level, blast through it missing everything going on around you, try to gather enough rings to keep you alive and then defeat Dr.Eggman, it just feels too similar and the transition between the two Sonics seems too far out of reach. You go from 1990's Sonic who can only jump and dash to hurt his foes, to the present day Sonic who blasts around the level like a madman collecting rings and homing in on bad guys and destroying them with very little difficulty. As I mentioned earlier challenges appear for each Sonic after you complete his part of the story, keep in mind you have to complete a level as both past and present Sonic before you can even begin planning how to take down Dr.Eggman for the millionth time. The levels play out on a simple rating system which is easy enough to get 'A' ratings on as long as you run as fast as you can and collect enough rings to make a pawnbroker jealous. Bosses come around after you have collected the four boss keys hidden in four challenges around the two zones you have just passed and to be honest they are mildly challenging but this could only be because of the control problems with the game, the camera shifts when you don't want it to and you quickly find that you are losing your sense of direction aswell as your mind... And years of your life.
 
Presentation

Sonic Generations looks great from what you can see at 100mph, the original Sonic levels displayed in 2D have been given a high definition feel but it really lacks in player interest. Players will find themsleves trying to settle down and play the game to try and make some decent progress but basically just end up becoming bored and switching off. The soundtrack features the original music that is loved by players and can be customised once you unlock them after challeneges. Present Sonic offers a few more interesting and graphically pleasing levels but nothing that will keep you interested for long. When in the main menu the voice acting really is quite poor when it comes to specific characters you have just freed from the time lock, for example unlocking Knuckles and then going to talk to him a huge speach bubble appears above his head that you have to read while all he says is 'hmmmmmm', major flaw that really brings the game down.
 
Summary

The only plus side for this game is the graphics but even these at points can lose their way. Sonic Generations is a real disappointment which is a shame because it could have been one of the best games of the year especially with it being Sonic's 20th birthday. It's almost as if they have given us a great big wrapped up present and all that is inside is a dirty sock. As for improvements i think there may be too many to list but to name a few a major revamp of the mission select screen, challeneges to be optional with an alternative before the boss fights and better voice acting in the mission select screen.

Ratings

Design: 6.7

Gameplay: 6.9

Presentation: 7.4
Overall: 7.0