Sonic Adventure 2 was released over 23 years ago, introducing the world to the character of Shadow the Hedgehog. Over the course of the two decades since Shadow the Hedgehog’s introduction, he has amassed a large following, becoming one of the most popular Sonic characters. Sonic Team have decided to celebrate Shadow the Hedgehog’s legacy by dubbing 2024 the “Year of Shadow”. Throughout this year we have seen new Shadow merchandise, Shadow costumes in games, the upcoming Sonic 3 movie, and now Sonic X Shadow Generations.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a remaster of one of the best received Sonic games of all time, Sonic Generations from 2011. While it may have only been 13 years since its release, this remaster allows people on modern consoles to experience a good Sonic game. However, it is not just a remaster, there is also an all-new Shadow story. The remaster was cool in all, but the new Shadow story was arguably the most exciting part of the game. Now that the game is officially out, and I have played through the entire Shadow story, I want to know, does Shadow Generations live up to the hype?
Before I begin my thoughts on the side-story, I need to talk about what the story has. Shadow Generations is set up just like Sonic Generations, every stage in Shadow Generations is set in locations from Sonic’s past, each stage has both a 3D and 2D act, and there are challenge stages that must be completed to unlock the boss. There are a total of 6 stages in the side-story, 3 bosses, and a total of 15 acts.
While the basic premise is the same, Shadow Generations does a lot to set itself apart from the base story, the hub area. In between each stage, the player must navigate around the hub world to get to the next stage gate. Unlike the base game, the side-story’s hub features a full 3D environment with collectables and challenges that are completely separate from the stages. As you progress through the game’s stages, more of the map gets revealed and more challenges get unlocked. In the hub there are challenges that require navigating the hub quickly and gathering rings to unlock items from Shadow’s past.
The hub is not the only thing that sets Shadow Generations apart from the base game, the side-story also includes several abilities that the player unlocks throughout the story. These abilities, while like some of Shadow’s previous skills, are unique to this game and add a large amount of depth to the game’s normally minimal combat system. Throughout the story these abilities help Shadow navigate the hub and to reach secrets that were impossible to get to before.
So, now that I have gone over the important parts of Shadow Generations, what do I think of it? My biggest fear when the side-story was originally announced was that it would be too short, this was not the case. Shadow Generations took me around four hours to beat, which for a bonus story to a game that originally took me only six hours to beat is long enough. Not only that, but there are dozens of collectables that I have not even attempted to find.
Shadow Generations does a great job of separating itself from the base game while still feeling like it belongs. The stages fix the biggest issues with modern Sonic stages and have a great balance of difficulty and gameplay. Shadow’s new abilities are incredible to play with and add a sense of depth to the story. Overall, Shadow Generations is an incredible addition to the original game that builds off the base game in a great way. To me, Shadow Generations is a test for what the next major Sonic game might look like, which is a great sign. Hopefully, Sonic Team continues to make games with the same amount of effort as this side-story, but we can only wait to see.
