Video Game Review: ‘Sonic Generations’ Speeds Past Some Significant Flaws

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CHICAGO – Like a lot of video game critics my age, the original Sega Genesis “Sonic the Hedgehog” games hold a special place in my heart and my gaming history. Nearly as much as the adventures of Mario and Link, the time I spent with that speedy blue hedgehog impacted the way I would judge games like it forever. I was woefully addicted to “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” And, despite having been burned numerous times, I approach every new title, including this season’s “Sonic Generations” with that blind hope that some of the lost magic will be found again. To be fair, “some” of it is here, but the game is ultimately a bit too frustrating to recommend — a near-miss, which is admittedly closer than one of my childhood heroes has come in sometime.

HollywoodChicago.com Video Game Rating: 3.0/5.0
Video Game Rating: 3.0/5.0

Sonic fans are loyal. How loyal? Enough to keep a franchise that’s been pretty creatively bankrupt alive long enough to keep trying to get its groove back. The fact is there have been some truly awful “Sonic” games over the last decade or so. But enough people keep the hope alive that they will rekindle the nostalgic magic of the series that they keep buying them in large enough numbers to warrant more installments.

Sonic Generations
Sonic Generations
Photo credit: Sega

One of the main reasons that “Sonic Generations” works as well as it does is that the developers recognize that it is the franchise’s rabid fan base that is the reason the game even exists. And so they made a title that’s a love letter to the people who made a lot of money for those who work to keep the little blue guy running. “Sonic Generations” works multiple game styles into one title, attempting to play almost like a greatest hits record. The variety of gameplay allows the title to stay fresh even if it also leads to some of its biggest problems.

Sonic Generations
Sonic Generations
Photo credit: Sega

The irony of “Sonic Generations” is that it also recreates how the franchise went wrong over the years. The most accomplished levels are easily the ones that mimic or pay homage to the initial Sega Genesis games. Old school Sonic looks amazing and the pace and ingenuity of games like “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” feels reinvigorated for a new generation. The levels are smartly-designed if a bit too hyperactive, and they allow for incredible replay ability as new paths from point A to point B go speeding by on each playthrough. I would love a game that merely worked from this original template with a modern graphics engine and 2011 degrees of creativity in level design.

Sadly, much like the franchise, “Sonic Generations” gets more frustrating as it goes along. The new-school Sonic levels feel unrefined with inconsistent graphics and gigantic difficulty gaps that often feel like they can be attributed to poor level design. Especially on the later levels, there are sections that are testaments to camera control and level design that doesn’t just throw a speeding player off a cliff and say “Try Again!” No one likes to feel like they have no control over what’s happening to their character simply because they can’t see the road in front of him and that happens often in “Sonic Generations,” making it a game of memorization more than anything else. There’s a fine line between a game that values hand-eye coordination/timing and one that merely asks you to remember where to jump by killing you the first time you reach that point in the level.

There’s also a cluttered aspect to much of the gameplay as Sonic can garner different powers through a half-developed upgrade system and use different skills on different levels, most notably through a series of challenge levels that are remarkably frustrating. The fact is that every time “Sonic Generations” did something that brought back that spark of life that so inspired me to become a gamer in the first place, there was some other aspect of the game — inconsistent controls, faulty cameras, weak level design — that put the fire out again.

“Sonic Generations” was developed by Sonic Team and released by Sega on November 1st, 2011. The version reviewed was for the Xbox 360, but the title is also available for the PS3, PC, and Nintendo 3DS.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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