Sonic's birthday is a fun game to play. Shame it doesn't last longer.
Sonic Generations is a birthday story for Sonic. His birthday party is interrupted by a monstrous creature tearing the world apart, capturing all of his friends. He then gets sucked into the void as well and awakes to find himself in a blank, white world. He travels on to find Tails frozen in front of a portal to a familiar looking world. He clears the stage to find that there are two of him and all of his friends are frozen in this way. The story isn't that great, even by Sonic standards. It's just an excuse to get the two Sonics together for some nostalgia. The real question is, however, does it lead to a fun game?
The gameplay is half Sonic Colors and half Sonic 4 for the most part. Classic Sonic plays similar to his Genesis outings with some minor changes and Modern Sonic plays like he did in Colors. Classic Sonic plays in 2D and plays like he always did, though his jump is much lower and he falls faster. These segments are fun, but they are also easy and shorter. Modern Sonic has the larger focus, he plays in 2D and 3D like in Sonic Colors. These stages are the most complex and fun. These stages are more difficult than the Classic Sonic stages but they are still fairly easy.
All the stages are brought in from previous games, meaning there is nothing completely new here. What we get instead, are remixed stages and new viewpoints for the old Classic stages. Overall, the game is just more of the same, but it works really well and it's fun. On the negative side, Modern Sonic's stages can be a little mindless if you boost all the way through, though this tends to get you killed if you aren't careful.
The audio is great. It takes music from all of the games represented and let's you customize it as you wish (after you unlocked them). It also allows you to use your own music, which is rare for a PlayStation 3 game. The voice work is also great since it uses the new cast. Roger Craig Smith as Sonic the Hedgehog is still great, as is Kate Higgins as Tails. You don't really hear anyone else though. You can also play using the Japanese voice track which is always a nice thing. The music still carries the day here.
The visuals are a little mixed but they are the best we have seen Sonic. The stages are attractive and some have a lot going on in them. Others are pretty simple. The character models look good, while Sonic looks great. It's not a eye-popping game (though it can be played in 3D, see what I did there?), but it looks great.
PROs:
- Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic together
- Some great stages
- Fun gameplay, especially Modern Sonic
- Music is great and nostalgic
- Voice work is good
- The stages look great and have a lot going on
- Two types of gameplay
- 3D Capable if you are into that
- Lower price point
CONs:
- Gameplay hasn't evolved, Classic's has changed in a poor way
- Visuals aren't stunning
- Music is all reused
- Lower difficulty
Overall, this is a great Sonic game. It combines both of Sonic's gameplay styles into one and shows that the Hedgehog is on his way up again. With it's lower price point, it's worth a place on your shelf if you ever liked the Blue Blur.
Story: 6.0/10
Gameplay: 8.0/10
Audio: 8.0/10
Presentation: 7.0/10