OH SHADOW 

Celebrating the debut of the Sonic 3 film, which finally brings the appearance of Shadow the hedgehog, Sega is working hard to promote the anti-hero. Therefore, the company decided to remaster the original Sonic Generations and launch a parallel campaign focused on the protagonist's rival, to justify its release.

In summary, this new title combines a remaster of Sonic Generations, the classic from 2011, but with some small enhancements in some subtle story details and controls, and also a "second part", with a slightly short campaign, about four hours, where Shadow is the protagonist, and this one indeed with some novelties.



Shadow Generations is basically an entirely new game, inspired A LOT by Sonic Frontiers, the game really resembles it a lot, the story is also much more detailed than in Sonic Generations, exploring more of Shadow's past and here you will have to defeat an old enemy again.

The game has a kind of open HUB where you can walk around and collect and interact with various elements, you can play by jumping on springs, loopings and everything else that everyone is already used to seeing in the franchise, as well as being the place where you enter the stages.
 

Overall, in this part Sega did well, the story, although not hyper innovative and absurdly captivating, does its job well, it's a little more of the classic we already know, and of course with this HUB, which is very nostalgic for those who played Frontiers and is also very beautiful and fun.

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG IS AN underestimated character

So far our dark hedgehog had not had his moment of glory due, even with some attempts to create a good game where he is the protagonist, I believe he had not been successful, at least until now, and it was a great strategy from Sega considering the success that the appearance in the final credits of the last film generated, and also the release of the third title where he will be one of the key characters.

And the gameplay does not disappoint, the stages are similar to those in Sonic Generations, so do not expect short levels, they are a bit more extensive, but very fun, challenging, and quite nostalgic, and one of the crucial factors for it to be fun are the powers, which as you progress in the story, new ones become available to use with the hedgehog. 



Some of these abilities are for example the "Chaos Control", where Shadow can stop time and move with everything static, a mechanic that is essential in some moments to overcome some obstacles without suffering damage, but also to be able to slide on traces that only appear during the effect of the ability or be teleported to specific locations.

Something I found quite interesting was the way they mix 2D and 3D, in certain missions you play sections from a 2D perspective like in the early games, and the new mechanics work very well even with this perspective, certainly something that earns more points with fans of the classics.



And in the end these abilities were the greatest innovation compared to other successful titles, otherwise it would just be more of the same, to be honest I was pleased with these additions and with the quality of the game in general, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting more.

Enjoying the journey

When I was little, around 5 years old, when I started to have a little understanding that I was a human being and existed, I had a strange relationship with Sonic, even being terrible at the controls, understanding what I was doing, and having managed to leave the Green Hill zone very few times, I played those early stages countless times.

It's bizarre to say this, but I was never a big fan of Sonic himself, didn't find the character very charismatic, but the game brought me a very good emotional memory, it reminded me of family trips where I would be in a moving car looking at the landscape, because that's kind of what I did, I found that game, even with limited graphics, very colorful and beautiful, and that's why I didn't mind repeating the same stage over and over again.



And I think Sonic x Shadow Generations made me remember a little of that feeling of 5-year-old Matheus with his lost Sega Saturn in this colorful game, which for me at 25 is even a bit emotional, both "parts" of Sonic and Shadow are very beautiful, sometimes I would even go slower to be able to observe the details of the map and try to pick up all the details.

The music as always also excellent, including, as expected, the soundtrack of the classics, for you nostalgic fan who has listened to "Green Hill act 1" more times than your own voice, it's there, you can relax, and also the game's own effects, the sounds of explosions, abilities, and even in the cutscenes.



It is also worth noting the cutscenes separately, Sega did a very good job on them, it really feels like I'm watching a movie, and they are good for the player to relax after trying hard to get a good time running as fast as possible to reach the end of the stage.

Sonic x Shadow Generations does not have many novelties, but it is a game that executes a well-known formula very well and is extremely recommended for hedgehog fans.

We thank SEGA for sending a key and making this content possible.