[Insert “Game Gear? Hahahahahaha!” in here because Lord Iizuka-sama said so - Sonic Generations 3DS]
Sonic Generations 3DS had a sub-par E3 showing, with poorly-designed levels, awkward gameplay in videos, and
awful music. Because of poor first impressions, not a lot of people were anticipating the 3DS release of Generations. However, it’s a wonder how Dimps changed things around in six months to produce a markedly better product than what was being seen at trade shows. But taking those six months in mind, shortcomings must be accounted for.
It is certainly interesting playing the console version of Generations and then going to play the portable version of Generations. In the console version, although certain sections of levels were similar—though not the same—to the original incarnation to the level, the level designs themselves were rather original and adhered to the level tropes. There were new pieces to the levels to act as something that would wow the player, and it still fit into the level trope.
In the 3DS version, by contrast, arguably 5 level layouts were ripped completely from its original game. While some may find this to be a non-issue (and see it as a neat thing to see 2D levels realized in 3D), compared to the levels in the console version, it’s a little disappointing that Dimps didn’t seem to do much with the level trope or general design. However, when Dimps
did do something somewhat original in terms of Emerald Coast and Radical Highway, the level design came up somewhat short, and frustrating at times.
The game is divided into three sections, like the console version: the Classic Era (Green Hill, Casino Night, Mushroom Hill), the Dreamcast Era (Emerald Coast, Radical Highway), and the Modern Era (Rush, Colours). Each Era is sectioned off by a boss fight and a Rival race. Rival races, against different Hedgehog adversaries in Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver, play out similarly to Sonic Rivals. The unfortunate thing is that the Rival races take place in stages which you’ve already been through, so they are racing you in game levels that they didn’t originate in. It feels like a missed opportunity. The bosses aren’t too bad. Some of them are more exciting than the console counterparts. The final boss itself is much better than the console counterpart and it’s something to look forward to in both more interesting gameplay and with the 3D turned on. It’s not a visual and audio mess like the console version was.
After finishing the Classic Era, Classic Sonic is taught the Homing Attack in order to stand up a little more handily to some of the post-Classic sequences starting with Sonic Adventure 1’s Emerald Coast, where the attack is used
liberally. This becomes a permanent skill in Classic Sonic’s skillset, and it cannot be turned off like in the console version because it must be used in the level design in order to proceed. The levels are now built around the homing attack as opposed to being levels that Classic Sonic may progress in without the ease of the homing attack. It’s unfortunate that the HA has been used as a level design crutch in this manner. It’s even more of a disappointment because Generations 3DS’s incarnation of Classic Sonic is more accurate to the original character’s performance in terms of physics, movement, power, rolling, and jumping than the console counterpart. It’s just too bad that the levels weren’t designed around this more accurate Sonic as opposed to taking the easy way out and utilizing the Homing Attack at any point necessary to the design scheme that Dimps uses.
It’s even more unfortunate when you take into account that there isn’t much different between the two Sonics because the levels are generally in 2D. Thus, the only difference between the two is the Boost mechanic. Colours and (console) Generations had heavily discouraged boosting, requiring the player to use it at certain times or try to get through a section without using boost despite it being possible to do so. In this version, even if you don’t have as much boost supply in your meter, it seems as though you are actively encouraged to utilize the mechanic. There is no alternative way to get across an area without Air Boosting, or you’ll just get through the levels quickly because the level design seems to encourage it.
Radical Highway is perhaps the most disliked level in this game. I find the controls awkward in both acts with both characters. Inputs with the D-pad can sometimes be inaccurate. Sometimes you feel as though you need to press right or left, when in reality, you need to press
up despite the camera pan indicating otherwise. This would end up costing the player a life, when the controls are being misinterpreted, or the level gives no indication to which direction the player must be pressing. Also, this is particularly where Dimps’s level design rears its ugly head in terms of adding boosters which kill your momentum, adding pits in arbitrary places which don’t fit into the level design or adequately well with the level’s pacing, and odd hazard placement. Orange warning signs are out in full-force, but as I’ve stated before, these are completely unnecessary when levels are designed well with good pacing. With all of that taken into account, though, the level itself feels bare, and sometimes automated. The level just feels like it's there for the sake of being there, with no quirks or memorable design for the player to realize why it's there.
With respect to Special Stages, they are designed after Sonic Heroes’ special stages, which open up after finishing both acts in a zone. Luckily, they feel better to control, but they aren’t difficult to complete.
You may unlock missions via finishing acts and zones, streetpassing others, or by using your Play Coins (5 per mission). If you don’t feel like playing the mission, you may use 5 additional Play Coins to unlock the reward for that mission. The missions are essentially Time Attack missions, collect x amount of rings in time, clear this act without defeating enemies, attack x amount of enemies in this time, etc. This is where the meat of Sonic Generations 3DS lies, for the game may only take 2-4 hours to beat.
Outside of that, Time Attacks/Time Trials can be uploaded online. Online Multiplayer and Local Multiplayer are races through stages and special stages (but your player adversary is indicated by an arrow onscreen). You can earn points through multiplayer for your player card or to unlock things. Truly, the game’s meat lies in the Missions and the multiplayer.
I would not purchase Sonic Generations 3DS at full retail price, especially given the level structure, control input issues, some level layouts being ripped from the original source, and the length of the game in general. Although Dimps had contributed one of the better-controlling (Classic) Sonic models in memory since the Genesis Era, they never built levels to facilitate that design and instead made the character play like the other character in the game with Boost being the only difference between the two. I would sooner recommend Sonic Rush Adventure (better level design) and Sonic Colours DS (powerup mechanics with platforming) over Generations 3DS because then you would get your money’s worth.
With that said, though, I’m still disappointed that Sega / Iizuka didn’t capitalize and take level inspirations from the SMS/GG and Advance games for level design concepts. It would have been amazing to see some of these concepts in 3D, and possibly better-designed. Again, it is truly too bad that this game was ironed out in 6-7 months after its E3 build, but considering this is the handheld iteration of Generation, I would have expected a game that tread through the history of the handheld Sonic games, good or bad. Sonic Generations 3DS, thus, feels like a massively wasted opportunity.
Didn’t feel like I needed to go into visuals or music, because you’d probably know what I’d say already. The game looks great, and seeing some stuff originally in 2D now in 3D was fantastic to see. The music is fantastic, and I’ve already posted about the Sonic Generations album itself in the 2011 Soundtrack thread. I am absolutely thankful that they swapped the original E3 Big Arm theme for the one used in the game.
