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Sonic X Shadow Generations | Review Thread

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
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Game Information

Game Title: Sonic x Shadow Generations

Platforms:
  • Xbox Series X/S (Oct 22, 2024)
  • PlayStation 5 (Oct 22, 2024)
  • Nintendo Switch (Oct 22, 2024)
  • PC (Oct 22, 2024)
  • Xbox One (Oct 22, 2024)
  • PlayStation 4 (Oct 22, 2024)
Trailer:
Developer: Sonic Team

Publisher: SEGA

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 81 average - 82% recommended

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Metacritic - 80 average based on 48 Critic Reviews

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Critic Reviews

IGN - Jada Griffin - 9 / 10
Sonic X Shadow Generations takes an already excellent game and spring jumps it to new heights with a creative Shadow campaign and an appreciable graphical upgrade.

Game Rant - 9 / 10
Even in a post-Astro Bot world, Sonic X Shadow Generations serves as an epic reminder of how untouchable both Sonic and Sega can be when they're firing on all cylinders, and its treasure trove of content and top-notch presentation make it an easy recommendation, regardless of it not being a blemish-free experience.

WellPlayed - 8.5 / 10
Sonic X Shadow Generations once again proves that while Sonic may be timeless, Shadow just squeaks ahead in understanding the assignment a little better – offering a revisited revamp that is easy to enjoy for fans and fence sitters alike.

CGMagazine - 8.5 / 10
Sonic X Shadow Generations delivers two fantastic games for the price of one, capturing the best elements of the Dreamcast era.

GamingTrend - 85 / 100
Sonic x Shadow Generations ties past, present, and future together for a comprehensive view of Sonic's appeal. If Sonic Generations signaled a conservative era for Sonic stuck in the past, Shadow Generation signals an exciting future of new ideas and stories that matter.

Shacknews - 8 / 10
While I'd love to live in a world of Shadow Generations being the whole thing, there's fun to be had with Sonic Generations as well. It's just like putting a $200 collectible figure on the table next to an action figure you picked up at Walmart for a fraction of the price. The action figure is fun to play with, but you can just sit and stare at the collectible in admiration every time you walk past it. While it's relatively short, Shadow Generations feels like someone took Sonic Frontiers and retroactively applied its secret sauce to an older 3D Sonic platformer, elevating it to heights previously unseen. Sonic Generations is a respectable remaster of a decent game, but pales in comparison. Thus, Sonic x Shadow Generations is definitely a masterpiece in the eyes of someone already on board with the series, but might feel noticeably uneven to newcomers or folks aiming to cautiously dip their toes back in feeding off hype for the latest movie. It's over for everyone when that Keanu Reeves DLC drops, though.

One More Game - Vincent Ternida - 8 / 10
Sonic x Shadow Generations is a delight for Sonic fans of all kinds. Whether you’re a newcomer inspired by the films or a long-time fan from the series’ early days, this game offers a wealth of content that is sure to win you over. While completing the main story of both titles can take around 10-11 hours, countless additional hours of replayability can be had with its numerous unlockables.

Sonic x Shadow Generations combines two sides of the same coin into one accessible package, promising hours of enjoyment. If you’re looking for a standout Sonic game among the many released in recent years, this is definitely the one to choose. Having not played a Sonic title in 15 years, I found this to be the perfect reintroduction to the series, and the future of the franchise is looking exciting after experiencing this outing from our beloved Hedgehogs.

Push Square - 8 / 10
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a great two-for-one deal, but for us, the antihero's half of the package steals the show. While the remaster of the 13-year-old platformer is perfectly fine, Shadow's brand new campaign outshines it with much improved gameplay and level design. The older game definitely shows its age in some regards, but bundling together one of the most beloved Sonic titles with one of the best 3D entries in recent memory makes for a compelling double feature.

VGC - 4 / 5
Sonic X Shadows Generations delivers a sturdy one-two punch of fan service, providing a solid remaster of a 2011 favourite and coupling it with a new game starring a fan favourite. The usual 3D Sonic platforming issues remain and the Shadow Generations open-world hub may annoy those who disliked Sonic Frontiers but overall it's a brilliant package.

VG247 - 4 / 5
All told, this feels like a solid offering from Sega and Sonic Team. Generations remains a perfect history lesson for younger fans, while Shadow's new narrative provides a tantalizing introduction to the character before he hits the Hollywood big time just before Christmas. It's one of Sonic's better recent outings made just that little bit better - and you can't really complain about that.

Press Start - 7 / 10
On its own merits, Sonic Generations does its best to bring the best of both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic together in a fun and creative adventure that's sure to please Sonic fans all around. However, it tries too hard to fit itself into the same mould while attempting to keep true to the 3D Shadow experience, ultimately falling short of the lofty heights it aims for. Die hard fans might enjoy, but more casual players may find themselves overwhelmed by the sense of speed.

Eurogamer - 3 / 5
Shadow's campaign provides some of the best 3D levels of the series, but it's coupled with a dated and unnecessary remaster. If only Sega went all-in on the future.

GameSpot - 6 / 10
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a weird package. On one hand, Sonic Generations is a remaster of a great game from 2011 that now feels like it's a little outdated. And on the other, Shadow Generations is the conclusion to a storyline that the franchise hasn't really cared about since 2006. As someone who specifically got into Sonic games during that early 2000 period, this collection feels like it speaks directly to me. But it also feels much like its protagonists--lost in a place out of time and desperate to return to fonder times. It's a nice enough trip down memory lane, but the trip features all the speed bumps you'd expect from games from that era.

GINX TV - Lloyd Coombes - Unscored
A bundle of two very fun halves that don’t break new ground but bring Sonic and Shadow to a new generation (heh), Sonic x Shadow Generations is a solid update to a great platformer and a promising revival for Shadow. [Review in Progress]





 
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Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Going to update the OP once more reviews are added to OpenCritic.

Edit: I've manually added a bunch of reviews since OC is very slow at updating their website for some reason.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Of course it was gonna get good scores it's Sonic Generations. It's one of the best in the franchise

what i'm interested in is that Shadow segment and if it's worth double dipping on a game i've played 10+ years ago.
Also I still want Unleashed ported to modern platforms besides Xbox
 

Arachnid

Member
Of course it was gonna get good scores it's Sonic Generations. It's one of the best in the franchise

what i'm interested in is that Shadow segment and if it's worth double dipping on a game i've played 10+ years ago.
Also I still want Unleashed ported to modern platforms besides Xbox
Oh cool, I always wanted to play generations. Didn't know this was a semi-remake of that. I thought it was more of a sequel.

I'll have to give this a go.
 

Fake

Member
Of course it was gonna get good scores it's Sonic Generations. It's one of the best in the franchise

what i'm interested in is that Shadow segment and if it's worth double dipping on a game i've played 10+ years ago.
Also I still want Unleashed ported to modern platforms besides Xbox

Sonic Colors was one of the best Sonic games to date as well and the Sonic Colors Ultimate is totally trash.
 

nikos

Member
Definitely want this but I own Generations and haven't played it much. Can probably get my fill by playing that, and it already has an ultrawide fix.

Probably will grab this anyway depending on PC port quality.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Well the high scores are sort of surprising since its essentially a remaster of Sonic Generations, with a 5 hour Shadow campaign on top. And Generations plays really well on Xbox since its x-enhanced. If it wasn't I might've caved.
 

Nvzman

Member
its censored to hell.

i will grab it when its cheep its a shame.

One FMV background change, one sentence changed, and a model of an NPC (of a female bat with human breasts which has always been weird lol) being changed is "censored to hell"?

I'm not for censorship either, but in this case, who the fuck actually cares?
This is so incredibly minor, to the point that I don't even understand why it was changed.

I already pre-ordered on PC, Generations is one of the best 3D Sonic games so having it updated to run on a much newer version of DirectX as well as the Shadow content has me very intrigued to check it out. I'm glad this is turning out to be a great re-release of the game. Its absolutely insane to me that this game is already like 13 years old, I remember being so excited for the game when it originally released in 2011, and that year had so many good games coming out.
 
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Ristifer

Member
If you think that censoring isn't a massive deal, wait until their core fanbase starts posting about it on reddit. All they care about there is Rouge's tits.

Anyway, I'm good with the original Generations. I don't need a slapped on storyline because Sonic Team remembered Shadow existed for a period of time.
 

Fake

Member
If you think that censoring isn't a massive deal, wait until their core fanbase starts posting about it on reddit. All they care about there is Rouge's tits.

Anyway, I'm good with the original Generations. I don't need a slapped on storyline because Sonic Team remembered Shadow existed for a period of time.

Is probably more stuff censor, but we have to wait for people to notice all those things 'changes'.

Is funny reading the same folks saying this is not a big deal as always. Nothing justify those modifications, there are not even humans.

I would wait until Digital Foundry to cover if there is a very substancial change over the original one. I saw the Shadow story and doesn't look smooth at all.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Sonic Colors was one of the best Sonic games to date as well and the Sonic Colors Ultimate is totally trash.
Judging by the scores and the lack of that accursed porting studio I think the quality on this port will be fine.

If you think that censoring isn't a massive deal, wait until their core fanbase starts posting about it on reddit. All they care about there is Rouge's tits.
Yeah and they're weird for that. Luckily nobody sane cares lol
 

360fps

Member
DEI and 60 fps cap turned me into a NON-Buy-nary.

I am not gonna pay the salary of the genius who thought, pointing out OG Sonic looks fatter than the modern Sonic is offensive.
 
Wow, “heavily censored” because of some small irrelevant nonsense 😆

I got the deluxe or whatever version on Steam for one of the kids, unlocks at 10pm. I will enjoy playing it. Been having a platformer itch for awhile and Astro is just too simplistic.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Also this re-released is technically a second chance. Sega, please give us some DLC stages!!!

Generations is golden but its biggest flaw is that it's too short. This shadow addition is nice but what would be nicer is more stages in the Sonic segment. The franchise has so many distinct and beautiful locales and we only had 9 of them interpreted into full stages.
 

Dafegamer

Member
A decently reviewed Sonic Game, meaning the next one will get destroyed in reviews, as so the Sonic review cycle/curse continues
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Anyone know how this runs on Switch? Is it 30 or 60?
 

nial

Member
I have special memories with Sonic even if I haven't bought any game of the series in almost 7 years (Forces, which was sadly very mid). I want to get this one, Shadow Generations looks rad.
its censored to hell.

i will grab it when its cheep its a shame.

Man, I'm not really THAT guy, but life is much better when you don't care for shit like this.
Then again, it's Grummz we're talking about here.
Careful, dont let the Sonic hardcore fans see this post or theyll "achtually" and lynch you.
I wish there were actually hardcore Sonic fans here, as it's mostly people shitting on the whole series because it was the cool thing to do back in the day.
 

Fake

Member
So, there still a live counter or just removed?

Because was totally stupid removing lives in Sonic: Lost World. Rings lost all the purpose.
 
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Fat Frog

I advertised for Google Stadia
A decently reviewed Sonic Game, meaning the next one will get destroyed in reviews, as so the Sonic review cycle/curse continues
Maybe in the 2010's...
but not really in the 2020's:

Sonic Frontiers, Super Stars, Dream Team all have decent reviews. (not great, not horrible, just decent... Dream Team is even considered very good but too short which is not a problem since it often receives extra content/levels)

Yeah, Sonic was a rollercoaster in the 2010's with Boom, Forces...
It's over and better now.(i forgot the Excellent Murder of Sonic Spin off lol 😎)
 
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Fat Frog

I advertised for Google Stadia
Sonic fans, enjoy a rare 80+ Metacritic while you can. No doubt more reviews will drag it down to 78/79.
Dumb asses are already dragging down the metascore.

Gamespot 2014: Alien Isolation
Gamespot 2024 : Shadow Generations

Same score, same trash review.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
We make fun of SJW outrage culture that go out of their way to find something to complain about, then we turn around and do it ourselves.

Just buy the game if you want to play it, or don't. This isn't worth complaining about.
Grummz is a piece of shit who was shaming a dev who made a game about the grief of losing his father. Fuck him.
 

DanielG165

Member
Definitely looking forward to playing this during the weekend. The marketing and outside material for this game, ESPECIALLY the prequel animated series, have both been absolutely stellar, and it’s wonderful to see this game receiving a lot of praise thus far!
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
Definitely looking forward to playing this during the weekend. The marketing and outside material for this game, ESPECIALLY the prequel animated series, have both been absolutely stellar, and it’s wonderful to see this game receiving a lot of praise thus far!
It’s scummy how Sega delisted the original, but at least it can be played on PS5 now.
 
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