Sonic Generations
After Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast, the Sonic the Hedgehog series has always had a pretty spotty run. Even Sonic Adventure had it's downfalls where as beautiful as it looked, it really proved how important it is that Sonic remains a 2D side-scroller. Sonic has always been about speed; levels that are designed to allow you to fly through them at an unreal pace with a set of beautiful backgrounds scroll by.
After a number of Sonic the Hedgehog released that were OK at best Sega and Sonic Team almost hit the nail on the head. In this case, with Sonic Generations.
Sonic Generations seemed as if it came about because Sega finally realized fans wanted the original Sonic back; and yet they still couldn't let go of the 3D style they've developed. The game plays between two modes, retro levels in 2.5D (controlled on a 2D plane but using a 3D camera and graphics) and 3D levels controlled from behind a-la Sonic Adventure. They justify this story-wise by having two timelines intersect and having it actually follow two sets of the Sonic series' characters including a younger Sonic with the older design and an older Sonic with the newer design.
The story itself isn't half bad, but Sonic was never about the plot. Like Mario, all it ever needed was the basic reasoning behind powering forward for each level. To rescue animals, or save the planet. In fact, like many of the new games, forcing a story into the game almost ends up being a drawback. Just like forcing the 3D levels as well. I really would have been VERY happy if this game was simply the 2D levels strung together in a row just as in the original games.
Now, that being said, the combination of 2D and 3D worlds has been built quite nicely. In this case, each world set includes a couple levels with both 2D and 3D variations. So you get to basically try out the level from two different perspectives, which really is the bee's knees. Each of the levels are beautifully designed and rendered, Sonic Generations really is a treat for Sonic fans from most perspectives.
Sonic Generations is getting on in terms of age, so it's inexpensive and a great buy for anyone who is an old Sonic fan. My only real complaints are that the controls feels every so slightly lagged, though maybe that's a PS3 only issue and simply that you can't just power through all the levels like you could in the old-school games. You have to play through variations within the worlds to collect components to unlock the next world. Sure, it's a more modern style of game that offers a more fleshed out experience, but that's not the experience I'm looking for.
After a number of Sonic the Hedgehog released that were OK at best Sega and Sonic Team almost hit the nail on the head. In this case, with Sonic Generations.
Sonic Generations seemed as if it came about because Sega finally realized fans wanted the original Sonic back; and yet they still couldn't let go of the 3D style they've developed. The game plays between two modes, retro levels in 2.5D (controlled on a 2D plane but using a 3D camera and graphics) and 3D levels controlled from behind a-la Sonic Adventure. They justify this story-wise by having two timelines intersect and having it actually follow two sets of the Sonic series' characters including a younger Sonic with the older design and an older Sonic with the newer design.
The story itself isn't half bad, but Sonic was never about the plot. Like Mario, all it ever needed was the basic reasoning behind powering forward for each level. To rescue animals, or save the planet. In fact, like many of the new games, forcing a story into the game almost ends up being a drawback. Just like forcing the 3D levels as well. I really would have been VERY happy if this game was simply the 2D levels strung together in a row just as in the original games.
Now, that being said, the combination of 2D and 3D worlds has been built quite nicely. In this case, each world set includes a couple levels with both 2D and 3D variations. So you get to basically try out the level from two different perspectives, which really is the bee's knees. Each of the levels are beautifully designed and rendered, Sonic Generations really is a treat for Sonic fans from most perspectives.
Sonic Generations is getting on in terms of age, so it's inexpensive and a great buy for anyone who is an old Sonic fan. My only real complaints are that the controls feels every so slightly lagged, though maybe that's a PS3 only issue and simply that you can't just power through all the levels like you could in the old-school games. You have to play through variations within the worlds to collect components to unlock the next world. Sure, it's a more modern style of game that offers a more fleshed out experience, but that's not the experience I'm looking for.
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