Sonic X Shadows Generations Preview – What, no guns?

thesixthaxis.com:

You can’t keep a good hedgehog down, even if you go through a 3D wilderness of mediocrity for a decade. Only a few years ago, Sonic looked as though he was on his way out. The mascot for a company that no longer makes the systems he was exclusively created for, the transition to polygons and 3D didn’t do many favours for a character whose sole purpose was to go fast in one direction. Still, a resurgence via the three pronged assault of Sonic Mania, Sonic Frontiers, and the surprisingly good Sonic cinematic universe – it’s a universe if there’s a TV show, right? – and old blue spikes is back on top.

With Sonic X Shadow Generations we’re taking a step back and a step forward though, with the addition of a darker shade of hedgehog bringing something new to proceedings, alongside a shiny remaster of one of the few standout titles of the Xbox 360/PS3 era. And no, he’s not bringing his guns.

Sonic Team know exactly what they’re doing, and Generations remains a high spot in the most recent Sonic canon. It starts with the perfect Sonic opening jingle, and immediately sends you off to Green Hill Zone, giving you the much needed dopamine hit of nostalgia as you wonder how much slower your reflexes have become in the intervening years. I completed the first course with an S rating – based on Time, Rings and avoiding death – so they can’t be too bad quite yet.

Shadow Generations exists as its own game alongside the remastered Generations, and you can immediately see the key differences in the roller-blade equipped Shadow over his bluer brethren. Our first level, Space Colony Ark Act 1, sees Shadow gain a new move called Chaos Control, which slows time, allowing you to avoid danger, or just mash it into little pieces by hammering a button.

You’re constantly under pressure here from a dimension-hopping entity that shares a little bit of Shuma Gorath tentacle-ness as they mutter away at you about not being able to avoid your fate. This is all going on amidst some zippy 3D Sonic