Sonic Generations

Generations is a really decent game but suffers some very serious drawbacks that frustrates more then pleases. But first on the good end of things. For the PS3 the graphics are all created in stunning HD. The landscapes and levels are wonderfully crafted both in graphics and in other details like sound. The game is a wonderful nostalgia trip for old time Sonic players with some level call backs that can be played both as the modern version and classic version of Sonic. The music is all remixed to fit the mood of the old level depending on what character you play. The story is fun but surprisingly simple, though not too surprising after a series of over the top and mediocre story lines.

The game features a lot of unlockables such as old music and artwork and even a playable Sonic 1 game.

Unfortunately the game has seriously heavy drawbacks which keep me from going higher in my score, which is a shame because I honestly thought this would be the best Sonic game of all time.

The games physics are okay however they are choppy and a bit on the stiff side.. Suffering some of the same lag and drawbacks as Sonic 4 and taking away some abilities gained in previous titles that would be more than handy. Getting stuck on walls while homing, not climbing loops, unable to clear small gaps and an unstable control that prevents you running in a straight line. Sonic can barely jump more than 3 feet high which requires precision accuracy when platforming and believe me, you will be doing a lot of it.

The game seems to want you to rely on near cat like reflexes to navigate tight corners at high speed not fall to your death in an endless parade of instant death bottomless pits and manage to make it to the goal in one piece. Too often the camera gets stuck on one of these corners and you loose all track of where you are.

Some of the stages are just downright ridiculous, Shadow's boss fight requires you to navigate a large plane while spamming the boost button to collect power ups to defeat him rather than a typical run and hit boss like a majority of the other rival bosses such as Silver, Metal Sonic and Eggman boss, and with the so-so hit detection it's very difficult to fight the Egg Dragoon which requires precision use of the homing attack.

The Final Boss is just undeniably cruel as it lacks any adequate instruction to defeat it and lacks an adequate supply of rings to maintain super form. It's understandable a Final Boss would be difficult but this is simply too difficult as navigating a large 3D Environment while trying to maintain a ring count and dodge debris is simply too much.

For those of us who per-ordered we'll be very disappointed to find the unlockable Casino Night Zone is nothing more than a trumped up minigame of Pinball that you could play on your PC. I'd say it wasn't worth the extra $5, which leads to the final problem is this game is simply too short. A great 20th Anniversary edition title with remakes of old classic levels is ridiculously short. Excluding boss levels the game has only nine stages only three from the classic Genesis games, two from the DreamCast/Game Cube days, one from the ill conceived disaster Sonic 2006, one stage from Sonic Unleashed, and one from last years Sonic Colors.

The one thing that adds to extended play time is a lot of pointless minigames but not an extra bundle of classic levels or a more expansive storyline to show off the new cast. Such a short game hardly justifies a $50 cost and only makes me think Sega is taking us for a bunch of suckers who will buy anything with the name Sonic the Hedgehog on it. For the record the 3DS version has fewer levels most of them exclusive to that. Topping the flaws off players will notice a jerky frame rate from time to time.

Painful as it is to nitpick I still felt this game could have been so much more. Sonic Colors was enjoyable with a lot of speed and a modest amount of platforming and even a fun gimmick. This game has a lot of platforming and not enough speed and an unstable control scheme. The game is certainly worth a play but it isn't worth $50. Those anxious to play will find it fun, and I did find it fun but I also found it very frustrating Earns a 6.5. The game deserved a bit more for the cost.