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Available on: PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS, PC

Sonic Generations review

To be this good takes ages. 20 years, to be precise

Words: on October 31, 2011
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66 comments

  • Darkhawk - January 17, 2012 12:33 p.m.

    howlongtobeat.com has it pegged at 6 hours. Not sure if I'm willing to bite at such little content.

  • Jaces - November 4, 2011 3:21 p.m.

    BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHAOs?!! THE CHAOs!!!! Last best sonic game was Adventures 2, end of story. Aside from that, great review and I'm stoked to get back into the Sonic universe, getting this for sure.

  • rongunz - November 3, 2011 5:42 a.m.

    to the reviewer, NOTHING touches Sonic 3 & Knuckles. NOTHING. Seeing Super AND Hyper Sonic (as well as Knuckles) was like seeing Super Saiyan 1 and 2 Goku from DBZ -- EPIC. Get Blue Spheres was THE GREATEST way to get emeralds and the elemental shields consisted of awesome. I don't recall Sonic 2 having ANY of those.

  • mothbanquet - November 5, 2011 3:08 a.m.

    Couldn't have said it better myself. Who can forget soaring through space itself in the final, secret Doomsday Zone, always a few rings away from plumetting to the planet below? Simply amazing stuff.

  • GamesRadarJustinTowell - November 11, 2011 6:19 a.m.

    S&K with Sonic 3 *used* to be the game I held up as being the greatest platform game ever made, and I agree that stage is awesome. But I feel time has been kinder to Sonic 2. Its zones are more memorable, it's still super-distilled, compared to Sonic 3 having the elemental shield powers etc... and the Sonic 2 special stage is SUPERIOR to Sonic 3's globe/orb challenge.

  • Dere - November 2, 2011 5:20 p.m.

    I stopped reading when the reviewer implied that Sonic 2 is the best Sonic game ever. Best Sonic game MY ASS. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is superior in EVERY possible aspect, and Sonic 2 the most overrated game in the series, as it doesn't have enough speed for a Sonic game. No, seriously. The only "speedy" Zones in it are EHZ, CPZ and CNZ. That means that only 3 out of its 11 Zones are speedy, with the rest of them being slow and boring as ****. People just can't see this because they're blinded by nostalgia. I loved Sonic 2 when I first played it as a kid, but I can't stand playing it anymore due to the aforementioned fact that most of its stages are dull and slow, and the fact that they take longer to complete than the fast ones makes them feel like they're longer. S3&K > Sonic 2

  • Fruitbat - November 2, 2011 7:57 a.m.

    I just polished off Sonic Colours 100%, and despite its annoyances it's been a blast. Here's hoping for a Sonic Colours 2. Speaking of which, how many of the Wisp powers are present in the Generations version of Planet Wisp? And do they have the magnificent accompanying riffs from the Wii game?

  • GamesRadarJustinTowell - November 2, 2011 3:25 p.m.

    You get the rocket as Modern Sonic and the spikes as Classic, if I remember correctly.

  • Vordhosbn - November 1, 2011 4:11 a.m.

    I would have been surprised if anyone else was chosen to do this review. Been looking forward to it, and the only thing I was hoping for in a new "classic style" game is plenty of challenges and rankings to perfect, filler or not, it's what keeps me putting a game back in the system rather than selling it on completion. Going by this review, it'll definitely be one of the 3 or 4 "awesome" games I get before next year, which means some other AAA title is going to have to be left for the bargain bin days. I just started playing Timesplitters again, so I guess MW3 can wait :P

  • heznave1 - November 1, 2011 4 a.m.

    Great review, Justin! Very thorough indeed.

  • psycho ninja 4 - November 1, 2011 2:03 a.m.

    I'm still debating piking this up but this looks like it actually might be worth it, and i've been waiting for that for years.

  • Phoenix_Gamma - October 31, 2011 6:10 p.m.

    Yea...I'm gonna take the opinion of someone who gave Sonic-the-Less-Inspired-Than-New-Mario-Wii a 9 with a shot of penicillin. I'll wait for this to hit the bargain bin.

  • Thequestion 121 - October 31, 2011 2:35 p.m.

    That was an excellent review :)

  • soranamineforever - October 31, 2011 12:36 p.m.

    I'm rather glad my pre-order didn't go to waste here; I almost talked myself into cancelling it and going with Uncharted. But honestly, 20 years of Sonic in one game is too awesome to resist, especially considering its actually playable. And yes, Do A Barrel Roll indeed.

  • 510BrotherPanda - October 31, 2011 11:59 a.m.

    I don't mean to sound like a cynic, but this review smells a lot like excretions taken from Towell's big blue Sonic suit... Also, Page 2's "movement stats" section read like a piece of Towell's race car game reviews...

  • XanderGC - October 31, 2011 11:58 a.m.

    Fantastic review. This might be a Sonic game worth picking up for me if it wasn't for the fact that when I played the newest demo I breezed through Classic Sonic with ease and I didn't die once, but Modern Sonic was way too unwieldy for my taste and I had far too many unexpected deaths. Oh Classic chubby Sonic how I miss thee.

  • taterboob - October 31, 2011 11:44 a.m.

    Holy crap! The best since Sonic 2? The game that caused me to abandon Nintendo in the 16-bit era? That's pretty high praise. Between the incredibly positive reviews and finally getting around to playing the awesome demo, I'm really hyped for this game. I'm actually kinda looking forward to it more than Uncharted 3 now. What's this? Me excited for a Sonic game? Did I time travel back to 1994?

  • Squander - October 31, 2011 11:25 a.m.

    awesome review, Justin!!! how about trophies and achievements - are they motivating?

  • GamesRadarJustinTowell - October 31, 2011 12:06 p.m.

    The trophy list is pretty standard, rewarding you for bringing colour back to each area etc. But there are about four hidden ones that I didn't find. However, while there is a trophy for getting S grades on all the main levels, there doesn't appear to be any reward whatsoever for S-grading the whole game. I even drew a little map to make sure I had S-graded all 90 gates. Sure enough, I counted 90, but nothing happened. I was hoping for another megaton unlockable like the Green Hill Zone at the end of Sonic Adventure 2. But then... I suppose *everything* is as fan-pleasing as that single level was, so I don't know what else I could have really expected! Aside from Sonic X-Treme. I know it was never going to happen, but I still hoped, just in case :)

  • Squander - October 31, 2011 3:39 p.m.

    wow, thanks Justin for your prompt answer!! mate, u spent quite some time with that game - everything S-graded: amazing :o no reward for that sucks big time. Another megaton...hmm I just imagine playing as modern Sonic the "Green Hill Zone" with a badass version of that trashy "Sonic Boom"-Song (Sonic CD) :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugrbwst7foI awesome <3 However, as long as no one platined that game there is still hope :) Waiting for my special edition that I ordered at Amazon Germany! Hell yes!

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Great
YOU'LL LOVE
  • Best Sonic game since Sonic 2
  • Frequently spectacular and thrilling
  • A speed-runner's dream
YOU'LL HATE
  • Low-speed 3D control is still bad
  • Filler mission quality varies massively
  • Classic Sonic won't be returning (sniff)
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More Info

Expected release date: US
November 1, 2011 (PS3)
November 1, 2011 (Xbox 360)
November 1, 2011 (3DS)
November 1, 2011 (PC)
Available Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS, PC
Franchise: Sonic the Hedgehog
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