The Shadow That Guides Us
Sonic Adventure 2 came out 23 years ago. It's something I try not to think about, but I believe it's imperative to really understand just how old that game is. It was the first Sonic game I and a ton of other people played. After all, its Gamecube port was the 3rd party debut of the series and was released just after the launch, around the time when me and my older brother were able to get our hands on the console. When we walked into Block Buster and saw the early roster of games before us that we could rent, one game stood out. Beyond the staggering sea of licensed shovelware; Across an endless ocean of sports games that weren't Tony Hawk Proskater 3. It wasn't Luigi's Mansion that caught our eyes. It wasn't Super Monkey Ball. It was Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. The over sized game box relative to the tiny proprietary Gamecube disc sported stunning box art which called to us. That box art, stuffed with dynamic Yuji Uekawa character illustrations which would go on to define at least 6% of my art style, told us everything we needed to know about that game. It was as if we didn't need to listen to Jun Senoue and Co’s masterpiece OST for us to be seemingly lured in by its siren call. Our suburban unmedicated christian raised prepubescent minds were thoroughly captivated. We knew of Sonic the Hedgehog. We had seen gameplay of the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure at a friend's house. It looked like a fun time. But based on this box art alone, the sequel appeared to be on a different level. We rented it, later bought it along with Sonic Advance a few years later, and 22 years later I'm writing a 7000 word essay on the franchise.
Sonic Adventure 2 is by all conceivable accounts, Beast Media. It's fairly sloppy in both gameplay and story, but the gumption in which it approached those aspects with turned that slop into something special. It is a game that keeps running no matter how much it stumbles and proceeds with aplomb at every opportunity. Each stage has its own unique idea despite reusing assets. Every story beat is a critical hit despite the lack of detail between them. All three gameplay types are wildly different yet all feel like they belong in the same game. Sonic Adventure 2 is perfect because it knows it's not. It doesn't try to be perfect it just tries to be engaging at every turn. I think that’s why it's still my favorite. It's not the best Sonic game, a few 2D Sonics are gate keeping that slot currently. I would say that it does the most to try to keep the player invested in the game. From the second your play though starts until well after you’ve beaten it and are just collecting emblems and raising Chao, Sonic Adventure 2 never fails to be captivating.
I admit, my tone may be slightly defensive. It's somewhat of a learned reaction. The public opinion of the Sonic franchise has been a wild ride and as that ride continued, the sentiment that “3D Sonic games were never good in the first place” steadily grew. This statement as a whole is understandable, but the adventure games are exempt from this criticism. And after thinking about this for over a decade now, I’m quite certain it is not because of nostalgia.
I am a peaceful man. The thought of inflicting harm on others makes me sick to my stomach. Yet there are moments when I feel the unrelenting need to start swinging. I become overcome with blood lust and have to do my best to reject the Satsui no Hado. Those moments are usually when a sick individual is enacting a gross injustice upon the world. Such as: physically hurting people I care deeply about or spouting toxic Nazi rhetoric to impressionable youth or saying that ‘Sonic Adventure 2 was actually never good’. I've been hanging out in gaming spaces for a while now, and I've come to learn that true strength is not measured by your ability to lift an excessive amount of weight. Nor is it the ability to inflict and excessive amount of harm. True strength is simply the ability to hold yourself back when people start telling you your favorite game was actually bad and that your memories are wrong. The earliest memory I have of feeling true maturity and substantial growth as a teenager was when a friend of mine said that Sonic Adventure 2 was always bad and I didn't immediately snap his neck. And yet I still have a long journey of growth ahead of me as I still will not forgive the world for gas-lighting us into thinking that game isn't at the apex of fiction.
I don't care where you are from, if you do not crack a smile at the opening of Sonic Adventure 2 hero story, you are truly lost among the rest of us human beings. If you do not pop off at the end of story where the good guys and bad guys join forces to take down the real threat, we probably can't be friends. And yes. Shadow the Hedgehog is cool. And I don’t mean that ironically. Well, actually I kind of do, but also simultaneously I don’t. Shadow is the quantum cool character. He exist in this incomprehensible state of being try hard edgy but...he’s also actually cool. His trauma and behavior feel valid in a lot of ways. I can take him seriously and not at the same time. I could chalk this up to multiple interpretations of the characters over the years, but I think it's present in even the first game.
There's a line in the first Sonic vs Shadow boss fight where if you hit Shadow he immediately says "I'm the coolest". It's such a weird thing to say at all and even weirder to say after getting hit. It should be out of character, but it isn't. Shadow really does think he's the coolest. You can tell by the way he talks. You can tell by the way he acts. He's theatrical. Did he really need to use the Chaos Emerald to embarrass Sonic in the beginning of the game? No, but sometimes you gotta pop out and show niggas. He thinks he's the coolest and wants you to know it. So when he gets hit, he's basically just leaking his inner thoughts. It's kinda dorky and easy to laugh at.
But at the same time, he's correct. He's 100% correct. He does have a tragic backstory that justifies his hate. He does continually get shit done seemingly effortlessly. He does go toe to toe with Sonic, the most glazed character in the franchise. Shadow has chunibyo energy, but he can back it up. That's why he's great. That's why hes the perfect foil for Sonic. Sonic is cool because he's chill. Things don't really get to him as long as you aren't murdering loved ones. It doesn't really matter to him. Shadow had his loved ones murdered already. He's the opposite. He cares because he doesn't want that happen to him or anyone ever again. And I think that determination is admirable. Both surfer jocks and goths can be cool, which is the pretty much the main conclusion you can draw from their dynamic. This dichotomy is why the game works so well. Shadow is the soul of the game. The entire structure of the gameplay and story and even soundtrack is built on this duality. He's integral into what makes Sonic Adventure 2 such a legendary game despite him having the least amount of gameplay.
Sonic Adventure 2 was peak. And I mean that in a sad way. It really never got better than that for 3D Sonic games. Games came out with more polish; Games came out with more spectacle. None of them were equal to the complete package that Sonic Adventure 2 ended up being though. So when I say, Sonic Adventure 2 came out 23 years ago, I am not celebrating the longevity of the series, I am anguishing over how the Adventure games pretty much created a blueprint for the rest of the franchise and was never competently followed up on.
Sonic Heroes wasn't Sonic Adventure 3 for some reason. It was a sharp left turn from the direction the series was heading. Looking back, I can see how the design philosophy got to this point. Sonic Adventure was a game with 6 playable characters. But the levels themselves weren’t crafted to fit Sonic's gameplay. The other 5 felt like the after thoughts that they clearly were, only being able to add gimmicks and tiny sections to existing levels. It was fine, but it made the rest of the game feel like filler. Sonic Adventure 2 gave every character a level made just for them, even if assets themselves were reused frequently. Even if you weren't a fan of a particular play style, the effort put into the level design was equally distributed so everything in the game had impact.
Heroes took this a step further. Instead of having each level be crafted for 1 play style at a time, it created 1 level for 3 at a time. There were less levels, but the levels themselves were more expansive and longer as they tried to take advantage of each play style. There's really nothing wrong with this approach gameplay wise. It gives the characters far less individuality and anchors the story more, but this could have worked well in just being a game you play through for fun’s sake. The problem is that the controls are greased the fuck up and it makes engaging with the level design a complete tragedy. The acceleration for these characters is deranged. The adventure games already nailed control, they just decided to ruin it here for reasons I have not been able to ascertain in the past 20 years. If they left the control alone I would at the very least liked this game. A lot of stuff about the gameplay bugs me. Enemies having health bars, special stages returning, the 4 campaigns not being diverse enough yet all being required. I could ignore all of those gripes if the characters didn't handle like a wet bar of soap. I actually would love a remake of this game because a few tweaks to the physics and movements will make it a substantially better one. It could also improve the plastic ass textures as well, which are still off putting to me.
Sonic Heroes was always going to be a disappointment to me because I just don't gel with the vibes as much. Sonic Adventure, and this entire era of Sonic up to 2009 had this Shonen Aura to it. The stories went into dark places and the game took itself seriously. Sonic Heroes still has this aura, but it feels like it's diminished and is competing with the Saturday morning cartoon essence it also wants to exude. Sonic Heroes carries itself with a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 like composure, having some cool story content, but hiding it behind cheese and nonsense that the weaker audience may be put off by. And I was that weaker audience that was put off by it in both cases. This is the game where Shadow returns. There's a great twist at the end of Team Dark's story where it is revealed that Shadow might not be the same Shadow from the last game. It's a cool existential question to leave open. But that's all it does. Shadow doesn't do much other than have some banter with Sonic. The most interesting and popular character in the series gets barely any screen time because the game is structured to equally provide screen time for 11 other characters, few who actually deserve such. Each campaign follows the exact same skeleton, which means the simplest campaign is gonna have the same story beats as the most complex. This rigid structure completely neuters the story by making it predictable and limited. You play as Shadow far more in this game than Sonic Adventure 2, yet it feels like he does nothing in this game. Nothing much really happens in Sonic Heroes, which is my main issue with it.
The dueling tones bothered me a bit when I played it. But it's fine for me now. Over time, the corny elements really started growing on me. That theme song won me over and I didn't really stand a chance. This tone however went completely missing in the follow up to this game, Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow got his own game after this and it was given the same effort and push as other mainline Sonic games. On paper, Shadow the Hedgehog is a game that uses the players own choice in morality to dictate the ways in which the character is explored. It has 327 different routes and 11 different endings, assuring each playthrough is wholly unique. It's a really special game, that really made its mark on the franchise.
This is arguably one of the worst Sonic games, which is quite the feat. It's great that the story focuses so much on Shadow, but because all 11 endings are so different there is no way to write Shadow getting to all of those points in a natural way. Most routes in Shadow the Hedgehog are complete nonsense and hollow because Shadow has no reason to act the way he does without being a gullible dumb-ass. It's the player writing the story, but the player doesn't have the tools to write a good one. And none of them really matter because they are negated by the existence of the true 11th ending you unlock after getting the other 10 endings. The approach they take with the story only makes sense with an avatar character really. Shadow has no character other than being edgy in this because how could he? His personality has to be so fluid that it has to account for 11 endings. Edge is all that Shadow has too him in this, and while I enjoy it and think it's funny, it's not solely why I like the character.
The story is a train wreck. But watching the cutscenes in this game is far more enjoyably than actually playing it. Shadow plays and feels similar to how he did in Heroes, but with the added focus of combat and gun-play which are not implemented in a reasonable way by any means. What made the speed sections in Sonic Adventure 2 good were that you could move fast while still maintaining control of your character. What made emerald hunting fun was being able to traverse an open area quickly to find what you need. What made mech sections fun was chaining together shots and maximizing your score. Shadow has levels where you play as Shadow, but you have the ability to shoot enemies and are given objectives to collect shit throughout the level. All of these things are implemented poorly because of the long linear level design with zero flow and the bad control and shooting mechanics. It's like a fucked up Frankenstein monster of Sonic Adventure concepts and the whole thing makes me violently ill. Shadow the Hedgehog was a train wreck and was a bad omen for things to come.
In the following year, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) came out. A game whose reputation was "Worst Sonic game" for a while. Now, let's be clear, this was a step up from Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow had less glitches and shorter load times, but as a game, Sonic 06 styles all over it. It's structured like an Adventure game at the very least so it has the potential for sober level design and plot. Some may call it Sonic Adventure 3, but I will never refer to it as such. Even if it basically is, it wasn't titled that and doesn’t have a Chao Garden. So it doesn't count. Still, it had 3 campaigns with varying play styles that intertwined with each other and led to a final level once all were completed. It even introduced a new main playable character the same way Sonic Adventure 2 did in Silver the Hedgehog, probably one of my favorite characters. It was closer to the Adventure games than Heroes and Shadow and benefited greatly from it
I will not revise history though, this game has always been a complete nightmare. I don't think I've ever trusted a game less than Sonic 06. It feels like it can fall apart at any moment. It brought back hub worlds and made them more dull than ever. Introduced side quest and mandatory minigames that really didn't need to be in the game at all. It didn't learn from Sonic Adventure and introduced even more playable characters, some which barely function at all. Even the plot, while more substantive than the last two, doesn't really click for the most part. Sonic's campaign felt like he was the Rosencranzt of his own game and doesn’t feel as fun as he usually does. Silver's campaign had promise was delivered poorly overall. It took until the comics decided to do PR on his character for me to understand how great he is. Shadow’s story had some rough parts to it, but one of the bright spots of 06 is how spot on his characterization is. He finally feels like how he felt in Sonic Adventure 2 now that he's allowed to be in a regular story. The best story moments in 06 are from Shadow and after playing it you would think they'd be more confidently utilizing the character in the future.
Shadow isn't playable in another 3D Sonic game for another 11 years after this. A version of him is technically playable in Sonic and the Black Knight, but it’s only Shadow in terms of the character model. Shadow the Hedgehog is nowhere to be found in it, only a look alike who stands in as Lancelot from Arthurian Legend. The only Sonic character who is actually playable in the Story Book sub series is Sonic himself. Sonic Team got very conservative after Sonic 06 went down and all elements associated with that game seemed to be stripped, including the inclusion of characters other than Sonic. So if you wanted to play as a different character, you’d have to resort to the self contained spin offs that have no barring on the future of the franchise’s stories and mechanics.
In 2008,Sonic Unleashed marked the start of the boost era. A shift in gameplay that values speed far more than conventional platforming. They stopped trying to make the promising Adventure gameplay function to its max potential and then threw it all away. Look, I like Sonic Unleashed. Well the good version of that game that exist on the Nintendo Wii at least. It was exhilarating in a way the Adventure games weren't. Sonic was approaching this level of spectacle naturally, so it's logical for Sonic to be speeding through levels faster than you can reasonably control him. And at the time, every one was all about this shift. This was the last time Sonic would attempt to be cutting edge and high fidelity for a while. It was the last Hail Mary before Sonic Team decided to start playing it safe. In that manner I've always respected it. But looking back, a third of the game was a version of Sonic the Hedgehog that I didn't really prefer and the rest of it was a version of God of War I didn't really prefer.
There's always been a variety of gameplay styles in 3D Sonic games, but this is first one where it didn't feel like regular Sonic gameplay was the main one. The Werehog is like 2/3rds of the playtime. And when you take into account how many levels force you into a 2D perspective, it starts to feel like it's barely a 3D Sonic game. The next game, Sonic Colors, actually reached the point where I don't even consider it a 3D Sonic game. The 3D sections are so extremely short that they get wholly eclipsed by the 2D parts. The quick step sections were basically top down 2D as well. And it was the solution apparently, as Sonic Colors was the best received Sonic game in years upon release. The key to making critically approved 3D Sonic was implementing less 3D Sonic, in every sense of the word.
I was a Day One Sonic Colors Hater. I thought I was going crazy over how people loved this game. I hated the way Sonic controlled once you were actually able to move him in 3D. I hated how little flow there was to the level design. I hated how dog water the script was. I hated how sauceless the levels were. I hated how nothing happened in the story and how few characters there were. I hated how intrusive wisp were as a power ups. This game was ass. Not just because it was mid as hell, but because it felt like it was embarrassed to be a 3D Sonic game. I have no respect for games that don't take pride in themselves. Sonic Colors was the first game in the franchise to really be like this.
Sonic Generations was the follow up to Colors and the only 3D game from this era devoid of pride that I genuinely like. The level design struck a nice balance between high speed movement and actual platforming. It bringing back past stages and bosses guaranteed vibrant and interesting motifs, music, and mechanics. It was a sort of ‘Best of Sonic’ type game, so it had to be good. But it's very much still made in the same vein as Sonic Colors. The lack of effort in its story always bothered me. It's a fun game to play, but there are no unique moments in the game that stick with me. Of course it's a title full of throwbacks, having an identity of its own is a bit hard, but having a story with memorable beats could have help with that. In terms of overall quality, it's arguably the best 3D Sonic game when you look at the PC port. But it's ultimately a greatest hits album, so it feels like cheating to say it's one of the greats. It's an issue I kinda have with Sonic Mania that I can overlook due to it having some unique levels. Generations has nothing like this, so I can't bring myself to truly love it like I love the Adventure games.
I’m not even gonna lead into Sonic Lost World with a smooth transition. It's the game that followed up Sonic Generations and it is the worst Sonic game. Doesn’t matter what system you play it on. It's diametrically opposed to everything I like about these games. From its awkward controls, to its baffling design philosophy, to its bottom rung story, it is a waste of time. There are games in this franchise that are more frustrating. There are games that are more boring. But none make me feel like I'm committing a sin just by playing them. Lost World sheds the boost formula and instead of veering towards something more like the Adventure games, it decides to be a Mario game instead. And a bad one at that. Mario games at least want you to have some way to gradually build and lose speed. In Lost World, Sonic can only exist in two digital states of velocity and thus feels awkward at all times. They gave my boy a run button. What the hell were they cooking? It’s an abomination brought to life by suturing dozens of bad ideas together, none of which resemble something I want in a Sonic game. In just one release, all the momentum that Sonic Generations built up was lost thanks to this entry.
It took 4 years for a follow up to release. Sonic Forces, the most middling Sonic game of all time. I don't have much to say about Forces because no one really does. It's the return of Generations gameplay, but has basically no level design to make it fun. It has a voiceless player avatar character, which ends up absorbing any potential character interactions we may have gotten for the ones we want to see. It has music that is good, but levels that aren't long enough to hear them actually start. It pretends like it has an epic story to tell when it really doesn't. It doesn't offend me like Lost World does. It's just anemic, with a few good moments here and there. Shadow returns in it for a free prequel DLC that last 30 minutes and is slightly higher in quality than the other levels. Which is better than nothing I suppose.
Forces is pretty half hearted, but half of that heart is in the right place. The cast does return. There are multiple playable characters and campaigns. I can remember some story moments at least. It did attempt to cater to modern Sonic fans for the first time in a decade. It just did it poorly. Forces was the first step in the right direction. The next step was 5 years later when Sonic Frontiers came out. The first 3D Sonic game since Sonic in the Black Knight to feel like it sincerely wanted to be a Sonic game. There are parts of it that are embarrassing in terms of budget and control. But the story took itself seriously again. The gameplay loop was fun and complemented Sonic gameplay very nicely. It took a bit of a middle ground between Adventure and Boost game play and it felt like the 3D formula was evolving instead of flinging shit at the wall hoping something sticks. Frontiers was the shining light and that shining light led to Shadow X Sonic Generations.
People refer to the stretch between Shadow the Hedgehog and Black Knight as The Dark Age of Sonic. They are half right. I don't think we ever left it. Sure there were good games, some slams dunks every now and then, but that never made the franchise feel like it was in a good spot because they were always followed up with shit. But now, we've gotten like 4 hits in a row. Frontiers was good but still felt woefully unfinished. Sonic Super Stars was decent enough to not do any damage to the franchise. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was great in that it was a Free Visual Novel that only strengthened the brand. Sonic Dream Team is pretty great for a game stuck in apple arcade jail. Maybe ‘Hits’ wasn’t the right word to describe this string of games. Jabs is probably more accurate, and the next game is a clean body blow. We have this pack in title staring Shadow himself and I'm not gonna mince words here, it's fucking spectacular. This dark age started with Shadow so it's only fair that he be the one to end it.
I should probably explain what Shadow Generations actually is. Sonic Generations is a game where Sonic goes through 9 different stages and 6 bosses from previous Sonic games. Each stage has 2 acts, 1 where you play as a version of Sonic from the classic genesis games and another where you play as modern Sonic with his boost game play. Shadow Generations is a new game that takes place at the same time as Sonic Generations. It's a pack in bonus game included for the Sonic Generations rerelease. The structure of this product is similar to Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, where it’s a remaster with a short game attached to it to make the whole package a better value proposition. The difference with Shadow Generations is that there's far more effort put into it than you'd expect.
There are two parts to this effort. First is the marketing for this game. They went a bit sicko mode with the marketing campaign for Shadow. In the same vein as the "Year of Luigi" stunt Nintendo pulled a decade ago, Sega declared 2024 The Year of Shadow. This was a push to celebrate the character through multiple mediums. There's was tons of merchandise for Shadow developed, a clothing brand, a manga, hell even a movie. Yes, the Movie was gonna come out no matter what. It's not like the Movie came out to promote the game, hell it was likely the other way around. But they still fed into each other. The hype built for the third Sonic the Hedgehog movie definitely put eyes on Shadow Generations, and the DLC level based on Sonic 3 that dropped around its release did the same. It was a cross promotional slam dunk. I played the DLC, and got even more hyped for the movie than I already was. And then I watched the movie and felt euphoric vindication over how well they adapted parts of the Sonic Adventure 2 story. We now have box office numbers to serve as undeniable proof that even in the modern age, the children yearn for Sonic Adventure 2. It’s surreal.
For me, the highlight of this Year of Shadow push had to be the Dark Beginnings Web series. It's a 3 part 15 minute total animation on YouTube that acts as prelude for Shadow Generations. It's not necessary and the plot would be perfectly understandable without it, but I couldn't be more grateful for it. This comfortably stands among the best pieces of animated Sonic media. I say this as a certified Sonic CD opening glazer. I say this as a seasoned Sonic CG cutscene enjoyer. I say this as one of the Sonic OVA’s strongest soldiers. In terms of writing, art, and direction, it's firing on all cylinders. It didn't need to be so heart felt, but it was. It delivers on the character interaction and action that I want out of Sonic media and is fully sincere the whole time. It made me extremely optimistic with the game going forward. Dark Beginnings made it clear that Shadow Generations is a love letter. And if that wasn't enough, the printed lore diary included with the physical copy and the purchasable Shadow beta design skin made it crystal. There is no cynicism in this series anymore.
The build up was perfect, but what about the second part of this effort? The game itself. You'd expect a pack in title to be a fraction of the size of the base game. While Shadow Generations is only 6 stages and 4 bosses compared to Generation’s 9 and 6, it is not 2/3rds as big. It's basically the same size. The levels are longer and there's far more to do in between levels as well. This is essentially Sonic Generations 2. It's also basically everything I would want out of a sequel to that game as well. It truly celebrates every aspect of the franchise while also pushing the gameplay forward.
Within Shadow Generations lies the blueprint for a true 10/10 Sonic title. All the ingredients are there, it just needs to be done in a different context. For one, we finally got a playable version of a character that is faster than any adventure era character, yet also has smooth control. It strikes the perfect balance. You aren't constantly bumping into walls when in a confined area, I not longer piss myself when presented with any precise platforming challenge. Yet you still get that exhilaration of blasting through a stage. It's not as much exhilaration as in Unleashed or Generations, but I'll take that trade off any day. Having the boost be as fast as it was led to me not appreciating and studying the levels as much. It was the definition of amusement park ride level design. Even though I'm still being pushed forward through the level, I have ample room to pace myself and observe my surroundings because I have the freedom of not going extremely fast, and even at the highest speed, the world can easily be parsed. The movement speed is near ideal. The ground control is perfect. No longer do we have to make the hard decision between navigating a grease slip stream and trudging through mud. Shadow controls tight enough to perform precise movement while also being capable of fluidity. The turning mid air could use some work, but other than that I have no notes. And it’s not just the 3D gameplay that’s at it’s best this time.
2D levels in 3D Sonic games have always been a huge drag. They cost less to produce than the 3D ones, which is why so many Boost Era games have mostly 2D content. It’s always disappointing because the ability to see straight ahead of you is what makes the blistering speed of the boost games manageable and not completely reliant on rote memorization in order to speed through them. It works for Classic Sonic because he doesn’t control that fast unless you are spin dashing. It works for the DS games because there’s a second screen warning you what’s up ahead. It has never worked as well for console Modern Sonic. Sonic Frontiers even made a point to not have any 2D levels in it’s DLC because they knew how underwhelmed fans were by them. Shadow Generations creates the solution to this by doing something Sonic Team already figured out how to do in 2007. Nights Into Dreams was a sidescroller with a pretty close camera that made it hard to see what was in front of you. The sequel, Night Journey into Dreams, doesn’t improve on the original in many ways. It does however, tilt the camera so that the player can see slightly ahead. It’s a 2.5D game so there’s no reason to not take advantage of the 3D environment. Shadow Generations understands this. There are many points in the Side Scrolling Shadow stages where the camera shifts so that you can see what’s up ahead. The dynamic camera assures the player has the necessary amount of screen information and allows for more cinematic direction as well. The complete segregation between 3D and 2D Stages also helps the two styles not get in the way of each other. It’s the one case case where ‘Separate, but Equal’ actually applies.
Sonic Frontiers gameplay was actually very similar to Shadow Generations and even came pretty close to the ideal control for Sonic. The only huge issue was how awkward Sonic’s momentum behaved when in levels, which stuck out a lot due to how good he felt to control in the overworld. Sonic Frontiers was a great experiment that could have really used refinement. And that's exactly what Shadow Generations is. Frontiers was the proof of concept; Shadow Generations is just the proof. It finds a control scheme that works for both the overworld and the stages and fleshes both of them out. The open world aspect of Frontiers was the real focus of that game while the individual levels were far too short, had no personality and copied level design from other games. I'd say the focus is swapped in Shadow Generations. The levels are gourmet here, just as you'd expect from a Generations game. These stages don't just have great design, they have great direction. There's cinematic flare and a narrative through line in them that has been missing since Sonic Team decided to cater to Mario fans. Set pieces are back while seldom taking control away from the player. Every stage is stuffed with multiple paths and a wide variety of level mechanics. Every time I played through them, I figure out a new shortcut or alternate way to handle an obstacle. They don't even hand out S ranks like they have since the original Generations… sometimes. A handful of the levels require careful study to clear that achievement, and I had a blast learning their intricacies. I think the mark of a good level that’s designed to be played fast is how immediately you want to replay it after getting anything less than the highest rank. I added hours of play time to my initial playthrough by constantly replaying levels before moving on to the next one. I felt this way about Sonic Frontiers, but those levels are usually a minute long. These Shadow levels are 4 times longer on average, yet I have no reservations jumping back in and avoiding any hint of progress.
I can’t credit my bloated total playtime of this game entirely to replays though. I found that the overworld is a huge source of distraction as well. Most overworlds in Sonic games I haven't vibed with and would almost always prefer a stage select menu. Frontiers was an exception, because the overworld was the point of the game, so it never felt like a way to pad out the game and keep me from the gameplay I enjoy. Sonic Adventure's overworld is basically why I will always prefer a start to finish playthrough of Adventure 2. I just want to play the levels and experience the story. Exploring ultimately uninteresting areas separated by load times is not my idea of a good time. I won't deny there's a chill groove to it, but the novelty wears off quickly to me. The overworld(s) in Unleashed was even worse because of how cramped it was despite adding more actual level design to the hub world areas. The 2D overworlds found in Sonic Advance 3 and Generations ended up being my least favorite due to how impossible they were to navigate.
Every attempt at an overworld/hubworld before Frontiers came off as a restriction. Something to slow me down forcibly. Frontiers was open enough and had enough content in it to the point where I preferred the overworld above the stages. But even then, there was a lot of room for improvement. The overworld was great, but was full of puzzles and challenges that didn't really feel like they belonged in the game. Getting from challenge to challenge was where the enjoyment laid and the large open areas allowed for the paths between those challenges to be a blast. Shadow Generations does not have the luxury of size though. Yet I think its hubworld just as fun as the levels and never came off as an impediment. This is due to the density of collectibles and more natural playground challenges. The overworld in Shadow Generations is stuffed full of rewards, each which require some level of platforming or thorough investigation of the area. It lacks the grandeur of Frontiers and it doesn't flow as well because of it, but the quality of the overworld itself per square foot is better than anything else in the franchise. It absolutely dunks on the Sonic Generation’s hub world, despite having the same structure.
The high quality content throughout both stages and the overworld led this 3 hour game to become an 18 game to me. I couldn’t help but do every single thing in this. Even the boss fights in this are of a higher caliber than what we've seen before. They all function as well directed fight scenes that have tricks hidden in them which allow for faster completion. Figuring out how to skip entire phases of the fight and make Shadow look like the coldest dude on face earth was always gratifying. Mastering these fights was just as fun as mastering a level and that is something that has NEVER been true about this franchise. Shadow Generation delivers on all fronts. The only thing that is remotely disappointing is the music. The music is still good obviously, but most of the remixes were lateral moves and nothing got me to pop off like when when they added a unique bridge to City Escape in Sonic Generations. And when you consider how the Sega Sound Team has been carrying this franchise on its back for 20 years, it becomes perfectly acceptable that the soundtrack is the worst part of this game.
Shadow Generations is a phenomenal, yet short experience. It's only really held back by its size and premise of being a throwback game. And like the other Greatest Hits Sonic games, I feel uneasy to say it's the best 3D Sonic game and that the Adventure games have been surpassed. Maybe I'll feel different about this after it sinks deeper into my mind, as Sonic Adventure 2 has had a 23 year head start. I will say though, I'm pretty confident the next 3D Sonic game has the potential to be the best one. All the ingredients are here.
Even within the confines of a short game that has to be about past events, the writing in this game hits exactly how it should. There's a clear reverence and respect towards every character and piece of lore. It was a joy going through the hubworld and exhausting dialogue options. Every character felt distinct and acted in line with last interpretations of the characters. Elements of the past stories come back in legitimately clever ways, which fits especially well in a game about traveling through time. The motif of the past is used to further delve into Shadow's mind set. As a Character who has had to overcome great trauma, he's pretty much forced to re-frame the way he's been coping with his issues now that the past has been rooted up. It's crazy seeing how much Shadow has grown throughout the series while still feeling like he's the same guy he was when he was introduced. I’ve never been a fan of Kirk Thornton voicing Shadow until now. He always felt like a guy doing a bad Shadow impression. But now that he has a competent script and that he's been voicing the character for a decade, I'm finally on board. Still prefer the other two guys, but I can comfortably say he is Shadow the Hedgehog.
The writing is here, the gameplay is here. All we need is an original plot and more characters to have stakes in it. And I do think that last part is important. What made the Adventure games so engaging was that characters had large parts of gameplay and story attached to them. Since Sonic Unleashed, it's just been the Oops all Sonic. Sonic’s friends never do anything of note and it's just Sonic quipping up a storm for the duration of the game. That's not a bad experience really. It's good enough. But it makes the world feel cramped and the plot predictable when Sonic is the only one who gets to do things. I need other characters to get their time to shine and the most satisfying way to do this is making them playable characters.
Shadow Generations shows they can make a character that plays similar yet incredibly distinct from Sonic, in a way I feel the Sonic Frontiers DLC failed to do. Shadow has basically built a frame work for characters who aren't Sonic to follow now that it's been proven that mechanics other than go faster can exist in this gameplay style. Shadow doesn't have the light speed dash like Sonic does, he uses Chaos Spears to stun enemies and activate switches. Shadow doesn't have a way to fast forward through large chunks of the level like Sonic would in the Story Book Games, he uses Chaos Control to slow time and use flying projectiles as platforms. Shadow doesn't have a weird charged homing attack that does nothing visually different like Sonic does in Lost World, he has a melee combo that launches an enemy into any direction you want. All of these mechanics are unique to Shadow and can be used to deal with obstacles quicker than you would have to without them.
These powers are integrated into Shadow's moveset and make him feel like a character equal but different than Sonic. The more I think about it, the more obvious it seems that they could implement this philosophy for each character they want to add in the future. Just 3 or 4 mechanics and some changes in the properties of how fast they move at top speed and how high they jump is all they need to make a fully fleshed out character. I'm over here brain storming how they can implement Silver the Hedgehog in this style. I'm serious, I have notes. This is how I know we are out of the dark ages. I haven't brained stormed about Sonic Team implementing cool shit in their games in over a decade. I kinda checked out after a while because I knew they'd just do something out of left field. And now it's like I'm 8 again and the future is bright.
Shadow has gifted us the blue print to success and it seems like all the pieces are in play. We just need to keep this momentum and not make another Sonic Lost World. Even of it’s not by title, we will have a game that is spiritually a Sonic Adventure game. I don’t need the gameplay to go back to what it was, I just need the general structure to return, and I’m confident they can pull it off if they use Shadow as a jumping off point. It feels strange to not be cynical about this series anymore, but I’m not. How could I when the franchise is as earnest as its been in over a decade? It was already leading to this point, but I think by taking the most easy to make fun of character in the franchise and treating him with the utmost respect, a curse has been broken. The path ahead finally looks bright.
