Sonic Modern and Sonic Classic are back together again, this time with Shadow tagging along. In Sonic x Shadows Generations, the two blue hedgehogs deal with a time anomaly that threatens the world. Forced to team up, they cross the multiverse to defeat Eggman Modern and Eggman Classic, who possess the new Time Eater entity. Meanwhile, Shadow, dealing with his multiversal episode, faces off against Black Doom for what he hopes is the final time.

Editor’s Note: SEGA provided a PlayStation 5 review code for Sonic x Shadows Generations to support this review. Light spoilers for the game’s Sonic and Shadow portions may be present. Most of this review will be focused on Shadow Generations.

Worlds collide in Sonic x Shadow Generations.

Originally released in 2011, Sonic Generations was an odd choice for the next entry into the Sonic franchise. Though not the first time interdimensional or multiversal travel had been introduced to the franchise, it was a unique take on blending the old with the new. Thirteen years later, the game has been revamped for modern platforms and a new campaign featuring Shadow the Hedgehog, expanding his lore and world-building as Sonic enters a new rise in popularity thanks to the films and some fairly good recent video game entries. Shadow’s story takes place following the events of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic 06, Shadow the Hedgehog & before Sonic Generations, focusing on his attempt at reform.

Shadow’s story continues in Shadow Generations.

THE GOOD: Sometime after his recent defeat, Eggman has been trapped in space and encounters a time-based creature known as a Time Eater. He uses it to travel back to the past and teams up with his classic self and turns the Time Eater into a robot to erase their defeats from history. The Time Eater faces classic Sonic, who escapes and finds present Sonic celebrating his birthday with his friends. Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic find and save Tails, who later saves Classic Tails, and the group works together to defeat the Eggmen.

Before the previous events, Rouge the Bat tries to convince Shadow the Hedgehog to attend Sonic’s birthday party, thinking it’ll be a good gesture for his attempt at reform. Shadow is busy investigating a mysterious signal from the Ark and realizes that Black Doom has somehow returned. Cursed to use continuously growing powers and abilities from Doom, Shadow finds himself, through time and space, meeting Maria and Gerald Robotnik. He vows to right his wrongs by aiding the Sonics and Tails in fixing the timelines, finally coming to terms with his past.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is another justification for 3D Sonic titles.

If you’re familiar at all with the original release, Sonic Generations was a special kind of surprise for longtime Sonic fans. It was released during a time when people were craving classic Sonic gameplay as 3D was looking less and less like a viable option for modern incarnations of the blue hedgehog. Even in the original 2011 title, Generations is one of the better 3D titles in the Sonic franchise. It’s a best of both worlds approach that worked surprisingly well and has a solid enough story to boot. In the 2024 remaster, much of the quality is the same, outside of enhanced graphics and tweaks to gameplay for modern consoles. If you’re not familiar with Generations in any sense, it’s a very good four-hour run if you have some downtime.

The obvious winner of the package is Shadow Generations. It’s a brand-new story that not only expands Shadow’s story but also the greater Sonic mythos, at least for the games. It continues his attempts at conquering his darker impulses in honor of Maria’s memory and her dream for Shadow to find happiness. While it has a bit of an ambiguous ending, it leaves enough room to lead into a second solo Shadow game or Sonic Adventure 3, both of which have been rumored for some time now.

Gameplay for both games features the grinding side-scrolling gameplay and switches between it and some 3D action elements. The hub world for Sonic Generations is the same as the original release, while Shadow Generations’ hub is slightly more open and lends itself to a bit of exploration for extra content like artwork and music. Shadow’s Black Doom powers give some extra variety with traversal and combat gameplay. Shadow can surf, fly, and use arrow-like attacks that can home in on enemies in addition to controlling time with Chaos Control.

Classic and modern platforming coexist in Sonic x Shadows Generations.

THE BAD: Both games are extremely short, with Sonic Generations as mentioned earlier being four hours and Shadow being about six and a half, totaling nearly eleven hours between the two titles. If you’re into completing games at 100%, then it’ll give you a couple of hours of additional play. Many levels in the Sonic and Shadow portions are fun enough to justify a completion run.

A surprising win for Shadow’s fans and an emotional journey for Shadow.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Sonic X Shadow Generations is another tally win for 3D Sonic, finally beginning to find its place in the franchise. A healthy balance of side-scrolling platforming and 3D action is a formula for success after Sonic Frontiers went much larger with it. There’s undoubtedly going to be more Sonic remasters from the 3D catalog in the future, and many of which deserve a second chance like Generations. Hopefully, they’ll live up to similar or greater success in design, quality, and critique & Sonic Team’s recent track record says yes to a bright future for the blue and black hedgehogs whether a remaster or new game.