It’s the early 00s. I finally got my hands on a copy of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on the GameCube, having previously spent an entire night with friends to finish the first game together in one sitting. I’m wearing my emo baggy jeans. Linkin Park plays in the background.
Except I was actually sitting in 2024 playing Sonic X Shadow Generations, the anniversary celebration re-release that was initially all about nostalgia, but now goes double with the inclusion of the Shadow campaign. Sonic Generations was released in 2011 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sonic’s first Mega Drive game, but this fresh remaster adds a new, standalone set of levels for his tougher nemesis Shadow.
It all comes back to me within seconds. I’m racing through the Space Colony level, seemingly inspired by the ending of Sonic Adventure 2, bumping into enemies, going down rails, and finding hidden paths to maintain fluidity and speed in pursuit of that elusive S rank. Sonic Adventure is back, baby! “It’s a disease,” I write in my notes simply enough like a horrible millennial.
After playing the demo, I was able to ask Sonic team leader Takashi Iizuka questions. I had to ask: just like in his 2005 standalone game, will Shadow wield a weapon?
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“When we were coming up with the concept for Shadow the Hedgehog, we really wanted to make an action shooter because it was a popular game genre at the time,” says Iizuka. “Since Shadow is an anti-hero character who would use anything at his disposal to get the job done, we had him use a gun to incorporate this action shooter.”
However, this is not the case with Sonic X Shadow Generations as the gameplay follows the typical Generations template. “Instead, we wanted all levels to make the most of Shadow’s iconic move, Chaos Control, to stop time and find new platforms to run through worlds or find new ways to attack bosses,” says Iizuka. “In addition to Chaos Control, Shadow also has brand new Doom Powers that allow him to attack enemies and traverse the world.
Chaos Control allows Shadow to momentarily stop time and add another gameplay layer to his levels beyond just running and jumping really fast. Time it right and Shadow can crawl under floating pillars, line up moving platforms to create new airstrips, or – in one particularly bizarre but wonderfully funny moment – rocket into oblivion like Chris Redfield vs. a boulder. All the while electro rock music is pounding in the background. This is 00s cool through and through, and Sonic at his best.
The addition of Chaos Control separates Shadow from his blue counterpart, along with his more staccato homing attack and the adorable way he skates rather than runs, flailing his limbs to keep up with his own speed. The Doom Powers that Iizuka mentions weren’t part of this demo, but I’m interested to see how they affect Shadow’s movement.
Of course, Shadow’s storytelling is indispensable to Sonic as well. “Sonic is a true hero – he will stand up for others and fight for justice,” says Iizuka. “When we were designing Shadow, I was living in America and dark heroes were very popular at the time and I thought it would be the perfect contrast to Sonic.”
Aside from Shadow’s moveset, what really impresses is the uninterrupted flow of the level design. This particular demo level features everything from high-speed grind rails to platforming challenges and set pieces in a precisely designed five-minute rush, but it’s aided by a generous (and very accurate) homing attack that lets me zip through the zone with ease, all without frustrating camera angles and the sudden stops of previous 3D Sonics.
I ask Iizuka how Shadow’s abilities affect Sonic’s signature sense of speed and fluidity. “For Shadow Generations’ level design, the team is making sure that the levels are basically similar to Generations-style level design with lots of high-speed action platforming that also includes additional features that work when using Chaos Control,” he said. he says. “From there, they continue to build on the level design through iterations, adding things to do with the new Doom Powers as well, so you can not only go through traditional Generations-style gameplay, but also find new things. dealing with chaos control and the forces of destruction.”
Just don’t expect any “Classic Shadow” levels like Sonic, though Shadow’s perspective does shift to 2D at times. The levels will also be taken from all of Shadow’s appearances in the games, “featuring many iconic moments from Shadow’s past in the new game,” says Iizuka. “We wanted to tell a new story using a lot of these familiar locations to really introduce Shadow as a character to players who may not have gotten the character’s full story, as has been done in many different titles, and also to make sure that this single title could properly introduce Shadow as character and highlight some important moments in Shadow’s history.”
Another part is the world of the center for Shadow. In Sonic Generations, level selection is a playable side scrolling zone; for Shadow, it was expanded with Sonic Frontiers’ Open Zone game, although it was not included in this preview. Iizuka says, “We also wanted to include White Space for Shadow, and Sonic Frontiers’ Open Zone was so well received that the team decided to use White Space as inspiration for the playable world of Shadow Generations, which had a level of gameplay depth and exploration deeper than in Sonic Generations, but still familiar and fun for players.”
In that sense, Sonic X Shadow Generations brings together Sonic’s past and future. Unfortunately, the boss battle of this preview brought back less favorable elements from the past. The giant lizard fight uses Chaos Control to target weak spots, but with awkward camera angles and moving too fast for such a small arena, it’s a struggle compared to the freedom of the main stage. Bosses have long been a weakness of 3D Sonic games, and that won’t change here.
I also played two Green Hill Zone levels from the main and enhanced original Sonic Generations campaigns. And it’s exactly as you remember, just a little sharper visually. The old shortcuts from 2011 come back and I slide right back in, and it feels as smooth as you’d expect on PlayStation 5.
For most fans, though, it’s the Shadow campaign that provides the main draw here. Generations was well-received by players old and new, giving it lasting appeal, though Iizuka admits that the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie provided the impetus for this re-release in celebration of the Year of Shadows.
“As you know, the third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is coming out this December, and Shadow will be the focus of that movie,” says Iizuka. “There’s also a Year of Shadow going on to celebrate and highlight the character, and at the same time we needed a game that would not only support everything that’s going on around Shadow, but delve deeper into Shadow as a character and introduce Shadow’s to players. story and moments from older games We felt that creating a new game for Shadow and adding it to Sonic Generations would be perfect for a game that would be marketed to a movie audience and fans who love Shadow and the Generations.
So what is it about Shadow, first introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, that makes him such an enduring character in the Sonic world?
“I think Shadow has a lot of appeal because he’s a dark anti-hero who will do anything to achieve his goals,” says Iizuka. “That gives him qualities that really work in contrast to Sonic, making him cold and edgy while also being strong and heroic and a little bit dangerous. It’s harder to tell what Shadow is going to do and that adds to the mystery.” character, and I believe that’s what people find really exciting about Shadow.”
I think the fans just love the bad boy.