Sonic Generations 3DS thoughts

I finally got an opportunity to play through the 3DS version of Sonic Generations and wanted to share my thoughts on the experience.

I'll start by saying that my expectations for the game were a little high and probably over influenced by how good I thought the console version of Sonic Generations was. Not that the 3DS version is a bad game, but in a nutshell if you started with the console version you'll probably be a little let down by it's handheld little brother.

Just like the console version, the premise of the game is to tour the highlights of Sonic's 20 year history. Unlike the console version, the 3DS visits 3 stages from the Genesis days and only 2 from the Dreamcast and 2 of the modern era which unfortunately makes for a limited number of main acts. Fortunately save for Green Hill, the zone selection is completely different from the console version and I was glad to see some of my favorites that were missed on console, such as Mushroom Hill.

Love it or hate it, the genesis era classic Sonic acts are almost exact recreations of the original first acts. It was nice that I was already familiar with the stage layouts and that they were presented in lovely 3D, but I wish they had gone the console route and created brand new acts. The modern Sonic acts are completely original layouts from what I can tell.

I'm frustrated with the decisions they made with the gameplay. Both classic and modern Sonics play on a completely 2D plane. I was expecting this with classic, but it offers little difference for the modern acts, save for the boost ability. A few stages in modern Sonic teaches the homing attack to classic Sonic which blurs their differences even further. I just wonder what's the difference in having 2 different Sonics at this point. I just have to be slower with classic Sonic since he doesn't get the boost...a bit unfair.

Another thing that bugs me is the lack of a quick spin dash mapped to the x button like in the console version. Classic Sonic once again has to come to a stop, duck and then mash the button for a spin dash. I know, I know, "that's classic," it was just a let down after experiencing this luxury on the console version.

The modern Sonic stages are pretty much Sonic rush stages in gameplay style. Now don't get me wrong, I love Sonic Rush, I just felt like the decision to design the stages like this was lazy. I feel like the 3DS has the power to create modern 3rd person perspective stages, but they were too lazy to put in the effort.

The side missions have been included to challenge you to replay the stages in creative ways for longevity. What may be a frustration to some is that you have to buy a majority of them with your play coins, again a ploy to draw things out. If you're not interested in that though you're going to fly through this game in no time.

Also included are special stages to obtain the chaos emeralds. These are ripped right out of Sonic Heroes, except they're actually programmed well and aren't a headache to play due to bugs and glitches. They're really easy though, maybe the easiest special stages ever. There was only one emerald I didn't get on my first try.

Rival races are included after each "era" is complete where you race Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver in a Sonic CD speed highway style foot race. They're a fun distraction but they each play pretty similarly. The bosses that follow are on par with the console version in creativity. It was actually a pleasure fighting the re-imagined versions, especially the big arm from Sonic 3.

3D is a must for the game as you don't get the full effect of the depth without it. I think you can agree that when you watch videos of this game the backgrounds appear pretty bland, but they really come to life when you play it for yourself on the handheld. They did some clever things with the depth too, such as switching paths and running in the background while the foreground is still popping out in front. You can also scope some alternate pathways this way to try the next time through.

The music is ripped straight from the console version so I can't really complain there, it was pretty top notch.

The game gets even lazier with it's presentation. There are no video cutscenes once so ever. Instead we are treated to dialogue boxes while the character models stand and look at each other. For action segments, such as when modern teaches classic the homing attack, they make the character model zip by the screen and play a sound effect like an awkward puppet show with action figures. All of the dialogue from the console version is the same, except for the opening of the game where they had Sonic arrive before the party was started. I'd imagine so they wouldn't have to create models for Sonic's friends, which doesn't make any sense since you can view the models of his friends in the gallery mode. I was highly disappointed in this presentation of the story. Also gone is the cool hub world to explore. Instead we're left with an unimaginative level select.

I had fun with the 3DS version, but it was only a bite sized tease of the true console Sonic Generations. If you like classic Sonic gameplay as well as the Sonic Rush series then you're going to love the levels. If only there were more of them.

I can't really recommend this game at a full price tag. If you're a Sonic fan then by all means try it out, just wait till it drops.

Pros:

-Fun, "Sonic Rush" style level designs.

-Music and Graphics are nice.

-Good controls, on par with the console version.

Cons:

-Presentation is extremely lazy.

-Game is really short if you're not interested in the mission content.

-Too little differences between classic and modern versions of gameplay.

Nutshell 2 turbo: It's fun, but a lot of missed opportunities. If you started with the console version, the handheld version is going to be like eating a plain hotdog after having a delicious loaded chili dog.