It’s been twenty years since Sonic first raced onto the scene in Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Mega Drive. The spiky blue speedster has had his fair share of ups and down during the last two decades but is back with a bang in Sonic Generations.

The game is essentially a tribute to two decades worth of Sonic titles, featuring levels, characters and bosses that will be instantly familiar to fans of the series - this is not, however, an attempt on Sega’s part to cash in on Sonic’s 20th anniversary. Rather, Sonic Generations is packed to the brim with entertaining content designed to appeal to anyone who’s ever enjoyed a 2D or 3D platformer.

Developer Sonic Team has made some intelligent choices to ensure that Sonic Generations satisfies fans of the series, regardless of previous Sonic title(s) they’ve played. Three ‘eras’ of Sonic are represented by the game’s nine levels – ‘Classic,’ ‘Dreamcast’ and ‘Modern.’ These range from the gentle slopes of ‘Green Hill’ to the steep descents of ‘Rooftop Run.’ What makes Sonic Generations different from most other platformers on the market is that these levels can be played in either 2D or 3D depending on which version of Sonic you choose.

Classic Sonic controls just like he did in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the levels are played from a 2D perspective, with the camera occasionally tracking him in 3D as he rounds corners or spirals around a building. As Modern Sonic you’ll play the levels from both a 2D and 3D perspective, with the latter being the predominant view. The two Sonics come with their own set of moves, with Classic Sonic sporting his iconic spin attack and spin dash, and Modern Sonic using techniques such as his boosting and homing attacks.

To complete the game you’ll need to spend a lengthy spell in each Sonic’s shoes, but the game definitely affords you some flexibility to play as your preferred character. For instance, you can breeze through three levels at a time as either Classic or Modern Sonic before being forced to play those levels as the other character in order to progress. There are also five challenge levels linked to each environment per character, so how long you spend in each of their shoes (over and above what is required to finish the game) is entirely up to you.

The eighteen levels (nine per character) found in Sonic Generations are an absolute blast to play. The first few are simple enough to clear but later levels will certainly tax your reflexes. In true Sonic fashion, progressing through the 2D levels is not merely about moving from left to right. Levels are designed in such a way that you’ll need to manoeuvre in all manner of directions before the path to the right becomes clear. This is also true for the Modern Sonic levels that often shift to a 2D view in order to provide a more cerebral, direction-orientated challenge.

Sonic Generations is the Uncharted 3 of the platformer genre, featuring some truly cinematic moments. While most of these have appeared in previous games, they’ve never been as awe-inspiring as they are in Sonic Generations. Whether it’s outrunning a deadly 18-wheeler in ‘City Escape’ or grinding down a vertical rail in ‘Rooftop Run,’ Sonic Generations will make you grin like a kid at a Sega arcade.

Few games will entertain you as consistently as Sonic Generations does, and a large part of its success can be attributed to its incredibly varied gameplay. Each level contains a new gameplay mechanic to get accustomed to, such as riding a skateboard or transforming into a Rocket Wisp. The same applies to the seven boss battles that will test your platforming skills in a variety of unique ways. Eighteen levels and seven boss battles later, there are then ninety optional level challenges to complete – forty-five per character. These range from trying to complete a level with just one ring to collecting a certain number of rings by the end of a stage. Many of the challenges are level-specific so expect one related to skateboarding in ‘City Escape,’ for example.

Completing these challenges earns you artwork and music, as well as points that can be spent on skills to equip both versions of Sonic with. These skills grant you abilities such as ‘Time Brake’ (which can be used to slow down time) and some of them are also helpful in reaching the five ‘Red Star Rings’ scattered throughout each level, such as the skill that allows you to perform a double jump.

Sonic Generations is a great-looking game that runs flawlessly most of the time. Every so often, however, there’s a split-second pause as the game loads the rest of the level, and there’s also a touch of slowdown on occasion. Some textures are a little too blurry for my liking, but overall the graphics are some of the best we’ve seen in a platformer this generation. If you have a gaming PC then you might want to get Sonic Generations on that platform as it can run at 60 frames per second in 1080p on PC as opposed to 30fps in sub-HD on consoles.

The Sonic series is renowned for its catchy tunes and Sonic Generations delivers yet another incredible soundtrack. Many of the tracks are remixed versions of older tunes from the Sonic sound library, and the updated music is just as brilliant as ever. The background music is influenced by what’s going on in each level, so if you’re underwater the music will sound muffled while boosting distorts the track in an entirely different way. Couple this with crisp sound effects and Sonic Generations has some of the best audio out there. Those of you who are fans of levels not featured in Sonic Generations will at least be able to enjoy the music associated with them, since you can set one of the unlocked tracks as the background music for any level featured in the game.

While Sonic Generations comes highly recommended, there are a couple of issues that you should be aware of. The boss battles are somewhat lacking compared to those found in previous Sonic titles – I found them to either be too easy or frustratingly difficult, and it’s often unclear how to go about beating them. Another annoyance is the automatic camera during Modern Sonic levels, which can sometimes obscure your view or lead to you plunging to your death because you couldn’t judge a jump properly.

Sonic Generations is one of the best and most complete platformers of this console cycle, featuring inspired level design, a ton of varied content and catchy tunes that hit all the right nostalgic notes. If Sonic Team can just put as much heart into their future games as they did with this one then the spiky speedball can easily keep us entertained for another twenty years!

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