Sonic Generations (Xbox 360)

I will start by saying I only rented this game and played to the end over a week, because after seeing others finishing it in a weekend, I didn't feel it would be worth the £40 price tag it had.

The story

The story is really silly and non-logical. However, You play as a talking hedgehog. What can I say?

Your sonic, it's your birthday and you get sucked into a back hole type thing, taking you to a colourless dimension with no exit in site.
Meanwhile, another sonic from 10 years ago also ends up in the same dimension, and you have to work together to restore colour and peace to the strange place you end up.

You do this by playing all the levels from the old sonic games, one level from each one.
The games the levels are taken from include : Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and 3, Sonic adventure 2 battle and Sonic hero's.

Unfortunately, the game only have 9 main levels, one level from every good sonic game that has been released. This means the game runs pretty short on it's own and finishes before you really have a chance to enjoy it.

The gameplay

There are 2 types of gameplay, the 3D sonic gameplay, and the 2D Sonic.

3D sonic

3D sonic plays a awful lot like the 3D sonic in "Sonic adventure" and "Sonic Adventure Battle 2"

He's able to use the homing attack, and he's able to run delightfully fast.

I personally enjoyed these levels more then the 2D sonic, however, Many others disagree. So it's really down to personal preference.

2D sonic

2D sonic is, as It says, 2D. It looks pretty, and plays like a bloated version of the original sonic games.

You have no special moves, and you have no special methods. You can jump, and you can run fast.

All I can really say about that, is that it's nostalgic. It does take you back to the good times when games didn't have tons of attacks to coordinate, and you could just run fast.

Both of these modes are playable on every level, in fact, you have to play each level as each of these to be able to continue.

This... This is a problem. Many of the old 2D levels like green hill zone don't transfer well into 3D, and it makes the game a hell to play.

It's forgivable, because a few of the levels do play better then I would have ever expected, but it still means some levels just bog you down and bring your feeling about the game as a whole down with it.

Graphics

The games graphics are pretty amazing, I will give it that. Everything looks smooth and well rendered, and I encountered no environment problems while completing the game.

2D sonic however, looks pretty stupid. It's the best way I can really put it. He just shouldn't be made into 3D.

The level background look amazing, and so do the games bosses.

Sound

The sounds on this game are the same as every other sonic game. Springs and jumping noises.

The soundtrack however, is brilliant. It's every old memorable sonic song remade.
Remember "Live and learn"? That's back, and so are all the others. :)

Value for Money

Is it worth the £40 price tag new?

I'm afraid not. I would say, if you can get hold of a copy for £20 or less, pick it up.

Longevity

I played to the end, then went back and played the best levels 3 or 4 times over and put the game down. This was after about 20 hours of starting the game. Not the shortest game ever made, but nothing worth paying £40 for.

Final words

If your a old school sonic fan you already own this.

If not, then feel free to give it a try if you can pick it up for less then £20. It's good for a little fun.