Sonic X Shadow Generations announced, releases Autumn 2024

I'm not talking about voice actors in general. Yes, a lot of VAs in the industry are treated like shit and have trouble making ends meet. But the Sonic cast, specifically, are not those VAs. They are extremely prolific, have been in the industry a long time, and are able to hold clout. I'm not picking on Ryan Drummond, or Lani Minella. These people are big. Travis Willingham is competing with Tara Strong when it comes to net worth, and RCS and Mike Pollock aren't far behind.

 

There's actually something regarding Shadow's Inhibitor Rings I can't help but think about. When did they actually come up with the idea that Shadow can remove them to unleash his full power? The very 1st time he uses them is in Sonic X, and then 06. Not even Shadow the Hedgehog brings any attention to them, and that was after X. Did they always have that in mind from the start, or was it only during X they came up with it? And if it's the former, why did it take until X?

 

was this said in an interview? id love to see a source. not doubting just curious.

 

And then we can put it up on the wiki!

 

In Sonic X, when Super Sonic and Super Shadow power up to create a big Chaos Control they show a scene where Shadow's limiter rings get removed when he powers up.

I wonder if in Sonic Adventure 2 they had a similar idea for the scene that they for whatever reason didn't do.

It might help explain why Sonic has one of the rings with him when he returns to the Ark.

 

A source would be good. I was just going to ask about the end of SA2 when Sonic gives Rouge Shadow's ring. Is this actually meant to be the inhibitor ring idea. That Shadow took it off at the end of fight as seen in Sonic X or is it just a way to have a piece of him left to show he died and they morphed that into the inhibitor ring in Sonic X?

Edit: Ninja'd

 

If I had to take a guess it was just because they couldn't remove the rings from his model. Or at least not in a smooth way.

 

Sonic X added scenes to the Adventure 2 adaptation that weren't present in the game.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if the Limiter Rings were conceptualized with Shadow's creation, but they couldn't really animate it properly. X being 2D makes that a non-issue essentially.

 

The limiter rings are confirmed to be conceptualised from the start, but it's also worth noting simply that if you look at his model in SA2, the rings are clearly modelled with a hinge and joint

 

The main thing that's kinda turning me off from this game is the price tag. $50 for base edition along with $60 for deluxe actually isn't a bad deal if you consider what most other AAA games are priced at, but for something like Generations is where it gets tricky. Generations is already a pretty short game in of itself, with the average length that most will finish it in being around 4-5 hours. Take this with a grain of salt, but supposedly Shadow's portion is going to be shorter than Generation's already minuscule campaign. Even if that were to be false however, it likely isn't going to be longer than Generations if we're being realistic. At most, it will probably be around the same length.

This means that totaled together, Sonic x Shadow probably isn't going to be longer than 10 hours assuming you only get through the campaigns and don't care about side content. $50 at the lowest for a 10 hour game, except since i already played the first half of it a decade ago that means im basically paying that much for what will essentially be DLC? Ehhh, i might need to hold off on this until it gets a nice price cut. Even if i were to bother to 100% both parts i still don't think i would fully get my money's worth.

 

I dont like valuing the cost of a game solely by how long its main scenario is. I get *why* people do, but its never made sense to me especially with sonic

But im also the type of person to play a game until i *feel* like ive gotten my moneys worth so, shrug

 

Campaign length only matters if there isn't a healthy amount of stuff to do besides the campaign (or if that stuff sucks). Sonic at its best is worth its price not for its length but its density. Even Forces, padded to hell like it is, has a lot of side stuff to tackle when the main campaign is only three hours (maybe they could have stood to mix some of those extra stages in like Colors...). The problem with this remaster is that the Sonic portion isn't going to be much of a reason to buy the same game again, essentially meaning Shadow's all you're really paying for if you already own the original, and I have no idea if any side content will even exist for that (I haven't seen anything like a red ring in his stages, for instance). It would be more than worth it if this was the first-ever release of the game (as much as that wouldn't make any sense). Given the confidence of their presentation of Shadow's content, it makes me wonder if this project was originally designed as something else, but scaled back into being an add-on for Sonic Generations with SEGA's fear that characters other than Sonic couldn't hold interest for a game without him.

 

yeah this is something I noticed as a kid but I had no idea what the hell "inhibitor rings" were so I always thought he was just wearing those slap-on bracelets or something lol

 

Shadow shouldn't have an issue holding interest, he's the coolest after all

 

That's the thing though. I love the level design of Generations' main stages and enjoyed playing them over and over, but the stuff other than the main campaign sucks. All of the side missions are garbage. Most of the boss fights and rival fights are boring. and the sound test/ trophy room is basically non-existent. I got it for like $15 on steam and felt like I got a pretty good deal. I would never have paid $50 for it.

 

As far as I'm concerned, I'm just paying $50 to be able to pay Gens while in bed, the Shadow stuff is a bonus.

I'd probably be more hesitant if it was a Sonic game I don't like as much, like I wish I hadn't paid $60 for Superstars for example...

 

I don't think I could disagree with you more. In fact, I think Generations has the best optional filler content out of any Sonic game. Most of it boils down to "play the level again but with X stipulation", which is fine with me given the levels are so good. But even the more bespoke missions with unique layouts and gimmicks are good fun and never outstay their welcome (except for the Vector mission, that one sucks)