Sonic X Shadow Generations announced, releases Autumn 2024

There are slopes in the Crazy Gadget part of the Ark level.

He can quickstep, the player just sucks lol

 

I am impressed that there are some actual new platforming mechanics and expanded boss fights. Still not going to buy day one, but I will be eager to rent it from my library.

 

I honestly agree that the ARK level looks a bit braindead and empty but it's seemingly the first level or close to it so eh, not sure how it reflects on the rest of the game. I'm actually really loving the spectacle gimmick moments, especially sliding down that twisting skyscraper. Almost seems like an unused Crisis City gimmick or something and it works so well without feeling like a QTE or interactive cutscene (even though it kinda is). The Biolizard having brand new phases is a good sign though I'm not sure if he's actually any fun to fight. Could easily be a Superstars situation where you spend a lot of time waiting. It all looks intriguing so far though! The thing I'm liking least that I can see here is actually just Shadow's slow acceleration speed. I guess it's a ploy to make you use the Chaos Boost or whatever but it's really noticeable with this player.

 

I’ll admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of Gens. Never liked boost gameplay, although ironically I prefer the boost gameplay over classic Sonic in Gens because the latter plays nothing like the gameplay in Sonic 1,2 & 3. Add to this a rubbish story, some lame bosses, the dreadful time-eater, having to beat some side-missions to be able to progress the main story... So yeah, Gens isn’t my cup of tea.

However, the xShadow content has got me some-what intrigued.

Hoping the story (which I assume is being written by Ian Flynn) is a lot better than vanilla Gens.

A 3D Frontiers-inspired white-space hub world sounds really cool. Remains to be seen how big it will be-whether there will be much to explore. Whether there will be any special challenges you can do in the hub-world (like hunting Chao) and also whether there will be new side missions.

I want better boss fights but keeping my expectations in check.

Will they be using Frontiers engine (Hedgehog Engine 2 IIRC) for the xShadow content? So will Shadow play/control/feel more like Sonic does in Frontiers than in vanilla Gens.

I think the rumour was that the new content is being developed in-house at SEGA. So hopefully won’t be a mess like Colour Ultimate when it first released.

Will the finite lives-system in Gens be replaced with medal/medallions again? Perhaps this time lives will be replace with Chao

I’m looking forward to the new music remixes. If there’s one thing vanilla Gens got right was the awesome remixs and being able to play whichever track you wanted to in any stage.

You could unlock playable Sonic 1 in vanilla gens so maybe you can unlock playable ShTH or ’06 in x Shadow.

Edit:
Just watched the video. Yep digging the remixes and shadow's skating animations looks sick. The time-stop gimmick and the Bio-lizard boss seems okay.

Just hoping this won’t be a complete train-wreck.

 

Im struggling to even get a good grasp of how the level design will be, the ark level cut before what seemed like a few paths, then cutting right into a linear tube before the spectacle. I did spy a few alternative paths and the homing attack doesnt seem to be as obnoxious as the frontiers one with start and stop, but still there at the start of it.

I think it looks pretty alright so far but im going to wait on more in depth impressions before getting ahead of myself

Love how the biolizard looks in this though

 

I think the stop-start feeling might be an animation feel thing, it looks to me to be about the same as Generations', but Shadow's blinking to opponents rather than homing and popping up in one continuous motion like Sonic does.

Anyway, I'm liking the look of what I'm seeing so far. Level design is a bit simplistic but there's at least some attempt at divergent paths, so hopefully this is just first-level stuff and substances ramps up quickly afterwards. What's most interesting is probably what isn't seen. Shadow seems to have quite a few Chaos powers at his disposal and I've got a hunch they share resource with the boost gauge. The whole thing strikes me as a better take on Superstars' Emerald powers and there seems to be actual incentive to use them (especially since they're almost certainly tied to a regenerating resource such as the boost gauge). The movement in circles in the Biolizard fight doesn't look quite as tight as Adventure handling, but way better than the stiffness of Generations/Forces - will be interesting to see whether we're setting our own sliders this time or if Sonic Team has found values they're confident in going forward.

Only thing to note at this point is I find it odd that Black Doom has explicitly been namedropped in promotional materials for this game, but we've seen nothing of him so far other than Doom's Eye, not even a new render. I wonder if there's more going on with him than we're supposed to suspect...

 

The only thing I don't like is how the skydiving looks. It doesn't look good. Shadow just kind of slides instead of glides.

Also, just so we remember our roots, this is what the first level of Sonic Forces looked like:

https://x.com/roxochixo/status/1799528443450622310

 

The level design looks solid. A bit more Colors-ish than Generations-ish, but that's not a bad thing at all, and WOW the production quality and spectacle is a major step up from Frontiers. Music is also thumpin'. I'm optimistic.

 

One more thing I don't like, it's only an aesthetic thing, is how basic single Springs are used for the end of level chunks. Not when it's used from when you go to Final Chase to Crazy Gadget, I mean the ends of platforms or ramps.

What happened to these?

 

I want to ask, if I'm delusional honestly. Because this ain't Forces-tier shit





Like I don't even have an argument, just look at these.

There's more shit going on in 3/4ths of this first level than the entirety of Sonic Forces itself. I got nothing to add, this is something worthwhile.

 

I said the player sucks but that's not really fair to them. They are trying to show the game in a particular manner. And I noticed this because at 4:45, they use Chaos Control to slow down time to use the bullets as platforms. This is how you're supposed to proceed.

But then I thought, wait... most people would try to figure out what to do here, and miss their chance. They wouldn't move so seemlessly. New players probably would have fell or got the timing wrong.

So they are competent, but it's also a detriment because they're playing not in a flashy way, but in a strictly basic way. No boosting, no alternate paths, but they play it well.

 

pretty cool that the item capsules from Adventure are back, but they make the wrong sound effect... I sure hope someone was fired for that blunder... :/

I think Generations still looks good for a game from 2011 so seeing it mostly unchanged is the best case scenario to me. I was worried they would haphazardly add random visual effects like bloom that go against the intended art direction.

 

They also say at the start of the video that the Generations remaster portion is to provide people with a look at how things have improved, so I imagine they're not boosting to show off the graphics a bit more, rather than boosting through the content and having everything fly by super fast and smeared by motion blur.


I'm also wondering what this green thing is from around 04:20 in the gameplay footage. We've already seen Shadow get boost/Chaos energy from an item capsule, so it's not that...

 

Even though the guy was playing slow I am excited by the level design. I see multiple paths and ramps. That’s a very good sign and an improvement over Forces. It’s not perfect, the homing attack is still too slow and I dislike the quicktime nonsense with the missile. That said I’m overall impressed and I’m finally legit excited for this. I’m looking forward to seeing more footage trickle out this weekend!

 

I like it better than Frontiers cyber stages, and I'll just leave it at that. I wanted a proper Generations 2 for ages, and this also hits that feel better than Forces did, though I sadly fear it won't be very long when all is said and done.

They've got me though. This old retro classic sonic dude is reliving his Dreamcast era again with this release.

 

Also since there is talk of unlockable abilities I’m hoping that Shadow can get access to some type of spin dash/drop dash/rolling ability.

 

And if this was a brand new game, I might agree with you. It IS a noticeable step up from Forces and Frontiers. But it's not a new game: there is a noticeable divide in quality between the levels in Gens and the levels shown here, even with the alternate paths. It's not unreasonable to expect Shadow's levels and Sonic's levels to be the same level of quality when they're side by side like this. It's not any different from how people might criticize the new content in a new release of Final Fantasy as not being as good as the main game. They may have alternate paths, but that's only part of what made Gens level design so good. These levels are just not as dense with unique objects, enemies, or gimmicks to interact with.

Of course, I can recall when fans like myself made similar comments about Frontiers's level design when it was shown off, only to be bombarded with conspiracy theories. "It's only the first level." "It might be an old build." "The footage doesn't show it off well enough."

 

This is Forces/Colours tier shit.

All that's going on in that footage is him running in straight lines on wide, empty paths with some areas for quicksteps that funnel you on to equally looking vapidly design places. Movement seems like an absolute slog.

If you like levels like Asteroid Coaster 1, Sweet Mountain 1 and Metropolitan Highway, then all I can say is power to you. But I've always thought that that approach to 3D level design and character movement is absolute ass, and it's exactly what we've got on show here. It might be a bit flashier, but it's certainly no more involved.

 

it IS a brand new game, just that it's packaged with old game, it's the same deal as Bowser's Fury, no one ever argue that it's not a new game just cause it's not stand alone

That would imply that all sonic levels in Gen are of the same quality in the first place.

Planet Wisp is trash compared to Seaside Hill or Sky Sanctuary, arguably the best stages in the game

 

It looks good.