Sonic X Shadow Generations thread, movie level out now

Oh? I’ve been using a Logitech F310 USB controller.

 

Bro, your computer is gonna blow up

 

The best original content from Generations 3DS are Big Arm and Water Palace Classic. The Special Stages, Biolizard and Egg Emperor were ok too, most of the other original content was kind of disappointing though, at least in my opinion.

There were some neat ideas in some levels, in levels like Tropical Resort and Radical Highway (the Got Ring airship was very clever and I wish it was used more kind of like the GUN Truck in City Escape Classic), but those levels still felt weak and would need to be at least partially redesigned if they want to meet the quality standards of the Shadow game.

I wouldn't mind anyway... as well as more zones from handheld titles, especially Advance (I would like Music Plant but it doesn't really fit Shadow and wouldn't make sense... maybe Techno Base/Cyber Track or Chaos Angel). Some day I would like to see an HD version of Labyrinth that's not Lost Labyrinth from Sonic 4 (especially not a LEGO version) but actual Labyrinth from Sonic 1 (it's not originally handheld but it's also handheld through Sonic 1 Game Gear).

But in my opinion Water Palace Classic is already good enough, and all it needs is some polish, better visuals, and an original miniboss at the end instead of that resized generic badnik breaking the wall underwater.

I would love if they released DLCs over the years and kept adding new zones from all the past Sonic titles, including niche ones, but sadly the Shadow theming limits the chances to those zones that look (and sound, ost also matters) dark and edgy enough, so, many great zones with colorful looks and happy background musics are excluded. If only they could add zones to base Generations too, maybe, but I don't see it happening.

 

Why create dlc when the time and effort could be put into new original levels in a new game?

 

Because I know this game is good and I don't know if the next game is gonna suck.

 

It’s fun to see good games expanded upon. Frankly we don’t know what the new game will be, so getting more stages in an existing game that is already known to be good would be a net positive

 

Also extends an existing game's shelf life allowing it to rack up more in sales by stirring interest, which you can use a small portion of to invest back into more DLC levels, and put the rest into development costs for the new game.

 

Okay. fair-enough. I just wish we'd leave the seemingly-endless cycle of rehashed levels.

 

Based on impressions, I expected to like Shadow Generations, but the true surprise was that I ended up thinking it wasn't just a good game, but a great game.

There wasn't a single level or challenge I just hated – the worst ones were just okay.

It's polished, it controls really well (crazy) and it finally made me actually care about Shadow beyond Sonic Adventure 2.

I'll start with the last point.

I did not buy into anything the series did with him especially with Shadow 05 because I think that game didn't really actually put effort into Shadow's supposed character arc. (Note: I actually only have watched a nunch of different playthroughs of Shadow 05, so this is just narrative opinions.)

He has the different path endings and Black Doom harrassing him, but I did not feel anything by the time he decided to "never turn back".

I don't buy him just sort of dropping Maria and Gerald out of his mind because I never read his care for Maria as "robotic". The intention probably was the same as with Shadow Generations, where he still cares, but moves on, but it always felt off to me. You just don't move on because you say so.

As few scenes as we had with them, I think what ultimately made me care was the sincerety of that simple initial arc. And the tryhard localisation in Shadow 05 aside, I think what makes Shadow work is that he's just a sad softie who does care.

So as far as I'm concerned Shadow Gens fixed the character for me, actually putting in the work for the arc Shadow is supposed to have.

However, I think at this point you can't revisit this arc again. If it says he now finally actually grieves and moves on, it has to stick, otherwise they're actually repeating themselves. This other layer to it is what saves it from being a complete rehash.

To move on and loop back to level design and gameplay, it also kind of perfected the boost formula.

I love base Generations, but the controls for Sonic in base Gens are still very loose. In my perspective, especially the strong accelaration from slow to fast is what can get in the way of the more precise higher path jumps. But I felt almost none of that with Shadow.

All of the powers (I thought even Morph was cool) also are just as natural as any of Sonic's moves. I love Spear, Chaos Control and Blast especially, though.

Level design actually impressed me the most for the Act 2s. Kingdom Valley and Sunset Heights Act 2 are awesome especially when you start optimising and seeing those little time saves.

Actually going through the castle in Kingdom Valley Act 2 is such a cool concept and I love how the Death Egg Robots are incorporated into (actually both) Sunset Heights.

But the 3D is awesome, too because Shadow Gens took the multilayered 3D level design and removed all of the 2D from it. It's all of the best parts of Modern Sky Sanctuary, Seaside Hill and City Escape.

My top off for all of this glowing praise is what everyone else have been saying. I want them to further reiterate here.

I didn't mention the 3D hub, but to me it felt like a much better version of the ones in SA1 because of the exploration incentives (which are also completely optional).

I think you can actually literally make an Adventure 3 with this base. Give everyone Shadow's base handling and tweak it based on specific characters. Use this hub world as a blueprint for maybe doing somewhat bigger ones (but not too big otherwise, you've got a Mystic Ruins on your hands).

Do new level themes with new gimmicks while telling a new story.

There's a lot of talk about remakes, but how about we do a sequel instead? I'd play a Heroes 2 with better controls and similarly unique and cool level themes. If 06 is on the table, we can have characters revisit that area, no?

Surely they can do that instead of veering into a tangent that didn't need to happen?

 

I finished the main game a little while ago but was waiting to post here until I got caught up in the thread. (Man that one argument about 10 pages ago was really grating.)

I enjoyed the game a lot. Best 3D Sonic game since Generations and maybe ever. I haven't collected all the collectibles or rocket parts, what do you get for the rocket parts? Also I bought the LRG special edition set so I didn't get the Movie DLC level with it. Is it worth $6 on its own?

 

Spoiler

An achievement. In-game, I think you gain some picture in the gallery or so, nothing much. It's not actually a rocket at the end.

 

Spoiler: Further explanation

The in-game rumour is a very "meh" joke wherein it's revealed that the rocket is just an elaborate cuckoo clock. The birds inside said clock is a Flicky, and it also gets added to the gallery room.

There's no additional content for getting the machine parts. Just a joke at the expense of Orbot and Cubot, and what's essentially a "well-done" message. If you can't be bothered to go through the effort of collection all the machine parts, don't worry because you're not missing out.

 

Well that's a little disappointing, I was hoping for one last level on the moon. But since I don't have the time or energy to 100% this I guess it's better this way.

 

I was missing only 4 pieces playing naturally, not searching for them but collecting them whenever I saw them while doing other stuff.

Just because I was already almost getting all of them, I decided to see a guide to grab them all. Just for completion.

If I was missing too many pieces, I wouldn't bother to get them all.

 

The only thing that kind of sucks with collecting them, is bolts that are in your play area might not spawn until you unlock the next level. It’s really annoying when you’re trying to get them all before moving on and there’s no radar for them.

 

When I was first collecting the rocket parts I had this theory that the completed rocket would be used by Orbot and Cubot to help the Eggmen escape their confinement in the void at the end of Generations. I think that would have been a more satisfying reward for collecting them instead of the interactive Flicky bird in the gallery.

 

I thought that too, and I believe everyone assumed this. The whole "how did Eggman get out of the White Space?" was always a thing.

 

It was always just a gag, one that didn't call for any deeper explanation. I've been surprised to see so many people who wanted or expected an explanation as though it was an unresolved plot point.

 

A dislike of comedy = Wanting explanations for everything they question

This isn't valid, but on the internet it's entirely believable.

 

I noticed a bug in the Sonic Generations portion of the Xbox port. Geometry and water reflections is culled way harder than the 360 via backwards compatibility on Xbox One X.

First image is Generations 360 via backwards compatibility on Xbox One X. Second is SxSG on the same hardware. Anyone else have this issue on any console or the PC version?