The Less-than-Stellar 3DS Version of Sonic Generations (2011)

 NOTE: This review is part of a retrospective of the Sonic franchise. Feel free to read the other Sonic reviews I’ve done here - https://expithecat.blogspot.com/search/label/sonic%20retrospective

Well it’s been over a month since I last reviewed a Sonic game. Truth be told I’ve been somewhat busy with college and stuff, but hey, I’ve finally gotten around to playing through the 3DS version of Sonic Generations.

Background and History

Well, I guess to start we’re now on a new generation of systems. Handheld ones, anyway.

With Dimps’ history of Sonic games on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, in addition to them developing the DS version of Colors, they were assigned the task of making a 3DS version of Sonic Team’s major 2011 release, Sonic Generations. Supposedly, it had been leaked prior to it’s announcement and then later confirmed in an issue of Nintendo Power.

I couldn’t really find much information on this game’s development, however there are two potential rumors I have seen. For one, there might have been a PSP version of this game in development at one point, as earlier this year, a build for “Sonic Anniversary” (Generations’ original title) was uncovered containing assets that would be used in the 3DS version of Generations.

I’ve also heard that this was supposedly a bit rushed, with Dimps being put under some tight deadlines. Of course, I can’t necessarily confirm this for *sure*, but considering what I’m about to say… well, it would at least make some sense.

Personal Experience

As I stated in my review of the console/PC game, Generations had come out right around the time I had become more invested in the franchise and fandom. I had asked for the 360 version of the game for Christmas a couple times, but didn’t actually receive it.

But at one point, I remember finding out about the 3DS version, and in addition to the console/PC versions, I was still pretty interested in it - largely due to it’s different selection of levels and bosses. And the year I got my 3DS for Christmas, I actually considered asking for this game, since I still had yet to play either version of the game. However, once again, I didn’t receive the game. But in all honesty… I’m kind of glad I didn’t. I mean, for one, that same Christmas Break I would buy the PC version as it went on sale, and two… truth be told, this might have not been the best first impression of Generations I could’ve gotten.

Story

It’s basically the same as the console version. Most of the dialogue is shared from the console version, just this time in text boxes rather than full voice acting and pre-rendered cutscenes, since, y’know, this was the 3DS after all - which while being the latest handheld was still not as powerful as the 360 or PS3. But as such, basically everything I said in my review of the console/PC versions remains true here.

Presentation

As far as early 3DS games go, this does look pretty good. Admittedly I do prefer the overall style of Rush, Rush Adventure, and Colors DS, but I can understand that, with the new hardware available, that Dimps and Sonic Team would want to go for something more high fidelity. As opposed to those games having 3D models with sprite-based enemies and environments, this game is basically rendered entirely in 3D. The game itself plays in 2.5D, but this time the models and environments are still given an extra bit of dimension.

And it does look good overall. Not as good as the console and PC versions of course, but again, this was an early 3DS game, and the models and environments look nice and colorful, especially with some of the different stage selections that this game offers. I’ve always really liked how Mushroom Hill looks here in general, in addition to Casino Night, which stays true to what the original style was going for but giving them the 2.5D treatment.

The soundtrack is also pretty good. If you liked the console/PC versions’ remixed tracks of previous themes, this version basically offers more of that, largely as a result of having a few different track selections. Green Hill Zone and Casino Night Zone (from the DLC) remain, but we now have remixes of Mushroom Hill, Emerald Coast, Radical Highway, Water Palace and Tropical Resort. Although, act 1 of Tropical Resort is ripped straight from the original version of that game but… whatever. Either way, the soundtrack is still pretty good overall.

Although I did notice that the bouncing badnik enemies in Mushroom Hill use the same ‘bounce’ sound effect as the Superball gear in ROBLOX which was… weird. I know some of you may not have an idea of what I’m talking about but if you’ve played any ROBLOX battle game you probably do.

Gameplay

In the past I’ve heard a lot of people criticize how ‘modern’ Sonic’s gameplay in the console and PC versions implemented the ‘hybrid’ 2.5D and 3D gameplay that was present in Unleashed and Colors, seeing it as redundant with the ‘classic’ Sonic stages being entirely 2.5D, and if you’re one of those people… well, you might not care for Generations 3DS because both gameplay styles are pretty much entirely 2.5D.

I guess this is to be expected though, since this is a handheld game and continuing off the trends of Dimps’ entries on the GBA and DS. And of course, the game follows more upon the ‘Rush’ style, especially in the case of modern Sonic where you once again have the Boost ability as seen in both the Rush and Boost games. 

Unfortunately though it does sort of follow in Colors DS’s footsteps in terms of moveset, as once again, the trick system is taken out - something I felt really added to the gameplay of the first two Rush games - in addition to the controls still lacking the fluidity of those games and in a lot of ways, feeling a tad more sluggish and slow than Colors DS and even less interesting mechanically. 

A lot of Modern Sonic’s movement options feel pretty clunky - particularly the stomp and even the homing attack, even moreso than they did in Colors DS. And what doesn’t really help either is that this game definitely feels more platform-heavy than any of the Rush games, and considering platforming was never really Rush’s strong suit, it just ends up feeling even more clunky here.

I have seen some people argue that Classic Sonic in the 3DS version of Generations actually plays better than the console/PC version and… honestly, I don’t really agree. Classic Sonic kind of just feels the same as Modern Sonic does, just without most of his movement options, and still carries over most of the issues I have with Modern Sonic. 

In the console/PC versions, he obviously wasn’t a 1:1 translation of the original games, but I feel like there was just a degree of fluidity to him in addition to having elements of his moveset, especially the spin dash, that made his gameplay feel more engaging and added a layer of depth to his control.

Classic Sonic here… just doesn’t have that - feeling just as sluggish as his modern counterpart without the moveset, and especially considering you unlock the homing attack after the first few stages, I just end up getting the impression that the gap between Classic and Modern Sonic in this game just feels pretty negligible. Which I guess isn’t necessarily a… bad thing on it’s own, since they are basically different ages of the same characters, but in this case with how sluggish and slow Sonic moves in general, I can’t really say I like playing classic Sonic in this game as much as the console/PC version. And regardless, I don’t really feel like I’m playing as ‘classic’ Sonic and ‘modern’ Sonic, rather just as a single Sonic with two separate acts like in previous games.

But I think what really hurts this game for me over anything else is the level design. In the console/PC game, the level design was always part of the appeal for me, with the game having arguably some of the strongest level design in Sonic’s history, feeling generally pretty “open”, full of alternate pathways and opportunities to utilize Sonic’s movement for replayability.

And I can’t say I expected the 3DS version to live up to quite the same standard as the console/PC version did for similar reasons as to why the graphics aren’t as good as the console/PC versions, but I can still appreciate the level design in a lot of Sonic’s previous handheld titles, particularly Advance 1, 3 and Rush Adventure.

But Sonic Generations 3DS’s level feel bland and dull. Everything just feels pretty flat, and most of the time I feel like I’m either just running through empty, flat plains of nothing or dealing with some pretty basic feeling platforming. I mentioned earlier that Generations 3DS does feel a bit more platforming heavy compared to most of Dimps’ previous works, but it still feels closer to a Rush game in terms of controls, in which platforming was never really it’s strong suit. And with the added degree of clunkiness of Sonic’s controls here, the platforming just feels really awkward a lot of the time on top of just feeling basic and blocky.

But what doesn’t help in this game’s case either is that some levels literally rip the level design from the respective levels that they are commemorating. This isn’t just a case like Mania where some similar design elements are used in places - Act 1 of each of the Classic-era levels, alongside Water Palace Act 2, are literally just ripped from the original versions. Mushroom Hill Act 1 basically provides a dead giveaway for this, as towards the end there’s a checkpoint that in the original version preceded a boss. But since there’s no level bosses in this game, all that really happens is that, following that checkpoint, you just run through a couple loops and then the level ends.

I will say though that I do like that this game had more of it’s own selection of levels rather than just repeating the same level themes as the console/PC versions, and I think it helps make this version of the game feel more unique. I’m especially glad Casino Night actually got a full level in this game rather than just a pinball table, since that was always my favorite level in Sonic 2. It is a bit weird though that they used Radical Highway to represent Sonic Adventure 2 when that was originally a Shadow level, and I do have to agree with some others on the notion that there was sort of a missed opportunity to have this game be more of a celebration of Sonic’s handheld titles. We do get representation from Sonic Rush, and Tropical Resort does feel closer to the DS version with it’s level gimmicks and the ‘Burst’ Wisp, but I do sort of wish we saw representation from the Advance games and potentially even the Game Gear titles, showing the more obscure side of Sonic’s history in a sense.

The bosses are… eh? Like the console/PC game, there are two types of bosses in this game in the form of character battles and Eggman bosses. Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver all appear in the game as character battles, but they all feel basically the same, being character races to the end of each level (similar to the Metal Sonic boss in Sonic CD), and I don’t really have much to say about them on that front. 

As for the Eggman bosses, you have the ‘Big Arm’ from Sonic 3 which is easy as piss although does have a pretty badass remix, the Biolizard which is… fine and the Egg Emperor which was actually pretty solid, although kind of odd that they chose a Heroes boss to represent the modern era when that was considered part of the Dreamcast era in the console/PC game. 

The Time Eater I would actually say is an improvement over the console/PC version on the notion that I actually know what I’m doing here, but I don’t exactly think it’s great here either - at least after the first half or so when some of Eggman’s attacks go on for a bit long. I also struggled a lot with the timing of the “arm” attack (within the ‘3D’ sections of the boss) - the first time I was able to dodge it pretty easily but the next few times it just felt like luck.

There’s also the Special Stages which are, well, basically Heroes but easy as piss. You have to play through these stages to unlock the Time Eater as opposed to the console/PC game where you just got them by beating the bosses, and while I’m usually not keen on locking story-based content behind 100% completion or whatever, considering that these special stages are, again, easy as piss, I can’t really complain about it.

And then there’s the Mission mode.

It exists.

Compared to the console/PC version in which the missions felt more varied, from what I played, these missions kind of just fall into the same trap as other Sonic mission modes where a lot of the missions just feel pretty arbitrary. Collect this many rings, defeat a certain badnik, run through the level in this amount of time… so on and so forth.

Conclusion

Like Colors DS, I’m sort of just struggling to come up with things to say here.

Truth be told, I don’t consider Generations 3DS to be a ‘bad’ game per se. Despite all my criticisms, I could still have a bit fun with it, and honestly as a little time-waster/distraction, Generations 3DS isn’t too bad, and you could definitely do worse.

But I definitely can’t say I find it to be a particularly good Sonic game, especially compared to Rush and Rush Adventure on top of the console/PC version. The game just doesn’t really have a lot of content to it, and what’s there is… serviceable I guess but lacking in terms of level design and control. As someone who wasn’t the biggest fan of Colors DS, this game in a lot of ways feels like an even lesser follow-up to that - controls are even more sluggish and the level design feels even more bland and dull when it’s not just ripping level design from previous games.

As such, I’m not too sure if I would recommend this game. If you can find it for a decent price, it can be a fun distraction, but at the same time, I would still definitely recommend Rush, Rush Adventure and *especially* the console/PC version of Generations over this game.