Is Sonic x Shadow Generations ACTUALLY Good!? Well...

[@sopebarrofficial3557]

The best rewrite in the game IMO is Shadow saying “On your feet.” Just sounds a lot more in character and badass, granted the story is kind of ass anyways, but it’s a nice touch

[@jersont.3339]

I'mma be honest that line is just like the original one, it doesn't change anything for that i would prefer it if they put the japanese one where he says "show me what you're made of"

[@BraskMD]

​@@jersont.3339LMAO, you know people would complain if they went with that

[@K2niarDneK]

​@@jersont.3339 But then people would complain about Ian Flynn making references where they 'don't belong'. Either way people are going to complain. At least the rewrite we got for that line kept the meaning of the original ("I know you can do this") while sounding a little less silly.

[@merideri]

@@jersont.3339 you also have to consider writing for the lip flap animations as well, so unfortunately i don't think that could fit without reanimating and re-timing the cutscene and score completely.

[@awesomezebroz_2949]

@@jersont.3339 ew no thats so cringe

[@Kiezly]

Shadow did actually have something to say about chaos island and Sunset Heights but it’s tucked away in a text only dialogue with Gerald when he responds to shadow saying “oh so you’ve seen places you don’t recognize? then perhaps you’re seeing the future as well as the past.”

[@uneedrambo716]

Imagine this means shadow will be in the next game

[@shrobbyy]

@@uneedrambo716 Frontiers 2 probably won't feature the Starfall Islands

[@ShadowBonnieRoleplay]

@@uneedrambo716no since this shadow is the shadow during sonic generations

[@yoursonisold8743]

Yeah I was surprised J didn't bring that up. I suppose a lot of people miss all the optional dialogue, because you have to talk to all the characters after each major stage and talk to them three times in a row to see it all.

[@Kiezly]

@@yoursonisold8743 yeah that dialog should be more easily accessible like give us a notification on screen saying X character has new thing to say. And for them to be voice acted cuz like cmon surely they can afford it.

[@manuelinacio4038]

Frontiers is one of my favorite Sonic games, it was a shame to me that you were not a fan of the game but I understood your criticisms even if I don't agree with most of them, but seeing you liking a 3D Sonic game after so long makes me happy. Your Sonic videos were building up to this game. We are getting one step closer to that One Way Dream. Edit: I never said Frontiers was the best Sonic game ever made, I only said it's one of my favorite (favorite ≠ best). I know it has problems, but I love it either way.

[@jskywalker58]

Agree i personally think its one of the best games in the series

[@Meowlegend7]

Frontiers and Shadow Generations have been pretty good, glad we got some great Sonic games after a lot of disappointing ones.

[@ExImperialDragon]

Frontiers is the Sonic game with my favorite boss fights in the franchise, and I've been with the Hedgehog since 1991. Having four Perfect Chaos tier boss battles was incredible. It's just a shame that the rest of the game leaps back and forth between 2/5 and 4/5 in terms of content. With more time in the oven, a second Frontiers style game may very well be the best 3D Sonic game that Sonic Team ever makes, or at the very least capable of standing alongside Adventure 1 and 2, Unleashed, and Generations with no caveats.

[@abaddon5420]

Could I ask you why you think frontiers is one of your favorites?

[@AnimalXing]

I didn’t care for Frontiers at all but I LOVED Sonic X Shadow Generations. I hope future games keep the momentum Gens brought us

[@BoltofShadow17]

I strongly disagree with the idea that Radical Highway shouldn't have been where it was used. The first time Shadow went through Radical Highway, he went through it holding Maria's wish in his heart, "Revenge". Now, he is going through it with Maria's true wish, to make everyone happy, and quite literally flying through it.

[@flipside2086]

That's a great way to look at it. That's something I hadn't thought about and this interpretation just shot my enjoyment of Gens Radical Highway up high

[@yassinashraf1235]

I agree but I recently played shadow 05 to get a feel of what shadow might be (I guess) before this game and it was surprising that no stages are from 05 , like seriously westopolies is the perfect stage to bring back along with the black comet (westoplies is like city stage I know but for how much you have to replay it to end all the endings in the game , it's infamous)

[@bucket9486]

that's a cute lore-related way to look at it, but that doesn't really change the fact that it's a stage that gets reused 5(!!) times in one game while shadow '05 didn't get _any_ representation beyond subtle level design callbacks like the beginning of radical highway act 2

[@ShinyScarfy]

​@bucket9486 I mean... the main villian is literally from Shad05 and the final boss is from Shad05 minus the second phase, it definitely got representation past Easter Eggs

[@gruglas]

To not include any stages from shadow the hedgehog 05 is insane. This game was clearly rushed and hardly stands on its own.

[@blacksun9042]

I don't think the voice actors performance is the problem, it's the direction and what they're saying

[@leithaziz2716]

For people saying Roger isn't great at acting, Batman Arkham Shadow JUST came out where he played Batman again, and he killed it in the performance (positive).

[@yoursonisold8743]

I dont think what they are saying is a problem though. It's really just the direction. And even then only in very few moments.

[@ivanbanuelos1387]

Yes, the direction took away the silly tone of the original, which I think is not necessary at all.

[@garroshhellscream594]

@@leithaziz2716 To be fair, you can be good at voicing certain characters and not others. Batman is an ultra serious character with a very stoic attitude, Sonic is... the pure opposite, and I'm still not convince by Roger performances on him after multiple games. Yes writing can be special but good actor performances can sometimes salvage it.

[@ivoneo2806]

​@@ivanbanuelos1387well there wasn't a silly tone but alright

[@LasagaMan]

Did anyone in this comments section make the joke about how Classic Sonic ate Angel Island when Knuckles asked where it is yet?

[@BlueTakBlur]

LMAO

[@UI-jy6fr]

Amy Should be able to have a crush on Sonic tbh. But instead of making her obsessive, she should be more like a fangirl that wants to keep her cool. She'd gladly jump at any opportunity to be with him, but she's able to pull herself back before it goes too far.

[@drcool3655]

I 100% agree with that

[@KyokoM-i1y]

Amy should be what her original character was written to be. If you have an issue with Amy a new character should be "western appropriate*

[@Takato]

That's how she is in the IDW comics. She still gawks over Sonic, but her whole character doesn't revolve around him, like it was in Heroes or Adventure. She is still very "girly" and all, she didn't lose that trait, but she's not a one-note character anymore, which I appreciate a lot.

[@TailzDMW]

Yup I agree

[@MrTragedious986]

I really appreciate that Sonic Team took their time and make this game feel polished. And yes I have a fun time playing this game, so many paths to take for speed running. Heck this is the first game that I have fun with and it makes me want to do speed run in each levels.

[@shadowofdimentio4618]

I think it’s telling that most people are talking about Mephiles in regards to the story, because it doesn’t feel like an exact redo of the Mephiles fight (tho it for sure has elements). It introduces Mephiles with new wants and desires and imples he wants to come back. This isn’t ‘fight Mephiles’, it’s Mephiles has an arc somehow lol. Hopefully rhey understand this direction going forward that you’re allowed reference somethinbf as long as you do something with it

[@Mustafa-h7s9b]

Okay, for real, Amy still loves Sonic. That's obvious in Frontiers. And you know, you ignore something. Amy in the rewrite asks Classic Sonic if he is cute. So she obviously still loves him. It's just rewritten to be a little less annoying. Like her trying to assasult Sonic and him blocking her face casually. I really really don't like when people spread misinformation.

[@flaminginferno6641]

Not only that but what they replaced that scene with was Amy holding Pink and Blue cupcakes trying to give them to Sonic.... Pink and Blue.... As in Amy and Sonic. Seriously this narrative that Amy is not interested in Sonic is such BS, all they did was make Amy less overtly fanatical with her love for Sonic and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that

[@RebelTrooperHoth]

When I was a young sonic fan I couldn’t stand Amy so I’m glad she’s toned down

[@justinhurowitz70]

There's also an optional line from Rouge in Shadow's story where Rouge tells Shadow how important he is to her and then she laughs at herself for "sounding like Amy".

[@heroesismid8694]

Amy's character changed too significantly. So most hardcore Amy fans will obviously be upset

[@heroesismid8694]

It shouldn't be "rewritten to be less annoying." Amy is Amy. Have a problem with her character, a brand new one female character should be made. But by changing Amy so significantly, her original fans will be upset. Same as 4Kids changing anime so characters would be more "appropriate." Dont change what already exists. We have no option to even play the original generations

[@SmashBrosAssemble]

I want someone to mod in Magna-Fi’s “Who I Am” into the final boss with Neo Devil Doom.

[@Idkwhat2namemyself-f3q]

SAME BRO WHY DID THEY NOT USE WHO I AM FOR NEO DD BRUH THAT WOULDVE BEEN PERFECT AND ITS A WASTE OF SUCH A BANGER

[@SmashBrosAssemble]

@@Idkwhat2namemyself-f3q Because Sega don’t own that song

[@Kruppuchino]

That's literally what it should've been in the first place. I was legit expecting it to happen at the end but sadly not. Would also have loved to hear some of the other lost tracks like Broken and All Of Me from Sins of a Divine Mother for that peak 00's edge that kinda comes with Shadow's design and legacy

[@МихаилЛотов-о8э]

Overall, I think this game is fantastic and I'm really enjoying it, but my only major issue with it, is there is no ShThH 2005 stage. I felt like there is 1 missing stage, when game's formula is basically 2 stages + boss. They should've added something between Chaos Island and Mephiles. Something like Prison Island ,Black Comet or Lava Shelter would've been an amazing addition. And then Radical Highway as final level

[@jskywalker58]

It really cofuses me that it contains no levels from shadow the hedgehog despite the the fact the campaign revolves around shadow and has black doom as the antagonist but has a level from frontiers, a game shadow wasn't even in

[@mgeeinc.4270]

I know i was kind of bummed theres no 2005 levels. Prison Island was rad

[@flipside2086]

Radical Highway act 2 did give me more Westopolis vibes than Radical Highway but a proper Shadow 05 level would have been amazing.

[@МихаилЛотов-о8э]

@@flipside2086 I actually really appreciate that both acts of Radical Highway are fully in 3D. And all levels at least 3-5 minutes long. You can't find that long levels in any boost game aside Unleashed.

[@flipside2086]

@@МихаилЛотов-о8э Hell the fact that most of Shadow Generations is in 3D is crazy to think about and when you do play the 2D Act 2 it's just as good. Shadow Gens is absolutely shocking with how good the levels are.

[@Sybry605]

I just realized that sonic x shadow generations is basically the sonic version of Bowser's fury, think about it: a rerelease of a well-liked game that doesn't have much change in the base game but has a new story with a game that takes more direct inspiration from more recent games in the series(for Mario it's open-endedness while for sonic it was a better story) and has a black and red villain

[@Sybry605]

@@jaretco6423 yeah and luckily it was not new super Mario bros U(I don't like the rerelease, infact the original WII U version is better)

[@Super-A.I]

Nah much different, horrible example used, horrible comparison, complete remaster of one game plus one new game. So much crammed in, unreal!!!

[@CDRW24]

People have been making this comparison since its announcement.

[@SmashBrosAssemble]

I will say, I was not a fan of Mephiles’ new voice, no disrespect to the new VA, but he just sounded like some dude, he didn’t have the menace & sinister vibes Dan Green gave the character in 06. Also the dialogue in that boss fight is interesting, since it implies that he’s in the Void trying to get back into the timeline, I think that’s a set up for his inevitable return in a future game.

[@jelloistasty]

Unless it's just him without Iblis I doubt he'll ever return in a new adventure. Solaris is too op. The stakes couldn't get any higher than all of existence being erased at all points in time. Them beating Solaris is the most plot armor I've ever seen ever, they just lucked out that the only things yet to be erased was them, the platform they stood on, and the chaos emeralds, everything they apparently needed.

[@SmashBrosAssemble]

⁠@@jelloistasty It would be just him, Iblis doesn’t exist, so Mephiles can’t become Solaris, so what does he do now? Plus it’d be a great excuse to have Sonic Shadow & Silver all playable in a same game again.

[@jelloistasty]

@SmashBrosAssemble Mephiles and Iblis equally don't exist. They both spawned from the flame Elise blew out. If there's a path for Mephiles to return, then there should be a path for Iblis.

[@Rush_Coil]

I promise you Robbie Daymond brings more pathos to his third distraught shadowy prick than Dan Green just using his trained voice to deliver lines

[@sonicfan701]

14:20 Let’s hope that SEGA gives that feature to us in a future update. This game honestly needs a dlc roadmap. At least when it comes to more quality of life improvements, newly added features and some extra content like skins and possibly even stages for Shadow Generations.

[@timekreepers]

Call it an overreaction. But I got a little emotional hearing that the og shadow game is more well liked now. That was my childhood Sonic game so it’s awesome to see it get love even if the games a huge mess lol

[@gokublack9724]

You know your game is FANTASTIC when you prefer it to playing the fan favorite boost game it's attached to (by fans at least unleashed still tops gens for me and is easily my favorite sonic game)

[@DesignDoc]

When the only real criticism you can make is "I wish there was more of it", you know you've got a real gem. Add like 2 more stages (not counting the upcoming movie DLC stage) and this game would actually be perfect. Small size aside, I like the stage roster quite a lot. Good variety. Nice to see Sunset Heights be a real level and Chaos Island was the most visually interesting of the 3 biomes in Frontiers so I'm glad that was the rep. Only wished there wasn't so much Radical highway rep. Black Doom coming in a basically doing a "domain expansion" and transforming the stage into something else is a really cool idea and as as well designed as those segments were, I just wish it was with other stage themes instead of only Radical Highway. Imagine if in Chaos Island, Doom brought in Sky Troops to establish a historical connection between the Black Arms and the Ancients from Frontiers or turned Sunset Heights into Westopolis since they're both war zones. Every stage could've had a parallel StH 05 stage come in. Rail Canyon could turn into Lava Shelter or Kingdom Valley becoming Cryptic Castle. Oh well. What we got is still great. The proper Radical Highway is a good final stage, probably the 2nd best zone just behind kingdom valley though it feels like we should've brought back one of the Black Comet stages to close things out. Overall, just add like 2 proper StH 05 stages (Black Comet, Digital Circuit, or Lava Shelter would be good picks) and this whole thing would be the goat. Pretty impressed with White Space as a hub here and I hope this is the general template that we follow for the Frontiers Sequel. Essentially just this but more of it.

[@MegaGlassguy]

Part of me started questioning how they would handle a StH 05 rep when I realized the mechanic of Black Arms serving for the Doom Blast instead of being regular enemies, but your idea of transforming stages into Shadow reps sounds like an amazing compromise.

[@GeneralShaoMK1]

The references feel more like validation and continuity like in Frontiers

[@yoursonisold8743]

And to be fair, this is Generations, a game entirely about referencing older games. It's insane to me that callbacks are considered "out of place" in the game solely about callbacks.

[@shinyocelot04archive]

Sonic/Shadow Generations seems to be exactly what I expected it to be. A remaster of Sonic Generations with some slight tweaks alongside Shadow the Hedgehog 2: Revenge of the Mid-2000s The rewrites to Generations seemed unnecessary, especially when they didn't do as much of that for Colors. Makes the cutscenes a bit awkward but at least the game is intact. Shadow looks like a blast and I'm looking forward to it after I finish the Sonic campaign.

[@Animefan-uk8pw]

You maniac why start with Sonic Generations?

[@shinyocelot04archive]

​@@Animefan-uk8pw Because I haven't played the game in 2 years

[@LightningPuppet]

34:17 If you talk to Gerald after Chaos Island he talks about how Shadow is experiencing worlds and memories of different versions of himself from different timelines

[@robertlauncher]

I just hope this reminds Sonic Team that Sonic is better with an action focus. Sure, they shouldn’t be strictly linear, room for exploration is great and even a key ingredient, but I’ll always take tight controls and engaging set pieces over trying to emulate the open world without the radical changes needed to make that work with Sonic.

[@alexhirsch5738]

Sunset Heights is a WILD inclusion the more that you think about it: It's a game in the remake of Sonic Generations, using Sonic Frotiers physics, in the setting of Sonic Forces, borrowing the plot of Shadow the Hedgehog, running on the gameplay model of Sonic Unleashed. There are so many layers going on here.

[@Ashly-28]

with ALLLLL of that added onto each other, this shouldnt have worked, but somehow, it just did

[@srenten]

Radical Highway was my main complaint, because Black Doom seems obssessed with it for like...no reason? If they really needed to reuse the city assets, then why not Westopolis? Black Doom is proud of it as it's his "greatest victory" of taking over the city (or not depending on what canonically happened I guess). Black Comet makes more sense, but Westopolis works if they can't make many new assets.

[@pokestyn]

14:15 to be fair, even the team wasn’t satisfied with the ending as they didn’t have the time to make it what they wanted. It was there chance to have another chance at making the ending that would best cap off the game

[@benjoman8252]

My favourite feature is that you can turn the doom wings on or off, and they have separate rankings. Trying to get an S rank in radical city without the doom wings was very challenging, since the level is built around that ability, but satifying when i finally did it

[@MS1X]

For the record, J's actually plan to upload this video in November early on, so the fact he just start working on the video after having beating the game told you that this game was a special case

[@victor1010_]

for those who think the air movement is underwhelming is shadow gens, chaos spear carries air momentum so have fun with that. Absolute game changer

[@BeefbossZilla2011]

What you said at the end of the video was so true. Sega have been doing Games based on Nostalgia and returning levels for 13 years now, It’s about time they take what has been so good about both Generations games and Give us a truly original experience.

[@blur7491]

38:55 I thought this too, until I realised that half the story is told through the optional npc talks. Big goes fishing with Maria, Shadow talks to Gerald about not recognising Mephilis, Maria's condition actually gets expanded upon, vital information such as "What the fuck is the thing in the sky that the plot revolves around and "how is black doom even alive" are actually explained. Seriously, I think in total there is over 50 unique conversations depending on where you are in the story

[@maxwellpaynewell5305]

My brother and I were literally sweating in my room staring at the pre order option for this game for weeks before I got home one day and saw he finally gave in. I'm so disillusioned with preorders in general now, but especially from Sega, I have been given zero reason to think they will release a good product on launch. Cut to a few days ago, when we finally got to play it, and we spent a few hours on Generations noting the new dialogue and changes to the physics/graphics. Wasn't much to say besides either the game has aged a bit poorly or the remaster wasn't perfect, either thing I had expected. But when we got to Shadow's campaign the next day, I was in a state of pure bliss nearly the whole way through. The levels were so incredible, it was such a grand display of scale to have them directly compared to the comparstively smaller stages in Generations. Shadow's levels feel like massive open spaces, where Generations' mostly feel like different hallways (still good levels, but comparatively cramped). It was so refreshing to not only see Shadow's character well-understood and fleshed out, but even given the chance to feel real emotions, which at times it feels like no character in this series is allowed to do after Elise's outburst at the end of 06 made people think she actually wanted the world to end over a little blue guy. We wrapped it up last night, and safe to say this has become a new favorite in this series, entirely for what Shadow brings to the table.

[@JohnDoe-dw3hj]

I don't mind Ian's references in this game since its Generations. A game about the past so of course they're gonna talk about the past. It fits here. I also like they have Sonic talk to his friends now instead of just standing there awkwardly. I don't think that change was made cause Sonic didn't like them. He smiled and gave them a thumbs up. I think cause it was awkward before. Shame you didn't like Frontiers changing the ending, I thought it was a great idea I want to watch this channel more but I always keep disagreeing. Sorry if thats rude but it feels good to agree with people. But I suppose thats my problem, not yours. I do agree with some things. Like Gens is great and that Lost World and Forces suck

[@PalmtreeManic]

Imo the problem is the "references" don't feel natural. It's too frequent and too forced. Under Flynn, Sonic sees a sandbox and kiddie pool at the playground and is like "WoW thIs PlAce ReMinDs Me oF Seaside Hill"

[@JohnDoe-dw3hj]

@@PalmtreeManic I'm fine with it. The past games never did it all so I'm glad they are now

[@heroesismid8694]

​@@PalmtreeManicthe Japanese script also references. Funny you ignore that. Sega Japan also goes under the "everything is canon" and emphasizes

[@subaraz]

Funny enough, Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 was released in the same year I was born in. So while I do get the hate for that game, it was the one game that had a place in my heart for almost a decade, as that was my first Sonic game.

[@Razsor97]

I just finished the Shadow portion of this game & without spoilers let me just say that this... is the most beautifully written Shadow's been in almost 20 years!!! Seriously, his character in THIS game honestly gives his from Sonic 06 a run for its money and the story is; imho, the best one since SA2. Finally, the moveset for Shadow is hella fun. My only complaints are that I wish it were a bit longer and that there were more levels from other games Shadow's been in to play. Other than that, a solid 9/10

[@SuperPlaytendo]

This might be me on my honeymoon phase speaking (And disagree with me all you want) but Shadow Generations might be in my top 3 if not top 5 Sonic games of all time. This game really shows that Sonic Team has the potential to make a really amazing game.

[@HelloSayEm6]

Since you never discussed it in the video, what were your thoughts on Dark Beginnings?

[@TheCiShow]

Actually, Gens mods will work with SxS Gens, SEGA did try to be sure that was the case.

[@DaHman1112]

I can’t say how happy I am that my favorite content creator that got me into sonic enjoyed the new game and thought it was good and I did too. I enjoyed frontiers, but I don’t know something just always wrong when I play that game and I’ve never been able to put my finger on it, but this game doesn’t have that it’s just amazing and I’m so happy to see almost everyone so excited and loving this and I hope they learn the right lessons

[@UltimaKeyMaster]

If there's one thing I disagree with on the Sonic Gens bit, it's that the Modern Drop Dash doesn't take anything away. If you use the Legacy control style, *it absolutely does* because you'll accidentally keep activating it when confirming a Homing Attack because it's your jump button in the original game. The fact that the Drop Dash is an equippable ability you can turn off for Classic when you'd WANT that to be there all the time and is permanent for Modern Sonic where it actively ruins your flow is baffling, to say the least.

[@alexhuduma9474]

If the next Sonic game would be excellent (and have Shadow as being in-character), as well as the third movie be a succes ... would a Shadow 2 game have a chance of happening?

[@The_Dark_Red_GamingClub]

Bro J's review, we literally share the same brain cells, literally everything you said was exactly how I felt playing SXSG, I agree with everything you said because it is the same when I played it. Damn man! O and btw nice Sly copper reference and great review overall.

[@HyperSuperSonic-i1f]

You have the option for Sonic Frontiers, and its 2027 sequel. This game is an OPTION for people that like this option. Frontiers 2 is still coming. Remove this game and all you have is the 5 year gal of Sega working on Frontiers 2

[@SaddieMoon]

11:10 The thing is that Ian is trying to connect the lore to the best of his ability. This reference in particular is perfectly fine as it’s meant to connect to how Sonic used the Time Stones in CD and is shocked he’s doing time travel without them. That’s what he’s always been able to do, and unlike what Frontiers would make you believe, Archie barely ever has needlessly references. The only time a reference is made is to connect to previous events in the cannon when appropriate or works fine. Sure, some of his references can still be seen as needless, but it’s nowhere near as bad as Frontiers in Quantity. Not to mention, it seems that less time and budget was able to be put on Generations’ story rewrite. So I don’t entirely blame Ian Flynn for any mistakes he makes in it. (About Amy) From what I can tell in IDW, the writers, including Ian, still tries to keep her crush on Sonic. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s not entirely Ian’s fault, but I also feel like they still want to focus on Amy’s other personality traits more and not be one note. Which is fine for me somewhat, but I would prefer to give her an arc post or during Forces instead of just rewriting her in Gens. Ngl tho, the scene you show still has a bit of Amy’s crush on Sonic thanks to her animation. So at least it’s not entirely gone. Also the fact that before the shot where she tries to give cupcakes to Sonic, she still tries to hug Sonic. 13:13 My thoughts exactly. But I’ll be honest, I still would change stuff like this if I rewrote the game, ngl. I would just at least give players the option to see the original story and Sonadow Gens’ rewrite of it, on top of mine. Basically, I wouldn’t want to remove history, but it also won’t stop me from rewriting a story, or wanting a story to be rewritten. I’ll just give players the option of what they would like to see.

[@sambridgers9543]

@@SaddieMoon Sonadow Gens. Pffft

[@SaddieMoon]

@@sambridgers9543I had to. They did call the bundle/collection “*Sonic X Shadow* Generations” after all.😂 (I know why it’s called that, but Sonadow Gens is still funny)

[@fordthelord1133]

Honestly, this is probably a SUPER hot take, but I would find it so cool if sonic team made a completely original story with grand scale akin to SA2 or 06, and made it somehow tie into bot ha classic and modern perspective. Forces but not overly nostalgic, maybe in some final boss sonic sees classic sonic fighting his own version of the big bad enemy and they're both like "Yo! Need some help?" And just swap enemies or something super surprising like that. Again, with the context of NEW LORE. If they really wanted to have a new memorable classic/modern experience that still relies on their weird fascination with that dichotomy.

[@MadMax22]

I would love a sonic game where Metal Sonic takes the role of shadow as rhe antagonist. And by the end of the game he has a change of heart like shadow and sacrifices himself. Because if you watch the Sonic Ova from the 90's, Thats exactly what happens. Metal starts off as the ultimate villian but then Metal sonic saves the president and then accepts death when the real Sonic was trying to save him.

[@Furluge]

Grummz Derangement Syndrome is real. XD

[@Monhamd1000]

It's surprisingly a fantastic remaster and a improvement over Sonic Colors Ultimate!

[@HubPie3]

To give some credit to the Doom Morph, it definitely takes the longest to understand compared to the other Doom Powers. It took me a bit to get a feel for it, but here’s how a friend of mine described it: imagine Shadow as a sling shot. The first fling when you transform will always launch you and transform. Afterwards, imagine the line connect Shadow as the slingshot. Letting go of the button will launch Shadow in that trajectory. So if Shadow is at an 180 degree angle, he will be launched up. Sorry if this isn’t the best explanation, but once you get a feel for the Doom Morph, it’s actually pretty fun.

[@Kiezly]

Yeah instead of a frontiers level we should’ve gotten a sonic battle level which would be far more impressive to turn a 2-D fighting game environment into a 3-D boost environment.

[@BoxoSpoons]

One thing I will say about the rewrite is that I think it's more about continuity. Even in 2011 I remember people saying it felt like a stretch to have Sonic and Tails not even recognize Green Hill and Chemical Plant, but especially now that they've leaned so hard into callbacks that Sonic seems to go back there every other day, it just stands out even more. Especially now that Sonic Team is trying to get their worldbuilding much more consistent, I could imagine that being the deciding factor.

[@RayOfTruth]

Sonic Generations was first written in English, then was rewritten in Japanese, then was rewritten in English.

[@shrobbyy]

What I COULD think about the rewritten plot in the remaster is that newbies to the series would be more interested into the lore like they asking themselves "What are the Time Stones" and proceed to look up for them to find out

[@justinhurowitz70]

22:25 To be fair, the delay in the homing attack actually serves a real purpose here. Shadow uses the chaos snap from Sonic 06 when homing attacking enemies, which means he teleports directly to them and can bypass obstacles in the way. This would be REALLY disorienting if it happened instantly, though, which was the case in 06. The slight delay helps the player keep track of where Shadow is going and time their inputs appropriately.

[@HunterForHire422]

For some reason...reading the journal entries made me feel so bad. Ive never cared about sonic lore that much till this game. I learned almost all of shadows past through this game and combined with the main story, lore entries, and that animated prequel i actually almost teared up.

[@Sad-Lesbian]

This is the best Sonic game released in over a decade. I'm so happy this is good.

[@coleminer8847]

Fun small fact Theres a dialogue with Gerald that mentions the how Shadow doesn’t know some of the locations, and so gerald explains that in white space the future and past are no different, and you’re just as likely to see the future as you are the past

[@FanicTheHedgehogYT]

This Model of Classic Sonic in this remaster looks Better to me.

[@Sybry605]

This did not feel like an almost 50 minute video

[@codex8678]

btw the in game reason for Shadows name now is really sweet spoiler Maria saying that Shadow meaning is if you want to try and find the light in the dark you find a shadow to follow really got to me

[@sethmiles9436]

Fun fact professor Gerald actually does say something about the stages that Shadow goes through and his fight with Mephiles. Its sadly optional dialog so Im not surprised many haven't read it.

[@TitanicTitan26]

Your issue with the air boost is easily remedied by chaos spear. You can extend your air-time from both boosting off of ramps and air boosting by throwing out chaos spears since that makes your momentum carry for longer (this also allows you to make some insane jumps in certain levels like kingdom valley).

[@shadowvincent8718]

Shadow Generations might honestly be in my top 3 Sonic games of all time (only beaten by SA2 and Sonic Project 06). like i honestly felt Sonic Team absolutetly nailed the gameplay and story of this game.

[@Mike-di3mo]

Sonic p06 should not count because if is a fan game

[@Furluge]

They got me with that collectors... I wanted the Sonic and Shadow on a Dreamcast to go with my similar sonic statue on a genesis for Mania.

[@KJPARADE]

Ah man this game brings back memories

[@ALinkToReno]

My only pet peeve with the generations portion of the game is that Classic Sonic has his dropdash in the game through a skill (meaning it uses Skill Points and you can switch it out for something else) whereas Modern Sonic's is just part of his move set and cannot be disabled.

[@DerekSquirreltail]

34:35 It's kinda funny that you point out the asset reuse for the final Radical Highway level, because there's STILL an option they could've gone with that made at least a little more sense if they wanted to use city assets - Westopolis. It's at least a stage where the two have history together, since it's more or less where they first met and where everything started with Black Doom's invasion (plus, the game dedicated to shadow somehow got zero stages in the final game??). I think your idea is still better, but it at least could've been a way to meet in the middle.

[@aidanquiett668]

Its kind of ironic that by changing Amy to fit the newer standards of female characters in games all they really did was take away one of her main character traits and not replace it with anything. She's just a random background character most of the time now and has no reason to even be here anymore. So whether or not the "anti woke grifters" care about the franchise, they're just kind of correct here. It was a change for no reason, to appease people who dont even play the games, and damaged the character of one of Sonic's most well known supporting cast members

[@NaehiroEnjoyer]

It's a shame that that's how a lot of Sonic characters are nowadays (such as Team Chaotix). Flat background characters.

[@skeetermania3202]

@@aidanquiett668 Apparently there was a rumor that the change to that one Sonic and Amy cutscene was made due to Sonic showcasing “toxic masculinity,” which is regarded because Sonic’s not the kind of guy that does romance.

[@AlaskanEmpire2000]

Amy always been a hopeless romantic with Sonic and that’s how majority of the Sonic fanbase sees her LOL. I don’t mind character development because people change over time but 180 or pretend that character trait doesn’t exist doesn’t feel right

[@BlueTakBlur]

she still loves sonic it's just not as exaggerated.

[@yoursonisold8743]

This really isn't true. You are doing the grifters work for them by perpetuating this nonsense. Amy's strongest character trait was that she was _inspired_ by Sonic to grow and also be heroic. That was her main arc in Sonic Adventure. In Adventure 2 she was the conscience that helped Shadow return to his senses. After that she fell off because they ran out of things to do with her, so they just defaulted to "Oh I love Sonic" as her ONLY character trait. Frontiers brought Amy back to actually being thoughtful, trying to take an active role in saving the world and her friends and showed her compassion first and foremost. These are her good character traits. Generations has no plot and all Amy did was being a stereotype. So yes, if you take the stereotype away she is just a supportive friend who doesnt stand out much... as opposed to all the other characters who get one line of dialogue and don't stand out much in the game already? The only side character who gets anything in Generations is Tails. Everyone else is just there to pose and remind you they were in previous games. I hope I made clear now why this complaint misses the point and why your generalisation of Amy misses her characterisation. She loves Sonic, but that isn't her entire personality. And she isn't platonic now either, she still loves him. She literally says it in Frontiers several times. It's just not obssessive anymore.

[@TitanicSilver]

My question is: Now that shadow has seen Eggman taking over the world in the future, will he try and stop it from happening?

[@BalDraakNL]

Preventing Sonic Forces from happening sounds great! My awnser: Yes.

[@rynobehnke8289]

The overall point of Shadow Generations story beside obviously being a story recap for new fans that Sega expect to come in from the third Sonic Movie is actually about fixing a continuity problem that was caused by Sonic Battle being written before Shadow's lost memories arc was finished in Shadow 05. Shadow in the end of his original solo game puts the past behind him with the biggest Symbole of it being saying goodbye to his old self and letting go of a picture of Maria and Gerald. But in Sonic Battle does Shadow still care about Maria and her wish all being very important to him. Shadow Generations now tries to untangle this by saying that Shadow tried to divorce himself entirely from his past but never really could get over his trauma by just forcing it ones his full memories returned. And throw interacting with Maria again does he now manages to get a better closure were he keeps her wish in his heart not because he feels forced to follow his promise to her but because Maria is a great person which morals are worth aspiring to. Yet at the same times does it also highlight to not let himself be dragged down in his future because of them. Maria will forever be with in his heart but its because he wants it to be and it won't hold him back anymore from his future and appreciating his new friends (there is quite some side dialogue with Rouge and Omega too that makes it very clear that Team Dark are friends but they are all to stubborn to ever just outright say it like that)

[@KhaosKontroller]

I'm not kidding when I say this is the greatest Sonic game since Sonic Adventure. I had a lot of fun with Frontiers, but it had a ton of issues. So I didn't think we'd be getting one of the best Sonic games ever, this soon after it.

[@Unfunnyjestr]

Anyone else preordered it?

[@majorawaker4067]

during fight with mephiles he asked "who are" and what was Scepter is meaning that ending 06 did happen mephiles also remembers him and gets angry for not knowing him so they did cover up "reusing assest"

[@Winder_Storm]

30:36 this games kingdom valley might be my favorite 3D sonic level ever , there is so much things you can do and so many paths it’s incredible 🤩

[@batmabel]

I'm not a Sonic fan, pretty much the only time I enjoyed a Sonic game was with the original Generations, which I thought was pretty good, then with Mania I could see that the game was really good in what it was trying to do but it didn't really hit the right spot for me personally. Then I absolutely loved Forces for how terrible it was, it felt like playing a video game equivalent of The Room. I'm saying all this just to say that I wasn't really paying attention to this remaster - without looking much into it, it just felt like Generations again with maybe a couple of new levels thrown in. After seeing coverage on it however I got very excited to try it, if anything just because it really feels like Sega is actually trying to make a high quality product in what feels like forever. The Shadow Generations part feels very premium, as more time and care went into it than any other game since the original Generations. It just doesn't feel like it cut corners everywhere like Frontiers did, this just made that game feel even more like a tech demo for an idea that was actually well explored here (btw, I really get what you're saying when you mentioned this game actually expanding on what Frontiers did gives you more goodwill about Frontiers itself; it's the opposite of what I feel about Pokémon X and Y today, the game felt like it was a good step in a new direction but retroactively it feels worse now that I know Game Freak never really improved on any of the issues I had with the game at the time). It's exciting to see Sega go all out in a new Sonic game. Honestly, they didn't even need to include Sonic Generations in this, it was a really good bonus for what it feels like their new game. Hopefully they keep it up for the next one.

[@TheFuzzyOcelot]

I still personally think my favorite feel for Sonic is the one you get from modern Gens stages and daytime Unleashed ones, where he's tricky to control at high speeds while boosting but with good stage knowledge and using your kit to the fullest you could harness that uncontrollable speed into better times. Feels more satisfying to me mechanically to have a double edged sword which leads to more skill expression rather than just always having good handling on the hedgehog, as it makes boost feel kind of like a glorified run button in a game about running. That being said, it fits Shadow really well; the ultimate life form would be more precise in how he moves, even if Sonic is the one who always ends up winning the race in the end because of how free and loose he plays it.

[@seiraneh]

What you brought up about nostalgia in the end is so accurate. This was awesome, but NEXT time, it's time to stop with the nostalgia and constant reuse of the past Sonic Team always takes the wrong notes out of both badly and well received releases. It's time they take the core of what people liked, and use it to give us a truly NEW game with ORIGINALITY all the way through.

[@ghrtyeje]

I absolutely loved watching this review, as it is far passed time Sonic Team finally delivered a game that had the level of quality and polish that you have been asking for in all your previous Sonic content! I may love Frontiers, but its flaws, especially regarding the jank, did weight it down and Shadow Generations proves that even more. I definitely agree that the Black Comet would've been a great final stage (a remix of Final Haunt would've made my day), but at least they still chose a stage that was iconic to Shadow's history, as it was his first big showcase in Adventure 2 from a gameplay stance (and a significant moment in the story)! I'll never forget the first time I played Radical Highway and went "Hey, that's the music from Shadow's 2 Player!!" This game is a true masterpiece that I will be playing all the time for years to come! (I do hope the next game takes your advice on the nostalgia aspect though. This was a great trip through memory lane, but when they make a new Sonic game, it should fully embrace the potential of being a brand new game in the franchise, but we'll just have to see) Great game, glad you loved it, glad everybody loved it!

[@seanboglio3605]

They should make a Frontiers Shadow DLC now to justify Chaos Island in Shadow Gens.

[@galetempus1979]

Ok, finding out they put future levels into Sonic Gen makes me wish that the last level would be a completely original stage that teased a future game.

[@JetblackJay]

Shadow Campaign is closer to sonic adventure with a hub world instead of a open zone overall Shadow Campaign was fine the real problem lies in the Rewrite of sonic Campaign it didn't need to be written for current continuity I think future games should not past games

[@SaddieMoon]

24:48 There are three things you can do with the orbs with Doom Morph. Hold Jump to swing, press Jump to snap to it, and if holding down the swing, if you are directly below the orb and release the jump button then, Shadow would be slingshotted up. My problem with this thing is that its abilities are poorly explained. I still don’t fully understand how the dash ability for the morph works.

[@raikaria3090]

There is actually quite an important bit of new lore about Black Doom. Black Doom is a *parasite* and the Black Arms are effectively a hive mind. Black Doom survived using the Black Leech used to create Shadow that was still alive aboard the ARK [and it's this that Shadow sensed at the start of the game so went to the ARK]; as Black Doom can essencially transfer himself to other Black Arms when he dies, but it took a while for that leech to basically grow into Doom again. Doom's plan the entire time was to take over Shadow to become even more powerful. But Shadow has something no other Black Arms has; Free Will, and was able to deny Black Doom and fight him off. Although this does raise questions to to why the Black Arms attack Shadow even when he's helping Black Doom in StH... if they are literally a hive mind with Doom. But I guess that's somewhat explained by Doom wanting Shadow to reach his full potential before taking him over to maximise Doom's future power.

[@joaquindiaz3621]

13:37 i mean persona 3 reload the answer (episode aigis) also had changes but they respected most of it, like here they respected most of it as well, i also think the rewritte is unnecessary but It's really nothing offensive, im sure pontac and graff will be on the credits as the original writters

[@AVGJ3859]

SonicXShadow Generations feels like an expansion pack similar to Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

It’s nice to see Sega finally embracing the Sonic x Shadow fandom.

[@johnkapon8536]

34:20 The game acknowledges that shadow hasnt seen some stages and enemies before, when you talk to gerald. He explaines that they might be either from the future, or from another timeline

[@deanmoriarty6015]

the cutscene animation is really good, probably the best in the entire franchise

[@ivoryquillum4436]

That's exactly what I was saying. Why couldn't we get a Black Comet level for Black Doom. I get that it would take time, but c'mon, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) deserves representation here. You already got the main villain, why not the level? I'm not a fan of rewrites, but if they pull a Sonic Frontiers-like content map with Sonic X Shadow Generations, Black Comet would be a level I'd want to see. You could even add it in as an extra story, and we see Black Bull make an appearance. It seems that Sonic Team is interested in redeeming Sonic 06 with redesigning the levels. Why not 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog as well. It just feels so weird that Shadow's own game doesn't have level representation, but Sonic Frontiers does. Again, I hope they do a content road map like with Frontiers and we get something like that in the future.

[@Luis-qe1uf]

It baffles me that anyone would prefer Pontac and Graff's writing over Ian Flynn's writing.

[@hasanlinonge772]

This is literally the only guy I need to hear talk sonic it’s crazy lmao

[@doniarts]

12:57 the Irony is you said woke more times then the tweet which had not once said woke lol Either way tho the difference in Amy really only applies to US since JP Amy still the same so if we get a remake of sonic heroes well I guess english side is screwed if they decide to re write it.

[@GrimmysReviews]

Ok, first thing, I STRONGLY recommend you read Archie Sonic the Hedgehog issue #171, which conveniently enough was also written by Ian Flynn, as I think you will see the Shadow from this game in there, at least going by how you described his character in this game. I dont see myself buying this one until it goes on sale as I have the original 3 times over, 4 if you include the 3ds version. $50 to $60 is a lot to spend on a game you already have, and I'm not fond of the tweaks made to the writing or to Rouge. Wish Shadow's part of the game had an optional stand alone version as it seems it could work that way.

[@AkiraYuki5150]

Damn that's the best game review I've seen in a while! Kudos

[@MaxWolf3900]

One thing no one has talked about yet : How is Shadow Gens’ Ranking System? Is it just as bad as Sonic Gens? Is it better? Did they remake the ranking system for Sonic Gens’ remaster?

[@insergy9695]

great video, one thing though that i think might help you with your playthrough with chaos island, I also didn't know how to control the doom morph, but if you swing with doom morph and let go of the button when you are at the bottom of the swing, you will go vertically up and it honestly makes it one of my favorite levels, hope that helps

[@TPC233]

Oh my god, I feel the exact same way about SEGA showing off too much before release. When the game eventually released I realized that they had shown off far too many levels and bosses, and overall I felt like the element of surprise with the levels should have been a better marketing choice

[@edwarduecker4866]

I don’t really mind SxS’s story retreading old ground because it’s actually executing it well this time lol

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

12:26 This isn't entirely true. It is still there, just significantly understated. In Amy's rescue cutscene with Classic Sonic, she says she always thought Sonic was cute, so she is still attracted to him, it's just not a core part of her personality.

[@HordikaNate3821]

I really hope the success of this game means not only will we see Shadow playable more, but more characters playable in the future

[@OrangeLightning86]

Strange that there was no mention of the Dark Beginning's animation as it is a prelude.

[@maggintons]

Honestly Eggman sounds more like a real old doctor in the new dub

[@ChaosStar27]

34:23 But that's what he did. If you talked to Gerald either after you finish both acts of Chaos island or defeat Mephiles, Gerald will tell shadow that it's due to the fact that they're outside of time. They explain why Shadow is visiting Chaos Island in this game. 35:12 the reason Radical Highway is the final level is because Doom Space is literally made of the parts from Radical Highway. Technically it isn't radical Highway. Plus the Black Moon isn't the Black Comet. They're two different things.