Shadowser's Fury | Sonic X Shadow Generations REVIEW

[@ArloStuff]

PINNED X COMMENT GENERATIONS Head to www.squarespace.com/arlo to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code "arlo" ALSO I have been informed that Shadow Generations has a performance mode. The fact that this was off by default and part of a separate suite of options from Sonic Generations is frustrating.

[@jamesmackay4913]

PERFECT pun I love it lol

[@Skipler-J320]

You can turn on performance mode in the Shadow portion.

[@JillianStartzel-b5i]

@arlostuff I either expected you to call it} super sonic 3d world+ Shadow's fury, Sonic's return to Dreamland deluxe with Shadow's epilogue or onic country tropical freeze with new Shadow mode (neuvo modo shadow), then again I guess you gotta leave some puns for antdude 😅.

[@sails9311]

Your PS5 may be set in the settings to prefer Graphics over Performance, which games will respect. Mine automatically picked Performance for that reason.

[@trashboat5388]

Playing the levels over and over again is literally the point of the games and why they exist. It's not jank you're just bad. You're supposed to learn the controls and level design through repeated playthroughs and get better with each one. Learn new routes and get better with the controls. That has been the foundation of the games since Sonic 1. Been playing this game for 10-plus years. It's not Jank. Calling sonic games jank is like calling a fromsoft game jank.

[@SoraFantasia]

A bit of misinformation in this review: Shadow generations does run at 60 fps alongside sonic generations, the game simply starts you on quality mode which runs at 30

[@Mojo1356]

Wait, what? How do I change it then? I want my 60 fps on my Series X. Shadow only runs at 30, and I cannot find any method of boosting the frame rate and just game up assuming the Xbox Series X simply got the short end of the stick.

[@carlodavies9227]

@@Mojo1356 look in settings for more than 30 seconds

[@That_man-hcu]

​@@Mojo1356Go the Display Settings in Shadow generations's option menu, switch image quality to performance priority.

[@rouge939]

@@Mojo1356how do you care about framerate but don’t bother going into the menu to check? Most games today have a performance or resolution option

[@MrSofly2010]

I found out after I beat it you can play it at performance. Plays better on performance mode.

[@jordancooney6817]

Nah Arlo, Sonic fans who love Sonic Generations to pieces hate the final boss. Have for years. You're good. Edit: Ay ay ay. I started a war in the comments... apparently. I didn't think this of all things would be controversial.

[@Mojo1356]

For a good reason. It’s still the worst final boss in the series to this day.

[@JLuisJoni]

Yup, it's stupidly underwhelming.

[@Arkouchie]

Yeah, its not good. Luckily, the Shadow final boss *easily* makes up for it

[@geistgrace6452]

I wouldn't say the worst. Sonic Spinball holds that honor IMO

[@randoncourter4923]

That looks like a homing shot

[@DanGamingFan2406]

This game is incredible. It feels great to play, the story is awesome, and all of the scenes with Maria really pull at my heartstrings, especially where she says why she named him Shadow. That was beautiful. It feels like Sega's writers finally understand the kind of character Shadow is again.

[@manuelinacio4038]

Didn't you write this before?

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

@@manuelinacio4038maybe he wants to make sure he expresses it in more than one place?

[@matthewharner1744]

​@@2yoyoyo1Unplugged say that again...

[@chrange9714]

@@DanGamingFan2406 Sega's writers always understood the kind of character Shadow is, stop the cap

[@MechaKnuckles]

​@@chrange9714 SOJ was never the problem. It was always the American writers.

[@Peetwenty]

This game is unnaturally polished for a Sonic game. Shadow's campaign is a dream come true. We are SO back Shadowbros.

[@mio3199]

they really prove themself giving bigger budget to the team after frontiers, im so happy

[@RaiginAnimator]

Yeaa I mean I think sonic jank is 2 things one Sonic games are naturally. Harder to control due to how fast the games move. And 2 Just physics and colllision jank so for more casual players it can feel weird to be bumping into things a lot

[@seacliff217]

@@mio3199 Don't know if it's so much budget as it is scale and direction. Not particularly disappointed in Shadow Generation's length, but it is a smaller game than Frontiers. And levels like Sunset Heights and Chaos Island has the benefits of reusing assets to cut both costs and time efficiently. That said, what is here is also pretty impressive for a game that only started development shortly before Frontiers finished. It shows that Sonic Team can achieve quality without the AAA bloat plaguing a lot of other studios right now.

[@jasonblack2477]

​@@mio3199its also a different team lol

[@GiygasUCD]

Arlo! You can turn on 60 fps in the settings for Shadow! ARLOOOO!!!

[@HutchIsOnYT]

I pictured Walter White yelling this from the backseat of Hank’s car

[@Mojo1356]

10:00 Don’t worry Arlo. The Time Eater is legit the worst final boss in Sonic history. Nobody likes it.

[@MisterTTG]

its actually extremely disappointing they didn't take the opportunity to fix it in any way

[@Mojo1356]

@@MisterTTGA) it’s a remaster- not a remake. I fail too see why people expect an overhaul Ala the Crash N Sane Trilogy when this is more like a Sly Cooper HD port. B) that being said, however, there is no excuse to get everyone to just shut up during the boss fight. Something that would take such little effort to program, and they didn’t do it.

[@dinasauro4457]

@@Mojo1356 putting the voice slider on 0 does the trick, only way I could get the no hit achievement without going insane

[@iannazario2028]

​@@Mojo1356nobody said they wanted the time eater to be completely remade dude, just that it's bull crap they did literally nothing to fix the worst boss in sonic history.

[@deedoubs]

@@Mojo1356 It's hardly a remaster. It's a mild touch-up with some pointless changes.

[@MDGamestation]

Shadow Generations blows me away by its high quality and polish. If this carries in Frontiers 2 we are golden.

[@rickyronny4019]

Agreed

[@thaneros]

As a long time fan, since the very first game, I hard disagree. The levels are very well designed however it lacks the polish and high qualify previous games from Unleashed and afterwards.

[@rickyronny4019]

@@thaneros oh shut up nigga. It has plenty of polish. Stop the Unleashed glaze, it’s a great game but Generations in game models have way more polish

[@AK46supr]

@@thanerosyou sound silly im sorry

[@thaneros]

@@AK46supr Have you played Unleashed?

[@chaneterzaro5388]

NO ARLO!!!!!!! THE GAME LOOKED THAT GOOD 12 YEARS AGO!!!!!!! ARLOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[@Mojo1356]

No- that’s just what most reviewers say. It’s not an Arlo thing.

[@Skitt64Gaming]

Seriously, OG Generations was not lacking ANYTHING in the looks department. It was only ever limited by hardware.

[@bam_bino__]

they added chao collectibles, changed dialogue and called it a day.

[@Mojo1356]

@@bam_bino__in all fairness, Generations is still a fantastic game regardless. The only real things I needed changed were the level design for Planet Wisp and a complete rework of the Time Eater boss. However, this is a simple remaster, so that’s asking for too much. Not to mention that Shadow Generations took significantly more priority, and it ended up paying off.

[@Skitt64Gaming]

@ Would have been best if they’d done literally nothing tbh, the changed dialogue is jarring as a fan of the first game

[@Amethyst4041]

Personally I don't agree with Shadow Generations being janky at all it's probably the most polished Sonic game ever it's Mario and Astro Bot quality level of polish imo I only ran into one bug or iffy thing throughout my 8+ hours of playing the game and time attacking it.

[@KyndlingStoneCB]

If I ever found a bug or a glitch, it wasn’t game breaking or anything crazy. Might have been a camera angle you shouldn’t have been at in a Shadow Gens level or Green Hill act 1’s bridge downward not properly aligning Sonic at a certain part but I can get past those because they’re situational and not game changing.

[@RedheadButNotReally]

5:26 Oh my good-THANK YOU! Arlo absolutely gets it! So many people that I talk to think that Sonic is just about going fast, then they complain when the level design stops them from going fast, so they just assume that Sonic games are a janky mess. No, that was NEVER the case, because speed is the reward for good, skillful play. And how do you get good in these games? By replaying them, memorizing the levels, and taking advantage of your moveset to achieve quicker times, and smoother runs. Arlo gets it.

[@Mojo1356]

Pretty much. It’s one of those games you suck at first but replay a lot to become better, learning the map and improving your reaction speed… unless your name is Sonic Forces.

[@JLuisJoni]

In short, they're speedrunning games.

[@TheRibottoStudios]

Exactly. Sonic plays like someone who's an adrenaline junkie cause he is one. But he focuses up when he needs to. To get better at the stage, you need to understand Sonic's character. Shadow meanwhile plays very smooth, very responsive AND responsible. Which fits his characterization.

[@DesertRider-zs2qb]

@@Mojo1356 I can attest to this. My first time playing levels in Sonic Generations was awkward. But every subsequent attempt, I kept getting better.

[@Far2Sega4U]

And even then, theres a soft Metroidvania aspect to Sonic if you decide to just explore the levels instead of just speeding through them that makes you see an entirely different game in each of these games. Play the games for the score more/completion and youll start to see how consistent the level design philosophy throughout all the years truly is.

[@GameDragon2k]

Hmm, maybe I'm too forgiving. But at least with Shadow Generations I didn't actually feel much jank at all? I actually felt like most of the time I died or hit a brick wall was completely my fault. There are NUMEROUS times where you fail an obstacle, the game gives you a break and drops you to another pathway.

[@aidenkarma3844]

yeah im not sure of it myself. i think there was little to no jank, i think theres a bit of a skill issue moment lmao but p good review regardless

[@ctpp64]

i have 14 hours in shadow generations, haven't run into a single glitch. ngl i think the "jank" he was referring to was probably just him having a skill issue lol. especially in the final zone which he called unfair, i got through perfectly fine. the only difficulty is stuff that the game has well-trained you for. with the sonic gens remaster, i'll admit that there is some legit jankiness, and the controls are still outdated. but shadow gens is smooth sailing outside of doom morph

[@Makoto0729]

Honestly I encountered ZERO jank in Shadow Gens but a significant amount in Sonic Gens that also wasn’t in the original i’m wondering if maybe the different platforms might be jank in different ways, maybe?

[@GameDragon2k]

​@ctpp64 I died a decent amount of times on the final zone in Shadow Gens. But I don't think it was ever because of any "jank". Always felt like it was just due to my own mistake.

[@angrydiddykong262]

Honestly, it's a bit weird. He sort of complained about sonic staples trying to act like button prompts were a design issue when that's not the case. Maybe that's what he was referring to? Shadow generations doesn't consist of jank at all and gives players enough control, so not sure. It doesn't sound like he's that invested in sonic games, so it probably was a skill issue.

[@RyderPlatinumWarpstar]

18:32 There is an option to enable Performance Mode in the options menu in Shadow Generations on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. I assume most of the footage was recorded on PC, but the option for 60fps is there on PS5 and Xbox.

[@sparksshepherd3313]

On PC is goes up to 120 fps actually

[@BrerOswald]

Yep. The Fidelity mode was on by default. I couldn't handle it, needed the 60 FPS.

[@SharpEdgeSoda]

"I'm not sure I like how Sonic games are about playing it over and over and overcoming jank" He says with 14 playthroughs of SOULS GAMES in 2024.

[@trashboat5388]

Also playing the levels over and over again is literally the point of the games.

[@allknowing-iu8jt]

Sorry Arlo I really tried not putting this down but skill issue man just a skill issue

[@manuelinacio4038]

No Arlo, you're absolutely right about the boss in Sonic Generations, it's really bad. Not only is it not fun to play, but you don't understand what you're seeing on the screen half the time. Thankfully, Shadow Generations had a good final boss

[@KeebeThePlush]

Since we’ve now been given an explanation for shadow’s boss in generations, now I wonder what was going on with silver during his encounter

[@graybilljunker8199]

We’re just gonna have to wait for Sonic x Shadow x Silver Generations to find out.

[@luigiplayer14]

I’d love for Silver to get a second chance.

[@Miriam_J_]

@@graybilljunker8199 Want this bad ngl, if only Silver was in more games to pull from.

[@sontho6995]

​@@Miriam_J_Ngl there's enough to make an intriguing narrative. With egg man nega, the ifirit (not iblis) & all of 06. There's a decent story that can be told.

[@pozitron3792]

Silver was an awesome idea for a third hedgehog but his intro in the series was ruined by it being in 06, and then he never appeared in a major role in a mainline console release again despite being set up as one and still being a part of the main cast normally. I would be hype for a redo for him

[@DarkLink1996.]

Two things: 1: Nobody liked the Time Eater fight in the original. In fact, the 3DS version had a much better final boss 2: There is a mod for the original Generations that tunes up Classic Sonic immensely. Showin's Classic Sonic Improvement. And also, the 3DS version, again, had much better Classic Sonic physics. Sadly, the Classic Era stages in the 3DS version are direct ports of their Genesis versions, but the rest is wholly original.

[@nitinanku]

Funny arlo thinks they remastered this game to be in line with the new games, generations just looked that good on the 360

[@ctpp64]

really, it's moreso the case that the new sonic games haven't actually progressed that far in terms of visuals lol

[@Caintastrophe]

@@ctpp64no they absolutely have, ignoring the game itself, forces looks beautiful

[@ctpp64]

@@Caintastrophe eh it depends imo. forces does have better textures and lighting engine. but the actual art direction is weak. environments are less detailed and colorful, backgrounds and terrain are way more basic. granted the city and metropolis look great, but every other zone looks worse than generations. just compare classic sonic's green hill from both games

[@nitinanku]

@@Caintastrophedebatable, generations and unleashed generally look much better, even if Forces may have better textures

[@Americanbadashh]

@@ctpp64 I think you are both right

[@SaddieMoon]

0:35 Uhm, Arlo, they didn’t remaster the textures. They always looked this good.

[@wesshiflet2214]

they look remastered bc the whole thing is uprezzed lol

[@diccchocolate416]

Not a long stretch of time? Arlo, Generations came out 13 years ago.

[@ctpp64]

well in terms of modern gaming, the last 13 years aren't THAT massive in terms of graphical improvement. there are still games from that era that look better than current games, so i get what he meant

[@LgameZ]

I love your videos Arlo, but Sonic x Shadow Generations is the least jank Sonic game. It’s primarily skill issue this time around. Also 60 FPS is possible through settings on PS5

[@Coplanersirtax9]

Imma be honest a lot of the stuff with "jank" is just a skill issue. I've had no problems with jank and all the people I talk to haven't either, neither on generations nor the new campaign. You just got to get used to the controls and accept that sonic games WILL utilize a lot of reaction time moments since they are moving so fast

[@soniquefus]

I experienced a ton of jank at first with Shadow Generations and I couldn't figure out why everyone said it was so good. Turns out my boost button was being overly sensitive and I was boosting without realizing it I remapped the buttons and it solved all my problems

[@rossjones8656]

​@@soniquefus outside jank is bitch at it.

[@sikosonix901]

Definitely. The boost games don't have the best controls, especially in comparison to Adventure, Frontiers, and Shadow Generations. But I'm not gonna act like it hampers the experience. Most of the time, it will never get in your way, and you can enjoy the game just fine.

[@boomgoesthedynamite69]

Absolutely not lol. Putting the original game next to Shadow's story really highlights just how slippery and awkward the boost formula was in the original game. You can barely move without flying off the stage because of how awkward the turning is, and there's no leniency for the precise platforming or reactions that it's asking from you. Even in a casual first playthrough it's hard not to run into a section that makes you want to scream

[@sikosonix901]

@@boomgoesthedynamite69 Just because it doesn't control the best doesn't mean it's hard to use, at least after getting used to it. The controls are built around the levels present, so it's not like you have to fight with them to actually play at all.

[@Arkouchie]

19:23 the last level is expecting you to really make use of the doom wings. It's extremely long if you don't, but if you do, it's one of my favorite levels in the package.

[@supercyclone8342]

Funnily enough, I decided to do them without the wings just cause it felt cooler to reach Doom without his fancy power lol. But now I still have yet to replay with the wings and I really like those 2 levels! I was so surprising to hear him say they're too long give the typical Sonic discussions, but I almost agree... or more like I wouldn't want them to be any longer. Which is interesting because Spark 3 is my favorite speed platformer and it's last 2 stages are absurdly long, but I love them so much!

[@jessdoesvids]

honestly? i played them without the doom wings since i wanted to play the whole level and it's absolutely fantastic. it's exactly what i want from a final gauntlet level and im having a ton of fun trying S ranks on it

[@zacharybillotte7406]

I don't think you would survive Sonic Unleashed 😭😭

[@triwolfblade8614]

if he thinks needing reaction time in one of the most polished sonic games out there is JANK. He'd review unleashed like IGN did no cap

[@aidenkarma3844]

TRUE

[@Roty24-f6s]

​@@triwolfblade8614Nah not like IGN!

[@glenntaylor266]

Facts! That shit was difficult no cap. Still have nightmares of Eggman Land

[@glenntaylor266]

@@theturtleking2454 insane take

[@lakitudude7577]

No idea what you're talking about with performance. It's a rock solid 60

[@AAlex-wg8ml]

I assume he was only on graphics mode and didn't switch to performance mode 😅

[@Americanbadashh]

"Jank" is getting used as a replacement word for "skill issue", a lot here.

[@TheRibottoStudios]

I can't believe people actually hate Ian Flynn. Shadow is so back. He's literally giving us everything we ever wanted. He's fixing the damage the 2010s did to the franchise. WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE WANT?!

[@geistgrace6452]

Sonic fans are like that one SpongeBob meme: "BUT I DON'T LIKE THIS THING!" /"THEN WHY DID YOU ASK FOR IT?"/

[@billcook4768]

I want a pony

[@diccchocolate416]

Because his writing is kind of vapid and forgettable? Nothing he's done so far for the games is that interesting. It's either overly somber and serious or just rehashing ideas he didn't come up with.

[@shadow1111111]

My issue with the rewrites in Sonic Gens are just Ian's obsession with self referential dialogue. It feels very Family Guy "this is just like that time when (insert past game reference)" and it just takes me out of it. The Shadow gens writing is better, at least, but not perfect. The yellow emerald subplot, while a neat reference and cool continuity, is very clumsy in execution, especially the dialogue. I appreciate Flynn's respect for the material, and he can write some good Sonic content, but he's not perfect

[@TheRibottoStudios]

@@shadow1111111 Speaking of the yellow emerald....Was that the FIRST time we hear Shadow say Tails' name in game? I'm trying to rack my mind thinking of times he hasn't called Tails "fox" but....he just usually calls him "Fox." Also the dialogue to me felt better than in the original. Especially Shadow's line in the end. You cannot tell me with a straight face "you GOT this Sonic." is better than "On your feet."

[@eanderson9599]

15:46 Arlo you missed the most OBVIOUS pun in existence

[@diddly_dude]

Live and learn was RIGHT THERE

[@bronsonisaboss]

😂

[@khythedestroyer]

Theres an image quality mode and performance mode found in the settings of shadow gens. The game also runs at 120 on pc.

[@blahbliff9726]

There is a middleground between being a speedrunner and casual prompt recognition based playthroughs, and that's Time Attack! (or simply playing for your best time in the event the game has no time attack mode) That's Sonic's bread and butter, and the magic design trick to many of the games. You have these levels which present a simple/easy platformer if you just want to complete them. Then you have a built in custom difficulty based on speed. The faster you try to go, the harder the game becomes. The automation that assists you on a normal playthrough becomes an obstacle that slows you down when you play for speed. The fact that it's so easy to survive no longer matters when you can't get hit even once because of the time setback. The levels shine in all new ways when approached this way, and it can be quite challenging and satisfying. It also opens up a reason to explore, as you look for skips and try routes. Anyway, I have no problem with your review whatsoever. Just wanted to share. Enjoyed the video a lot

[@aidenkarma3844]

Yeah I don't really agree with the jank part like it really feels more like a skill check than it is jank but otherwise a pretty good review

[@rehaansiddiqie]

18:30 homie, you're showing 60 FPS footage on PS5, its literally possible there.

[@nickb6425]

Yeah wth 🤨😂

[@ctpp64]

he's showing footage from another channel. he probably just assumed they were playing on PC lol

[@CyanBlur]

One of the fun exceptions for Shadow Gens was that it never does the 2d-3d mixed level. As far as I can recall, every act 1 is 100% 3d, and every act 2 is 100% 2d excluding the last.

[@jt_9999]

We get the most polished Sonic game in years and Arlo calls it janky

[@dusk173]

Tell me about it…Sonic will never be good enough for people like him.

[@FSAPOJake]

So, fun fact. They didn't do anything to the visuals of Sonic Generations other than up the resolution and framerate. What you see here is exactly what you would have seen on the Xbox 360. Hedgehog Engine games from that era just aged extremely gracefully.

[@ctpp64]

some textures and lighting actually were adjusted, but it's ultimately very minor stuff that you'd only notice in side-by-side comparisons. so you're mostly right, gens' art style is very timeless. kinda like zelda wind waker

[@DonRavioli92]

Arlo, I have no idea why you had frame rate issues. Myself and basically everyone else I've seen playing this on the PS5 has gotten 60 frames per second very easily. I think you might have had an individual issue because no other review I've seen has mentioned something like that. in fact everyone that I've seen has said that it runs very well. Also you brought up "jankiness" in shadow generations. I legitimately don't know what you're talking about. Everything in this game works as intended in my experience and what seems like everyone else's experience. It would have been nice if you could have brought up individual examples, because the only thing you listed us not working well is the squid which is a skill check ability. It makes it sound like a skill issue for everything else that you implied. Still pretty solid I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was just suggest maybe playing it more until you feel very proficient at it because the feeling of playing the game when you're good is so much better than when you're just learning.

[@burritobison7700]

Nah this game is pretty mid cope and seethe big boy

[@FloopLoopz]

About the framerate thing, Shadow Gens bizarrely runs on quality mode by default even though it’s framerate is inconsistent. Switching to performance makes it totally locked to 60 fps.

[@Marcorix2010]

The key to enjoying classic sonic is getting the lightning shield equipped as early as possible, having a double jump makes all the classic sonic levels 100x more fun and forgiving to land the important jumps to such an extent I think the game would just be better if they made double jump a standard for classic sonic. I think even Sega know this would be a huge improvement given shadow does have a double jump at all times which is part of what makes his levels more intuative and fun.

[@Jaynosurname]

On the frame rate issue, switch to performance mode and it’s way better.

[@lasercraft32]

Its okay Arlo, NOBODY liked the final boss of Generations. XD

[@BritBox777]

This game is polished as hell and haven't run into any jank on either the PC or Switch versions. Not sure what version they were playing but, the one available to the public runs great.

[@raphaelmartins6529]

You can play Shadow Generations at 60 frames per second on the PS5. To achieve this, you need to adjust the settings from “Image Quality” to “Performance.” This change will result in the game running at 2K resolution instead of 4K resolution, while maintaining the 60fps frame rate.

[@spongebobfan78]

No need to butter up on the graphics department. Sonic Generations is just basically the original with a higher resolution and higher quality HUD alongside the added content and rewritten dialog. Then again, a lot of people call the 360 original on Series X a "remaster" just because of the resolution boost.

[@rouge939]

They call it a remaster because it’s 60 fps on series x not because of the resolution

[@aidenkarma3844]

It is a remaster though with up scaled graphics and a 60 fps boost.

[@ctpp64]

tbf the graphics are changed in some areas. green hill for example is more saturated, and city escape has brighter lighting. but for the most part yeah, it's the original game

[@JudaBoi]

Honestly i didnt see anyone encounter jank on the shadow gens side nor did i encounter any of the sort. Thats odd...

[@dusk173]

Neither did I. Arlo just assumed that any challenge he had meant that the game was inherently janky because it’s a Sonic game which might as well be considered a logical fallacy at this point.

[@divertedgamer1050]

is no one going to tell arlo that you can turn on 60fps in the settings?

[@wafferworld9813]

> "this game has the usual Sonic jank" > Looks inside > Plays badly 🙃

[@XxXQuickScoperXxXJoinTheParty]

Mfs will do anything but own up to their skill issues apparently.

[@Latestmustace]

ARLO HAS NEVER LOOKED AT A SETTING SCREEN BEFORE 🗣‼️‼️🔥

[@rehaansiddiqie]

Generations is hella well designed and Shadow too. I agree with Sonic Gens he controls too heavy, but saying its jank is nonsense

[@MediocreChuch1837]

I see people flooding the replies on twitter and here saying this but imma say it anyway. Do urself a favor and turn off performance mode. The game can get up to 120 fps. It’s gorgeous.

[@tenshifox1150]

You have to switch the game to performance mode for 60 FPS

[@sometf2player752]

19:21 skill issue honestly those levels are tough but it never felt unfair I think you might've missed something the game was telling you

[@joaornmarques]

Totally agree. Sonic Generations is more at fault in that regard, but in Shadow Generations I always felt in total control and in the instances I lost, I knew exactly what I did wrong.

[@sometf2player752]

yeah I think it’s kinda eh to blame not being to skilled at the game on the game itself

[@Dimensional_Dreamer]

Skill Issue does not equal Jank Arlo.

[@esperlemon]

I like your content bro but a lot of the issues you had with Sonic Generations around 5-6 minutes in was genuinely just you being bad the game 😭

[@TemporalZack]

Arlo, since you're playing it on the PS5, you can go into the settings of Shadow Generations and turn on performance mode, that would allow the game to run at 60 FPS. Highly recommend doing that because framerate can be pretty important for a Sonic game imo.

[@derpinheimer2993]

5:46 this is definitely a coming of age thing no offense, this is the first modern sonic game i played and never had issues like this, your gettin old!

[@KyndlingStoneCB]

18:09 go to the settings to get 60fps. There’s a setting to turn down the image quality to get that 60. It looks pretty much the same too.

[@sikosonix901]

Glad you liked the game, I did too, it was amazing, 9/10 from me. Although, I will have to hit you with an unfortunate skill issue. A lot of you're complaints are because the game is design that way, not because they couldn't do better. The final level is probably some of the best in the whole Sonic franchise. If you've played, you'll know what I mean. Saying that the final level is too long and frustratingly hard is insanity. It is the hardest in the game, but it's not THAT hard. The jump in difficulty ain't even that big. If you are genuinely struggling with it, so much so that you can't fathom it being your fault, I'm sorry to say, you aren't the best at boost games. And I mean this with no disrespect, I don't expect everyone to be the best at everything. But I just want to set the record straight on that specific aspect.

[@rouge939]

Yeah most reviewers suck at Sonic games. The final two level in Shadows campaign are fantastic. And the S ranks are actually difficult I had a lot of fun retrying over and over finding new shortcuts to get them

[@thequestbro]

Why do people misuse the word jank? Jank doesn't mean something is buggy. Jank is exploits or weird glitches that "improve" the experience of playing the game at a high level. Jank is Wave Dashing in SSBM. Or backwards long jumping in Mario 64. It has nothing to do with the quality of the game.

[@justasimplemanworkinghiswa1569]

nah jank is something like rail switching in sonic heroes

[@ProbablyNotProbable]

Absolutely not. Jank is not necessarily buggy but it has nothing to do with improving anything. It's awkward, unintuitive, messy weirdness and certainly can include bugs. Wherever you got your definition from is not the generally accepted one.

[@thequestbro]

@@ProbablyNotProbable It used to be the generally accepted one. But not any more apparently Jank is anything that makes people mad. It's fucking stupid. Jank used to be used to describe weird unintentional gameplay that came from the engine, like the Infinite Speed strafe hopping in Quake 3. Another example is meleeing the right shin in Halo CE would instantly kill the opponent.

[@thequestbro]

Of all the 3D Sonic games Generations has the least amount of "Jank" by a significant margin. It's WHY people consider it the best boost game.

[@SpumoneProductions]

Arlo I'm sorry to tell you this, but Shadow Generations has a 60fps performance mode in the settings. The quality mode is enabled by default.

[@convergeman7825]

I was less hyped knowing the Generations part was just a remaster of something, but hearing that they redid some of the dialogue actually has me intrigued. I don't really hate the Colours-style writing as much as most even if its not my cup of tea, but I always thought Generations was full of so many missed opportunities for the modern characters to muse and comment on past events more, so it might be interesting to experience a version written by people who actually know about stuff from pre-Colours

[@murderman8578]

Actually worth getting all the S ranks

[@JohnTK]

It’s alright Arlo, most people don’t like how classic sonic controls in generations, to the point where some people jokingly say that he’s actually an evil sonic doppelgänger named Santiago. So you’re definitely not alone on that opinion lol.

[@SoftEndy]

His controls in Generations are not why people call him Santiago

[@Mojo1356]

I mean I don’t think it’s bad by any means, but this dude cannot do many things he could pull off in the classic games. Heck, the one saving grace is the spin dash. It is absurdly powerful- moreso than any 2D game ever.

[@wesshiflet2214]

his name is Gerald. there are two Geralds in this game

[@Ihasnotomato]

Its interesting that arlo was annoyed by the surprise final levels as I was personally ecstatic that there was more levels for me to play in this game I love lol

[@SkaiCyan]

It's not just you, Time Eater is notoriously disliked in the community, it's not well designed. If you ever get a chance to play the 3DS game though, the Time Eater fight in that is really good.

[@MosiahWhite]

This is a decent review considering how much of a Nintendo fanboy you are, but all the "jankiness" you pointed was IMO just skill checks. Not everything has to be made super easy and seamless. It's always been a core gameplay design concept for Sonic games to want you to memorize stage layouts, get good at them, and time things out. You have to EARN the fluidity that you were saying was a highlight of the game. I did have similar gripes about doom morph though. The problem for me is that it's basically just another water squid thing except that you have to use a homing attack to trigger it, which I thought was lame. I think the Doom Squid should activate as soon as you touch the dark goo instead of requiring some weird trigger. I really disliked too how much the Doom Squid slows things down. Sonic Team really learned a lot about how important keeping momentum is in Sonic Frontiers, so I'm hoping the fact that it wasn't included in Shadow Generations was so that his controls would differ too much from Sonics. But yeah that's all that's missing really IMO is proper momentum and physics carrying over from moves. Nothing feels worse than immediately slowing down when you let go of the boost button.

[@clasherinotheone5249]

Hmm you have a slider how fast shadow should slow down I have it one at max because I want to be able to stop at will cause it helps the gameplay

[@Deylxe]

Hey Arlo, I would really recommend if you haven't in the settings changing the graphics preset to prioritize frame rate since you said it was being choppy for you. I played on PS5 and had the same thing but when I switched it to prioritize frame rate it runs really smooth and from what I can tell the graphics difference is hardly noticeable at all, at least I didn't notice it looking bad or worse anywhere. Looked the same for me.

[@DeeboFromHI]

I almost had a stroke trying to read that title

[@darkestnobody]

i 100% shadow gens on my ps5 and it was completely smooth. i gotta disagree on that one. maybe you didn't have performance toggled on

[@SuperSonic68]

Don't forget, everyone! It's a Sonic game. GET IT ON PC if you can, to extend the longevity of this game ANOTHER 13 years through mods, just like what happened with the original Sonic Generations.

[@ZmanShow]

13:25 WOW after all the hours I put in, I never knew that was there lol thanks Arlo

[@NessaTheBat1]

I'm glad this games is really good. Shadow is my favourite character and finally he gets some spotlight. I hope they' will give more Sonic character's the spotlight. But this game looks really good and a lot of fun.

[@DariusRoman-p6x]

Roses are red ❤ Violets are blue 💙 Arlo likes Sonic 🔵💨 And so do I too 👍

[@hereforonereason5820]

There being 2D sections in Modern Sonic's levels is well worn critique in the Sonic community, a lot of us are actually MORE game design purist about it, so nothing to worry about there.

[@HeroOfLight13]

90% of the game: Nah Arlo, it really is a skill issue, GET GOOD The final boss: Okay yeah I’ll give you that one, it’s pretty jank

[@RecRoomer-r34732]

"Shadowser's Fury" Thank the lord someone said this

[@irishijo1]

If memory serves, the X is used as a sort of punctuation mark in Japan, indicating both words are together (SpyXFamily, for instance)

[@gishigoshi]

Shadow generations: adds new moves for shadow, adds a more in depth over world, “I’d say it’s more simplistic” uh what???

[@Nickika]

I personally like Sonic Generations more, and it's all on the level design. Because I'm experienced with Sonic games, I know how the level design works, so I look at it, and I pay attention, after I observe the level, I say, "Can I do that? Maybe if I boost at this exact moment I can get to that cloud that will bounce me back instead of doing the platforming. Or I see to my left, "Wait, there is shorcut here, this is defenetly faster" "Ok, wait, if go trough that ramp, Ill crash into the wall, exept that if I just keep boosting I'll just slide trought it, meaning that if I jump here it can get me directly at that ring, now I have to do this homing attack chain, but I only really need to do one then boost and skip the other Robots" Sonic Generations does that all the time, and it takes skill and its callenging, but even though Shadow Generations does that too, it's just like "take this ring to skip the plataforming section" or "Hit the spring and boost trough this rail to skip this part" The problem is that it is not very interesting, and Something else that generations does is that the levels have so many paths to take, like if you go one way, you are in this section of a level, if you go the other way you are in another completely different section, and I think that's cool. Oviously both games are very good, and two great games for 50 bucks is cool

[@jaretco6423]

I was worried if this remastered plus new mode was gonna flopped like Sonic Colors Ultimate or Origins has. But thank goodness I was wrong. This is without an doubt the best 3D Sonic games we had in such an long time and one of the best Sonic games period.

[@goode_bag]

My gripe with the criticism of “jankiness” in Sonic generations is that even on my first play through I didn’t feel that way despite not knowing the level layouts. Imo it’s much more about learning the language of sonic rather than each individual level. If you’ve played any modern boost game there are mechanics you start to intuit that carry over into others. They don’t all translate 1 to 1, but they share a lot of the same DNA. Just like how someone who isn’t good at any video games because they don’t know the design language of video games struggles with mechanics we would consider common sense (like saying “A” as the universal select or jump button even if it’s not always actually labeled “A”).

[@goode_bag]

My point is mainly that I don’t think it’s fair to criticize someone like Arlo and say “git gud and practice the stages” nor is it fair to say it’s bad jank because you’re not familiar with this type of video game design language

[@EvanBailey-y3g]

I could relate to what this man said every second of the video and I love it, keep going arlo, you doing good

[@OurHeroXero]

Butternut Squash? Yes Please!

[@davidmendez8306]

Arlo's iconic catchphase that he definately says a whole lot

[@BansheeScreams]

Shadow generations runs at a fine 60fps if you play it on premformance mode…

[@TopherCadence]

9:57 No, no. Arlo. You aren’t wrong. A majority of the fans of the original game also hated this final boss 😝😭

[@kong27]

You can get 60fps if you put it in performance mode.

[@Keychaine]

I got Shadow to run at a solid 60fps on my Steam Deck with low quality settings. Graphics might not be quite as smooth, but the gameplay sure was!

[@MerryBlind]

As someone who absolutely adored Generations when it came out and have continued playing it throughout the years, I’m super happy to see new people praise it this much! Graphics already looked really good, it doesn’t even seem like they’ve been improved at all, which is just a testament to how great they were years ago.

[@Jdfskitz]

I will say, while gameplay is roughly 4-5 hours for a playthrough, 100% is roughly 15-20 hours for shadows campaign, in comparison frontiers was about 35 hours for 100%

[@Artista_Frustrado]

so in General: - yes, Santiago's physics do feel worse & that's why SuperStars actually recreates the classic physics - the Jank-t-Skill line in Generations specifically leans towards the skill side - I'm glad that you are one of the few KZbinrs that understands that Going Fast in a Sonic game is the reward, basically the Equivalent of expecting a Pokemon game to start with a full Shiny Dex - nobody likes the Time Eater fight, and this version was tweaked to actually use other attacks besides What looks like a Homing Shot. I was hoping they would have added the 3DS version as a Phase 2 - i think you might have played the game in the Quality preset - I'm glad the Doom Powers are for the most part basically Shadow's version of the Wisps & overall work better - & yeah Sonic Team stated that Shadow Generations was sightly shorter than Sonic Generations

[@viewer6808]

skill issue = game's janky LMAO

[@JsYTA]

The physics for generations has that weird floating feeling you get when playing a platformer inside a game builder.

[@TheBlueWizzrobe]

Classic Sonic in Generations has a very different feel from Sonic in the original 2D titles, but I do think he is very fun to handle once you get the hang of him and accept that he is just not the same as those games.

[@yarogblack1909]

This video taught me that Arlo doesn't have the slightest idea of what the word "jank" actually means

[@sometf2player752]

18:25 well guess what you can get the game to run at 60 if you switch to performance mode in the options they probably should've made that more clear (btw on PC it runs at a smooth 120 fps)

[@jaelin_javelin]

Even on my Steam Deck it runs at 70-80 fps on low-medium settings. Not sure what platform he's using lol

[@Senorgato029]

For sonic generations I still remember imprinting the square button into my thumb during that final boss, fun memory, don’t wanna do it again

[@Olimario34_]

Chaos Control is incredibly fun i really hope we get a full Shadow the Hedgehog 2 with these mechanics

[@calvinhobbes1010]

9:30 And perhaps because of this, S-Ranking the Planet Wisp challenges gave me a kind of hell that Black Doom could only ever dream of (PS, I love this game too)

[@THEonlyAEON]

I like this review a lot, I must admit I didn't experience a lot of the Jank you talked about or really any frame rate issues with Shadow Gens (haven't played Sonic Gens yet) but that might be because I'm so used to the gameplay of what sonic games expect of me that I don't count them as jank. Absolutely loved my time with Shadow Gens, looking forward to what sonic team gives us next.