Remasters of games that are a generation or two old are ten-a-penny now, but some go a little further than others. Such is the case for Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sega’s do-over of 2011’s Sonic Generations, a game originally designed to be a wide-ranging celebration of the speedy hedgehog for his 20th birthday. Sonic’s now 33; the game itself is, in a video game sense, a relic.
That isn’t said or meant in a pejorative sense, however. Generations is old, but it remains one of the best modern Sonic efforts outside of the unassailable Sonic Mania. It’s still very good – and its mish-mash of levels from the first twenty years of Sonic adventures split between two distinct gameplay styles still charms.
But if you want to feel really old, check this: Shadow the Hedgehog is now as old as Sonic was when Generations first released. To me, a human being marginally older than Sonic, Shadow is still one of the ‘new’ characters, sitting in a segregated tier from the truly ‘classic’ crew. But to a whole generation of kids and adults he’s now always been there, just like Sonic – and so it only seems right that this new release celebrates him, too.