Why Sonic Generations is a MASTERPIECE 

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I owe a lot to Sonic Generations. It's the Sonic game that got me into the franchise. Heck, without Generations I wouldn't have started my own RU-vid channel or be here commenting on this video.

It's so sad that SEGA was so utterly blind that they couldn't understand that what made this game great wasn't that it had no story, or leaned on nostalgic callbacks, or that Sonic's friends were shoved to the side, or that Classic Sonic was there, it was that it was simply a fantastic game. But instead of replicating the depth that made the game so good, they only sought to replicate its superficial features instead.

Fun fact: there was going to be a third sonic in the game meant to represent the Dreamcast era voiced by Ryan Drummond, but it was cut. Not only would have been so cool, but I think it actually could have helped justify the 2D in the boost stages having a character fully 2D, a Character fully 3D, and a character that’s a mix of both.

Did you know that Perfect Chaos' appearance in Generations is how he was ALWAYS intended to appear (i.e. in the original Sonic Adventure), but due to the Dreamcast's technical limitations, they went with the design they did.

You can tell Generations was made with love, definitely the best boost has ever been and just so much history to enjoy. I just wish there was more games represented in the levels, though I guess 3DS does that

Game's real good. Should've had some proper DLC. Wish Classic used the elemental shields throughout stages normally instead of as an equippable skill. Also wish the stage selection wasn't just a popularity contest and was a little more well-rounded with less city stages. Personally would've liked to see something unusual like Red Mountain instead of Speed Highway (rough cut I know) while still keeping City Escape. Maybe Egg Fleet or Hang Castle instead of Seaside Hill? These are all nitpicks of course. This is a Top 5 Sonic game.

there's a crazy modding community for this game. graphics, skins, animations, even entire levels from other games! best being the unleashed project

Modern Sonic: “Hey Sonic! Enjoy your future! It’s gonna be great! Classic Sonic: “But yours won’t” Me: OOF 😖

Gens is proof that the Sonic fanbase isn't so divided where it can't collectively agree on one thing being good because of its sheer quality And all it took was being polished and fun, _who would've thought_

Generations is one of the few Sonic games that is universally agreed upon being good by critics and fans alike. I love this game so much.

My favorite part of Generations is like you said, its amazing, branching, diverse level design. It's super good for a Sonic level to have different ways to play every time you come back to the game! Even if I've become jaded with the boost full-on replacing full 3D fluid gameplay, good level design is good level design. And that alone is worth placing Gens as one of the best, even if it's not my personal favorite. Also BIG shoutouts to Generations' amazing art design, managing to blend all eras of Sonic into one cohesive whole! I swoon imagining what Adventure remakes would look like with Generations' environmental art design~

One of my memories with this game isn't with the game itself exactly; I remember when I was in school we had a substitute teacher come in to teach our class, but he didn't do that straight away. One of the first things he did was ask the class about Sonic the Hedgehog, specifically if we liked the games and if we had played Sonic Generations yet. He told us that at the end of the game, a crowd cheered Sonic wishing him a happy birthday, and he was in that crowd. I don't know why, but that stuck with me. It got me a bit intrigued to try out Sonic games, at least ones besides the Sonic Mega Collection I had bought at a flea market which was weirdly packaged in a box for Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. I still think about that teacher sometimes, it was weird to think that someone like that at that point of my life would greet everyone as a Sonic fan. I wonder where he is now...

I'll tell you why Sonic Generations is a masterpiece. There's something there for everyone. It's way past cool. Also Sly Cooper for the win 🙂

Definitely my favorite 3D Sonic game. Short and sweet, no fluff and I feel this one does best balance between speeding and interesting platforming. Trick system is also just perfect and it such a shame that they scrapped it together after this one.

Thank goodness for Sonic Generations, the only main Sonic game I have a lot of respect for this entire decade. Modern Sonic's levels are amazing. Interesting bonus with the EggRobo boss, in the last regular level, your goal is to reach Death Egg zone in Sky Sanctuary, so kinda neat the boss right after is in it, the only time there's continuity between levels. Altough the cutscene inbetween ruins the connection. Oh well. Fascinating, Sonic Colors level design is supposedly good, yet as soon as it's recreated in Sonic Generations, everyone immediatly agrees it's the lesser level. Funny you say the devs gave a lot of respect to Silver as a boss fight, but didn't notice he's litteraly the only boss fight without a unique envirement, just plopped back into Crisis city where they never fought, rather then Soleanna's townsquare. Then again, that would have been another city level, so....Oh hey, that means StarDust Speedway's also technically a city level in Generations, making 5 city levels. This, combined with the 3ds levels really show Beach and city levels are always the most popular. "Would have been fine if Orbot and Cubot were left behind for good" Ohhh, brutal. Also, agreed. Heh, splash hill zone during the final boss, that's great. Shame the Spring Stadium zone track from Sonic3dBlast Saturn act 2wasn't in the list, that derpy clown music would be more perfect. Heh, the "Happy Birthday Sonic" yell from the credits was partly recorded at Summer of Sonic, which I attended, which means I'm an official Sonic voice actor I guess. Yay? Sonic Generations generallly makes great choices for it's levels and bosses, yeah. A little Too good choices. As in, so good Sega keeps making the same choices over and over and now in retrospect, all the choices Especially with Classic Sonic just annoy me in how overused they'll become. Green Hill, Sky Sanctuary, Checmial plant, The metal sonic race in Stardust speedway AND the Eggrobo will all overstay their welcome real soon. None of the Adventure/ Modern Sonic stages suffer from that tough, not sure if that's a blessing or just more irritating.

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It has so much replayability with the rpg elements and the challenges. Also the stages are just too fun. My fav boost game

I'm not a fan of the meta era and I hope we see the back of it going forward but even I have to admit I absolutely loved generations as a game. I agree not having level DLC was a massive L.

I thought this Generation was a pretty ok game, but over time I've really grown to appreciate it as one of the Best Modern Sonic games to come out in recent times, it's story nonwithstanding.

Anyone else coming here after the announcement of Sonic X Shadow Generations

Still love this game and cant wait for remaster with new shadow campaign

I really like Sonic Generations and Sega did a great job in celebrating the hedgehog's 20th anniversary. It's a must for any sonic fans.

As much as I love Generations, I wish there was more of it. Mainly by having more then just one zone representing each mainline game.

During the battle with the Dreamcast rival, Shadow, I play the song "I Am All Of Me" both so it would fit in to his character and his popularity, and so it would make the stage battle feel more scary, like I'm coming across a very dangerous adversary in a dark, cold environment.

The biggest missed opportunity with this game was the lack of dlc stages. I would have loved to run through spring yard, a real casino night stage, hydrocity, stardust speedway, twinkle park, final rush, egg fleet, kingdom valley, savannah citadel, and aquarium park in this game.

While I do love Generations, I can't really call it a masterpiece. Due to things you mentioned. Those being the short length, the amount of 2D with Modern Sonic, the bad story, bad final boss and Planet Wisp. I'm also not a big fan of either Crisis Cities, and Crisis City is my favourite stage from 06. That said, when I first played it like 2 or 3 years ago, it did serve as my way back into the franchise, as I hadn't really played much of any Sonic game since Unleashed.

Honestly, if they weren't so insistent with being so quick with these anniversary releases I can picture them slotting in a fourth set of levels before the Time Eater. A set that I dub the Eggman Era; three final zones, one for each era: Either Scrap Brain Zone, Metallic Madness Bad Future, or Sonic and Knuckles' version of Death Egg Zone for the Genesis Era. Either Final Egg or Egg Fleet for the Dreamcast Era. And Crimson Carnival for the Modern Era. That would be such an epic build-up to the admittedly L-filled finale, and would give us more memorable levels regardless.

Man, I really wished Generations didn't have the Meta Era Syndrome, and by that I mean: -Abandoning most of the cast in favor of just Sonic. -Minimal content. -And bad script (Granted, this one doesn't have too many cutscenes). I'm also not particularly fond of some of the zone choices: The first of many Chemical Plants rehashes, 5 city zones and no ice or lava stages (A DLC would've helped). This game's success also had the unfortunate side-effect of making Sonic Team believe nostalgia is the basis for success (which is mostly shown in Lost World and especially in Forces) but that's more or less Sonic Team's fault and not the game's. Really wished I could play as other characters or having more story or content. Feels like wasted potential. Despite this, I still think this is one of the (few) best games of this era.

Well said on the reflection at the end there. Regardless of the cringe writing, cutscenes and lack of additional content, this game surpasses any kind of retroactive cynicism for me. It just nails the gameplay and heartfelt tributes so well that none of those problems are worth calling this game out over.

Finally. This is my favorite sonic game of all time. Everything about this game was incredible. The stages, the level design and it mostly importantly, it was an anniversary game done well.

This franchise could’ve really been something great after this high point, but of course we all know that’s not what happened.

Let me set the scene, it’s my childhood days of RU-vid, and i’m browsing videos on my parents phone, i eventually come across a certain RU-vidr whose intro goes a little like this,” Who’s gonna rock the place? Forever gonna rock the place!” And i start watching his videos, eventually coming to find out he played lots of games based around a blue hedgehog who can run fast, leading me to search the hedgehog’s name in the RU-vid search bar, leading me down a path of history, triumph, challenge, and passion for a franchise that had seemingly done it all, way more than others did at the time, but it still didn’t fully click with me, a bit later my uncle moved in with us and he brought with him his Playstation 3, and being the nice uncle he was he bought a couple games for me and my sister to play on it when he was at work not using it, of course, he struggled a bit, how do you find age appropriate kids games on a console with so many mature ones? Well, he came across a couple and also went on the digital store, getting a lego game, a movie based game, and 2 games based off the blue hedgehog from before, one that was from his anniversary that year and another that had both the blue hedgehog on it and a black one with red stripes that was only on the digital store, i looked at the cover of the physical one and read the line on the back that said,”Two Sonics, Two Ways To Play!” My child brain thought: double the hedgehog=double the fun! So i plucked out the disk and put it in, falling in love with everything, the graphics, gameplay, level design, speed, and the music… OH THE MUSIC! Then i thought, why not play the other one that also has 2 hedgehogs, that means it’ll be just as fun! And oh boy was i right! I recognized a few characters, stages, and music from the first game i played and it just made me fall in love once more, knowing i had these 2 amazing games at home ready for me to play after coming home from school running like Sonic does with Live and Learn, Green Forest, Pumpkin Hill, City Escape, Green Hill, Speed Highway, Rooftop Run, and Sky Sanctuary playing on repeat in my head, that seems like so long ago now, and it cemented my love for the Sonic franchise and the company who gave us these games, even if some things after that seemed, mostly like odd choices and decisions from the company themselves, it never changed my love for the company and their mascot. (If you couldn’t tell, yes the games i was talking about were Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure 2 :) they gave me some of my first gaming experiences ever)

oh my god i never noticed that shadow gives you the damn 4th chaos emerald in generations 💀

It's interesting to see your perspective changed on the meta era stuff. I feel kinda how you do just that it's a disappointment to see the series fall so far after such greatness but even still sonic managed to survive all of this and is still going today. So it's nice to see even with negative stuff the series can still keep moving and bounce back from anything.

The highest peak of a Sonic game ever. I'm so glad I got to play both Sonic Colors and Generations one year after an other. I bought this game and Unleashed on my Xbox Series X to play both of them again. Sadly the 360 version is locked at 30fps even for the Series X. At this point it should be unlocked by Sega with an update.

I’m surprised you didn’t talk about the trophy room thing! Learning about it through tips and tricks pages online and frequently checking online for new codes were some of my fondest memories of the game! The level of detail on those statues was really good and it was pretty nostalgic to see detailed models of old characters and enemies. : )

Generations Seaside Hill is peak Sonic level design. It's so incredibly open and free flowing

I cried while playing this game, the nostalgia hit so hard😭

36:31-36:33 You’re not gonna question how he suddenly had the fuel to ditch them after needing to be propelled by them at the end of Colors?

You know, planet wisp is so underated, like it's actually good.

Generations was a great game. I'm not really a fan of boost games, but I will say that Generations did it better than all the rest when it comes to the boost gameplay. The story is garbage though. Wasn't feeling that at all or the final boss. That Shadow and Chaos boss battle was way better than the final boss.

Generations has been my favourite Sonic game since I got into the series a decade ago. This game may be fairly short for a 3D sonic game, but the replayability (especially thanks to modding if you have the PC version) more than makes up for it.

First, thank you, J, for your works. Second, I just wanna say that, even though Sega is constantly abandoning new ideas that were just added to Sonic games (sometimes because of poor realization, sometimes for no reason at all) - this game, Generations, shows that at least Sonic Team remembers.

Love the music breaks giving us a listen to the greatness that Generations OST is. As long as it calls for it, I would love this to be a thing in your future reviews.

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Damn, it feels really good to hear someone else share their love for one of my favourites. I do still love the franchise for what it’s already given us and all we can do is pray for a better future, great video man❤️

Really good game, honestly one of the only 2010s Sonic games I can actually say I like. I do wish they would've added a 2nd Sonic based on his classic 90s appearance instead of this odd looking and completely mute "Santiago" guy who I suspect may be a sociopath though.

25:54 I've been playing this game for 10 years and I didn't even know of this reference to Shadow the Hedgehog was in the game. This is why Generations is so great!

This game caught me so off guard. I played it around 2014 and didn't expect anything of it at all. But wow, looking back on it, this is definitely the best 3D Sonic game released in the past decade. Amazing gameplay, classic playstyles, stages are a blast, music is prime and a fun collectible system. This is what 3D Sonic NEEDS to be Tfw: FUCK THAT FINAL BOSS THOUGH LOL

Generations is and always will be my favorite Sonic game ever. I remember playing this when I was 10 and I always liked the series but this game really made me become a fan of the series. I think without this game and seeing it and asking it for Christmas, i would’ve never been a fan. I’m forever grateful for this game and I will always love and appreciate it. Best boosting gameplay

I legitimately believe Generations is a perfect Sonic game. This game took up so much of my time when I still had my copy. I replayed it ALL THE TIME, I just couldn't get enough of it. This is one of those games that I can confidently say I became a master at because of how much I played it. It's up there with DMC5 and 3 in terms of quality to me. It's just so good, and holds a decent chunk of many of my good memories.

Today is the 10th anniversary of this game. It feels weird to be nostalgic for the nostalgic throw back

this game is the full package, let me explain, 3d modern stages were perfect, the level design had a lot of detail with many different pathways to take that reward you with stuff (red rings, 10 rings, lifes) 3d is awesome, 2 sections for modern represent the classic games, you have the high path that rewards you with the said items, but taking the lower path will give more platforming but short, which represents the classic games perfect since its sonics past, overall modern sonic 10/10, classic sonics level design is awesome, hes also actually fast and there is a lot of momentum and plays like the classics, bottom path more platforming, and top with special power up boxes and easier to finish the stage without platforming as much more running and momentum, classic sonic 10/10, now bosses, metal sonic eh, shadow great and fun, silver, sorta like metal but better, chaos is probably the best, egg dragon is great, death egg robot ehh, time eater, worst battle in history, story could be better, lacked cutscenes but they werent all bad, side stages were really good and fun, so overall game to me is a 9/10 bosses could be better, and story could be better both 0.5

This was the first new Sonic game I played when I started to really get into the series and, while I go back and forth with it, I'd consider it my favorite Sonic game thanks to this video. P.S. I've only listened to specific tracks from this game but now I want to listen to the whole soundtrack :)

Fun fact along side with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Alan Wake, and more than 30 demo games including Halo 3, Sonic Generations is the very first Xbox 369 game I play and it was blast in 2012! One of the greatest gift and game of Sonic history in 20th anniversary.

I love the sonic series, and all of the love for it started with this masterpiece.

Generations is such a great 20th anniversary game. I personally really love 06 (the original version) despite all of its flaws, and Adventure 2 is in my top ten favorite games of all time. I’m so hoping that Sonic 2022 is gonna be amazing, as it’s my most anticipated game of all time.

Modern Sonic: Hey Sonic, enjoy your future! It's gonna be great! Classic Sonic: But yours won't Me: (laughing) that's so funny because it's true

Crisis City and Silver in Generations honestly feel like a memorial for '06. Sonic Team remembering their would-be magnum opus that was ruined by Sega and doing right by it.

WOW! I didn't know about all these smaller references, holy crap! I gotta give it to the devs, they really did have alot of care for the franchise and giving the remixes, references etc that most people wouldn't even hear or get is incredible to me. I do wish that if they ever do ""remaster"" this game, they rework the 3DS stages or add some more. I'd love to see Emerald Coast from the 3DS or a full 3D rendition of Stardust Speedway would be sick, I digress. Great video! (also I too wish Orbot and Cubot were left in the void of space to never return lmfaooo)

I'm commenting BEFORE watching the whole thing, so if I re-say something that you cover sorry. Generations on the PC has become a big framework game, the modding community has kept it alive with major graphical improvememt mods like BetterFXpipeline, directional soft shadows, and level imports from Unleashed, Colors, Forces, Adventure 1&2, Sonic 06, and even original levels. For character mods there are excellent Shadow, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Metal Sonic, Rogue Hyper Sonic, Dark Sonic, and even friggin Espio. - I cannot say it had a great in depth story, buuut as the ultimate level pack, the PC stands as the best way to enjoy Modern Sonic. Nobody has to choose between Generations and Unleashed daytime levels with PC Generations, you got both. Okay, now I shall sit down and watch. Also subbed.

36:35 Funny enough the Time Eater is actually a good boss in the 3DS version.

Generations is one of my favorite sonic games still to this day. Glad more people are looking back at it and are really appreciating it.

Ironically the final boss in the 3ds version is really, really good

I'm only one year younger than you and this vid really took me back man. 2011 was probably my absolute favorite point in the entire series. The hype for Generations is unmatched, I bought up every one of those Jazware toys, I played the Generations demo 3000 times and watched every trailer thrice that amount. Great video man! By the way my favorite stage is Speed Highway Act 2, and my favorite song is the Sonic 3 File Select remix that plays in the collection room.

38:08 that transition was actually so tuff

Great video! With Sonic Generations being a love letter to the frahnchise and it's fans, this video felt like a love letter to ANOTHER love letter. I never even knew about the multilayered Time Break references, I really should really give it another in-depth playthrough someday

I still remember when the Mega Drive era dropped. Back then S3K was my favourite Sonic game and still was, and the classic remix they put there made me shed a tear. So glad the game didn't disappoint. (And in regards to that song, I know they have the same lead and medley, but I think Act 1 sounds quite different from the original.) I feel like I'm the only person who preferred playing Classic Sonic over Modern. Probably because I'm better at playing 2D games, but I just loved going back to Sky Sanctuary, City Escape and Crisis City's Act 1s. Also probably because I really, really enjoyed how the Act 1 stages were presented - like, the use of the camera in Generations was spectacular. I've also always been kinda fine with Classic Sonic not talking, and personally would rather not have brought back Jaleel White. That being said, I would've also preferred if they kept that consistency with the other Classic characters. This was also one of the only Sonic games I fully 100%ed despite the fact that my computer could only barely run it (it was choppy af), and I had no controller, meaning I had to use a keyboard. I was having too much fun regardless, so it wasn't a big deal at the end.

Generations’ success is the reason Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone are in every Sonic game nowadays.

i love how i can still like at the set pieces in modern levels like speed highway or rooftop run and think it still looks really cool 10 years later

I put splash hill instead of green hill act 2 it just feels so perfect

I’ve been waiting for this video for a long time. Easily the best Modern Sonic has ever felt. Drifting is PERFECT in this game, and platforming is tight as heck. It’s a shame they learned nothing from this near perfect game.

Did you know if you hold down the select button down in the red room you'll warp down to the trophy room and you can put in trophies of things and characters from Sonic's history via codes online?

Generations is my favorite Sonic game. Followed by Adventure 2.

That Super Sonic Racing remix is my favorite Sonic song ever!!! It’s soooo amazing! I have really been enjoying your videos lately! Keep up the amazing work!

Sonic Mania is the greatest thing that happened since Generations

FACTS! Additional stages DLC as well as playing as the characters you save after each level. Maaaybe designing classic variations of those characters as well?

25:51 this might just end up being a coincidence, since every single rival battle in generations gives you the chaos emerald after the main boss fight of their area. So basically if you beat metal sonic he gives the second chaos emerald, and the boss fight of genesis era gives you the first chaos emerald etc.

Fun fact about me: the first ever sonic game I beat ever was sonic generations on pc, my first ever 100% on any game was sonic 3 & knuckles, but I never beat it since it was getting late at the time

I usually play "What I'm made of" during the final boss, because i love Sonic Heroes and i think it's a better final boss track than Live and Learn In my opinion

Generations is such a great game. i really wish newcomers could properly appreciate the references, but even without that, it’s just such a fun experience

You forgot to mention this one Perfect Chaos detail. His design in this game is his concept art/beta design from Sonic Adventure that wasn’t used due to technical limitations.

This videos just makes me remember how much Sonic means to me since I was a kid and playing my first video game (Sonic 1) to some of my fave games like Rush, Heroes, SA2, 06. As well as how it helped me bond with all my friends and classmates. I remember Generations being announced and being super hyped and guessing what games would be in it and what stages. (Shout out to my half-sister for buying it for my 10 year old self for Christmas) But this game was a true celebration and brought so much care and love as well as some awesome music

All of the remixes in this game are freaking god-like.

The game itself is fun, but my bias towards the adventure formula, and my hate for writing in the modern era past unleashed just makes me have a love hate with this game. Best boost gameplay

I'm so hyped about a remaster!!

26:42 WHAT??? THAT REMIX SLAPPED WHAT DO YOU MEAN😭😭

Great video man! Love Generations. Know what else I love? Arkham City. Would easily watch a 3 hour video of you talking about the game, because City is a masterpiece

beaten the game four times and 100% it, honestly my favorite sonic game and I love it to death. The boost is fun, the classic style is also fun and broken, the remixed music is wonderful and I love the extra mission content along with gathering the keys for the bosses, and I love the rival fights everything about it is good expect the final boss fight that sucks ass

This was a great video, J. While I'm sad that we won't get any more Sonic videos this year, this was a nice way to end off the Sonic retrospective for this year. I can't wait for that anniversary video you have planned.

I only remember running back and forth in this game on the big white space and loving it so much as a kid.

AYEEEE I’ve been waiting for this one! Sonic Generations was one of my first 3d Sonic games and I love it to death!

Hey J Just wanted to say that I adored your ratchet videos. I rewatched them all over 3 times I’m Sorry they didn’t get the views you hoped

9:10 homie just turned into reverse flash with his speed and noclipped through the wall

To elaborate on the DLC concept of level packs, maybe have each 3 pack of levels come with a new boss?

Great video although I'm disappointed with the end message. I don't know what you mean when you say "Sonic doesn't belong to me". It's a strange way to say you've scared yourself out of making critiques on the recent directions the series has taken because.....you feel bad about it? I've always been of the belief that you shouldn't HAVE to make yourself like something. If that thing is good, it's gonna reveal itself as being good to you. And you should feel free to express yourself as to why that is. People need to understand that criticism of something doesn't mean you're personally attacking the people who made that thing. That's not what's happening. I think their needs to be a lesson to note here: "Just because people worked HARD on it, doesn't make it good".

Hey, I wasn't expecting the Melponterations shout-out! I was lucky enough to do guitars for that mod, so that was a fun throwback! As a whole though, great review - I love the game, it just misses my personal top 5, but it's biggest problem is the lack of content given the franchise's history.

15:24: God, that's adorable.

i love when j starts talking about Classic Sonics cons, classic speed highway starts playing