Why Sonic Generations is Peak 3D Sonic | 3D Boost Retrospective 

I have been playing Generations since release, I had no idea you could jump on to the helicopter at the beginning of Speed Highway. That's mad.

I would like Sonic Generations more if it wasn't so short. My only real gameplay issue is that the last set of 2D levels (after the Sonic Heroes level) feels like they forgot how to properly make 2D levels, where the ones before they had a prior draft on how to make them

15:00 I got to disagree there. After Generations came out, the common consensus on fan sites was that the next logical step was to take the Modern Stages and make an entirely new game that doesn't reuse locations and perhaps even some entirely 3D stages. Unfortunately, they never followed up on this and I feel that the boost gameplay never got to reach its full potential.

Why Planet Wisp Act 2 Fails: The thing is they tried to replicate Sonic Colors’ Structure of Majority 2D with 3D sections. The problem is that in Sonic Colors the Levels were relatively short so you didn’t get bored and annoyed of the constant 2D, that and the 3D bits working as a sort of Cool off period. Generations had Longer levels so making the first minute of the Modern Stage 3D and the other 4 minutes 2D was always bound to annoy the player, especially after they’ve been playing majority 3D Modern stages for the Past few hours. Another factor is Colors more often than Not had a Straight forward path you could take to progress through the level with the wisps Supplementing that path or being used as a tool to create other paths for Exploration. Sonic Generations Forces you to use the wisps to progress and even worse they make you use Rocket, a Wisp that stops you dead in your tracks. I could make a Whole video on why the Planet wisp Stages in Sonic Generations don’t work.

Cool I’m not even a sonic fan or much of a gamer but this insight into game design and the depth behind what makes effective levels and the weaknesses of some the designs is exactly what I find interesting about games.

I personally like Unleashed for the best boost stages to date because of the closer more immersive camera, wider areas, less 2d segments, and "WOOOO!"

Sonic Generations is still one of my favorite Sonic games, even after the recent Sonic Frontiers.

Man, this made me want to replay generations, it's been a long time 😁

I wish... they kept this up

I like Generations, I think it’s the second best boost game, right after Unleashed for me. Note that I said BOOST game, because I very much prefer the Adventure style games over the boost games and seeing the exploration aspect of Adventure 1 and even 06 kind of return in Frontiers but ramped up to 100 was really cool and I can’t wait to see what they do next. I just like the more explorative and less linear style of Adventure 1, Shadow The Hedgehog, and Sonic 06 over the Boost game’s style of levels, and P-06 by ChaosX is basically my idea of the ideal Sonic game.

Though Unleashed has my favorite boost stages, Gens is still pretty dang great, I love this game, too bad they're the only two good boost games, I really dislike the other two

I think my only problem with modern Sonic in this game is the fact that he switched between 3D and 2D segments so much when there is an entire other side of the game which is strictly 2D. It's weird for modern Sonic to have this 3D+2D fusion in gameplay when the other playable character is only 2D. Why not have a duality of the 2 where modern Sonic has more focus on 3D gameplay and classic Sonic is more focused on 2D gameplay? Or why not have classic Sonic get small amounts of modern Sonic implemented?

Great video! The moment where you ran across the water and skipped half the stage exemplifies exactly what I love about Sonic games, that lateral thinking. There's always a higher path

I had no idea there was a hidden 1-up in Sky Sanctuary, and I've been playing this game for 11 years

This is my second favorite Sonic game, easily the perfection of the boost.

I think the first zone of most Sonic games is where like half of the development goes, because they usually outshine everything afterwards. Seems like this one is pretty well balanced though.

Now that you've covered all of the boost games (I say while knowing the horrors to come), I'm curious to see what you think of Frontiers' cyberspace stages. The controls are in some ways a massive downgrade and the level design reuse is disappointing, but it is pretty cool seeing SA2 stages translated into a new formula. The controls enable for some creative movement not possible in the original game--like in the Dragon Road x Sky Sanctuary stage--and the brand new levels like 4-2 are awesome and similar to Unleashed/Gens in quality.

The main problem with modern sonic level design in generations is that the level straight up pushes you into the fastest route possible most of the time. whereas Unleashed level design constantly tries to drag you down. you can easily miss faster routes if you're not precise enough, much like the classic games. Generations overused 2d sections to cover up the fact that they couldn't replicate unleashed level design.

7:28 if you jump on the left skylight, you can climb up to a rocket exclusive path which you can also get by re homing attacking the rocket

Watching your gameplay review videos brings me right back to when I was a kid watching the early beginnings of G4tv. The nostalgia is insane

Watching this video just made me want to play thorigh all the level combinations in this game. Unfortunately I don't have access to this game atm, but when I get it back I will totally do so

I have nothin to say except u keep hittin the nail on the head with these gameplay analyses on boost so hard that the tables gonna fall apart. I don't really haave anythin to say except incredible job. I dred ur time wit forces for u tho lol

I replayed generations recently, and I really like some of the boost levels but some really make me pull out my hair. I’m talking to you crisis city and planet wisp.

Awesome video

11:10 Oooooh! So that´s how you get to that rainbow ring! That´s so good

Thanks for this. I haven't played any non-handheld sonic games after heroes, but I think it's great how you can find these hidden paths. Maybe I'll try some PC ports.

Frontiers is so good that made me forget Gens :(. I'll play it again when I'm done with Frontiers.

lmao legitimately looking forward to the Sonic Forces vid

Facts. Its only flaw is it has a few levels. That said Unleashed was short too, but it should have had way least 30 levels and 12 bonus stages.

I think the 2D sections in Sonic Generations do overstay their welcome most of the time. There were numerous times when I came back to this game for the 3D platforming and got that feeling of half-sick-half-bored whenever a 2D section showed up after Sky Sanctuary. As good as they might be, I always felt like 2D sections should be tolerated in those games, not fully enjoyed. You go from such freedom of movement to such a tight space and you have to linger there for a good while if 2D platforming isn't your thing, so it's a terrible feeling sometimes, even if this is one of my favorite games;

I feel like Sonic Generations doesn't get enough credit for it's quality

Great video, but I do think that unwiished actually has it's shamar stage on par if not better than most gens stages thanks to not only a similar level design philosophy but also because unwiished has all these small but engaging gameplay systems like the starting boost, a more significant drift bonus, action chains and ring levels to keep in mind. The boost formula missed out HEAVILY by never bringing these features back even ONCE besides the drift bonus in gens returning, and it shows other ways the boost formula can have engagement in it's design besides spectacle and the sense of speed, these probably being it's 2 biggest hooks for people. Also the camera in unwiished I actually found better than generations, some of green hill's 2d sections usually speed by too fast while boosting to see unless you already know, whilst unwiished had camera issues in about as many fingers on one hand I found.

Love Generations. My issues usually are game length and over usage of 2D. Classic Sonic already provides at least 50% 2D sections. The need for more always bothered me a bit. This usually meant that I wouldn't want to replay Classic Sonic's levels. It's weird to say but it feels draining in a way when my expectation were to play 50% 3D. This is just a me thing tho. Modern Sonic still needs 2D platforming to spice things up a bit. So, really, the only actual issue is game length.

In between this and Cyberspace in Frontiers, I really want to experience this game again

guys hear me out.. sega should make a side game for the boosting formula where fans can make their own stages and publish them for other people to play and it would let you play as multiple characters so the level wouldnt have to be just sonic boosting and they should give sonic a bit more momentum and spining balls mechanics would make the game perfect

I wis Sonic could be consistently this good.

Will you also cover the handheld boost games? (Rush 1 & 2, Colours DS and Generations 3DS) Can't wait for the Forces video! 😆

finally, someone who thinks gens is better than unleashed

9:17 in addition to the fact that the original is so bad any level of quality is a massive step up

I play generations up to this day, and I don't know how many year have passed since I played planet wisp.

Eh, gotta say I prefer Unleashed’s levels & gameplay over Generations. There’s less 2D. It’s legitimately faster gameplay & has more challenge that rewards skill where I feel Gens is too easy. Plus level environments themselves are just so much better.

I think peak 3D Sonic is Project Unleashed. Unleashed level design with Generations physics. Perfect for veteran Sonic players.

I cant agree more my man

Finally somebody gets it.

I wanna throw in my 2 cents in terms of which games had the best 3D design imo 1. Sonic Generations 2. Sonic Adventure 2-Biased answer. But I do love the 3D level design here. I love the level of control and freedom. 3. Sonic Unleashed-Locations are gorgeous, good platforming and combat, a whole lot of speed, and the music always captures the right emotions. It’s tons of fun and you feel like you’re living up to being the blue blur. The levels are also the perfect length. 4. Sonic Colors-Fast and exciting, but unvaried. It makes you feel fast, and had some interesting puzzles and platforming. 5. Sonic Adventure-I love it’s blazing speeds, and it’s stages never had a dull moment. A lot of good stuff crammed in a small and simple package. 6. Sonic Heroes-The enemies, set pieces, and mechanics are fun and intuitive imo. It has a super charming aesthetic, but it’s held back by a clumsy sense of direction and instant death pits.

Did they do a poll to see which zones to bring back?

where did this designers go? like seriously the fact that 10 years later and boost levels now are worst than ever before is just baffling, ok not the worst but the stages in frontiers are defiantly mediocre, couple that with the awful controls and you have the most frustrating boost levels I ever played, its sad to see them take so many steps back like this

Generations' 3D design is good, I'll agree with that... the issue for me is that the game has so little of that 3D gameplay. A 2D game only really tends to hold my attention for a certain length of time and Generations' copious 2D sections push me a little too far past that limit. It's a really top game when it's on its top game, but much like Colours, that unfortunately doesn't seem to happen as much as it should.

Could you review the stories

Have you played/would you review Sonic Riders?

1:40 that’s still 2D. 2.5D is when you can towards the foreground and the background but in a side scrolling stage. I think at least….

No game has come close in 11 years now. Its sad to see.

You messed a short cut in speed high way

sonic generations is the best sonic game. sonic mania is also the best sonic but I can't really tell which's best

what did u think of classic sonic gameplay

The last Sonic Game of time

crazy how unleashed negs

3:55 if you don’t duck what happens? Do you lose rings or get sent to a lower path or what?

i Never Understood Why Sonic Team Never Decided To Make A Boost Game After Generations With Original Levels And A Fixed Rank System, i Mean They Had The Boost Formula Basically Perfected And Had Every Right To Do So But Instead They Wasted Their Potential

did he already explain why he's not covering sonic and the black knight?

Modern planet wisp physically makes me sick lmao

Bro, this video made me realize how bad Sonic Frontiers cyberspace levels are

8:22 this jump doesn’t look all that clearly denoted

I really am the only person whose favorite stage is planet wisp act 2

Only gripes with this game is how Planet Wisp turned into too much 2D in Act 2, there were too many city levels, and Classic Sonic's treatment was bad in my opinion ( his model, no talking, only classic tails as a pal )

Mechanically yes Design wise debatable

planet wisp always felt a little bit underwhelming as a final stage in generations, if only the game was longer with DLC support

there is another

Sonic Generations perfected Sonic

Except for the last act 😅

The fact that they didn’t make a new sonic game with new levels with these controls and level design is beyond disappointing because sonic forces spits in gernations design face

I like Generations. And Colors. But Unleashed did it all better

Too bad the next games that would follow by Sonic Team were fundamentally flawed, also yes Planet Wisp slander.

"peak 3D Sonic" has less than 15 minutes of 3D sections

I wish this game was beefier. Only 9 stages with two different styles, the blandest hub of any Sonic game and it was over so quickly. While 8 out of the 9 modern stages could be fun, by the end I was sick of how much 2D gameplay there was all together. Plus, why speed highway and then city escape when you could've mixed it up more by using emerald coast? Then Heroes could use Grand Metropolis or something.

Somehow in my recommended it said 55 seconds ago xD

Sonic Generations is the Generation 5 of Pokémon of the Sonic 3D games to me. I enjoyed it so much, and I had so many expectations for the future of the series, only to be consistently disappointed over and over again. I haven't played Frontier yet, and I hope it finally breaks the cycle of unfulfilling 3D Sonic games. Pokémon, sadly, remains mediocre as of Generation IX.

Meow

I had no idea how much of these levels you can actually get too I kind of wish the 3d levels made it a little clearer how to get these other paths cause a lot of this looked like random jumps and air boosting to a rail or platform you don't see until you've lost your window to go that way

I think sonic unleashed was peak 3d sonic, generations kind of stayed around that peak, just slightly worse than unleashed in my opinion (if we only count the gameplay of the day stages and modern sonic alike) There are other reasons i prefer unleashed but i even prefer just the boost gameplay

Unleashed did it better

I played generations like 5 times, back when it was new and I hyped it so much, eventually I came back to replay it over the years... until I grew up (I was a pubert back there). I began to find it boring and dull. my brother wants me to play and he downloads it and installs it even when i say "no" and he "forces" me to play it... for some reason, he loves it, even tho he never played it until now, he finally started playing it. And I watch him and.... damm, how linear and short the levels are! the levels have like, this one-path, hold-boost and that's all. not to mention the joke of the ranking system, he dies and dies and STILL gets S rank, what the fuck 5 years ago I played Unleashed for the first time, damm I loved it. I'm currently replaying it for the 3rd time, and man, I still love it AND I'M AN ADULT Generations just doesn't compare to Unleashed. the only thing Generations has over Unleashed are the controls, and probably skills, that's all - everything else, Unleashed wins. lenght, challenge, music, story, replayability, inmersion, etc. hell, even unleashed rooftop run is superior than generations''. you can actually explore the wider ares in unleashed, plus it all has more life, "WOOOOS!" and identity, generations spams so many city or islands levels i don't even so no, stop this "GENERATIONS IS THE BEST BOOST GAME" thing because that simply is wrong and bulshit. just *no*

More of an adventure guy myself. I got burnt out of the series as a kid when the gameplay went from controlling an actual character to driving a racecar down glorified hallways :/

I can tell yea it ain't peak 3D because more than half the game is 2D, but it is definitely a Glorified Game Engine for Modders to play with that's for sure

This is peak but its still too flawed...

Unleashed boost stages were too speed focused, colors stages were too platform focused, but generations was just right, it had just enough speed and just enough platforming. It was like they found the perfect balance. They should have just took the foundations generations set and made new levels for a new game. The boost levels in forces are terrible by comparison.

Unwiished>Gens.

And yet the story, characterization and ranking system are complete ass

Generations is linear and short af, that's not Peak 3D Sonic. 🤦‍♀️

I heavily disagree lol. I personally think Gens is overrated as hell

2d in the 3d aectipns is do unnecessary and momentum killing. You lose all your speed cap because you would overshoot the tiny forward sliver you can see in 2d perspective, for no reason. The 2d sections never open up into 3d bits, only the other way around. Why even bother putting 3d sonic in the game at all if you’re going to be like “2d is 2d but half of the 3d is also going to be 2d late, just with sloppier control”

Maximum over good

A whole video could be made just on the music from 3D vs 2D sonic and how they compliment the original soundtrack