Sonic x Shadow Generations Gamescom Hands-On Preview – Shadow Frontiers

Right from its announcement, Sonic x Shadow Generations sounded more than a simple remaster. While the Sonic segment of the adventure would be left virtually untouched, besides some visual improvements, the all-new Shadow segment promised to bring something new to the table, with brand new levels and mechanics unavailable in the original portion of the game. After playing the game during Gamescom 2024, I can say that the game will indeed be more than a simple remaster, feeling closer to an actual direct sequel to the original.

My time with Sonic x Shadow Generations was not particularly long, so I focused primarily on the new Shadow content, only playing through the two Green Hill acts with Sonic. The game was exactly as I remember it, and had no trouble going through both acts fairly quickly. Those who never played the original are in for something rather good, as Sonic Generations is, in my opinion, one of the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog games ever released.

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The new Shadow content in Sonic x Shadow Generations seems to be as well realized as that of the original game. The Gamescom demo featured two full stages, including the Kingdom Valley stage revealed in the latest trailer, and two full boss battles - the Biolizard and Metal Overlord, the latter made more epic by Crush 40's What I'm Made Of playing in the background. Compared to Classic and Modern Sonic stages, Shadow's stages were way longer and more complex, featuring a lot of different paths to the end goal and what felt like a higher number of enemies, giving these stages a slightly higher combat focus. Shadow's moveset also felt a little more complex than Sonic's, with a clear influence from Sonic Frontiers. Still, the level design for the Shadow stages was still deeply rooted in Generations philosophy, so the new stages definitely did not feel out of place in the experience. Setting the character apart further is the Chaos Control