EXCLUSIVE: Sonic Generations Impressions

From countless past disappointing entries, Sonic fans have prepared themselves for the 'Sonic Cycle' with a new game for the speedy hedgehog, usually beginning with screenshots promising a return to the roots of the franchise and culminating in a new gimmick ruining the experience. Thankfully, from what I've seen of Sonic Generations a good five months before its release, that shouldn't be the case this time around. I got to try the first level, the Green Hill Zone, using the side-scrolling Classic Sonic, and have to admit an immediate wave of nostalgia hit me racing through the colourful Genesis-era course in its original format. The zone really does look beautiful in high definition, and for the most part it's the same old track you expect with some great new twists, both visually and in the gameplay itself. This incarnation of Sonic moves much more like the character found in the Mega Drive games, with a flowing motion of speed and the right kind of realistic physics when jumping. Just like the original Green Hill, moving too fast can mean you'll bump straight into enemies and consequently lose rings, so sometimes you will have to stop and plan your next leap, which is a refreshing change from the on-rails style levels that the 3D Sonic games mostly consist of. There was just one minor bug: though I would jump to destroy enemies like ladybird and crab robots (more nostalgia!), often they would be revealed as part of the brilliant moving backgrounds and this could be a bit jarring to the pace of the course. Overall, though, if the 3D sections can match up to what's on offer here and we get a balanced set of levels from across the 20 years of SEGA's iconic mascot's history, this is going to be a fan's dream come true, the first genuinely thrilling Sonic experience we've had since the days of the Mega Drive!