Sonic the Hedgehog is back for another mediocre handheld outing that only gets a passing grade because having anything to do while waiting for your tires to be rotated and aligned is better than sitting alone with your thoughts. Horrible intrusive thoughts...
Like its console counterpart, gameplay is split between two distinct Sonics: Classic and Modern. Classic's style attempts to mimic the gameplay of the original Genesis games via modifications to the same engine that drives Modern Sonic, ultimately resulting in a fairly poor approximation. Jumping feels distinctly off and lacking a certain weight that the classic games had, which results in some platforming segments being trickier than they ought to be. After the disastrous Sonic 4, it is nice to see Sonic has some sense of momentum to his movements, but there's an inescapable feeling here that it's only a simulacrum, divined from an engine that was clearly not made for this.
Modern Sonic feels a lot better by comparison. Unlike the console version, Modern's zones feel a lot closer to the Sonic Rush games. Managing your boost gauge and performing split second jumps is a lot more engaging, but the garbled graphical quality of the 3DS and a lack of adequate screen space coupled with high speeds can make it more difficult than it needs to be to pull off the jumps you're intending to make. Whereas the console version of Generations is good at pulling the camera back and giving you a sense of where you're going, the 3DS version too often throws Sonic into blind jumps and boosts that can send him careening into traps or, worse yet, a bottomless pit. It would really be one thing if botching a jump dropped you onto a lower path, it's entirely another when it just kills your ass.
There's some major structural changes to this game as well, for better or worse. Generations for the 3DS reduces the total zone count by 2, but balances this by doubling the amount of bosses. The races against rival characters feel underbaked, and are mechanically indistinguishable. The more combat-centric bosses are a lot more fun, if a bit drawn out. Chaos Emeralds are now earned in proper special stages, which are based on those that appeared in Sonic Heroes. I found these almost painfully easy and S-ranked them all on my first attempt, which is a bit funny considering how absurdly tight it is to S-rank some of the actual zones. There's no red rings to collect and side missions are no longer baked into the overworld. In fact, they're not even mandatory, which allows the game to be more focused on level-to-level progression. It certainly improves the pace of the game and I'm glad they stripped those out into their own separate things.
It's more of a personal thing, but I do find it disappointing that the game largely focuses on levels from Sonic's console outings. Being that this is a handheld game, it feels like missed potential to askew levels from Sonic's portable past for more picks from the Adventure games or even the classic trilogy. Even though I disagree with the general consensus here, the Advance trilogy is well loved and it's just bizarre to not base an era around those. There's also a preoccupation with introductory levels. Four out of the seven zones are based around the first levels of their respective games. Granted, these do provide more variety in level tropes than the console version's predilection for city levels. Still, I feel like both games could've had a better selection of levels. I mean, you have Radical Highway in here but nothing from Shadow the Hedgehog? C'mon, man. Get real.
If you're like me and you picked up this up for dirt cheap during the last (probably ever) Sega eshop sale and have absolutely nothing better to do with your life, then it's hard to be mad about this game. It's the perfect portable game for short trips or sitting around in a doctor's office, but I really wouldn't recommend anyone play this at home where they probably have better stuff to do.
Like its console counterpart, gameplay is split between two distinct Sonics: Classic and Modern. Classic's style attempts to mimic the gameplay of the original Genesis games via modifications to the same engine that drives Modern Sonic, ultimately resulting in a fairly poor approximation. Jumping feels distinctly off and lacking a certain weight that the classic games had, which results in some platforming segments being trickier than they ought to be. After the disastrous Sonic 4, it is nice to see Sonic has some sense of momentum to his movements, but there's an inescapable feeling here that it's only a simulacrum, divined from an engine that was clearly not made for this.
Modern Sonic feels a lot better by comparison. Unlike the console version, Modern's zones feel a lot closer to the Sonic Rush games. Managing your boost gauge and performing split second jumps is a lot more engaging, but the garbled graphical quality of the 3DS and a lack of adequate screen space coupled with high speeds can make it more difficult than it needs to be to pull off the jumps you're intending to make. Whereas the console version of Generations is good at pulling the camera back and giving you a sense of where you're going, the 3DS version too often throws Sonic into blind jumps and boosts that can send him careening into traps or, worse yet, a bottomless pit. It would really be one thing if botching a jump dropped you onto a lower path, it's entirely another when it just kills your ass.
There's some major structural changes to this game as well, for better or worse. Generations for the 3DS reduces the total zone count by 2, but balances this by doubling the amount of bosses. The races against rival characters feel underbaked, and are mechanically indistinguishable. The more combat-centric bosses are a lot more fun, if a bit drawn out. Chaos Emeralds are now earned in proper special stages, which are based on those that appeared in Sonic Heroes. I found these almost painfully easy and S-ranked them all on my first attempt, which is a bit funny considering how absurdly tight it is to S-rank some of the actual zones. There's no red rings to collect and side missions are no longer baked into the overworld. In fact, they're not even mandatory, which allows the game to be more focused on level-to-level progression. It certainly improves the pace of the game and I'm glad they stripped those out into their own separate things.
It's more of a personal thing, but I do find it disappointing that the game largely focuses on levels from Sonic's console outings. Being that this is a handheld game, it feels like missed potential to askew levels from Sonic's portable past for more picks from the Adventure games or even the classic trilogy. Even though I disagree with the general consensus here, the Advance trilogy is well loved and it's just bizarre to not base an era around those. There's also a preoccupation with introductory levels. Four out of the seven zones are based around the first levels of their respective games. Granted, these do provide more variety in level tropes than the console version's predilection for city levels. Still, I feel like both games could've had a better selection of levels. I mean, you have Radical Highway in here but nothing from Shadow the Hedgehog? C'mon, man. Get real.
If you're like me and you picked up this up for dirt cheap during the last (probably ever) Sega eshop sale and have absolutely nothing better to do with your life, then it's hard to be mad about this game. It's the perfect portable game for short trips or sitting around in a doctor's office, but I really wouldn't recommend anyone play this at home where they probably have better stuff to do.