Shadow Generation is so good it's starting to annoy me

2024 has been the year of Shadow and I have loved every second of it. It's all been building to the brooding hedgehog's cinematic debut this December, but one of the biggest stops along the way was Sonic x Shadow Generations. Shadows himself is the closest thing to having half a game in his own outing for an anti-hero in nearly 20 years, and it's everything I hoped it would be. However, pairing it with a poor remaster has left a bad taste in my mouth.

I was always going to play the remastered Sonic Generations before moving on to what Sega effectively has in Bowser's Fury. Not only does Sonic's name come first, but it's also the older game of the two. Its reviews made me even more convinced that it was the right decision as there was almost unanimous agreement that Shadow Generation overshadowed Sonic, and I wanted to take on the bad stuff first. The video game equivalent of eating all your broccoli so you can have dessert.

Shadow Generations might be the best 3D Sonic game I've ever played

Despite my love of all things Sonic, very few of the Blue Blur's 3D outings have left a lasting impression on me. Certainly not to the extent that the original 2D quadrilogy did, forming a foundation upon which everything I love about gaming is built. I know going fast is the whole deal with Sonic, but the speed and movement in most of his 3D games have never clicked with me.

That continued with Sonic Generations Remaster. It's fine, but it felt almost identical to the original. It scared the worst of me when I finally started playing the Shadows campaign. If this was just an extension of Sonic Generations as Shadow's lead, the two-decade wait for some significant Shadow material would have ended with a whimper.

Thankfully, Shadow Generations isn't Sonic Remaster's only expansion. It shares some of its elements – returning life to various areas, finding keys to unlock boss levels – otherwise it wouldn't make sense to call it Shadow Generations. However, its gameplay is so much better than Sonic Generations that it ranks among the best 3D Sonic games I've played. Movement feels smooth, I've yet to find myself falling through random, seemingly solid parts of different levels, and boss designs feel very complex and thought out.

All great news, of course, but it only took a few levels of smooth shadow gameplay until I started overthinking the situation and getting a little annoyed. If Sega knew how to make a 3D Sonic game feel this good, why wasn't the same formula applied to Sonic Generations?

Sonic Generations should be, and frankly, could be better

The main reason Sonic Generations remaster quickly became a game I rarely thought about, much like the original, was because it just didn't feel good to play. If Sega hadn't improved how its Sonic games felt since the original release, then the focus on enhanced visuals alone, even if those improvements felt minimal in the remaster, would have been all I'd expect. Obviously it has a good handle on the gameplay, so why wasn't that changed in the remaster to align with Shadow Campaign's standards?

The only logical explanation I can come up with is that it would require a lot of effort. Shadow Generations is all-new content that requires building from scratch. Sonic Generations already exists, so giving it a fresh, albeit very thin, coat of paint was a lot easier than rebuilding the game so it looks better to play in 2024 than in 2011.

It's also clear that if Sega didn't need the vehicle to include Shadow in the game, there wouldn't have been a Sonic Generations remaster. While introducing a whole new generation of Sonic fans to Shadow via the big screen, there's a need to play Shadow as its star. Giving Shadow his own game wouldn't make sense, and almost certainly wouldn't sell well. Tackling a standalone campaign in a game that's old enough to get away with being remastered, however, is the best option.

It's a shame that this is the way it has to be, and it's likely why Sega didn't feel the need to invest more effort than it did in the Sonic Generations remaster. It's also a shame that even after Sonic 3 hits theaters next month, it's unlikely Shadow will be popular enough to star in his own game again like he did in 2005. If all we can hope for is stuff like Sonic x Shadow. Frontiers though, I'll take it. I'd rather wait another 20 years for Shadow to be in focus again.