Aside from the occasional lag (which happens regardless of the card, I've got a GTX 580 @ 800mhz core), the game is amazing. Having played both console versions the choice is clear - just make sure to hook up your 360 controller! You'll be able to play at 1080p resolutions or better, get 60fps and much better anti-alliasing. The added framerate does wonders for the expressive animation. Not to mention the price, $25 vs. $50.

As for the game itself, it's the best Sonic since Sonic 3 & Knuckles! The only minor quip I have is that Classic Sonic's rolling physics aren't quite up to snuff but it's miles beyond what we saw in Sonic 4. Anyone touting the greatness of the Adventure games is blinded by nostalgia or was very young when those were released. Everything beyond Sonic/Shadow levels was poorly executed, not to mention the godawful camera.

Don't be dissuaded by accusations that the game is short, there's a slew of challenges which put a spin on each level to the point of completely altering the gameplay. I've clocked 12 hrs on the PC and have quite a few challenges to go!

I've been a Sonic fan since I first picked the series up all the way back on the Sega Genesis and recent Sonic games have left alot to be desired. In fact the last Sonic game I truly sat down and played was Sonic Adventure 2 then after that the series sort of tanked out as if Sega had no clue what fans wanted from the series. Game after game tried to recapture the magic that made the earlier games so great yet time and time again they failed to achieve. Now we have Sonic Generations, celebrating 20 years of Sonic, but is it celebrating the right years?

I'm here to answer that question with a huge YES. Sonic Generations does a fantastic job at bringing both classic Sonic (the one we all know and love from the Genesis era, pot belly and all) and modern Sonic together in one of Sonic's best adventures yet. Gone are the gimmicks of past games, there are no talking swords, were-hogs, or pointless side characters to play. In fact all the main gameplay is done as either classic or modern Sonic with the side characters playing only a minor role here.

The storyline is fairly basic, an unknown force has started tearing through time and has capture modern Sonic's friends, scattering them throughout time and they must be rescued by completing each stage. Everything opens with a wonderful romp through Green Hill Zone as classic Sonic before cutting to modern Sonic as he celebrates his birthday (apparently classic Sonic forgot it was his birthday) with his friends. However things don't go exactly as planned as the party comes under attack by this new enemy. At first even Sonic doesn't appear to be too thrilled about running off on another adventure as everyone gasps in horror as the monster appears though Sonic simply gives a heavy sigh before his friends are kidnapped.

Each zone allows you to choose whether you play as classic or modern Sonic with Act 1 being a classic Sonic level and Act 2 being for modern Sonic. In order to advance to the next zone you only need to complete one Act however every three zones there is a boss battle. Each boss battle is opened by collecting three keys from challenges for each of the zones you just completed, however in order to open these challenges you must beat both Acts. I know a few of you just groaned at the thought of being forced to play as modern Sonic but I'm here to tell you that the modern Sonic levels are actually good! Yes you heard me correctly, Sega has finally found a balance that works incredibly well for our blue hero as the levels are all about speed and top notch platforming. You'll see the camera swing behind Sonic as he speeds down paths, blasting through enemies and bouncing from spring board to spring board before flipping over and giving you a retro 2D perspective that again works rather well for our modern hero.

Sega has done a brilliant job at building each level, bringing back multiple paths and requiring split second timing if you wish to take the best path possible. Numerous times I found myself making mental notes of where I would need to jump next time or a better way to navigate through an area. Nothing is quite as rewarding as zipping through a level at top speed without slowing down and navigating through obstacles as if it were easy. Both classic and modern Sonic feature amazing level design and at times you can see where the two different Acts cross paths. More than once I noticed areas that I had seen as the other Sonic and it was interesting to see the 2D take on the newer zones and the 3D take on the older ones. The game is made up of nine different zones, each one taken from a specific Sonic game ranging from Sonic 1, 2, 3, Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors. You start off with Sonic 1 and work your way through time until you reach the most recent games.

One thing that I instantly noticed about the game was the humor though some of the fans out there might not get it if they haven't been with the series for the last 20 years. For example in the Chemical Plant Zone (from Sonic 2) Tails makes a comment about the pink water making him nervous for some reason, a younger fan might not get the joke there though I remember plenty of times desperately seeking air as that pink water filled the stage around me and the surface got further and further away. Another one that made me chuckle was modern Sonic commenting on how familiar Green Hill Zone was but Tails had no memory of it because it was before he joined the series. At times the game even pokes fun at some of the missteps Sonic has had along the way such as when Tails comments on how weird this adventure is only to have Sonic come back saying weird is what they do but this is fairly normal with no talking swords, were-hogs, or aliens (though you do use the wisps in the Colors stage).

The hub world I thought was fairly interesting and worked as almost a mini level. Each Zone starts off colorless and lifeless with the side character frozen as a colorless statue in front of it. Beating one Act brings back some life to the zone as color is filled in thought beating both acts brings back the side character and completely restores the stage unlocking the challenges that go along with it. Everything is set in a 2D view though you can switch from classic to modern Sonic with a tap of the button, also each version of Sonic has their own set of challenges you can complete.

Now the challenges are the first area I feel the game really stumbles. Most of them aren't overly interesting, sometimes having you pair up with a side character or race against them collecting items, rings, or whatever. Personally I found them to really ruin the pacing of the game as you go from blazing through zones to suddenly engaging in a rather pointless contest. However there is one redeeming quality here that I quickly found myself skipping all the other challenges to go for. The Doppelganger races are perfect for Sonic and they fit the mood and pacing just right. Whether you are playing as classic or modern Sonic each zone as a Doppelganger race which pits you against a ghost Sonic (same version as you) and your only goal is to beat them to the end of the stage. Doppelganger Sonic however isn't perfect, you'll see him make mistakes, take damage, and not always pick the right path. That isn't to say these races are easy by any means. A few times I found myself nearly neck and neck coming up on the finish line or missing a platform and suddenly ghost Sonic is right there with me. Doppelganger Sonic sometimes fights enemies where it makes sense though you'll often see him slip by them and this is a tactic you must adopt as well in order to keep up. Overall I found these races to be incredibly enjoyable and really saved me from having to complete boring tasks in order to advance the game.

The other area I felt the game stumbled was the boss battles or rather the lack of them. There are some pretty memorable boss battles with Dr. Eggman throughout the years and I felt this was a missed opportunity by only including four boss battles overall and three mini boss battles for chaos emeralds. Some of these fights are over pretty quickly as well and don't really offer much of a challenge, while others (especially the battle with Silver in Crisis City) are pretty fun and definitely play to the strengths of the game. Another thing is the chaos emeralds are basically handed to you as each boss battle gives you one and you only need to truly collect three on your own by battling Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Again another missed opportunity by not including the bonus stages that really test a gamer's skill in earning (keyword here) these emeralds.

There are plenty of collectibles to earn here with over 50 songs to unlock (each unlocked song can be played instead of the usual zone music) and alot of concept art. It wasn't enough to get me to tackle all the challenges, which is where bulk of these are earned, though it was pretty cool to see these included. Another addition I didn't bother with much was skills, which can be purchased from an in-game store and give you a way to customize your Sonic experience. Whether you want to start with 10 additional rings, land on feet after taking damage, run up hills and such faster, or other things like that you'll find these little perks here. It didn't take me long at all to purchase them all though and I didn't really in much of a need for them outside of giving myself a few extra seconds to gather my rings after getting hit and increasing my speed in water and going uphill. Each skill has a certain point cost and you have 100 points total to spend for equipping a skill. This was a nice addition but not something I spent that much time with, I basically bought them all and equipped the ones I wanted then never looked back.

Now I did play this on PC (purchased via Steam) and the graphics are top notch, the stages look amazing, and on my system the game didn't slow down at all. However this is simply a port of the 360 version as Sega didn't even take the time to change the in-game key prompts which display the standard 360 controller inputs. The cut scenes looked slightly grainy and not nearly as clear as the gameplay was, but that is only a minor complaint on an overall great package.

With gameplay that is amazing for both Sonics, level design that gives Nintendo a run for their money, and only few minor missteps it is hard for any Sonic fan to go wrong with Generations. This is truly a return to form for our hedgehog friend and hopefully Sonic Team uses this as a template moving forward with future Sonic games. Sadly there are no plans right now for classic Sonic to return in future games, but that is ok though. At the start of the game I favored classic Sonic but by the end of it I was always going for modern Sonic and finding his levels to be pretty intense and very enjoyable. If modern Sonic has levels like these in future games then Sonic Team has successfully brought me back to the series I used to know and love. I'm giving Sonic Generations an overall 8 out 10, this is a great package with only a few minor stumbles though I wish the overall adventure was a little longer and featured more zones from Sonic's past. Happy birthday Sonic, it has been an interesting ride these past 20 years though this gives us alot to look forward to and hopefully it will be another great 20 years ahead of us.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

I've been a Sonic fan since I first picked the series up all the way back on the Sega Genesis and recent Sonic games have left alot to be desired. In fact the last Sonic game I truly sat down and played was Sonic Adventure 2 then after that the series sort of tanked out as if Sega had no clue what fans wanted from the series. Game after game tried to recapture the magic that made the earlier games so great yet time and time again they failed to achieve. Now we have Sonic Generations, celebrating 20 years of Sonic, but is it celebrating the right years?

I'm here to answer that question with a huge YES. Sonic Generations does a fantastic job at bringing both classic Sonic (the one we all know and love from the Genesis era, pot belly and all) and modern Sonic together in one of Sonic's best adventures yet. Gone are the gimmicks of past games, there are no talking swords, were-hogs, or pointless side characters to play. In fact all the main gameplay is done as either classic or modern Sonic with the side characters playing only a minor role here.

The storyline is fairly basic, an unknown force has started tearing through time and has capture modern Sonic's friends, scattering them throughout time and they must be rescued by completing each stage. Everything opens with a wonderful romp through Green Hill Zone as classic Sonic before cutting to modern Sonic as he celebrates his birthday (apparently classic Sonic forgot it was his birthday) with his friends. However things don't go exactly as planned as the party comes under attack by this new enemy. At first even Sonic doesn't appear to be too thrilled about running off on another adventure as everyone gasps in horror as the monster appears though Sonic simply gives a heavy sigh before his friends are kidnapped.

Each zone allows you to choose whether you play as classic or modern Sonic with Act 1 being a classic Sonic level and Act 2 being for modern Sonic. In order to advance to the next zone you only need to complete one Act however every three zones there is a boss battle. Each boss battle is opened by collecting three keys from challenges for each of the zones you just completed, however in order to open these challenges you must beat both Acts. I know a few of you just groaned at the thought of being forced to play as modern Sonic but I'm here to tell you that the modern Sonic levels are actually good! Yes you heard me correctly, Sega has finally found a balance that works incredibly well for our blue hero as the levels are all about speed and top notch platforming. You'll see the camera swing behind Sonic as he speeds down paths, blasting through enemies and bouncing from spring board to spring board before flipping over and giving you a retro 2D perspective that again works rather well for our modern hero.

Sega has done a brilliant job at building each level, bringing back multiple paths and requiring split second timing if you wish to take the best path possible. Numerous times I found myself making mental notes of where I would need to jump next time or a better way to navigate through an area. Nothing is quite as rewarding as zipping through a level at top speed without slowing down and navigating through obstacles as if it were easy. Both classic and modern Sonic feature amazing level design and at times you can see where the two different Acts cross paths. More than once I noticed areas that I had seen as the other Sonic and it was interesting to see the 2D take on the newer zones and the 3D take on the older ones. The game is made up of nine different zones, each one taken from a specific Sonic game ranging from Sonic 1, 2, 3, Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors. You start off with Sonic 1 and work your way through time until you reach the most recent games.

One thing that I instantly noticed about the game was the humor though some of the fans out there might not get it if they haven't been with the series for the last 20 years. For example in the Chemical Plant Zone (from Sonic 2) Tails makes a comment about the pink water making him nervous for some reason, a younger fan might not get the joke there though I remember plenty of times desperately seeking air as that pink water filled the stage around me and the surface got further and further away. Another one that made me chuckle was modern Sonic commenting on how familiar Green Hill Zone was but Tails had no memory of it because it was before he joined the series. At times the game even pokes fun at some of the missteps Sonic has had along the way such as when Tails comments on how weird this adventure is only to have Sonic come back saying weird is what they do but this is fairly normal with no talking swords, were-hogs, or aliens (though you do use the wisps in the Colors stage).

The hub world I thought was fairly interesting and worked as almost a mini level. Each Zone starts off colorless and lifeless with the side character frozen as a colorless statue in front of it. Beating one Act brings back some life to the zone as color is filled in thought beating both acts brings back the side character and completely restores the stage unlocking the challenges that go along with it. Everything is set in a 2D view though you can switch from classic to modern Sonic with a tap of the button, also each version of Sonic has their own set of challenges you can complete.

Now the challenges are the first area I feel the game really stumbles. Most of them aren't overly interesting, sometimes having you pair up with a side character or race against them collecting items, rings, or whatever. Personally I found them to really ruin the pacing of the game as you go from blazing through zones to suddenly engaging in a rather pointless contest. However there is one redeeming quality here that I quickly found myself skipping all the other challenges to go for. The Doppelganger races are perfect for Sonic and they fit the mood and pacing just right. Whether you are playing as classic or modern Sonic each zone as a Doppelganger race which pits you against a ghost Sonic (same version as you) and your only goal is to beat them to the end of the stage. Doppelganger Sonic however isn't perfect, you'll see him make mistakes, take damage, and not always pick the right path. That isn't to say these races are easy by any means. A few times I found myself nearly neck and neck coming up on the finish line or missing a platform and suddenly ghost Sonic is right there with me. Doppelganger Sonic sometimes fights enemies where it makes sense though you'll often see him slip by them and this is a tactic you must adopt as well in order to keep up. Overall I found these races to be incredibly enjoyable and really saved me from having to complete boring tasks in order to advance the game.

The other area I felt the game stumbled was the boss battles or rather the lack of them. There are some pretty memorable boss battles with Dr. Eggman throughout the years and I felt this was a missed opportunity by only including four boss battles overall and three mini boss battles for chaos emeralds. Some of these fights are over pretty quickly as well and don't really offer much of a challenge, while others (especially the battle with Silver in Crisis City) are pretty fun and definitely play to the strengths of the game. Another thing is the chaos emeralds are basically handed to you as each boss battle gives you one and you only need to truly collect three on your own by battling Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Again another missed opportunity by not including the bonus stages that really test a gamer's skill in earning (keyword here) these emeralds.

There are plenty of collectibles to earn here with over 50 songs to unlock (each unlocked song can be played instead of the usual zone music) and alot of concept art. It wasn't enough to get me to tackle all the challenges, which is where bulk of these are earned, though it was pretty cool to see these included. Another addition I didn't bother with much was skills, which can be purchased from an in-game store and give you a way to customize your Sonic experience. Whether you want to start with 10 additional rings, land on feet after taking damage, run up hills and such faster, or other things like that you'll find these little perks here. It didn't take me long at all to purchase them all though and I didn't really in much of a need for them outside of giving myself a few extra seconds to gather my rings after getting hit and increasing my speed in water and going uphill. Each skill has a certain point cost and you have 100 points total to spend for equipping a skill. This was a nice addition but not something I spent that much time with, I basically bought them all and equipped the ones I wanted then never looked back.

Now I did play this on PC (purchased via Steam) and the graphics are top notch, the stages look amazing, and on my system the game didn't slow down at all. However this is simply a port of the 360 version as Sega didn't even take the time to change the in-game key prompts which display the standard 360 controller inputs. The cut scenes looked slightly grainy and not nearly as clear as the gameplay was, but that is only a minor complaint on an overall great package.

With gameplay that is amazing for both Sonics, level design that gives Nintendo a run for their money, and only few minor missteps it is hard for any Sonic fan to go wrong with Generations. This is truly a return to form for our hedgehog friend and hopefully Sonic Team uses this as a template moving forward with future Sonic games. Sadly there are no plans right now for classic Sonic to return in future games, but that is ok though. At the start of the game I favored classic Sonic but by the end of it I was always going for modern Sonic and finding his levels to be pretty intense and very enjoyable. If modern Sonic has levels like these in future games then Sonic Team has successfully brought me back to the series I used to know and love. I'm giving Sonic Generations an overall 8 out 10, this is a great package with only a few minor stumbles though I wish the overall adventure was a little longer and featured more zones from Sonic's past. Happy birthday Sonic, it has been an interesting ride these past 20 years though this gives us alot to look forward to and hopefully it will be another great 20 years ahead of us.

I never had a Sega Genesis growing up, but that didn't stop me from going over to my friends' houses and playing the fantastic Sonic the Hedgehog series on theirs. For that reason, I have very fond memories of Sonic's first 4 console outings, from Sonic the Hedgehog up through Sonic & Knuckles (let's just pretend that 3D Blast didn't exist). Unfortunately, Sonic and I parted ways for quite some time after that, barring a brief stint with Sonic Heroes on my GameCube and Sonic Rush on my DS, as well as the aforementioned classics as part of one of those Sonic collections games. But I certainly haven't been unaware of the significant decline in quality of Sonic games over the last decade or so. So when I heard that Sonic Generations was one of the best Sonic titles to come along in years, one that paid tribute to the classics that we all know and love, I knew that this was one game I'd need to check out. Sadly, I discovered that "one of the best Sonic titles to come along in years" apparently doesn't count for much.

Sonic Generations started off extremely strongly for me, aside from some annoying cutscenes and a poor attempt at giving this game some sort of plot. The game featured remakes of some of the most memorable zones from the Genesis classics, including Green Hill Zone from the original, Chemical Plant from Sonic 2, and Sky Sanctuary from Sonic & Knuckles. Each level in the game featured 2 "acts", the first being a classic version that's completely side scrolling (but still uses some impressive 3D effects from time to time) and the other being a modern version that uses the 3D version of Sonic, shifting seamlessly from 2D to 3D play. Playing both acts in all 3 of those zones was a lot of fun, and for a second I thought that I was missing out on some genuinely great games by skipping most of the 3D Sonic library. Unfortunately, as the game progressed, that attitude quickly changed. As the game progressed, the quality in level design declined, with the final zone (Planet Wisp) being so completely awful that I refuse to play it anymore. The later levels are also rather repetitive, with 4 of the 9 zones in the game featuring city-based levels. Was that really necessary? Sonic games have featured so many awesome, fantasy-like environments, yet they give us 4 urban ones. The boss fights are equally bad, with the second to last boss being completely buggy (everything from bad hit detection, to broken controls, to a lock-on targeting mechanism that only works half the time), and the final boss so poorly designed and unenjoyable that I had a hard time believing that I was still playing a Sonic game.

There seem to be an alarming number of bugs in this game for something that's been out for 2 months. I've had the game crash twice on me so far, and countless issues with controls not working when they should, particularly with the jump button button and its lock-on function for 3D Sonic. Yet despite these problems, I finished the game in 4 hours. There is a lot of "challenge" content to tackle afterward, but a lot of these are just speed runs or lousy gimmicks tacked onto part of or all of a level. For completionists, this might bump up the playtime significantly, but if you just want to play the game and see most of the content that the game has to offer, you won't be here long.

That having been said, the game is not without its merits. The graphics and the music are fantastic, the former offering amazing views of the game's massive levels, with a buttery smooth framerate (if your computer can handle it), and the latter featuring some memorable remixes (and original versions) of the library's best musical offerings. There is plenty of art/music/video content to unlock for the nostalgic. A lot of levels offer a great sense of speed and exploration that reward the persistent player, despite a few levels falling completely flat.

Honestly, if Sega had managed to make the entire game as good as the first 1/3 of the game, I would have given it 5 stars in a heartbeat. Everybody remembers Sonic for the Genesis-era classics. There is very little beyond that that is worth celebrating and paying tribute to in a future title.

WARNING: Contains gratutiously long paragraphs and multiple spoilers; reader discretion is advised.

What's Sonic Generations all about anyway? Your experience of Sonic's past. Which is no wonder why there's hardly a story to the game. Here's a different take on the nearly-non-existent story: why make a story when every fan has one of their own in their head? Each level and song is meant to induce our memories of playing those old Sonic games that are now probably collecting dust, then after this game is finished, dust them off and go right back and party like it's 1999. It's a different approach to keeping the Sonic franchise alive without really doing anything new in a way.

Does this mean I don't wish for more of a story? No, I would have loved to have more stages, more bosses, and screw that Time Eaterthingit would have been cool to have a series of multiple bosses throughout a rip in time and space from a number of Sonic games with the two Eggmen coming after you simultaneously and - oh forget it; it's as if Sega's going to read this

One thing I'm grateful for: Sega didn't leave out the PC for this game (wellUnleashed and '06 probably didn't deserve it). Hence I've spent 28 hours of quality time with this game before writing this according to Steam.

The game runs 95% smoothly on this configuration:
*AMD Phenom II X2 555 Unlocked to X4 B55

*8GB 1333MHz Ram

*AMD Raedon 6950 2 GB Video Card

*Other materials irrelevant to list
Contrary to that list, I'm NOT an AMD fanboy.

From a technical perspective, Sonic Generations for the PC is a pretty good port. Anti-Aliasing doesn't slow down and most of the time the game is stable. Out of those 28 hours of play the game crashed on me three times; once due to an overclock issue. Occasionally the game can slow down a bit and cause the controller to be semi-resposive and only the analog sticks will be operational at that time. For some reason it happens mostly when I'm in the hub and not in the game. Chemical Plant is notorious for slowdowns though. No overclocks or settings will help in those spots even with the new patch. The game also detected my Asus Xonar DX so I got 5.1 sound without really setting anything and the game sounds as flawless as a Sonic game gets.

To make the game autoconfigure my Rumblepad 2 from Logitech, I put an Xbox controller emulator program in the game's directory and my controller works perfectly. Sometimes things get complex when trying to keep the boost on and jump or duck at the same time.

Although the glitches are far and between, when encountered they are frustrating to deal with. Rooftop Run's mission with the snowboard is atrocious when the boost physics can be non-responsive in midair or sometimes when Sonic decides to go the wrong way when falling onto a lower or higher platform and you need to change directions. That said also when modern Sonic sometimes jumps sometimes (especially after a spring or say the rocket in Planet Wisp) Sonic is still facing a certain direction and you cant' change the direction he's facing in midair and have to wait for him to touch the ground before you can start boosting the right way.

Some textures are very HD such as the Green Hill Zone's terrain while some are very compressed, especially Speed Highway's signs, ugh. Aside from that the character textures and animations are well-detailed and very smooth. It makes me feel good to play this game in 1080 resolution albeit only a 23" monitor. Having 60 frames per second really makes the experience much more immersive and get a little lost in all of the details that Sega threw in there; you'll be speeding away with a Sonic Boom and never really appreciate a LOT of the details they threw in the backgrounduntil you stop that is, and what reward does that bring in a Sonic game? Nevertheless, each stage is meticulously colored and unlike a few of the past Sonic games I played, much more pleasing to the eye.

But what good is that if the levels are trash? Good news is, they're not. Bad news iseither they're too easy to roll through or maybe the ranking system is so laid back that even significantly longer paths in a level can still get you an S Rank. The difficulty sometimes seems uneven as some stages are easier than others at a first run of the level. It's said according to the game's help screen that Classic Sonic is easier than the Modern Sonic levelsBullI was able to catch S-ranks on the last four levels far before I ever achieved S-ranks on the classic stagesbut hey maybe that's just me being a Sonic fan for only ten years? Oh well. I still find myself playing modern levels more as it's just plain fun to speed through a level and see how good your hand-eye coordination is and how consistently well can you execute Sonic's speed while getting the shortcuts (which is something I haven't wholly figured out yet).

Don't get me wrong, the classic stages are very fun, but certainly more difficult than the modern stages. The level design of classic Sonic are very well done and easily take any Sonic fan back into the good old glory days of the 1990s even with the most modern Planet Wisp stage. To me they provided the core of the challenge of just simply finishing the game's not-really-there story mode.

Supposedly the game has warning signs to let the player know if there's a bottomless pit, but later in the game I never noticed a single sign after Sky Sanctuary. Someone tell me where I'm wrong there because I probably missed some?

Then come three bossesseriouslyonly three? Considering how much easier it is to take out Perfect Chaos and the Death Egg Robot, I wished for a greater challengethen came Egg Dragoonspent about an hour figuring out how to reach Eggman without dying (my fault, not the game's, OK?). The Time Eater boss felt like operating Sonic in a wormholeoh wait, that's what it is because waiting for Super Sonic(s) to reach the Time Eater for more than 30 seconds was really slow and boring until you approach it and it "damages" you because that's really the only way you can actually take damage in that boss; most of the ill-conceived ordinance hurled at you hasn't a slightest chance of hitting you if you're boosting. "IT LOOKS LIKE A HOMING SHOT!!!!!!" everyone screams in your intercom while Sonic can just laugh is tail spike off wishing all of his friends would just shut up and let the experts do the not-so-best-boss-beating-ever. At least the new voices are very tolerable and I much like the new voice for Sonic though some of the lines (especially Charmy's) seem written from a 3rd grader.

Sadly, the only character that has worthy dialouge is - are the two Eggmen, simply because they're the only ones that really drive the story at the end. Surprisingly I actually share something in common with the everlasting villian of the Sonic series: I too like telling people what to douhthis review kind of gives that away doesn't it?

After that mess you'll be in for both treats and tricks with the missions that you didn't do (you thankfully only need three done in each "era" to progress). Doppleganger races can range from epic S-Rank runs to mere struggles to the goal (modern Planet Wisp raceugh). I did love the blaring "Everybody's Super-Sonic Racing, try to keep your feet right off the ground," song playingCool shields from the past games are only part of the missions unless you use that skill set from the skill shop but definitely add to the playing experience. And finally the mission with Vector and the music noteI'm going to deviate from the pack hereI actually enjoyed that mission better than most of the races since it broke up the monotony of just going from point A to point Band it was pretty easy to win.

Probably the absolute undisputed best thing about the game is the motherlode of nostalgia value found by collecting red rings and flying musical notes after you finish each mission. The artwork is interesting at least, and maybe inspiring for future Sonic games at best, while the unlockable music brings back a lot of the best of some of the worst Sonic games in history. It was one thing that I thought was always was a little light in the darkness of bad Sonic gaming. Oh and try combining Sonic CD's Palmtree Panic music with the Perfect Chaos boss and see if you can find the terribly awful irony there

At the end of the day though, Sega made a good game. Not a great one, but one that I had the most speeding thrills with since Sonic R, the first Sonic game I played; that's saying something. For Sonic fans holding their breath for other guinea pigs to test the game for themprobably already have it right now. For everyone else there's my review so you know every little nitpickin' problem with itfortunately none really makes a significant dent in the experience when you're rolling around at the speed of soundand there's my exit"trust me and we will escape from the city"

The game does an amazing job playing like a roller coaster in video game form. The 2D levels are do a good job feeling like a classic Sega game and the 3D levels play like you always wanted them too. If I had a complaint it would be that the system requirements are a bit high (My Athlon 6000+ and GT240 chug a little on the game) and that the final boss is confusing and annoying. Still, if you like platforming games I can't recommend this enough.

It is a shame that there are so many 1 and 2 star reviews for this game from people who don't know how to use digital downloads. How about you learn something and stop trashing a game you haven't even played?? Anyway, This was on sale for digital download (PC) on Gamefly a little while back for $10 and it has proven well beyond worth it. This game is a good mash-up of both classic and new Sonic and is a lot of fun to play, offering tons of variety. They offer some replay value as well by timing and grading your runs through levels, so you can go back and try to beat your last score. There are also things like special red rings that can be collected, and are very tough to get! To throw in a bit of nostalgia, you can earn things like Sonic artwork, classic music tracks from earlier games and more. There are a bunch of little things like this that add to the variety of the game. The graphics and effects are top notch and all of your favorite characters are back in full form, from Knuckles and Tails to Metal Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog.

While i've always found the classic Sonic games in particular to be fun, Sega has released a lot of garbage in the series lately (nearly everything after Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast). Thankfully it appears Sega has finally gotten their head out of their a$$ with Generations. If you want a bit of a throwback Sonic that has a lot of variety, nostalgia and that shares a bit more with the classics than some of the shotty newer titles, I'd recommend checking this one out!

If you are buying the digital download, you need to know that it will only run using the steam engine. Don't hesitate to install Steam since it's great. Your games will always be stored on Steam and accessible there. Here are the instructions below you should follow.

1) Don't download the game but note that they give you a key when u purchase it. This key is for the steam engine. Save it somewhere, you will need it.
2) Download the Steam engine and install it.
3) After you install steam and get a free account, run steam and go to the games menu item. Click on "activate a product on steam". Enter the key, now it will download. Will take a few hours before you can play.