Sonic Generations

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This article is about the 2011 console/PC game. For the re-release, see Sonic X Shadow Generations. For the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, see Sonic Generations (Nintendo 3DS).

3 Eras, 2 Sonics, 1 Epic Adventure!

— Tagline

Sonic Generations (ソニック ジェネレーションズ：白の時空, Sonikku Jenerēshonzu: Shiro no Jikū^?, lit. "Sonic Generations: White Space-time") is a platformer video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega in late 2011, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, alongside a PC port by British developer Devil's Details; an alternate version of the game was also co-developed by Sonic Team and Dimps for the Nintendo 3DS.

Generations' gameplay is divided into two styles: "Classic", which plays from a side-scrolling perspective akin to the Sega Mega Drive platformers, and "Modern", which combines 2D and 3D gameplay and follows a formula similar to that of Sonic Unleashed (2008) and Sonic Colors (2010). In the game's story, Sonic celebrates his birthday party with his friends, only for them to be kidnapped by the Time Eater and left trapped in White Space. Teaming up with a younger version of himself, Sonic explores White Space to find his friends, defeat the Time Eater and return home. The game received positive reviews, gathering praise for its visuals, gameplay, and audio, but criticism for its story and occasional frame rate and control problems. It is considered one of the best games in the franchise, as well as a good tribute to the series' history.

All versions of this game can be played in stereoscopic 3D, but a 3DTV as well as a pair of 3D glasses are required for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, being the first game of the franchise to support stereoscopic 3D. The PlayStation 3 version was available to be streamed on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via the PS Now subscription service, with PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Sony Bravia Smart TV (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 models), Sony Blu-Ray players and Samsung Smart TV support for the service being dropped in 2017. In April 2018, the Xbox 360 version of the game was made backwards compatible with the Xbox One and supports Xbox One X enhanced features, as well as FPS Boost for the Xbox Series X and Series S since 15 November 2021, making the game run at 60fps.

In January 2024, it was announced that Generations would be remastered in a bundle called Sonic X Shadow Generations, alongside a new title called Shadow Generations, which stars Shadow. The game was released in October 2024. As a result, the original game was delisted for every platform on 9 September 2024. However, the original game remains available via bundles on Steam and Xbox platforms to preserve it, and mods are not affected.

Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot, ending details or any kind of information follow.

File:Sonic Generations Title Screen.png

The title screen of Sonic Generations, featuring an emblem with Classic Sonic on the left and Modern Sonic on the right.

The game opens with the distant past; Classic Sonic is running through Green Hill until a mysterious entity known as the Time Eater appears in the sky, causing everything to white out.

In the present day, Modern Sonic celebrates his birthday with his friends. However, the Time Eater disrupts the party by sucking everyone through various Time Holes. Modern Sonic attempts to attack but is knocked down. He wakes up in a strange dimension known as White Space, finding a colorless Green Hill and a statue-like Tails. By running through Green Hill, Modern Sonic restores its color and Tails to normal. They then notice the Chemical Plant in the same colorless state and Sonic heads there. Classic Sonic, mistaken for his Modern version by Tails, also heads there. After restoring the area, the Sonics unknowingly work together to restore various zones and rescue their friends. Classic Sonic defeats Metal Sonic in Stardust Speedway and claims a Chaos Emerald from him. Later, the Sonics meet inside a Boss Gate, separated by a glass wall. Classic Sonic defeats Classic Eggman and his Death Egg Robot. The Sonics and their respective Tails counterparts then meet in White Space, deducing that they are traveling through time and space and must stop the Time Eater.

The Sonics restore various locations, restoring their friends in the process. Modern Sonic claims Chaos Emeralds after defeating Shadow and Perfect Chaos, and later Silver and Modern Eggman in the Egg Dragoon. Meanwhile, the two Tails figure out that the Time Eater is tearing space apart as it moves through time, ripping places from across spacetime and leaving them colorless in White Space, but the Sonics are able to restore them by speeding through time. Along the way, the heroes also learn of the Time Eater's sensitivity to the Chaos Emeralds.

File:Timeeater.png

The heroes face the Time Eater.

After collecting all the Chaos Emeralds, the Classic and Modern pairs confront the Time Eater in its domain, where the Eggmen reveal that they are the ones piloting the creature. Modern Eggman explains that he found the primordial form of the Time Eater while stranded in space and decided to use its powers to undo his previous defeats. Through the support of their friends, the Sonics use the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonics and destroy the Time Eater, restoring the timeline.

The heroes then return to the present time and continue celebrating Modern Sonic's birthday. Modern Sonic thanks his Classic counterpart for the team-up and bids farewells to him and Classic Tails when a Time Hole appears for them to return home. Meanwhile, the Eggmen are stranded in White Space where they argue about their failures.

Characters

Image	Character	Biography
	Modern Sonic Classic Sonic	The world's fastest supersonic hedgehog is back again. He loves freedom, and hates anything unjust. Although he's short tempered at times, he can't leave anyone in need of help. He was about to enjoy his birthday until a mysterious creature appeared...
File:CharaArtr2 WTails.png	Classic Tails Modern Tails	Tails is a kid fox who can fly by spinning his two tails. He loves to work with machinery, and his inventions have helped Sonic many times.
File:Sgenerations.png	Modern Eggman	The evil genius of science is a long time rival of Sonic. Countless times he's challenged Sonic, but each time his ambitions are shattered. But how about this time...?
File:Time-eater-sonic-generations.png	Time Eater	A mysterious monster that appeared out of nowhere. It created a mysterious maelstrom that blew Sonic's friends into another dimension.

Gameplay

Sonic Generations is a platforming video game, with bits of gameplay taken from past Sonic games. The player takes control of either Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic, each with their own abilities and levels.

Sonic Generations is divided into nine stages, all of which are taken from past Sonic games, which are composed on two Acts, the first one with the player controlling Classic Sonic, and the second one having them playing as Modern Sonic. The goal of Sonic Generations is to beat the aforementioned Acts in the least amount of time as possible. These Acts are designed to make use of each character's abilities and branch into multiple paths that can offer the player more secrets to find. In addition, the player will unlock boss stages and Challenge Acts as they progress with the game, both of which have to be completed in order to progress with the story, although most Challenge Acts are optional.

During gameplay, the player will encounter obstacles and enemies. Also common are the Rings, which serve as the playable character's health. The number of Rings carried by the player is displayed in the top left corner of the HUD. As with past Sonic games, Rings serve as the playable character's main method of protection from damage; if the playable character takes damage while they carry at least one Ring, they will survive, though they will lose all their Rings. Conversely, taking damage while not holding any Rings will cost the player a life. The player will also lose a life if they drown underwater, get crushed, or fall into a bottomless pit. After losing a life, the playable character will respawn at the latest Star Post they touched, or at the start of an Act if they have not touched any Star Post. If the player runs out of lives, they will get a Game Over. Extra lives can be obtained by collecting 1-Ups or by gathering 100 Rings.

Sonic Generations also includes Skills, which are optional booster items the player can buy to get an advantage in levels or get exclusive content. This can be done through the Skill Shop, which allows players to use points earned from high scores to unlock upgrades such as abilities, shields, and even the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game (console version). Completing challenges, as well as finding Red Star Rings hidden in each of the main Acts, unlocks additional Skills, as well as bonus concept artwork and music.

Character specific gameplays

Classic Sonic

File:Sky Sanctuary 6.png

Classic Sonic in Sky Sanctuary, the third stage in the game.

Classic Sonic has a 2.5D side-scroller gameplay, the same as that from the 2D Sega Mega Drive Sonic games, though with some modifications to be more adapted to the newer level design. As with the aforementioned games, Classic Sonic can run, jump, and roll as his most basic abilities. In addition, he can also Spin Dash while standing still to be launched at incredible speeds. Classic Sonic's Acts end when he touches a Goal Post at the end of the stage.

Modern Sonic

File:Sonic Generations Seaside Hill (1).jpg

Modern Sonic in Seaside Hill, the sixth stage in the game.

Modern Sonic's gameplay resembles that of Sonic Unleashed and the Wii version of Sonic Colors. Occasionally, the camera will shift between a side-view angle and a third-person angle, offering a 2.5D side-scroller gameplay and a 3D gameplay respectively. Like Classic Sonic, he can run and jump, those being his most standard abilities. However, he can also Boost to run at incredibly high speeds and destroy almost everything that is in his way, though this ability is limited and cannot be performed if the player's Boost Gauge is empty. Sonic can also perform a Homing Attack to reach nearby targets with ease, and slide to pass through small spaces with ease. Modern Sonic's Acts end when he touches a Goal Ring.

Controls

Button formation		File:Extra Life 07.PNG Movement
Xbox 360	PlayStation 3	Classic	Modern
Template:Left Analog Stick left/right		Move	Move/Grind Step
Template:Left Analog Stick up		Look up
Template:Left Analog Stick down		Look down/Crouch
Template:A Button (Xbox)	Cross	Spin Jump
Move + Template:X Button (Xbox)/Template:Left Analog Stick down	Move + Square/Template:Left Analog Stick down	Spin Attack	N/A
Template:X Button (Xbox)/Crouch + Template:A Button (Xbox)	Square/Crouch + Cross	Spin Dash
Template:A Button (Xbox) (midair)	Cross (midair)	N/A	Homing Attack
Template:X Button (Xbox)	Square		Boost/Air Boost
File:Xbox-Button-LB.png/File:Xbox-Button-RB.png	L1/R1		Quick Step
Template:B Button (Xbox)	Circle		Slide
Template:B Button (Xbox) (midair)	Circle (midair)		Stomp
Template:Y Button (Xbox)	File:PSTriangleButton.png		Lightspeed Dash
Template:A Button (Xbox) (on wall)	Cross (on wall)		Wall Jump
Template:LT Button (Xbox)/Template:RT Button (Xbox)	L2/R2		Drift
START		Pause

Objects

Items

• Air bubble
• Boss Gate
• Boss Gate Key
• Buoy
• Chaos Emerald
• Container
  • Spike Block
  • Steel Container
  • Unbreakable Container
  • Wooden Container
• Energy Core
• Goal Ring
• Information Pod
• Item Box
  • 1-Up
  • Aqua Shield
  • Flame Shield
  • Invincible
  • Power Sneakers
  • Skateboard (first appearance)
  • Super Ring
  • Thunder Shield
• Medal
• Mega Mack
• Musical note
• Red Star Ring
• Ring
• Snowboard
• Time Bonus
• Wisp Capsule
  • Orange Wisp
  • Pink Wisp

Gimmicks and obstacles

• Balloon
• Barrel
• Big Balloon
• Blue blob
• Bomb
• Bonus Bell
• Bottomless pit
• Bumper
• Cannon
• Capsule
• Cart
• Case
• Cloud
• Crusher
• Dash Panel
• Dash Rail
• Dash Ring
• Dimensional Bomb
• Egg Spring
• Explosion Trap
• Fan
• Flipper
• Four-way Cannon
• Gear Platform
• Goal Plate
• Gondola
• GUN Military Truck
• Hanging Bell
• Heart bomb
• Helicopter
• High-speed warp tube
• Horizontal Bar
• Iron ball
• Jump Panel
• Kao
• Laser field
• Meteorite
• Movable box
• Pole Elevator
• Propeller Spring
• Pulley
• Rainbow Ring
• Rocket
• Route Signal
• Saw
• Seesaw
• Sling Shot
• Slot machine
• Spike Trap
• Spikes
• Spinning Top
• Spinning Platform
• Spotlight
• Spring
• Spring Catapult
• Spring Pole
• Star Post
• Switch
• Trick Jump Panel
• Wall Jump Block
• Warp Point
• Wide spring
• Zip Line

Characters

Playable

• Classic and Modern Sonic
  • Classic and Modern Super Sonic

Non-playable

• Amy Rose
• Animals
• Babylon Rogues (cameo)
  • Jet the Hawk
  • Storm the Albatross
  • Wave the Swallow
• Bark the Polar Bear (cameo)
• Bean the Dynamite (cameo)
• Big the Cat (cameo)
• Blaze the Cat
• Chao
  • Cheese
• Chip (cameo)
• Classic and Modern Eggman
• Metal Sonic
• Classic and Modern Tails
• Cream the Rabbit
• Cubot (flashback)
• Dark Gaia (cameo)
• E-123 Omega (cameo)
• Fang the Sniper (cameo)
• Knuckles the Echidna
• Mephiles the Dark (cameo)
• Mighty the Armadillo (cameo)
• Omochao
• Orbot (flashback)
• Perfect Chaos
• Ray the Flying Squirrel (cameo)
• Rouge the Bat
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Silver the Hedgehog
• Team Chaotix
  • Charmy Bee
  • Espio the Chameleon
  • Vector the Crocodile
• Tikal (cameo)
• Wisps
  • White Wisps
    • Yacker (cameo)

Enemies

• Aero-Cannon
• Buzz Bomber
• Buzzer
• Chopper
• Cop Speeder
• Crabmeat
• Egg Chaser
• Egg Fighter
  • Sword
• Egg Launcher
  • H
  • H+V
  • V
• Egg Pawn
• Eggrobo
• Giant Chopper
• Grabber
• Gun Beetle
• Gun Hunter
• Iblis's Minions
  • Iblis Biter
  • Iblis Taker
  • Iblis Worm
• Mono Beetle
• Moto Bug
• Sandworm
• Spinner
• Spiny
• Sprinkler
• Thunder Spinner
• Missile Eggrobo

Stages

Stages are divided into three eras, each representing games from a different generation of video game consoles. The "Classic Era" represents Sega Mega Drive and CD games. The "Dreamcast Era" represents games from the Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. The "Modern Era" represents games from the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

No.	Stage	Era	Original game
1	Green Hill	Classic Era	Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
2	Chemical Plant		Sonic the Hedgehog 2
3	Sky Sanctuary		Sonic & Knuckles
4	Speed Highway	Dreamcast Era	Sonic Adventure
5	City Escape		Sonic Adventure 2
6	Seaside Hill		Sonic Heroes
7	Crisis City	Modern Era	Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
8	Rooftop Run		Sonic Unleashed
9	Planet Wisp		Sonic Colors

In addition to the main stages, Casino Night from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is also included as an optional stage in the Classic Era as DLC.

Bosses

Generations' bosses are divided in two: "rival" bosses and major bosses. Each era has a rival and a major boss. Both types are based on individual bosses from previous games and are fought in the location they were originally encountered. Defeating each boss grants the player a Chaos Emerald, which is needed to beat the game. A final boss, the Time Eater, is fought after the seven Emeralds are obtained.

No.	Boss	Era	Location	Original game
1	Metal Sonic (rival)	Classic	Stardust Speedway	Sonic the Hedgehog CD
	Death Egg Robot (major)		Death Egg Zone	Sonic the Hedgehog 2
2	Shadow the Hedgehog (rival)	Dreamcast	Space Colony ARK	Sonic Adventure 2
	Perfect Chaos (major)		Station Square	Sonic Adventure
3	Silver the Hedgehog (rival)	Modern	Crisis City	Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
	Egg Dragoon (major)		Eggmanland	Sonic Unleashed
4	Time Eater (major/final)		Lair of the Time Eater	Sonic Generations

Other modes

30-second Trial

File:Sonic Generations 30 second trial.png

30-second Trial gameplay.

In 30-second Trial mode, the player has to get as far as they can in a stage in thirty seconds. After time runs out, a sign post is placed in the spot where the player is standing. However, if they reach the goal before the time runs out (which is only possible through hacks), the mode abruptly ends without the score saved. They have the option to try again or continue playing to find the sign posts of their friends. They can also upload their score online and see which of their friends made it the farthest in one specific level.

Time Attack

In Time Attack mode, the player can see how fast they can clear a stage, a rival, or a boss fight, and can share their time in online leader-boards. In the console version, Time Attack can only be done online, and only the eighteen main Acts can be played for a top time.

Collections

Unlockable music

Music can be unlocked by completing some Challenge Acts or collecting a number of Red Star Rings. The player can view the unlocked music by going to the collection room. The music for each stage in the game can be replaced by any unlocked music.

There are a total of fifty unlockable tracks:

Unlockable art

Art can be unlocked by completing some Challenge Acts or collecting a number of Red Star Rings. The player can view the unlocked art by going to the collection room.

Statues

Inside the media room, there lies a Statue Room where the player can collect many characters with various codes, even the regular enemies and four characters who did not appear in the game otherwise. The room is accessible by holding Back/Select while in the Collection Room. These statues are:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Classic Sonic
• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Classic Tails
• Amy Rose
• Knuckles the Echidna
• Cream the Rabbit & Cheese
• Rouge the Bat
• Espio the Chameleon
• Blaze the Cat
• Vector the Crocodile
• Charmy Bee
• Chao
• Omochao
• Dr. Eggman
• Classic Eggman
• Classic Metal Sonic
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Silver the Hedgehog
• Big the Cat
• E-123 Omega
• Jet the Hawk
• Hero Chao
• Dark Chao
• Chip
• Moto Bug
• Buzz Bomber
• Crabmeat
• Chopper
• Grabber
• Spiny
• Eggrobo
• Cop Speeder
• Spinner
• Gun Hunter
• Mono Beetle
• Egg Pawn
• Iblis Biter
• Iblis Taker
• Iblis Worm
• Egg Fighter
• Egg Launcher
• Egg-Cannon
• Egg Chaser
• Sandworm
• Classic Spring
• Modern Spring
• Item Box
• Capsule
• Goal Plate
• Goal Ring
• Ring
• Chaos Emeralds
• Launcher
• Animal Friends

Statue Codes

Code	Character
204390	Sonic the Hedgehog
171045	Classic Sonic
632951	Tails
359236	Classic Tails
863358	Amy Rose
679417	Knuckles the Echidna
332955	Cream the Rabbit & Cheese
888200	Rouge the Bat
894526	Espio the Chameleon
544873	Blaze the Cat
868377	Vector the Crocodile
226454	Charmy Bee
629893	Chao
870580	Omochao
613482	Dr. Eggman
103729	Classic Eggman
277087	Classic Metal Sonic
262416	Shadow the Hedgehog
688187	Silver the Hedgehog
353012	Big the Cat
601409	E-123 Omega
383870	Jet the Hawk
507376	Hero Chao
869292	Dark Chao
309511	Chip
483990	Moto Bug
852363	Buzz Bomber
363911	Crabmeat
639402	Chopper
275843	Grabber
466913	Spiny
360031	Eggrobo
640456	Cop Speeder
530741	Spinner
668250	Gun Hunter
975073	Mono Beetle
125817	Egg Pawn
872910	Iblis Biter
513929	Iblis Taker
711268	Iblis Worm
851426	Egg Fighter
973433	Egg Launcher
329494	Egg-Cannon
200078	Egg Chaser
548986	Sandworm
070178	Classic Spring
537070	Modern Spring
209005	Item Box
777921	Capsule
933391	Goal Plate
283015	Goal Ring
390884	Ring
008140	Chaos Emeralds
495497	Launcher
249651	Animal Friends

Achievements

These are the achievements and trophies for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Steam versions of Sonic Generations.

Icon	Name	Description	Trophy Class	Gamescore
File:All Stages Cleared!.png	All Trophies Collected!	Collect all Trophies.	Template:PSN Trophy Platinum	N/A
File:The Opening Act.png	The Opening Act	Race through the first stage.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:SG achievement GREEN HILL Restored!.png	GREEN HILL Restored!	Restore the GREEN HILL Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:SG achievement CHEMICAL PLANT Restored!.png	CHEMICAL PLANT Restored!	Restore the CHEMICAL PLANT Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:SG achievement SKY SANCTUARY Restored!.png	SKY SANCTUARY Restored!	Restore the SKY SANCTUARY Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:SG achievement SPEED HIGHWAY Restored!.png	SPEED HIGHWAY Restored!	Restore the SPEED HIGHWAY Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:SG achievement CITY ESCAPE Restored!.png	CITY ESCAPE Restored!	Restore the CITY ESCAPE Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:SG achievement SEASIDE HILL Restored!.png	SEASIDE HILL Restored!	Restore the SEASIDE HILL Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:CRISIS CITY Restored!.png	CRISIS CITY Restored!	Restore the CRISIS CITY Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:ROOFTOP RUN Restored!.png	ROOFTOP RUN Restored!	Restore the ROOFTOP RUN Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:PLANET WISP Restored!.png	PLANET WISP Restored!	Restore the PLANET WISP Stage Gate.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:SG achievement Sunny Side Up.png	Sunny Side Up	Defeat Death Egg Robot.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:Perfect Punisher.png	Perfect Punisher	Defeat Perfect Chaos.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	25
File:SG achievement Boom Boom Dragoon.png	Boom Boom Dragoon	Defeat Egg Dragoon.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	30
File:Scrap Metal.png	Scrap Metal	Defeat Metal Sonic.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:Shadow Boxing.png	Shadow Boxing	Defeat Shadow.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	25
File:Silver Got Served.png	Silver Got Served	Defeat Silver.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	30
File:Treasure Hunter.png	Treasure Hunter	Collect all the Chaos Emeralds.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:Game cleared.png	All Stages Cleared!	Clear Sonic Generations.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	50
File:Greased Lightning.png	Greased Lightning	Clear Green Hill Zone Act 1 within one minute.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:Bright Star.png	Bright Star	Get Rank S in an Act.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:Shooting Star.png	Shooting Star	Get Rank S in three Acts.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:Blazing Meteor.png	Blazing Meteor	Get Rank S in seven Acts.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30
File:Blue Comet.png	Blue Comet	Get Rank S in twelve Acts.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	40
File:Big Bang SG.png	Big Bang	Get Rank S in all Acts.	File:PSN Trophy Gold.png	50
File:Trickstar.png	Trickstar	Pull off a seven or more trick combo or six trick combo ending in a finishing trick.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:Eradicator.png	Eradicator	Defeat 100 enemies.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:Ring King.png	Ring King	Reach the goal without dropping any of the rings you collected in Green Hill Zone Act 1.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	15
File:Action Hero.png	Action Hero	Perform all of Sonic's moves in act 2.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:SG achievement Can't Touch This.png	Can't Touch This	Defeat the Time Eater without getting hit.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30
File:Bonds of Friendship.png	Bonds of Friendship	Complete all Challenge Acts featuring Sonic's friends.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:Walkie Talkie.png	Walkie Talkie	Chat with each of Sonic's friends you have saved.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:Join the Ranks.png	Join the Ranks	Join the rankings.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:A 30-Second Test.png	A 30-Second Test	Participate in a 30 Second Trial.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:SG achievement Jump for Joy!.png	Jump for Joy!	Find the spring hidden in GREEN HILL Act 1 and reach the goal with a Red Star Ring.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:SG achievement Walk on Water.png	Walk on Water	Cleared CHEMICAL PLANT Act 2 without entering the water.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:SG achievement Walk on Air.png	Walk on Air	Cleared SKY SANCTUARY Act 1 without falling and losing a life.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:SG achievement Byway or the Highway.png	Byway or the Highway	Get the Red Star Ring located on the shortcut route in SPEED HIGHWAY Act 2 and reach the goal.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	20
File:SG achievement Demolition Derby.png	Demolition Derby	Wrecked 30 or more cars in CITY ESCAPE Act 2.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:SG achievement Secret Sleuth.png	Secret Sleuth	Get the Red Star Ring located in the hidden room in SEASIDE HILL Act 1 and reach the goal.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:Look Both Ways.png	Look Both Ways	Reached the goal in CRISIS CITY Act 2 without being hit by tornado-carried cars or rocks.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:A Quick Breather.png	A Quick Breather	Get the Red Star Ring atop the highest spot in ROOFTOP RUN Act 2 and reach the goal.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:SG achievement Color Power!.png	Color Power!	Get the Red Star Ring by using an Orange Wisp in PLANET WISP Act 2 and reach the goal.	File:PSN Trophy Bronze.png	10
File:Super Sonic!.png	Supersonic!	Cleared a regular stage as Super Sonic.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	20
File:Mad Skillz.png	Mad Skillz	Unlock all custom skills.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30
File:HedgeHogging It All Up!.png	(Hedge)Hogging It All Up!	Get all collectibles.	File:PSN Trophy Gold.png	50
File:Time Attacker.png	Time Attacker	Play Ranking Attack on all stages.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30
File:Red Ring Collector.png	Red Ring Collector	Get all Red Star Rings.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30
File:Halfway Point.png	Halfway Point	Clear half the Challenge Acts.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30
File:Mission Accomplished!.png	Mission Accomplished!	Clear all the Challenge Acts.	File:PSN Trophy Silver.png	30

Development

Development of Sonic Generations began shortly after the release of Sonic Unleashed, when Sonic Team began discussing ideas for a 20th anniversary Sonic game, with producer Takashi Iizuka wanting a game that incorporated the best of the series' history. The team eventually chose to split the gameplay into two playstyles: one based on the original games and another on the more recent ones. Sonic Team chose to develop the game on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, wanting the game to reimagine levels from previous installments with high-quality graphics. A port for PC was handled by the British developer Devil's Details. A separate version for the Nintendo 3DS was developed with assistance from Dimps to celebrate the series' history on handhelds. A version for Wii was also planned, but abandoned due to hardware limitations.

File:The beginning.png

File:Sonic Generations - Green Hill - Game Shot - (3).jpg

Comparison of the Green Hill stage in the original Sonic the Hedgehog (top) and Sonic Generations (bottom)

While Sonic Colors was made for a more casual-oriented audience, Sonic Generations was made to appeal to the series' core fans. The script was written by Colors' writers Ken Pontac and Warren Graff; according to Pontac, they had more imput on the story than in Colors. Generations makes use of the Hedgehog Engine, the engine previously used for Unleashed. To decide which levels would appear in the game, Sega polled their employees and conducted an Internet survey about popular Sonic stages, with the ones that were found most popular being incorporated into the game. Sonic Team decided not to reuse older assets or level designs, and certain stages were given new visual elements for more dynamic. Additionally, the developers only chose stages with different concepts and gameplay styles, with Emerald Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 not being put into the game due to its similarities to Green Hill Zone despite its popularity. Recreating the "classic" Sonic gameplay was cited as challenging, since the Hedgehog Engine was made for 3D gameplay. The developers chose to make the Spin Dash quicker to use to help younger players who may be unfamiliar with it.

Promotional

In late 2010, rumors of a Sonic Anniversary game surfaced online. The rumors told of a game that would potentially feature remakes of levels from throughout the series' history in both 2D and 3D. The game was alleged to be released on all major game consoles at the time: PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS.

On 18 April 2011, Sonic Generations was finally announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A GameStop release list printed on 7 May 2011 showed a Nintendo 3DS port of Generations with a tentative release date of 31 December 2011. Later in the month, a Sega-Sammy earnings report listed Nintendo 3DS and PC versions of the game; however, a revised version of the report no longer listed either version. The June 2011 issue of Nintendo Power finally confirmed a 3DS version of Sonic Generations. It contained an in-depth preview and interview with Takashi Iizuka.

Sega officially announced a PC version of the game on 11 October 2011. This version was outsourced and developed by the British company Devil's Details.

Sonic Boom

The Sonic Boom logo.

The Sonic Boom logo.

A Sonic Generations demo was playable at E3 2011, under the name "Sonic Boom". It was the first major American Sonic event, being hosted by Sega, and took place on 8 June 2011 at 6pm PST. At E3, Sonic Generations was playable in both the HD and Nintendo 3DS versions. Although only Green Hill was playable for the console versions, City Escape was shown. There was also a Birthday Song for Sonic sung at Sonic Boom and the ending of the song, "Happy Birthday Sonic!" was heard in Sonic Generations. This song appeared at the Tokyo Joypolis event and at the Summer of Sonic event in London. It appeared at the Gamescom 2011 event in Germany, and at Tokyo Game Show 2011.

Demo

The Australian government’s OFLC rated a multi-platform demo release of Sonic Generations and Sega formally announced at E3 that they would release a demo for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live on Sonic's 20th anniversary, 23 June 2011. The demo only contained Green Hill, and only the Classic Sonic playthrough. However, this demo also contained many unused files that revealed much about the full game, notably the stage list. The demo was only available until 12 July, at which point it was no longer available, including for players who had already downloaded it; the file essentially locked itself. In the Xbox Live version, one has to be an Xbox Live Gold Member to download the demo, although in the PlayStation Network version, a PlayStation Plus Subscription is not required. The name of the demo was: "Sonic Generations Green Hill Zone Demo #1", indicating another demo was on the way. Sega confirmed on their blog a second demo released in Europe for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live on October 18 and was released in North America for PlayStation Network on 25 October. The demo contains both Classic and Modern Sonic playable in Green Hill and has no time limit.

Cast

Classic Sonic is mostly silent throughout the game, showing his personality through his actions and gestures.

For the first time, voice overs exist not only in English and Japanese, but also German, French, Italian and Spanish. The French voice cast (except for Vector) and the German voice cast (except for Shadow, Cream, Vector, Espio, Charmy and Rouge) all reprise their roles from the Sonic X anime series. The Spanish voice of Sonic reprised his role from the Sonic Underground television series.

Jack Fletcher was the voice director for the English dub, Eriko Kimura and Keiichiro Miyoshi were the voice directors for the Japanese dub, Antoine Nouel returned as the French voice director from Sonic X, Emanuela Ghignoni was the voice director for the Italian dub, Michael Hülsmann was the voice director for the German dub, and Guillermo Reinlein was the voice director for the Spanish dub.

Role	Voice actor(s)
	English	Japanese	French	Italian	German	Spanish
Modern Sonic	Roger Craig Smith	Jun'ichi Kanemaru	Alexandre Gillet	Renato Novara	Marc Stachel	Jonatán López
Modern Tails Classic Tails	Kate Higgins	Ryō Hirohashi Takuto Yoshinaga	Marie-Eugénie Maréchal	Benedetta Ponticelli	Anke Kortemeier	Graciela Molina
Amy Rose	Cindy Robinson	Taeko Kawata	Naïké Fauveau	Serena Clerici	Shandra Schadt	Meritxell Ribera
Knuckles the Echidna	Travis Willingham	Nobutoshi Canna	Sébastien Desjours	Maurizio Merluzzo	Claus Peter Damitz	Sergio Mesa
Modern Eggman Classic Eggman	Mike Pollock	Chikao Ōtsuka	Marc Bretonnière	Aldo Stella	Hartmut Neugebauer	Francesc Belda
Cream the Rabbit	Michelle Ruff	Sayaka Aoki	Marie Millet	Sabrina Bonfitto	Nicole Hannak	Geni Rey
Rouge the Bat	Karen Strassman	Rumi Ochiai	Marie Lenoir	Jasmine Laurenti	Marianne Graffam	Ana Vidal
Shadow the Hedgehog	Kirk Thornton	Kōji Yusa	Benoît DuPac	Maurizio Merluzzo Riccardo Lombardo	Klaus Lochthove	Manuel Gimeno
Espio the Chameleon	Troy Baker	Yūki Masuda	Antoine Nouel	Silvio Pandolfi	Andreas Hofer	Dani Albiac
Blaze the Cat	Laura Bailey	Nao Takamori	Delphine Braillon	Tania De Domenico	Greta Galisch	Carmen Ambrós
Silver the Hedgehog	Quinton Flynn	Daisuke Ono	Hervé Grull	Davide Albano	Roland Wolf	Ángel de Gracia
Vector the Crocodile	Keith Silverstein	Kenta Miyake	Philippe Roullier	Diego Sabre	Andi Krösing	Alfonso Vallés
Charmy Bee	Colleen O'Shaughnessey	Yōko Teppōzuka	Marie Millet	Emanuela Pacotto	Luisa Wietzorek	Graciela Molina
Omochao	Laura Bailey	Etsuko Kozakura	Delphine Braillon	Sabrina Bonfitto	Tabea Börner	Sofía García
Wisp announcer	Roger Craig Smith	Fumihiko Tachiki	Roger Craig Smith

Soundtrack

File:SGBlueBlur.jpg

The cover of Blue Blur: Sonic Generations Original Soundtrack.

The soundtrack for Sonic Generations is called "Blue Blur: Sonic Generations Original Soundtrack" which includes the Soundtrack for both the console/PC and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game.

The music in the game was remixed by Jun Senoue and Tatsuya Kozaki, with guest remixes done by Tomoya Ohtani, Kenichi Tokoi and Naofumi Hataya (who remixed the classic versions of the Mega Drive stage themes), among others.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	79.29% (PS3) 78.67% (X360) 78.43% (PC)
Metacritic	76% (PS3) 77% (X360) 77% (PC)
Review scores
Publication	Score
1Up.com	B
Computer and Video Games	7.5/10
Edge	5/10
Eurogamer	7/10
Famitsu	35/40
G4	4/5 (X360)
Game Informer	6.75/10
GamePro	4/5 starsFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star empty.svg
GamesMaster	84%
GameSpot	8.0/10
GameSpy	4/5 starsFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star empty.svg
GamesRadar	8/10
GamesTM	7/10
GameTrailers	8.1/10
GameZone	9.0/10
IGN	8.5/10
Official PlayStation Magazine (US)	8/10 (PS3)
Official PlayStation Magazine (UK)	8/10 (PS3)
PALGN	9.5/10
TeamXbox	8/10 (X360)
Empire	4/5 starsFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star empty.svg
Awards Entity Award GameZone Best Presentation IGN Editor's Choice

Sonic Generations has sold nearly over 3 million copies worldwide as of 31 April 2014, making it the fifth best selling Sonic game to date, behind Sonic the Hedgehog (over 4 million), Sonic Unleashed (also over 4 million), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (over 6 million), and Sonic Heroes (also over 6 million).

The console and PC versions received generally positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic respectively gave the PlayStation 3 version 79.29% and 76/100, the Xbox 360 version 78.67% and 77%, and the PC version 78.43% and 77/100. IGN gave the game a score 8.5 out of 10 and an Editor's Choice award, praising the overall gameplay and the level design, while criticizing some occasional control issues and limited boss battles. Computer and Video Games gave it a 7.5 out of 10, praising the balanced design but criticizing the frame rate of the graphics. 1UP.com gave the game a "B" score, praising its variety, fun-to-play levels and interesting set-pieces, while criticizing some on-rails sections and occasional framerate drops.

Official PlayStation Magazine gave it an 8/10, calling it "a masterpiece of platform game design." GameTrailers gave the game a score of 8.1 out of 10, calling it "the best Sonic game in over a decade." GamesRadar gave the console version 8/10, calling it "the best Sonic game since Sonic 2," while they gave the Nintendo 3DS version a 7/10, praising its level design and optional missions but criticizing its short length as well as the fact that modern Sonic is restricted to a 2D plane of movement. Eurogamer, however, was less enthusiastic, writing that "Sonic Generations still doesn't do much to dissuade us that the hedgehog's best days are distant memories, but at least it is a worthy tribute to them." The most positive review on Metacritic is a 9.5/10 from PALGN, which argues that the game is significantly better than Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Game Informer's Tim Turi was more critical of the game, criticizing Sega for "...shoehorning recent Sonic games, no matter how awful, into the 20-year timeline." He felt that such stages served "...only to remind you of how far the series has fallen from its original form." Famitsu praised the speed and addictiveness of the gameplay as well as the bonus material, while emphasizing that "you do need a certain amount of ability to play it the way it was meant." Empire gave the game 4/5 stars, saying "Generations is a nostalgic joy that captures the dizzying speed and psychotic pace that made Sonic's original romps console classics." GameSpot's Nathan Meunier praised Sonic Generations for its "impressive level designs," "gorgeous" visuals, "epic boss encounters," and high replay value.

In 2022, IGN rated Sonic Generations as the greatest Sonic game of all time in their "10 Best Sonic Games" list, while WatchMojo put it at second in their "Every 3D Sonic Game Ranked" video.

Takashi Iizuka considers Generations to be a turning point for the Sonic IP, after a string of disappointing releases in the 2000s.

Adaptations

Archie Comics made a video game tie-in for Sonic Generations in Sonic the Hedgehog #230, taking place within the In Another Time, In Another Place reality. It has also been stated that the events of the game happen in the post-Super Genesis Wave timeline, and led up to Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide.

A short manga for Sonic Generations was released in Japan. It is presented in a similar format as the Sonic World Adventure manga and the Sonic Colors manga.

Other homages to the series

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

• The underwater sections in Seaside Hill Act 1 bear features from Labyrinth Zone.
• The colors from Green Hill resemble the ones from the original version.
• If the player gets an "A"-Rank with Classic Sonic, he will do the pose from the box artwork of this game.
• The Buzzsaws in both Acts of Planet Wisp return from Scrap Brain Zone.
• In both Acts of Chemical Plant, there are waterslides that function the same way as the ones from Labyrinth Zone.
• In City Escape, certain barrels are set up like the ones from Spring Yard Zone.
• Classic Sonic starts his idle animations with his foot tapping animation from this game.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

• In both acts of Green Hill, there are corkscrew bridges resembling the ones in Emerald Hill Zone.
• In Classic Rooftop Run, the Gondolas return which came from Hill Top Zone.
• In both acts of Chemical Plant, there are waterslides that function the same way as the oil slides from Oil Ocean Zone (although they first appeared in Labyrinth Zone).
• When left waiting long enough without getting talked to in front of Green Hill, Modern and Classic Tails yawn like they first did in this game.
• Two of Classic Sonic's idle animations, one where he looks at a "watch" on his arm, and one where he impatiently lies back, come from this game.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

• Classic Sonic's Crisis City has a 90-degree angle ramp like the "3D" upward ramps in Palmtree Panic's present.
  • Classic Sonic's City Escape also has a similar ramp.
• In Classic Seaside Hill, there is a secret area along with a red ring, this was here to tribute the secret Angel statue which was found in Wacky Workbench's past.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

• Act 1 of Seaside Hill contains references to parts of Hydrocity Zone, such as the grabbing poles and the small propellers.
• In Sky Sanctuary Act 1, there are platforms that fly as Sonic runs on them. They will also wear out and stop working after running on one for too long. These are apparently based on the spinning blue tops from Marble Garden Zone.
• If the player gets a "C"-Rank with Classic Sonic, he will do the pose from the Japanese box art of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
• In Sky Sanctuary Act 2, there are indoor areas that resemble Hidden Palace Zone.
• If Knuckles is saved by Modern Sonic, he says that it is good to have his sanctuary back, referencing its collapse.
• On certain challenges, Classic Sonic has to "juggle" the Goal Post to a certain area in the stage. This could be a reference to the functions of the Goal Post in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, as you can juggle the Goal Post in the air for as long as you can after it falls from the sky in Act 1 of each stage.
• One of Classic Sonic's idle animations, where he points ahead of the stage, comes from this game.
  • When facing backwards, this idle animation changes to have Classic Sonic point behind him, instead of reusing the same animation as in the original.

Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble

• The skateboard item Classic Sonic uses in City Escape and the skill "Boardmaster" seems very similar to the board in Robotnik Winter Zone.

Sonic 3D Blast

• One of Classic Sonic's idle animations, where he crosses his arms and quickly taps his foot, is based on Sonic's idle animation from this game.

Sonic Adventure

• The "Finish" pose for Modern Sonic's Freestyle Tricks is a reference to the pose he does on the front cover of the original Dreamcast version of the game.
• In a mission in which Classic Sonic races Amy in Sky Sanctuary, Amy races by twirling her hammer around in her hands. This seems to reference her Spin Hammer Attack move from this game.
• Classic Sonic's skateboard has a similar design to the one from one of Sonic's artworks from this game.
• The tube waterslide in Chemical Plant works similarly to parts of Lost World.

Sonic Adventure 2

• The tube waterslide in Chemical Plant works similarly to the one at the end of Cannon's Core.
• The cutscene before the fight with Shadow is almost an exact rendition of the opening cutscene from the Nintendo GameCube version of this game.
• Omochao helps the player by giving tips in every level, except for the final boss fight, where Sonic's friends give tips to beat the boss.

Sonic Battle

• In a mission in which Classic Sonic races Amy in Sky Sanctuary, Amy races by twirling her hammer around in her hands. This seems to reference one of her attacks from the game.

Sonic Advance 3

• In the Amy Co-op Mission in Chemical Plant, she uses her hammer to send up Sonic in the air. This was her partner ability in Sonic Advance 3.
• Sonic is able to call his friends to help him out with their special abilities in some of the missions. He was able to call them in Sonic Advance 3 as well.
• In the final battle, Sonic is able to throw his partner as a projectile to the Time Eater. This feature comes from the final battle of Sonic Advance 3.
• The Spinning Tops in Sky Sanctuary Zone are references to the Spinning Tops in Chaos Angel (in terms of design, not functionality).

Sonic Heroes

• In a mission in which Classic Sonic races Amy in Sky Sanctuary, Amy Races by twirling her hammer around in her hands. This seems to reference her Propeller Hammer move from this game.
• The settings music is remixed from the character select screen theme of this game.

Sonic Rush

• The Freestyle Tricks Modern Sonic can perform are similar to the ones from this game. They give him boost energy, just like in Sonic Rush.
• Blaze is seen talking to Cream in Sonic's party, a reference to their friendship from this game.
• In the final battle, the Sonics combine their powers and start rotating in a circle to deliver the final blow. This is how the final battle of this game ended.
• Each Sonic having their own remix of the stage theme is just like how Blaze and Sonic both had their own remix of each stages theme in this game.

Sonic Rush Adventure

• Blaze mentions that there are rings similar to Red Rings in her dimension.
• The dolphins who help Modern Sonic in Emerald Coast are similar to the ones from Pirates' Island.
• The combo finisher Modern Sonic can perform originated from this game.

Sonic Rivals

• The three rivals in Sonic Generations were part of Sonic's rivals from this game.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• If the player gets a "B"-Rank as Classic Sonic, he will strike a pose that resembles Sonic's render pose from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

• The tube waterslide in Chemical Plant works similarly to the one during Aquatic Capital.
• The texture of Sky Sanctuary Act 2 strongly resembles Astral Babylon.

Sonic and the Secret Rings:

• In a cutscene, Modern Sonic mentions, "Rescuing genies in magic books."
• The skill system is similar to the ring system from this game.
• The Time Break ability in Sonic Generations is very similar to the Time Break in this game, where it originated from.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

• If the player saves Rouge the Bat in City Escape as Modern Sonic, she will refer to him as "Big Blue," which was her nickname for Sonic in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

• If the player gets a "B"-Rank with Modern Sonic, he will do one of the poses of his artwork from this game.

Sonic Unleashed

• The skydiving tunnels in Modern Chemical Plant and the Egg Dragoon boss are a reference to the original Rooftop Run and Eggmanland stages.
• There is a cylinder-climbing section in Crisis City that works like Mazuri's tree section, in which the player needs to climb the right platforms to continue on, otherwise they may find themselves stuck in an endless loop.
• In both acts of Rooftop Run, the flags of all the nations Sonic visited in Unleashed are visible at some point.
• The village in the background of Water Palace looks similar to Apotos.
• Wentos' Chao puppets are seen hanging in the Skill Shop.
• This game uses the Homing Attack lock on icon from Sonic Unleashed'.

Sonic Colors

• As well as mentioning genies and magic books, Modern Sonic also mentions "saving aliens in an interstellar amusement park" in the same cutscene.
• Near the end of Modern Rooftop Run, the Battery Blimp attacks in the same way as the Frigate Orcan and Skullian except it can't be destroyed. However, it leaves a trail of rings after it takes enough hits, just like both bosses did in Sonic Colors.

Sonic Channel

• If the player gets an "A"-Rank with Modern Sonic, he will do one of the many poses that he has in Sonic Channel.
• Most of the statues are based off the character artwork from here.

Trivia

• This is the third 3D mainline Sonic game to utilize the Boost formula, following Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors.
• No explanation has been given for how both Eggmen managed to escape the white void and return to their respective times at the very end of the game. Ian Flynn wanted to add an explanation for how they escaped in the Sonic X Shadow Generations remaster, but Takashi Iizuka rejected the idea of expanding on the main story campaign and insisted on leaving it up to the players imagination as to how both doctors escaped instead.
• The internet poll asking fans what their favorite stages from each mainline Sonic game were also listed stages from Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight, suggesting that at one point in development, stages from both games were meant to appear in Sonic Generations but were scrapped later on.
  • Because Sonic Colors was unannounced yet at the time the poll was released, none of its stages appeared in the poll.
• There are some differences between the console and the PC version of Sonic Generations. First of all, the PC version has more shadows and the colors are extremely less vibrant than on the console version. The maximum framerate for the PC is 60 FPS while it is locked to 30 FPS on consoles (without FPS Boost enabled for the Xbox 360 version). The loading times are also greatly decreased in the PC version, as well as the Xbox 360 version running on Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S, and it lacks the Sega Genesis Controller.
  • However, the Sega Mega Drive version of Sonic the Hedgehog runs at 60 FPS in the console version (even with FPS Boost enabled for the Xbox 360 version).
  • Also, in the PC version and the Xbox 360 version via FPS Boost, all cutscenes, including boss intro cutscenes and boss outro cutscenes as well as the Saving A Friend cutscenes, are interpolated at 30 FPS.
  • In the PS3 version, Motion Blur is disabled.
• The textures for Planet Wisp's environment map are actually screenshots of the team's dev program.
• All Challenges against friends in the first era are races.
  • Tails is the only character who races against the current Sonic. Knuckles and Amy race against Classic Sonic. This may be seem as a reference to the fact that Tails' levels in Sonic Adventure were based in racing against Sonic.
• This is the first 3D Sonic game not to have a unique theme song.
  • As such, this is the third 3D Sonic game not to use the main theme song (or even a remix) for the final boss, the other two being Sonic Heroes and Sonic and the Black Knight.
• Like the Wii/PlayStation 2 version of Sonic Unleashed, while using the Boost on a Dash Panel, Sonic performs a Spin Dash animation.
• In both Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Generations, the Death Egg can be seen in the background of Sky Sanctuary. In Sonic & Knuckles, the next level is Death Egg Zone, and in Sonic Generations, the next level is the fight against the Death Egg Robot, which coincidentally takes place in the Death Egg.
• The game's box artwork has a white colored accent on top and bottom.
• The rivals in this game appeared as playable characters in Sonic Rivals.
  • Knuckles is the only rival from Sonic Rivals that is a friend in Sonic Generations, as the others are all rivals that battle Sonic.
• The drowning countdown starts at 4 instead of 5, although a different tone is played before the countdown starts. Underwater warning beeps are also much more prominent.
• After Sonic saves Tails, he makes a reference, saying that Green Hill was "awfully familiar," followed by Tails saying that he doesn't recognize the stage at all. This most likely references the fact that Green Hill Zone is a Sonic the Hedgehog stage, and Tails was introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
• This game takes place on June 23rd. The reason why is because one of the cutscenes shows Sonic's friends surprising him with a birthday party. In real life, June 23rd is the same day that the first Sonic the Hedgehog game came out. Its release date was June 23, 1991.
• This is the second 3D Sonic game where Eggman is the final boss.
• Out of all nine main stages, three of the stages are based on the first levels of their respective games (Green Hill, City Escape and Seaside Hill). To a lesser extent, Crisis City is also considered a starting level in Silver's story, and Speed Highway is the first Action Stage in Knuckles' story in Sonic Adventure.
• This is the second main 3D game to have someone (Classic Tails, specifically) call Dr. Eggman the name "Dr. Robotnik," the first being Sonic Adventure, which was - in the English translation of the games - where Eggman got his nickname.
• This is the second 3D Sonic game in which the player starts a new game and are taken to the first stage, rather than showing the cutscene first. The first game to do this was Sonic Colors.
• History of the 1st Stage Original Soundtrack White Edition is the Japanese pre-order bonus for the game, not the soundtrack as originally thought. It compiles the first level themes of every mainline Sonic game.
• Coincidentally, Shadow's line from his own game, "Where is that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?", is also referenced, as he has the fourth Chaos Emerald of the game.
• Takashi Iizuka said that the three original taglines for the game were "Blast with the past", "Déjà Blue", and "A speedy trip down memory lane".^{[citation needed]}
• With the exception of the Egg Dragoon, all of the bosses in Sonic Generations only take half the amount of hits the bosses in the Nintendo 3DS version can (four in the console/PC version, eight in the Nintendo 3DS version).
• In White Space, Sky Sanctuary has trees with grapes in them. Knuckles' favorite food is stated to be grapes in the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 manual, and Sky Sanctuary is also where Knuckles is saved in Sonic Generations.
• When an "S"-Rank is achieved on one of the levels or bosses, the title of the stage in White Space changes from its original color to golden.
• The unlockable music list has slight remixes of the Classic Sonic songs (mainly Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles).
• After a stage is restored, a level's background noise can be heard, faint from the normal background music. This is easily heard when muting the music:
  • Green Hill: sounds of the waterfalls and bird songs are heard.
  • Chemical Plant: sounds of construction are heard.
  • Sky Sanctuary: loud bird songs are heard.
  • Speed Highway: moving, honking cars are heard.
  • City Escape: crowds talking are heard.
  • Seaside Hill: sounds of a beach are heard.
  • Crisis City: sounds of volcanic explosions are heard.
  • Rooftop Run: faint crowds are heard.
  • Planet Wisp: a mix of bird songs and construction is heard.
• The Death Egg Robot is the only boss originally fought by Sonic as himself. Perfect Chaos was fought by Super Sonic and the Egg Dragoon was fought by the Werehog.
• This is the second game to use skill customization, the first being Sonic and the Secret Rings.
• The PC version downloadable from Steam is always based on the PAL version, even in North America. This is confirmed due to "Colors" being spelled "Colours".
• During the credits, the original levels from each game play along with the music medley as a tribute to the original games. The following game versions were used: the original Japanese Sonic Adventure release on Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, the PC version of Sonic Heroes, the PlayStation 3 version of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, and the Wii version of Sonic Colors. There are no obvious indications if the Mega Drive games are originals or direct emulations (or even Sonic Jam). Oddly enough, even though the credits use the revised Japanese version of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, the unlockable emulation in console versions is the original American release.
• Sonic Generations was held on a 66% discount on Steam via PC Download as a Daily Deal due to the large amount of downloads.
• In the Collection Room, two of the cutscenes the player can view are both named "Eggman Abducted", both being the cutscene after beating the Death Egg Robot and the Egg Dragoon.
• The rival and boss battle of the Dreamcast Era mainly used the Boost throughout the fight which was introduced later in the series.
  • In contrast, the rival and boss battle of the Modern Era mainly use the Homing Attack and Auto-Running, which were introduced earlier in the series.
• Not long before the release date of Sonic Generations, Sega sponsored a skateboarding sporting event that took place in Venice Beach of California named "Sonic Generations of Skate".
• The Silver the Hedgehog boss battle is the only recreated/reimagined boss in the game that was not based off a second-to-last or final boss. Metal Sonic, Egg Emperor, and the Egg Dragoon are boss battles that are second to last while the Death Egg Robot, Big Arm, Shadow the Hedgehog (final boss of Hero story in Sonic Adventure 2), and Perfect Chaos are all final bosses to their story modes and games.
• When looking at the models on the character profiles, both Silver and Rouge strike the same poses.
• If the player views the entire White World in a 3D model viewer, if they zoom out and look around, the entire Crisis City level will be there.
• Despite the game giving Super Sonic a theme, (it being an instrumental remix of the Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I theme) it only plays during the final phase of the Time Eater boss fight, and a variant of it plays in the cutscene prior to the fight.
• When booting up the PlayStation 3 version of this game, some of Sonic's sprites from the original Sonic the Hedgehog are used before the Sega motto loads up.
• The physics engine is actually a modified version of the Sonic Unleashed engine. Hacking into the game can restore properties found within Sonic Unleashed, including light shafts, motion blur, and directional shadows.
• On 14 July 2015, Sega posted a video of the cutscene played before the final battle, adding in footage from a motivational speech video featuring actor Shia LaBeouf. That speech came from #INTRODUCTIONS.
• In the "Ending" cutscene, the dialogue between both Classic and Modern Tails is different between the English and Japanese scripts. In the English script, Classic Tails asks Modern Tails where Sonic puts all of his collected Rings. In the Japanese script however, Classic Tails asks his Modern self how he could add legs to Sonic's Tornado model.
• Sonic Generations is the fourth main game to have all four hedgehog main characters presented (Sonic, Amy, Shadow and Silver). The others before this being Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Rivals and the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors.
• This is the only game dubbed in French, Spanish, German, and Italian to not have the Wisp announcer voiced in those languages, with the game using its English voice instead.
• Aaron Webber mentioned in an interview that if anyone were to voice Classic Sonic, his personal favorite would be Jaleel White. Aaron also mentioned that he grew up with the classic Sonic cartoons, and he thought Jaleel White did a fantastic job. Jaleel White has stated that he was not approached by Sega to voice Classic Sonic.
• This game contains the second highest polygon counts for a Sonic model, with the Modern Sonic model reaching 16,173 tries, 16,173 faces and 8,316 verts. The highest polygon count so-far is the one from Sonic Unleashed.
• Sonic Generations is one of Naoto Ohshima's favorite games, due to the graphics and the two gameplay styles.
• So far, this is the last mainline Sonic game to physically feature Cream and Blaze.
• This is the first mainline Sonic game since Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) to feature Knuckles the Echidna.
• One of the most widely spread rumors about the game was that a third Sonic, who would’ve represented the "Dreamcast Era", was planned to appear in Sonic Generations, with Ryan Drummond returning to the voice the character. This all comes from an interview where Drummond reveals that he was offered the chance by SEGA to re-audition as Sonic during the development of Sonic Generations, but he would eventually decline due to his distaste for the contract.
  • For years, fans would use this interview to back up the existence of a third "Dreamcast Sonic", this was all just a rumor however, as Drummond was simply re-auditioning for the role of Modern Sonic back in 2010 after the Sonic X cast’s contracts expired. Additionally, no veritable sources nor Drummond himself have ever said he was voicing a third Sonic.

External links

• Official website (English) (archived)
• Official website (Japanese)
• Sonic Generations at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sonic the Hedgehog console mainline games

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