Yet Another Gaming Tumblr

Like Hollywood, video game companies have used nostalgia as a selling point for their games. Whether this is a sign developers have run out of ideas, or more that these games were just that good that we need another iteration of it, is hard to say.  Sometimes, these modern versions of classic games turn out amazing, such as the new NBA Jam. Yet, sometimes these revisits on the olden turn out to be nothing short of abysmal (See: Splatterhouse). Either way, when game companies use ideas or characters from yesteryear, it usually peaks the interest of gamers on some level.

This was exactly the situation I saw myself in when I came across Sonic Generations.  The Sonic games always got more love in my youth than Mario games.  The idea that a charter platformer could have some level of challenge and complexity to it, all while engrossing a player in colorful and cute 16 bit graphics, was extremely appealing to my young self.  Even now, Sonic games hold a special place in my heart and usually find it difficult to pass on the opportunity to give a new Sonic game a whirl.

Sonic games always had, at best, minimal and corny story lines.  Sonic Generations is no different, in that aspect.  The plot line involves some sort of time traveling vortex that captures Sonic’s friends, makes Sonic from 20 years ago show up, and has Sonic now and Sonic then going through classic levels of various iterations of the franchise in order to rescue Sonic’s pals such as Knuckles, Tails, Amy and the rest of the gang.

After purchasing this game from Steam’s holiday sale, I noticed two things almost instantly: 1) This was a console game ported to the PC and 2) This game would force me to buy a wired controller for my PC, as the Keyboard method was about as useful as a screen door on a Submarine.    Ports from console to PC, especially nowadays, almost seem painfully obvious.  I had this same issue when giving Dragon Age 2 a glance.  Everything about the game screams “Get this on a 360 or PS3 instead.”  From character controls to movement, nothing about the game play feels right on a PC. 

Amongst many of the issue I had with it was the issue of its frame rate.  My gaming PC is not some over powered $2,500.00 machine, but it’s no slouch either (It was built to exceed the requirements for Civilization V in mind).  It runs almost every other game I’ve played on it without incident.  Yet Sonic Generations, a game which doesn’t seem like it’s that graphic intense, chugged along like it was a slide slow at certain parts.  Even with some adjusting and setting all graphic settlings to the lowest possibility, the game was still having the fits.  Not only were the graphics being wonky, but the sound was nowhere near in synch with what was going on during cut scenes.  Clearly, my $12 spent during a Steam sale could’ve been spent on something that would’ve operated better on my desktop, and not make me question the hardware inside of my machine.

Still, the game itself, when it was working, was a lot of fun.  Game play was a nod back to the time-honored versions of Sonic, with a 3D element thrown in.  The 2D platform parts were a lot of fun, and appeared to be almost identical to the level design of the classic Genesis versions of Sonic.  The 3D parts, while a good concept, made it confusing to know how exactly I should be moving during those sequences.  Some of these sequences were well done, but the transitions from 2D to 3D mid-level sometimes felt forced and kind of awkward.  Coincidently, I usually died or missed something during these transitions as I wasn’t prepared for them. 

The game also has you play each area in two separate acts; one for modern Sonic, and one for classic Sonic.  Sadly, the game play doesn’t feel terribly different between the two Sonics.  I was expecting some old school game play for vintage Sonic, and some crazy more involved 3D escapade for modern Sonic.  It seems the developers completely missed the point of having two separate Sonics. Rather, they missed a prime opportunity to allow a player something unique and instead, used their homage to the past to force a player to play two acts on one level.  That’s something that could have easily been put into the game without two Sonics, or even any long drawn out forced nostalgic elements thrown in.

Around a $10 price point is about right for purchase of this game.  If you happen to have a NVIDIA graphics card in your gaming computer, it’s probably best to avoid the PC version and look for a used copy on your console, unless you’re willing to go through some voodoo like configurations to fix just one game.  While the core game play is entertaining and great for young and old alike, the game itself feels like a feeble attempt at a nostalgic money grab, failing to really present a player with a true reminiscent experience of the glory days of SEGA.