Sonic Generations, the precursor to Sonic x Shadow Generations, is now 14 years old. It’s wild how time flies. Despite the game hailing from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era – a time that feels incredibly long ago now – it has persisted through generations, continuously finding a new audience with each refresh.
Playing the game on Nintendo Switch 2, alongside a handful of other launch titles, what quickly became clear was that Sonic Generations has returned because, quite simply, it’s very good. It’s a solid, fast-paced platformer with an array of fun challenges, imaginative stages, and novel bosses. The Sonic x Shadow Generations refresh, which improved graphics and added a whole new story starring fan-favourite edgelord Shadow the Hedgehog, is simply icing on top.
With solid foundations, Sonic x Shadow Generations represents the best of Sonic the Hedgehog. Whether you’re new to the franchise, or you’re looking to revisit a classic, the newly-released Switch 2 port of this game is yet another excuse to jump in.
Like every other port I’ve played so far, this latest version of Sonic x Shadow Generations benefits greatly from the added horsepower of the Nintendo Switch 2. Everything here is smooth and effort-free, with the console blitzing through stages.
While the game is occasionally too fast for its own good – levels will send you careening into spikes with no regard for personal safety – the Nintendo Switch 2 port renders this action cleanly and crisply, with no jaggies or screen-tear, as would typically accompany action of this speed. Even lacking a nice OLED screen, you get bright, vivid colours streaming past in each stage, with clarity allowing you to pick and choose your path well.
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With those bright colours and its snappy pace, Sonic x Shadow Generations looks fantastic in handheld mode – and the closeness also allows you to white-knuckle grip your way to victory, as worlds stream past, and you hope against all hope that you’ve chosen the right pathway for success. On screen, the game is equally crisp, but there is more separation in watching Sonic fly past at a distance.
If you’re the sort of person that leans when you’re playing a racing game (it helps, I swear) then the hands-on nature of this port will absolutely get you in the zone.
Once you’re done speeding through Sonic Generations‘ more traditional stages, with all those loop-the-loops and flying hazards, you can also experience a whole new world in the adjacent Shadow Generations mode, which is essentially an entirely new game.
I spoke about this when previously reviewing Shadow Generations, but this really is a generous add-on, with hours of new stages to run through, and arguably, a much darker, more compelling story to accompany the lighter, brighter tale of Sonic Generations‘ two Sonics.
With its dual facets, Sonic x Shadow Generations is a rich experience. On the one hand, you’ve got more traditional Sonic adventuring, complete with fast-paced stages of all colours and genres. On the other hand, you also get a more open world-style adventure where you can roam a kingdom, completing all sorts of challenges while tracking the threat of the mysterious Black Doom.
Brought together on Nintendo Switch 2, both halves of this game are fantastic. While you could already play the game on Nintendo Switch – and notably, there is no upgrade path between the two versions – this port benefits from improved graphics, a higher frame rate, and overall better performance. It’s not quite on par with other versions of the game (PlayStation 5), but the difference is pretty negligible, and when you’re going fast, you’ll barely notice.
The lack of upgrade path for Nintendo Switch owners is a pretty big disappointment, but for those players who haven’t yet picked up Sonic x Shadow Generations, this version is entirely solid, and a great option for handheld play.
A Nintendo Switch 2 code for Sonic x Shadow Generations was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
