Sega declared 2024 the Year of Shadow a while back, and though the bulk o the heavylifting on that front is going to be done by the upcoming third Sonic movie, something else that fans of the Ultimate Lifeform have got their eye on is Sonic X Shadow Generations, a promising double pack that’s not only bringing back a fan-favourite 3D Sonic entry in enhanced form, but is also set to deliver an entirely new standalone campaign starring everyone’s favourite edgelord, Shadow the Hedgehog. Ahead of the game’s looming launch, here, we’re going to go over a few key details that you should know about it.
SHADOW GENERATIONS
Sonic X Shadow Generations’ biggest draw for many is going to be Shadow Generations, an entirely new and standalone campaign that will focus exclusively on Shadow the Hedgehog. Running parallel to Sonic Generations, Shadow Generations will see Shadow’s arch-nemesis Black Doom returning to the fray and once again threatening to take over the world. It now falls to Shadow to face off against his old enemy again, in a story that will see him having to confront his painful past and unlock new dark powers.
CHAOS POWERS
Playing as Shadow will obviously mean having access to a number of Chaos powers that have never been part of Sonic’s moveset. Chaos Snap replaces Sonic’s homing attack, allowing Shadow to instantly teleport to enemies, while he can also hit enemies with Chaos Spears from a distance to stun them and get some ranged attacks in. Meanwhile, there’s also Chaos Control, which is particularly useful- usable once the Chaos Gauge is full, Chaos Control allows you to temporarily stop time.
DOOM POWERS
Another pivotal part of Shadow’s moveset in Shadow Generations will be his Doom Powers. These are special abilities that will allow him to transform and become able to access locations that he could not previously access, including in the hub world. From being able to fly to surfing on water and more, Shadow will learn a number of Doom Powers over the course of his journey.
WHITE SPACE
Like Sonic Generations, Shadow Generations is primarily going to alternate between 2.5D and 3D sections, though the new campaign is set to take some cues from Sonic Frontiers as well. That will come in the form of the White Space, which is a new, open-ended hub location that is inspired by the open zone design of the 2022 platform. Players will be returning to this hub a lot over the course of the campaign, and as Shadow learns new powers, more of it will continue to become accessible to players.
LEVELS
From all of the footage that Sega has shown of Shadow Generations so far, six levels have been confirmed for the game so far, and each of them is based on a level from a previous Sonic game, just as it was in Sonic Generations as well. Unsurprisingly, a couple of levels are being pulled from Sonic Adventure 2 in the form of Space Colony ARK and Radical Highway, while one level from 2006’s much maligned Sonic the Hedghog also returns with Kingdom Valley.
LEVELS
A handful of other levels have also been confirmed for Shadow Generations so far. There’s Rail Canyon, which returns from 2003’s Sonic Heroes, and Sunset Heights, which first appeared in 2017’s Sonic Forces… which wasn’t exactly a fan-favourite game, if we’re being honest. Then again, Sonic Frontiers is also getting some love, with Chaos Island confirmed to feature. Additionally, a seventh level will also be added as DLC. More on this in a bit.
BOSSES
Each level in Shadow Generations will, of course, bring with it a boss fight for players to tackle, and again, a good number of them have been confirmed already- and yes, they’re all familiar faces for longtime Sonic fans. There’s Black Doom, of course, who first showed up in the disaster that was 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog. He will be joined by other familiar foes in the form of Mephiles the Dark, Biolizard, Metal Overlord, and others.
LENGTH
So exactly how substantial can we expect Shadow Generations to be? According to Sonic Team producer Shun Nakamura, the new campaign will be about as long as Sonic Generations itself, or perhaps somewhat shorter. Speaking in an interview with Famitsu, he said, “It depends on how you play. But I think the play volume of Shadow Generations is about the same as Sonic Generations or maybe a little less. If you play both, you can enjoy it for a long time. In the past, only Sonic Generations was released, so it’s a great deal.”
MOVIE PACK DLC
Sega will be capping off the Year of Shadow with Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s global theatrical release in December, which sees Keanu Reeves voicing Shadow the Hedgehog. A week before the movie is out, however, on December 12, the company will also release a Movie Pack DLC for Shadow Generations, which will add a new skin for Shadow based on the movie, and more crucially, an entirely new level that will be based on sequences in the movie set in Tokyo. What makes the DLC an even more enticing prospect is that it will see Keanu Reeves voicing Shadow.
GAMEPLAY TWEAKS
Sonic X Shadow Generations is set to tweak the original 2011 platformer’s gameplay in a number of ways. The core experience is obviously going to remain a familiar one, especially where Sonic Generations is concerned, but you can expect a number of changes nonetheless, such as Shadow Generations having no Life system and having a number of different camera customization settings, Shadow’s moveset having some variations (such as the Jump Dash beinf replaced by a double jump), and more.
CONTROLS
As is often the case in modern remasters, Sonic X Shadow Generations will also allow players to choose between different control schemes. The default controls – dubbed Standard – will be based on Sonic Frontiers, while Legacy controls will be more similar to what you’ll remember of Sonic Generations. The differences will obviously be fairly minute (like Boos being mapped to R2 instead of Square (or RT and X on Xbox), but those who have a preference one way or another will be able to choose.
SONIC GENERATIONS
It goes without saying that Shadow Generations will be the main attraction for many who’re looking to purchase the upcoming release, but Sonic Generations is obviously going to be a big part of the experience as well. The beloved 2011 platformer is considered to be one of Sonic’s strongest 3D entries, and the chance to dive back into its offerings is an enticing one, to say the least, especially since Sega has confirmed that it has fully remastered the entire experience.
LENGTH
We’ve spoken about Shadow Generations’ length, but for many, this is going to be their first time playing Sonic’s side of the journey as well- so how beefy should you expect that to be? According to HowLongToBeat, Sonic Generations is anywhere between 6-12 hours long for those looking to play its main story, depending on how much you engage with its optional content. Given that Shadow Generations is set to be somewhere in that same range, put together, the two should make for a fairly sizeable experience.
SWITCH FILE SIZE
The Nintendo Switch is where a huge portion of the Sonic audience typically finds itself, and if you’re looking to play Sonic X Shadow Generations on Nintendo’s platform as well, you’ll want to clear up some storage space- well, by Switch standards. The upcoming double pack is confirmed to have a file size of 13.8 GB, which is tiny by modern AAA standards, but maybe not so much by Switch standards. In comparison, Sonic Frontiers had a file size of 15.3 GB on the Switch. Another Sonic remaster, Sonic Colors, had a 6.8 GB size- though unlike Sonic X Shadow Generations, that did not include an entirely new campaign.
PC REQUIREMENTS
Unsurprisingly, on PC, Sonic X Shadow Generations’ system requirements are quite modest. On minimum settings, the game will run at 720p and 30 FPS, and will require either an i3-2120 or an FX-6300, along with either a GeForce GTX 550 Ti or a Radeon HD 5770, and 8 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, to run the game at 1080p and 60 FPS on recommended settings, you’ll need either an i7-2600 or a Ryzen 5 1400, along with either a GeForce GTX 780, a Radeon RX 470, or an Intel Arc A310, and 12 GB of RAM.
