Hands-on with the demo
A few months back, I concluded my review of Sonic Colours on a fairly bum note. For the most part it was a fast and fun platformer, and it showed that Sonic Team still have huge creative potential, but they just didn't have the skill to match the creativity with tight, slick gameplay. Judging by the newly released demo of Sonic Generations, I'll be needing to give Sonic Team a little more credit come November.
For starters, Sonic Generations is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and happily ranks as one of the most visually distinctive games of this generation. The Green Hill Zone has never looked more beautiful, and it puts their half-arsed effort from Sonic Adventure 2 into sharp contrast; waterfalls crash with crystalline brilliance, mountains stretch high into the sun-kissed sky, and a mixture of bright greens, warm browns and light azures make every moment a joy to behold.
Just as impressive is their remix of the classic Green Hill theme, which happily surpasses its source; the rock-heavy version that accompanies modern Sonic's levels has also been heard at the latest E3, and both stand as fine examples of Sega finally making peace with their internal clash between the past and present of their mascot series. Make no mistake, Sega have finally learned the lesson that Mario never forgot and fans forever wished they would remember - the key to keeping the magic alive isn't to tear up those memorable moments of old, it's to keep them fresh and alive with gradual changes to the formula. In that sense Sonic Generations feels like we've been travelling through some alternate reality of the hedgehog's world in which he deviates from his true path more and more, suddenly jumping back to the correct path in 2011. Kudos very much go to the artists and level designers, who have returned to their roots with an astonishing passion.
So, knowing the skill with which Sonic Team can deflate any enthusiasm, there was a fair amount of trepidation when picking up the pad earlier today and finally getting a feel for the physics, which is one area that Sonic Team have failed to get right time and time again. They've at least got things half-right with Generations; going up and down, such as bouncing off a spring and firing into the air, feels as natural and weighty as it did in 1991. How they managed to subsequently ruin the left-to-right part is beyond me, and it's a very special skill that Sonic Team have nurtured here into something that expertly straddles the line between basically being okay while managing to curl your lip into the beginnings of a snarl.
Sonic's change in speed can only be described as schizophrenic, meaning that he's slow to get going at times yet races to full speed when he's already going at a rate of knots. Surely it should be the other way round? Why does he drift to a gentle stop when you let go of the d-pad, then come screeching to a halt when you tap in the other direction? Playing the demo occasionally feels like revisiting the first 8-bit Sonic on the Master System, where the strain of downgrading then-advanced physics to a vastly inferior machine made the game feel like it was about to break at every turn. Anyone who has played the original games, or even a Mario or Mega Man, will tell you that a key reason these games sold so well was because they were consistent. Sonic brought an extra dimension of weightiness and bounciness to the table that simply hadn't existed before, but it always felt tight and controlled. Sonic Generations (the demo, at least), feels as though they have over-complicated the physics, and as a result it doesn't.
But don't be fooled into thinking I'm writing off the entire game; the demo is only available for a limited time, so aside from letting the hype train build until November, Sega clearly aren't planning to let this represent the final product. From graphics to animations and sound effects to music, everything in this demo is as strong and self-assured as we could hope for, and while my faith in Sonic Team is by no means strong enough to believe they will fix it, the only slightly broken element here is the movement, which is lightly fractured at worst. The sentiments from my review of Colours still stand, but I'll happily admit that Sonic Team look set to have crafted a pretty entertaining game in its own right, and an amazing piece of fan service.
And with classic moments like Sky Sanctuary, the Death Egg and the awe-inspiring showdown against Perfect Chaos confirmed for a fresh lick of paint, there is more than enough in the game to guarantee that I will be there early on launch day, and I am more than willing to overlook its flaws in order to experience it.
A few months back, I concluded my review of Sonic Colours on a fairly bum note. For the most part it was a fast and fun platformer, and it showed that Sonic Team still have huge creative potential, but they just didn't have the skill to match the creativity with tight, slick gameplay. Judging by the newly released demo of Sonic Generations, I'll be needing to give Sonic Team a little more credit come November.
Just as impressive is their remix of the classic Green Hill theme, which happily surpasses its source; the rock-heavy version that accompanies modern Sonic's levels has also been heard at the latest E3, and both stand as fine examples of Sega finally making peace with their internal clash between the past and present of their mascot series. Make no mistake, Sega have finally learned the lesson that Mario never forgot and fans forever wished they would remember - the key to keeping the magic alive isn't to tear up those memorable moments of old, it's to keep them fresh and alive with gradual changes to the formula. In that sense Sonic Generations feels like we've been travelling through some alternate reality of the hedgehog's world in which he deviates from his true path more and more, suddenly jumping back to the correct path in 2011. Kudos very much go to the artists and level designers, who have returned to their roots with an astonishing passion.
So, knowing the skill with which Sonic Team can deflate any enthusiasm, there was a fair amount of trepidation when picking up the pad earlier today and finally getting a feel for the physics, which is one area that Sonic Team have failed to get right time and time again. They've at least got things half-right with Generations; going up and down, such as bouncing off a spring and firing into the air, feels as natural and weighty as it did in 1991. How they managed to subsequently ruin the left-to-right part is beyond me, and it's a very special skill that Sonic Team have nurtured here into something that expertly straddles the line between basically being okay while managing to curl your lip into the beginnings of a snarl.
Sonic's change in speed can only be described as schizophrenic, meaning that he's slow to get going at times yet races to full speed when he's already going at a rate of knots. Surely it should be the other way round? Why does he drift to a gentle stop when you let go of the d-pad, then come screeching to a halt when you tap in the other direction? Playing the demo occasionally feels like revisiting the first 8-bit Sonic on the Master System, where the strain of downgrading then-advanced physics to a vastly inferior machine made the game feel like it was about to break at every turn. Anyone who has played the original games, or even a Mario or Mega Man, will tell you that a key reason these games sold so well was because they were consistent. Sonic brought an extra dimension of weightiness and bounciness to the table that simply hadn't existed before, but it always felt tight and controlled. Sonic Generations (the demo, at least), feels as though they have over-complicated the physics, and as a result it doesn't.
But don't be fooled into thinking I'm writing off the entire game; the demo is only available for a limited time, so aside from letting the hype train build until November, Sega clearly aren't planning to let this represent the final product. From graphics to animations and sound effects to music, everything in this demo is as strong and self-assured as we could hope for, and while my faith in Sonic Team is by no means strong enough to believe they will fix it, the only slightly broken element here is the movement, which is lightly fractured at worst. The sentiments from my review of Colours still stand, but I'll happily admit that Sonic Team look set to have crafted a pretty entertaining game in its own right, and an amazing piece of fan service.
And with classic moments like Sky Sanctuary, the Death Egg and the awe-inspiring showdown against Perfect Chaos confirmed for a fresh lick of paint, there is more than enough in the game to guarantee that I will be there early on launch day, and I am more than willing to overlook its flaws in order to experience it.
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