SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS; My First Sonic Game
Kata fangirled to me about the new Sonic game that came out recently, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel that excitement through the texts. The Sonic franchise is a pretty significant piece of her life, to the point that the two are inseparable from each other. I, however, haven't had that same experience. I mostly stuck to straight-forward racing games for my high speed adrenaline fix, I never owned a Sega console, and never played any of the games in the Sonic series even when I had opportunities. Platforming is one of those genres that very rarely sticks out to me like racing games do, with some very rare exceptions like Mirror's Edge or Super Mario World - the former being a game that came out just as I was getting really into parkour for a brief spell, and the latter being a game from my childhood.
Given the lack of any personal experience with Sonic games, all I really knew was that most of the catalogue features quite a bit of jank. Without that emotional connection long-time Sonic fans have to the series, it's harder for me to get over some of the bigger flaws in the gameplay of those games. So, when Kata tells me a new Sonic game nails it properly, I know that this is my chance to sink my teeth into a franchise that has evaded me my entire 30 year life.
After an hour of gameplay, it's obvious to me what I've been missing out on.
So far I've only just started playing through the Sonic side of SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, but I can immediately see why Kata was so excited about it. The controls are just the right balance between snappy and heavy when they need to be, giving a strong sense of momentum and adding weight to the amount of speed Classic and Modern Sonic can achieve. I've seen friends play Sonic games so I can usually tell the difference between playing the game well and the game having a conniption, but here I can tell my mistakes are all because I'm still too green for the movement to feel as fluid as I can make it. There haven't been any noticeable bugs or weird behavior from the game, I just suck at platformers and need to Get Good with capital G's to actually feel that ludicrous speed Sonic fans crave.
I cleared the Act 1 & 2 versions of the first few levels before getting started on the challenges, and my first choice was a Classic Sonic doppelganger challenge - beat the ghost Sonic to the finish line. I mean, give me a race to win and I'll have a blast trying to win it. This gave me my first taste of what it's like to truly be Sonic Fast.
The ghost isn't exactly hard - or, I assume it isn't given how inexperienced I am. However, it does require a bit of work from inexperienced players to try and get up to speed. I failed the level about four or five times, but on my sixth attempt I was flying through the level with a flow and momentum that surprised me. It was like my fingers were playing the game for me, making adjustments in flight path and ground speed before I could even think of making those decisions. I'm pretty familiar with Flow State - a frame of mind where the body operates on instinct when you're particularly focused on something - but I'd never felt it quite like this. It was like I was dissociating but with positive vibes rather than the typical "locked in a cage" feeling I get while actually dissociating. I was watching myself blast through the level with finesse and cheering myself on, rather than banging on a locked door trying to be let back into the control room. It's a really addicting experience, honestly.
I'm not too sure how hooked this game is in me - it's a platformer, so it has an uphill battle to climb - but if any Sonic game was gonna sink its teeth in deep for a total noob like me, it's probably gonna be this one. If you're like me and you've always wanted to get into Sonic but never really felt there was a game out there to give a fair shake, SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS is a pretty safe pick for you to try out.