Sonic hurtles along, propelled by buffers and springs rather than the player, until you run into spikes or an enemy dropped in your path. Most of all, it shows how the clarity of vision that brought us Green Hill has eluded Sonic Team and handheld developer Dimps in recent years. Once you get past the recreations of the beloved 16-bit stages, however, things take a nosedive. Clear those and a bonus stage is unlocked, along with access to the next locations.

The concept is the same as the 360 and PS3 version of the game - classic Sonic and modern Sonic take it in turns to tackle a compilation of stages from previous games - but here the hub world of the console game is replaced with a simple two-act choice per stage: Act I features Classic Sonic, Act II his modern counterpart. That's not the fault of the original games, which are among the best of the modern-era Sonic titles it's down to the way they've been reworked for this particular version. There's thankfully nothing from the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog travesty here, but Emerald Coast and Radical Highway stages reimagined from both Sonic Adventures, plus Sonic Rush's Water Palace and the Tropical Resort from Sonic Colors, show a definite dip in quality all the same. The relatively small screen of the 3DS can be an issue, sometimes reducing Sonic to less than a centimetre in height, but few fans will complainīut then the birthday party rolls on, introducing stages that weren't seen in the beefier console versions of the game. The visuals are a delight, with the different planes of Sonic's 2D world slipping into 3D very nicely. It's thrilling and comforting to revisit these beautifully designed courses, their familiar contours refreshed by a crisp 3D makeover.Ĭontrol is perhaps a little spongy on the control stick, while the minuscule d-pad never feels robust enough for the sort of fast action the game demands, but it's an otherwise excellent recreation of some seminal gaming moments. It's a legacy that the series has struggled to live up to, and it's notable that the brightest moments of Generations' 3DS incarnation come in the first three stages, which recreate not only the iconic Green Hill Zone but also Casino Night from Sonic 2 and Mushroom Hill from Sonic & Knuckles. This is the Sonic we mean when we pine for the glory days of the blue hedgehog a rollercoaster of verdant slopes and dizzying spins, rewarding players for taking the high road or the low road, and giving the sedate platform genre a much-needed red sneaker up the arse in the process. On the 20th anniversary of a series that has lost its way more than once, with each new release promising that this time, no really, this time the old magic will be recaptured, it's appropriate and yet slightly defeatist to open with the same stage that resonates so strongly for so many fans. Green Hill casts a long shadow over Sonic Generations on the 3DS.

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