Continuing the Year of Shadow celebrations, Sega has shared a brand new trailer for Sonic X Shadow Generations, which showcases a couple of the stages returning for Shadow's side of the adventure.
And, just like with Sonic's stages in Sonic Generations, Shadow will also be revisiting levels from previous titles. Sega has highlighted three of those, and they'll be familiar to all of you diehard Shadow fans.
First up is one we saw and played at Summer Game Fest 2024 — Final Chase, Shadow's last stage in Sonic Adventure 2. We compared this to all the space-set levels in the Dreamcast and GameCube game, but Final Chase is clearly the biggest inspiration here. The side-by-sides show where Sega has diverted very slightly from the original level, but largely, this is a nostalgia-fuelled trip into space.
Next is Rail Canyon from Sonic Heroes — Team Dark's variant was the hardest of all four teams in the multiplatform adventure, and honestly, the glow-up here is incredible. The lighting? The backdrops? Blimey...
Rounding out the trio is a stage from Sonic the Hedgehog, or Sonic 06: Kingdom Valley. This one looks gorgeous and marks a pretty stark, lush change from the other Shadow levels we've seen. The transition between the original game and the Generations version in the trailer is also top-notch.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a rerelease of, arguably, one of the best 3D Sonic titles out there, Sonic Generations. The original game launched on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and 3DS back in 2011. The 3DS version actually came with a number of different stages compared to the console versions, including one that's returning for Shadow's campaign — a fight against the Biolizard from Sonic Adventure 2.
We've been hugely impressed with how Sonic X Shadow Generations looks and feels so far, but with very little Switch gameplay or footage to go on, we have some early concerns.
Last week, Sega shared a teaser for the accompanying animated special Dark Generations. Due to launch in the fall — presumably before Sonic X Shadow releases — the three-parter will act as a prologue to Shadow's story in the upcoming game. Plus, eager fans have spotted a teaser on the official website that hints at a fourth playable character. Who could it be?