Sonic Generations – review

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog's debut on the Mega Drive, Sega has plucked stages, music, characters and mechanics from across its mascot's history and come up with the most loving slice of fan service seen this year. Each level can be played either in traditional 2D as Classic Sonic or in a shifting 2D-3D hybrid with Modern Sonic. The frenetic pace can be too much for the eyes to cope with at times, and the game struggles too, groaning under the weight of its highly detailed backgrounds, resulting in some disappointing slowdown. But the time trials and challenges present plenty of replay value for those willing to learn the best routes through stages. Getting there means learning the often cynical placement of enemies and accommodating for the slight delay in responsiveness when jumping at speed, but this is the best Sonic game in years – even if that is damning with faint praise.