Sonic x Shadow Generations is an underrated gem, and it's a bargain right now

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Back in 2011, Sonic Generations immediately became a fan favourite 3D outing for the spiky speedster. By blending high-velocity sections with slower, more thoughtful platforming, the Sonic Team hit on a formula that made the character feel more intuitive and consistent than he’d been in his prior sprints outside the 2D plane.

13 years years later, Sonic x Shadow Generations features the remastered original game along with a whole new, Shadow the Hedgehog-focused storyline attached to the experience. Right now you can pick it up for just £34 on PS5 at Game (down from £44.99), just in time to reacquaint yourself with Shadow before he hits the big screen this December.

Sonic’s brooding, emo counterpart will be voiced by Keanu Reeves in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and he’s appropriately hard as nails in his brand new video game campaign. Somewhat sidelined for a long time, this fan favourite returns with slick, high-speed gameplay with a more ferocious attitude to combat that Sonic, hard rock blaring while you rip through each level, and a huge hub world that expands with new puzzles and challenges while you progress the story.

The original game still holds up and looks better than ever on PS5, with lovingly retouched visuals, a blistering framerate, and the same thrills of surging through levels as quickly as your reaction times will allow.

Over at Amazon it’s got an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 70 customer reviews. “Growing up I played and loved Shadow the Hedgehog,” said one five-star review. “This game feels like a sequel and I absolutely love it! The graphics are also very good and as a bonus you also get Sonic Generations remastered. This is truly a dream come true.”

“This game is amazing and much better with the added Shadow levels,” said another five-star review.

Another added: “I never did play the original Generations but this is an absolutely brilliant game and I see why at the time it was one of the best modern Sonic games.”

Despite many believing that Generations has some of the best handling in a Sonic game to date, not everyone is convinced: “The handling and control of Sonic is shocking. It’s a bang average game until you try and stop moving after running top speed, then it becomes absolutely infuriating.” The trick is to keep going at full speed, of course.

Others feel that the high-speed sections require too little input: “The game becomes independent, you barely control the game characters.”

If more sedate platforming action suits you better, Astro Bot is £51.49 at PlayStation and it’s tied first for this year’s best-reviewed PS5 games on Metacritic. Sonic’s old rival — in a corporate sense, at least — is also worth considering, with Mario Wonder down to just £41.85 at ShopTo.

That said, for mammals with an insatiable need for speed, there’s no better pick than Sonic x Shadow Generations this Christmas.