Sonic Generations

"DOUBLE THE SPEED, DOUBLE THE FUN! Celebrate 20 years of Sonic with Sonic Generations."

- SEGA.com

Sonic Generations (ソニック ジェネレーションズ) is an upcoming game for Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and also rumored to be on the Nintendo 3DS. The game is made to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Plot
Sonic's universe is thrown into chaos when a mysterious new power creates "time holes," which pull Sonic and his friends back through time by a mysterious new nemesis. As a result, he encounters some surprises from his history, including Classic Sonic: Sonic as he was in the past.

Now, Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic must team up to defeat this strange new enemy, save their friends, and find out who is really behind this diabolical deed.

So far, Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic have been confirmed to appear, but other characters such as Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow could appear according to a French Q&A with Takashi Iizuka, who said that "they played a big part in Sonic's history and could be important in Generations as well."

The writers for the story are credited as Ken Pontac and Warren Graff of Happy Tree Friends fame. They also worked on Sonic Colors and MadWorld.

Gameplay
The game features levels derived from 20 years of Sonic history, ranging from the Classic era, through the Dreamcast era, to the Modern era. There will be a level taken from each Sonic game to represent the different times. Each level can be played with either Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic, each taking their own routes throughout the level. Classic Sonic's levels are strictly two dimensional side scrolling stages, using classic moves like the Spin Attack and the Spin Dash. Modern Sonic's levels, on the other hand, carry on the modern 2D/3D gameplay of recent titles such as Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, featuring Homing Attacks and Speed Boosts. There is going to be a new interactive menu that allows for complete immersion into Sonic's universe, as you complete the game extras are unlocked such as favorite characters and hidden treasures. Hub worlds like the ones in Sonic Unleashed have been hinted at.

Classic Sonic
Classic Sonic stages consist of him running in a permanent 2-D perspective, platforming all the way towards an end sign post, just like in the original games.

Modern Sonic
Modern Sonic's stages consist of running extremely fast through the stages while the perspctive switches between 2-D and 3-D such as in his more recent games, Unleashed and Colors specifically.

Playable

 * Modern Sonic
 * Classic Sonic

Enemies

 * Motobug
 * Chopper (Gigantic and Normal)
 * Crabmeat
 * Buzzbomber

Non-Playable

 * Classic Dr. Robotnik (seen on end signpost)
 * Unamed new nemesis

Unspecified

 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Shadow the Hedgehog

Voice Actors
Even though no confirmed official list has been made, Roger Craig Smith can be heard portraying modern Sonic in voice clips only. Classic Sonic will remain silent throughout the game, but will still show his personality through his actions and gestures.

Classic Era

 * Green Hill

Dreamcast Era

 * TBA

Modern Era

 * TBA

Videos
Video:Sonic Generations - Teaser Trailer HD|Sonic Generations Teaser Trailer. Video:Sonic Generations Gameplay Trailer|A gameplay trailer. Video:Sonic Generations - Interview (Translated)  New Footage|Interview Video:Sonic Generations Extended gameplay footage|Green Hill Zone gameplay thumb|300px|right Video:Sonic Generations Gamelay Interwiew 2|Sonic Generations Interview 2 With Gameplay Footage Video:Sonic Generations - G4 Gameplay Review and Interview

Trivia

 * While this is the first ever game in the entire Sonic series where a character meets his past self, Sonic has already met past or future versions of himself in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, SatAM, and Sonic the Comic.
 * Both of the Sonics' artwork are poses from past video games in the series.
 * This is the first game where Sonic's Classic form is rendered in 3D graphics since Sonic the Fighters, and it's also first game where Classic Sonic is rendered in a CGI artwork.
 * When Modern Sonic uses his boost, the tempo of the background music speeds up.
 * Playing as Classic Sonic on Green Hill Zone plays the original 16-bit version from the Genesis mixed with a techno beat to it, while Modern Sonic has a more modernized version of the song. It is assumed that all the levels will be this way.