Sonic Generations (Platinum Hits) - Xbox 360

This game has the excellent 2D gameplay of the classic games, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4, but also the very fun 3D gameplay of Sonic Unleashed (which I actually thought was a great game). For how cheap this game is, I would say it's one of the best values you can find as far as Xbox 360 games. You can probably get better games at the forty to sixty dollar mark, but for so much less you can get this excellent homage to all the previous Sonic games.The music is so awesome too. When you're in the overworld area to select a level, as you pass by the levels you hear an amazing arrangement of the level's theme song redone as a Lindsey Sitrling-esque violin rendition. I would love to have the soundtrack with the full versions of these songs on them.I won't spoil anything, but the very last boss is kind of dumb. But the other bosses and other levels are all pretty great. There's plenty of replayability with mini-games/challenges and red stars & other collectables. You can even unlock a Genesis original version of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game.Finally, if you have a 3D TV, the 3D mode on this game is FREAKIN' SWEET. If nothing else, it was worth the purchase just to show off what gaming in 3D is like. Most games do not support this, and many that do are boring and barely worth playing, so it was a welcome addition to be able to use my TV's 3D feature on more than just Disney Blu-rays. Buy this game.

Wife and kids love this game. Wife plays more than kids do. Case was broken but game works fine. Would recommend to any hedgehog fan.

Best sonic game

The first game that I got with my SEGA Genesis was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and my love for the blue ball of speed began. This enjoyment of fast paced platforming lasted all the way through the ill-fated and fondly remembered Dreamcast (may it rest in peace). If you would have told me that Sonic wouldn't have a good game for years after the Sonic Adventure series I would have called you nuts - among many other colorful metaphors - and went back to playing. 3D Sonic has been a truly hit-or-miss affair at best, and 2D Sonic has not been his old self for quite some time. I'll confess I didn't want to buy this game at first. I just didn't know if I could handle disappointment again.All of this has changed though. Is it perfect? No. But it is so close that it's a miracle! This is the most fun I've had with the blue hedgehog since Sonic Adventure. They've stripped Sonic of all (or at least most of) the stupid gimmicks and went back to what made it fun to begin with. Learning the levels and then blazing through them at the speed of sound. This is a truly awesome trip down memory lane.They've went back through 20 years of Sonic titles, picked the best levels; revamped them a bit; and then let us play through them in 2D and 3D in beautiful high-definition. This game is fast and gorgeous, (so much so I would actually stop and just look at the beautiful artwork) it's something to behold.If you liked any of the Genesis or Dreamcast Sonic titles you owe it to yourself to pick this up. It's totally renewed my faith in the franchise.With that said; I noticed that sometimes there are some control issues. For instance: Sonic isn't always the most responsive. This of course is not an all the time event, but I've died several times while completing the game because my commands simply didn't reach him at all. Also of note is the fact that some of the challenges; and the last boss battle in particular; seems more like luck than player skill.I'll give two quick examples. First: when playing a level you may go through it several times and be able to perform a sequence of actions to get - let's say - to a shortcut. Well the next time this may not work. Once you've got a level layout down to muscle memory and you find out that what you've been doing all of a sudden drops you to a stand still because of some random oddity it's a little frustrating.Secondly: During the last boss battle going for the "Can't Touch This" achievement; which involves completing the boss battle without being hit; I must have played through it about two dozen times getting S ranks galore but something would always happen, or due to the autonomous nature of the fight Sonic wouldn't lock on and I'd be hit. Several times I felt cheated by seemingly random variations of the boss's actions. If you've played this boss you know that a lot of it is out of your hands as a player and so it was just aggravating.At any rate the game is not too tough not too easy, if you have kids get this for them so they can see what a real Sonic game can be. Plus it includes the original SEGA Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog! That's right the FULL GAME. Too Cool!P.S. There's a grammar mistake in one of the achievement descriptions for anyone who's looking for it. :)

Sonic the Hedgehog is back, and it looks like Sega wanted him back. After Sonic 06 came out, Sega just didn't seem to know how to make a "Sonic" game. Yeah, his name was there, but for a game to be a "Sonic" game, it's gotta be more. And the finally figured out what makes a Sonic game a Sonic game when they made Sonic Colors. And boy oh boy, that was awesome, but you can't just keep releasing the same old thing all the time. So, Sega came up with a completely original idea, to take Modern Sonic, and Classic Sonic and start from there.Now, the game itself isn't really new. Yeah, 2012, two Sonics, all that. However the stages, and content is a bit old. True Sonic fans will know the stages, but what they wont know (at least on the first play through) is the layout. Yes some stages still have major elements from the games, but for the most part they all have been redone. Yes, old stages from older Sonic games were taken, and remade for this one. You can platform through them with Classic Sonic, and blast through them with Modern Sonic. This means you play each level twice, but with a different level layout, and different music. The theme however is the same. For instance, in (spoiler alert) Crisis City, act 1, you'll play as Classic Sonic and get through the stage. Then act 2, you play as Modern Sonic, and play through a stage similar to act 1. So, these two acts are based on the same level, however their design is different. Make sense? I didn't think so. However, don't get the wrong idea. I'm no writer, the text above is the product of my bad writing skills. The actual game makes sense, and is much better than I describe it.Moving on, the overall storyline is (spoiler alert) Eggman finds this mythical creature called the Time Eater. And he uses it to rip holes in the space time continuum. This is why you play through stages from other games, instead of new and original ones. This is also the reason why the game features a Sonic from the past. Anyways, Modern Sonic, and Classic Sonic must run through each stage to help restore life to the stages that were dislocated by the rips in the fabric of time. Sound complicated? Well, you'll have to play the game see for yourself.The controls are pretty good, throughout my play, I've only encountered a few problems, but in defense of the game, I'd have to say that it is a result of constant boosting with Modern Sonic, and headless gameplay.Overall, the game is great. But it has one major flaw. One flaw that can't be fixed by means of a patch. One flaw, that makes me give it 4 stars, instead of 5. The game is way too short. Yeah, some people that have the game will probably say otherwise. There are 9 stages and 7 bosses. Each stage has 2 acts, however for each boss, that boss is just the one. You'll either play as Classic Sonic, or Modern Sonic depending on the boss. So in total, that's 18 acts, and 7 bosses. On the sideline, there are a bunch of extra missions for each character. So for a 100% completer, it might take a while. For a 100% S rank completer, it will take a while. However, for the average gamer, it wont. If there was just a few more stages, 15-20, the game would perfect. It would be an epic Sonic game, however, with this amount of content, it's good but it's just one step short of being awesome.In shorter words:Pros:Epic gameControls that work2 SonicsSonic fans get to replay some of their favorite stagesCons:Too shortDisks aren't made from 20kt goldThat's my review, but don't take my word for it. This game is a great addition to any Sonic fan's collection. So order it, make Amazon happy. But more importantly, tell Sega they've found what makes a Sonic game, and that they shouldn't throw it away.That's all, I'm out.