Our favorite edgy hedgehog returns to face friends and enemies who haunt him from his past in “Sonic X Shadow Generations.” 

Released Oct. 25 as a re-release of the original “Sonic Generations,” “Sonic X Shadow” generations is the newest Sonic game to join the franchise and, unlike the original game, contains content dedicated to both Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog. 

Upon loading the game, players choose between playing Sonic or Shadow’s stories and experience iconic zones and levels from the past. 

While the base game on Sonic’s side is relatively the same compared to the original game, there were slight changes to cutscenes and character dialogue as well as improved graphics. 

Shadow’s side of the game, on the other hand, is far more unique. Where Sonic’s story is based on the old control scheme and design from the 2011 version, Shadow’s story takes inspiration from several elements of a more recent game, “Sonic Frontiers.” 

Players can explore an open zone similar to the Starfall Islands from “Sonic Frontiers.” Elements such as the random pieces of platforming and enemies scattered around the map are very reminiscent of the previous game and don’t feel out of place. 

As players progress through the story, Shadow will unlock more of the open zone to explore and recognize familiar characters and elements from his past such as E-123 Omega, Orbot, Cubot, Rouge the Bat, Maria Robotnik and Gerald Robotnik. 

Along the way, Shadow encounters various old foes he must overcome such as Biolizard, Mephiles the Dark, Metal Overlord and Black Doom. 

The main antagonist of the game, Black Doom, serves as a catalyst for Shadow to discover more about his past and shows his struggle between choosing to embrace his dark origins or choose heroism over vengeance. 

Players can experience seven zones, some of which Shadow has explored before such as Colony Ark, Rail Canyon, Kingdom Valley, Sunset Heights and Radical Highway. 

Curiously, one of the stages, Chaos Island, is a zone in which Shadow has never explored. In fact, he never made an appearance in the game in which it was featured, “Sonic Frontiers,” and was only briefly mentioned. 

Each zone has at least two acts: Act 1 is dedicated to 3D gameplay and a more open experience while Act 2, focuses more on 2D gameplay and a tighter, slightly less intense experience. 

The design of each stage is phenomenal and features multiple pathways and options to explore the level. Some of these pathways require the use of Shadow’s various abilities such as Chaos Control, an ability to freeze time for five seconds, or Chaos Spear, an ability where Shadow launches a projectile of energy to paralyze enemies. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be a game from the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise if it didn’t have killer music. 

Each stage has a remixed version of their original themes and the ability to change the soundtrack in-game to play other songs from different games. The remixed themes are quicker than their originals to fit the high-speed action of each zone. 

Despite Shadow being absent from the video game series for nearly seven years, “Sonic X Shadow Generations” has been an amazing representation of the ultimate lifeform and serves to be a good bridge to the next game in the franchise.