Sonic X Shadow Generations is out now for those who bought the game’s digital deluxe edition, and will be out for everyone else on Friday, October 25. The package includes a remaster of 2011’s Sonic Generations and a brand-new campaign starring Shadow the Hedgehog. Y’all, Shadow Generations is the best Sonic game in the past 20 years, and I spent a good 20 hours running around its open zone finding all the collectibles I could. That means I can give you a few pointers on how best to use your time as you try to reach that coveted 100 percent completion. Here are a few things to know before jumping into Shadow Generations.
Consider playing Sonic Generations first
This might seem like a wild thing to suggest, but while Shadow Generations is easily the big selling point of the package, the original Sonic Generations is also here and it feels substantially worse to play. However, part of the reason it felt bad to go back to was because I’d just spent 20 hours in Shadow Generations at that point and gotten used to the tightness of its controls. If you want to play both games, it may be worth hopping into Sonic Generations first, just so you don’t have to go back to something that feels a little dated compared to its counterpart. If you never played the original, it’ll also help contextualize Shadow Generations, as Shadow’s story doesn’t do a whole lot to explain what’s going on with the blue blur and all his friends. It will also explain why you don’t actually fight Sonic in the campaign. Just something to consider.
Don’t try and get a perfect run your first time through
Having been a high-score hound in previous Sonic games, I’ve always had a bad habit of trying to get a near-perfect run the first time I play through a level. Don’t be like me. If you fall down a hole or lose all your rings, keep running. It’s always fun when you manage to get an S rank the first go around, but if you’re unwilling to move forward until you make that no damage/no restart run, you’re gonna get stuck and waste time you could be spending seeing new levels and story. Come back to a level later. It’ll be there when you get back.
If you see a machine part, grab it immediately
Some of the many collectibles you’ll find in Shadow Generations are bolts, screws, washers, and other mechanical parts lying around the White Space map. If you see one of these, stop what you’re doing and grab it. Even if you’ve gotta run around the map to find the right bouncer to send you flying to it or floating platform to jump across to get to it, these little fuckers are the biggest pain in the ass to find in all of Shadow Generations. Unlike other collectibles that are either on the map or readily visible, these parts are tucked away in the corners of the map and are tiny enough that you might overlook them even from a birds-eye view. There are 80 of them hidden around the world and by the time you reach those last 15 or so, they make themselves real scarce. Don’t risk forgetting where one is, grab it when you see it.
Take screenshots of chests you can’t open at the moment
Throughout Shadow Generations you will unlock treasure chests around the White Space. Most of them are marked on the map; however, I encountered a handful that weren’t labeled for some reason and had to go looking for them. You open these with keys you find in stages and challenge levels, which means you may stumble upon a chest you can’t open until you’ve played a bit further. When this happens, try to screenshot the area or take note of where the chest is in case it’s one that the game, for some reason, doesn’t show on the map.
Finishing the game will make collecting easier
When you’re done with the main story, you’ll still be able to play levels, run around the White Space, and finish filling out your collection. Shadow gains powers throughout the game that let him traverse different parts of the map, and without getting into spoilers, the final ability you acquire is basically an easy mode button for traversal. So while you should absolutely grab items when you see them, just know this power will make collecting items pretty painless.
Take the time to read Gerald’s journal
One type of collectible you’ll find are pages of Doctor Gerald Robotnik’s journal. This is for the real lore sickos who want a new look at Shadow’s creation, the doctor’s descent into madness, and even a bit of a peek into series antagonist Doctor Eggman’s family drama. You’ll find these pages on balloons floating around the White Space. Shoot them down with a Chaos Spear attack and then you can read them in the collection room accessible from the pause menu.
Hard mode bosses and challenges count toward the completion percentage
As you play through Shadow Generations, you’ll be able to check your completion percentage for all the stages the game has to offer in the Records menu. However, if you notice you’ve done everything but it still doesn’t say you’ve hit 100 percent completion, it might be because the hard mode bosses and challenges count as separate stages from their normal difficulty counterparts. You can fight these bosses by activating Doom Zone from the Black Doom eyeball mechanism across from the Space Colony Ark entrance.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is getting another level later this year based on the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, with Keanu Reeves set to voice the antihero in the level. The film will premiere on December 20, and features Shadow as the main antagonist. Based on what we’ve seen, the movie seems to be sticking to his tragic backstory, which Shadow Generations examines as Shadow re-experiences key moments in past games.
