Is Sonic X Shadow Generations Actually Remastered?

There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the Sonic Generations remaster included in Sonic X Shadow Generations, mainly because the remaster seemingly looks no different from the original game. But is that actually true? Let's discuss this in today's video!

Switch Friend Code: SW-1394-4522-8810
PSN: SonicFazbear067
Xbox Live: CousinsSF

Music Used:
"Dragon Dance" from Sonic Lost World
"Jungle Joyride (Night)" from Sonic Unleashed

#sonic #sonicthehedgehog #sonicgenerations #sonicxshadowgenerations #sonic2024 #shadowgenerations

[lks]

Step 1: change HUD
Step 2: call it "enchanced visuals"
Step 3: profit.

[Derp-O]

They actually did remaster Generations pretty substantially! You see, they raised Classic Sonic’s upper middle quill!

[kakhome]

I'm in the camp of Generations not really being broke and not minding playing it safe with a straight port (graphically). But it should be advertised at face value

[widerekxxanimations]

I've noticed like 2 diffrences with the gens remaster, classic sonic's top quill being longer and the shadows being a little bit darker

[PunIntendedXP]

sonic fans trying to find one new pixel on Sonic's model just to justify themselves

[UltraSTH]

This game is more in the same category as Sega Ages Sonic 1 and 2, it’s really just an enhanced port, those versions added small things like the Drop Dash, Ring Keep Mode, Super Sonic Mode, even the arcade version of Sonic 1, but the difference is, those were advertised as straight ports, not remasters. Just wanna put that out there, feel free to quote me on this if you want

[SonicSwift]

I think the main issue is that Sonic Generations is confirmed to still be using hedgehog engine 1 while Shadow Generations was built on hedgehog engine 2. I'm not saying trying to make an excuse but I think it's an important factor to consider.

[ScourgeTheAshura]

Personally, as someone who has never, and has always wanted to play generations. The fact that it is playable on newer consoles is enough for me. Yes it could be better, but I’m SO excited to get to play both games for the first time!

[dr.sabertooth]

"It will improve on release"
Is a very common cope for the sonic fanbase to negate criticism

It happened with forces, frontiers, and now this game

[Sonicprime]

Honestly, I agree people should have their own opinion

[Theultimatelifeform]

I don’t mind it since I didn’t play the original Generations

[Blueprime]

I'm no modder but I am someone who are really familiar with Sonic 3d models, I do renders of them.
and while Sonic Gens "remaster" dosen't have any huge differences, I can say that it DOES have some if you look closely.
for example, the colors look so much brigther now, I honestly didn't liked how original gens looked at all, I've always thought it looked really "gray" in some way, but the remaster does look like it makes the colors brigther, I'd say they put a filter of more exposition, since in some parts, I did noticed some shadows are way more darker than before, so yeah, I can say there is a graphical difference but it's a little subtle if you don't pay close attention.
so maybe they did remastered it but not that much, I'd love to see a graphical encancement, specially for the cutscenes, but eh, it still looks good, I'd say even better than og generations
but that's just me.

[RaiginAnimator]

Graphics side? I thought the Textures look the same because of YouTube compression.


Nothing running on 4K ever looks that good On 1080p trailers

To me personally

[the-aspiring-creator]

I see a lot of people commenting stuff like this so I feel like breaking down a few things that should be understood.

1) "The graphics do look better, the shadows are more defined and the colors are richer."

What you're likely seeing is the result of Generations being on better hardware and making use of HDR which naturally has allowed colors in media to look more vibrant and in the case of dark detail really makes a difference in having it pop. It naturally looks cleaner because aside from PC and Xbox One/Series S and X backwards compatibility? Sonic Generations on PS3 and 360 ran at a resolution of I believe 720p at 30fps (PS3 apparently was 1080p but that's one system and it still was locked to 30fps). It's to be expected that it looks clearer and cleaner but that's not the same as remastering a game which brings me to my next point.

2) "It's a remaster, not a remake."

I see this point being thrown around and I feel while this is accurate, it also kind of misses what a remaster is. To remaster something is to improve the quality and if you advertise it as a remaster? It means that while the expectations should not be on it being rebuilt from the ground-up, there's still the expectation of improvements. People have commonly compared this to 3D World's rerelease on the Switch and I feel in particular that's a good point to bring up because while some sites use the "remastered" wording, most of Nintendo's marketing from what I recall didn't really call it a remaster, they noted it had additional features but otherwise put their focus on Bowser's Fury, not so subtly indicating this is kind of just them rereleasing a game on the more successful console with new material and improvements to accommodate for the lack of certain features of the system. For another example? There's the God of War HD Collection. Now the games on PS3 did see a boost with upped framerates, better widescreen support and updated textures and clarity but the people at Sony made it clear these are not remastered but rather enhanced ports. Sonic Adventure DX setting aside technical problems is a remaster. It has the visuals somewhat overhauled, the framerate's improved and there's the extra content. Sure if we're talking the most basic definitions then Generations is indeed "remastered" but to me if that's the case I might as well call any emulated game a remaster because it looks cleaner. People know how to temper expectations for a remaster when it's accurately presented. It's what makes something like Colors Ultimate embarrassing because the bare minimum people expected was Colors with a resolution and FPS boost and some bonus content but then the game released kind of broken and with clear corner cutting thanks to rushed development. Now to be fair, Generations still looks good which is likely why it just being cleaner is fine with people and that's totally understandable but when you promise a remaster? That's kind of a problem, especially when you compare the Shadow content to Generations and see how much better it looks and for the record, I don't think it really matters that they're running off two engines. I mean modders have shown how just enabling Unleashed's lighting and shaders can make a world of difference.

Now if you look at all that and go "Okay but I still like it and I'm pre-ordering?" then by all means do so. This isn't about trying to tell you that decision is stupid or anything like that. If you've justified the purchase then you've justified it. This is about pointing out that SEGA is advertising it to be this one thing when it isn't and while we are a couple months out from its full release? It doesn't really look that great to be four or five months out, marketed as a remaster and still not have anything changed about it. And again, let me remphasize this, this is not me telling you that you are a stupid person for pre-ordering or desiring to buy this. Trying to make any sort of argument to counter these claims is pointless since your purchase is your purchase. If you feel honest-to-Chaos looking at this that this is enough of a upgrade and are satisfied? That's awesome, I more than accept that take.

[knowingjordankid]

I honestly think that Sonic X Shadow Generations is not a remastered. I think Sonic X Shadow Generations and Sonic Generations are two different games.

[Sonicprime]

But yeah, sonic generations, the exact same although I’m fine with it mainly because I don’t play sonic generations because I don’t have a PC. I have a PS3 and PS4.

[d.o.a]

I just realized that this game is … « Mario 3D World + Bowset fury »

I mean by that they are both some remaster of an old game with another half BASED ON THE NEWEST GAME

Clearly Shadow Generation is based on Sonic Frontiers a lot of elements looks like it

And the Bowser Fury part is clearly inspired and based on Mario Odyssey

[chrange]

Literally everyone who's played the demo has said it looks noticeably a lot better than it used to so I believe that

[Terminal_Apotos]

It’s just a Port with some extra features. Had they actually remastered it by improving the textures and lighting it could’ve been on the Level of Shadow Generations. Even Worse is it looks slightly worse with the broken Grass in Green Hill and they removed the animation where Sonic Looks back at the Piranha Bot at the End of the Cave Grinding Section.

[josanchez]

I think people are so defensive of criticism in the sonic community because of how hard we were mocked for so long for liking sonic because of the trends a while back on youtube to just dog on sonic. Its no excuse for the behavior but its something to keep in mind