Sonic Generations

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game icon that is in the same league as the pixelated alien from "Space Invaders", the voracious Pac-Man, and those plucky Italian plumbers, the Mario Brothers. In July 2011, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Sonic Generations" was published for the Playstation 3, Windows, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS platforms. This platform game features levels identical to, or inspired by, levels found throughout the 20 years of Sonic gaming history. The game allows for two perspectives. In the Classic Sonic, the player views the gameplay from a 2D perspective, while in the Modern Sonic, the perspective switches to 3D. On Classic Sonic levels, the player can employ classic moves like the Spin Dash and the Spin Attack. The gameplay is essentially a retrospective of many of the most popular Sonic games that have come before. Each game starts with six lives, the player loses lives as he or she incurs damage while not holding onto rings. The player earns lives by collecting 100 or more rings. The plot kicks off with Sonic celebrating his birthday when the party is interrupted by a mysterious force called the Time Eater, who proceeds to eat holes in time. These holes suck Sonic's friends into other time periods in the Sonic universe. It's up to Sonic to find seven Chaos Emeralds, rescue his friend from various time periods, and stop the Time Eater from making more holes, as well as discover the mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes. "Sonic Generations" went on to sell 1.6 million units by the close of 2011, and was met with positive reviews. Playstation Official Magazine gave the game an 8 out of 10 rating.