Draft:Sonic X Shadow Generations

Sonic X Shadow Generations is an upcoming platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It follows Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) as the second Sonic the Hedgehog game to feature Shadow as the protagonist. It is scheduled to be released on October 25, 2024; it will not be available as a standalone game, but rather as a bundle with a remaster of Sonic Generations (2011) for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows.

Gameplay
Shadow Generations is a platform game that shifts between side-scrolling and 3D gameplay. It is bundled with the 2024 rerelease of Sonic Generations (2011) and players can switch between both games at will. Shadow Generations story takes place during the events of Sonic Generations. It follows Shadow the Hedgehog as he faces his archenemy, the alien Black Doom, who has returned following his defeat in Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and plots to take over the world.

Shadow Generations levels, like those in Sonic Generations, are drawn from previous Sonic games, such as Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), Sonic Heroes (2003), Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Shadow serves as the player character and controls similarly to Sonic, but can use his "Chaos Control" power to freeze objects and access alternate paths. Unlike Sonic Generations' side-scrolling hub world, the hub world in Shadow Generations is 3D and features open-world gameplay similar to that of Sonic Frontiers (2022).

Development
Shadow Generations is part of the Year of Shadow, a Sonic the Hedgehog marketing campaign centering around Shadow-themed content. Katsuyuki Shigihara, one of Sonic Generations designers, directed Shadow Generations, and other Sonic Team members who worked on Generations contributed. Sonic producer Takashi Iizuka said that like Sonic Generations, Sonic Team chose to revisit levels from past Sonic games to recall Shadow's history. They chose levels they found the most interesting and the most popular among fans, while integrating Sonic Frontiers open-world gameplay to add modern elements.

Release
Sega announced Shadow Generations on January 31, 2024, during one of PlayStation's State of Play livesteams. It is scheduled to be released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on October 25, 2024. It will not be available individually, but rather as a bundle with the 2024 rerelease of Sonic Generations under the title Sonic X Shadow Generations. Video Games Chronicle compared this to Nintendo bundling the Super Mario game Bowser's Fury (2021) alongside the rerelease of Super Mario 3D World (2013). Preorder bonuses include a skin based on Terios, an early Shadow design, and a booklet detailing Shadow's in-universe creation from the perspective of Gerald Robotnik.