Light Crusader

As I've said quite a lot, Treasure is one of my favorite game developers of all time, but Light Crusader was always my least favorite game from them. I remember trying it when it popped up on NSO and quickly bouncing off of it. Treasure's bread and butter has always been wacky, cartoony action platformers with creative and surreal imagery, hardware-pushing visual effects, and complex, diverse, ever-changing gameplay. So to see them put out what seemed like a drab, realistic-looking isometric action adventure game felt like such a weird step away from what makes Treasure so special. But I decided to revisit the game recently to give it another shot after finding out that it's actually quite well-respected, and little did I know that it actually does manage to have a lot of that Treasure magic, just hidden a bit deeper under the surface.

Light Crusader's unskippable opening is as unassuming as it gets. You play as a knight named Sir David who arrives at a town only to discover that the townsfolk have been disappearing, and you are tasked to investigate. It seems like your standard fantasy fare, maybe even a bit too cliché for the brilliant minds at Treasure. But once the intro ends and the game actually gives you control, I was immediately surprised by how... smooth movement felt? It manages to dodge the common mistake that many isometric games make where pressing up moves you up-right, essentially skewing the directional inputs to match the perspective. It's a control style I could never get used to, so I'm glad Light Crusader keeps things simple. Up makes you go north, just as it should be. Your movement speed is fast and your jumps are floaty, so I found it really easy to make precise movements with confidence, quite the impressive feat for a game with this perspective. Talking to NPCs will also reveal that dialogue boxes display in real-time in this game, meaning you can start a conversation and then just continue walking around. This combined with the fast movement speed means that once you take control of David, Light Crusader really never stops moving, keeping up a brisk, frenetic pace throughout its entire playtime.

Another thing you'll notice right away is the absolutely wacky NPC interactions. Walk up to the several other characters around the castle you're in and you'll discover that you can just kinda push them around, even down the stairs. As a matter of fact, Light Crusader actually has an entire physics engine built for it, and many in-game objects from enemies to items to chests can all be physically pushed around. And this is a pivotal part of the game, more than even being an adventure or action game, Light Crusader is a physics-based puzzle game. The first task the game has you do is go to the graveyard, find the interactable grave, and push it to the side to unveil the entrance to a large dungeon underneath the town, which shows you that looking for context clues is important and that you should try to push around everything you see. This is the first area where the sheer Treasure-ness of Light Crusader really becomes apparent. Designing a full, working physics engine for a Sega Genesis game and allowing you to use it on pretty much everything in the game is just the kind of goofy ambitiousness that always seemed to define Treasure.

Once you enter the dungeon, the true gameplay loop of Light Crusader reveals itself. This is a dungeon crawler through and through, and you have to work your way through six varied dungeon floors to find the evil dude responsible for all the disappearances. I actually really like games that take place entirely within a dungeon, like Ys Origin or Swordcraft Story, it's like I can get the fun puzzle-solving action-exploration of a Zelda dungeon but stretched out across an entire game. And as far as the core exploration goes, Light Crusader is pretty damn great. Right from the get-go, the dungeon sprawls into a number of different rooms and directions, and you have a simple map to help you keep track of which doors you haven't checked out yet. There's a solid amount of collectibles from health upgrades to equipment, and there's even a few secret areas the map doesn't tell you about that tend to hide easter eggs and optional, powerful items like a fast travel sextant and a dedicated cat room. This is honestly a perfect balance for exploration in an adventure game like this. While by no means trivial, I was able to beat the game with max health and equipment relatively guideless, but I also probably missed a lot of those hidden rooms. This can also really increase replay value since players will be likely to notice things on a second or third playthrough they haven't the first time around.

As I said earlier, the bread and butter of Light Crusader are the physics puzzles. Many rooms will have you pushing a variety of objects to accomplish certain tasks. There's standard blocks, statues that shoot out lasers, explosive bombs and barrels you can use to blow open doors, and boulders that you can roll around. The game gets an impressive amount of mileage out of all of these objects and puzzles will have you utilizing switches, elevators, wind, or even other physics objects to get them to where they need to go. Later floors will even have you start juggling multiple different types of physics objects and trying to figure out which does what. But with all that said, is the physics engine even... good? I mean, it is still a Genesis game and to be fair, yeah, it is a bit janky. Pushing certain objects around can even be a bit overly sensitive making it frustratingly easy to accidentally push something into a corner and force a reset. However, I still found it not only impressive but fun to mess around with. Most of the puzzles are still quite well-crafted around the engine's limitations, and for the ones that aren't, reseting is as easy as leaving the room and trying again. On top of that, the freeform nature of physics in general meant that I honestly feel like I was able to solve a few rooms with completely unintentional methods which did genuinely make me feel pretty clever.

Of course, there's also a fair amount of enemies to fight, and this is probably where Light Crusader is at its weakest. Combat is as basic as going up to an enemy and swinging your sword. You can attack in mid-air to do a dive attack but that's pretty much it, and between your stubby sword and the depth perception, it's pretty easy to whiff your attacks. On top of that, this game doesn't give you gold for fighting enemies. Instead, you can either get gold as a rare pick-up, find it in a few hidden chests, or grind for it in a few random spots across the game. This means that I often found myself unable to buy anything in the game's shops. And yet, on the other hand, despite all these combat issues, Light Crusader is actually kind of a cakewalk. This game absolutely showers you with health restoring items, pretty much every enemy drops one and you have a massive inventory. On top of that, there's an auto heal function so you don't even need to think about healing yourself, meaning that most enemies and bosses can be easily taken out by standing right in front of them and spamming attack. I'll be honest and say that I'd rather a game be broken but easy than broken but annoyingly hard, but the item drop rate doesn't fix the fact that combat isn't especially fun, it's just a bandaid on the greater issue.

That being said, there are a few combat-related aspects of Light Crusader that I did genuinely really like, and of course, they're the most Treasure-esque parts of the whole system. The magic system seems pretty standard in that you have a number of spell types based on elements like fire and earth, but you'll quickly realize that you can actually combine the element types to create different kinds of spells, almost like Threads Of Fate's similarly fantastic magic system. With four elements, there's a total of 15 spells you can use, which adds a ton of fun experimentation. Not every spell is especially useless, but if you take the time to mess around with the system, you'll probably find a few favorites. This is a very Treasure take on a tried-and-true system, imbuing it with a lot more player freedom. The boss fights are also generally really fun, as you'd expect from Treasure. They're all big, varied, visually-impressive, and at times very creative. I especially love the floating armor fight as you'll need to hit the shadow of the person manipulating the armor to take it down. On a smaller note, I also love how you can deflect certain projectiles with a well-timed sword press, such a cool little feature that didn't need to be there.

As I said, the dungeon spans six floors, and each one is different from the last in terms of structure. Floor 1 is a fairly simple introduction to Light Crusader's gameplay loop. Floor 2 is probably the one you'll need a notepad for the most, as you need to find codes you can use to unseal four orbs scattered on the far reaches of the map. From a puzzle standpoint, this was definitely one of the high points of the game for me. Floor 3 has a huge orc village in the center, which you can infiltrate using an orc disguise (which can also help you skip a few combat encounters). Floor 4 is more platforming-focused as it has a ton of icy floors to deal with. And Floor 6, being the final floor, has the most devious puzzles in the game along with the vast majority of the disappeared townsfolk you need to rescue. This variety helps keep the game fresh despite taking place almost entirely within a dungeon, and really helps keep the pacing up throughout. But if you've played Light Crusader, though, you probably already know that Floor 5 is the highlight. You'll stumble upon eight teleporters each taking you to a small mini-dungeon you need to complete to recruit one of the eight wizards. These mini-dungeons take place pretty much all over the world, from a western town, to an active warzore, to the far future, and more. You'll be fighting a giant tank, fast-moving ninjas, and even the elements themselves, it's so much fun. And in what's otherwise a fairly standard fantasy setting, this sudden shift to a random genre roulette feels so wonderfully Treasure.

As for the presentation, Light Crusader does genuinely look pretty impressive. Not only are the characters and isometric environments quite detailed, but Treasure manages to squeeze a lot of cool effects into this thing. Floating platforms along with the player have dropshadows which helps to make platforming a cinch, the dialogue boxes are formed seamlessly with wireframes, many of the bosses utilize multiple sprites like in many of Treasure's action games, and doors, effects, and several in-game objects are fully 3D rendered. And the game manages to do pretty much all of these with zero performance issues, it all runs super smoothly. That being said, I can't deny that the artstyle itself can feel a bit generic by Treasure standards. The color scheme is fairly drab and Koichi Kimura's distinct visual style that defined games like Dynamite Headdy and Silhouette Mirage feels entirely absent here. Similarly, the soundtrack is more ambient and baroque-inspired than you'd expect from Treasure, but honestly, it's not too bad overall. The boss themes feel a bit twangy, but most of the floor themes are quite catchy, with the more energetic ones sounding like they came right out of a Castlevania game.

Overall, Light Crusader was honestly a pleasant surprise. It's by no means a perfect game, the combat system is not especially great, some of the physics puzzles can be pretty finicky, and the game probably could've gone a bit weirder in spots. However, it's honestly a really pleasant and enjoyable dungeon crawler with fun movement that dodges pretty much all of the pitfalls that come with isometric gameplay, engaging exploration, brisk pacing, an impressive physics engine that's fun to mess around with, and a lot of charming, little quirks that only a company like Treasure could've thought up. As far as top-down Genesis adventure games go, it easily surpasses stuff like Landstalker and Beyond Oasis for the sheer fluidity of play alone. I don't think this is Treasure's worst game anymore, it's not even their worst Genesis game. I'd easily play this again over their McDonalds game, that's for sure. It might seem unassuming under the surface but if you give Light Crusader time to show its true colors, you'll find a unique, fresh, and well-thought out adventure game.

3.5/5 Stars

Kirby's Dream Land 2: A Deep Dive

Kirby is a series known for not having a bad game, and I generally still think that's true. When the generally regarded worst Kirby games include a perfectly fine game with microtransactions, a reskin of Puyo Puyo, and a pinball game for the Game Boy, all of which are spinoffs, your series is in pretty good hands. But even with how consistently strong the mainline games are, there's gotta be a worst, and for me, Kirby's Dream Land 2 is the worst mainline Kirby game. And it really hurts to call it that, because it's not a bad game. It's honestly one of the Game Boy's most impressive platformers, and makes some pretty big improvements over its predecessor. On top of that, it kickstarts my beloved Dark Matter trilogy and paves the way to two of my favorite games in the series. So what's the problem? Well, let's talk about it.

Sonic X Shadow Generations Stage & Boss Ranking

Now that I've played both Sonic Generations and its new counterpart, Shadow Generations, I wanted to rank the stages and bosses across both of the games to see how they compared. Let's start with the stages:

16. Casino Night
Yeah, I'm counting Casino Night because why not? This was a DLC stage that came bundled with Sonic X Shadow for free, and it's mostly just a pinball table that you can play to rack up points. It's not a bad pinball table, it's actually quite good. The physics are genuinely some of the most polished pinball physics in a Sonic game (not that it's much of a competition), and there's a lot of hidden offshoots to discover which help give the stage some replay value. That being said, it is still a basic score-chasing pinball game so obviously it doesn't stack up to any of the other zones.

15. Green Hill
I'm bored of Green Hill Zone. While most of Generations' stages still feel remarkably fresh for me despite how much its assets have been reused in later games, Green Hill Zone has been completely and utterly played out by this point. This is the most problematic in the Classic act which isn't even bad but is still easily my least favorite in the game because I just don't see any reason to go back to it when there are so many other Green Hill interpretations I find more fun (cough Mania cough). The Modern act fares a lot better as it manages to expand on Green Hill as a setting in some really neat ways like the interior cave section and being able to break through a bridge, but its short length and abundance of long straightways also gives it a pretty low skill ceiling compared to the other stages. Green Hill Zone is a fine starter area and it doesn't necessarily do anything wrong, but it's just not remarkable anymore.

14. Sunset Heights
Sonic Forces is arguably the most undercooked Sonic game of all time, filled to the brim with fantastic ideas but shows a staunch refusal to expand on any of them. The story could've been really fun, but it feels too slight and flippant to sell its threat. Most of the stage concepts seem really cool, I just wish they were longer. I love the idea of the weapon-based avatar stages, I just wish they flowed with your movement better. And while the soundtrack is one of my favorites in the series, I hate that there's so much of it you can't hear in-game. So seeing a stage from Forces recreated in the Generations style is something I've always wanted to see, and Sunset Heights is a pretty solid pick. To put it simply, I've had really high hopes for this stage and while it's still a pretty fun time, I hate to admit that it's still probably the weakest stage in Shadow Generations. 

Act 1 fleshes out the original stage in some neat ways with cool cutscenes involving the Death Egg Robots, an entire section in the sewers, and a few branching paths, but it still pretty constrictive and linear with rarely any space to move around. When compared to another city stage in Generations like Rooftop Run, with its open town squares and more zig-zaggy level design, it only makes Sunset Heights feel more like a straight line. It also doesn't help that this stage has easily the longest of the Black Doom segments and while it does have some cool moments where he curls buildings and roads into a Lost World-esque tube for you to traverse, it drags on particularly long and feels like it steals most of the screentime from the Sonic Forces part. Act 2 is a bit more interesting, fleshing out the sewer area with some really fun waterslides and having segments where you're actively dodging the Death Egg Robots' attacks, but I really wish the 3D act had this same level of complexity.

13. Planet Wisp
Don't get the wrong idea, me putting Planet Wisp so low does not mean I harbor any ill will towards the stage. As a matter of fact, I'll defend Planet Wisp in a heartbeat. Despite its focus on slower-paced platforming and the abundance of 2D in Modern's stage, it still feels like a satisfying final gauntlet thanks to how it utilizes all of both Sonic's movesets, its abundance of genuinely tricky hazards like the buzzsaws and missiles, and its setting of an Eggman factory. As someone who loves Colors and the Wisps, I think it's really cool that Sonic Team brought them back just for this stage, and they allow for the kind of complex routing and explorative level design that makes Colors so great. There's plenty of shortcuts to find as per the usual, but there's also a lot of potential shortcuts the players can make on their own due to how freeform the Spike and Rocket Wisps are. If you are willing to put up with the 2D, Planet Wisp's skill ceiling is absolutely massive. On top of that, the setting and music of Planet Wisp is predictably gorgeous, though I will concede that I really wish we got to spend more time in the exterior areas. My only other real gripe with Planet Wisp in Generations is mostly that it can feel pretty crushingly long compared to other stages in the game, especially since the Modern stage basically demands you play it at least twice to get all the collectibles, but that's really it. It's far from bad, and I will always stand by Sonic games needing more platforming-focused stages to balance out the constant speed.

 12. City Escape
City Escape is a stage I always found a bit overrated. Like yeah, it's obviously iconic and cool from a presentation standpoint but the few bits of genuinely fun core Sonic gameplay are practically bookended by two autoscrollers and that issue is kept pretty much completely intact in Generations' rendition of the stage. City Escape Modern fleshes out pretty much everything about the original. The boarding is more involved and has multiple paths to add replayability, the park section is far more open, and the truck has a few more tricks up its sleeve to make the final chase more goofy and exciting. However, the autoscroller issue remains, and is arguably even worse considering how it also has some of the most infuriating Red Star Rings in the entire game. Personally, I find the Classic version a lot more interesting since the truck is a more active threat, and the skateboard is now an item that you have to try to hang onto. It's also quite the massive difficulty spike as it's very easy to fall behind and get yourself rammed by the truck, maybe even a bit too easy since it feels like the stage is designed mostly for players who are able to hang onto the skateboard first and everyone else second. I do still think both of City Escape's stages are fun and have some very memorable setpieces, there's just a lot of other stages that I would rather play for some reason or another. Really just a testament to how great Generations' stages are that this isn't higher.

11. Space Colony ARK
The first act of Space Colony ARK is a great first level, probably one of the series' best. Despite still being a tutorial, it's got enough branching paths, interesting mechanics, and cool bits of fanservice to help it stay pretty replayable. That wide open interior area near the end of the stage is a particularly memorable bit of level design that really demands you replay the level multiple times to see everything there. It also has probably my favorite of the three Black Doom segments mostly because for the novelty. The first time you see the stage seamlessly shift to Radical Highway, it's incredibly sick especially if you're liked me and stunned at how your console can even handle it. The next few times, it feels like it's stealing the spotlight from the more interesting and novel stage themes. But yeah, everyone loves Act 1, it's not controversial for me to say it's one of the better acts in Shadow Gens. 

Sadly, I think Space Colony Ark's second act is probably my least favorite in the game solely for how unremarkable it is. Aside from serving as a tutorial for the Chaos Spear and Doom Wings, the level design feels pretty basic even compared to the other 2D stages and spamming X to open a bunch of doors is not compelling level design. As I mentioned in my review, I also think the mechanical look and abundance of repeated platforms make this one of the less visually-appealing stages in Shadow Generations despite how iconic of a location it is. Still, despite my issues, Space Colony ARK is a good start to the game and easily a better intro stage than Green Hill.

10. Rail Canyon
For as much as I like Sonic Heroes, Rail Canyon was definitely one of those stages that needed redemption solely with better rail grinding controls and that's exactly what we got. Act 1 really just feels like a more thoroughly fleshed-out version of the Sonic Heroes stage, requiring you to hop between rails a lot more often than in its inspiration and making those trams both a more active threat and a more interesting mechanic since they're affected by Chaos Control. The constant rail-grinding can get a bit repetitive though, and the Black Doom segment is easily the least memorable out of the three, though I like how it's the only one to not mark the immediate end of the stage. Act 2 is a rare case where I vastly prefer the 2D stage, though. The rail-grinding here plays out more like it did in Sonic Lost World, almost akin to a minecart stage in a Donkey Kong Country game. You have bomb cars trying to shoot off parts of the track, some pretty sick camera shifts, and an intense final section where you're being chased by a furious train, all set to a great remix of Bullet Station. Both this stage and Space Colony ARK are pretty close together in my eyes, but Rail Canyon having two good-great acts compared to Space Colony ARK having one great act and one mid act makes it slightly win out for me.

9. Seaside Hill
Seaside Hill has one of the biggest divides in quality between two acts out of any stage in either game. The Classic act is one of my least favorites in Sonic Generations mostly because it's the most water-heavy stage in the game. It's still better than most water stages in Sonic games since it brings back those fun currents from Hydrocity Zone and you can avoid a decent chunk of the water with skilled play, but it's cramped enough that it still probably feels like the slowest stage in the game. Seaside Hill Modern, on the other hand, is absolutely fantastic. It's probably the most open and sprawling stage in the game, completely riddled with branching and intersecting paths and boasting barely any 2D segments to speak of. It combines both Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace too, bringing in both the kart mechanic (but having it control well) and the sea turtles carrying platforms on their backs. And then there's just the presentation, which is all around incredible. I adore Seaside Hill as a setting, it's so bright and colorful, and both the water and the sky look absolutely gorgeous. And the music is probably the happiest theme in the entire series, always putting a smile on my face and elevating even the weaker first act. 

8. Radical Highway
With how much this stage gets shoved in your face earlier on in the game, I wasn't expecting much from Radical Highway being the final stage. And for Act 1, I was mostly right, it doesn't really offer much that you haven't already seen and being able to use the Doom Wings would be a lot cooler if you didn't already get to use them in Space Colony ARK Act 2. It's not a bad level, it's probably the most faithful to the original stage and I like how both acts are fully 3D, but it is a bit underwhelming. Act 2, on the other hand, absolutely rocks. It brings back all of Black Doom's tricks from the prior stages along with even new ones like giant minibosses to fight, massive tornadoes to dodge, having to carefully shimmy along the sides of tilted platforms, and even parts where Black Doom just starts flinging large chunks of the road at you. It's a surprisingly tough difficulty spike making for a rewarding final platforming gauntlet that puts all of your skills to the test, and for as much as I am a Planet Wisp defender, this is easily the better final stage. Maybe even one of the best final stages in any 3D Sonic game.

7. Sky Sanctuary
Sky Sanctuary is a case where both the Classic and Modern acts are both generally pretty great in their own ways. Classic Sky Sanctuary is noteworthy for how many different paths it has, and for the unique gimmick of needing to take all of them at least once to get all the Red Star Rings. I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of the spinning disks, which feel a bit sluggish to move around, but at least they're kept on the lower path so them being slower makes sense. Modern Sky Sanctuary ranks alongside Seaside Hill as one of the more sprawling stages in the game with so many split paths, some of which feel incredibly satisfying to pull off. The only thing preventing it from being a truly top-tier act for me is that some of the platforming across spinning platforms can be a bit annoying, and that ending with the crumbling platform feels poorly telegraphed for new players, but otherwise, it's still a really strong stage with an immense amount of replay value. On top of that, once again the presentation here is incredible. I always felt like Sky Sanctuary was a cool concept held back by its singular act, so seeing this far more fleshed-out version of the setting with more distinct environmental design, far more interesting gimmicks, and truly godly remixes makes this the definitive version of Sky Sanctuary in my eyes.

6. Chemical Plant
Chemical Plant was the stage that really sold me on Generations, for both styles. I was so worried that Classic Sonic's stage would just be a recreation of the original Act 1 complete with annoying underwater block segment but nope, the entire level is completely redone, any water segments can be completely avoided, and the stage even adds some new gimmicks like waterslides. It's a bit on the short side, but it's still quite fun. Act 2, on the other hand, is absolutely fantastic. Despite how much its level assets have been reused in later games, I'm frankly stunned at how fresh this interpretation of Chemical Plant feels to this day. The dark and hellish background coupled with the more menacing music makes this probably my favorite version of this iconic local. The level design is also stellar, chock full of creative hidden shortcuts and relentlessly paced. You go from the iconic split path to drifting to rail grinding to quickstepping to a waterslide to skydiving in the span of like a minute and it just keeps going. Once again, pretty much all the water sections can be completely avoided with some really precise platforming, and pulling off a perfect run in this stage in particular feels especially rewarding.

5. Chaos Island
Out of every stage in Shadow Generations, Chaos Island was the one I was expecting to like the least. It has everything going against it. It's based on the worst area in a game I'm immensely bitter towards, it's so blatantly an asset reuse that doesn't even relate to Shadow in any way, and it's built around probably the hardest-to-control Doom Power in the Doom Morph, it should have been the easy low point. And yet, it's not. Act 2 is generally fine. It's got some cool moments like the Donkey Kong reference and those platforms that shift with your weight along with some neat visuals, but it's way too short and underdeveloped which is a real shame. Act 1, on the other hand? Absolute peak.

Chaos Island Act 1 is one of my favorite Sonic levels in recent memory. It's one of the longer stages in Shadow Generations but it never slows down, constantly tossing new environments and level types at you. There's open areas and linear areas, exterior sections and interior sections, challenging platforming and moments to breath. Even the Doom Morph works here since most of the trickiest manuevers are kept to optional shortcuts, rewarding players who mastered its movement but not punishing players who are still learning. It doesn't even need to resort to Black Doom to keep things interesting, it manages to do so by squeezing potential out of pretty much every environmental trope Frontiers had. But the most impressive part is how shockingly good it looks. Like, Sonic Team is obviously reusing assets here, but they all feel more thoughtfully-placed. The scaffoldings scattered around showing how Eggman was mining the crystals here, the striking interior shots that display the infamous foreign symbol peppered around frontiers, and the way you're constantly shown the volcano as you slowly inch closer to it over the course of the act all help to give Chaos Island a real sense of place. The stronger lighting, bolder colors, and focused cinematic framing does so much to elevate Chaos Island as a setting. It doesn't feel like a Unity asset flip, it feels like an actual location, and it baffles me that Shadow Generations has better visual storytelling for the Starfall Islands than anything in Frontiers. I even liked the divisive music, the somber piano blends the frenetic EDM really nicely in my opinion. This is the Crisis City of Shadow Generations, the stage that shows just how good Frontiers could've been.

4. Speed Highway
Sonic Adventure is my favorite Sonic game, and Speed Highway is my favorite stage in that game, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that its Generations rendition ranks pretty highly. The Classic Sonic act is novel for being the first one based on a non-Genesis game, so it's really cool to see Speed Highway translated into a 2D level. It has you going in an elaborate hotel complete with a parking lot area for those who fall to the lower path, and often shoves you onto the street to dodge cars, it's great stuff. The Modern version feels more like a souped-up version of the already incredible original stage, with more branching paths, wider roads that make great use of drifting, even more interior sections, and all the most iconic setpieces from the original like the helicopter and Goin' Down sequences brought back in full force. The improved visuals also really help Speed Highway, making it feel like more of a bustling city and really leaning in on the spotlights that made the original stage look so striking. There's also just a ton of cute little references in all the various posters you can spot, such as the return of Chao In Space. Speed Highway is flashy, fast-paced, slightly challenging, and an absolute joy to perfect your run in, definitely a highlight within Generations and one of the most replayable 3D Sonic stages out there.

3. Kingdom Valley
Kingdom Valley being my favorite stage in Shadow Generations is a no-brainer. It really didn't even need to change much, and it didn't outside of adding some fun Doom Surf sequences. It was always the most full-realized stage in Sonic 06, large, dynamic, full of branching paths, and boasting an incredibly striking and memorable medieval aesthetic. All of that still applies to Shadow Generations' rendition and then some, it's as endlessly replayable as ever and fleshes out all of its mechanics wonderfully, even bringing back the iconic split waterfall for the end of the stage. Even the music didn't change much, because it was already incredible, though it's a shame it doesn't adapt to the part of the level you're in like in 06. Chaos Island was definitely the most impressive glowup, but Kingdom Valley Act 1 just has everything anyone could ever want from a Sonic stage. Act 2 obviously isn't as strong, though it's still a pretty good time as it's far lengthier than many of the other Act 2s and spends a decent chunk of itself inside the castle which helps it really stand out from both Act 1 and the original game. Both stages have so many branching paths and moving parts that I feel like I could play them over and over again and they'd never get old.

2. Crisis City
Yeah, two Sonic 06 recreations in the Top 3! For all that game's issues, it's got some pretty sick locals, and Crisis City in particular has one of my favorite settings... in any game ever, honestly? The concept of an entire city being burned and melted down, flooded with molten lava, and being endlessly hit by hellish fire tornadoes is such a cool setting and is the perfect place to set arguably Generations' hardest stage. If you want a good challenge and feel Planet Wisp is too slow-paced, Crisis City is the stage for you. It's filled to the brim with tough Iblis enemies and punishing lava pits, but it manages to keep up the pace and dodging the variety of obstacles this stage has at its disposal at top speed is incredibly fun regardless of the act. Modern Sonic has a nice variety of paths in its first third, a fun stomp-heavy mechanic in the second third with the geysers, and end with a intense quick-step section where you're running towards the fire tornado. Classic Sonic's stage might be even better thanks to all the collapsing platforms and the second half which takes you right into the eye of the fire tornado hopping across floating debris as you chase after the goal post. It's a rare stage where I think both acts are equally phenomenal.

 1. Rooftop Run
I've heard a lot of good things about Rooftop Run, but I was not prepared for just how exhilirating this stage would be, both acts. Classic Sonic's version starts pretty assuming but really gets good once you enter the wine cellar and start dodging rolling barrels, only for the stage to take you right up to Spagonia's iconic clock tower and has you climb all the way up to the top only to use its face to cause a blimp crash. The sheer escalation is just wonderful. That being said, Modern Sonic's act is easily the star of the show here, probably the best boost stage ever made. It's constantly tossing you from setpiece to setpiece, briskly hopping between sprawling rooftops to tense chases against a variety of different robots. And that midsection where you run up the rooftop only to grind back down is jaw-dropping. The sheer amount of detail in Spagonia is also incredible, there's a whole bunch of meticulously rendered interiors to burst into, and the decision to set the stage during a festival not only makes it feel more lively but allows Sonic Team to show off even more and add even more details like the flags of all the other countries in Unleashed. Add in one of the best tracks in any video game, and yeah, I totally get the hype behind Rooftop Run. It's an incredible stage, and it only makes me want to play the game it came from even more.

And here's my ranking of all the bosses:

11. Death Egg Robot
The Death Egg Robot's first phase is a solid conversion of the original boss fight, but the second phase gets pretty annoying. Having to guide the robot's arms to hit one of the mines while also staying far away enough from the mine to not get blown up yourself is really hard to gauge, and I feel like I only manage to not get hit out of sheer luck.

10. Shadow The Hedgehog
I wish I liked this fight more because it is a cool concept, but Shadow's speed seems so inconsistent that it almost feels like he has rubberbanding which really brings down the fight. I also love the little dodging minigames in concept, but once I hit every asteroid and still couldn't land a hit on Shadow. And on top of that, the fact that he goes down in a single hit makes the fight also feel kinda underwhelming.

9. Time Eater
Yeah, I don't think the Time Eater is the worst boss. It's got more going for it than people think, like the creepy and menacing atmosphere, the cool dimension switching mechanic, and how utterly satisfying it feels to land a hit on him. The worst thing about this fight is that it doesn't properly explain its mechanics at all, but once you understand how the charge works, how to properly damage, when to switch dimensions, how to regain your rings, and most importantly, that staying to the center of the Time Eater is what allows you to catch up to him, it's a fine final fight. At this point, the actual biggest problem is that it's too easy and short, but it feels climactic enough that it didn't leave me with a sour taste in my mouth by the end.

8. Metal Sonic
Metal Sonic's fights are always a lot of fun, and this is a really solid first boss fight for Generations. It plays out more like a fight at top speed rather than a race, but Metal Sonic has a nice variety of attacks to keep things fresh. Sadly, it's also over way too short and if you play perfectly, you'll only get to see each attack once in a fight.

7. Mephiles The Dark
Conceptually, this is one of the coolest fights in the game. I love the idea that Mephiles is trying to force himself back into the timeline after 06's events got wiped away, and his utter desperation in the face of a hilariously uncaring Shadow made for a really neat conflict. He's got some cool attacks too, from dropping columns on you to turning into a giant monster by the end. The only problem is that this fight was too easy, Mephiles barely does anything to defend himself for the first half and even when he turns into a monster, it's not hard to break through his defenses.

6. Biolizard
The Biolizard in Sonic Adventure 2 has one of my favorite fights in the series, and the Shadow Generations version of the fight does improve in some aspects. It's a bit flashier, it lacks the jank SA2's fight has, and it's got a few more phases where the Biolizard sprouts arms and later jumps onto the ceiling. The only problem is that it's predictably quite easy since it's now the first boss in the game, compared to the original fight which I found memorable primarily because it was a satisfying challenge to conquer.

5. Egg Dragoon
The Egg Dragoon is an almost perfect fight held back by a few issues. I love the intense atmosphere and dark environment, and many of Eggman's attacks are quite fun to dodge, particularly the wall jump. It's also easily the hardest fight in the game, but not too hard that it's not still satisfying to take down. However, in the 3D segments, I feel like I'm barely able to move left and right without quickstepping, and having to survive an entire phase with the game's slippery skydiving controls is also a bit annoying. Both of these issues can be worked around, but it does add a level of unpolish that sticks out quite a bit in an otherwise really well put together game.

4. Devil Doom
As a final boss, Devil Doom definitely gets the job done. This fight tests you on your skills in using the Doom Surf, Doom Morph, and the Doom Wings, and like with the best fights in Shadow Gens, it's all very player-driven in how damage is dealt. The final phase with the Doom Wings is especially visually stunning as you fly all around Radical Highway as Devil Doom tosses everything he can at you, though it goes down quite a lot quicker than the first phase. Once again, definitely a better final boss than Sonic's.

3. Perfect Chaos
Perfect Chaos is another one of my favorite Sonic bosses, and while this version feels more like a platforming stage than an actual boss fight like the original, it's still a damn fun platforming stage. The level design slowly gets crazier and crazier as the city gets more flooded all the while Perfect Chaos starts flinging increasingly more attacks at you, culminating in a tense final phase suspended in mid-air.

 2. Silver The Hedgehog
Silver The Hedgehog is the most fully-realized boss in Sonic Generations, a fast-paced and frenetic fight that uses Silver's telekinesis to its absolute fullest. The way the fight slowly amps up in scale as Silver starts using more and more cars against you, culminating in that wild final phase where he tosses an entire ball of cars at you makes for a memorably chaotic encounter, and it helps that it all plays incredibly well.

1. Metal Overlord
Metal Overlord's fight in Shadow Generations had me skeptical at first. Turning one of the series' best Super Sonic fights into a showcase of the Doom Surf seemed like a noticeable downgrade, but I was stunned at how fun this fight is. It's incredibly fast-paced and propulsive, with Metal Overlord slinging a ton of attacks at you from launching missiles to swiping you with his tail. The length of the fight is solely determined by how fast you're able to deal damage to him, which makes the encounter feel particularly replayable. So many moments in this fight made me giggle like a madman, from that hilariously extra finisher to "Trying to use Chaos Control? Ha! That power already belongs to me!"

2024 Games I Played: Sonic X Shadow Generations

Despite being a massive Sonic fan, there are two really important games I've sadly never gotten the chance to play, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations. Unleashed getting re-released is pretty much a pipe dream at this point, but Sonic Generations just got a port complete with an entire second campaign focused around Shadow. I actually really like Shadow The Hedgehog, the game, so seeing him get another spinoff is really cool, and since I haven't even played the original Sonic Generations, this package is basically going to be two new Sonic games for me. Will Sonic Generations live up to all the hype? Will Shadow Generations be better than the last few 3D Sonic games we got? And most importantly, will it all run well on Switch?

Sonic Generations came out in a renaissance era for the Sonic series, when it finally seemed like the games were starting to "get good" again with the release of Sonic Colors. Of course, nowadays, games like Black Knight, Unleashed, and to a lesser extent Shadow 05 are being held up in a greater light challenging the whole concept of "Sonic's dark ages", but Colors and Generations really were the games we needed at the time. Polished, smartly designed, and focused experiences that proved Sonic Team knew what they were fucking doing. I still love Sonic Colors to bits, despite how divisive it's gotten lately, so I felt primed to like Sonic Generations and I'm glad to say that it still managed to surpass my expectations. That being said, let's quickly get the weakest aspect of both games out of the way. Because yes, the story is pretty weak. It can be a bit cute in the way it subtly references the series without doing a straight-up reference, but its minimal approach to dialogue and characterization also stops it from being a true celebration of Sonic as a series like the rest of the game is. This remake does actually include rewritten and re-recorded dialogue that tries to flesh out the narrative in whichever ways it can, but since they kept the animations the same, the bad lipsync only ended up taking me out of the story more. It would've been nice if Sonic Team bothered to at least add an option for the original cutscenes so I can experience the game as it was intended, but as Sonic Colors Ultimate indicated, I guess they're afraid of customization in their remakes.

But hey, not every Sonic game needs a great story. I'd take a Sonic game with a weak story but great gameplay over the reverse any day of the week, and I'm pleased to say Sonic Generations has absolutely incredible gameplay. Generations has you visit nine areas from the series' past and play through them both as a boost-style Modern Sonic and a Genesis-style Classic Sonic. I went in expecting the Classic Sonic bits to be the easy lesser half and... well, that's not exactly wrong, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these parts regardless. Classic Sonic's gameplay in Generations is not a pixel-perfect translation of the way the Genesis games played, but that's not something that necessarily bothers me, I love the Advance games after all. Instead, Classic Sonic's gameplay is mostly focused on the spin dash, which lets you go a lot faster than in most other 2D Sonic games. You're told very early that you can spin dash up ramps to gain some serious height, and it's not very long until you're actively required to use this move. It lets you take shortcuts, completely break certain stages, and it's generally really fun to do. The game even adds a dedicated spin dash button so you don't even have to crouch to pull off this move off. Sonic X Shadow Generations also adds the drop dash, and I don't think there's another Sonic game better suited to this addition.

That being said, Modern Sonic is easily the highlight here. Most of my experience with boost gameplay has been with Colors and Frontiers, so I'm used to having a double jump, automated drift and quick step sections, and needing to collect capsules to boost. It was a bit of a learning curve at first, particularly the lack of a double jump, but after playing for a bit, I really clicked with this gameplay style. Modern Sonic controls incredibly well in Generations, he's tight, responsive, and handles impressively well at high speeds. It's a joy to get better at his stages, and learning when and how to use every move in his toolkit. The drift in particular is shockingly easy to control in Generations considering how much of a reputation this move tends to have for being really slippery and over-sensitive. I have seen a fair amount of criticism towards the controls here, some saying that it compares negatively to Shadow and that the game is "poorly aged". First off, can Sonic fans stop turning against the most beloved games just as I play them for the first time? It happened with Colors too and I'm still not over the sudden switch-up on that game. But beyond that, I guess I'm just not someone who tends to think of games as "poorly aged" a lot of the time. If a game was well-received or even beloved when it came out, it was obviously liked for some reason, and maybe I need to take the game on its own terms to find that reason rather than expect it to show up the moment I press start. Like I said, Sonic Generations has a learning curve, like most Sonic games. Once you get past that curve, it feels incredibly natural.

That being said, I do kinda see where people are coming from, Sonic doesn't have the same freedom of movement as Shadow in his campaign, but that's because they're two different gameplay styles. Shadow's gameplay is primarily derivative of Frontiers, and as such has to accomodate both an open environment and linear level design. Sonic's gameplay is purely focused on linear obstacle courses, so it's more focused on allowing you to quickly react to the stage. The levels in Sonic Generations are designed with Sonic's controls in mind, so Sonic controlling differently than Shadow in a vacuum doesn't really matter to me. You know, with as much as I've raved about the Adventure era games, you'd think I'm not huge on the boost formula but that couldn't be further from the truth. I actually really like the boost gameplay, at least in concept. It's this unique blend of platforming and racing game that feels unlike most other platformers on the market. At its best, it blends this really visceral sense of speed and spectacle with that classic Sonic depth of slowly mastering a level and learning its layout, and it fits the character really well. Of course, this all depends on the execution. Forces has all the spectacle but none of the depth because of its linear level design, and Frontiers has more sprawling levels but a pitiful sense of speed. But when done well, there is a lot of merit to this approach to game design. And thankfully, Sonic Generations is an example of a game that executes on this formula very well.

Sonic Generations's level design is absolutely stellar. Dare I say, it has some of the best designed Sonic levels I've ever seen. Like, for starters, they're incredibly dynamic and well-paced. Each stage flows from each memorable setpiece to the next impressively fluidly, and it helps them all feel like real tangible places. Classic Sonic's stages implement a lot of fun 2.5D elements from skewed camera angles to multiple layers, and Modern Sonic's stages do an incredible job at taking iconic stages from series past and realizing them to their absolute greatest potential. There really aren't many weak stages in the game, I can think of so many standouts across both Sonics. Chemical Plant Modern gives a much darker edge to an tried-and-true stage, both versions of Speed Highway extend one of Adventure's best stages in some really creative ways, the City Escape stages play around with the iconic truck setpiece in some very silly ways,  Crisis City's stages perfectly blend speed and challenge, and Rooftop Run is just... perfect. There's no other way to put it, these are perfect Sonic stages in terms of their layout, pacing, and joyous atmosphere. But on top of that, Generations' stages are absolutely sprawling. Each stage is filled to the brim with shortcuts and alternate routes, even the 3D ones. The brilliance of this game is that the first run of each stage is probably going to be pretty rough, but you'll be constantly seeing other routes that you missed out on taking. You decide to play the stage again trying to take those routes, only to find even more alternate routes. The cycle goes on and on, you start to realize how every enemy is perfectly placed to help you gain some speed, you notice the way all the different paths intertwine, and you find all the various collectibles hidden around until finally, you've mapped out the perfect route through each level out of pure curiosity. No other Sonic game I've played feels so meticulously designed to encourage the player to speedrun, and Generations had me replaying stages over and over again solely to get a better time. It's the perfect balance between the twitch-based platforming and the complex routing that boost style Sonic games should ideally be built upon.

The only element of Generations that has me a bit unsure are the boss fights, as per the usual. Sonic games don't tend to have the best boss fights in general, and to give this game credit, it's got one of the better lineups out there. Generations' boss fights are flashy and dynamic, often having multiple phases and cool, unique mechanics exclusive to each fight. At their best, you get fights like the revamped Perfect Chaos fight and the frenetic encounter against Silver. However, I feel like most of Generations' boss fights also have something preventing them from being truly incredible. The Death Egg Robot has a great first phase but getting its arms to hit the mines without blowing yourself up in the second phase feels pretty finicky, Shadow's fight has a cool concept but his inconsistent speed just screams of rubberbanding, and Egg Dragoon is mostly an incredibly fun and challenging fight except for the fact that you don't seem to be able to turn properly. And then there's the Time Eater. Frankly, it seems Generations' endgame as a whole is the most criticized part of the game but I really don't think it's that bad. Planet Wisp is one of the weaker stages for its length and lack of 3D, but it's still as well-designed of a stage as all the others and a solid final challenge. If it's the lowpoint of Generations, it just shows how stellar the rest of the game is. And the Time Eater, while way too short and boasting some unclear attacks, honestly can be pretty fun if you know what you're doing. Emphasis on if because the biggest issue with this fight is that Generations doesn't bother explaining at all how the Super Sonic mechanics in this game work, I had to look up a guide to actually have a shot at beating the guy.

Another criticism people have with Sonic Generations is that it's fairly short and yeah, that's also true. With only 18 stages and seven bosses, you can easily blitz through this game in 2-3 hours if you want to. That being said, Sonic Generations also has a solid amount of side content that pretty much tripled that playtime for me, and a lot of it is genuinely worth doing. As usually for the Boost games, there is a bunch of collectibles like the Red Star Rings that encourage you to replay stages and try out different paths. This port adds in another collectible in the Chao who are also fun to seek out. The real meat in terms of the side content, though, are the challenge acts. Each area has 10 meaning there's a total of 90 challenge acts, and a vast majority of them are really fun. Many of them have entirely unique level arrangements which helps them feel fresh, and there's a few varied mission types like races and tutorials for certain skills. But my favorite missions easily are the character missions, which have you partner up with one of Sonic's friends and use their abilities. It's not the same as actually playing as them, but hey, it's still fun to have characters like Rouge, Blaze, and Espio hang around for a stage. Beyond that, my other favorite bit of side content is the unlockable library of music tracks from across the series that you can play in pretty much any stage, almost like in the Smash Bros games. It's such a fun addition and being able to swap to a different music track helps to make repeat attempts at perfecting a stage feel a lot more tolerable.

So yeah, I absolutely adored Sonic Generations. It quickly became one of my favorite 3D Sonic games of all time, probably second place to the first Sonic Adventure. It has a level of polish in both its design and its presentation that feels pretty unparalleled within the series, and it left a high bar for Shadow Generations to beat. I'll be honest and say that I was a bit skeptical for Shadow Generations, even with all the genuinely promising footage that was being shown, it all just felt a bit too much like Sonic Frontiers, which was a game I didn't particularly love. And yeah, mechanically, Shadow Generations is very much more of a sequel to Sonic Frontiers than a sequel to Sonic Generations. That being said, it's also a far better game and a genuinely great 3D Sonic entry in its own right. It definitely surpasses the original Shadow 05, that goes without saying, but does it top Sonic Generations? I'm not too sure.

But once again, let's start with the story which is obviously and handily better than the ones in Sonic Generations. Like with Sonic, Shadow gets wrapped up in the Time Eater's shenanigans and has to relive his own past, and meeting with choice characters that didn't show up in the original game like Omega or Big. Of course, Gerald and Maria also show up here which gives Shadow the perfect opportunity to finally reckon with his past. And on top of that, Black Doom has returned and is trying to train Shadow to become his weapon. It's a darker and more emotional story than Sonic's and is generally a lot better written, and while I have a few gripes like the fact that Shadow dealing with his past isn't an especially original plot at this point, but the Time Eater/Generations connection still helps it feel pretty fresh. The real highlight story-wise though is easily Shadow himself, whose characterization is on-point. Kirk Thorton gave easily his best performance as the character so far, bringing back a lot of his best character traits from SA2 that kinda got lost in the shuffle, like his more pensive and collected side and his more cocky and competitive side which really shows when he starts relentlessly trashtalking every boss he faces.

As far as core gameplay goes, Shadow does control pretty much exactly like how Sonic did in Frontiers, but a lot more refined. I guess the best way to describe it is that it feels a lot faster, tighter, and looser, especially compared to Cyberspace Sonic who almost controlled like a tank. There's no artificial limitations, no sudden halts in momentum, no absurdly wide jump arc, I always feel completely in control especially at top speeds. And these are the default settings, none of that "you make the physics" bullshit that Frontiers had. The addition of a vastly better quickstep is also great, and what's even better is that you can essentially go a goofy wavedash with them that lets you go faster. I do have a few minor gripes here, though. Like in Frontiers, I do kinda get the sense that Shadow controls slightly differently in the levels than in the overworld. This is most apparent when moving slowly as it feels like in the stages, your acceleration is extremely low which can make tight platforming a bit annoying. On top of that, the air boost is kinda pitiful compared to how it is in Sonic Generations, it can't take you really far which is a bit of a shame. Otherwise, though, yeah, Shadow controls pretty great and all the additional movement options you get from the Doom Powers only add to it. The Chaos Control letting you stop time is an especially fun addition as the stages get a lot of mileage out of it, the Chaos Spear is a solid long range attack that's also the center of arguably the game's greatest exploit, the Doom Blast is a more situational move that similarly boasts a lot of speedrunning potential, and the Doom Surf, Morph, and Wings all do a solid job of keeping the gameplay varied without slowing things down.

Being based on Sonic Frontiers means Shadow Generations has a dedicated overworld in the form of its own White Space, and to my complete and utter surprise, it's actually really good. It's smaller than the open zones in Frontiers but it's also a lot more densely-packed, filled with hidden nooks and crannies, structures to climb, and optional challenges. It also actually feels like a more fully-realized place, all the platforming is built into the geometry of the area and as a result, the floating platforms don't stick out like a sore thumb. The rampant pop-in that plagued Frontiers is also completely gone here, even on the Switch. It's just a fun overworld to explore and get familiar with. And on top of that, even the progression is better here. You're not randomly running around doing basic fetch quests, you scout the overworld to find levels, beat the levels to unlock more moves, and use those moves to explore more of the overworld almost like a metroidvania. This is how you do an open zone structure, and while I wouldn't say this game redeems Frontiers, it does justify its existence a bit more. I feel more comfortable believing that game was a step in the right direction when Sonic Team actually took the right lessons from it to make this more polished iteration of the formula.

That being said, I have one pretty major gripe with the overworld and it's probably my biggest issue with the entire game. So instead of red star rings, you find these collection keys that you can use to unlock the many chests scattered around the overworld. There are a few collectibles you can find without the keys like the Machine Parts, but for the vast majority of them, you need these keys. And I think that's really stupid, because it feels like I'm being discouraged from exploring unless I have enough keys to. There were so many cases where I do a tricky platforming sequence only to run into a chest I can't open, so I groan because I know I'll have to do the platforming sequence again. Finding the chest should be enough of a reward, and I'd much rather be able to explore when I want on my own terms. I get that Sonic Team probably wanted to slowly dole out collectibles rather than allow the player to get a ton of them at once, but the progression of how the Doom Powers open up more of the overworld already solves this issue, we didn't need the keys on top of that. It's not enough of an issue to really drag down the game for me since it is all optional content, but it did make the opening hours feel a bit slow going in terms of the overworld exploration.

Sonic Generations left a pretty high bar in terms of the level design, but I'm pleased to say that Shadow Generations almost manages to meet that bar. Everything I said about Sonic's stages pretty much apply here. They're dynamic, lengthy, and manage to flesh out iconic locations like Rail Canyon and Kingdom Valley in interesting ways. Barely any of the stages are bad, with even the entirely 2D Act 2s being generally pretty fun, and the stages brought back from the weaker games like Sunset Heights and especially Chaos Island are done some serious justice here. The occassional segments where Black Doom comes into to drag you to a warped Radical Highway are also really fun and chaotic, boasting some seriously trippy visuals and fun setpieces, even if it is a little weird that he only ever sends you to Radical Highway for whatever reason. These stages are also quite sprawling and are filled to the brim with shortcuts and alternate paths that encourage replaying, even if their increased length makes them a bit less replayable than Sonic's stages in my opinion. Once again, I'm very pleased to say that these are some of the more well-designed 3D Sonic stages I've played in quite some time. My only gripe is that you can see a bit of the blocky, floating platform syndrome that plagued Frontiers and Forces occasionally, though this very much depends on the stage. The more naturalistic stages like Kingdom Valley and Chaos Island can definitely stack up with the Sonic Gens stages visually, but the more mechanical ones like Space Colony ARK, Radical Highway, and some of the Act 2s can definitely feel a bit copy-paste.

As for the bosses, there's sadly only four of them, but they are all absolutely incredible, combining the inventive and readable attacks of a Sonic Generations boss with all the style and flair that Sonic Frontiers tried to introduce to its boss fights. With the large scale of these fights, you can tell Sonic Team was using what they learned while making the Titan fights, but unlike those, these fights actually feel challenging, well-telegraphed, and visually polished. The addition of a dedicated health bar along with numerous ways to attack most bosses really helps to add replay value to them as well, striking a perfect balance between allowing the player's skill to dictate how quickly the fight goes while still allowing for multiple phases, fun gameplay shifts, and flashy finishers. Pretty much every fight in Shadow Gens is fantastic, though the highlight for me is definitely the propulsive on-water fight against the Metal Overlord (I freaked out when he used my own Chaos Control against me). And while I liked the Time Eater more than most, yeah, there's no denying that Shadow's final boss is a lot more satisfying and well-designed. Outside of that, most of the side content is actually kept fairly similar to Sonic's campaign. There's once again a collection room to fill out as well as a number of challenge acts which are just as fun if not even better. There are less challenge acts per zone here, but they're also a lot more varied so it feels like Sonic Team took a quality over quantity approach here.

Now, time to talk about the presentation. My biggest concern with this collection was whether or not it would run on the Switch. Sonic Generations is still one of the prettiest and most colorful games in the series and hits some pretty blisteringly fast speeds, and Shadow Generations even manages to up one its predecessor in some ways. Shadow Generations is the first Hedgehog Engine 2 game that I actually think looks genuinely really good, everything looks super crisp and some of the Black Doom segments where he's messing with the environment make for some of the most visually trippy scenery I've seen in a Sonic game. I was so unsure the Switch could even run it considering how rough the Switch ports were for Sonic Colors Ultimate, Sonic Frontiers, and even Sonic Superstars which did manage to hit 60fps but had some pretty rough texture downgrade. Thankfully, and miraculously, I'm pleased to say that this is an incredible Switch port. Both games are locked to 30fps, but they run incredibly consistently, and while the resolution is obviously worse than on the other consoles, both games still look really sharp and the textures don't seem downgraded at all. The only compromise I noticed is a weird motion blur filter at points but it's never been bad enough to bother me. Compared to the rampant pop-in, blurry textures, muddy visuals, uneven framerate, and possibly jankier physics of Frontiers' Switch port, this is a gargantuan improvement. Even the aforementioned Black Doom transitions look completely seamless on the Switch which stunned me because Sonic Team somehow managed to get the console to load in entirely new areas with barely any wait-time. Sonic X Shadow Generations is the first time in over a decade that a new 3D Sonic game felt like a truly next gen experience, and the fact that Sonic Team managed to get it running as well as it did on the Switch is very impressive.

As for the soundtracks, well, it's Sonic, what did you expect? Being a seventh generation Sonic game and following three of my all-time favorite soundtracks in the series (06, Unleashed, Colors), Sonic Generations's OST manages to keep up that momentum with a fantastic selection of remixes that either vastly surpass the original (Sky Sanctuary Modern, Seaside Hill Modern Crisis City Modern) or bring something new and exciting to the table (Chemical Plant Modern, Rooftop Run Classic, Door Into Summer). Shadow Generations' soundtrack isn't quite as stellar, though that's mostly because Sonic's half is such a high bar musically. Most of the remixes here are good and they're of really great tracks, but there aren't many I can shout out that manage to stand out compared to the original. Space Colony ARK Act 1, Radical Highway Act 1, the Supporting Me remix, and Chaos Island Act 1 (yes, seriously) are probably the highlights and even then, they don't quite blow me away like Sonic's best remixes. I also feel like we have the same issue with Superstars' soundtrack where Sega has amassed way too many composers and it leaves the OST feeling less cohesive. As cool as it has to see people I recognize like TORIENA or RichaadEB working on official Sonic soundtracks, and as good a job as they did, I'd much rather have a soundtrack with like 2-3 composers max if it meant it would be more focused overall. Still, though, even with these criticisms, Shadow Generation still has a pretty solid soundtrack regardless.

Overall, Sonic X Shadow Generations is absolutely incredible. It's the first time in so damn long where a 3D Sonic felt polished, thoughtful in its design, and professionally produced. It's just a good-ass game, a game that I could wholeheartedly recommend to others with zero qualms or caveats, just as I've always wanted from Sonic. Sonic Generations somehow managed to surpass my lofty expectations thanks to its stunning spectacle, refined boost controls, impeccable level design, and addictive speedrun-focused replayability. And Shadow Generations is really great too, easily the best 3D Sonic since... well... Sonic Generations. It's got one of the best Sonic stories in years, solid movement, strong level and boss design that can actually stand up to the high bar that Sonic Generations set, and it manages to improve on Frontiers's formula in all the best ways. I'm not sure how well it stands as its own game, it feels like the Bowser's Fury to Sonic Generations' 3D World, but it's still an incredibly fun experience that, when combined with Sonic's campaign, makes for some of the best 3D Sonic I've ever played and one of my favorite experiences from this year.

5/5 Stars

I don't think I've ever ranked the 3D Sonic games I've played but here's my list as of right now:

1. Sonic Adventure
2. Sonic (X Shadow) Generations
3. Sonic Adventure 2
4. Shadow Generations
   
5. Sonic Colors
6. Sonic Heroes
7. Sonic Dream Team
8. Shadow The Hedgehog
9. Sonic & The Black Knight
10. Sonic Lost World
11. Sonic Unleashed Wii
    
12. Sonic Frontiers
13. Sonic Lost World 3DS
    
14. Sonic 3D Blast
    
15. Sonic Forces
16. Sonic Frontiers: The Final Horizon
    
17. Sonic & The Secret Rings
18. Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric
    

This obviously isn't set in stone, I'm still not especially sure if I like Shadow Gens or Colors more, and I feel I still need to play a bit more of UnWiished and Lost World 3DS to really cement my opinions on each. But for now, just assume that everything from UnWiished and above are games that I consider at the very least good (though I actually really like 3D Blast's director cut mod, we're just talking about the originals here). But yeah, all I really have left to play out of the 3D Sonic games is HD Unleashed and... 06. I have no idea how I'll be able to play them now, but I'm sure I'll be able to eventually.

Smallville (Season 7)

Have you ever seen a season of TV that just left you scratching your head? Not bad, not great, just... weird? That was Season 7 of Smallville for me, a season that I really should have loved. It's got a lot of really interesting plotlines, premises, and developments, and as a whole I found it to be more enjoyable than Season 6, but in practice, the execution just feels consistently off.

Season 7 tries to do a lot all at the same time, maybe a bit too much. It tries to cram in the debut of Kara/Supergirl, a plotline about Bizarro, a plotline about Braniac, lots more Kryptonian lore, Lex finally becoming the supervillain we know him as, Chloe dealing with being a meteor freak, Lana entering a proper relationship with Clark and trying to get revenge on Lex, a convoluted storyline about Lex cloning his brother, Lionel's death, among many others. Some of these plotlines do genuinely work, especially in the first half. Bizarro is a great antagonist, Tom Welling really hams it up as him and all of his focal episodes rank as some of the season's best. The midseason arc where Bizarro replaces Clark is a highlight of the season and feels like a noticeable shift towards the "midseason finale" structure we'd see a lot in the 2010s. Kara is also quite likable, Laura Vandervoort plays her well, and serves as a solid foil for Clark. Chloe dealing with the casual discrimination towards meteor freaks is pretty engaging, Lex's slow turn to being a supervillain is generally well-executed here, and most surprisingly of all, Lana is actually quite fun here. Her relationship with Clark is a lot more enjoyable to watch now that she knows about his powers, and while there is still a bit of drama between them with Lana's attempts to get revenge on Lex, it's honestly pretty believable and well-written for the most part.

However, a little over the halfway point of the season, things completely fall apart. Kara gets abruptly sidelined for a few episodes, comes back with amnesia, and spends like two more episodes before getting sidelined again. I really liked Supergirl as a character but it really felt like the showrunners just don't care about her. Lana also gets sidelined as she's put into a coma for the entire final third of the season before unceremoniously leaving in the finale. The show introduces an absolutely absurd Veritas plotline where we learn there was this secret society composed of Lionel, the Teagues, the Queens, and the Swanns plotting around Clark's arrival all this time. It's the kind of stupid retcon bullshit I always despise seeing in shows. There were still some highlights like Lionel's death in Descent and the neat AU episode in Apocalypse, but so much of this final stretch of the season felt equal parts convoluted and underdeveloped thanks to just how many balls the show was struggling to juggle. And I think the biggest example of this is Lex. As I said, his descent into darkness this season was one of the highlights, but he barely had any time to actually be a supervillain since Michael Rosenbaum left the show after the finale. He learns Clark's identity like five minutes before he permanently leaves, it's underwhelming and the potential drama that could've spawned from this feels barely tapped.

Highlights:

Gemini/Persona: As I mentioned earlier, I thought the Bizarro arc in the middle of the season was really good, easily the highlight of the season for me. It was really fun to see Bizarro try to live Clark's life, and as a reverse, I liked seeing Clark return and try to convince everyone that he's the real him. Also, a lot just happened in general, even I didn't love every plot swerve. Between the initial Bizarro reveal, Lex killing off both of his clones in the span of two episodes, Brainiac coming back, Chloe coming out to Jimmy about her powers, Lana souring on her relationship with Clark, a lot happened across both of these episodes. And to top of it all off, the Pioneer To The Falls needledrop at the end of Persona might just be one of the show's best, utterly chilling.

Overall, Season 7 almost has the opposite problem of Season 6. That season clung onto and dragged out a single awful storyline that brought down the whole season in it, while Season 7 stuffed in too many storylines for it to reasonably handle without giving some of them the short end of the stick, leading to an incredibly messy final half. And yet, I would probably rather take this than Season 6, even if that season arguably hit higher high points. For all its faults, I do think Season 7 was a more thoroughly enjoyable experience throughout because at least it kept tossing new wild ideas at you. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

2/5 Stars

Donkey Kong Country Level Ranking

The Donkey Kong Country trilogy is one of my most replayed platforming trilogies of all time for reasons I've delved into before. Their short length, brisk pacing, fluid movement, focus on mastery, and stellar atmosphere make them a joy to revisit over and over again. This was another series I wanted to do a slightly deeper dive into, so how about I go ahead and rank the stages and bosses in each entry in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, starting with the first game.

Donkey Kong Country is probably the most consistent game in the series, as even its worst stages aren't especially bad, though its best stages don't quite reach the heights of its two sequels either. It's got a selection of really solid, tightly designed, no frills platforming stages that feel quite satisfying to run through.

33. Clam City

Donkey Kong Country's underwater stages tend to get a decent amount of praise and are often held up as underwater stages done well. Sadly, I don't entirely agree. They're certainly better than in some other series like Mario, and the atmosphere in them is almost always impeccable, but the loose swimming controls make it pretty easy to accidentally swim right into enemies and in general, it lacks the sheer skill ceiling of the standard platforming stages. In my most recent playthrough, Clam City was the one that stuck out as an easy least favorite because it has a bunch of rooms that are just filled to the brim with enemy spam only exacerbating the underwater gameplay even more. On the other side of the spectrum, the concept of the clam enemies that shoot pearl bullets is neat in theory, but it's not expanded upon all that much as you rarely have to deal with more than one at a time. In general, this is just the stage I get the least enjoyment playing.

32. Poison Pond

If I had a nickel for every time the first entry of a platforming trilogy tells a nature vs technology story through the levels becoming increasingly man-made, I'd have three nickels because Sonic and Crash Bandicoot did this too. Poison Pond used to be my least favorite stage in DKC but I think the unique setting and how it demonstrates the lack of care the Kremlings have for the environment does give it some points, even if the intentionally ugly green water filter is still pretty hard to look at. The main mechanic of dodging these sawblades is also pretty solid in concept, but you often have to wait for cycles to get past them which leaves this level feeling pretty overlong and dull. The final stretch being yet another enemy spam room filled with fish to narrowly dodge doesn't help this stage's case either.

31. Loopy Lights

Loopy Lights aims to combine the mechanics of Blackout Basement and Stop N Go Station, but it lacks the benefits of either stage. Racing to keep the lights on just doesn't have the same level of urgency as racing to prevent fast, invulnerable enemies from waking up, and the faster pacing means the thoughtful intuition puzzles of Blackout Basement are kinda lost here. On top of that, the jumping Claptrap enemies exclusive to this stage are an absolute pain to deal with, and even with the lights turned on, the stage is still so dark that I find myself straining to figure out where I am, which all adds up to a stage that feels more annoying than difficult. And then, of course, there's the GBA version which doesn't even bother as the screen is so bright that you can easily see everything with the lights off.

30. Coral Capers

I already made my thoughts on the underwater stages clear and being the first one, Coral Capers doesn't really do much to stand out beyond being a decent tutorial. I like how you can get Enguarde pretty early on which could be a decent help for beginner players, though his poor vertical movement means I'd usually just prefer playing as the Kongs. Just so you know, I'm actually not a huge fan of the animal buddies in general since how well they feel to play can feel pretty hit-or-miss, and Enguarde is firmly on the miss side of the spectrum for me. One thing I like about DKC1 though is that they're pretty much all optional which I can't say about the next two games.

29. Misty Mine

Misty Mine's main mechanic involves dealing with enemies that spawn from the Enemy Drums. You do get a few TNT barrels you can use to take them out, but that's a trick since usually you'll actually have to use them to open up a bonus room. Dealing with the constantly spawning enemies can be pretty annoying especially in the end when you start having to deal with a bunch of Enemy Drums at the same time, and the one real saving grace for this stage is that it has one of the most fleshed-out bonus rooms in this series which weirdly houses all of the KONG letters.

28. Winky's Walkway

Upon my most recent playthrough, I was surprised to find that Winky is easily my favorite of the animal buddies in this game. His generous hitboxes and high jumps make it pretty easy to use him to break the stages he's in, not that Winky's Walkway needed to be broken because it's also absurdly short and easy. Most of the stage takes place on these simplistic ledges with little in the way of hazards to dodge or engaging secrets to find, it's kinda just... there.

27. Torchlight Trouble

From a pure level design perspective, Torchlight Trouble isn't a half bad stage. It combines tight platforming sequence across sawblades with beefy enemies that only Donkey Kong can defeat which makes it one of the few stages that really encourages swapping between the two characters. Unfortunately, it's brought down by yet another annoying darkness gimmick as you have to use Squawks' limited torchlight to see ahead of you. It's already not a mechanic I particularly enjoy, but the fact that Squawks flashes his light at the player's face every time you turn around just hurts my eyes. I'd say I appreciate the attempt at realism, but maybe this one should've been left on the drawing board.

26. Bouncy Bonanza

Bouncy Bonanza as a whole is kinda just mildly dark, around the same level of darkness as Loopy Lights with the lights on, and I'm not a fan. Dulling out the stage like this doesn't make the game harder, it just means I have to squint more. Otherwise, though, this is a fine enough cave stage that mostly iterates on the mechanics that the earlier Reptile Rumble introduced. There are some neat puzzles around pushing tires onto moving platforms at just the right time, with one well-placed tire in particular allowing you to reach an upper path where you can find Winky.

25. Ice Age Alley

Ice Age Alley is mostly just a test of what you've learned so far, bringing together a number of mechanics from prior levels like the Neckies from Vulture Culture, the Orangutans from Orang-Utan Gang, and the swinging ropes from Ropey Rampage. The level geometry being mostly composed of steep slopes not only makes these hazards feel a lot more threatening, but can also be pretty fun to mess around with in terms of movement. Sadly, this level also puts a pretty heavy emphasis on my least favorite animal buddy in the game, Expresso. His inability to jump on enemies just makes using him feel like a hassle, and yet several collectibles in this stage require you to keep him around.

24. Manic Mincers

Manic Mincers takes the sawblades that populated Poison Pond and actually builds a pretty decent platforming stage around them, even if it can feel a bit forgettable so late in the game. It's nice to see Rambi get some time to shine though, especially since you don't really get to use him much throughout DKC1. The most interesting thing about this stage is how it has a bonus area that doesn't count for your total and is thus pretty much entirely optional for 100%. It makes sense that DK's house in Jungle Hijinx was optional, but I wonder why this one was too?

23. Reptile Rumble

Reptile Rumble is a pretty early stage so as a whole, it's fairly simple and lacking in especially complex platforming. It introduces jumping enemies and tires you can bounce on, but both of these mechanics get expanded upon much further in later stages. What I do like about Reptile Rumble, however, is the secrets and the pacing. This stage has an incredibly smooth flow to it, and most of the bonus areas can be fairly easily intuited and accessed without breaking your momentum, which makes for a really fun stage to just run through even if it isn't super remarkable.

22. Ropey Rampage

Ropey Rampage is a solid second stage that I'd argue is the first one in Donkey Kong Country to really establish the game's formula of taking a single mechanic and slowly fleshing it out, in this case being these ropes that you swing on. It also serves as a bit of a skill check to make sure you know the run button exists, which I know because that was not something I was aware of as a kid which led to me struggling at this stage quite a lot back then. I also really like the atmosphere of this stage, having the second stage take place in this raging storm is a really cool change of pace visually.

21. Rope Bridge Rumble

Rope Bridge Rumble is the perfect mid-tier Donkey Kong Country stage. It doesn't do anything especially standout, but it also doesn't do anything especially wrong either. It takes the mechanic of bouncing off of tires on moving platforms and builds on it in complexity and difficulty as the stage goes on, it brings back the cool treetop town setting albeit with a somewhat snowier look to it, and you get to ride Winky, who's just as unbelievably broken as always.

20. Barrel Cannon Canyon

Barrel Cannon Canyon properly introduces one of my favorite mechanics in the entire series, the barrel cannons. I absolutely love these timing challenge and this stage is a great introduction to them, introducing the barrel cannons in a safe spot before slowly amping up the challenge and culminating in a genuinely tough final stretch. It's, uh, just a shame you can skip so much of the first half of the stage, including the parts that are meant to actually teach you the mechanic the level is about.

19. Croctopus Chase

Croctopus Chase is far and away my favorite underwater stage in the game as the main mechanic of swimming away from the titular Croctopuses through tight, linear corridors suits DKC's underwater movement systems a lot more. The stage as a whole is fairly constrictive and easy, but there's still a whole bunch of branching paths that hide most of the collectibles, and the basic difficulty serves as a really nice breather at this point in the game.

18. Elevator Antics

Elevator Antics' first half is yet another pretty unremarkable cave stage with some pretty annoying segments where you have to squeeze through small passages while also dodging the newly introduced snake enemies. It's not until the second half when the titular elevators are introduced and the stage becomes truly great, as quickly hopping across the elevators while dodging Zingers makes for some incredibly fun and engaging platforming sequences.

17. Orang-utan Gang

Orang-utan Gang is arguably one of the most iconic stages in the game to the point where it almost hurts putting it this low. The one-off sunset background this stage uses is absolutely gorgeous, the Orangutan enemies being blatantly inspired by arcade Donkey Kong is a very cool tough, and this stage is infamous for having the most bonus areas out of any stage. However, in terms of gameplay, Orang-utan Gang is a bit weak. Despite the quantity of bonus areas, most of them are pretty sloppily hidden right at the end of the stage and don't feel especially rewarding to find. And like with Ice Age Alley, this stage puts a pretty big focus on Expresso who does admittedly work better here thanks to the long straightways but still isn't especially fun to use.

16. Temple Tempest: 

I quite like the temple stages for their cool aesthetics and unique mechanics, and Temple Tempest puts a pretty neat spin on the millstone mechanic introduced in the previous temple stage by having them chase you down. Sadly, I don't think this stage is quite as tense as it could've been as you move way too fast for the millstones to be much of a threat, especially if you can hang onto Expresso. And yeah, this is another Expresso stage, but his ability to outrun and fly over the millstones and run over the many small enemies in the stage means he feels like a more worthwhile upgrade here.

15. Vulture Culture: 

Vulture Culture is a fairly basic stage with a fantastic sense of flow to it. Bouncing off of several Neckies at a time feels incredibly satisfying, and it's even better in the moments when the cannon launches you onto a Necky allowing you to gain some serious speed. Necky as an enemy is also just quite versatile thanks to the many variations in this game, and Vulture Culture does a good job at showing off all of them. On top of that, I just really like the forest setting thanks to the pretty background and serene music.

14. Tree Top Town: 

As I mentioned with Rope Bridge Rumble, I think this stage has an incredibly cool setting. The unique 2.5D look of it really stands out among all the other biomes in the game. Beyond that, though Tree Top Town is a solid expansion on the groundwork that Barrel Cannon Canyon laid. It's a slightly tougher barrel cannon stage with trickier cannon arrangements and far fewer shortcuts that could let you bypass it all, you have to master the timing and power through this one.

13. Millstone Mayhem: 

Millstone Mayhem is the first temple stage and it's built around these giant millstones that you have to dodge. As just the Kongs, you'll usually have to wait out cycles and run from under the millstones, but there's also a cleverly hidden Winky box that allows you to easily jump over all the millstones which feels incredibly cathartic. It's a very well-executed reward for your exploration. On top of that, this stage is the first to really sprinkle in a bunch of enemies that Donkey Kong can have a better time defeating so this is where you need to really get it into your head that you shouldn't just stick to one of the Kongs.

12. Jungle Hijinxs: 

Jungle Hijinxs is a fantastic first level, a stellar tutorial, and an incredibly dynamic stage that's a joy to replay. It slowly, carefully, and silently introduces all of the game's major mechanics including switching between the Kongs, dealing with various enemy types, using animal friends, and the fact that some of the walls and floor may hide secret collectibles and even secret items. I also love being able to visit the DK hut at the start, it's a fun easter egg that helps make the game world feel more alive, and it immediately encourages the player to look around. Being able to use Rambi in the second half is also a fun change of pace, and the stage ending with a gradual shift to nighttime is an incredibly impressive visual effect that sets the stage perfectly for Ropey Rampage.

11. Forest Frenzy: 

Forest Frenzy is yet another stage that I just find incredibly tight and thoughtfully-designed. It takes the rope mechanics from the previous stages and fleshes it out by turning them into pseudo moving platforms. You have to hang on the rope and slide up and down on it to dodge a variety of increasingly tough hazards, culminating in a standout final stretch where it feels like the devs at Rare are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you to dodge.

10. Trick Track Trek

Despite being an autoscroller, I find Trick Track Trek to be quite fun. The moving platform you stay on moves quite fast and you're constantly being tossed hazards to dodge and enemies to deal with, so there really is never a dull moment. The only real reason why this stage isn't higher is because one other stage executes upon this premise even better

9. Mine Cart Madness

I absolutely adore the minecart stages in the Donkey Kong Country game, they're incredibly fun reaction tests that get to show off some of the wildest level design in the series. Mine Cart Madness is the weaker of the two in this game, but it's really not that bad. Hopping between minecarts makes for a really fun and dynamic stage, even if that means it's a bit slower-paced than its predecessor, and using these two different modes of movement can make finding the bonus levels really engaging.

8. Blackout Basement

Despite how much I criticized the other darkness levels in this game, I actually love Blackout Basement and find it to be a really good challenge. What I like about this stage is that the lights are either 100% on or 100% off, you don't have to strain your eyes to try and see your surroundings. Instead, the challenge is in making a mental map of the level as you play it which I find to be quite engaging. It also helps that this stage isn't especially long and the level design itself is quite basic, so you can really just focus on dealing with the flickering lights and nothing else. Also, that one bonus room you access by riding on a steel keg is a very fun and memorable secret.

7. Snow Barrel Blast

Snow Barrel Blast is another one of DKC's most iconic stages, and for great reason as it's got pretty much everything. Most of these bonus areas are quite well-hidden and fun to find, the barrel cannon sequences are some of the most fun and engaging in the game, and the sense of atmosphere with the snowstorm getting more intense as the level progresses is really strong. There's also something really cheeky about that final sequence between how absurdly difficult that one cannon shot with the Zinger is and how easily you can bypass it with a shortcut. Normally I'd complain about being able to skip such a large chunk of the level, but in this case, I think it adds to the stage's charm.

6. Platform Perils

Out of the final levels in the Donkey Kong Country games, Platform Perils is easily my favorite of the bunch. It's a brutal platforming gauntlet that makes use of both Kongs in tandem, with you often having to make wide jumps across moving platforms while also dealing with the tanky Krushas. This stage absolutely crushed me as a kid, but beating it felt like one of my biggest accomplishments ever. Nowadays, I can beat Platform Perils fairly easily but it remains an incredibly rewarding and satisfying stage to complete.

5. Oil Drum Alley

Oil Drum Alley is another stage I find pretty iconic for a number of reasons. I adore the factory biome in this game, primarily because of how stellar of a theme Fear Factory is. The main oil drum mechanic is also really fun to use because of how generous the hitboxes are for the fire, which really encourages you to play it risky and try to find cycles you can use to get through the stage quickly. Hell, the final section which has you hopping across several oil drums with no breaks pretty much demands it. This stage also has the second most bonus areas out of any level, but unlike Orang-utan Gang, most of these bonus areas are quite cleverly hidden. The one bonus room hidden inside another bonus room in particular is just brilliantly devious.

4. Tanked Up Trouble

Tanked Up Trouble is basically a more frenetic version of Trick Track Trek. Having to constantly scramble for fuel makes the stage more tense and engaging throughout, and my praise for its predecessor for not having many dull moments is doubled here. You do not have any time to rest in this stage, you've gotta be constantly moving. The end bit where you're just barely trying to keep your platform from running out of fuel and all the fuel cans only fill up on bar is especially tense and memorable.

3. Slipslide Ride: 

Slipslide Ride is a stage I really didn't give much credit for at first, but upon replay, I actually think this is a quintessential example of what makes Donkey Kong Country as a series so great. It takes a simple concept of ropes that you can either slide up or down and expands on it over the course of the level. There's a surprising amount of depth since you can climb up the purple ropes with enough skill. I remember that used to be so hard for me, but nowadays, I can do it pretty easily. The secrets are all incredibly well-hidden and encourage you to go off the beaten path without feeling too obscure for the sake of it. And on top of all that, this stage has an entirely original ice cavern setting and one of the best music tracks in the entire game that just so happens to only be used once.

2. Mine Cart Carnage:

As I said, I adore the minecart stages, and this one in particular is a stage I have played countless times. I'd practically gotten it memorized by now. The way the stage slowly amps up in intensity, increasingly the amount of pits you need to jump over and enemy carts you have to dodge, culminating in an incredibly fast-paced and frantic conclusion makes for a really standout stage. And that final enemy is such a brilliant troll that I can't even get mad at for how many times it got me. Is this stage a bit too early on in the game for how hard it is? Sure, but it's still fun as hell.

1. Stop & Go Station: 

Stop & Go Station boasts an incredibly brilliant concept. Fast, large, invulnerable enemies that you can only disable by briefly turning them off. The murky atmosphere, tense music, and the design of the Rock Krocs themselves make for a uniquely creepy and unnerving stage, and the tension only increases as the stage goes on and you have increasingly less time to get past the Rock Krocs. But on top of that, despite essentially being a stealth stage, Stop & Go Station has an incredible sense of flow. If you're skilled enough, you can blast through the stage, briefly touching each Stop/Go barrel you see. And like with the oil brums, the Rock Krocs also actually have pretty generous hitboxes which makes it really fun to just narrowly graze by them as they wake back up. It's not just one of the most inventive platforming stages on the SNES, but it's also an incredibly fun speedrunning stage which I think is enough to elevate Stop & Go Station to being the best stage from this first entry.

As for the bosses, yeah, most of them aren't really great. Don't be surprised if I don't have much to say about them.

7. Very Gnawty

Very Gnawty is an incredibly easy and mindless boss who you can defeat with pretty much zero effort. All he does is hop around mindlessly and even that's pretty useless since he's very easy to stunlock. Even by first boss standards, he's pretty pathetic.

6. Master Necky

Master Necky is slightly more involved as the arc of his projectiles can be a bit tough to deal with at first. However, he's still pretty basic and repetitive to beat once you get his pattern down.

5. Really Gnawty

Really Gnawty is a decent step-up over the original as he can now jump higher and has some moments of invulnerability. However, most of his higher jumps can be dodged pretty easily by hugging one of the walls which leaves this boss still pretty easy.

4. Master Necky Sr

All Master Necky Sr really changes is that he now shoots a few more projectiles. It's a little bit harder, but not by much if you're already skilled at the first iteration of this fight.

3. Queen B

Queen B is the first actually interesting fight. Her attack pattern is a bit tough to learn, she has dedicated moments of invulnerability, and she actually poses a decent challenge. And this is doubly so in the GBA version where she also calls other Zingers to defend her which does make her more challenging and involved... even if it arguably makes her a bit more annoying to deal with.

2. Dumb Drum

People tend to rag on Dumb Drum because of how it's basically just a glorified enemy rush and that it kinda just takes itself out. But here's the thing, DKC1's bosses are so dull that I unironically think an enemy rush is more engaging and interesting than most of them, especially when the later few waves introduce enemies you need Donkey Kong to deal with. On top of that, the GBA version makes the objective improvement of having you throw barrels at Dumb Drum yourself so even the boss's main criticism has been addressed a while ago.

1. King K Rool

Of course, King K Rool gets the only genuinely great boss fight in the game. With three dedicated phases, a decent variety of attacks and some tough patterns that are incredibly satisfying to learn and conquer, this is just a straight-up great final boss even beyond the standards of this game. On top of that, what elevates the fight further is the fantastic presentation. King K Rool's animations convey so much personality in the few minutes we spend with him, Gangplank Galleon is obviously a classic, and I don't think there's anyone on the planet that dislikes that Kredits gag. It's a no-brainer, this is DKC1's best boss.