3. Sonic Generations
2011’s Sonic Generations is a greatest hits compilation made into a video game. It’s Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, but for the blue blur. When Sega was still wrestling with what it meant to be a Sonic game, it felt apt to go back and revisit everything that got us to that point for the 20th anniversary. Generations marries the series’ 2D past with its 3D present, remixing and revamping old levels from throughout the series’ history, giving modern and classic fans the best of both worlds. It’s a nostalgia trip, but it’s one of the tightest platformers with Sonic on the cover. Sometimes the best way to move forward is to look back, and Sonic Generations examines the old and the new to give the best and worst a second chance to shine along the way.
