It's been a long rough road, but Shadow the Hedgehog finally has a new game of his own as part of Sonic X Shadow Generations nearly 15 years after his first solo venture. The title fancies itself as a collection, allowing players to experience Sonic Generations completely remastered alongside the bonus campaign of Shadow Generations that allows both hedgehogs to meet in a decisive battle that truly makes the title Sonic X Shadow Generations feel fitting. Despite the fact that the two iconic characters do meet in the middle during their adventures, Shadow Generations is completely Shadow's in a very important way.

One of the reasons why Sonic Team made Shadow Generations was to give fans a game that explains just who the Ultimate Lifeform is in a way that covers the character's entire history. While it serves as a great way to introduce the Shadow found in the games to those who recently saw Keanu Reeves' portrayal of Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, it also manages to redefine Shadow's character once and for all after years of mischaracterization from other branches such as Sonic Boom. As part of this, Shadow Generations goes out of it's way to solidify that Shadow is far more than just Sonic's grim anti-hero of a rival.

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Why It's Important that Shadow the Hedgehog Stands on His Own

Sonic and Shadow have always been closely tied to one another. With Sonic Adventure 2 practically forcing the two to compare themselves to each other thanks to Sonic being framed by G.U.N to cover up Shadow's existence, their similarities in speed and strength are the center of their rivalry. This fact has sadly devolved Shadow's character over the years, making him into a brooding opposition to Sonic and nothing more. Shadow Generations fixes that by focusing solely on everything in Shadow's story in terms of his past and present, which naturally has to focus on everything that makes Shadow unique and has made him such a popular character in the first place.

Shadow Generations even addresses this in terms of gameplay, which makes it a point to finally separate Shadow's playstyle from his blue rival. Fans now have a way to harness Shadow's "ultimate power" of Chaos Control during levels, and that, alongside his teleporting Chaos Snap homing attack and Chaos Spear abilities, do wonders to make him play differently compared to Sonic while still feeling fitting for a Sonic game. It seems that these changes are here to stay as well, given that Chaos Control returns alongside a new Chaos Shift ability to give Shadow his own playstyle in Sonic Dream Team.

How Shadow's Restored Role Strengthens His Rivalry With Sonic

Just because Sonic X Shadow Generations makes strides to give Shadow his individuality back doesn't mean that his connection to Sonic has to go anywhere. Shadow Generations almost goes out of its way to ensure the opposite, having dialogue that makes it clear that the connection between the collection's stars is as complex as Sonic Adventure 2 once teased it as. While Sonic's role in Shadow's story is a quick fight where he takes the (fake) Emerald and leaves, Shadow discusses Sonic with almost everyone around him in a way that reveals deep respect underneath Shadow's broody demeanor.

Many fans have been satisfied with how Shadow Generations single-handedly fixes problems the original Sonic Generations practically introduced into the franchise. Through making Shadow's past prominent in his characterization again, he's once again back to being the same hedgehog fans came to love in the early 2000s. The way his rivalry with Sonic is emphasized also seems to be doing some heavy lifting to avoid the same problems from happening again, deepening the relationship to prevent their bond and Shadow himself being reduced to a generic rival role in future projects. With Sonic Dream Team already serving as a sign that what Shadow Generations has done will be carried onward, fans can breathe easily knowing everything that made Shadow special will remain as he continues to push Sonic as the series keeps on running.