Shadow Generations is a platform game that shifts between side-scrolling and 3D gameplay. Being included in Sonic X Shadow Generations, players can switch between Shadow Generations and a remaster of Sonic Generations (2011) at will. The events of Shadow Generations take place alongside those of Sonic Generations.[2] The plot follows Shadow the Hedgehog as he faces his archenemy, the alien Black Doom, who has returned following his defeat in Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and plots to take over the world.[3]
Shadow serves as the player character and controls similarly to Sonic, but can stop time to freeze objects and access alternate paths.[4] He can also use "Doom Powers", power-up transformations granting him new abilities. These include attacking enemies with spears, launching enemies, transforming into a monster to traverse over terrain, flying, and surfing on water.[5] Unlike Sonic Generations' side-scrolling hub world, the hub world in Shadow Generations is 3D and features open-world gameplay similar to that of Sonic Frontiers (2022),[6] and players use it to become accustomed to Doom Powers.[7]
Shadow Generations is part of "Fearless: Year of Shadow", a 2024 Sonic the Hedgehog marketing campaign centering around Shadow the Hedgehog to commemorate both the release of the game and of the film Sonic the Hedgehog 3, in which Shadow is prominently featured.[13] Katsuyuki Shigihara, one of Sonic Generations' designers, directed Shadow Generations; other Sonic Team members who worked on Generations contributed.[6]Sonic series producer Takashi Iizuka said that, as in Sonic Generations, Sonic Team chose to revisit levels from past Sonic games to recall Shadow's history.[6] They chose levels they found the most interesting and the most popular among fans,[2] while integrating Sonic Frontiers' open-world gameplay to add modern elements.[6]
A three-episode animated prologue miniseries, Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings,[16] animated by Studio Giggex and written by Ian Flynn, is set to be released in late 2024.[17]
Sega collaborated with Limited Run Games to produce a collector's edition including the soundtrack, an art book, a keychain with Sonic and Shadow's shoes, Chao figurines, a statue of Sonic and Shadow standing on a Dreamcast, a steelbook case, and a mock Dreamcast jewel case. The collector's edition is available for order between August 19 and October 6, 2024, and is scheduled to ship in July 2025.[18]