#being earnest? on the internet? so embarrassing. im gonna throw up

[lethal-highway]

Predictions

After having thought about it, here are my predictions for Sonic Shadow Generations. My predictions are mostly about what stages will be introduced for Shadow, since the standard stages in Sonic Generations will most likely already be included as implied by it being a remaster. It seems like this game largely exists as a lead up to Sonic Movie 3, which will be a play on the events of Sonic Adventure 2 (interesting that they're skipping the first Adventure title, by the way.)

It's probably to make Shadow marketable again, like with Knuckles. If this succeeds, he may very well become even more popular than ever before.

Main Prediction: Backstory Level Pack + Playable Character After unlocking him, Shadow becomes a playable character in Modern Sonic stages. Pretty straightforward, but they might add a few things to the stages in order to utilize some unique mechanics of his. You can see him teleporting in place of a homing attack in the few seconds of gameplay they show, so it's possible.

In addition, I predict for there to also be a smaller sum of levels for Shadow in order to sum up his backstory before heading into a conflict with a resurrected Black Doom. For this prediction, I'm selecting 1 per game.

Shadow Stage 1: Radical Highway That city stage in the trailer could easily be Radical Highway given the red siding on the roads. Plus, it's Shadow's first stage ever, it's very iconic, and Sonic Team loves to use the stage theme as a musical motif for Shadow. If they don't include Radical Highway in some form, I'll be shocked.

Shadow Stage 2: Final Chase This one's a gimme if you watched the trailer. His debut title is Sonic Adventure 2, and we get a brief glimpse of him on that very stage attacking GUN robots. It's only natural, since it looks like it'd get followed up with that reimagining of the Biolizard boss fight, which was the culmination of Shadow's arc in SA2. Shadow Stage 3: Hang Castle/Mystic Mansion His next appearing title is Sonic Heroes. I'll admit, this one's wishful thinking- there's not much evidence for it, since all four teams go through every stage in Heroes. It means none of them really have any special meaning to or association with Shadow, as a character. I love these Halloween stages, though. Sue me, I named myself after the fucking month of Halloween.

Shadow Stage 4: Westopolis His next chronological installment is Shadow the Hedgehog. To tell the truth, I'm torn between Westopolis (the first stage, and the one you have to do on every playthrough, ugh) and Final Haunt (the only stage that comes close to being good, a stage taking place in the alien landscape of the Black Comet, home of the Black Arms and Black Doom.) The trailer's city stage could still be Westopolis, though, given that red fog, which looks very similar to the fog in the hilarious opening cutscene of Shadow the Hedgehog, so I suppose my hands are tied. But my earnest desires are for Lethal Highway (gee, wonder why,) and Final Haunt.

Shadow Stage 5: Radical Train His next installment is Sonic 06. Normally, I'd not include one from this title, but Crisis City is literally in Sonic Generations. Anyway, Radical Train is the only stage anyone likes, so let's root for it. It's also the stage associated with the cutscene where Shadow roundhouse kicks Silver, and that one is truly legendary.

Shadow Stage 6: Mystic Jungle - Eggman's Facility This one was difficult: his most recent appearance in a mainline title was Forces, as a DLC character, with three stages for a short story explaining his involvement with Infinite, a prominent villain in that title. There's not much to go on here. Ultimately, I've picked this stage, as it's the most distinct of the three, involving infiltrating one of Eggman's bases. Nobody wants a second Green Hill stage.