With over thirty years of games to draw inspiration from, Sonic X Shadow Generations had endless possibilities when writing up the roster for its rogue’s gallery. Both hedgehogs have faced off against a countless number of foes in their past, from intergalactic aliens and primordial beasts to a multitude of robots built by the mad genius Dr. Eggman.
Generations provided the team with a chance to remix some of the most iconic battles in the hedgehogs’ histories. Some have been reimagined to much success, while others leave a bit to be desired. Here’s a ranking of all the bosses in Sonic X Shadow Generations, taking into account each bosses’ replayability, variety, spectacle and pacing, as well as how well they adapt and improve upon the original fight.
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11 Sonic Generations: Time Eater
An unfulfilling finale
Starting this list where Sonic Generations ends, the Time Eater is easily one of the most underwhelming final bosses in any Sonic game, ever. The constant perspective switching is obnoxious, Sonic’s attacks feel pathetic and unsatisfying, and the music falls flat compared to the rock-inspired anthems Sonic bosses are usually accompanied by.
All the attacks the Time Eater throws out are unimpactful and never really make the player feel in danger, made even worse by the fight’s complete lack of tension. Pair in the fact that Sonic’s friends shout “that looks like a homing shot!” Almost every other second, and the Time Eater is unenjoyable on so many levels.
10 Sonic Generations: Death Egg Robot
Pales compared to it's predecessor
The original incarnation of this fight in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 used to give me such a tough time as a kid. Despite the sheer size of Eggman’s mech, its moves can be so quick and unpredictable at times. Generations’ version attempts to recreate the boss in its first phase, but feels laughable in comparison, with far slower and more readable attacks that pose little to no threat.
The second phase switches things up as the Death Egg Robot fights from the background of the arena, swinging his arms at Sonic and (hopefully) into Dimensional Bombs that allow Sonic to roll up his arm and attack his head. The fight is over after only four hits across both phases, making the Death Egg Robot feel incredibly weak compared to the twelve-hit titan in Sonic 2.
9 Sonic Generations: Perfect Chaos
Destroying the God of Destruction
Admittedly, it’s pretty cool that Sonic can take down Perfect Chaos without the Chaos Emeralds now. It shows how much stronger he’s gotten over the years, and it’s something a lot of Generations bosses do that works well. But this fight doesn’t do much in making Sonic feel any more powerful than he used to be, showing off no real impressive feats.
In reality, the Perfect Chaos Boss is just a glorified Modern Sonic stage, but with the gameplay watered down. Chaos interacts with Sonic at times with lasers and jets of water, but the platforming-oriented level design doesn’t do much to make the fight feel like, well, a fight.
8 Shadow Generations: Devil Doom
Defeating Black Doom once and for all
Shadow’s side of the story makes its debut on the list, also with its final boss. In reality, this fight doesn’t have all that much wrong with it. It’s split into three solid sections, each with their own focus and mechanics. And the battle is incredibly cinematic, providing some utterly epic moments without sacrificing the gameplay in favour of it.
The problem with this fight is how much it borrows from earlier battles in the game. The first phase focuses on the Doom Surf: something Metal Overlord had done already and in more detail. And the same can be said for the Doom Morph section. The final section where Shadow chases Doom with his new set of wings is awesome, but by the time it comes around the boss has already dragged on far too long.
7 Shadow Generations: The Biolizard
A battle of the ultimate lifeforms
Facing off against his own prototype is one of the most pivotal moments in Shadow’s story, and Generations does a good job at reimagining the original fight. Most of his old attacks return, with many remixed in some cool ways. The Biolizard uses his pink bubbles to mutate form a pair of arms for himself, creating some crazy shockwaves when he slams them down.
The fight’s second phase sees the Biolizard latch on to the wall and plug himself into his support system, firing a flurry of energy balls for Shadow to deflect with Chaos Spears before firing a massive energy ball back at the Biolizard and delivering one final blow. It’s a good finale in terms of spectacle and introduces a new mechanic, but doesn’t do much in the way of gameplay, leaving a bit to be desired.
6 Sonic Generations: Shadow the Hedgehog
"A date to die for"
With the two fastest hedgehogs going head-to-head, this boss fight is non-stop high-speed action as Sonic and Shadow race around a circuit aboard the Ark, fighting to obtain energy orbs that allow them to unleash their special attacks. The fight’s introduction recreates the iconic opening from Sonic Adventure 2 before transitioning into an equally as epic battle.
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The fight places the player and Shadow on the same playing field as the boss has a boost just like Sonic, as well as a gauge he recharges. Both characters’ special attacks are cool, too, but the design of the circuit feels slightly too simplistic. Its straight roads almost the whole way, with the occasional slight turn or rail to grind on. For a fight that’s constantly on the move, some more threatening obstacles to dodge or tighter turns to make could’ve made things more exciting.
5 Sonic Generations: Metal Sonic
Clashing with your copy
Sonic has fought this robot rival more than almost any other villain the series has seen, with the hedgehog’s copy going to insane lengths to defeat his doppelganger, like merging with the Phantom Ruby or growing into a skyscraper-sized dragon. In comparison, Metal’s appearance in Generations is a much simpler fight, but one that’s executed to perfection.
Metal Sonic attacks the player with electric shockwaves, snapped-off streetlights, and a series of charges. All of these attacks provide unique threats for players to adapt to, and there are so many opportunities during the fight to get hits in on Metal Sonic early and skip a portion of the battle. And with that slick Stardust Speedway remix playing in the background, it would be hard not to love this fight.
4 Shadow Generations: Mephiles
Buried beneath the timeline
The intial announcement of Mephiles' return came as quite a shock, as the character has disappeared off the face of the franchise since 2006. But unlike in his previous appearances, Mephiles' boss fight in Generations is a surprisingly good one. The premise of this battle is fascinating, as Mephiles has been canonically erased from the Sonic timeline. Mephiles is aware of this, and is desperate to restore his own existence, fighting with pure desperation that Robbie Daymond sells perfectly through his voice acting.
Mephiles battles Shadow at peak performance here. He learns Shadow’s attacks, countering him if the player chooses to spam aimlessly during damage phases. He spawns endless numbers of clones, manipulates the battlefield by corrupting the ground or dropping pillars, and morphs into a monster. The battle puts so many of players’ skills to the test at once within such a short time, and provides one of the most epic finales to a fight the franchise has ever seen.
3 Sonic Generations: Silver the Hedgehog
Sonic's days of future past
If there’s one thing both sides of Generations share, it’s the ability to redeem the terrible boss battles seen in Sonic The Hedgehog (2006). The best rival battle in Generations has to go to this telekinetic hedgehog, as the fight is so creative in the ways that it uses his powers. Silver hovers in-front of, behind, or to the side of Sonic throughout the fight as he uses the debris scattered about Crisis City as his weaponry, teleporting around the circuit as he does. The perspective constantly switches between 3D and 2D, forcing the player to stay on their toes.
The fight utilises debris in so many unique ways: smashing down from above, forming homing attack chains of rubble for Sonic to attack Silver with, creating a huge ram to charge at Sonic, or forming a massive ball of debris that chases the player from behind. Debris also serves as Sonic’s main source of boost energy in this fight. Every second of this fight is so well thought-out, and finally gives Silver the boss battle he deserves.
2 Shadow Generations: Metal Overlord
"Even the Ultimate Lifeform can't stop me!"
While Metal Sonic’s classic appearance in Sonic Generations is one of the best fights out of both games, Shadow’s encounter with Metal Overlord blows it out of the water. Taking place within the flooded remains of Final Fortress, the fight is centered around Shadow’s Doom Surf ability, as he uses the alien manta-ray to knock rubble and debris into Metal’s body, or otherwise use a ramp to get some airtime and attack Metal’s energy core with a flurry of punches and kicks.
Metal Overlord throws absolutely everything in his arsenal at Shadow: missiles, electrified tail swipes, reflective crystals, destroyed airships and even creating a giant whirlpool in the water. This fight has one of the most creative uses of Chaos Control, as Shadow hits multiple pieces of debris at once while time is stopped, causing them to crash into Metal simultaneously. It’s a fight that never gets boring, hitting players with more and more surprises until the final moment.