It’s one of the last excellent Sonic the Hedgehog games. It lets you play with the speed the franchise is known for, both from a side-scrolling perspective as Classic Sonic, and a more dynamic third-person one as modern Sonic. This bizarre combination is explained through its narrative, which sees our duplicate heroes dealing with an evil entity that’s wreaking havoc on the fabric of the space-time continuum. Their solution? Run so fast it sets time back in motion. If that’s not Sonic logic, I don’t know what is. If you’ve already gone through this awesome tribute to years of Sonic the Hedgehog, but can’t get enough of the speed, consider these amazing mods to keep the experience fresh.
15. HedgeMod Manager
Check Out This Mod Before we get into the meat of things, you may want to get the incredibly convenient HedgeMod Manager by TheSuperSonic16. This nifty tool will significantly simplify the mod installing process for Sonic Generations, and also works for Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces. Whenever you need to edit the configuration files for any of your mods, you can do it easily through the HMM as well. Some mod hosting websites such as GameBanana also support “1-click” installs straight from the browser using HMM.
14. Modern Adventure: Generations Physics Mod
Check Out This Mod The first actual mod here is also one of my personal favorites. It tries to bring back some of the charm present in the Sonic Adventure series. Developed by TheKazeblade, this mod aims to replicate the physics of the Adventure era in Sonic Generations, allowing better low-speed maneuverability and giving you more control at higher speeds as well. While it works perfectly fine on most Sonic Generations stages, it’s almost a must-have for ported maps from the Adventure era.
13. Better Unlockable Music
Check Out This Mod I love unlockables. And Sonic Generations has a healthy amount of them, including some iconic songs from all over Sonic’s vast roster of games. Regrettably, many of these tunes are either remixed, or simply shortened for reasons I don’t quite understand. I mean, the remixes are alright, I guess – but why are my favorite songs half their original length? This simple mod by NateSquared simply restores all shortened songs to their right length, and you can choose whether or not to keep the remixes.
12. High-Res HUD
Check Out This Mod Modding a game’s Heads-Up Display may seem like a bit much, especially on something like Sonic Generations, but you’ll need this if you’re playing on higher resolutions. This mod by JoeTE takes the HUD’s original resolution and doubles it so that it’ll look just as good on the higher resolutions you’d find on most computer screens/TVs nowadays. It may be a relatively small detail. But you’ll be looking at the HUD virtually all the time, so it’s worth the effort.
11. Sonic Movie Generations
Check Out This Mod Not everyone likes the recent live-action Sonic movie. There was a lot of controversy over Sonic’s early designs too, which were sitting comfortably at the very bottom of the Uncanny Valley. Even after the adjustments made for release, Sonic still looks pretty unique in this movie. Thanks to SonicOnBox, you can also bring this unusual Sonic into your Generations game. Not only does it change how Sonic looks, but it replaces his lines for ones taken straight from the movie – and Sonic even “flosses” on his victory screen.
10. Cel Shading
Check Out This Mod I first got to know cel-shaded graphics when I played Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as a kid. And since then, I bask in the beauty of any new cel-shaded game I get my hands on. Modder Darío seems to agree. So he made this small adjustment that overrides Sonic Generation’s rendering process so the final product looks – you guessed it – cel-shaded. Even if you’re not that enthusiastic about cel shading, it still looks pretty good. And it’s a great way to spice things up if you’ve been playing for a while.
9. Dynamic White World Effect
Check Out This Mod From the same author comes the Dynamic White World Effect, an interesting adjustment that SEGA could’ve very well made themselves before release. As you know, Sonic Generation’s narrative revolves around running incredibly fast to return life, color, and the passage of time to frozen-in-time areas that look white and lifeless. This mod just makes it so that this change happens in real-time. Levels start off looking colorless like the hub world, and regain their color as Sonic approaches. Take into account that this takes a bit of processing power, so expect hiccups if you’re only barely running the game. Also take a peek at this video to see it in action.
8. Real Tails
Check Out This Mod It’s been a long while since Tails got any camera time as a playable character. And modder UltimateDarkman thinks enough is enough. The Real Tails mod replaces modern Sonic with modern Tails, who not only looks great but retains his abilities, including flying with his helicopter tails by pressing the Boost button in the air. For this to work, you’ll also have to install a physics module, which comes in “homing attack enabled” and “homing attack disabled” versions.
7. Real Knuckles
Check Out This Mod Of course, you can’t port Sonic’s sidekick-in-chief to Sonic Generations and ignore the famous red echidna. The Real Knuckles mod does exactly what you’d think: letting you enjoy Sonic Generations from Knuckles’ gliding perspective. This time around, there’s no need to install any extra physics modules, because they’re included in the main download. Convenient!
6. Dreamcast Sonic Mod
Check Out This Mod Sonic has had a variety of looks throughout the years other than just “Classic” and “Modern” Sonic. While some of those are better-off fading into obscurity (Sonic Boom Sonic), others are the stuff nostalgic dreams are made of. This simple mod by creator Franku slightly alters both Sonic iterations from Generations to look more like Dreamcast-era Sonic, as seen on Sonic Adventure. This even replaces the pair’s voice clips for similar ones from back in the day when Ryan Drummond still voiced sonic. The nostalgia is strong in this one.
5. HD Classic Sonic Improvement
Check Out This Mod If you’re OK with modern Sonic just the way he is, perhaps you’d consider improving the adorable, stubby Classic Sonic with this mod by creator Showin. Far from altering his original concept, this mod actually makes Classic Sonic look even more like his official renders and advertisement material, making him even more adorable. It also tweaks his gameplay a bit to make it even more faithful to the classic games. There’s also a mod with the same aesthetic improvements for the lovable classic Tails.
4. Low-End Mod
Check Out This Mod I’m always on the lookout for some performance-enhancing mods to help our less technologically fortunate readers, and PTKickass has just the thing for Sonic Generations. The Low-End Mod gets rid of everything that’s not absolutely necessary to play the game. This reduces its formerly beautiful graphics to a point where it looks just like a PS2 game. Fair note: it gives off some Sonic Adventure 2: Battle vibes.
3. Better FxPipeline
Check Out This Mod On the other hand, the Better FxPipeline mod by creator Skyth does the polar opposite: significantly improving the game’s graphical fidelity. Not only does it fix Depth of Field and Bloom Glare to work correctly on all resolutions, but particles are now affected by post-processing effects too. The most recent version was released in 2020, and it adds FXAA support. If you’re not one for technical mumbo-jumbo, let’s just say it’ll make your game look much better.
2. STH2006 Project
Check Out This Mod The 2006 PS3/XBOX360/PC game Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most infamous titles in the series’ history, featuring many questionable decisions, including a furry romance between Sonic and a human girl. That said, its levels weren’t all that bad. Which is why creator Brianu has been putting in the work to port them to Sonic Generations. It isn’t perfect, but the stages remain faithful to the original game down to individual gimmicks, and it even features some boss fights. The mod’s final objective is to effectively turn the game into Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 title). It already adds new hub worlds like New Soleanna City and replaces Omochao’s tips with quotes from STH2006, so that may become a reality in the coming years. And once again there’s a great demo video to watch before installing this for yourself.
1. Sonic Generations – Unleashed Project
Check Out This Mod Sonic Unleashed’s Werehog Sonic may not have been the most popular addition to the franchise. But its daytime levels are some of the best the franchise has seen in the last few decades. Easily the most famous fan-project around, Sonic Generations: Unleashed endeavors to port these levels from the Xbox 360 version of the game to Sonic Generations. It also adds some other minor improvements to performance, controls, and graphics. So far, the game includes eight massive levels, ranging from Windmill Isle to Jungle Joyride, all of which you can access from a new hub world. There’s plenty here to keep you busy.
