Video: Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis Of Sonic X Shadow Generations

I feel Nintendo has endured with the current Switch hardware as their only option for too long at this point. They should have already come out with a faster system at this point to keep up with computing needs. I don’t feel compelled to pick up games like this at this time even if I only have a Switch.

We still not might be at 60 frames per second yet, but at least we can enjoy 63 frames every two seconds.

The extra 1.5 FPS SEGA have eked out reportedly comes from advancements in Blast Processing Technology.

@NinChocolate But the hardware and games for it keep selling so…

I’m with you, I’ve been ready for an upgraded Switch for years now but from Nintendo’s perspective I can see why they haven’t rushed to release new hardware when it’s continued to sell as well as it has and third party support has stayed strong throughout.

I'm so ready for the Switch 2. I'm not even a huge graphics snob, but it's gonna feel amazing to actually be able to play games on Nintendo that look mostly the same as other systems. I really wanna play this game and a bunch of others that came out recently, but I'm honestly really tired of the significant sacrifices on Switch, or games just not coming to it because they wouldn't be able to run.

Well, PS5 version for 60 fps is my answer.

@larryisaman it’s been a very good hardware generation for their business, no doubt. And I think the Switch should continue to sell. In fact I’d like to see another revision for a pocket sized switch. They could potentially sell me more hardware if they had an upgrade at this point for larger modern games, and a Switch Pocket that would continue to get smaller scale games no problem. But a single solution for all games from Nintendo is no bueno after 7+ years. Who knows if that’s a repeatable strategy

I'll wait for physical switch 2 cartridge then, I hope it can have at least 1080p and 60 fps 😃

Mario and luigi sea shanty reaction when Nintendo life.

Ive only touched the sonic half so far but am so pleased. I'm getting more and more sensitive to frame drops and pop in and it's been rock solid for me. Easily the best 3D Sonic game I've ever played. 2D, mania is still king but it isn't half bad either.

Switch 2. That is all.

Honestly I didn't expect to be this impressed by the Switch 7 years into it's life, but here we are. The game runs like a dream.

IMO this is tied with Nier Automata as the most technically impressive non-Nintendo game on the system.

I havent seen any frame rate issue,so if it exists its not noticeble.And the loadings are short even if they are longer than other consoles.

Unfortunately it doesn't look smooth at all due to that weird 31.5fps. It's not due to lack of power either, so I hope Sega fixes this and makes it 30fps. That said, it does look very nice otherwise.

I have it on Switch and PS4, both seem great. Although I'm ready for Switch 2 now. 😃 The thing is, although Switch sales are down year on year they are still very solid and very good in Japan. Nintendo is in no rush to release the secussor.. Why should they be.

Well that sub title was certainly cherry picked.

@SBandy1 To be fair, the way Eurogamer worded it was also a bit weird. Fine resolution and visuals, frame rate is a bit weird, don't touch it with a pole apparently.

Anyway, this game is actually really, really weird @NinChocolate, because it's not a lack of power causing this issue.

Turns out in the games code, the game is actually coded to run at 31.5FPS. Why? Who the hell knows. But it's in there, that's the manually set frame rate cap.

In fact, modders have already gone in and changed that, and made it run at 60. So again, I have no idea what Sonic Team is up to here. The game also for no reason has really high CPU usage on one core specifically.

Again, it seems like Sonic Team just kinda crapped out the Generations portion and expected brute force to fix it. But they also redid cutscenes and UI to be a higher resolution so it's really weird.

And on OC it can't hit 120FPS by default because....well the game gets hard locked to 60 unless you force it which the original didn't do.

Again, it's like they cared but also didn't.

But it IS a Sonic remaster and history has shown they will always make it somehow worse than the last version of the game. Always.

Kind of funny that the "significantly longer" load times they show are about 7-8 seconds. Definitely longer than the others but perfectly acceptable, it's not like the Sonic Colours Ultimate load times on Switch.

I don't think they mentioned specifics about Shadow Gens resolution on Switch. I would've been interested to see that.

@Buizel it is pretty cool to see the mid level zone transitions operate flawlessly on the Switch. It can look a bit grainy in portable, but there's a lot more visually going on compared to Forces and Frontiers and still holds up solidly.

It's weird I am not feeling this judder they are describing in Sonic Generations at all, maybe its the well implemented motion blur, but I've played about 14 hours and it's not bothered me at all. I trust them that it's there though. Shadow Generations I've not played much as the lower resolution is quite noticeable. I'll probably buy the PS4 version too.

@Haruki_NLI Does it run at 60fps on original hardware with the 31.5 cap removed or just on overclocked devices/emulators?

The Switch version is the worst by far: not just half the frame rate but there are quality and frame pacing issues galore.

@Orpheus79V
the colours ones were made even worse too due to how short the levels were so not only were the load times longer but the load-time-to-gameplay-time ratio was also much worse.

@BulkSlash Drop the resolution a little bit, and remove the cap. No over clicking needed apparently

@Haruki_NLI That’s impressive, but then the Switch has always been great at surpassing expectations. I wonder why Sega didn’t go that route. Maybe it’s better on battery life at 30fps?

@BulkSlash You'd think, but they also somehow managed to massively overwork one single CPU core with the game.

Again, it's really shoddily ported.

Capping the game at 31.5 FPS? Lolwut. That's just lazy programming, the Switch can do better.

It really bothers me that Digital Foundry leaves out the PS4 version when they do multi-platform games comparisons. As if the PS4 version don't matter or is worth including. Considering the PS4 is still getting 3rd party games at this point.

They NEED to fix this.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot They don't need to do anything.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot The Xbox One (X) and PS4 (Pro) versions have Sonic Generations running at 60fps and Shadows Generations running at 30fps, if that helps. Both titles run at 60fps on Xbox Series S. The Switch version "sure feels a lot worse to play."

@Ristar24 yeah I'm not seeing any stuttering/juddering at all.

I’m surprised to see so many complaints from tech purists, the game looks and runs amazing.

@8bit-Man What did you expect to read on a thread about Digital Foundry's analysis? This is useful information for many users, that is why Nintendo Life reports on it. Why does it bother you?

@Liam_Doolan I apologize if I am completely wrong here, but did you mean to type "unstable frame fracing" or "unstable frame tracing" in the third paragraph?

I've never heard of fracing before and seeing how close the two keys were, I figured either I would learn something, or a small typo could be corrected.

@Banjo- Please don’t twist my words. I only mentioned being surprised reading so many complaints, because the game runs great, which Digital Foundry also concluded.

It’s fine if you don’t agree with that, but there’s no need to come across so provocative.

@Buizel I would put Alien Isolation above Nier as the most impressive Switch port. It's such a good looking game that it's hard to believe it's a Switch game. Digital Foundry rated it as even better looking than the PS4 and XbOne versions.

GRID Autosport is also up there.

@8bit-Man I'm not twisting anything. I respectfully replied because you referred to other posters (me and others) with "I’m surprised to see so many complaints from tech snobs." I am sure that I am not the only one finding that comment jarring, considering the topic and the video. Digital Foundry literally said, "It sure feels a lot worse to play" comparing it to the last-gen versions, and "Bad news for Switch" as the headline for that video section. Some users here say that they find the Switch version fine and I'm happy for them, but that's not what you said. Again, it's weird that you are surprised to see "tech snobs" disappointed on a thread about a Digital Foundry analysis, when Digital Foundry are disappointed as well.

@Banjo- Digital Foundry says it's still "really happy with this one". I'm not sure how you interpret that as disappointing, but you are free to have your own view on the matter of course.

Furthermore, my opinion wasn't meant as an insult to you or anyone else. So once again I'd like to ask you to please don't twist my words or make anything else out of it.
Having said that, I do apologise if you took the phrasing personally or if it offended you. I will change the phrasing for you.

@Banjo- Easy man, I understood perfectly well what the guy said. Have you played the game on Switch, or are you talking based on what DF says?
He says that he's surprised because he's not seeing any issue while playing the game, while you and others complain about this. You actually said: "The Switch version is the worst by far: not just half the frame rate but there are quality and frame pacing issues galore."
What quality and frame pacing issues are you talking about? Because so many people don't notice them.

@8bit-Man He also said that it's "bad news for Switch" (video section headline), that "it sure feels a lot worse to play", that the last-gen versions are fine in comparison (someone here asked about the PS4 version and I replied with frame rate details) and that the frame pacing is bad. He also mentions the bad quality of the graphics and the low resolution in Shadow's Generations. The vast majority of what he says about the Switch version is negative.

@the_beaver I am good, don't worry. I'll try to explain once again because you don't understand what I said. The video says that the Switch version is a disappointment, "bad news for Switch", "it sure feels a lot worse to play" (comparing it to the last-gen versions), and that the frame rate pacing issues are frequent and affect the gameplay. There are nine versions of this game and he said that Switch is the worst. He said all that, but it's also evident in the footage. You don't need to play the game on nine different platforms to know that, that's why Digital Foundry exists to begin with. Like it or not, that's the truth, and I have nothing to do with it. Last but not least, this is not one of those cases you need a microscope to notice the differences like in other comparisons, e.g., Sonic Origins in 1080p or 2160p.

I have the original on my series s and sonic x shadow on my switch, and Sonic controls better on the switch, I’m getting super ranks and red coins I couldn’t get for years on the original version.

@Mgalens 30 second load screen for a level that barely lasts a minute, yipee!