The release of Sonic x Shadow Generations is quickly approaching this October, and everyone is excited to learn more about Shadow the Hedgehog’s new Doom Powers!
The team just released a trailer for the Doom Powers, highlighting each ability and how they add new twists to Shadow’s platforming and fighting gameplay. The trailer also showed off gameplay of new levels reminiscent of fan favorites like Chaos Island from Sonic Frontiers and Radical Highway from Sonic Adventure 2, as well as iconic boss challenges like Metal Overlord from Sonic Heroes. Attentive viewers can also catch a glimpse of the redesigned hub world White Space, where players will have the opportunity to try out and master Shadow’s new moves as they explore, unlock levels, and uncover collectibles.
We caught up with Sonic Team’s Creative Officer Takashi Iizuka to talk about why this game is the perfect opportunity to give Shadow new abilities and how they offer new, action-packed ways to navigate different levels and boss battles.
Why are Shadow’s Doom powers important to the story and gameplay?
Mr. Iizuka: In terms of gameplay, the team wanted to make the action of Shadow Generations more unique to differentiate it from Sonic’s abilities, so we added the Doom Powers. Shadow’s new powers are important because they give him new ways to attack enemies and traverse the world. This gives our team more options to build each level’s level design around. While we can’t reveal much about the story, the Doom Powers play a major role in Shadow’s journey and development over the course of his campaign, granting him more power to save the world. Shadow gains these when he realizes the power of darkness in the game, so players will see how closely they tie into the narrative when the game launches later this year.
How did you make the final selection of Doom Powers we see in the game? Why were these powers right for Shadow?
Mr. Iizuka: Shadow is a dark anti-hero character, so the Doom Powers needed to embody a sense of danger and mystery that would be expressed in Shadow’s actions and movements. The level designers also built in many ways for the Doom Powers to be used in this platform action game, so they aren’t just additional combat moves. Shadow can use Doom Powers to move around platforms throughout the world.
How do these powers differ from Shadow’s existing powers in previous games?
Mr. Iizuka: When designing the levels in Shadow Generations, we wanted to make the most of Shadow’s existing move, Chaos Control, which allows him to find new platforms to run through each level and find new ways to attack bosses. However, with just Chaos Control, the core of Shadow’s gameplay is very similar to what Sonic can do, so we introduced the Doom Powers to add more unique action to the game. Not only does it increase the variety of things you can do in the platforming action levels, but it also allows for great exploration and traversal abilities in the 3D White Space Hub World for Shadow.
What was the design process like in conceptualizing the idea and designing the look of each power?
Mr. Iizuka: The idea for the Doom Powers came about when we realized we needed to give Shadow new abilities and powers to create new gameplay formats. It was important to give Shadow abilities that Sonic can’t to make the action more fun, while also making sure each power reflected his dark anti-hero character. As the name suggests, the Doom Powers draw energy from Black Doom, which was taken into account when designing all of the Doom Powers.
Which Doom Powers are you most looking forward to seeing fans experience?
Mr. Iizuka: Doom Wing, the black wings coming out of Shadow in the Summer Game Fest trailer, was a powerful idea early on in the design process, so we wanted to make it the coolest of all Doom’s powers. The wings coming out of Shadow make you think of a devil, which fits well with Shadow’s dark hero elements and allows us to showcase something cool and new, something we couldn’t do with Sonic.
Sonic fans, get ready to discover Shadow’s dark side and use his new power to take on Black Doom and save the world! When the game launches this fall, you’ll be able to use each Doom power to try out all sorts of paths and methods to find new ways to conquer each level and battle.
Sonic x Shadow Generations is available for pre-order now on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles for $49.99. For more information on various pre-order incentives, visit PlayStation Store or the official Sonic x Shadow Generations website. Fans who purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition can play the game three days early and receive additional content.
