Sonic Mania (2017)

Sonic Mania was surprisingly lackluster for me. I expected, given the fanservice and nostalgia I have for Sonic 3K et al., that it would be better than it actually was. Half of the levels are remixes of older levels (Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Lava Reef, etc.), while the other half were completely original.

Additions like the Drop Dash were nice additions, but the removal of the Star Pole minigames and ability to gain powerups/lives from them is a poor choice; opting instead for the usage of the Blue Spheres mini game (which is not very fun even back then). Back then, they were used to get the Chaos Emeralds and only required 7 runs. Now it's 32 for Extras and Collectibles... which isn't super great. Particularly as they made the Rings as the requirement for the Gold Medals.

In lieu of the Blue Spheres minigames for Emeralds, they made the UFO Catcher minigame from Sonic CD used for Emeralds instead. I don't find that minigame very fun, but it's a tossup on whether it's less annoying than Blue Spheres.

The new bosses range from "Ok" to just plain boring. Some of them are really lackluster in their presentation (like the final Super Sonic boss), and others are creative but simple (like the Magician boss in Mirage Saloon zone.

The new zones are utilizing a lot of gimmicks from older Sonic games as well as adding their own. Some of them range as pretty decent (Oil Ocean Zone using Sandopolis Zone's gimmick was actually ok) while others are very boring and unfun (Titanic Monarch utilizing the electric orb obstacle from the Star Pole minigame constantly really slowed the pace down and made things very boring).

Overall it feels like the entire game is full of these hits and misses. I played Encore Mode a little bit before getting bored of Mighty and Ray as well. It doesn't feel as tightly paced or fun to play as Sonic 3 & Knuckles was. I want to like this game, as the art is phenomenal and the music is on point. Everything about the presentation is a love letter to the Sonic of old. But it feels like the new level designs are a huge detriment to the game itself and really mess up the pacing.

Playtime: 9 minutes

Intro

I used to play the original Sonic The Hedgehog on my Game Gear as a kid, along with The Lion King, Shinobi, Columns and Mortal Kombat II. We only had a handful of games for the NES as well. It was a different time. Games were made to be overly hard and require lots of repetition to beat.

Review

But it's not the 90s anymore and platformers have evolved. Except for this one. It doesn't help that going fast will get you killed and the levels have hodgepodge design unlike something like Rayman.

Even though this was pretty unbearable i would've given it two stars if it wasn't so awful in other aspects as well. It crashed when changing the video options. The menu controls are literally insane. S to confirm? Wtf? Worst of all is the "don't turn off your computer" message that is shown every single time and requires you to confirm. Oh wow, the game just crashed again as i'm typing this. And now the screen is black. Okay, fine, you've earned it.

1/10

Sonic Mania is quite possibly one of the greatest Sonic games in recent history. It's definitely the best 2D Sonic game and I can't recommend it enough

Sonic was going through a very tough time for the past few years before Sonic Mania. After the success of Sonic Generations, SEGA just couldn't seem to figure out where to bring the series. Games like Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric showed this. The games lacked a lot of attention and care the series was known for in the past. But then... SEGA looked back at the Genesis games and why people loved them so much. As a result, we got something beautiful.

The Development for this game is insane and I love it. In 2015, Australian Programmer, Christian Whitehead, a pioneer in the Sonic Fangame community was working on yet another fangame for a couple of months at the time. SEGA in the past have contacted Christian Whitehead to develop remastered ports for Sonic The Hedgehog (1991), Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and Sonic The Hedgehog CD for mobile phones. Whitehead showed off his prototype which was known as Sonic Discovery. SEGA greenlit the project and allowed Christian Whitehead and other prominent members in the Sonic Fangame community such as Simon Thomely to work on the project which would feature re-imagined zones and new zones. Sonic Mania was born.

Seen as an ultimate passion project for Whitehead and the other members of the community who wished to present the ultimate tribute for the Genesis Sonic games that they grew up playing, Sonic Mania is the ultimate showcase of what made the Genesis Sonic games so good.

Sonic Mania was released in 2017 and was met with praise on every level. Looked as one of the most successful Sonic games in years. The game reached heights we haven't seen since Sonic Adventure 2. And it deserves it.

Sonic Mania is essentially what the awful Sonic The Hedgehog 4 was supposed to be. Think of Sonic Mania like Sonic Generations but exclusively for the 2D titles. All the gameplay that the 2D games had are back and better than ever.

The story is pretty weird (And sadly the worst part of the game). It's a simple story like every 2D Sonic game and is told effectively. But it's just really messy. Dr. Robotnik and his creations known as the Hard-Boiled Heavies have discovered the Phantom Ruby. A mystical gem capable of creating illusions and messing with dimensions. It's up to Sonic and his friends to stop them. The Phantom Ruby is used mostly as an excuse to bring Sonic and his friends to new and old stages that aren't connected to each other. I'm fine with this. I just wish it wasn't used so much. It connects to Sonic Forces which is a possible reason for the flaws.

The gameplay feels fantastic. Sonic plays like he always has in 2D Sonic. It's about gaining momentum with platforming to get to the end of a level as quickly as possible. All the moves previously established in 2D Sonic are all present and accounted for. However, Sonic was given a new ability. The Drop-Dash. Essentially a Spin-Dash that begins midair, it is the perfect way to gain lost speed. Tails is playable and is the easy mode once again. While Knuckles has his own unique stages and bosses while also being the hard mode.

The Zones are great. You got classic zones such as Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone, Flying Battery Zone and many more. But the new Zones are heaven. Studiopolis Zone, Press Garden Zone, Mirage Saloon Zone, and Titanic Monarch Zone are easily the best zones in the game because of being made from the ground up. Essentially the zones are split into faithful recreations for the first act, drastically overhauled levels for the second act, and the new zones entirely. My only issue with the level selection is that it doesn't have enough new Zones. Let's hope that if they make a Sonic Mania 2, we get entirely new zones.

Blue Spheres are also back as well as a new Bonus Stage where you chase a UFO. Doing these nets you a Chaos Emerald and collecting all 7 allows you to turn into Super Sonic and get the true ending.

I can't talk about this game without mentioning the soundtrack. Tee Lopes did an incredible job. The music for the old zones doesn't feel brand new. Which is a good thing. It keeps the game faithful to its past and only modernizes it. The music is still fantastic. Especially the new music. By far, the greatest Sonic ost in the whole franchise no questions asked. Insanely good.

You think that they would stop there. But no... They added DLC for this game and brought a new mode and two forgotten characters we thought we would never see again. Sonic Mania Plus as its called introduced a mode called Encore Mode. Taking place right after the events of Sonic Forces (Which I'll review next), Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and some new friends must stop Eggman from bouncing back after his previous defeat.

The new characters added aren't new... (I never mentioned them as they only appeared in a 2D Sonic Spin-off). They were fan-favorite characters that SEGA never mentioned again. We thought they fell into the land of obscurity. Never to be seen or heard from again. But they are back. Making their return are Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. Mighty is essentially another version of easy mode. He has a stomp attack and is invulnerable to most attacks while in a ball. Ray is basically Tails and Knuckles combined as he can glide. But it's harder to figure out. Ironically enough, Ray is a Speedrun Demon as he can clear levels faster than any character with his gliding ability.

Sonic Mania may be a fangame at heart. But it doesn't feel like one. It is living proof that ambition and passion pays off and is a game I've played over 7 times and never got bored of. Sonic Mania is a home-run on every level and is the ultimate tribute to past and future.

Would Recommend

5/5

It's very rare that a sonic game makes me smile as much as Sonic Mania did. With countless references and throwbacks to 2D sonic games of the past, it's clear to see just how much passion went into this project.

Not only did this game and the team behind it manage to create an incredible celebration of Sonic, but also managed to make arguably the best Sonic game ever. Nothing in this game feels overturned and when speeding through a stage you feel there is a purpose with every detail added.

This game isn't free of faults though. One sad trap that virtually all 2D Sonic games suffer from is dying from being crushed. Speeding along a course and then suddenly dying due to being crushed by a moving platform you were barely in the way of is frustrating. In most sonic games this happens towards the end of the games and unfortunately, Sonic Mania is no different. Normally having to avoid being crushed is nothing unusual in a platformer, but avoiding these obstacles in sonic mania feel extra tedious due to having to go full break just to carefully wait because if you try to take it even a little fast, often time you will be punished with instant death.

One of the more divisive parts of the game is the boss fights. I constantly felt like many of them were too easy but I struggled to hold that against the game just due to the sheer amount of charm each battle brought.

I feel without a doubt if I had to recommend someone any singular sonic game to get them hooked, Sonic Mania would be my go-to.

89/100

I loved sonic games when I was young. I think I did. I remember enjoying the four classic games (mostly 3 and "and knuckles") I know I finished them. I was one of the only ones who enjoyed the sonic adventure games. They seemed like a natural progression and an innovation of where the series should have gone.

So revisiting the old formula after decades was kind of jarring. I loved it when it was new, but now...it's just annoying. It feels primitive and fiddly and thoughtlessly designed.

There's no rhyme or reason to how the levels progress. they aren't built for speed and precise action the way you'd think they should be, the way platformers like rayman origins/legends are. I'm not sure what skill it is that this game demands of me other than figure out the specific path of nonsense you need to do to make this level work.

I don't feel challenged or excited, I just feel bored and frustrated. The thing is, this is EXACTLY what these games were like back then. It's me that changed. I don't want it anymore. I still like the idea of it, but playing it is a chore.

The free Playstation Plus games this month are some good ones. I got this and the Borderlands collection. I had played a little of Sonic Mania at a friend’s house and was interested by it. Sonic was one of the first games I ever played, all the way back on the Sega Genesis. I loved the old games, but jumped ship after Sonic Heroes.

Obviously the team behind Sonic Mania were also huge fans of the original series, because this game is both a remastering of the classic levels with some new levels created in that classic style added in. There was some strong nostalgia playing through Oil Ocean, Chemical Plant, and I was surprised I still remember some of the layout of Green Hills even after all these years. But yes, this game looks like it came straight from the Genesis, there were even some filters to make it look like you’re playing it on an old CRT TV. The pixel graphics do have a nice pop with all the colors and the levels do seem to have more details added in, a benefit of the new technology. Each zone includes two levels. The first is a recreation of a classic level, but the second level is a wholly new level that takes all the tropes of the zone, but with new gameplay elements, like bouncing jelly or zip-lines. Along with these are the totally new zones, and you can kinda tell which ones are the new ones. They usually start off with a lot more gameplay elements in level one and can look a little over designed sometimes, there is a lot of stuff going on in Studiopolis. The only new level I didn’t care for was the first stage of Mirage Desert with Sonic and Tails.
This is where I can talk of the controls and gameplay. See in Mirage Desert level 1, you play Sonic on top of Tail’s plane. I’m used to these sections being an on-rails affair, where Sonic has to time his jumps over hazards so that he lands on the plane again. Instead you actually sorta control both Sonic and the plane as they move across the sky. Others probably didn’t have any issue with it, I admit, but I just found it very disorienting. In general, the controls are solid and platforming is great. One issue I’ve had with Sonic games, even the old ones, is the insistence of going fast. For the most part the levels are built to get Sonic up to speed and it’s cool to see him bouncing around, but sometimes the levels aren’t designed for speed and most of my speedy moments end with Sonic hitting some spikes or an enemy.

The music in this game is also classic goodness. It’s got that old 32 bit sound with some real catchy tunes. The old tunes have been remastered and the 2nd level has a sort of remixed, new version of the older themes. Studiopolis has some real swanky music, Mirage Desert has a Western theme, and Oil Ocean has hints of Middle Eastern influences. It enhances the levels and I could see myself listening to some of these tracks as background noise while I’m working on a project.

You can play through the game as Sonic, Tails, both of them, or Knuckles. I played with Sonic & Tails because it made it feel like Sonic 2 and Tails helped with killing some minions and taking a hit for me since he’s invincible. I played a few levels as Knuckles, he has some special powers like gliding and busting through certain rock walls. And the story is pretty basic, which seeing what a “complex” story looks like, I’m fine with that. Robotnik and his cronies steal some emeralds and enslave animals and you gotta stop that from happening. The boss battles are fun and you can figure out their patterns. Being I wasn’t great at this game I spent a lot of boss battles juggling one ring while trying to defeat the baddie. I didn’t beat the final level, because the dangers were too thick and by the time I got to level 2 of the zone I would be out of continues and when I’d eventually die I’d go back to level 1 and my blood pressure can’t handle that.

All in all, this game achieves what it sets out to do, be a love letter to the Genesis era of Sonic, I’d argue the best era before all the… questionable stuff. It brings back that nostalgic feeling for me of early Saturday mornings with a bowl of Reese Puffs and my Sega Genesis plugged into that old fat back TV.

Sonic has a long and sordid history, as do many people who associate themselves with said franchise. Like a lot of people my age, I grew up playing the original games, and playing the later 'Adventure' series, but my attachment to Sonic goes far beyond that. See, I was a dork as a little girl. I collected comic books, especially Sonic comic books, and I went out of my way to play every Sonic game I could find. From the Dreamcasts obscure but wonderful "Sonic Shuffle" to the Gamecubes well known but lacking in execution "Sonic Heroes" and all the weird arcade and Genesis titles to boot, I loved Sonic growing up. That being said, I hadn't truly enjoyed a Sonic game fully since the Adventure games, until Generations and Colors, when they stopped trying to force ridiculous plotlines about princesses and world ending deities into their games and went back to the simplest premise of "hedgehog chases fat man for shiny rocks". So, with all of that in mind, Sonic Mania looked to be right up my alley, and boy, it did NOT disappoint.

From beautiful pixel animation to fantastic music to redone levels and some originals, and the use of Sonic, Tails AND Knuckles, SONIC MANIA is just a blast of nostalgia that made me feel like a kid again. Now granted, there's some problems, as with anything, and most of my problems came from Knuckles, and some level design, specifically the original levels. Knuckles feels clunky, and his flying ability, while never all that great to begin with, feels especially nerfed here. I had no problem getting through stuff with Sonic (big surprise, considering what the game is titled), and even Tails was a breeze, but Knuckles for some reason felt incredibly challenging to control, and felt slow when not running. Now, perhaps it was always this way and it's just been a while since I've played an original title to compare him to, but I don't remember having this issue before. Secondly, the original levels, while fantastic in concept, often can be misleading and hard to navigate. Where once levels followed a rather simple "run right" structure, with light backtracking at most, now sometimes I'm completely unsure which way to go, honestly. Especially on the final two acts, which were very confusing at times.

But those gripes aside, I could not have been happier with the cheap price tag attached to this reimagining of my childhood. I was also very surprised at some of the things they included in the game, such as a Mean Bean Machine callback, and yet not one for Sonic Spinball, which was obviously a more known title. What's funny to me is how sometimes, people completely unassociated with a franchise can create the best outings of said franchise. As far as I can tell, Christian Whitehead, the lead on the game, has had no real affiliation with the franchise before this outside of making mobile ports of old Sonic titles, and this is, in many aspects, a "fan made" title. I had the same feeling regarding Halo Wars. While I enjoyed the first 3 games, and Reach, Halo Wars (and perhaps this is biased because of my unabashed love for the RTS genre) was a way better Halo Game than anything that had been put out recently, and it wasn't even developed by the company that made the series. Sometimes less spoons in the stew really does make for a better dinner. But yes, overall, the game has great visuals, great sound, great replay value, and is an absolute winner.

It's hard sometimes to realize that despite the fact that I am now a 29 year old woman, some things have been in my life for so long that they feel like a part of me. The Sonic franchise is one of those things, and even with all his missteps and shortcomings, I will always, ALWAYS, give a new title a shot, and hope for the best, which is more than I can say for other franchises these days. Maybe this is just a horribly dorky way of putting it, but perhaps it's because as a little girl with no friends, Sonics positive attitude, and his ability to overcome whatever stood in his way, was inspiring to me, and perhaps that's why I keep coming back to it, because growing up I was alone and sad, and yet I had something to look at and call a positive influence.

Sonic taught me that no matter what, as long as you keep running, you'll eventually reach your goal, which is more than any adult in my life ever told me. So that's why I'll never abandon the franchise and be thrilled when it succeeds, because without it, I'd just be a loser. At least with it, I'm a loser who writes really sappy things about a cartoon hedgehog on the internet.

God I'm a dork.

Sonic Mania succeeds to do exactly what it sets to do - make it as if Sonic the Hedgehog 4 never existed, and be a perfect continuation of the series past Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Investigating a strange gemstone connected to the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are transported through time and space to old zones and new zones alike.

First off, this is Sonic 2D proper. There may be a jumping spin dash included to keep things fresh, but this is timeless Sonic design. Every stage is a magic of fast and fun barrages and careful platforming and looks amazing, with intricate detail in every inch. Plenty of stages from previous games are reused (Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Lava Reef, Stardust Speedway, etc) which may come as a downside to some, but the way the developers inject brand-new mechanics as a love letter to each of these zones is magical.

As for secrets, Sonic Mania is loaded with extras. The ways to get them are Chaos Emeralds through large-ring portals to special stages (arguably the weakest of the game since the racing is wonky as hell) and addictive variations of the blue sphere minigame from Sonic 3 that contain coins that lead to various unlockables. Finally, the cake is topped off with a save system that allows gracious replayability and the choice of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles (in various combinations as well) to play through.

Sonic Mania is a short game, but that's because it feels like the perfect sequel to Sonic games we treasured. Redesigning old stages and mixing in a handful of amazing new stages creates an adventure we won't soon forget.

The Genesis was the first console I can remember asking for specifically, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3 were my favorite games for the system. The latter title, when locked-on with its sequel Sonic & Knuckles, has long been on my list of all-time faves.

But I think it may be dethroned.

Sonic Mania's everything I wanted out of a 2-D Sonic game. The animation, color palette, soundtrack and presentation are all stunning evolutions of the blue blur's heyday. Old zones like Green Hill and Chemical Plant return, but their scale is now grander, their designs improved, and their mechanics upgraded in ways that feel obvious in hindsight. Where Sonic Generations presented beautifully rendered tributes to these levels, one could argue Sonic Mania presents their now-definitive versions. And most pleasantly surprising, the game's brand-new zones stand toe-to-toe with their legacy counterparts, blending seamlessly and feeling of the same universe.

Much has been said of the game's fan service, and there's plenty. But it's never distracting or altogether arbitrary. While there's plenty for longtime fans to dig into, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this game to someone who's never played a 2D Sonic before.

The game can be completed in less time than its predecessors, but that's less due to its difficulty and more to the modern amenities it wisely retains. Progress is saved once per zone, and certain items carry over to new games within an existing save file. These additions make it much easier for a casual player to complete the game, which makes this a friendlier 2-D Sonic game to play and replay.

But the most magical thing about this game for me was how great it felt playing on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. I've played Sonic "on the go" before, but those games felt like reduced experiences (Sonic Pocket Adventure), slightly adjacent experiences (Sonic Advance) or emulated versions with poor sound and other quirks. Even Christian Whitehead's excellent iOS and Android ports are limited by their platform's propensity for touch controls. Since I never owned a Nomad, this is the first time I've played what felt like not just a real Sonic game, but maybe the best one ever, on a handheld. Way past cool!