Hey now everyone, hope you're doing well, and welcome to my review of Sonic Mania! Back in the mid to late eighties the video game landscape was dominated by Nintendo and their brand mascot Mario. When Sega came on the scene with their own gaming console they knew that they needed a mascot to get people interested, and to compete with Nintendo. In 1991 the very first Sonic game was released, and Sega took a shot at rivaling Mario with a 2-d platformer that was faster and edgier. The first few Sonic the Hedgehog games did very well, and they turned many people into die hard Sonic fans. I really enjoyed the first few titles in the series that came out on the original Sega Genesis, but as the franchise evolved and changed the games got further and further away from what made them so great to begin with. Now we have a brand new Sonic game that recaptures the essence of the originals with Sonic Mania.
Somewhere along the way the Sonic series lost it's magic, and we saw game after game get released with poor reception from fans and critics alike. They tried to ditch the 2-d style and make more modern games, with better graphics and half baked story lines, but I never liked those very much because they just didn't feel like Sonic. This is a game that doesn't translate well to the three dimensional style for some reason, and the creators of Sonic Mania were well aware of this it seems. They made a new Sonic game that took everything from the old titles that made them great, and combined them all together in a way that pays homage to the classics, while giving us new levels to play with, all done in the exact same 16- bit graphics.
Sonic Mania is a side scrolling platformer that was released for the Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch on August 15, 2017. I always like to purchase my games with a physical copy if possible, but unfortunately this only received a digital release. It features Sonic the Hedgehog, his sidekick Tails the fox with two tails, and Knuckles all as playable characters that each posses their own abilities. Sonic can perform his drop dash that sends him dashing off after a jump. Tails has the ability to fly with his two tails acting as helicopter blades and he can swim, and Knuckles has the ability to glide after jumping as well as climbing walls with his pointy knuckles.
All of the characters are fun to use, and their different functions make them useful in their own ways on every level. Sonic was always the one I used the most so I was the most comfortable with him, using Tails or Knuckles took a minute to get used to at first, but that's to be expected. You can play as Sonic and Tails simultaneously with Tails being controlled by the computer, or a friend can join in and take control of Tails for you. As you play and get further in the game, extra features and modifiers can be unlocked, giving Sonic more abilities, and opening up & Knuckles mode that allows simultaneous control of any of the three characters.
Sonic Mania is comprised of twelve different levels, or zones, that each have two acts and a boss at the end. They are all themed in their own distinct way, and it's a lot of fun to see all the new places and enemies as you go through the game. Eight of these zones are remixed versions of zones from the original games, I'm sure the first one, Green Hill Zone, will be familiar to anyone who's played the first game. But all eight of these zones, while looking familiar, are all laid out differently so they still feel somewhat fresh. The other four zones are completely new and have been created just for Sonic Mania, so there is some totally new content here as well.
The antagonist is still good old Doctor Eggman, and you'll end up fighting him as he rides in various contraptions that he tries to kill you with. In addition to Eggman there are the Hard Boiled Heavies, who are basically Eggman's henchmen that each have their own gimmick. At the end of each zone after completing both acts you will have to fight one of these baddies, and each fight is completely different with it's own strategies needed to defeat the boss. You go through each level collecting gold rings, not as a form of currency, but as health for your character. If you get hit all your rings go flying, and if you get while having zero rings you get killed. As long as you have some rings when going into a boss fight, they're usually not that difficult.
In each act of the game you can try to find a hidden giant ring that will give you a chance to complete a 3-d challenge level. In these bonus levels you run down a track chasing after a UFO carrying one of the Chaos Emeralds. In the 3-d level you have to collect coins to stay alive, but also collect blue orbs that increase your speed. If you get enough blue orbs quickly enough you will be able to catch up with the UFO and win the Chaos Emerald. The are seven Emeralds in total to try and find, and if you do they unlock the characters super transformation, as well as the true ending of the game. I found the bonus levels themselves to be fairly easy, but finding the giant ring to bring you there was not so easy for me, in fact I usually missed them. This is a nice feature though as it gives you something else to shoot for besides just reaching the end of the zone, and oddly enough the 3-d style works well in small doses.
Now to be honest with you I'm really not the biggest Sonic fan. I had fun with the originals that came out for the Genesis, but I was pretty young then and never actually beat them. That being said, I can still appreciate all the work and attention to detail that went into making Sonic Mania such a return to form for the series. Especially when I see fans and critics praising it and becoming so popular, some people are calling it the best Sonic game ever. It definitely recaptures the magic of the original games, everything from the graphics, to the music, and the level design are beautifully done and a lot of fun to play through. If you're a fan of the series already then you're going to love this, and if you've never played one before this is a great place to start. Since this is available on every major console and the price is only 20$, there's no reason not to pick this one up. I give Sonic Mania a grade of...................................
B+
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed it!