Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania shares a lot of similarities with another game that we never thought was coming: Mega Man 9.

Both were made with a key thought in mind: bring back a classic franchise and update it so you can get that big nostalgia rush but at the same time improve upon it as much as possible.

The team behind Sonic Mania managed to squeeze even more juice out of some of the things that were just throwaway segments in some of the classic Sonic games from the Genesis. For example they make a boss fight feel so much more epic by having it take place in those water segments where the current drags you in a certain direction. Its smart level design.

Even with such a short story (if you can call it that) it manages to explore deeper into the Sonic universe than most Sonic games with tons of new characters ever did really in a meaningful way. Think back at the classics when they introduced the Super Emeralds in Sonic 3 and Knuckles. How amazing was that? Chaos Control in Sonic Adventure 2 expanded what Sonic and Shadow could do with the Chaos Emeralds themselves.

Then there's the Hard Boiled Heavies. They are just awesome characters. Sonic was really in some need for some good enemies to fight (Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom come to mind, yikes). Each of them have their own style and personality and they are just awesome.

The special stages are just the best of the whole series. Its fast and controls perfectly. It really does what this game does best: take what works about the older games and gets rid of all the crap. I hated the Sonic CD special stages so I was kinda skeptical.

I know it sounds like I’m looking at the most dumb and non important things about Sonic Mania but that's the thing about Sonic Mania you know if you want this game or not. There really is no point in me telling you how good the sprites / graphics look, how perfectly tight the controls are and how orgasmicly good the music is. Because you already know that.

There is a thing going around the internet that has bugged me: The notion that this is the only good Sonic game since the 2D ones on the Genesis. This is complete bullshit. I would accept this is they would phrase it like: “I only like classic Sonic games so finally we get a good Sonic game”. Even so I would argue that the portable Sonic games and even some console games have kept that tradition of good 2D Sonic games alive. It's just that Sonic Mania does kick way more ass than all the rest. All it is really its all just a bandwagon and people love to jump on those.

At the end of the day what really is amazing is not the fact that we got a good Sonic game. Neither that we got a true classic style Sonic game. What really has be at awe is the fact that this game managed to surpass the games it's clearly inspired by. That I think has rarely ever happened in all of gaming. Megaman 9 did not surpass its predecessors and Link Between Worlds did not surpass Link to the Past. For some reason we just can't let go of the classics even when game developers clearly are aiming for that “classic” position. Sonic Mania has achieved the impossible and that is one hell of an accomplishment. Maybe it's time to let the fans take over and give them the freedom to revitalize other gaming franchises.