![]() ![]() Sonic Mania gives you the choice to play as Sonic, Tails, Sonic and Tails, or Knuckles, in turn offering different experiences as to how you approach each level. As mentioned, I won’t spoil anything so I can’t go into too much detail about the boss encounters, but I can certainly promise you that you won’t be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, they were predictable at times and will never really push you as far as their difficulty level is concerned, but the game is second to none in providing entertaining showdowns against a myriad of foes (including good ol’ Dr. They’re so entertaining and incredibly varied, with the game constantly challenging you to do something different. I can say with complete confidence that not only does Sonic Mania have the best boss encounters out of any of the classic Sonic the Hedgehog games, but also out of any 16-bit style platformer I’ve ever played. I think everyone will be able to appreciate the fantastic boss encounters though. Even minor little nods like the classic SEGA logo reveal as you boot up the game won’t be as appreciated, which is a crying shame since it brought back so many childhood memories for me. Sure, it does mean you’ll get all-new levels to try out instead, but I feel a lot of what makes Sonic Mania so special is the fact that it’s more of the same but… well… newer. A lot of the levels and environments are remixes of classics after all, so if you haven’t already played through them a hundred times before like most gamers you won’t be able to appreciate the changes that have been made. There are elements of Sonic Mania that you’ll only fully appreciate if you’ve been a long term fan of the series though. It makes everything feel both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, with the game pulling at your heart strings with its all out nostalgia but also giving you something completely fresh in the process. The first level you play feels exactly like the original Green Hill Zone from the very first game to begin with, though it won’t take you long to see a variety of changes have been made. Whilst it has its fair share of original levels across all-new environments, Sonic Mania also puts you in levels that are remixed versions of those in the classic games. It’s not just that the levels look familiar because of their graphic style though, but a lot of them are actually based upon the stages you’ve sped across in the past. I mean, seriously, the visual style features cleaned up sprites and environments that look like they belong in the original game as well as its sequels. What this means is that you’ll be speeding across complex 2D levels that look like they’ve come straight from the Mega Drive. ![]() It makes for a better experience overall, with no cringe worthy scenes that’ll have you wincing at each interaction Sonic has. You won’t find Sonic snogging humans, wearing a stupid scarf, or transforming into a werehog here this is a simple affair that prioritises all-out action-packed gameplay rather than a silly over the top narrative. You know what, this is a throwback to the 90s so I’m calling him Dr. One of the best parts of the classic Sonic games was that there wasn’t some overly convoluted story – there was just a hedgehog who wants to recover the mystical Chaos Emeralds and defeat the evil Dr. Avoiding spoilers means that I can’t talk about a lot of what makes Sonic Mania so damn good, but in doing so I’m making sure that your experience of the game will be as refreshing and rewarding as mine was. Outside of nods to the classic games, it also does some new things that were fantastic to play through – however, mentioning them here would ruin it for anyone who hasn’t played the game. Throughout this review I want to avoid as many spoilers as possible, with Sonic Mania offering some genuine surprises that really brought plenty of smiles to my face. It’s a true return to form for the Sonic franchise that’s unlike anything we’ve seen for the last twenty five years. Sonic Mania changes that at first glance you’d easily think you were playing a 16-bit release from the 90s, but it offers so much more. It never felt like a real 2D sequel though, with it instead attempting to modernise things and in turn lose the simple magic of the Mega Drive (or Genesis for you US folk) classics. It feels strange that I consider Sonic Mania as the true sequel to Sonic and Knuckles, especially since we’ve already had Sonic 4 in the mean time. ![]()
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