We’re making our way through some of the best games from the eighth generation of consoles in preparation for the new consoles launching next week. Next up: gotta go fast.
Sometimes, we need to look to the past in order to see how we’d like the present and future to go. Often, we’ll learn from the mistakes of the past in order to ensure we don’t make the same errors again, but occasionally we also look to the past to remind us of a better time. Sonic Mania evoked the second reaction, because my god is it better than any Sonic game from the past 15 years before it. Generations is good, sure. Mania is better.
Like Crash 4: It’s About Time, the most recent Halloween film and Terminator: Dark Fate (proving that it’s not a strategy that works 100% of the time), Sonic Mania tears up years of established games to create a direct sequel to the original Sonic games. Despite being a modern game, Sonic Mania is built in the same mold as the original trilogy, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic CD, and it’s all the better for it.
While the first game is probably the most dated, the original Sonic games could easily be considered timeless classics. Sonic 2, 3, & Knuckles and Sonic CD are still just as incredible to play now as they were back in the 90s, thanks to the simple but effective platforming gameplay. Sonic Mania’s gameplay evokes that same sense of nostalgia, transporting me back to the mid to late 90s, getting to the final boss on Sonic 3 then getting my mum to finish the game because it was too hard.
No, she doesn’t finish them for me now. I see you typing your “gamez journalist iz bad @ gamez” jokes in the comments.
Like Sonic Generations, Sonic Mania feels like a celebration of what came before, dusting off some familiar haunts like Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone and Flying Battery Zone, along with some more obscure picks. Hearing the open notes to Oil Ocean Zone was the direct hit of serotonin I never knew I needed back in 2017.
However, Mania comes with some truly vibrant and outstanding new levels, such as Studiopolis Zone, Press Garden Zone and Mirage Saloon Zone. Those last two build off themes familiar to Sonic, those being ancient ruins and arid deserts, but they both nail their aesthetics fantastically, even if I’m a sucker for Marble Garden Zone.
Studiopolis stands out as one of the game’s shining moments, however. A visual tour de force that establishes Sonic Mania’s own identity outside of the beloved levels, Studiopolis’ colour scheme, music and obstacles are some of the best in the entire game. After the trip down memory lane with Green Hill and Chemical Plant, Sonic Mania’s next stop proves that it’s about more than celebrating the hits of yesteryear.
What makes Sonic Mania even more brilliant is that it launched in 2017: the same year as Sonic Forces. SEGA likely viewed Mania to be a small little game developed externally by SEGA fans that wouldn’t stand the test of time against Forces, but by the year’s end, Mania was considered in Game of the Year contention, while Forces was left to be forgotten about. Rightly so, if you ask me.
While it’s likely that Sonic Mania is a one-time event, it’s proof that SEGA knew, or at least knows now, what they need to do for Sonic to succeed in the modern era. It’s telling that the blue blur has had his biggest successes in recent memory mining from the hits of the past, so why stop now? Let’s just make Sonic Mania 2 happen. I think we all need it after 2020, that’s for sure.
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