Sonic Mania smartly does away with the series numbering, taking titular and aesthetic cues from the Saturn compilation Sonic Jam and acting as both a sequel (much more of a sequel than Sonic 4 was) and a classic series retrospective. Sonic Mania takes several cues from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, presenting a game with a similar length (Mania is just a tad shorter than 3&K with a dozen zones of two acts each), the same playable characters, the same system of saving, pantomimed cutscenes, seamless Zone transitions, Act 1 sub-bosses and the always expected Act 2 bosses. Thanks to the efforts of Whitehead and his team, Sonic Mania does just that and then some, presenting fans with a “what if” scenario of the Sonic game we always wanted on the SEGA Saturn, but never got. While Sonic had several 2D adventures following Sonic 3 & Knuckles, SEGA and Sonic Team never seemed to want to revisit that special recipe that made the original games great. This wasn’t a surprise, as Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley whose previous works included the remasters of Sonic CD, the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, were behind the upcoming game along with PagodaWest Games of Major Magnet fame. Sonic Mania played like any of the classic Genesis Sonic games. I distinctly remember that during my demo session, nothing felt off. Me and my fellow SEGAbits team member George went hands on with the game and had nothing but positive things to say. Sonic Mania was first met with incredibly positive first impressions at SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary event held in San Diego, July 22, 2016. Really, I just wanted an intro paragraph and now that that’s done we can get to what we’re all here for: my review of Sonic Mania! I also have no doubt that reviews like my own will smugly mention such reviews in an attempt to show how I’m coming at Sonic Mania from a more educated and informed place. I have no doubt that many reviews released today for Sonic Mania, releasing August 15 to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and releasing August 29 to PC, will chart the ups and downs of the Sonic franchise, make mention of the recent Sonic Boom games, and make the assertion that Sonic has not been good for a long time.
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