REVIEW - Sonic Mania - Good Things Come To Those Who Wait (23 Years)

Title: Sonic Mania
Developer: Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, SEGA of America & PagodaWest Games
Publisher: SEGA
Platform: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release: 15th August 2017 (29th August 2017 for PC)

Right, first things first. I promise this is the last I'll talk about Sonic the Hedgehog in any capacity for a while. As I quickly glance back at some of my posts I see I may have mentioned him and his associates a few times. Sonic Mania is the new, delightfully pixilated sequel to Sonic and Knuckles that only took 23 years to get to us. (What 3D Sonic titles? You speak nonsense, away you loon!)

Taking place after the events of Sonic and Knuckles (quick recap: Sonic stops Robotnik collecting the Chaos Emeralds again) you encounter a new bunch of rotund goons called the Hard-Boiled Heavies successfully extracting the Phantom Ruby (a brand new MacGuffin) from its hidden location. This causes Sonic, Tails and Knuckles to be transported to familiar yet revamped versions of Zones from previous Sonic titles. (Including a few that didn't make the cut the first time round) To keep the old-school fans happy, the first level is Green Hill Zone complete with its iconic music and initial level layout. Straight away you can see that a lot of work has gone into the game. More frames of animation and more detailed environments make this game a complete joy to look at. If you've got time to look at it that is. This is Sonic the Hedgehog. You should be running as fast as you can, rolling into Badniks and grabbing all those precious, lifesaving rings. Gameplay is exactly as you remember it. Get hit, lose rings. get hit without rings, lose a life. Lose all your lives, GAME OVER!

Every level plays so fluidly. In my experience, there haven't been any cheap platforming sections that made me want to rage-quit. (Like games of a certain age tend to do) The new remixed levels are an excellent blend of classic nostalgia with fresh ideas. You can be jumping about on springs one minute then being forced through a giant popcorn machine the next. Some of the level obstacles are daft but they only add to the fun of the game. Checkpoints throughout the levels ding and spin as you pass them, offering up the classic bonus level from Sonic 3. These reward you (if you can successfully change all the blue balls red) with a silver or gold token. These are used to unlock the game's debug mode and sound test amongst others. The real bonus levels are hidden throughout the Zones. To access them you have to jump into giant rings that teleport you to a 3D circuit (in homage to Sonic R from 1997) where you chase a Choas Emerald until you catch it. Obviously, it's not that simple. There's a timer that's determined by how many rings you collect as you run around and you also have to build up speed by collecting little blue orbs. Chaos Emeralds are Earned. I'm overjoyed with pretty much everything this game has thrown at me. Pretty much...

Bosses are probably the one aspect of the game that I found can be very hit or miss. Every Zone is split into two. Part one ends with a mini-boss, which was introduced back in Sonic 3. These are your run-of-the-mill, tough robot jerks with that take about 6 or 7 hits to take down. Most of them are pretty basic, attack it when there's an opening, dodge it when they attack. Their designs are fun and emulate the style used years ago beautifully. Sometimes they can require a little trial and error, but for the most part, they telegraph their patterns pretty obviously. Main bosses, however, are a beast of a different nature. Some of them have made me laugh with how inventive they've been or with the concepts they've used. I won't spoil them as they are genuinely a joy to discover by yourself. Then there are the bosses that you have to wonder if the designers secretly hate you (yes, YOU) and don't want you to finish their otherwise brilliant game. Again, I don't want to spoil anything but let's say trying to smash something into a wall while simultaneously dodging projectiles made me stop for a relaxing scream and a calming storm from the room.

The music is a crowning achievement in nostalgia-jerking goodness. (Nostalgia-jerking is a thing, you just may not have heard of it shutup) Like the level layouts, they start as your classic tracks and blend with new music or other old tunes to create a sound that is a joy to listen to. I've always been a massive fan of the chip-tune music of the early series and here is no exception. Every little spring and ring have the original chime, the spin dash has the satisfying drill noise. The best thing? Sonic doesn't have an annoying voice. In fact, no one does. Everything is acted out using the cute, spritey animations. This was created by a team of people that have been modding and creating their own unofficial Sonic games for years. Because of this, this final product feels very much like a loved project that has been given the kind of attention to detail that a lot of AAA games don't seem to get nowadays. I digress. This game is great. So you may have guessed the answer to the question I always ask.

Would I recommend Sonic Mania to you? Yes! I've grinned ear to ear since I first booted the game up. That's literally all I have to say. (Aside from all that stuff above that I've already said above)

Available digitally on PlayStation Store (£15.99), Xbox Store (£15.99), Nintendo Store (£15.99) & Steam (14.99) Also available in physical form for various prices, as ever shop wisely.