Received wisdom states that Sonic hasn’t been any good since the Mega Drive, his move to 3D botched, his reputation tarnished forever. It’s not quite true, of course. Sure, there have been stinkers (Sonic Unleashed — the one with the Werehog sprints to mind), but there have been plenty of decent games, too. Still, it’s undeniable that Sonic’s glory days, in terms of relevance as well as critical success, ended with the 16 Bit era.
And so to Sonic Mania — part remix of classic levels, part new game. And, just in case you’re following the story, it’s set directly after Sonic & Knuckles.
There are 12 zones, each split into two acts. The first two will be instantly familiar — they’re tweaked versions of Sonic The Hedgehog’s Green Hill Zone and Sonic The Hedgehog 2’s Chemical Plant Zone respectively — but the third is brand new. The Studiopolis Zone, one of four new areas in the game, is set in a TV studio-themed urban landscape. There are three more new ones — the Japanese topiary of the Press Garden Zone, the Wild West of the Mirage Saloon Zone and dark cityscape of the Titanic Monarch Zone — and each one slides in effortlessly alongside the originals.
But what Sonic Mania really gets right, for all its nostalgic bells, whistles and robotic enemies is the feel of Sonic. The handling, based on Sonic 2, corrects the floaty physics of 2010’s Sonic 4. And while that game didn’t make Sonic go full Sackboy, it certainly didn’t play as it should have.
Sonic will never catch up to his one-time rival Mario in terms of boundary-pushing game design, but that’s okay. Sonic has rediscovered his niche. And Sonic Mania is thrilling in its celebration of it.