Sonic Mania - Review
- Dec 1, 2017
- 3 min read
Developers: PagodaWest Games, Headcannon
Publisher: Sega
Series: Sonic the Hedgehog
Engine: Retro Engine
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Genre: Platform, action
Mode: Single-player, multiplayer
Available NOW
Seeeeegggaaaa!
Let’s talk about our favorite hedgehog, Sonic. To start, this is the Sonic we have been waiting for. The game is the classic side scrolling game from a past era, with enough touches to keep the game feeling relevant in today’s gaming climate.
Old School/New School
Sonic was developed by gaming hobbyists, and you can tell they really love this franchise. Lots of care was put into the smallest of details to ensure nothing from the original callbacks were left out. You can chose between three characters to play, Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles, all with their own individual abilities. Sonic can “drop dash” which allows him to roll in a dashing motion after a jump, Tails can fly and swim, & Knuckles can climb up walls plus glide.
The game consists of twelve zones. Two acts per zone. Eight zones are remixed, which means they contain some elements from prior Sonic installments, as well as some new mechanics. The developers also tacked on four original zones to add to the fun & replayability. Some zones allow you to fly, & go as fast as possible. Others require some thoughtful platforming, while avoiding pesky enemies. While you’re roaming around your character needs to collect rings in order to stay alive. If you run out of rings & get hit by an enemy you die & have to restart. To aid you, there are these little TVs which grant you specialties, i.e. shield, speed boost, or extra rings. At the end of the second act in every zone there’s a boss fight of some sort. Most of the time, you face Dr. Robotnik (I refuse to call him Eggman) in one of his inventions. Other battles are one of his more powerful minions.
Hidden throughout each act are giant rings. Inside the rings are a bonus 3-D game. In these stages, you have to dodge obstacles while collecting spheres, and more rings, all in an attempt to catch a Chaos Emerald flying around away from you. If you collect all the emeralds, a nice surprise awaits you at the end of the game. As you collect these spheres, you become faster, but at the same time a timer is counting down, so you need the rings to extend the timer. If the timer runs out, you are taken back to the original game. Another bonus mode is running through a checkpoint with at least 25 rings. If you complete these, you are awarded a silver or gold medal depending on your performance. With enough of these gained, you can unlock the debug mode and sound test.
There is also another game mode called “time attack” where you try to speed through each act as fast as possible. If you mess up, you can restart at the push of a button. That’s a nice touch.
Less Is More
As gorgeous as the zones are, sometimes they can become a little busy. On several occasions I had trouble determining if the platform I was trying to jump on was part of the game, or the background. Some of the zones could have been less busy, and still accomplished what the dev team was going for.
As for how Sonic feels, he responds really well. None of my deaths were from how my character controlled. The special abilities weren’t used that often, but when I did use them, it really added to the experience. The audio and sound effects were great as well. Not quite the eight bit midi sounds, but the audio just felt right.
Score:
Overall: A
Graphic: B | Story: B | Controls: A | Audio: A | Replay: B
This Game is Good
Overall this this game delivered in about every aspect. We’ve gotten plenty of bad Sonic games throughout the year, so the bar was pretty low. Even still I’m extremely happy with how this turned out! I’m glad Sega didn’t shut this down, in fact they backed these amature developers. Aside from some of the over the top art design, this game was very pleasant to play. I didn’t become bored, or felt like any part was a chore. The campiness from 90’s was alive and breathing throughout, but didn't’ overwhelm me at any time. This game feels like a one time only deal, but I would be ok with diving back into this world with my old pals.
TRAILER
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