Sonic Mania arrived in August 2017 as a 25th-anniversary project with a strange pedigree. Its lead developer was Christian “Taxman” Whitehead, a programmer Sega had previously hired to build enhanced mobile ports of the Genesis Sonic games. For the anniversary, Sega handed him the keys.
The bet paid off. Sonic Mania is the best Sonic game in a generation, and it earns that on craft rather than nostalgia alone.
A Phantom Ruby on Angel Island
Sonic Mania is a side-scrolling platformer built in the mold of the Genesis and Sega CD originals. Sonic and Tails pick up a powerful energy reading on Angel Island and fly out in the Tornado to investigate. Dr. Eggman’s EggRobos get there first, dig up a gemstone called the Phantom Ruby, and are transformed by it into the Hard-Boiled Heavies.
The ruby warps Sonic, Tails and Knuckles across familiar territory. The trio chase Eggman through zone after zone, and the doctor uses the ruby to retake control of Little Planet.
That is a thin story, told in short cutscenes between levels, exactly as Sonic 3 & Knuckles did it. It works because it never interrupts the running.
Thirteen Zones, Eight of Them Remixed
The game spans 13 zones, each split into two acts. Eight are remixed from earlier Sonic games, including Green Hill Zone. The rest are original. Remixed stages mix new elements with pieces pulled from the past, so Green Hill is not a museum piece.
Three characters, three distinct kits. Sonic gets the drop dash, which sends him rolling after a jump. Tails flies and swims. Knuckles glides and climbs walls. Players can run Sonic and Tails together, or hand Tails to a second player. Unlockables swap in Sonic’s Sonic CD and Sonic 3 abilities in place of the drop dash, and let any character partner with Knuckles.
Rings are health. Take a hit with one in hand and you survive; the rings scatter and vanish. Monitors hold rings, elemental shields, invincibility and speed boosts. Giant rings hidden in each act lead to pseudo-3D special stages modeled on Sonic CD’s, where the Chaos Emeralds wait.
There is also time attack with online leaderboards, and split-screen competitive multiplayer.
The Retro Engine Does the Work
Whitehead’s Retro Engine powers the whole thing, and the team targeted a graphical quality sitting between the Genesis and the Sega Saturn. That target is the smartest decision in the project. The game looks like a memory of 1994 rather than a photocopy of it.
Sonic Mania became the highest-rated Sonic game in fifteen years. That follows a run of poorly received entries, which is the context that makes this release matter. Sega had spent years rebuilding Sonic for modern hardware and kept missing. The fix was to hand the series to the people who had been studying it for free.
The Chaos Emeralds pay off, too. Collect all seven as Sonic and the Phantom Ruby throws him and Eggman into another dimension, where Heavy King betrays Eggman and seizes the ruby. Eggman attacks him to get it back. Sonic goes Super and fights both separately, and the ruby’s reaction with the Emeralds ends the whole thing in a wormhole.
What Sonic Mania Gets Right
Sonic Mania is not a remake and not a reboot. It is a correction. The level design, the music and the refusal to sand down the early games’ feel are the reasons it lands, and the 13 zones hold up across two acts each.
The knock is that the back half leans on stages players already know, and the story is barely there. Neither costs the game much.
Sonic Mania scores 8.5/10.
Key facts
– Release: August 2017
– Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
– Developer: Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games, Headcannon
– Publisher: Sega
– Zones: 13, each with two acts
– Score: 8.5/10
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